MOVING IN STANCES FOR PHYSICAL OR INTELLECTUAL WORK
Moving in stances can help in any activitity
Question
You gave me excellent advice some years ago about moving in stances while carrying heavy firewood. What made this advice so practical for me was that the job of carrying firewood flowed both physically and energetically. It's much more enjoyable and much less tiring. Thank you.
Do you have other suggestions for how to incorporate our arts in ongoing, heavy physical labor? As an example, last spring my father and I undertook a construction project on an island. When transportation issues prevented machinery from coming to the island, I dug holes as deep as three meters by hand for several weeks, 40-50 hours/week.
What would you suggest before, during, and after each day of heavy physical labor? I'd also like to hear your recommendations for those of us who sometimes go from sedentary jobs to periods of heavy physical labor with no transition time.
Zach
Answer
I am proud and happy to say that ours is the only school I know that conscientiously and systematically transfers the philosophy, skills and techniques we learn in our kungfu and chi kung classes to enrich our daily life. You are a shining example for this remarkable attainment.
We can transfer anything from our arts not only to ongoing, heavy physical labor, but also to any task, and make the task enjoyable. This is one of the best, if not the best, benefits we have from the dedication to our arts. Of course, it needs creativity and imagination, and the training of our arts gives us this creativity and imagination.
Let us take a common example of carrying some heavy objects from one place to another, which is actually less laborious than your manually digging holes.
Many other people would cry, “Why me again to do this dirty job.” We have to change this negative attitude to a positive one, like, “Now I have a god-sent opportunity to practice my internal force -- and I’m going to make it enjoyable, as in our 3rd golden rule of practice.”
Do not carry the heavy objects immediately. Go into a chi kung state of mind. Gently sink your chi to your dan tian. Go to your stance and carry the objects in chi flow. If you are lucky to have your training in more than one round, see that you are more efficient in subsequent rounds.
Suppose you have to prepare a company report. Do not, like many other people, regard it as drudgery. Do your best in your report, and enjoy doing it. This is an opportunity to let you mind flow.
Before, during and after each day of heavy physical labor, or any physical or intellectual activity, enjoy a gentle chi flow. The chi flow before will give you mental clarity and energy for the task. The chi flow during the task, will do the work for you. The chi flow after the task will freshen and energize you.
Those used to sedentary jobs should not miss the opportunity to enjoy heavy physical labor. It is like moving from internal training to external training, or from abdominal breathing to leg stretching.
There is always transition time, no matter how short it may be. During this transition time, like when you stop your sedentary work to move to physical level, enter into a chi kung state of mind, or enter Zen or enter Tao.
The world is full of little beauties. Some of us will have to find them.
One can have a chi flow before, during or after any work
The above article is reproduced from the thread Applying and Deepening the Fundamental Skills of Chi Kung in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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