Fundamentos del estudio técnico

One of my students is an accountant. When he first came to see me, he was clearly worried about something. I didn’t ask him about that, however, and he simply joined my classes and started learning qigong.

As I got to know him better, he opened up a bit. He told me, “I have always been a worrier. I found out some time ago that often the things that I worried about were quite trivial. But they consumed most of my mind. My worrying often hampered me from doing something about the actual problem. The only break I had from this cycle of worry was when I went to work, where I had other responsibilities placed on me, like meeting dead-lines or producing accounts to a deadline. But then I worried about them as well.”

It seemed from what he told me that he worried about almost everything in his life. One day he told me that the things that worried him stretched from problems with his car to concerns about his own health and the health of his family. But, he told me, things had started to change.

“Once I started doing qigong, things began to change,” he said. “While I was standing without moving, I began to see that the thoughts that were causing me anxiety were like a broken record. They just went round and round. I soon realized that I could quite easily have other thoughts. I could think about good times and places. This had a profound effect on me. After my qigong practice, I felt the things that were troubling me were not as insur-mountable. In fact, they often seemed insignificant. When I was practicing qigong, I was a different person— without all the problems.”

There was a period of time when I didn’t see him much. I found out that there had been a serious illness in his family. His sister had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given eighteen months to live. “My qigong practice was particularly useful then,” he told me. “I used to see her every day. My daily qigong practice helped me stop worrying about her and accept the reality of the situation. That helped me, and I think it helped everyone else.”

He said, “This is how I look at situations now. If they cause me concern and I can do something about them, then, of course, I do what I can. Otherwise, I am able to accept what is happening.”

Energy, Anxiety, and Inner Strength 21

Sitting Up

The energy patterns we associate with anxiety have several forms. They can shift from one to the other, creating whirlpools of energy that leave us often feeling quite scattered.

When people get to this state, they often say, “I need to collect myself.” Whether you are feeling that or not, it is always helpful to gather your energy. It naturally reorganizes itself if it has a chance to settle— even for a short time.

Sitting up, in the midst of everything, for a minute or so is one way to do this. It is simple but extremely powerful. Anxiety and anxiety- related energy patterns often cause energy to get disturbed and blocked in the upper body and head. This contributes to confusion, increased tension, and headaches. The simple practice of sitting up helps move that energy lower in the body, where it can be more naturally rebalanced. As you can see from the relaxed position shown here, you do not need to hold yourself in a rigid position.

If possible, sit on a chair that sup-ports your back, which will enable energy to flow freely and relieve your torso and inner organs of pressure. Since the spinal cord runs between the brain and the base of the spine, having your back sup-ported and relaxed helps the flow of energy.

The difference between simply straightening the spine for a minute and the qigong practice you are going to do here is that you will hold this relaxed, upright position for between one and two minutes.

You breathe naturally while sitting up. Your eyes are open, although you can half- close them if you wish. Your hands can rest anywhere. To begin with, you are simply straightening the spine in a simple, natural way and remaining in that position for a short period of time.

22 The Qigong Workbook for Anxiety

You can think anything you want. Do not try to constrain the natural movement of the mind— that only increases tension.

After you have practiced the first stage of sitting up, the next stage is to sit with your ankles crossed. Some people find this more comfortable, and you can feel that it

pro-duces a different sensation in your lower body and abdomen.

Although you will have your feet flat on the floor again in the third stage, this intermediate step is very helpful for lower body relaxation and for helping you settle into the sitting posture.

Keep your spine as upright and relaxed as possible, without strain. You can relax your chest with the following simple method. First, breathe in deeply, and then breathe out through your nose.

Don’t force the air out, but exhale as fully as possible. As you do this, let your chest sink down a little. Your shoulders will drop a little. After this first com-plete breath, breathe naturally. Your hands can rest loosely in your lap, on your thighs, or in any position that is comfortable.

This is a moment of simply sitting still. It provides a healthy pause in your day and is part of the subtle process of cultivat-ing your natural energy. When you feel ready, move on to the third stage.

Energy, Anxiety, and Inner Strength 23 If you are comfortable with the previous two sitting postures, you can try this slightly more advanced stage. You might be tempted to go straight to this posture; you can, but I recommend following the three stages

of sitting up. To some people, these subtle adjustments may seem like nothing at all. It can be hard to understand why they are important.

In this third position, your knees are wider apart. This improves the flow of energy throughout the whole body and from the earth up into the body (earth energy is stabilizing).

Your open hands rest comfortably on your thighs. This helps relax your hands, arms, and upper body, which improves the flow of energy from your head, through your torso, and to your lower body and back. Your eyes are open or half- closed.

Sitting like this for a minute or two, up to a maximum of five minutes, is very helpful for stabilizing your energy.

Do not confuse this practice with any form of meditation. You are not

asked to concentrate on anything, to breathe in any particular way, to stop thinking, or to do anything in particular with your thoughts or emotions. If you feel anxious while doing this, please just allow that to happen while sitting in this relaxed way. This, in itself, is strengthening and stabilizing for your energy. Your anxiety will learn to trust that.

If you are feeling particularly anxious, you can place a glass of water (preferably one made of green or blue glass) on a low table slightly in front of you and gaze gently at that.

Further suggestions about the use of water in this kind of exercise are included in the practice “Looking into a Glass of Water” in part 4.