Take the time to prepare yourself for the work day both mentally and physically.
- What is your aim for the day?
- How will you improve yourself today?
Motivate yourself!
- Tell yourself you will do a good job today.
Ask yourself
- What tone of voice will I use? Strong, relaxed, friendly, adamant, or lazy, dismotivated, just-barely-getting-by?
- How is my posture? Am I slouching, laid back, head-first, or straight, with head suspended?
Am I breathing? How am I breathing?
Qi Flow
micro methods for macro effects
Stretch!
Stretching
may be one of the most underestimated parts of any workout. In fact, even
without working out, stretching may just be one of the fundamental types of
movement that allows our body to regenerate and feel alive by stimulating our
blood flow and engaging our body of muscles in seemingly tiny, micro, steps but
with maximum macro effects.
Start by
making it a habit to stretch as often as you remember.
- Stretch
your arms upward, sideward, and downward.
- Stretch
your chest by flinging your arms to the sides and back, and breathe in as you
do it.
- Go into a
box split position and go as low as you can to stretch the inner thighs.
- Tiptoe from
time to time and feel the muscles along the top of your foot stretch. It will
also increase the power of your calves and increase your sense of balance.
- Stretch all
the muscles around your shoulders by moving them in a circular motion: to the
front, up, back, and down. Do it again the other way around!
- Alleviate
back pain by stretching your side abs.
- Alleviate
back pain by bending forward and down; feeling the lower back muscles being
pulled both right and left as you bend left and right.
- Do a lunge
with both feet flat on the ground; front leg bent 90 degrees and back leg
straightened out – this is also known as the gōng bù.
- Stretch the
muscles in your hands by spreading out all 10 fingers as much as you can.
- Stretch
your wrists by pulling your hand both up, and down.
I challenge
you to do these stretches – anyone of them – as often as you think of them; you
will feel revitalized, fuelled with energy, with a more positive outlook on
your next task – most importantly, you will want to move – more and more.
The Buddha Smile
To be used:
In face of a problem that just doesn’t have a solution
In face of a customer that just won’t buy
In face of an attractive mate that just won’t respond
In face of a problem that just doesn’t have a solution
In face of a customer that just won’t buy
In face of an attractive mate that just won’t respond
Smile in
your stomach!
Imagine
you’re smiling inside your stomach!
Automatically:
-
Your
mouth will smile along
-
Your
chin will lift up
-
Your
posture will rise up
-
You
will take a deep breath of air
-
And
you will just feel better…
move!
move as much as possible!
no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, there is always room to move!
next time you find yourself staring at the computer screen, think of these little tips that will help you calm down your mind, and find joy in movement.
- click consciously: when you flick between web pages, when you're inputting data, or working on a presentation, try to click consciously. this means: when you click, think and be aware that you're clicking. notice how your mind is telling the finger to move down with pressure exerted on your fingertip.
- type consciously: try typing one or two words with explicit notice of the physiological act of moving your fingers and hitting the letters of your keyboard.
- move your feet! when you feel your legs getting heavy, or feel them starting to shake due to the lack of movement, move your feet up and down. do it slowly and consciously. feel the muscles along the top of your foot pull your foot up, and feel the muscles at the ball of the foot tense as you move your foot down.
- tense your stomach and work the abs: tense your lower abs and breathe in. feel how it works your lungs and your abs. you will suck in more air, increase the flow of oxygen in your blood and stimulate your blood circulation.
- breathe in deeply! take a moment to breathe in deeply. so deep, that you feel your whole lung expanding and filling up with air. breathe in through your nose, and breathe out through your nose. dont breathe out through the mouth just yet, because that'll just dry up your mouth.
the golden rule...
move as soon as you think of it, and move as often as you feel like it!
no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, there is always room to move!
next time you find yourself staring at the computer screen, think of these little tips that will help you calm down your mind, and find joy in movement.
- click consciously: when you flick between web pages, when you're inputting data, or working on a presentation, try to click consciously. this means: when you click, think and be aware that you're clicking. notice how your mind is telling the finger to move down with pressure exerted on your fingertip.
- type consciously: try typing one or two words with explicit notice of the physiological act of moving your fingers and hitting the letters of your keyboard.
- move your feet! when you feel your legs getting heavy, or feel them starting to shake due to the lack of movement, move your feet up and down. do it slowly and consciously. feel the muscles along the top of your foot pull your foot up, and feel the muscles at the ball of the foot tense as you move your foot down.
- tense your stomach and work the abs: tense your lower abs and breathe in. feel how it works your lungs and your abs. you will suck in more air, increase the flow of oxygen in your blood and stimulate your blood circulation.
- breathe in deeply! take a moment to breathe in deeply. so deep, that you feel your whole lung expanding and filling up with air. breathe in through your nose, and breathe out through your nose. dont breathe out through the mouth just yet, because that'll just dry up your mouth.
the golden rule...
move as soon as you think of it, and move as often as you feel like it!
breath before pressure
"None of us actually think about the mechanics of how we walk as we are ambling along - we are thinking about what we are going to have for dinner, or what we are going to say at our next meeting, etc.
But now imagine that you are walking along a narrow path with a 10,000 foot precipice on either side. Now, we might think about how we are moving our feet, the angle of our tread, the precise footfall on the path. And this, of course, is when we are most likely to fall. reading the main storyBut now imagine that you are walking along a narrow path with a 10,000 foot precipice on either side. Now, we might think about how we are moving our feet, the angle of our tread, the precise footfall on the path. And this, of course, is when we are most likely to fall.
Walking is, when you think about it, quite a complex set of movements and if we think too much about them we are far more likely to get confused. This, incidentally, is why walking feels so weird when we are in front of a lot of people, like at graduation."
(Should people accept that pressure is a fact of life?, BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17874450)
this article continues to describe a string of situations in which we feel stress and pressure. if walking is so complex, what is not?
breath.
breathing is the most fundamental activity we as living organisms can engage in. EVERYTHING else builds on this. managing to be aware of your own breathing brings you back to step one in any situation. practising this awareness is key to gaining a focused and stable mind. it is also the first and last step to gaining and maintaining a healthy body.
hula dance!
hula hoops make a great workout!
- increased coordination of movement in waist, hip, and legs.
- increase of stability and balance in the feet
- build-up of connection between legs and body
- quick loss of weight, while training both lungs, abs, legs
- quickly increases energy levels, due to the focus on the dantian area while hooping
and i'm pretty sure it'll also do wonders for tai ji push hands training!
--> just have to find out what to do with the arms meanwhile...
- increased coordination of movement in waist, hip, and legs.
- increase of stability and balance in the feet
- build-up of connection between legs and body
- quick loss of weight, while training both lungs, abs, legs
- quickly increases energy levels, due to the focus on the dantian area while hooping
and i'm pretty sure it'll also do wonders for tai ji push hands training!
--> just have to find out what to do with the arms meanwhile...
horse-stance training (马步 - mă bú)
meditate on your standing everyday.
align your spine from tailbone,
to the lower back,
to the back end of your lower sternum,
to the start of the neck,
into and up through the highest point of your skull.
feel your spine as string pulling up from the skull,
down from the tailbone.
the hip pushes forward, the kua opens,
connecting your upper body and waist to your legs.
don't strain on your knees; stand high enough that the energy
passes down to your feet.
let your toes grip the floor like roots of a tree,
keep your intention flowing into the ground via your feet.
breathe freely
relax your shoulders as the energy sinks from them,
through your backbone,
into your hip,
through your knees,
into your feet and the earth.
practise now for as long as you wish.
don't stay static, feel your qi, your yi, flow.
stay standing as long as your mind stays focused.
sway.
lift your body when your legs become tired,
sit back into them when they've recovered.
keep your feet parallel, shoulder-width apart.
lift up your arms without raising your shoulders.
don't push out your elbows, let them sink down naturally.
open your hands, letting your palms face outward slightly,
such that you may form a triangle with the thumb and index fingers,
of both your hands.
feel the connection between your shoulders,
to elbows, to wrists, to palms, to fingers.
feel the connection between your backbone,
to shoulders, to elbows, to wrists, to palms,
to fingers.
feel the connection between your lower back,
to backbone, to shoulders, to elbows, to wrists,
to palms, to fingers.
sink the connection further down,
that hip, knees, ankles, feet, and toes,
link all the way up through your waist,
backbone, shoulders, elbows,
wrists, palms, and fingers.
keep your chin in, and push your head back up.
stand for one breath now.
stand for two breaths later.
stand for three breaths tomorrow.
stand for n breaths forever.
align your spine from tailbone,
to the lower back,
to the back end of your lower sternum,
to the start of the neck,
into and up through the highest point of your skull.
feel your spine as string pulling up from the skull,
down from the tailbone.
the hip pushes forward, the kua opens,
connecting your upper body and waist to your legs.
don't strain on your knees; stand high enough that the energy
passes down to your feet.
let your toes grip the floor like roots of a tree,
keep your intention flowing into the ground via your feet.
breathe freely
relax your shoulders as the energy sinks from them,
through your backbone,
into your hip,
through your knees,
into your feet and the earth.
practise now for as long as you wish.
don't stay static, feel your qi, your yi, flow.
stay standing as long as your mind stays focused.
sway.
lift your body when your legs become tired,
sit back into them when they've recovered.
keep your feet parallel, shoulder-width apart.
lift up your arms without raising your shoulders.
don't push out your elbows, let them sink down naturally.
open your hands, letting your palms face outward slightly,
such that you may form a triangle with the thumb and index fingers,
of both your hands.
feel the connection between your shoulders,
to elbows, to wrists, to palms, to fingers.
feel the connection between your backbone,
to shoulders, to elbows, to wrists, to palms,
to fingers.
feel the connection between your lower back,
to backbone, to shoulders, to elbows, to wrists,
to palms, to fingers.
sink the connection further down,
that hip, knees, ankles, feet, and toes,
link all the way up through your waist,
backbone, shoulders, elbows,
wrists, palms, and fingers.
keep your chin in, and push your head back up.
stand for one breath now.
stand for two breaths later.
stand for three breaths tomorrow.
stand for n breaths forever.
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