This practical experience of Non-Interference came to mind just as I was finishing off my last blog post. Experiences such as this served me as ‘convincers’ that this method is preferable to letting my ‘big brain’ lead the development. It’s quite a superficial example, but for me, it was a real validation of Non-Interference versus the urge to try and 'fix' things.
When practising Standing and Stillness online, Sifu pointed out that I was doing things with my right hand and wrist. Up to that point I hadn't noticed it myself. I caught it a couple of times after it was pointed out, but it wasn’t until I reviewed the lesson that I saw how often I was actually fidgeting on that side. My partner had pointed this out in the past, but I wasn’t training at the time and just framed it as ‘a thing I do’.
I decided to watch for this during my home practice sessions. After catching it a few times, I was able to see it at the 'impulse' stage —before the movement even happened. I ‘interfered as training’ simply by saying ‘no’ to the impulse going any further. The fidgeting stopped, only for another impulse to appear halfway up my forearm, seemingly attempting to lift my arm or swing it out. Same procedure: monitor the impulse, say ‘no’, and see what happens. Interestingly, the sensation shifted around my body into my shoulder and scapula, and I felt muscles in there start letting go. I am still working through it, but it has considerably diminished.
While it's a simple example, it enlightened me to the fact that the impulses I reacted to when standing became uncomfortable were of the same nature. Fidgeting with my shoulders or rubbing my back, activating the mobiliser system, was actually just a distraction; it was delaying the deeper perceptions that allow for real changes that needed to occur to support better structural relationships.