Active Range of Motion vs. Stretching

Centering: Focusing Your Energy

 

Now that you are improving your ability to stay centered and have a better awareness of your body, let’s try to focus your energy in a specific manner. You will need a partner to help you out with this. First, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. The fingers should be fingertip to fingertip, not pad to pad. Squeeze your fingers together as tight as you can and have your partner try to pull them apart. Most likely this can be done quite easily. No matter how hard you squeeze, it is highly likely that your partner can pull them apart.

 So now, lie down on your back. Begin to circle breathe and center your qi. Once centered, you will try to do the same thing again but with a little different focus. When making the circle, imagine that the circle is a never ending piece of steel. It has no openings, no beginnings and no ends. It is a solid circle that can not be pulled apart. It is impossible. When you have this focus down and you still have your body centered, have your partner try to pull your fingers apart again. As long as you maintain your focus and centering of your body, your fingers will not be pulled apart. As soon as you lose your focus or your center, it will be pulled quite easily. Many times while doing this, people will state that they feel they don’t squeeze as hard and they don’t feel their fingertips. It is as though it became one finger looped together.

 Exercises such as this will help with focus during athletic events.