The eight principles of practice

1. The meditative state of mind – or the not-doing of meditation

Stopping the internal dialogue – or the inner silence

The base on everything else rests without the meditative state of mind. The other principles lose their deeper meaning. It is total attention like in concentration, to the life force itself. Total attention without object and subject, but to all around and everything in complete silence. Become aware of how much we over-use the front of our body and brain.

When thoughts has stepped aside for a moment, so that listening can take over, heißt: offen sein, wahr nehmen, hören, lauschen, zuhören, aufmerksam sein.

Concentric vision is connected to the thinking (young) brain. The energy of looking goes through the inner corners of the eyes.

Peripheral vision is connected to the pre-linguistic (old) brain. The energy of looking goes through the outer corners of the eyes. Your feeling sence is activated.

Peripheral hearing, die Ohren weich, weit, mehr nach außen und hinten orientiert um neben Geräuschen vor allem die leeren Räume zwischen den Geräuschen, die Stille, mit den Ohren zu fühlen.

2. Relaxation – or the not-doing of the body

Practise of awareness with peripheral energy can bring chienergy into the muscular system. The awareness comes from inside. E.g. to observe »my stiff shoulders« – is from outside, is »doing« and each affirmation further aggravates the situation.

Relaxation ist the not-doing – it is not confirmed by extermal observation and affirmation. Die Energie soll fließen – ohne Barrieren, von innen nach außen und umgekehrt. Wir sind alle Energiekörper – in Verbindung mit allem. Wir betrachten Blockaden von innen, ohne diese jemals als »Problem« zu benennen. The quiet observe will allow air and space to come back into the tense parts. This is called »undoing«, when the muscles and joints unfurl like a thightly closed leaf to let in the sunlight and the air.

Stress der nicht abgebaut werden kann, baut über Jahre körperliche Probleme auf. D.h., dass vor allem die großen Muskelgruppen loslassen müssen. Die großen Muskelgruppen sind die, die in dynamischen Bewegungen aktiv sind.

Release this old patterns, inprinted on the body. To aligne the body, heißt, den Körper mit möglichst wenig Muskelkraft gut auf- und ausrichten.

Aligne: head, chest, pelvis, feet – or: earholes, shoulder joints, hip joints, ankles

3. Intent – or the not-doing of visualization

Intent is the projection of a clear picture of the movement that we want to perform, while keeping the body on a state of relaxation and the mind in the meditative state, inviting the body to produce the movement.

Muscular act comes from muscles and bones. Chi energy comes from hara. Hara gets its energy from the ground. Root the feet. The energy from the feet goes to hara. Let the energy run through the arms and out through the fingers. Relax the arms and the eyes and keep elongating the chienergy. The more you relax, the stronger the energy can flow ... the more the arms become unbendable. This intent we can use in all postures. The intent is to project your chienergy to do a pose, then the body has to follow, it cannot not follow. E.g. take a moment to relax the body. Scan the body. Undo the tensions with your awareness, with your peripheral vision. The very awareness of attention brings chienergy into the body and will undo the tension.

Kopf und Körper sind entspannt und still. In Gedanken visualisiere, mit weichem, meditativem Blick, die Bewegung. Der innere Ablauf ist klar, ruhig, verinnerlicht – und jetzt nimmt dein Körper die physische Haltung ein, durch die Kraft des Verstehens und der Vorstellung. Es ist die mentale Energie mit der unser Energiekörper den physischen Körper in die Haltung bringt. Dieses Verstehen ist die Vorstellung zur Ausführung der Bewegung, bevor diese stattfindet. Z.B. bei der Drehung in siddhasana, nimm Kopf und Blick mit in die Drehung, aber stell dir Augen zwischen Sternum und den Schulterköpfen vor. Es sind diese Augen die etwas sehen wollen und so den gesamten oberen Brustkorb aktivieren und weiter öffnen.

Images are strong, they are an integral part of intent, because the body has to follow the image.

4. Rooting – gravity and the rebound force

Steh hüftbreit. Spreize  mit den Händen die Zehen. The toes form the rooting rim of the cup. Toes and metatarsales do slight slightly back towards the heels. The knuckles and the toes remain straight and stay down. Rooting the pada bandha: a action like the octopus that sucks the energy out of the ground. This action stirr up in the spring joints. Glue and lengthen the bottom of the toes on the floor. When the feet root in this way, the echo takes place in the pelvis joints. The pelvis lift up from the femur heads (mula bandha).

5. Centering – or the knowledge of hara

Hara: pelvis as center of gravity, power and movement. Out of the center, hara, all movement should flow in and out. Up from the feet (pada bandha) into hara and from hara into the rest of the body.

Breathing too should flow into and out of hara. Breathing is the main source of chi intake. It needs a vehicle for distribution, which is awareness and attention. By placing attention on certain parts of the body, chi is directed there. This attention is part of intent. Chienergy is subtiler than muscular force.

6. Bodyscape – or the anatomical understanding of the body

Bodyscape functions: By guiding the movement and the breath through certain muscles chain and joints, the information or communication travels faster and more efficient. If we then combine this with the principles of rooting and breathing, we get a powerfull, and at the same time almost effortless, expansion from inside, called elongation.

All joints, ankles, knees, hips, spinal column, shoulder joints, elbows and wrists should be in contact with our awareness and physically aligned with one another to receive energy. There are important energy pathways through the muscles, where energy is gathered. These gathering places are bandhas. In bandhas energy is collected and sent on the next bandha or gathering point.

A local action is confined only to the area where it takes place. A non-local action does take you further. It is healthier for the body in long run. There are joints, muscles and bandhas which are energy arches or containers connected to each other. Once the action is started the movement runs through the body without the employment of will. The energy flows fluently and uninterrupted.

Looking for non-local actions, you need to find the entrance to the connecting line.

Non-local actions are almost always started in a bandha, with one addition: the ulnar wrist point is the point on the inside of the wrist on the side of the little finger. It is a powerfull entrance point. In accupuncture this point is called: »the gate to paradise«.

Non-local actions are results of rooting, rebounding energy and the breathing wave.

Pada Bandha oder der höchste Punkt im Fußgewölbe, is magnetizing or rooting the outer rim of the entire foot and sucking the center of the foot sole up, vergleichbar mit eine Saugnapf, wobei der Mittelfußknochen und die Zehen leicht in Richtung Ferse zurückgezogen werden. Auch Zehen und Knöchel werden etwas mit in Richtung Ferse gezogen, aber die Zehen bleiben lang. Zehen und Knöchel bleiben am Boden. Die Aktion kommt aus dem Mittelfußknochen, der etwas zur Ferse zurück zieht. Das Fußgewölbe hebt an. Die Energie aus den Fußgewölben wird über die Muskulatur hoch gezogen. This force, collected in the center of the foot sole, is carried up in to the lower abdomen (the hara or central point of gravity and power), which then resuts in the lifting of the pelvis floor in the so-called: mula bandha.

Mula Bandha oder das Beckengewölbe (Darmbeine, Schambein, Sithbeine). Wie das Wort sagt, sitzen wir aud den Sitzbeinen; kippt das Becken zuweit nach vorne, sitzen wir auf dem Schambein, kippt das Becken zuweit nach hinten, sitzen wir auf dem Steißbein.

When rooting the sitting bones into the floor, or when movement is carried up from pada bandha through the legs, the pelvis floor is lifted and widened, the mula bandha. Mula bandha wird in allen Haltungen mit aktiviert, aber ganz besonders in Atemübungen. Always keep awareness in hara. In all movements hara gives stability to the body.

Uddiyana Bandha oder unteres Zwerchfellgewölbe. Das untere Zwerchfell trennt den Bauchraum vom Brustkorb. Einatmend sinkt sich das Zwerchfell und komprimiert dadurch dei Bauchorgane. Der Bauch bewegt sich nach »vorne«, die sogenannte Bauchatmung.

Uddiyana bandha ist die Kontraktion des Zwerchfells nach der Ausatmung. Das Zwerchfell wird in den Brustkorb hoch gezogen und zieht dabei die unteren Organe mit nach oben und nach hinten in Richtung Wirbelsäule. Im bandha werden Organe oder Körperteile gehalten, zusammen gezogen und komprimiert. 

The widening of the diaphragma is of special importans in backbendings, as in this way the lumbar spine is lengthened and widened and therefor protected from getting squashed.

Jalandhara Bandha or the arche formed by the upper thoracic diaphragma. Schiebe dein Kinn erst horizontal nach vorne, bevor du es nach unten bewegst in Richtung Brustbein, so dass dein Nacken konkav bleibt. Die Nackenmuskulatur muss weich bleiben. Move the jaw forward and down and the back rim of the head back and up. The jaw extends forward and lifts up. Das ergibt ein Gefühl großer Weite quer über den oberen Rücken. Die unteren/freien Rippen sind beweglich, weiten zur Seite bei der Einatmung. Die oberen Rippen können nicht weiten, werden jedoch im Einatem mit angehoben. In jalandhara bandha: the upper ribs lifted to the jawbone in the front. In the back the base of the skull is lifted up.

Hasta Bandha or the arch in the hands. In hand balancings the rebounding energy travels from the center of the palms through the arms and shoulder joints to lift the body up from those shoulder joints. The fingers are kept long and flat on the earth and they root together with the wrists, forming the rim of the bandha.

7. Breathing – or the total use of inner breathing space

Mainly we use two types of breathing, the soft awareness of breathing (or the daily breathing) connected with concentric vision. While accentuated awareness breathing is associated with peripheral vision. The last one gives more energy, is also called the mula bandha breathing, as its trajectory is through the bandhas. Often we are not aware of our breathing. Awareness brings more oxygen and chienergiy. With awareness you may direct the breathing to go wherever oxygen or chienergie is lacking.

8. Elongating – or using the total breathing to open the body

There is a profound difference between stretching and elongating. Stretching is a mechanical lengthening of a certain muscle, produced by shortening of another one.

With the help of awareness and breathing, we may allow the muscles to elongate without the shortening of another one.

We allow the muscles to undo themselves e.g. biceps and triceps. We do not contract and stretch, in elongating it is simultaneous undoing to enhance its power.

In stretching is the danger of ripping. In elongating there seems to be no limit. Es besteht nicht nur keine Gefahr, nor for both muscles it is a simultaneously ride in the flow of energy, ohne Ermüdung und ohne Rückstände (z.B. Milchsäure), done by visualization or intent and is a movement as a result of awareness, breath flowing and undoing.