A night in the Mu shed

Gyokuryuji temple

I've just got back from an absolutely incredible trip to Japan! Most years my Zen teacher Daizan Roshi organises a group trip over to his teacher's temple up in the mountains of central Japan – this was my 2nd trip out there. The temple, called Gyokuryuji, is a small hermitage training temple near the town of Seki in Gifu prefecture (about 1hr north of Nagoya).

We started with a 5-day silent Zen retreat (sesshin) led by Daizan's teacher Shinzan Roshi (see photo below), then had a few days for Zen-related cultural activities and sightseeing in Kyoto and Nara.

Shinzan Roshi by the front steps of the temple

Before I go on, let's just step back a moment. For the last few months before going to Japan I was working on editing and producing a DVD based on a recording of a workshop Daizan gave last year on the teaching of a famous Zen master, Nantembo Roshi. (Check out the DVD and trailer here.)

Nantembo Roshi was a very powerful and enigmatic character and developed a unique style of practice based around the famous 'Mu' koan of Zen. Back in the 800s in China there was a great master called Joshu. One day a monk asked Joshu "does a dog have Buddha-nature?". To this Master Joshu replied "mu" (literally no, or not) in an attempt to break through this monk's dualistic way of thinking. It worked! In Rinzai Zen this koan is used to help people get a first glimpse into their own true-nature (Buddha-nature).

What was unique about Nantembo was he got his students to practice with mu all the time, no matter what their current koan was. In the training hall they would all be chanting 'mu' with each breath, and only in private interview would they attempt to answer their koan. He found this to be a very effective way for people to develop their inner power and that kind of non-discursive, immediate, present-moment knowing/understanding.

It turns out Shinzan Roshi is a fan of this style of practice too, and back in the 80s and 90s he used to get pairs of monks training under him to do what he called 'mu sesshins' – 7 days shut up in the temple storehouse chanting mu 24hrs a day...

The temple storehouse (building next to the telegraph pole)

After having spent so long hearing about Nantembo's practice (after editing the DVD I could practically recite it...) and these mu sesshins, I wanted to try it out for myself!! So on the 4th day of the retreat over in Japan, myself and a friend, Ed, decided to lock ourselves in the Gyokuryuji storehouse for (only) 24hrs to explore this mu practice.

The storehouse was pretty full of junk, so we only managed to clear enough space for our two sitting cushions and a pot to pee into! The upstairs was a bit clearer, so we used that for walking meditation.

Just after breakfast on the 4th day we paid our respects to the Buddha and set our intention for the 24hr practice, then, led by Daizan holding the keisaku aloft, we installed ourselves in the storehouse. As Daizan slid the door shut and locked it from the outside, shutting out the daylight, we began our chanting.

The tiny space in the storehouse where we sat chanting mu for 24hrs

At first I went for the full Nantembo-style practice (as described on the DVD) – deep relaxed in-breath, then tightly close the eyes, tense the jaw, arms, fists, legs and lift the pelvic floor with a long slow out-breath making a low reverberating sound of muuuu. Wow, I tell you, after an hour of doing this things really get going! Belly tingling, energy currents flowing and rising up the body. But I soon realised I couldn't keep this going sustainably for the remaining 23hrs! I relaxed into a long slow mu keeping the body soft.

Without any kind of timer, we just nodded (or prodded) each other when we felt we wanted to take a break from the sitting and go upstairs to walk. The space was small so we could only move in a small circle, but the little window gave us a break from the dingy darkness of downstairs. All the time we kept the mu-ing going. Deep in-breath, and a long mu on the out-breath.

After about 4hrs Daizan brought us lunch in a big bowl. We paused our mu-ing for about 20mins to eat, but tried to keep our awareness centred in the belly (hara). After another 6hrs Daizan brought us dinner and we took another 20min break, then we were on our own until breakfast in the morning. We were very grateful when Daizan slid a bowl of chocolatey sweets through the door at about 10pm – these would prove decisive in getting us through the night! We decided we would break for 10mins every 2 hours after midnight just to punctuate the dark hours and give us a sense of time moving forward! Once night fell, the storehouse became absolutely pitch dark – to the point where you couldn't tell whether your eyes were open or not!

From a few hours in, I remember thoughts creeping into my mind basically saying "you can't do this". I started counting the hours left and trying to work out how I was going to get through to the end... And it wasn't long before my belly hurt from all the deep mu-ing, and my legs ached from being sat cross-legged. But I knew the only thing to do was to remain present with how things felt in that moment. In the present moment, nothing is ever a problem – problems only come when you want things to be different. So for me, this practice became very much one of remaining in the moment. I did my best to transform those negative thoughts into "right now I'm breathing in; right now I'm making the sound of mu; right now I'm sitting; right now I'm walking; etc. It became one of the most valuable lessons in mindfulness I've ever experienced.

All this mu-ing also had the effect of generating a great deal of energy in my system. As I've already mentioned, a strong sense of solidity in the belly (hara), tingling in the feet, legs, hands, and up the spine, energy currents flowing through the body, and a deep feeling of grounding (despite the upward rising energy), all slowly built and strengthened as we moved through the 24hrs.

I have to admit the last few hours were very difficult, and became an exercise in simply sticking it out. But we made it!

For the 3-4 days after the mu retreat, I felt like I was plugged in to the national grid. A source of energy was moving in my body way beyond what I normally experience. I was physically tired, a little droopy in the eyes, and my body ached, but I was drawing on this extra source of energy. It made me feel light and nimble, ready to go, and very connected to the world around. Even now, more than 2 weeks later, I feel more connected and more in touch with my energy body than I have ever felt.

Buy the DVD (or download the video) and try it out for yourself! Highly recommended (24hrs in a dark storehouse not necessary!!).

Watch this video interview with myself and Ed about our experiences:

From the ground up: legs and knees

This is the second in a series of articles I've been writing with my sister Kim, a physiotherapist in Stockholm, looking at how we can best take care of our roots. In the first article we looked at our feet – our sole mates (...groan) – and how we can strengthen them and work on some common problems.

In this article we're going to look at another part of our roots: the knees. But before we get onto that, let's talk a bit more about roots.

Do humans have physical roots? This might sound like a strange question. Of course not - we're not plants...

"Root"
pronunciation: /ruːt/
1) a part of the body of an organism that grows downward into the ground, anchoring or supporting the organism.
2) the basic cause, source, or origin of something

Don't we have a part of ourselves that grows downwards, supporting us on the ground? Thousands of years of self-exploration by various sages, yogis and spiritual practitioners have revealed that there is a very important area around your pelvic floor called in yoga the Muladhara or Root chakra. It is here that our roots begin, and extend all the way down our legs to our feet (and with our mind, out of the feet into the ground). Our roots and root chakra are associated with "things of the earth" – stability, grounding, physical health, vigour, nourishment, and is the basis of both our masculine and feminine energies. This means that having healthy roots is vital for living in this world!




The knees: Locking and overextending

You might have often heard yoga teachers talking about 'locking' (or not locking) the knees. You might also have been told that you are 'over' or 'hyperextending' when you think you are 'locking'. Hyperextension of joints is in fact chronic in the yoga world.

Locking and over/hyper-extending:
The knee joint is simple – it moves in two directions, bending and straightening. When the leg is straight the thigh bone (femur) and the chin bones (tibia & fibula) should be directly aligned with one another. When we push into (or for some people, relax) into the back of the knee, this is called overextension or hyperextension. The body's weight is no longer transferring directly through the bones one on top of the other, but is 'hanging' in the soft structures (ligaments) at the back of the knee. These structures are not designed to be put under so much pressure and so this can be very damaging for your knee (see this nice article for more info).

Try: standing upright. Now see if you can 'push' your knees back beyond straight.

Hyperextended knee joint

If you could, then chances are you don't naturally hyperextend in your knees. If you discovered you couldn’t push your knees back any further, then there's a good chance you were already 'hanging' in the ligaments at the back of the knee. It's important for the knee to be soft and not locked back so it's able to cope with impact and help us keep our balance. This is why in yoga teachers often encourage you have a 'micro bend' in your knees. You can also try this little test in a more challenging yoga posture (e.g. standing forward bend, warrior) to check if you are hyperextending.




Knee stability:
To give the knees the most strength and stability, we need to be engaging the muscles on the back and front of the thigh. Some teachers advise their students to 'lock' their knees in certain postures to presumably give strength, but the word 'lock' implies rigidity and blockage. Really it's the opposite that we're trying to do – it's the openness, strength and alignment of our knees that facilitates connection to the ground and allows the energy to flow (see below).

Try: Come into Trikonasana (triangle pose) as our skeleton is showing below. This is a pose that's particularly tricky when it comes to knee stability – especially the front knee. We'll now try to find how to engage those muscles on the front (quadriceps) and back (hamstrings) of the thigh to help stabilise the knee.

Credit: www.bandhayoga.com/keys_knee_hype.html

Bend the front leg slightly (as in the picture to the left) and draw your foot backwards against the friction on the mat. Can you feel your hamstrings activating? Now to find the muscle at the front of your thigh (the quad), straighten the leg again and try lifting your kneecap upwards. This should get it working.

You might need to practise this a few times to reliably find and activate these muscles. If you find it difficult try one at a time, with straight legs or bent. When you have found both muscles you can try activating them at the same time to stabilise your knee in all your postures (skeleton picture to the right). Your knee will thank you dearly in the years to come!


Knock knees or bow legs

Knock knees describes a condition where the knees fall in towards each other rather than staying neutrally aligned. Interestingly, most kids under the age of 6 appear to have knock knees, but grow out of it as their body shape changes. It can arise either structurally in the knee joint or the surrounding bones, and it which case it's just your natural body shape. Or it can arise due to a muscle weakness in the legs or hips: weak external hip rotators causing the thigh to internally rotate, weak hip abductors allowing your knees to drop in, or tight/asymmetric quads or hamstrings causing a misalignment of the knee joint. If you see someone who appears to have knock knees (particularly as they walk) and their kneecaps face inwards, then it's most likely down to muscle weakness.

Bow legs are much less common, and most often due to true structural issues in the bones. It's normal for babies to have bowed legs before the bones ossify (solidify). From a muscular point of view, bow legs can arise when the opposite of the aforementioned muscles are weak.

Unless your knock knees or bow legs arise from the shape of your bones or joint, it’s not actually the knees that are the culprit. The real culprits are their muscular neighbours: the thighs, hips and feet. The feet were the subject of the last post in this series, and in the next post we'll be looking at the top of our roots – the pelvis, hips and thighs – so stay tuned!


Knees and energy flow
Energy ('prana' in yoga or 'qi/ki' in Chinese/Japanese) flows around the body through certain channels known as 'nadis' in yoga or 'meridians' in Chinese medicine.
When our limbs are properly aligned through balanced muscles and correct posture, energy can flow like water or electricity, connecting and nourishing all the parts of the body. Locking (or hyperextending) our joints restricts this current, and like a kink in a hose, it can cause a build-up or blockage. In Qigong they say "When Qi flows freely along the meridians, people are free from illness. If the Qi is blocked, then pain follows" – so blockages can result in pain or illness (an obvious one is arthritis). One of the principles of Tai Chi and of my yoga practice is to keep the knees (elbows, and all other joints) soft (bent) for this exact reason.

In this system, the knees are one of the primary connection points between our upper body and the ground. This is why it is so important not to lock or misalign them, so that we can maintain that all-important sensitivity to and connection with the ground.

Come and join me in exploring your roots at one of my yoga classes at ZenYoga in Camberwell. See my website for my class schedule and more details.

I'd love to hear from you

Have you suffered from leg and knee problems in the past? How have you got on with these exercises? I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, join the discussion. 

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From the ground up: common foot problems

In yoga the concept of grounding comes up a lot - both as a verb (to ground through the feet) and an adjective (a grounded feeling). Personally I try to avoid using the word in my classes (e.g. at ZenYoga Camberwell) because I'm not sure how many people really know what it means. What would you do if I asked you to ground through your feet...?

Nevertheless, grounding is incredibly important. It brings us into connection with the ground and with the world around us. Without that we can't go anywhere – no plant can ever grow upwards without first sending some roots downwards.

In Zen and Zen Yoga we put a strong emphasis on the "down", but focussing our attention/intention/awareness downwards may seem at first rather backward! After all who wants to move down in the world? Our cultural ideals are all about going forward, moving up, growing up, or waking up. Even in yoga, we often find (either explicitly or implicitly) a strong emphasis on the "up". In many practices we're told to put your feet together, engage your thighs and lift your kneecaps. Can you feel the difference between that and place your feet apart and soften your knees?

Ups and downs

As far as I see, spiritual practices are indeed about liberating energy, moving it up the spine, and awakening to higher levels of consciousness. BUT (and it's a big but), by doing this without building a firm and stable foundation first we run the risk of getting very sick, getting lost in the clouds, and floating off away from the world – in effect spiritually toppling over. Down has to precede up, as Zen Master Hakuin learnt the hard way.

The problem is that many spiritual practices, including yoga (as I said either explicitly or implicitly), only teach going up. It's like building a skyscraper without drilling the foundations first. And in our highly distracting, intellectual, and stress-filled world, this serves only to draw us even further away from the ground, from reality, from common-sense, and from worldly connection.

In this series of posts I'd like to take a look at our roots (and by roots I mean everything from our pelvic floor downwards). I'll be talking to my sister Kim, a physiotherapist who lives in Stockholm, to get the physiological and anatomical view on things and a few exercises to help things out.

This week we're going to be looking at the feet.

Put your best foot forwards

So, according to the anatomy books there are 19 (or 20, depending on how you count) muscles in the foot, and a good number more of the lower leg muscles attaching to the bones of the foot affecting its motion and balance.

Sadly, from a very early age our toes are squeezed together. When we're babies our muscles and bones are soft and even socks are enough to start the squeezing process – then later it becomes shoes (high-heeled, pointy ones are the worst...). All this squeezing-in inhibits the natural movement of the foot and consequently prevents a good development of the foot musculature. However, despite this terrible start to life, out feet tend to succeed in carrying us (more or less) though our life. Thank you resilient feet!

Most of us, though, get the odd twinge and pain here or there, and although it's often difficult to know for sure which body part is causing the pain in another body part, we can safely say that our feet are a good place to start. They play an essential role in the balance of the entire body standing on them. It's important to learn how to love them (nice article by Lorna Clancey)!

For good stability and balance, the feet need to be stable in the arch and ankle as well as having a good 'fan' shape in the toes. From what I see in my classes (and what Kim sees in her patients) though, people's toes tend to be a bit (sometimes a lot) squished in, arches more or less collapsing, and the ankles very wobbly while standing on one leg or up on tiptoes.

So lets look at those points:


1.    Toes 'squished' in:

Each of our toes has a muscle on either side that moves the toe from side to side (just like we can with our fingers). An inability to spread your toes (i.e. engage these muscles) can come from:

• difficulty making contact with those muscles (brain to toe nerve messages not working)
• difficulty activating the muscle because of muscle weakness
• in combination the muscles on the opposite side can be tight and therefore making the job of the weak muscles even harder.

Toes that are spread out in a fan shape (the big toe is especially important) give much more stability, and hence connection to the ground.

Try: If your big toe angles inwards, try standing on one leg while allowing your big toe to fall inwards, and compare this to how it feels after you manually pull your big toe out straight.

Simple exercises to do: highly recommended!

• stretch: pull your toes apart passively with your hand one at a time then try putting your fingers between your toes (see photo)
• exercise: spread your toes actively as much as you can, hold 5 sec then release, repeat 10 times. Do this daily to 'find' and 'activate' muscles. Don’t be discouraged if you don't 'find' the muscles at first.
• every time you stand up (in daily life, in a yoga class), consciously spread your toes.

2.    Collapsing arches:

Many peoples' feet, to some degree, roll inwards due to weak arch muscles. Kim points out that again the big toe plays an important role here – if it points inwards it allows the foot to roll in. Pointing the big toe outwards creates a kind of 'stop' or wedge and prevents the arch from flattening.

The other important player in the arch of the foot is the posterior tibial muscle which originates from the inside of the chin bone, goes round the back of the inner ankle bone and inserts under the front of the big toe (see figure). If you trace out that line on your own foot/ankle you'll see why this muscle plays such an important role in holding up your arch.


Kim's exercise to try:

With your foot flat on the floor, activate the posterior tibial muscle by intending to move the ball of your big toe closer to your heel whilst keeping your toes relaxed. I find this very hard! Let me know how you get on using the comments below.

With the big toe in place and this muscle firmly activated you should be a lot more stable in all your standing positions. Try it even in downward dog.
 


3.    Wobbly ankles:

Working on points 1 and 2 will certainly strengthen the feet and stabilise your ankles. Hopefully you'll be much less wobbly when standing on one leg.

But what about on tiptoes?

When standing on your tiptoes you might find your ankle(s) have a tendency to wobble or fall outwards. This might be due to a weakness around the ankle itself. We have important ligaments which hold our ankles stable as well as many muscles that originate from the lower leg and insert in the foot that all hold things stable. If you have this tendency for your ankle to wobble or fall outwards, Kim recommends you start training the muscles to compensate.

If you can come up onto tiptoes and mindfully, with control, get your ankles facing forwards without any outward wobbling, work on that. If you can’t control this movement by concentration and will power alone, Kim suggests you hold the back of a chair to take some weight off the ankles so they won't be working so hard. Practise in this way to train your muscles so they know what they’re doing. Gradually allow your ankles to work under more and more weight until they can work stably under your whole body weight.



Daily exercise plan for healthy feet:

1. 'clench' then 'spread' your toes, hold 5 sec in each position, x10
2. stand on one leg for about 1 min each side
3. Come up onto your tiptoes x20

Interested in more? Come and join me for one of my yoga classes at ZenYoga in Camberwell. See my website for my class schedule and more details.

I'd love to hear from you

Have you suffered from foot problems? How have you got on with these exercises? I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, join the discussion. 

Pass it on

Enjoyed this post? Then please tweet it, share it on Facebook or send it to friends via e-mail using the buttons below.