Crown Suspending
Recent interesting and invaluable posts of a kung fu brother (if humbly I may say it) questioning about practice and his feelings and Sifu’s answers were inspiring and enlightening in many aspects. It enticed me to talk a little of my own practice feelings.
Generally I feel nothing special apart a rare tingling or warm sensations during practice. I used to feel nothing specially many years ago in my beginnings of taichi/chikung, which caused a little frustration (that I attributed to fail enough practice). After some time (years), tingling and a few others sensations began to appear and naturally I felt happy because I wrongly correlated that feelings with some degree of accomplishment. Now I know that imbalances or sickness may result in such kind of sensations during practice. I also know that any physical sensations bring with them a certain feeling of wrong or unhealthy sensations or a mild elated and/or healthy feeling - which I learned to ignore in practice context.
What I generally feel are a very good stamina and my body responding better than when I was in my late teens or twenties. So I could say I feel nothing special almost forgetting body existence. But in order to improve in all aspects of my life I have, of course, to be mindful of body and mind. The 13 points as an anchor for a wandering mind and a fleeting present moment are of utmost importance.
Suspending Crown, as I see it, is a symbolic formula which encapsulates a meaning which tries to convey in words a certain way or feeling that equates a good structure. Suspending Crown is a key point to whatever internal work maybe - meditation, martial art, chi-kung and even one’s natural bearing.
When confronted with this basic principle a few years ago trying to grasp its meaning, I tried “forcibly” to put it at work (according to my understanding at the time) in my structure and form practice, trying to do it correctly, resulted in a taut posture and I began to feel the difficult subtleties of this principle. So, here begin the tricky business of suspending the crown without “doing” the suspending.
This was a major issue for me and I put a strategy in practice which implied to try whenever I remembered and whatever situation to “balance” my head over the neck to meet the principle of suspending crown. Relaxing the shoulders was part of the recipe. Most of the time I was unaware and distracted (fortunately) so “doing” was much put aside except for form practice and eventually some sitting meditation!
At first sight there was nothing exceptionally wrong with such a strategy. Except for the simple reason that put all my attention statically on just one of the principles and forgetting the rest compromised the body structure as a dynamic whole and paradoxically but with logic a proper suspended crown. Watch http://ucbprogram.com/tensegtity.
As I understand it now, mindfully minimum adjustments – this is the better way I can put it – have to be in place to align the body when practicing. In fact I cannot “do” the alignment, it’s more correct to say that alignment does me - it seems a little weird but that’s the way I feel it.
I don’t need to be perfect instantaneously, but be aware of my flaws and mindful of principles and sifu’s guidance. Grasping the daoist concept of “not doing” would help, I think, feeling at ease and open awareness to go deeper.
I would like to finish drawing attention to Sifu’s post: Start with basics.
Thanks Sifu and temple_river777 (sorry don’t know your name). Following here the example of Joey I thank to everybody that makes so precious program available to anyone who wants to do the first steps to the infinite interior landscape.
Paulo