Move - Sit - Stand - Breathe: Hundred Rivers Method

For the past 30 years I have been working on my own self, or internal, cultivation through the exploration of martial arts, nei gong (also called qi gong), and meditative practices. Through trial, error, and success, and working with numerous exceptional teachers in conjunction with my 20 years as a clinical practitioner, I thought it appropriate to develop a system based on tradition for the modern everyday person. These practices can be discussed through the investigation of four elements: moving, sitting, standing, and breathing.

Now most of the questions below will sound redundant, however, as I will discuss over the next few weeks on this blog they are not so simple and the majority of people will answer “no” to them:

1. Do you move correctly?

2. Do you sit correctly?

3. Do you stand correctly?

4. Do you breathe correctly?

Of course the initial response to these questions is “what is correct?” and naturally it makes sense to ask this as there are endless ideas, theories, practices and so forth that surround each element. Moving, as we will discuss next week, is the hardest for most people to grasp, takes the longest time, and requires the most guidance. Sitting seems the easiest, however, many will struggle with the innate silence of sitting. Sitting is not just the act of sitting down, it is a cultivation and meditation seen in many varying practices, such as zazen or the seated practice of zen / chan buddhism. Standing also may seem easy and unnecessary, however, it can be the most powerful. My practices in standing stem from the Chinese tradition of zhanzhuang 站樁 or “standing stance” / “standing like a pole” from the internal martial arts world. Finally the linking method of all of these is breathing - it is remarkable in my clinical practice how many people don’t know how to breathe and / or have developed so poor habits around this vital practice.

My goal with the move, sit, stand, breathe program (named the Hundred Rivers Method), is to allow the general public access to, and easy learning of, traditional health practices that can be incorporated into every aspect of their daily lives. This is not intended as a deep training practice, although that will be available to a select number of people in the future.

In Good Health,

David White

Classical Acupuncture Sydney