Making a record of some of the changes I mentioned on Sunday.
Leg Cavities
Although have been able to experience continuous change over time with the method, there was one area where I've had difficulty properly getting my head around and that was ‘how to use the leg cavities’. Back in the beginning I felt nothing there, then in time a "flatness" and later, a "stretch." But beyond these sensations, I was at a loss as to how to make any of it work and I’ve felt like I’ve been "at the bottom of the wheel" regarding this.
I looked at how I might use my arm to throw a partner—where the arm is "thumb up", there is extension from foot to fingers (and in the cavities), and there is the use of "Light Yi."
'Light Yi' is an incredibly useful distinction; If, when practising a throw, if I use "Heavy Yi" or tension, the partner can work against the throw.
I could bring that sense of 'functionality' into bending and attending to the leg cavities, which helped a lot, as did practising "pitcher breathing", finding 'the disk' and then bending. But it was a conversation in the Sunday practice session of two weeks ago that really made the difference. I asked about the quite deep intercostal pain I get when standing for long periods and whether I should just keep "pushing through"—as I had been doing— and was beginning to question whether "pushing through" was "intelligent practice" in those circumstances. While listening to Sifu’s answer which included a discussion of "Light Yi," something clicked and changed my perspective and I got glimmer that my idea of 'Light Yi' needed a bit of refinement.
I took that into my practice in the week following that session,and was able to feel a change in the top leg cavities as they'd never felt before. They felt actively involved rather than just being "dead spaces." My bending changed, and I felt the front hip cavities "sucking back.” more actively and I feel off of the 'bottom of the wheel' til the next time.
Outside of the Training
In the last few weeks the foot couple and pelvic couple seemed to be starting to work complementarily and they spontaneously 'kick in'. While walking it feels like legs extending down more, heel connecting to ground differently and the kidney area and cross pelvic stretches becoming involved. I live on a hill, my back garden is a slope and the “couples” kicked in automatically when I was walking downhill the other day, the pelvic couple felt like an exoskeleton providing support from the back and hips down to the knees (very cool).
Other Observations:
- I am experiencing the benefits of the post-training "Harvest" and of standing with the idea of "not interfering" as a training close-out.
- The concept of "not interfering" is pushing itself into my awareness more and more. For example, I woke up this morning with a stiff neck. Just as I prepared to start twisting it to "fix it," the idea of "not interfering" surfaced. Instead of me choreographing some neck rolling twisting movement, I just took the time to experience how the neck bones were pushing, left them alone, and got up—with no stiff neck.
No questions at this point. Loved the ‘range of motion’ practice on Sunday, still finding it close to impossible to do without reverting to old movements , but will keep on it.