Meditation is a form of mental work when a person focuses on any one thought, problem, object in order to immerse himself in a state of mild hypnosis or trance. This is believed to provide a new experience of self-discovery and unprecedented physical and mental capabilities. A typical example is the yogis staying for many hours in the lotus position. However, meditation includes not only concentration on the tip of the nose or motionless vigil under a fig tree, as the Buddha himself did in ancient times, but also various kinds of physical exercises. In other words, meditation is carried out not only in rest, but also in movement.
Meditation provides a new experience of self-knowledge and unprecedented physical and mental opportunities
This is the most famous and fashionable style of Chinese wushu, which is also practiced by Europeans. Its origins are in the philosophy of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, according to which life is a continuous movement, and therefore in order for a person to have it healthy and harmonious, it is required to act in accordance with this flow, and not to go contrary to it.
Central to the idea of tai chi is the representation of constantly renewable psychic energy, or chi, in a person coming from outer space. The movements of a person using Taijiquan are fluid and yet dynamic. They are determined by qi energy and do not cause fatigue even after hours of training.
On the contrary, a person after these activities experiences a surge of cheerfulness. Taijiquan, thanks to the harmonious distribution of qi flows in the human body, allows you to get rid of all kinds of chronic diseases caused by the stagnation of mental energy. Today in every regional center of Russia there are health-improving groups engaged in this famous meditation practice.
ADVANCED "INDIAN RUN"
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This is the name of a psycho-training system for the economical use of one's own strength and, at the same time, is a way of gaining cosmic energy while walking long distances. Variants of meditative running are not only among the Indians of the New World, but also as a spiritual practice among Tibetan monks. Its highlight is that such a runner, unlike marathoners, completely disconnects from internal sensations, focusing his attention on the elements of the environment and, moreover, receiving energy from them. The experience of super-long-distance runners competing with people practicing meditative running is remarkable. Despite the fact that the athletes during the run and in front of him were fortified with high-calorie foods, and the proponents of the Indian running were based only on a moderate dairy-vegetable diet,the first ones lost several kilograms of their own weight at the finish, while the adepts of meditative running gained about the same kilograms. In other words, in the process of meditative running, not only the accumulation of cosmic energy is carried out, but also its transmutation with transformation into physical energy, as well as materialization, which consists in the synthesis of substances necessary for a person, seemingly "out of nothing" …
Running as a phenomenon of the spiritual culture of the aborigines of the American continent has been studied and described in detail in the book "Indian Run" published in the USA by professor of anthropology Peter Nabokov. In our country, a variant of meditative running is used in groups of enthusiasts led by Ya. I. Koltunov.
Elements of meditative running are also known in European culture under the name of the phenomenon of "second wind". Its peculiarity lies in the following: many athletes, some time after the start of running, have discomfort: pain in the legs, shortness of breath, palpitations. The duration of this phase is about 10 minutes, after which, if the person continues to run, the discomfort suddenly disappears. In sports, this moment is called "dead center". It is believed that from this time on, the body switches to anaerobic (oxygen-free) respiration. This is not quite a meditative run yet, but only approaches to it, since the athlete still uses his internal energy resources and is in a clear consciousness, whereas during the Indian run, a person enters a light trance and receives energy from the external environment.
SPINNING DEVICES
This is an old custom practiced among the supporters of the mystical branch of Islam - the Sufis or dervishes. Without going into the details of the inner life of this religious order, we point out that one of the ritual techniques of dervishes is a special technique of whirling, used to achieve mystical ecstasy (trance). Usually this practice is applied in public, attracting many onlookers. After continuous rotation around its own axis to the accompaniment of drums and wind instruments, after a while the dancer plunges into a meditative state, in which the feeling of reality is lost. To achieve trance as soon as possible, dervishes use defocused vision when they try not to focus their gaze on any external object. This is facilitated by the spinning itself, which makes it impossible to fix the gaze. One rotation around its own axis is carried out with the help of two push-off legs. The dancer first folds his hands on his chest, and after gaining momentum, raises them up and spreads them to the sides. In this case, the right palm is traditionally directed upward (symbolic connection with the sky), while the left palm is turned with an open palm downward (connection with the earth). The dancer's eyelids are slightly closed or their gaze is directed upwards.
Sufi rotation is taught in several months, and people of any gender and age are accepted into the groups of this dance. However, there is also selection. First of all, empirically excluded all persons with instability of the vestibular apparatus, in whom rotation causes vomiting or fainting. Actually, the sessions of rotation, both for a beginner and an experienced adept, are combined with ordinary religious practice, and therefore people with the appropriate religious affiliation are admitted to the ranks of the dancing dervishes …
SHAMANIC DANCE
This is another effective way of relaxation and, moreover, a method of entering an altered state of consciousness, being in which the spirit of the shaman travels in transcendental spaces, receiving from there the necessary information about earthly problems of all kinds. This can be the difficulty of healing a sick person, restoring harmony within the tribe, predictions and prophecies. In order to enter a trance, shamans use rhythmic beats of a tambourine and prolonged monotonous whirling. It is noteworthy that, being far from a young age, the shaman easily makes breathtaking jumps and rotations for a long time during the ritual without feeling tired. On the contrary, he experiences a surge of vivacity and good mood, which is associated, as in previous cases, with the saturation of cosmic energy.
AMERICAN SHABS
Shakers (literally - "shakers") - a religious sect in the United States, emerged from Protestantism, a feature of which are specific body movements, shouts and dances. The heyday of the existence of this sect falls on the mid-18th - early 19th centuries, when the number of its supporters was especially numerous. Shaking shakers are not carried out alone, but in a close-knit team, each member of which is obsessed with the idea of obtaining a mystical experience. They gathered together in some suitable room and gradually, under the influence of monotonous singing, religious hymns and psalms, entered a darkened state of consciousness, motivated by one of the members of the sect with hysterical features. As a result, all the members of the group, in imitation of him, began to shake and spin until they fell to the floor in exhaustion … In the conditions of a monotonous lifestyle and a sedentary profession,to which many clerks and bourgeois of that time were exposed, this gave physical and psychological relaxation, during which the sectarians threw out all the accumulated emotions, realizing themselves in this way.
TENSEGRITI - THE MAGIC PRACTICE OF THE INDIANS
Tensegrity (English Tension - tension, stretching + integrity - integrity) is a modern version of the magical passes discovered by the shamans of ancient Mexico. The movements performed here are aimed at periodic tension and relaxation of the muscles and joints of the body, which makes this direction related to Taijiquan. However, the style of exercise itself has nothing to do with Chinese meditation practice, since it originated in a completely different culture and in different social conditions. The term was borrowed by K. Castaneda from the architect, engineer, scientist and clairvoyant R. Buckminster Fuller, who created the dome of the US pavilion at the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition. Castaneda himself learned this form of magic from the shaman of the Indian tribe don Juan Matus.
Initially, the magical exercises of the ancient Indians were carried out only by the initiated disciples of don Juan under conditions of the strictest secrecy. However, later the adepts of the doctrine (and don Juan himself) came to the unanimous opinion that any secrecy around the magical passes completely contradicts their interest in making the technique available to the rest of the world. Thus, for several years, Carlos Castaneda and his associates selected the most effective of the magical exercises taught by the Indian magicians. Over time, everything that they learned and studied was systematized in the form of an independent psychotechnique, different from other similar practices, and since 1993, the students of the notorious don Juan began to teach tensegrity to the inhabitants of the New World.
Arkady Vyatkin