Stillness Through Movement
By Robert Corrado
Well met, good Franklies (and Franciscans, of course)! This is Rob. I hope that the newness and potential of the times, especially these current times, has your energy percolating. Some of the OG listeners will remember that I used to hang out on Thursday nights for a time. While it has been a while since then, I have never left the Quite Frankly sphere. My lady, the brilliant and beautiful Krista, is the editor-in-chief of The Quite Frankly Bulletin, and greatly contributes to the nightly show in a number of ways. As many of you know, I’ve been friends with Frank for many years. Those same conversations and questions that we used to posit on Thursday night shows regarding the day’s events, what it could mean, and where it all could be going, still take place. I also train Frank in Kung Fu. This is what brings me to write this piece. No, not Kung Fu specifically. (Although, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that; while not all men are meant to be tough guys, all men should be trained enough to be able to handle business. Just in case that type of business comes their way, or comes the way of a loved one.) I wanted to write about one specific aspect of Kung Fu training, which is movement.
Movement is essential for our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Like the saying goes. “Be like water.” Okay, I know that I said this wasn’t specifically about Kung Fu, but sometimes I can’t help myself. But, the point of the metaphor is that when water flows, it’s clear, it’s nutrient rich, it’s flexible, it’s healthy. When water is stagnant, there is still life (pun intended), but it’s limited. There’s pond scum, it stinks, it brings mosquitos, which bring disease. You get the point. Here are just a few tips and techniques to keep it moving this new year.
The first technique I wanted to mention doesn’t even require moving the physical body. But there is movement. It’s a basic breathing exercise that I do in all my classes. You can do this sitting down or standing up.
You want the back straight. Have a sense of being lifted up by the spot in between the two hemispheres of the skull. Almost like a marionette. Take the tip of the tongue and plug it into the roof of your mouth. Breathe in through the nose. Draw the breath through your lungs as you inhale, and use your imagination to bring it to this point just below the belly button. Generally, it is said that this point is about three fingers below the belly button, and three fingers deep. Some say it’s directly behind the belly button. Explore wherever you find it on yourself. You’ll know when you connect to it. (Go with your gut.) Then, allow the breath to exhale however it wants to. No need to direct the exhalation for this technique. The most important part is to just enjoy the breath. Be grateful for the breath. Our breath keeps us alive, and connects us to more spiritual aspects of our being. If we can cultivate this “attitude of gratitude” a few minutes a day, it will start to permeate into our whole being. This technique uses our minds to bring the breath to that point in the body, and it incorporates the emotional aspect of being grateful. This is physical, mental and emotional coordination. This coordination brings us to another stage…which is above my pay grade. But give it a try for a time. The quick summary version: Your head is suspended from above, tongue to the roof of the mouth, inhale deeply, let the breath exhale naturally, and enjoy it!
The next technique that I wanted to mention is the horse stance. All martial arts and body weight training has this exercise. And with good reason. You build from the foundation up. And this lays a solid foundation. The horse stance is the epitome of “simple, but not easy.” Horse stance will cultivate strength, balance, vitality and determination. Start with your legs about twice the width of your shoulders. (Yes, there is a technical way to find that. They do it in the video that I’m going to attach.) Then bend your legs and sit. You’ll look like you’re riding a horse. Find a depth that you can handle, and stay there. Really stay there. The buzz words in the fitness world these days are “time under tension.” We just say sit in the stance. If you have trouble with your joints, bend the legs less, until you can handle more. A forty-five degree bend is the basic, and eventually you want to progress to the thighs being parallel to the ground, for a full ninety-degree bend. Try and build up to around five minutes and see what happens. Words don’t do it justice— search out YouTube for a tutorial with visuals. This video shows a basic horse stance. It also conveys the spirit of training, and common occurrences: https://youtu.be/_kUsQWVrlNk?si=zESg__qMMIVRHLlq
Oh, and take that previously mentioned breathing exercise, and do it in the horse stance.
Okay, so that’s two movement exercises. One, you are just standing there, the other, you stand with your legs bent. So, let’s do a more conventional form of movement. Walk. That’s it. Just go for a walk. Preferably in Nature, but do what you have to. Walking is so good for our health. Walking provides a tremendous release for us energetically. Jesus walked everywhere. If it’s good enough for him, how can you go wrong? I’ve included some pictures of one of my walking routes. I always feel reinvigorated by the salty air and water. I also enjoy the manmade aspect of this route. The amusement park has an art deco style that is a favorite for Krista and me. The pier is much newer, having been replaced a few times because of hurricanes and superstorms as they’re now called. Lately, there are drones hovering in the air at night over here. Those don’t seem to fit the vibe, so I don’t pay them too much attention.
I’m not going to expound too much on these last exercises, but they should be mentioned. The Hindu squat and the Hindu push-up. Those that are looking for a little bit more of a physical challenge can try these. There is definite breath work involved in these as well, so it’s not just about the physical training. These exercises will develop muscle strength and flexibility. Not only the muscles, but also the connective tissue. Many injuries occur because the ligaments and tendons haven’t been trained sufficiently, relative to muscle. These two exercises will work the upper body, the core, and the legs. Check out these tutorials:
Hindu Squat: https://youtube.com/shorts/NvC8YxSUt5c?si=D2rI-zShGxWVKH-l
I would just add, inhale as you are coming up, completing the inhalation as the arms draw into you. Of course, that’s only a suggestion. Breathe how it seems natural to you. Just be open to the fact that you might reevaluate your breathing pattern as you practice more.
Hindu Push-Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQsQAiE0NQo&t=18s
The demonstrator explains the breathing the same way that I learned it, so I included this one.
Through these simple, yet effective forms of movement, we find much more than the physical aspect to things. I hope that we all move into this new year with renewed health, harmony and enjoyment!