It’s been just over a year of standing, and I believe I’ve finally started to get the hang of it for a beginner. I’m no longer stuck in constant doubt about whether I’m collapsing or standing.
I’m not the fastest learner and I’ve really had to break it down for myself. The material in the lessons is incredibly rich and always different, there’s so much packed into each one. I had to write notes and keep checking the process to make sure im building what Im feeling with some confidence.
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Standing vs Collapse
The concept didn’t click for a long time and I’ll blame my brain for that lol.
I thought I could feel the foot couple, but I would lose it sometimes and not understand when. Or even if it was the right sensation, which was the hardest part.
I should’ve just kept things simple and trusted what Sifu said: focus on the foot couple, the feeling of the pushing out of the bones, and the pulling of the soft tissues, muscles etc. And with that, the neck, head, and shoulders situation. That should’ve been enough. It made sense logically, but I was doubting myself or if I was missing something.
After improving my digestion in February, Iv had a stretch of consistent practice, 10 to 20 minutes of standing in the morning and 10 minutes at night.
The goal was simple:
Is the foot couple sensation there? Yes.
The feeling of the pulling of soft tissues and pushing out of the toes/bones. Yes.
Can I adjust my height using my neck/crown? No..
How about when I stretch my chin down. No.
Are the external muscles around my neck and shoulders soft? Yes
As long as I could keep these sensations present, I was confident I wasn’t collapsing for my level of understanding.
Bending (not too low) is trickier. My basic rules: keep the foot couple sensation alive, go forward to go down, don’t let the sacrum retreat, then go forward to come back up. The sacrum should hold its line. If these principles are followed, it becomes a bit clearer when you collapse or disrupt the structure. At least at my current level of understanding and feeling, but something i need more work on for sure as its not as stable as purely standing.
Another marker I’ve started paying more attention to is the relationship between the shoulders and the pelvis. Sifu explained in one lesson that the shoulders shouldn’t be manually dropped or pulled into place, they should settle naturally based on the way the pelvis spreads. So now Im trying to feel if the pelvis is widening, and whether that allows the shoulders to float open. If I’m forcing my shoulder position or trying to “fix” it, it means Im doing something wrong. Letting the pelvis organize the shoulder is now another way I test whether Im standing or subtly collapsed.
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How the 10 Steps Work for Me
I’m pretty sure I had all 10 standing steps down before, but now the U shape has become so much more obvious. I’m not searching for it anymore, it’s just there when I have gone into not trying mode with the foot couple and correct steps/release in place.
The U is also another confirmation that the foot couple is active now after the correct steps, the U isn’t there without the foot couple.
Before, I felt like the foot couple supported the neck, head, and shoulders. But now it feels like the U structure itself is helping support those upper points too or is active in the standing after the release of master cavity and smile/step 10.
And yes, it’s hard to keep the mind focused on it. Like Sifu said, your body and mind don’t want to do this at first. They’ll find any excuse to drift elsewhere.
But when the light attention or light Yi is placed lightly on the foot couple, and the 10 steps are alive, it doesn’t feel like “doing” anymore. It feels like an activation that shows up when I stop interfering. Trying doesn’t help. It’s like the brain and body have a radio dial, and only when you stop “trying” and tune in with light intent, does the awareness come. The foot couple and the steps have their own signal, you just have to get into the right frequency, “radio dial” of not trying.
At this stage, bending without bending has become very clear to me, step 4 and 8 showing you can move these cavities with intent and not movement, bending without bending. So a way of making the master cavity move back, was pretending I was gonna sit down. The anticipation would make my cavities move. From there I was able to get a little bit of clarity on not doing/ light Yi intention. Instead of trying to do.
Step 4 for the master cavity and step 8 for lower cavities were good steps to show this. Or at least clear within my current level of understanding. That kind of response and the effects that show up in the body, always give me a bit more confidence. Another example is, I can feel the master cavity pulling on the hip cavities, and that pelvic pulling effect pull the abdominal muscles, which start to respond slightly.
As I’ve spent more time in the latter steps, particularly Step 9 and 10, the changes have become more noticeable. When the leg cavities are released downward, something in the back of the diaphragm lifts without me doing it. I don’t try to influence it, it just shows up.
What’s helped the most is not trying to “do” anything here. The more I stay with the foot couple, let the leg cavities release, and let the none trying state do it for me.
Observing After Step 10: Floating, Quiet, and Following Structure
After spending more time in step 10, I’ve noticed:
1. The U become more and more apparent and its support
2. When I do the 1000yard stare and smile, my vision changes and my mind goes slightly quieter and a bit less of the monkey mind. It just feels a bit easier to listen and stay on the inside.
3. When I focus on the foot couple, I get a more peak of the experience of the couple. From the bones pushing out, soft tissue pulling. Theres a peak to it, during this time, my mind is more stable/quiet and also my body, has a more floaty, weightlessness and suspemded feeling.
4. It becomes even more obvious when I am collapsing compared to this feeling. Where I am collapsed, Im compressed, heavy and have to make a different type of effort to keep standing. Compared to the foot couple and U standing which feels more open, supported and self sustaining. The difference is more clear.
5. Another thing I’ve started noticing — during anchoring exercise and some standing while waiting around like in the kitchen or train/bus stop. And during standing after step 10.
Where I put my mind lightly, whether its the pelvis area, shoulders, or sometimes during anchoring the certain points.
There definitely a feeling the push and pull in someway and spreading and opening of layers or something. Things opening up from the inside and more space being creating.
Ive mentioned before how working with Standing and listening more inside has helped me with my digestive problems. So I want to say thanks again on that. I just need to listen to my head more and not have so much Ramen and burgers so I can finish stage 2-3 of my recovery and fix it :p Ive gone from full body cramps and migraines for years caused by my gut, to just 1 small headache since and only cramps in my toes and sometimes calf.
I have some questions for Sifu.
Question 1. Downhill Walking & Foot Couple
Lately while walking downhill, I’ve been experimenting with lightly activating the foot couple. When I do, I notice that my calves, shins, and feet muscles don’t have to work as hard to slow or control the descent. The movement feels smoother, more balanced, and the bones seem to push outward into space, helping regulate the downhill momentum. Does this connection between the foot couple and downhill stability Im feeling make any sense?
Question 2. Dropping sensation
I’ve also had some experiences I haven’t let interfere with practice, but I want to ask about. Sometimes after standing — or even while falling asleep — I feel a sudden dropping sensation, like the body falls through itself for a split second, almost like a rollercoaster drop. Or when a car goes over a bump. It seems to come from the solar plexus or master cavity region. What’s become more noticeable is that when this happens, the foot couple feels very active, and sometimes the floating sensation is still there, even if I’ve just woken up suddenly. I’ve ignored this up until now, but I’d appreciate guidance on what it might be.”
Thank you Sifu
