Rami's Blog

Like the Yin-Yang, Eastern Martial Arts and Western medicine are two halves of a whole. My mission is to preserve the ancient mind-body tools and pass them on to you.

 

How an Octopus can Help your Arthritis

If you have arthritis in you fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, or shoulders, this move is for you. It is called "octopus swimming" and if you can actually do it in warm water, it will relieve your arthritis symptoms even more effectively. Don't hesitate to check out my other motions for treating arthritis here. Remember! 40% effort or you'll just cause more inflammation.

I also show you how to tweak the exercise for use in martial arts. If you need to increase your arm strength and speed for strikes and blocks, this is a great exercise for you.


The Energetic Baton

Once you have worked on visualizing the Upper and Lower Energy Centers at the same time, you can visualize their connection running up and down the front of the spine. This is the Energetic Baton.

You may be thinking, "Wait! Why didn't we just visualize the whole baton from the beginning?" Good question. The answer is because the important aspect of the baton is how energy moves within it. If you begin visualizing one solid object, it becomes harder to visualize the energy moving within it. On the other hand, if you picture each energy center separately, as a pool or source of energy, and then picture a connection between then, like a pipe or a tunnel, it is much easier to experience the energy moving between them.

When you picture the baton, pay attention to the similarities and differences between the two energy centers. How are the sensations different? Where does the energy naturally flow in your body? Why?

Next week, we deal with cooling the baton to relieve stress.

The Upper Energy Center

The Upper Energy Center is located in the center of the brain, directly in (toward the nose) from the soft location on the back of the neck where it meets the skull (called the "Jade Pillow" in eastern tradition).

The Upper Energy Center is harder to visualize than the Third Eye, because it is deeper inside the head. The eye area tends to distract from this visualization because it is so often active. I suggest doing the Third Eye breathing exercise from last week's post to "cool" the eye energy first.

Once your are relaxed and have cooled the eye energy, then begin to focus on the Upper Energy Center, and visualize it just as you would the Lower Energy Center.

For some people, it is harder to begin by visualizing the Upper Energy Center. So, I suggest beginning with the Lower Energy Center, and once you have focused on that for a while, move up. The overall idea is to strengthen both to the point where you can visualize both simultaneously, and "echo" or "vibrate" energy between them.

As a quick reminder, make sure to maintain your "inner smile" when working on your energy center visualizations. There is a tendency to become too serious. Keep a happy sensation in your chest, and allow it to spread as you meditate.

Good luck!

Recuperate from Surgery Faster with these 4 Stretches

Whether you are preparing for surgery on your upper body, have just had surgery on your upper body, or just want greater range of motion and stability in your shoulder girdle, you need to do these four stretches. The shoulder girdle is a very complex area of the muscular and skeletal systems, and it is easy to get stuck with mobility problems if you don't take care of the joints properly.

The Third Eye

As our first installment in this series about the Energetic Baton, a sequel to our Lower Energy Center Series, we will be dealing with an unrelated topic that often confuses people trying to meditate on the energy centers.

The Third Eye is just behind the forehead, in front of the brain. Specifically, it is centered on a line in the middle of the two lobes of the brain in what is called the "spiritual valley." The Third Eye is a gate, where energy comes into and exits the body. It is important to understand the difference between a gate and an energy center. Energy centers store energy in your body; gates allow energy in and out.

Before you begin exploring the Upper Energy Center, which is very close to the Third Eye, you should practice Third Eye gate breathing. Relax your face, relax your eyes and allow them to move downward. A common mistake during this meditation is to move the eyes upward. This creates tension that will make it harder to focus.

Visualize the energy moving in through the Third Eye on the inhalations, and out on the exhalations. And be patient. As one of my teachers told me, "Do not be too quick to attempt to reopen the third eye."

Next week, the Upper Energy Center.

If you want to learn more about the Third Eye and Third Eye breathing to cool the spirit, please check out my Sunset Tai Chi book and DVD.