Sink Your Mind Into This

Great Blue Hole

It’s tough to put internal events into words and it often over-simplifies them.  The truth is, you’ll never know what it’s like to experience the world as Jason Socci and I’ll never know what it’s like to experience the world as anyone but Jason Socci.

It’s ultimate, existential loneliness.

This doesn’t mean it’s pointless to try to come as close as possible.  Try with me now, won’t you?

Allow me to share my experience of sinking. I’ve noticed this experience most often during Dim-Mak Heart Qigong.

It goes something like this: my hands hover at about chest level, elbows dropping downward. Just below my hands, running parallel to the ground is a membrane. It’s like a very viscous liquid. My mind slowly drops down into it. Other times it’s more like I find a small crevice or whole in the membrane to drop into.

It’s gradual. I can’t try to do it; I must let it happen. Once I feel engulfed, my awareness relaxes.

In other words, instead of being aware and struggling, with burning muscles in my thighs or shoulders, I am aware and simply observing my physical body from a distance.  It’s akin to experiencing the outside world while under water. Sensations are there, but they’re softened.

Typically, I waver in and out. Bobbing up occasionally due to distractions or thoughts.

Wow, that sounds strange to read! Keep in mind; I don’t think any of these words while practicing. It all just happens abstractly through internal impressions and feelings. I came up with these words to help others (who are not me) get a taste of my experience.

Don’t be shy, please share some of your experiences here.

4 Responses to Sink Your Mind Into This

  1. Bob Patterson says:
    2 December 2009 at 2:40 am

    “In other words, instead of being aware and struggling, with burning muscles in my thighs or shoulders, I am aware and simply observing my physical body from a distance. It’s akin to experiencing the outside world while under water. Sensations are there, but they’re softened.”

    Steven – I tried Qigong during my neck injury. Never was in it long enough to achieve what you have achieved. I do dabble with seated meditation. During serious run v. 1 I got into that whole “focus on the chakras” thing.

    http://under-the-bodhi-tree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/chakras_clip_image001.jpg

    Lately I’ve gotten back into meditation but I’m keeping it simple:

    http://www.how-to-meditate.org/breathing-meditations.htm/

    I focus on the breath for the first half. Then, during the second half, I maintain the relaxed breathing and mentally focus on regions of the body. (e.g. feet, shins, thighs, midsection, etc). I picked that up in Qigong and part of that schtick is to “send energy” to injured areas of the body. Consequently I spend more time thinking about my hip and neck.

    Long way to make my point but my point is that in both runs I’ve achieved that remote awareness that you describe.

    • S.Smith says:
      3 December 2009 at 10:35 am

      Good to hear from you Bob. This article was written by Mr. Jason Socci, Taiji Instructor in Salt Lake City.

      Still, I’m with you. I like the “send energy” bit especially when I feel my pulse in the area. And the remote awareness is awesome. It’s always been a point of mine to never-describe experiences in class, instead I stick to the posture arrangements and the breathing actions. Because this is what happens: people find unique experiences and personal ways to describe their experiences…and then they can write like Jason.

      • Daniel Mroz says:
        3 December 2009 at 3:55 pm

        Dear Steven,

        I’m just leaving a quick note to thank you very much for the DVD you sent; I am honoured. I’ve skimmed over it, but I will have to wait for a while to really dig into the material. It is the end of term here and between marking, watching final presentations and the like, I can’t get 1 or 2 uninterrupted hours I’ll need. I hope you and yours have a great festive season in your new home. I’ll be in touch soon.

        All the best,

        Daniel

  2. Jason Socci says:
    3 December 2009 at 9:24 pm

    Hello Bob,

    Thanks for reading and taking the time to share your comments. I also like shifting my awareness to different parts of my body. Sometimes I’ll go into my qigong with a specific body part in mind to do some quality one-on-one with it. I try to see what it’s up to in the context of my overall structure. This was helpful for me in working on some knee discomfort I was having for quite some time.

    Steven, I like finding my pulse. My favorite and the easiest pulse for me to find is the abdominal aorta in a sitting posture. It’s a strong one and it causes my trunk to do a little back and forth swaying/twitching which amusing and amazes me.

    -Jason