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.
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.
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.
Everyone Should be Doing this Exercise
A while back, I wrote a post about what it really means to be healthy and strong. It isn't about muscles folks, it's about your internal organs. This vlog is going to show you how to gently massage and stimulate your internal organs with Buddhist and Taoist breath. EVERYONE should do this exercise: men, women, children, the elderly, cancer patients, people with digestive problems, the list goes on and on. Use 80% effort, and you'll be making your organs very happy.
The 5 Pillars of the Mind Body Approach
My mind-body prescriptions and holistic approach to healing is based on five pillars:
Body: The environment in which all other systems must function. This is the foundation of all my prescriptions. Reconnecting with the body is essential to all mind-body programs.
Mind: In eastern tradition, there are two kinds of mind: the emotional mind ("monkey" mind) and the wise mind ("horse" mind). The ancient texts say, "Seize the ape; Obtain the horse."
Breath: This is the primary tool with which to calm the mind. The "banana" used to capture the monkey.
Spirit: This is what is evoked when Tai Chi and Qi Gong teach you to connect to the earth and the heavens. It can be "raised" and "cooled".
Energy: Lastly, the product of the other building blocks being regulated, balanced, and coordinated. This is exactly what you think. A well that you can pull from, keeping you feeling young and alive.
One Easy Exercise to Help Digestive Issues
A lot of people don't know that I got into martial arts and mind-body practice because I had digestive issues growing up that no doctor was able to help me with. I still have to deal with it from time to time, but using this exercise helped me reduce my symptoms tremendously.
My Two New Udemy Courses
It's too beautiful outside to read a bunch of Tai Chi and Qi Gong theory today, so in this blog post I am going to quickly introduce my two new online Tai Chi courses, and then you can be on your way.
First is my brand new course "Tai Chi for a Focused Mind - Pure and Simple," which is an abridged version of my long course "Improve Your Mental and Physical Success with Tai Chi and Qi Gong." This course doesn't get into the Qi Gong philosophy at all, and only does the minimal breathing and stretching exercises. It's about half as long as my original Tai Chi and Qi Gong course, and because of that it's great for people with very little time during the day.
Both courses teach you the same Tai Chi form, but this shorter course is aimed at helping you focus, and reducing stress. The longer course is more about transitioning into a healthier lifestyle. You can think of them like an introductory course and a graduate level course in the same subject.
My other new course is the companion to my "Relieve and End your Lower Back Pain" course. It's called "Alleviate Upper Back Pain with Tai Chi and Qi Gong." This course is structured exactly like the Lower Back pain course, except it focuses on upper back, shoulder girdle, neck, and head problems. This course was so highly requested that we released it before we finished the supplementary print material for it. All of that is on it's way though, and will be provided to everyone who purchases the course.
NOTE: All of my courses are available here at Udemy, and the short Tai Chi course is on sale for $9.99 through July 31st.