Physical Alchemy Schemata Diagram I

This (above) is a diagram I have been playing around with (in my mind) for a while, but haven't put pen to paper (whiteboard) on; until today.. 

This is the bones of the method; in diagram form.  I am sure this diagram will go through a number of changes, but as it stands I a quite happy with it.  Remember, this is just my take on movment and awareness training (Physical Alchemy style).  Take whatever is useful for you, and discard the rest.

I use some categories from my Physical Alchemy statement of Intent in this post - see HERE.  I suggest you read that one before this one..

Basic Strength Training (Tiger Body - Strength & Flexibility)

In the Physical Alchemy approach to strength training, the exercises are picked to improve the structural health of an individual, and to provide a solid foundation for the complex movements that the individual has picked to work on in the Complex Movement category.  

The health (hormone profile; structural health; soft tissue quality; etc) aspects are emphasized above the performance aspects, unless there is a good reason to preference performance (the person wants to compete in a competitive activity that they love).

For this reason there is little emphasis on general conditioning, other than walking and mobility conditioning style work (putting movement and mobility drills, that are done for their Radical Plasticity, joint opening and health benefits; into a circuit for some ambient cardiovascular effect of a low-medium level). 

People are encourage to do specific conditioning work (which can have a general conditioning micro- or meso-cycle) for the Complex Movement art(s) they have chosen to work on as the primary conditioning they do. 

Why?  For most normal individuals, doing an inordinate amount of strength training normally leads to over-training and injury, and quickly reaches a diminishing returns point.  Sure, if you love it and it's your passion, or favored movement activity, no problem (i.e Olympic lifting).
Also, specific conditioning drills (boxing; wrestling/grappling; martial arts; Parkour and Free-running; dancing) are normally much more fun than general conditioning drills, so why not do them instead (especially if you are not competing professionally)? 

My personal preference is to keep strength training sessions to two or three times a week (depending upon other activities undertaken); and keep my energy for skill work (which often has a strength-skill component, anyhow).
A lot of times people, rightly or wrongly, go for making exercises too advanced too quickly - or picking exercise that don't transfer particularly well to other endeavors (see Steve Maxwell's post on this HERE). 

The Basic Strength Training work each week is constitutional and soft tissue quality training.  The motor patterns are kept reasonably simple to keep quality and form to a high level.  Resistance is (obviously) one variable that is increased to keep improving, but in the Physical Alchemy approach a high degree of emphasis is placed upon improving bodily awareness and strength-control in an exercise (without resistance going up; which works well with body weight exercise) and working on different, increasingly difficult ways of breathing (or retaining breath) during movements.  More on this in a later post.

Advanced Stretching & Soft Body Skills (Tiger Body - Flexibility; The Re-Enchantment of the Body)

In contrast to the strength training, I like to use a lot of advanced stretching, limbering, suppleness, mobility and soft body skills work in my training - programmed in a way so I do something every day, but do not do the strongest methods more than twice a week (This too, will be a detail later post).

As I mentioned in my what is Physical Alchemy piece (HERE) - I am of the strong belief that there are many (some recognized, some not) health (from Daoist, osteopathic and structural integration perspectives on health), aliveness and awareness benefits gained from this type of work (on top of the useful, but more mundane improved flexibility and movement capacity) - and so I preference this type of work very highly, and specialize in it because of this. 

Complex Movement arts (Tiger Body - Agility; Strength; Flexibility; Play & Movement Lexicon)
My opinion is that it is here, not in strength training (again, unless it is your passion), that you should chase after complexity, high skill exercises and playfulness - once you have a sufficient foundational capacity of strength, flexibility and agility to do said activity (this depends upon the individual and the activity/art).

These activities have life-long learning benefits, creativity enhancement and creative expression aspects, and offer a sense of community/tribe. Master a few, and learn an instrument, and you're on your way to becoming a Renaissance man or women..! 

Examples: Martial arts; dancing; Parkour and Free-running; sports; even just joint mobility and movement patterning do for fun and health.

The Re-Enchantment of the Body
This is all things body awareness, kinesthetic intelligence and sensitivity.  This includes stand alone body awareness exercises, as well as awareness exercises that can be added to Basic Strength and Advanced Stretching and Soft Body Skill exercises.

It also includes specific exercises for Freeing the Breath and learning to bring Deep Physical Relaxation to the body (both, also, later detailed posts).

For me, some of the deep appeal of this type of thing is the creativity enhancement and character armour dissolving qualities.  


Qi Gong Skill-set
Flowing on nicely from The Re-Enchantment of the Body are more specific Daoist Qi Gong (Tao yin) exercises, that I am only just beginning to practice recently.  Already I can see that they will fit into Physical Alchemy very nicely, hence the addition.  Many potential health, awareness and aliveness benefits here, I feel.. 

Zen/Ch'an (Awareness; Intent) 
As a lay practitioner of Zen/Ch'an, all of the above categories are also ways of practicing, for me.  I do not do this for health or performance benefits, even if these come of it.  I simply practice Zen, and also love movement and having fun doing all things Physical Alchemy.

One of my teachers, Kit, once said to me:

 "All these things (health; stretching; movement/martial arts; strength training; etc) - simply give you the longevity that you are probably going to need to get over your own ignorance and attain your True Nature" KL (Paraphrased - this was the gist of it).  

This is pretty much the approach I take; other practices to aid Zen (and for enjoyment), rather than doing meditation to aid other practices -  though I do find that making movement a practice is very rewarding.

Having some base contemplative/Dharmic practice is a personal thing, and not essential to enjoy, or gain benefits from, the other categories. But, if you do find something that works for you - it does add an extra something (or maybe takes something away..) to all the rest. The increase Awareness seeps into everything and enhances...life.

The practice of Zen Buddhism (or any other method/path - Vipassana; Tibetan Buddhism; Daoism; yoga; tantra; etc.etc.) is also an 'end' in itself - hence the arrow pointing off into the Void.  

The Arrows of Influence  

Basic Strength --> Advanced Flexibility (Stretching) & Soft Body Skills:  a solid foundational strength aids a lot of the stronger stretching postures, and also aids the ability of muscular contraction, sequencing, bracing and un-coupling of movements.  Essentially we are after 'optimal responsive tonus' - muscles that are strong and supple, and that stay relaxed until needed - are respond quickly and in harmony. Then go back to resting again.

Advanced Flexibility (Stretching) & Soft Body Skills --> Basic Strength:  Improved range of motion, relaxation and removal of inhibitory properties (neural; trigger points; fascial adhesion's; scarring; etc) plays back into capacity to access muscle fibres and to enhanced sequencing. 

Basic Strength & Advanced Flexibility (Stretching) & Soft Body Skills ---> Complex Movement Skills:  A strong foundation of strength, flexibility and agility from which to more effectively, efficiently and safely learn fun, new movement patterns and skills.  (Why no arrows back?  Again, this is a prototype diagram and for now I am thinking the influence is stronger in this direction - let me know if you thinking I should have double direction arrows here).

Re-Enchantment of the Body ---> Complex Movement; Basic Strength & Advanced Flexibility (Stretching) & Soft Body Skills:  Although the diagram does not currently have two of these arrows, the enhanced breathing, relaxation and kinesthetic intelligence flow nicely into the three categories at the top.  The arrow back from the Flexibility (Stretching) & Soft Body Skills skills to the Re-Enchantment of the Body is indicative of the strong link between the two in both directions.

Re-Enchantment of the Body <--->  Qi Gong Skill-set:  This should be a reasonably obvious connection.  Some of the more basic awareness exercise flow on into more complex Daoist practices, then flow back into the basic exercises. These are very similar categories, but I didn't want to put Qi Gong 'into' The Re-Enchantment of the Body because there are so many arts and practices under the banner of 'qi gong' that it seemed a bit foolish - even though qi gong does very much re-enchant the bodymind.

Qi gong <---> Stretching:  I have a strong feeling that qi gong and stretching/soft body work (done the Stretch Therapy way) is going to be a very auspicious, mutually re-enforcing combination. 

Zen/Ch'an -->  I talked a little bit about this above.  All things become practice, hence the lines going out.  I have contemplated putting arrows back to this from 'Stretching' - i.e being able to Sit in a more comfortable position in zazen, or control movements better in kinhin.  Also, possibly back from qi gong, though I haven't practice qi gong for long enough to make any judgement about that one. 

At any rate, I had fun making a linking diagram of the things I encompass Physical Alchemy (which are also some of my favorite things).  Quite possibly I could have had more arrows (even arrows showing influence from everything to everything else), but again, this is just prototype #1!

Hopefully you got something out of this (even 'just' a good laugh).  Let me know if you have any useful suggestions or experience in the combinations mentioned above. 

Physical Alchemy

Physical Alchemy is the name of my business and also the name of a movement, re-patterning and physical cultivation method I am creating based upon my studies, training and experience in the last 12, or so, years.

I am a practitioner and instructor of Stretch Therapy and Monkey Gym [Strength & Flexibility] methods, and a practitioner of soft tissue therapies.  The methods I employ are fundamentally about transmutation (positively changing, transforming and refining) of the physical body.  

Theoretically, I draw influence from the sciences (anatomy & physiology; ecology; biology; exercise science; neurobiology; psychoneuroimmunology to name a few); the intellectual heritage of the Stretch Therapy™ syllabus; the Structural Integration [Rolfing and others] school of bodywork; human ecology; art; history and philosophy of science and medicine; anthropology and the life sciences of China, India and greater Asia.  On a movement level I draw influence from the traditional and modern martial arts; the Stretch Therapy system; Western physical culture old and new, and my own exploration. On a more mystical level I am heavily influenced by Zen/Ch’an Buddhist practice; Daoism; Sufism; Gurdjieff and the enneagram.  An odd mix, I admit.

My fascination with transformative practices and methods began with my first bodymind transmutation via training in the martial arts. I experienced another of these transformations using the Stretch Therapy method; and then again through practicing various contemplative methods and techniques. 

Each of these transformative periods and the practices involved in them led me to view my previous incarnation (my self before the training) as only being partially alive; embryonic.  

 The reality I inhabited after each step was so radically different that it rendered the ‘old me’ obsolete – with only the true aspects of myself coming along for the ride into each new stage.  Often difficult, sometimes painful, nevertheless what happened was alchemical each time.  I had been transmuted.  I had learned new information, yes;  but I had also put down much unnecessary baggage and felt the lighter and happier as a result. 

These transformations now inform my observations of the world. Sadly, what I (and other peers) perceive is there is a silent epidemic of lack of body awareness and embodied presence in the people who live in Western cultures (and many other developed nations) and it robs us of the joy of living with full aliveness. 

Many people move around in unnatural and unconscious ways, unaware of their surroundings and themselves (yes, even their own bodies!).  They are armored against sensitivity and creative expression.   They are often collapsed, hunched, weak, tight, restricted, brittle and uncoordinated when they could, and should, be open, graceful, strong, supple, agile and bodily aware.  Moreover, many are either unaware of this reality, or rigorously deny that it is happening at all – very few simply see this, accept it and start doing something about it. 

I believe if we are to survive and flourish in this 21^st century, we need people coming forth at full capacity and full creativity.  Working at transforming your own bodymind to some degree is a great place to start (and possibly the only place to start).

This was the seed from which Physical Alchemy germinated. Now I am blending the elements I found most useful from the teachings I have studied into the ‘bones’ of my method.  The ‘muscles’, ‘organs’, ‘fluid systems’ and ‘nerves’ of the method will be added via my continual practice and refinement of what I have been so blessed to have learned from my teachers, and from what other influences I continue to study and explore.

Although I will explain the core of the Physical Alchemy method below, let me preface those comments by first saying that a lot of what makes up the Physical Alchemy method is un-learning.  

What I mean by this is the removal of inhibition and unconscious culturally conditioned movement patterning from the nervous system; re-modeling restrictions in other soft tissues and dissolving the character armoring that is legion among the adult population of this society (and even among the young, these days - disturbingly).

The Physical Alchemy method seeks for its practitioners to return to the child-like state of wonder, spontaneity (wu wei) and shoshin (Beginner’s Mind). To do this, there must be intentional letting go of inappropriate belief systems and views about the world.  Physical Alchemy is training to create balanced and aware individuals.

The core of the Physical Alchemy method in its current incarnation is: 

The Re-Enchantment of the Body (Yin Training – Body and Spatial Awareness; rejuvenation and Aliveness)

+ Tiger Body (Yang training – Strength, Flexibility & Agility)

+ Intent (Intention towards physical cultivation, longevity and Radical Plasticity - and Intent more generally)

+ Awareness 

 = Physical Alchemy

People often train one, two, sometimes even three of the above categories well – but very rarely are all four cultivated with equal intensity, intelligence and passion. 

The Re-Enchantment of the Body 

The Re-enchantment of the Body is concerned with all things increasing body awareness, kinesthetic sensitivity and the cultivation of a ‘full body map’ of sensory location in the brain.  This involves systematically becoming aware of the interior (and exterior) of the body, of all the asleep and missing sensory information from: muscles and soft tissues, nerves, visceral and digestive organs, lungs and blood systems, other fluid systems. 

It is also the working towards cultivating ‘Total pulsation’[1], a body that has all the subtle motions and pulsings of the organs, glands and other pulsation systems working in harmony; a body that has the nerves and blood vessels un-adhered within the myofascial matrix.  A body that is un-restrained and functioning in a natural way.  The same, or very similar, concepts are found in osteopathy and Daoist medicine and cultivation practices.

Soft Body Skills of all types are included here: self-massage and soft tissue work (using both Eastern and Western perspectives); body and spatial awareness practices; suppleness and stretching exercises that are more subtle and deeper than the stronger stretching methods included in the Tiger Body section. This also has a soft tissue textual component – what is the palpable quality and health of the tissues, besides their movement capacity. It aims at reducing the amount of unconscious, ‘parasitic’ tension in the body and freeing up wasted energy.  

Freeing the Breath (releasing and re-patterning dysfunctional breathing patterns) and Deep Physical Relaxation (learning to activate the Relaxation Response in the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and bring the experience of deep physical relaxation to the body).   Both of these I view as essential survival (and "thrival" - if that is a word!) skills for the madness, stress, increased communication and uncertainty of the 21^st century.

One of the goals of working with these yin skills is to re-ignite the Radical Plasticity* of the body (it is there in babies and some children).  In my terms Radical Plasticity obviously involves the currently trending neuroplasticity, but is wider and  more general in its scope, basking in the wondrous regenerative capacities of the human body as a whole - when you get it working in the specific manner that is natural to it.  To this end, The Re-enchantment of the Body also involves themes of longevity and rejuvenation.

A great one-line quote from one of my teachers (Kit Laughlin) that points directly at the essence of the Re-Enchantment of the Body, is: “Increasing the sensations of being alive”.  

 

Tiger Body

Tiger Body is the yang counter-part to the yin training methods that are encompassed in The Re-Enchantment of the Body syllabus.  It is training for a balanced combination of strength, flexibility and agility.  It is a body that wastes little energy in movement and has the ability to relax quickly and fully after moving.  It is a body with a high movement vocabulary (movement lexicon).  The goal is to attain the proverbial body like a jungle cat.

To expand just a little further, Movement Lexicon is the continual playfulness and exploration of the vast capacity of movement available to the human form.  It emphasizes quality before quantity, and working on movement patterns without too much of a conditioning component (keeping the system fresh). It is large, visible movements and small, subtler movements, done internally - getting movement into any joint that has movement potential.  

Play is tempered with sessions of specific strength, flexibility and agility work (which are also fun, just not as exploratory).  Methods combine techniques and ideas from: Monkey Gym syllabus; Stretch Therapy™; kettlebell training & bodyweight mobility-conditioning (largely drawn from my studies with Steve Maxwell), agility and movement drills from martial arts; Gymnastics; Parkour and Free-running and Feldenkrais, to name a few.  General conditioning and fitness are not emphasized. 

Awareness

Awareness is a clear mind.  A mind not entranced by wandering thoughts, emotions or stuck in fantasies about the future or past.  Awareness is bringing all of one's faculties to bear on a specific task.  A lot of what is classified as awareness in Physical Alchemy is bodily awareness (awareness of what is going on inside the body) and spatial awareness (what is going on in the immediate environment around the body) - or both simultaneously.   It is precisely the same awareness as the Zen just doing whatever it is you are doing. 

Moshe Feldenkrais has great paragraph about how to use awareness to transform movement in Alchemical Movement.

“In those moments when awareness succeeds in being at one with feeling, senses, movement, and thought, the carriage will speed along on the right road.  Then man can make discoveries, invent, create, innovate, and “know”.  He grasps that his small world and the great world around are but one and that in this unity he is no longer alone”  Moshe Feldenkrais, Awareness Through Movement. 

Intent

Intent involves a direction to which momentum is concentrated (it is the will, the hara); such as directing exercise done towards physical cultivation and the re-awakening of Radical Plasticity in the body.

“Be strong to be useful” - a quote from Georges Hebert, is a great principle. Why not be strong, flexible, agile and have a high degree of embodied awareness, too?  It’s fun(!) and feels great on a number of levels for the individual; and there is a great healing on a cultural-body level to be had here, too.  The split between mind and body, and humans and Nature needs to be sewn up. Many of the unfortunate hallmarks of this modern culture: depression; un-happiness and lack of contentment; pain and movement dysfunction; ‘stuckness’ of all types; obesity and anorexia (body image-sense disorders) can be linked to this silent epidemic and often healed via movement and awareness training.    

My aim in bringing Physical Alchemy into the world is primarily at developing a practical method. I’m interested in getting down to practice over knowing a lot about practice and movement.  Studying and reading fascinating philosophies and sciences is great, but at some point you have to put that down and go out and do something. 

 To echo Goethe via Bruce Lee "Knowing is not enough, we must do".  

Physical Alchemy gives highest priority to the doing (which is a type of knowledge), with discernment and diminishing returns being applied to intellectual knowledge and habitual reading. They are obviously useful – but the goal in this system is to become as high a level of practitioner as you can; not a philosopher.

As Physical Alchemy matures, with it, I predict a group of like-minded practitioners will gather; a group that explores, tests and refines these exercises and practices – always looking for improvement and evolution of the methods.  I am very excited by this, as I will learn many new things via this process. 

Classes –  my Stretch Therapy classes at the moment are more about the Re-enchantment of the Body, flexibility and un-patterning aspects - suppleness, relaxation, breathing and of course increasing range of movement (one of Kit’s other favorite quotes is “Attaining grace and ease in the body”).

The Monkey Gym (Strength & Flexibility) classes are aimed at the Tiger Body set of attributes, with play and increase movement vocabulary in there too.  Adding the awareness and intent to either class gives the higher benefits, but must be practiced via the individual. No one can do these for you. 

If you have read this far, something has resonated with you.. come and explore, play and transmutate!

"A child-like man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention."- Aldous Huxley.

* The term 'Radical Plasticity' comes from the great book The Protean Body: a Rolfer's view of Human Flexibility by Don Johnson. 

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[1] Kinesthetic Dystonia part 3B: the contribution of bodywork to somatic education, Structural Integration: Collected Journal Articles, T.W. Myers, 1999.   

Shoshin

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there few." Shunryu Suzuki (above).

Shoshin, or Beginner's Mind, is a phrase from Zen Buddhism to describe the state of child-like eagerness, wonderment and playfulness that comes when the mind is not labeling things and events (especially ones we are familiar with) - when we are just experiencing them, as if for the first time.  

When I read the above quote from Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki, it struck a deep chord within me (much the same as Bruce Lee's 'Accept what is useful; discard what is not useful' quote did in my childhood).  

Cultivating the shoshin state is very useful for people into expert generalism (and, well, everybody), as it helps maintain humbleness, playfulness and prevents the dreaded statement 'I already know that' from occurring too much (even if you do have knowledge of the specific topic, or have done the physical skill many times. It's the closed attitude that is poisonous to creativity.).  

Interestingly (for me at least), having been cultivating this attitude for a number of years (and along with Zen and various other practices); I have come to the conclusion that boredom doesn't exist.  This would have severely baffled my younger self, as I spent many, many hours of my adolescence sinfully bored and apathetic to just about everything. What I mean by 'doesn't exist' is, boredom is solely self-created and exists within the undisciplined mind alone.  I haven't felt bored since about 2007 (when practice commenced).  It's well worth investigating.  

The boredom also has a selfishness element to it, I personally found.  'I' am bored; because I deserve for something more interesting to be happening to me at this given moment (normally with another thought that this fun/fascinating thing should just appear before me, with no work on my part).  With practice, just sitting and watching people walk past; clouds go by and wind blowing through trees; stars at night, or even grass grow, can be extremely rich and joyful experiences.  

With regards to physical training of different types, the beginner's mind is a useful tool for getting past plateaus, and re-discovering the joy that one often has the first few months/years of an activity (when one is often in a state of embodied awareness), that tends to drop away just as you are going to make a breakthrough to a new level of skill and awareness.  

Moreover, in regards to the great quote mentioned in the Swing post, keeping the beginner's mind helps you play through life!  I've been lucky enough to meet people of advanced chronological age who have an inquisitiveness and wonderment that would put most of today's kids to shame.  That will be me.  And it should be you, too.