Noob to the arts

[ion]

With all due respect to the forum members, Im kind of embarrassed to even ask this panel of experts  where to begin, but that is what I'm asking.

 

I've been practicing meditation for about 2 years, but was preparing to do so with right intentions for over 10 years before that. I knew I was going to take it very seriously, and I still do always approach sitting with total sincerity and respect so I did not start until I was ready.

 

When I did I started doing 2 sessions a day starting with a 20 minute session. The next day I started to add 5 minutes to each session, (20min, 25min, 30,min 35min, etc) so by the end of week one I was sitting 2 hours a day for an hour each session. I kept it at that for a while mainly because I am a single parent, and a 5 minute session seems like asking too much.

 

Did that for a few months then I dislocated my pelvic bones making firewood and didn't begin meditation for about 6 months. Since then I've become less systematic about it but Im still very dedicated.  I dont use a timer any more but I know that my sessions last anywhere from 30-45min to 3hours. I practice at least once a day, up to 6 or 7 times.

 

I do not budge, impulse or compulse. I let the flys drink from my eyes and yellow jackets bite my face. I practice with my kids in the room, in the sun, under the moon, in the woods when the birds stop singing because a large preditor is lurking, I let my eyes rest on moving water and let my ears divide the sounds of the up-stream from the downstream into left & right ears. My "just sitting" is strong, I do not budge because impulses create realities. 

 

So now Im feeling very strongly attracted to the internal arts, and so I would like to ask you all for advice about how to get started by myself (as in in a residence but not near town/group/class).

 

Qigong is what comes to mind, but that might just because it seems approachable, or the popularity of the name, or that I don't really know of any other systems.

 

I can use some recommendations of some movements/poses that I can research myself, or a good system to look up or stuff to research about different systems.

 

I dont really know where to begin but would really appreciate any guidance offered from the Dao bums.

 

Thanx

 

[NotVoid]

My suggestion for someone who doesn't have access to teachers and who wants to learn a very effective and simple form of qigong, would be to look into zhan zhuang practice. For example, zhan zhuang as demonstrated by Lam Kam Chuen should be fairly safe to practice if practiced in a non-forced and natural way. I think it is advisable to take some time to understand how to stand correctly and naturally. Standing in the various zhan zhuang forms and staying as relaxed as you can and breathing naturally, and just being aware of your body and what you are doing as you are standing in the stances is a very effective form of qigong practice in my experience. 

 

Here are a couple of links to some of Lam Kam Chuen's stuff, if you are interested:

Stand Still Be Fit videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/StandStillBeFit/videos

"

The Way of Energy: Mastering the Chinese Art of Internal Strength with Chi Kung Exercise"

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Mastering-Internal-Strength/dp/0671736450/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451608746&sr=1-1

 

 

P.S. I personally think it is a good idea for anyone to take anything they read in internet forums or anywhere else for that matter with a healthy grain of salt....

Edited January 1, 2016 by NotVoid

[Gerard]

You can find a lot of valuable stuff in video format, YouTube is a great place to get started:

 

Bagua, Chen style Taiji.

 

(very easy to follow and highly detailed instructor as he teaches from varioun angles)

 

(if you have the patience and ability to learn such a long and highly complex routine online)

 

 

 

Those Li Jingru's videos are also available on eBay for a very low price, if you prefer a DVD you can play on your large HD TV and practice in your living room.

 

Mud walking and introduction to the 8 Mother Palms

8 Mother Palms instruction

 

I can vouch for them as instruction is detailed and easy to follow.

 

Foundation work (Jibengong) for all IMA practice:

 

Baguaquan lessons (videos 1 and 2 links)

 

He Jinghan's YouTube channel (he has numerous videos available). The tree practice drill(s) is probably the most valuable of all to open up the entire kua, hip and waist area.

 

You eventually will have to learn from a live teacher, no matter what.

 

Good luck.

[ion]

thanks guys Ill begin looking into tis immediately.

 

Not Void, what you bring up about standing is something I've have picked up on recently. I've been thinking about it as an exercise in mindfulness. I stand around quite a bit, and I also get cold easily. The more I've been practicing zazen in which diaphragmatic breathing is central (and has been my guide in finding just the right posture anywhere I sit), the more I notice muscle tension, standing off balance/stressing the natural skelatal balance and restricted breathing while standing and always take the opportunity to settle my bones, drop my belly and relax.

 

Another thing I've recently tuned into which I try to bring into standing/walking as well as zazen is I discovered a kind of ever-present tension in the neck, that when relaxed lets the head float off the spine.

 

thanks again to both of you , and any other suggestions are more then welcome 

Edited January 1, 2016 by ion

[ion]

You eventually will have to learn from a live teacher, no matter what.

 

Good luck.

Im hoping to be moving on from this situation within a few weeks to another where I might be able to at least join some groups or classes or plug into something in some way that might lead to gaining formal interactive instruction, but would at least be in a state of warming up, and generating some experience-dexterity,vdirect ignorance and frustrations so that I will at least have some specific questions and things to aim for.

[thelerner]

 

 

Did that for a few months then I dislocated my pelvic bones making firewood and didn't begin meditation for about 6 months. Since then I've become less systematic about it but Im still very dedicated.  I dont use a timer any more but I know that my sessions last anywhere from 30-45min to 3hours. I practice at least once a day, up to 6 or 7 times.

 

I do not budge, impulse or compulse. I let the flys drink from my eyes and yellow jackets bite my face. I practice with my kids in the room, in the sun, under the moon, in the woods when the birds stop singing because a large preditor is lurking, I let my eyes rest on moving water and let my ears divide the sounds of the up-stream from the downstream into left & right ears. My "just sitting" is strong, I do not budge because impulses create realities.

You don't seem like no noob to me.  Your just sitting is pretty impressive.

 

Moving qi gong routines compliment sitting nicely.  I'll often point people towards a simple one like Pangu demonstrated here.  Few are simpler.   It may not look it but it hooks you up to some nice energy:

[ion]

Thanks theLearner. I feel my sitting practice has in many ways been preparing and urging towards this, even maybe trying to happen on its own.

 

Youtube isn't coming in that great right now right now but I've been doing some research on zhan zhuang practice and pangu. 

 

Looks like it is just what Im looking for. Alot of the time before I sit, I stand around the cushion quite a bit before sitting, its a kind of high energy or nervousness, sort of an apprehension about getting involved in the sit. I think that is due to the fact that I know I might be there for a while. Kinda like a smoker puffing down a smoke before going in the building. But there is also a bring myself into focus and relaxing.

 

I can see how these/this practice will fit right in there and transform all that pre-sitting whateverness into something more powerful.

 

Interesting that in reading about zhan zhuang, there are warnings about how practicing(standing!) incorrectly can cause bodily harm. I have no doubt that that is true. The last time my back went out was at the DMV. Just standing I felt the slightest feeling at the base of my spine, it felt like someone was lightly touching me with their finger, I kept looking back at noone. Then later I felt a pain in my neck. I spent the next day laying on a wadded up blanket in the garage pretty much un-able to move for a couple days. I have no idea how or what happened other then I was certain it had to do with something about the way I was standing.

 

Thanks some more, Im getting fired up about this.