Archive for May 2022
The Journey of Transformation
Practicing qigong for just 10 minutes a day can be a journey of transformation. We can use tried and tested principles to allow positive, useful change.
In qigong and meditation practice, with the right guidance you can easily reach deeply relaxed states of mind that can feel quite profound or blissful. But aiming for these states, and wanting to stay in them, can be a trap that slows down your progress.
Regulating Mind States
In classes with Fully Alive, you learn skills that allow you to be deeply relaxed and expanded. You also learn how to safely come back to a more everyday state of mind. You will practice regulating between a more expanded state and a more ordinary state of mind.
In an expanded state you might be more open to inspiration. Or you might have a direct realization of the interconnectedness of everything and a sense of the bigger picture. But there is no need to go to this place every time you practice.
Getting the right balance
As well as the two extremes of expanded and ordinary consciousness, it is really useful to be able to consciously find a balance somewhere in between.
Being able to adjust mind, body and energy to stay relaxed and open as well as present and focused, moment by moment, makes everyday tasks much easier. And everyday life can become more enjoyable.
For example, being able to maintain a relaxed focus for work or hobbies makes you more productive without feeling drained of energy. In relationships, being able to relax without disconnecting or disappearing makes it easier to resolve difficulties and makes good times more satisfying.
Opening up to new possibilities
Opening up the mind, body and heart creates opportunities for change and new possibilities. Practicing relaxed, open presence in classes can transform our relationship to ourselves and our lives.
But this is not always a completely smooth journey. As you become more aware, you may have to deal with issues that are challenging or difficult.
In classes with Fully Alive you will make progress safely and progressively. With a clear understanding of skills and principles, and guided practices that build gradually on what you learn, you become equipped to deal with what comes up. And there is a supportive space within the classes for this process of transformation to take place.
A student who recently completed Level Two – Developing Skills for Conscious Energy Flow made this comment:
“My whole being feels different. I feel more at peace and, after a long time of not feeling very happy, I feel, in a gentle way, happy. I suppose one could say finding some sort of contentment.”
Another student commented:
“I always need a way of returning to 'Being mode', to return to a real sense of myself, and to the bigger picture beyond. I have found a real home here in these classes where that is understood.”
Take a journey of transformation
If you are interested in starting out on a journey of transformation, why not try one of our weekly classes? You will learn at your own pace, and according to what you want to get out of the class, whether that is change on a physical, emotional, mental or energetic level.
If you are interested in learning the skill of generating an energy flow, which is the foundation skill of all qigong classes with Fully Alive, you might be interested in our pre-recorded Level One course to take in your own time and at your own pace, with support by email from Tim as and when you need it.
Showing Up
In this clip from the Shaolin Arts class, Tim talks about showing up and doing the practice, even if you don’t feel ready, or think you won’t do it well enough.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it ‘right’ in the class. Right is only an idea anyway, which it can sometimes be useful to let go of. What’s important is being as present and connected as we can be in body, heart and mind.
When we allow ourselves to be fully engaged like this, we are practicing Triple Cultivation of Jing, Chi and Shen, body, energy and mind/spirit. This is one of the hallmarks of the Shaolin Arts and Shaolin Cosmos Qigong.
Triple Cultivation practice gives a felt experience of connection and presence. This can take you beyond thought, worry and judgement. When you practice coming from this embodied place in class, it becomes easier to come from there in everyday life.
Alignment of heart, mind and energy can sound like an abstract concept, but in classes you will get a felt experience that you can bring into what you are practicing, whether a qigong form or a kungfu set. It can feel really good to find a deeper connection with yourself. Sometimes it can even feel extraordinary. And some days it isn’t so easy to find, so we keep doing the practice.
This way of approaching things may start to feed into other aspects of life. Work, hobbies, interactions with other people, or doing everyday tasks can feel more rewarding and be less effort. We may find we are naturally showing up more fully to things, and relating to ourselves and to life differently.
If you are interested in exploring ways to become more connected within yourself, or finding ways to approach life with less stress and more engagement, why not try one of our classes for a month and see how you get on?