Wall Squatting Testimonials
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My Wall Squatting Exeperience Greg Doolan
Wall squatting may be the hardest exercise that ChiLel™ has to offer, but it is the best. When I first began ChiLel, I thought from the description of wall squatting that it would be fairly simple. Then when I tried it I thought to myself, “Well, that’s one exercise I’m not going to do!” It was just so painful on my thighs muscles. But over the following weeks, as I read through the 101 Miracles books, I noticed a recurrent theme: people praised the healing benefits of wall squatting. So I decided to give them another try. I was also drawn back to the exercise because I have difficulty with visualizations. With squatting, however, the main concern with it is with the form (although visualizations are definitely beneficial). So I resolved to stick with the squatting and build up to 100 squats a day. I reached the 100 squat goal within a few weeks, mainly through sheer stubbornnes. It was still quite a struggle, though. When I attended a two day ChiLel™ workshop about six months later, Luke Chan asked if there was anyone there who could do 100 squats at a time. I raised my hand. Luke asked me to demonstrate for everyone. I was so proud of myself. After I was done, he said to me, “Good. But you’re sticking your butt out. And you’re lifting from your legs. And you’re back is arched in the wrong way.” Boy was I frustrated! All this effort I had put in for the past several months, and I was doing the squats all wrong! When I got home, I resolved to do them correctly. Every day I forced myself to face the wall. I strained and I sweated. Then, one day, just by chance, I realized something: if I just shifted my weight from the heels to the balls of my feet it was much easier. Suddenly, the strain was removed from my thighs I could squat without pain! It was a miracle. Over time I had more discoveries like that. At first, I would get excited by these discoveries. Then I would get frustrated, thinking to myself, “Gee, if only I had been doing that all along. The past year was really a waste of time!” But then I realized that it had not been a waste of time. Sure, if I were at the hospital in China, I probably would have had someone correct my form early on. But doing it on my own, struggling through the method day in and day out, built a foundation so that when I did eventually make my discoveries (and I still make them), my body would be ready for them. Wall squatting has become a permanent part of my life. It is the first thing I do every morning. I would not miss it for anything. I have noticed several benefits from the exercise: squatting has helped with my chronic tension headaches, relieved pain from a come-and-go hernia, and reduced my pulse rate. I know that something powerful is happening when I squat because sometimes I feel a rush of chi run through my heart which beats differently for a few seconds. All in all, squatting has definitely been worth the effort for me. If you stick with it, you will conclude that it is worth the effort for you too. Below are some tips to help you as you attempt wall squatting. This list consists both of observations that have helped me as well as discoveries I have made along the way. It is not an exhaustive list, but I hope that it will help others get a better sense of how to do the form. Much squatting chi to you!
Wall Squatting Tips
1. Pick a Suitable Wall
Pick a wall that feels good for you. Be sure that the wall does not slant towards you (which makes squatting harder) or away (which makes it easier). Similarly, make sure that the floor is level and does not slant in any direction. Picking the right wall can make a real difference for comfort level and challenge of squatting.
2. Tuck in Tailbone, Push out Mingmen
The number one mistake that’s made with squatting (which I suffered from for a long time) is what I call “doin’ the duck”: sticking the tailbone out and arching the back inward so that you’ve got a duck tail. Both the challenge of doing the squats and the real benefits come from keeping the tailbone tucked IN while pushing the MINGMEN out. That means that your back is rounded like a cat’s as you go up. In short, your back should be arched in a convex shape, not concave. When your back is in the correct position, your spine will make a serpentine wave on the upward motion.
It’s important to keep the tailbone tucked on both the up AND down motions. It’s easy not to be aware that the tailbone is sticking out: the lower you go, the more it tends to do that. Imagine that your navel is being drawn backwards towards your mingmen. Perhaps the best way to get the feel for the proper movement is to have a friend put his hand on your tailbone/mingmen area and guide you as you move up and down. This will give you a better feel for the correct position and an awareness of your mingmen area. Have your friend push your tailbone in when it starts to stick out. If you live by yourself, try rubbing a little Tiger Balm or Ben Gay into the mingmen area: the warmth will give you an awareness of where it is as you move up and down so that you can push the mingmen out while keeping the tailbone tucked in.
3. Be Aware of Feet
The more I do squats the more I’m convinced that pain in the knees and in the thigh muscles results primarily from uneven pressure along the soles of the feet. If you push up from the heel region on the upward thrust, your thighs are going to bear the brunt of the pressure. Granted, your initial movement upward must favor the heel somewhat, but you should balance out your weight as soon as possible to the entire sole of the foot.
For this reason, it is best to do squats in bare feet. If you wear sneakers or shoes, the soles of your feet just aren’t going to be level. Shoes tend to raise your heels, favoring that area of the foot. Since I’ve started doing squats barefoot, my thigh muscles feel little pain and my knees feel no strain. It’s all about even distribution of weight.
Granted, it is difficult at first to do the squats with bare feet, but you can work towards it. One method is to use a phone book under your heels, and gradually stand on fewer and fewer pages until your feet are level. Another way to ease into it is to stand further away from the wall. When I started, I stood about a foot away and gradually moved in over time. See what works for you and your particular body.
And by all means: do not feel frustrated if you need to use shoes or a phone book or to stand far away from the wall at first. We all have to start somewhere. We don’t criticize children for using training wheels when they first start to ride their bikes, so why should we criticize ourselves when we need to use training wheels of our own things like wall squatting! Training wheels do just what they say: they train you. Just remember, training wheels are also designed to be taken off eventually: just as a child doesn’t want to ride a tricycle all his life, neither should we continue to use a phone book or shoes forever. You don’t need to do barefoot squatting today or next month, but don’t settle for less than success. If you persist, eventually you will get it.
4. Heels on the Floor, Thighs Touch Calves
When you reach the squatting position at the bottom of the movement, your thighs should touch calves and heels on the floor. If not, try some of the “training wheels” mentioned above.
5. Keep Knees Together
It’s tempting to spread your knees apart as you go down because it gets you closer to the wall, but this is counterproductive. Keep your knees together so the chi can flow up and down through your body. Keeping them together also helps on the upward thrust. As with all movements in ChiLel, however, don’t force it; just keep them together gently. You don’t want to add any extra strain to this exercise!
6. Knees Never Pass in Front of Toes.
If your knees pass in front of the line of your toes, you can do damage to your knees. Keep those knees back! The closer you are to the wall, the more natural it is for the knees to be in the right place. The wall just won’t let you do it the wrong way! This is a good reason to strive gradually to move in closer.
7. The Closer to the Wall the Better
Point 6 leads into point 7. The closer you are to the wall, the better squats you will produce: your spine will begin to flow more fluidly. As with the bare feet, however, this is something you’ll need to ease into. But don’t settle! Take your time, but remember eventually you want to get all the way up to that wall. Just look on p. 149 of the miracles book at teacher Jing with his nose smushed against the wall and tell yourself, “If he can do it, so can I!” (What a squatter!)
8. Keep Nose and Forehead Near the Wall
Even if your feet are not flush up against the wall, your nose and forehead should be against it, almost touching, even gently scraping (find a friendly wall who won’t scratch you!). This is easier on the downward motion than the upward, but don’t pop backwards as you move up! As you rise, remind yourself to stay in.
What I have found is that if I keep my forehead against the wall the entire time during an upward thrust, my back arches much better. What I do as I go up is think, "What do I need to do to keep my forehead against the wall? How should I move by body to accomplish this?" The result has been a better serpentine movement upward because I not thinking about how to serpentine my back but I'm simply moving my back to accomodate my position. The result is a much more natural movement.
9. Move from Your Back
Squatting is not meant to exercise the quad muscles of the legs. The goal is to get to the point where all the effort is made by the chi itself moving through your spine. This is hard to realize at first because when you start it puts such a strain on your leg muscles. But as you get better, the strain will alleviate and you will move more from your back. Imagine that the motion is coming from your mingmen region. Here is a method I have devised to help: before squatting, stand with your arms akimbo, hands on your waist; your fingers should be in front and your thumbs in back at the bottom of your lowest rib. Now, gently push upward on your rib cage. Get a sense of that feeling. Then, when you squat, imagine as you go up that someone is behind you, hands on your waist, lifting you up from that region. This focusses your attention away from the legs and to the back region.
10. Keep an Even Pace.
It’s easy to speed up at different parts of the squat. I know that sometimes I’ll suddenly speed up through the “sitting” part and then slow down again as I get to the top. The best thing is to remind yourself as you are going up and down to maintain an even speed at all times.
11. Breathe through Your Nose
Try to breathe through your nose, this will make your breathing more fluid, matching your breath to your motion.
12. Do the Gong!
The only way to improve at wall squatting is to do it every day, the more the better. You can start off with a small number, but do them consistently. Only when you do them often will they get easier: with experience comes experience. Gradually build up to 100 or more. It sound like a lot at first, but you can do it. Keep doing the 10 or more that you are doing now and set goals for yourself like adding one a day, or 10 each week. You will only improve if you challenge yourself.
13. Relax and enjoy yourself
Yeah, right! But it is good to remember: you are doing this for YOU. This isn’t grammar school, and you’re not being tested. Who cares if you don’t do it perfectly? The main thing is that you do it. Smile while you squat. If you fall down, laugh! Just as no one can draw a perfect circle, no one can do a perfect squat. Only the form itself is perfect. Perfection is something to strive for, to keep us motivated. Don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good: don’t let frustration do you in. Pick one aspect of the squat that you need to do better and work on that for a week, then pick another one and so forth. Gradually, you will improve. Chi is omnipotent, it is inevitable: you WILL improve. Remember, if you’re only doing one squat—heck, if you’re only doing a half a squat—you’re doing more than most people.
14. As you do your squats, just remember Frank Chan's mantra: Piece of cake!
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Wall Squatting: My experiences By Jim Granade, Ph.D.
I began practicing Qigong in December 1993 at the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM) held on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Five years later (December, 1998) I decided to revisit the qigong program. At that time, Luke Chan was the presenter and he introduced Chi-Lel TM Qigong and “wall squatting.” After demonstrating how wall squatting was done, he invited participants to try it. I approached the wall, began my squat, and fell over backwards. Several other folks were having difficulty, so Luke suggested we put a book under our feet. The NICABM conference provides thick [1-1/2 inch] conference proceedings, so with both heels firmly on that book I was able to do three wall squats (with some difficulty). Luke spoke casually of doing 100 wall squats per day.
I returned to my home in Stone Mountain, Georgia with the conviction to practice the qigong learned at the conference, including wall squats. I was able to do five at one time after several days of effort. I thought if I could just find time to practice 20 times a day I would be up to 100. I continued working on it and eventually got up to 10 repetitions [reps] at one practice time. In my mind, that would make achieving 100 easier (only 10 times per day of 10 reps each time). I continued to work toward that goal. One day while visiting the Chi-Lel TM Qigong website (https://chilel-qigong.com/) I discovered that Luke and Frank Chan were offering a one-day workshop in Atlanta. I decided to attend and take the advanced class called the Body & Mind method. At that workshop “wall-squatting” was presented as the single best thing one could do with regard to qigong practice. What blew my mind was that the 100 wall squats were to be done without stopping. I couldn’t believe it. Other participants talked of their experiences and the plateaus they experienced on the way to 100 and more. With feedback from Luke and Frank I was able to do 10 consecutive wall squats with less difficulty than before even getting up to 12 before the end of the day. I decided that I would begin a “gong” of wall squats beginning that day (3-14-99). Granade, Wall Squatting, page 2
On the third day of my “gong” I was able to do 23. However, it took so much out of me that I had to drop back to 17 the next day. While I increased to 21 several times during the first 10 days, I was back to 17 on day 10. I reached 30 by day 20, and was up to 60 by day 30. I had 3 days in the 70s during the next 10 days, ending with 80 on day 40. However, once again that effort forced me to drop back to 20 on day 41, but I pushed myself to 102 on day 46, 20 on day 47, and back up to 105 on day 48 and still in the 100s by day 50 (110!). But because I was pushing myself, I dropped back once again to 65 to start the sixth 10-day series of the gong. I sent Luke an email telling him of my progress and he suggested I use the tape for wall squatting in the Audiocassette Album (Tape 3A). Using the tape I did 100 wall squats in 22 minutes on day 57 on 5-9-99. I sent an email to Luke telling him of my success with his suggestion and my pattern of ups and downs. On 5-10-99 he responded with the recommendation that I set a goal of 70 and do 70 every day for 100 days. Therefore, I dropped back to the 70s through day 70. I did 80 per day for days 71 – 74, but my knees were so sore that I could only do 1 on day 76. Once again, I sent an email to Luke. I was concerned because a gong has to be begun again if you miss even one day, and my knees were sore. Luke responded by saying, “Don’t do any if your knees are sore.” But, to keep my gong going, I managed to do 1 per day until I increased to 5 and gradually increased again to 35 by day 87 on 6-8-99. I reached 75 on day 95 and completed the gong with 81 on day 100. I sent in the gong and earned a pin. For that pin I had done 4,916 wall squats for an average of 49.2 per day.
I decided to begin a new wall squatting gong so I sent an email to Luke asking for advice. He suggested that I visit the Forum on his website and look at the entries on wall squatting. I found the posted responses very helpful. I began a new gong on 6-27-99. I decided to be more systematic this time and to follow Luke’s advice of always going forward and not dropping back. Therefore, I began with 10 on day 1 and my plan was always to increase and never decrease. My increments were as follows; up to 25 by day 10, 30 on day 14, 35 on day 17, 40 on day 20, 45 on day 23, 50 on day 27 and 55 on day 31. My plan was to increase by 5 every 10 days. I began doing 60 on day 41, 65 on day 51. I began doing 70 on day 61, which was 8-26-99. Granade, Wall Squatting, page 3 Several months earlier I had decided to attend the 6-day Intensive Qigong Workshop offered by Luke and Frank at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC. Predictably, they once again recommended wall squatting as the single best qigong practice. Since I was up to 70 and many participants had never been to a qigong workshop I was quite willing to volunteer to demonstrate. While it was good that I could do 70, my form still left much room for improvement and Luke and Frank offered much constructive feedback. On the afternoon of the 5th day of the 6-day workshop, Frank said we still had 10 minutes to go before our dinner break and suggested we spend our time with wall squats. He put on tape 5A – Journey to Health and Happiness (“The Mother of All Tapes” according to Luke) to establish a rhythm. I fully expected Frank to call time at the end of 10 minutes so I continued doing wall squats. Since Tape 3A will allow 100 wall squats in 22 minutes, that would suggest 50 in eleven minutes or even less in ten minutes so I knew I would be successful. However, after a while, and still no sign from Frank, I had started sweating and having some difficulty doing the squats. There was tiredness in my legs, and my thigh muscles were getting tight. I was quite puzzled about why I was having such trouble doing less that 50 wall squats. Frank had said earlier in the workshop that a horse will keep running but a donkey will stop, implying that when the muscles want to quit, chi will take over. After a while I got so tired I just decided to quit and when I looked at my watch realized that I had been wall squatting for 25 minutes. For the record, one of the workshop participants did 197 wall squats each day for two consecutive days!
I told Frank I thought he was going to call time at the end of ten minutes. He said if he had called time, I would not have done so many. While that 25 minutes was under way, Frank came by and once again offered some constructive feedback. The feedback was good, but I now know that I was making his suggestion too difficult. Persevering with his suggestion, I was able to do 75 on days 68 and 69, and 80 on days 70 – 73. I was finding this increased number much easier than the 70 I was doing before the intensive workshop. I increased to 85 on day 75, and with such ease that I went to 100 on day 75. I find that the correct form makes them much easier. However, one must not neglect the fact that the leg strengthening that takes place in the earlier days of practice is part of the formula for success. I have been doing 100 or more every day since. During this same time period I reduced the thickness of the book under my heels from 1½ inches to 3/8 inches.
Granade, Wall Squatting, page 4
I’m 60 years of age and have been practicing qigong since December 1993 and wall squats since 1998. I retired on 1-31-99 and decided to devote more time to my qigong practice. I have an annual physical in July of each year. The improvements from July of 1998 to July 1999 are described as follows: I had lost 30 pounds, the arthritis in the last joint of each little finger (which was the only arthritis in my body) had disappeared, cholesterol had dropped from 241 to 221, triglycerides dropped from 184 to 75, the “good” (HDL) cholesterol had increased from 60 to 63, and at my last visit to the ophthalmologist the prescription for my eyeglasses was reduced in strength for the first time since 1958. All of these benefits were obtained without any medication and no special diet.
Mental AspectsThoughts will occur as one does wall squats. Managing those thoughts is part of the practice. If distracting thoughts can be put out of mind that is good. If it is not so easy, the tape may help to provide a focus. For me, when I could not do 100 wall squats, I had to count how many I was doing (since the tape does not indicate benchmarks like 10, 20, etc.). The counting made me aware of how many more I had to do, which made it more difficult.
My practice was the following: Before I began, I would spend one or two seconds in the full squat position to allow my leg muscles and tendons to stretch out. The first ten were hardly any effort. From 10 – 50 there was an increased awareness of effort and by 50 I would break out in a light sweat, and aware that I still had 50 more to do. Beyond 50 the effort required seemed to increase. I would liken this to Frank’s story about the horse vs. donkey mentality. The donkey just quits. When the donkey quits, if you keep going the chi will take over. Around 85, that seemed to happen and then it seems to be a matter of just willing the next 15 or so to occur. There is also the benefit of correct form that allows the final three to five inches of raising to full standing position to just “spring up.”
When I was able to do 100 or more consistently, I resumed use of Tape 3A. Once one can do 100, one can relax, follow the pacing of the tape and know when 100 are completed. Then any extra can be counted. But, by that time in your practice, the counting should present less of a problem. Granade, Wall Squatting, page 5
Another important aspect of wall squatting, as with any qigong practice is the creation of a chi field. Tape 3A begins with creating a chi field. I now believe that is very important. For evidence, on 9-25-99 after the full moon practice with Dr. Pang and 10 million Chi Lel TM practitioners, I started doing my wall squats for the day and was able to do 130 (my personal best). On 10-4-99, I completed my second “gong” of wall squatting. For that gong I completed 6,488 wall squats for an average of 64.9 per day
I fully expect my next wall squatting gong to be 100 days of 100 or more. At just 100 per day that will amount to 10,000 wall squats. Therefore, one can see the geometric progression that comes from doing wall squats daily.
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Ginny Walden October l999 First I believe that Wall Squats saved my life. In May 1988 I met Luke Chan at a workshop when I had just started 6,000 rads of radiation treatment for Stage 3 breast cancer. He told me that if I believed in QI and if I did the work, if I did only 3 Wall Squats a day for l00 days my cancer would go into remission. After the workshop I started my 100 days, feeling encouraged and curious. I had just finished several months of rigorous treatment : surgery, high dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue. I needed to find a way to heal my damaged immune system. My challenge was to stop cancer and heal my immune system. When I started Wall Squats I was skinny, weak, shaky and I fell down a lot. I got dizzy, nauseous, and my knees and joints were stiff from toxins. I could get about 5" from the wall. But I had a positive attitude all through treatment and I felt that Wall Squats would be a challenge but also that they would work. I used an early 22 minute tape for l00 Wall Squats with Pang Lao-Shi's voice. I had read stories in the book that just hearing Dr.Pang's voice could heal me so I found this comforting. When he said CHI I would think STARS or BLUE SKY and when he said LA (down) I would think EARTH or BODY HEALED. Sometimes I would squat with Luke or Dr.Pang in front of me nose-to-nose. Still I could barely do 10 a day. When I fell down I would get up again and try a few more. I found that after five or ten my knees felt better. On my 70th day a pain in my knee was so great I had to stop. 30 days later I resumed squats and finished my first l00 days of LCUPCD and LA CHI . This time I did 100 Wall Squats the first day! It was so easy! I had a delicious feeling in my ankles like the way your body feels after a good night's rest. My acupuncturist was delighted and said that I was experience my health and well-being in my ankles. Also tat day I noticed when I went swimming that the spider web feeling I had in my arms was gone and strength was returning to my stroke. During the first 30 days I felt some CHI effects: -buzzing intermittently in my forearms. -buzzing at the base of my spine -toxic pain (?) in all my joints, hands -pain in heels of my hands and feet -a hot flash under my left big toe(spleen) -intense heat(not sweats) day and night at intervals` -intense heat during squats, but no sweats I called Frank Chan about the intense heat and he suggested I ground myself by thinking FEET and to check if my chin was in. When I corrected this the sweats started and the pain in my neck and shoulders dissolved. Position was important and to think CHI all the way through my feet on the way down. During my second 30 days I concentrated on STARS and FEET. The heat came more evenly. Then I noticed a pattern recurring consistently on the inside of my eyelids. Going down I saw an eye shape with an indigo center in a radiating cluster of salmon orange dots. Coming up the image lightened and the eye disappeared and there was just salmon orange. During this pattern I also felt dizzy. This image repeated itself exactly each time and it was always coupled with a dizzy feeling in my head. I know that scientists have done studies on eye patterns related to fatigue so it might be significant. I also noticed this pattern during the closing movements. Has anyone else seen the eye? On day 40 I felt a major pop and buzz on the outer edge of my right big toe. My acupuncturist told me this was a major breakthrough in the spleen meridian! Then I felt like I was sunburned on top of my head (the way it felt during chemo when I lost my hair) for about a week. Then the heat subsided and I started to sweat heavily. I had not sweat at all since the beginning of treatment. I think some of the hot flashes were post menopausal(from chemo) and some from CHI effects. I also noticed I never got sore when I took a steep 3 hour hike. Being an athlete I thought this was odd. I figure if I cannot explain it it must be CHI. On the 85th day I did 190 Wall Squats(to Luke’s famous tape #5, Mother of All Tapes). At the Sedona Retreat Luke had corrected my lower back position. I had been pushing my Mingmen out too far and I was also extending my knees over my toes too far(knee pain). Now I felt fluid and effortless. The CHI was lifting me up. and I sweated profusely. The tape #5 harnessed my mind to my body so I could keep connected. I continually tuned into RELEASE-ABSORB when my mind started to wander. This kept me grounded. In November I completed my first l00 days of Wall Squats. I felt centered, no longer dizzy, stronger, more energy, a clearer mind and memory. At this point my tests showed there was no sign of cancer five months after treatment and one year and three months since my diagnosis. I felt self-empowered. In December l998 I started my second l00 days of Wall Squats doing l90 a day. My blood counts had come up to WBC 3.0 RBC 3.5 and platelets had jumped up 12 points. This was real progress after hi dose chemo, stem cell rescue and radiation because the doctors said my blood would always be below normal. Normal for WBC counts is 5,000. This made me angry and determined to bring the counts up . I was determined to do it through wall squats at 190 a day to Tape#5. ITests also showed an odd result concerning my bone density. My spine was above normal for my age(52) and my neck femur bones were below normal . The doctors were puzzled. Why such extreme readings? It must be Chi effects! During squats I would visualize DISAPPEAR going up and STRONG BONES going down. During this gong some results were: -pink color in my face -sinuses cleared -fingernails got very strong -energy increased I had also developed athletes foot and a planter's wart from treatment and I decided not to medicate them but to use them as a gauge. When they cleared up I would know my immune system was healed. On the 80th day my left inside knee went into of pain. I could not do squats now and this upset me. My acupuncturist said this was connected to my breast meridians. After that I got major CHI effects in my right breast areas, my right arm, sternum bones and in my right hand. I could not extend my right arm which felt like taut rubber bands. I felt pain all through my right breast area and sternum bones. Also a major acupuncture meridian between the right thumb and forefinger was very swollen. It was very odd and some fear came up about cancer tumors returning. But I decided not to go back to my doctor and be programmed back into fear mode. Instead I decided to believe in CHI.I did push-pulls(very difficult) and LA CHI with Chi massage. The pain moved through the bone and breast area like a CHI WORM. The right arm got better daily until the swelling went down and all pain was gone. This took 3 weeks. It had to be CHI! I was self-empowered again.
In March I resumed Wall Squats and the pain in my knee was gone at the same time as the other traumas. So I believe the pain in my breast area and the knee meridian were related. At the Glen Ivy Retreat I got my wall squats corrected again, and now I could get 2" from the wall . However I was finding that my "determination" to raise my blood counts and bone density was hindering rather than helping me. Test after test my blood counts did not rise. I finally just settled into the wall squat routine and I forgot about making things happen. Then March 17, my blood counts made a major leap up into the 4000 range! I was ecstatic. Later in July they slumped back to the 3000 range. I no longer put such emphasis on tests. CHI is always at work. I feel strong, energetic, alert, creative and very alive. I never get sick. And I am up a 16 hour day. I believe CHI is at work no matter what tests say. So all fear is gone now. I am doing Press Down -Up now in conjunction with wall squats to help to open my MingMen. Also Waist Qua and Tuck are gongs I have added to increase the CHI in the lower Dantien area. I do LCUPCD daily .My total practice time is now 3and a half hours a day.
Looking over the gongs I see how I have changed. Wall Squats are demanding physically, but afterwards I ALWAYS feel better than when I started. I find that when I just let go and let it happen, CHI carries me up and down fluidly. When I am tense emotionally or distracted I get off balance. When I am centered the squats are effortless. I still feel heat, but not as much. My hot flashes are gone, and so is my planter’s wart and athlete's foot! I Know my immune system is healed. When I do heavy exercise my muscles never get sore. This amazes me. I am 10 pounds lighter and stronger than I was when I was training with weights and swimming a mile a day! How can this be? It must be CHI. Now my life has totally opened up. I have gone to China and moved to Hawaii! I am starting to teach Chi-Lel here in Honolulu and I live in paradise! I sleep soundly and wake up rested and energized. I go down to the beach and practice Chi-Lel facing the sunrise. The benefits of Chi-Lel and Wall Squats are endless. I am just scratching the surface. One thing I find is essential is posture and the rhythm. The tape is a must to listen to. I cannot do correct wall squats without the tape. It is like I get into a trance state. The wall is gone. I am going up and down at a beach. Sometimes I put a practitioner who needs help nose-to nose with me. I see a lot of people lined up along side me doing squats, but there is no wall. My breath has its own natural rhythm too and it is not always the same. I do not think about it. I let my breath do what it needs to. I just listen to RELEASE-ABSORB and keep it simple. I cannot emphasize enough that without the rhythm wall squats are just an army exercise. And using visualization keeps the mind-body connection. This is the brilliance of Chi-Lel I think. The mind-body connection is always there IF you use the audio tape. The stories keep my spirits up. The video is my certified instructor to keep my body in form and posture correct so the CHI can come in more easily. and the audio tapes CONNECT my mind to my body and heart. The three things: MIND-BODY-SPIRIT are all together. The body listens to what the mind says through the feeling in the heart. All parts are essential for healing. And if one part is more together than another, they all finally get in sync with practice. And best of all, if you are like I was in the beginning, hardly able to do a thing, a lot of CHI is still at work. So Like I said before, I am just scratching the surface of Wall Squat benefits. Now I have so much CHI I want to give it to others by teaching. I have completely forgotten about illness and every day is full of joy and CHI. My blood tests are due this month. I continue wall squatting daily. I remain curious. Where will this gong take me? I continue squatting into super-health and the unknown.
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Wall Squatting Matt Cohen
I have been practicing chi-lel qigong for over three years now. For the last two years the cornerstone of my practice has been doing wallsquats. Recently I celebrated my 500th consecutive day of wallsquats to the wallsquatting tape. Over this time I have done one gong of 100 squats, one of 200 squats a day and three gongs of an hour of squats a day. However, for a long time, I could not even do one wallsquat. When I first began my practice the thought of doing a wallsquat seemed impossible. I had seen Luke demonstrate it in my first workshop and he made it seem so easy, but I quickly found out along with most of the people at the workshop how looks can be deceiving. The large majority of us could hardly do one squat. Myself I couldn’t even come close. So for the first year of chi-lel practice I ignored wallsquatting completely. However, when I attended a workshop about a year later once again I was reminded how hard wallsquatting was. Frank was conducting a small group and when it was my turn to try he stood behind me and told me he would help hold me up. Well, I was so bad I fell backwards into him and both of us hit the floor. The embarrassment was further complicated by the fact that my father, who has had several knee surgeries had quietly worked at the squats until he could do them quite well. After this workshop I decided I would do everything I could to start. As those who have tried can attest to, the beginning is not easy. When one first begins it is a painful process of getting your back and hips to open up enough to even allow you to come close. Add to it other common problems of tight calves, feet, shoulders and hamstrings and it is a daunting task. The key to my first breakthrough was discovering that if I put something under my heels it became much easier. I experimented with several things and came up with the idea of a book under the heels (placed face down). That way each day I could turn back a few pages and gradually wean myself off the book as support. In addition I used a wall that was open on both sides so I could put my hands out as I went down. After a month of doing squats like this, slowly adding squats each day, I began my first gong to the tape. Like I said earlier wallsquatting has become the cornerstone of my practice. It has become a daily routine that has completely altered my days. The benefits I have received have been numerous. I no longer need as much sleep and I can go through a whole day without getting tired. I no longer am plagued by the frequent colds, flues, and sinus infections that I used to get. My ability to concentrate and learn new things has dramatically increased. In addition, it was through wallsquatting that I began to get a larger circulation of chi which has made my other chi-lel practices begin to really evolve. In the first 100 day gong of wallsquatting I felt like I increased my chi feeling more than in the whole year I practiced before. In addition, my commitment to using the tape was crucial to this success. It is very easy to cheat while doing wallsquats; the tape requires that you go at a constant speed which takes the exercise to another level. All throughout this I would slowly turn back pages in my book. It took till the end of my second gong (200 squats a day) for me to be able to remove the book from my heels. Then I worked on getting closer to the wall; something I am still working on. For the last 100+ days I have changed my practice around. After doing 300 squats a day for two gongs I attended another workshop. During this workshop Luke showed me how I needed to work on really separating and extending my back during squats. He suggested I try doing my squats slower. It was mentally hard to decide to go down on the number of squats. I think sometimes it is easy to become addicted to the idea of always increasing the number, but Luke gave me several good reasons and so I tried it. For this new gong instead of 300 squats over an hour I changed to 150 squats over the same hour, focusing on holding at the bottom and the time right before and right after this hold. After one day of this I no longer felt guilty for it was so much harder then what I was doing before. It took a long time to adjust, but once again in just 100 days I have made so many gains that it seems impossible. Through all this time I have become convinced about the benefits of wallsquatting, it has truly altered my life. I understand why Luke talks about them so reverently and why he practices them so hard himself. My journey has taken me from very humble beginnings, where the thought of even beginning seemed impossible, to a place where everyday I am further transformed by this miraculous exercise. It is strange because it is hard to picture my days without the natural high that comes from this practice. Often I think I begin to take for granted the increased energy and how good I feel after practice. But every once in a while I will be feeling sick or sore or having a bad day and I will do my practice and will once again be dramatically confronted with the feeling afterwards and the change in how I feel. It is these times that I am truly thankful. In the following sections I will briefly list some advice I have learned through my practice. I will also list some other healing stories I have encountered in this journey.
Advice: 1. In beginning it is better if book is hard cover, fold one cover back and it will slope down for you. For those of you worried about the fact that the book is cheating. It is better to be working towards the perfect squat then to be unable to work at all. For me the book was a tool that allowed me to do something I would not have been able to even attempt otherwise. It was better than holding onto something for that meant tensing my upper body. 2. Use a head band or towel on head. This allows you to push forehead into wall which helps with balance. 3. Use open wall- closet opening or beam. 4. In beginning start with small number of squats then add each day, but don’t start so high that it is too hard to do every day. 5. Everyday practice is very crucial to wallsquats. This is how leaps in ability and gain are made. It is a common experience to be struggling to do some number of squats and then all of a sudden you will be able to jump dramatically in number. This is a product of everyday work. 6.Visualizations are key to wallsquatting but some including myself find it very hard to accomplish good visualizations in the beginning. Don’t get frustrated. For some visualizations help them achieve better form. For me I needed to focus all my energy on relaxing and not falling in the beginning. Once I became more comfortable visualizations became more a part of my practice. Just a note for slow visualizers; I would say it took me well over 150 days to even begin to feel like I was really visualizing. 7.One of my favorite visualizations is to picture myself against a tree. As I go up I go past the branches into the sky. As I go down I go past the roots into the earth. 8.On your way down try to push up the back top (baihu) of your head. This allows your upper back to stretch which is a start towards your whole back moving. 9. Both “bend-back” and “tailbone circles” from level two have really added flexibility and better form to my practice in my most recent gong. 10.Choose one spot and use that spot as much as possible. Besides building up chi in that area it will make it easier to make a habit out of practice. But note it is important that you find a good spot. For my first 50 days I did not notice that the floor I was using was sloped to the left. I could not understand why I kept falling that way. Also a rug is fine but in my experience if the rug is too thick it can be harder on your knees.
Pain: Two points on pain. There is a certain amount of pain that one will experience when beginning and anytime one pushes themselves further with wallsquatting. It is a hard exercise. It is important to distinguish between muscle pain and other pain. Muscle pain is normal and is not that serious; it is your muscles working, stretching and growing. Joint pain means you are probably doing something wrong. The most common joint pain is knee pain. I will say a few brief words on this pain because I think it effects a good amount of squatters at some time. 1. Wallsquatting when done correctly is good for your knees. It is not like other types of squatting exercises that are bad. In my experience and through talking to other people even people with bad knees can do wallsquatting and in the process improve their knees. (the same goes for backs). There is, however, two major errors that people do that in my research is why they end up with knee pain. The first Luke always mentions which is to push ones knees past their toes. This is why the wall is there, to prevent this, but for us beginners who are often far away from the wall our knees can easily pass in front of our toes. If you do this you will eventually experience knee pain, so pay attention (especially if you are putting a book under your heals. Make sure your first movement is in back not to bend your knees forward). The second reason and in my experience the most prevalent reason people could get achy knees from the squats is because they are actually pulling in their tailbone with their knees. In other words they are so focused on getting all the way down that at the end instead of relaxing the back (mingmen) to tuck in their tailbone they actually use their knees to pull the back in. By doing this they are putting strain on the upper part of the knee which in turn pulls on the ligaments along the side. I have experienced this problem infrequently but still several times and it always comes when I am trying to hard to have perfect form. As a result my knees will begin to ache after practice. Every time I then proceeded to go and do the squats, focusing on my lower back (relaxing my knees) and only going as far as this allowed and after one or two days of practice all knee ache was gone. Of course it is testament to our nature to want to do things always a little better then we are that I have done this more then once throughout my practice. Finally as with anything that is bound to build muscle it is important that you make sure to stretch all those muscles that are sore after practice.
Benefits: 1. improved chi flow 2. increased ability to concentrate/ learn. For younger practitioners it is really helpful with studying and learning in school. 3. increased ability to fight off small illnesses 4. aligns body in such a way that injuries are less likely 5. if you do physical activity such as weightlifting it adds tremendously to ability to perform. Some preliminary studies I conducted with friends shows a 10-15 % gain in ability to lift weights immediately after as few as 15-20 wallsquats.
Recovery stories (just a few of many): 1. My father (the one with the knee surgeries) was out walking our dog when our dog ran into his knee causing him to fall. It immediately swelled up as knees without cartilage are prone to do and he could barely put weight on it. He nevertheless went to the wall that night to do his gong. He started out with small bends and deep visualizations, but by the end not only did his knee no longer hurt but all swelling was gone. 2. My brother also hurt his knee playing basketball. He had to go to the doctor and the doctor said he should use crutches for 1-3 weeks and no exercise for even longer. He too was reluctant to give up his gong. The first night he went to the wall and simply visualized his way through the 100 squats. The next night he started with about a 10-15% bend in his knees. Once again by the end of the session he was able to do full squats. But that night there was a return of pain. The next night he went to the wall again and after this session all pain was gone for good. 3.This same brother before he began his squats was very sick. He had always been very active, a college athlete, and healthy person. However, before he began for about one year he became very sick. His body started developing allergies to all types of food, including meat, wheat, yeast, rice, vegetables and much more. Over this period he lost over 60 pounds from an already skinny frame. He slowly became unable to go to work and even to get off the couch. He was seen by several specialists all with diagnoses of what was wrong, but none that helped him get better. Finally they determined and agreed that it was something to do with his liver and pancreas. However, no one was giving any solutions. It was then that I convinced him finally to try wallsquatting. I knew that it was a good exercise for him because he could feel like he was really working towards his recovery. Also he has an amazing mind for visualizations so I thought this would help. Somehow he managed to try and try he did. He went to the wall and did one hundred. It was the first exercise he had done in awhile. He continued to practice. After just 13 days he began to feel serious improvement. After around 30 days he began to gain weight even without changing his eating patterns. After several more days his food allergies began to disappear. By the end of his first 100 days he was a new person. For my family this dramatic recovery was a miracle and all the proof we will ever need.
I have many more stories small and large about wallsquatting. It is a powerful tool for us to begin to understand and change our bodies and lives. I hope that others will give it a chance to change their lives and will have the courage to begin to face the wall in their practice. It is not an easy journey but one that is truly worth the effort.
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WALL SQUATS: A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE By Lisa El-Kerdi
"Change Yourself and You Change the World" (LGE)
Thanks to wall squats I have transformed my body and my life. This practice has been the foundation for healing and strengthening of my body, mind, and spirit. Decades of an adventurous life have taken their toll. Backpacking alone through Asia, mothering an infant in Central America, teaching scuba in the Caribbean, and working with wolves in New Mexico all came with a high price. In addition to treasured memories, I collected an assortment of broken bones, exotic illnesses, and near-death experiences. When introduced to Chi Lel I had been living in a world of pain. Injuries and illnesses had compounded to create a bleak outlook for the future. Chi Lel has changed all of that, and wall squats in particular have been at the core of this transformation. Explored below are specific areas of healing, thoughts on practice, and tips from my experience.
Spine
A skiing accident in 1996 left me with a lower back injury that caused severe sciatic nerve problem. Often a quarter of my body was in spasm. My spine felt like a chain of frozen plates rustily hinged together. The lumbar area was locked solid. I also had a thoracic injury from earlier adventures.
For over two years I tried many healing modalities with limited success. Weekly sessions of acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic treatment helped little. Osteopathic work was more productive, but my doctor projected five years to effect a substantive recovery.
For six years I have worked with a New Mexico wolf refuge. Caring for the wolves requires a high level of physical fitness. In spite of crippling pain I persisted with my daily activities. However, I feared for my ability to continue this work.
Today, after only eight months of daily wall squats, my spine has unlocked and opened. It feels oiled, more like a string of pearls than a rusty chain. My ribcage has lifted and I can breathe more deeply. The thoracic injury is no longer noticeable. And the pain of sciatic spasms has faded to a shadow of its former intensity.
Knees
A lifelong history of knee injuries has left me cautious about activities that may strain these joints. Surgery has been recommended at least three times for hardened and roughened cartilage. I have undergone physical therapy for this condition in recent years.
To avoid a common cause of injury, I have never allowed my knees to come in front of my toes. Despite doing two hundred or more wall squats a day for months, I’ve only had one injury. This occurred when I tried to get too close to the wall while cold and fell back, pulling the quadriceps muscle. I had to cut back to one hundred squats a day for several weeks but eventually healed.
Today my knees feel supple and lubricated. Recently I slipped on loose rocks while hiking down a mountain. My left leg shot out straight in front and I fell with my right leg behind me. This would normally have resulted in a hyperextension injury; but, with the conditioning of wall squats, I was fine.
Bones
Before moving to the high desert, I worked all over the Caribbean as a scuba instructor. With a rating of Master Scuba Diver Trainer, I taught both sport and professional levels. One unpleasant legacy of this life was osteopenia. In 1998 my bone density tested at 81% of normal for my age group with a prognosis of osteoporosis within five years. After several months of wall squats and plant-based hormone therapy, I tested at 107% of normal! (This is not an direct comparison as two different type tests were administered. However, it is an indication of strong positive response.)
Circulation
Several years ago I was diagnosed with Reynaud’s Syndrome, a condition causing circulation to shut down in response to cold. Wall squats really get the circulation pumping, especially if double-timed. Although I still have Reynaud’s, wall squats oxygenate and heat my entire body. This summer I was caught in a mountain storm an hour from the trailhead. Although I was soaked to the bone, my hands kept their circulation.
Physical Fitness
Even though I’ve always been physically active, the tone and texture of my entire body have dramatically improved. I’ve always been limber, but now I enjoy a new level of flexibility and more expansive breathing. I eat what I want without weight concerns. It feels like I’ve traded in my former body for a new model!
Energetics and Emotions
For some time before starting Chi Lel I suffered from chronic exhaustion. Diagnosed with hypoglycemia, I’ve often felt that the flame of my existence flickered erratically. Wall squats have stoked the fires, energizing and invigorating my life.
Wall squats have also been excellent for reducing stress and tension. This practice has helped me create a more conscious mind-body dialogue. I am more acutely aware of tensions held at the cellular level. "Release, Absorb" has helped me relax out of physically held tensions and unresolved issues. The welcome discipline of daily practice has empowered me to participate more fully in my own destiny.
Finally, wall squats were the vehicle to my most profound chi experience – traveling in and out through infinity. This episode alone was enough to open my eyes to the awesome potential of Chi Lel.
Practice
I started with a single shaky wall squat the first day of Chi Lel and have practiced every day since. Within a month I was doing one hundred and within six weeks, two hundred. After several months at that level I recently increased to between three hundred fifty and four hundred. However, I keep my gong requirement at one hundred in case of emergency.
Achieving this level has required discipline. At times the back spasms intensified. Even now I go through periods of pain when escalating the level of training. Several times I’ve felt too ill with respiratory infections to get out of bed, but I’ve always found the strength to start practicing. Without exception, the chi has taken over and I’ve felt stronger when I finished. Sometimes the squats have blown the illness right out of my body!
Examples from 101 Miracles have inspired me. Some days the practice is as fluid as breathing and other days it’s like wrestling giants. Some sessions I’m sailing through the universe and others I’m stuck on the grocery list. Whether cosmic or mundane, each day’s practice is a priceless step towards healing.
Now for the good news. All of this healing has come without a single "perfect" wall squat. I still cannot stand flat-footed with my toes against the wall. Although I work diligently toward perfecting wall squats, my primary goals are a strong and healthy body, a clear mind, and an open heart. Chi Lel is very much an individual journey. We all start with our own unique abilities and limitations. I choose to measure progress against my starting point rather than against a potentially unattainable standard of perfection. By that measure, I’ve come a long way. From chronic exhaustion and pain to an invigorated lifestyle, I have changed my world with wall squats.
Tips
1. Wear a tennis headband over forehead and a band-aid over nose to keep skin from being abraded. Use a smooth surface – sliding glass doors are ideal.
2. Start away from the wall when cold and work your way in as you warm up.
3. If standing away from the wall, be sure to lean in from the ankles rather than from the neck or waist. This will keep the spine straight.
4. Use a phone book under your heels if you fall back when squatting. Every day rip out a few pages.
5. Never let knees come forward of toes.
6. Keep buttocks tucked while ascending and descending to open spine.
7. Spend a few minutes at the end of your practice carefully "pushing the limits" to get closer to the wall. Great progress can be made when you are warm and loosened up.
8. If possible, have a qualified person check your form and give corrections. It was not until Luke corrected me that I properly engaged mingmen – three months after I’d started!
9. Know your limits and expand them gently. Be patient. Be persistent.
Dear Chi-Lel Friends,
Thank you for the opportunity to share my story. Many of the stories in 10 1 Miracles have informed or inspired me. I hope that this will do the same for some of you.
A friend who attended the Sedona retreat introduced me to Chi Lel. For two months I had been suffering from frostbite in all ten fingers. Seven years ago I was diagnosed with Reynaud’s Syndrome, a condition where circulation to the extremities shuts down in response to cold. This time the damage seemed irreparable. My fingers had become permanently red and arthritic. The pain was so intense that I was even wearing gloves around the house!
Finally I accepted friend Dan Raven’s offer to show me Chi Lel. I took to it like a duck to water and have practiced every day since. Within one week the pain in my fingers was gone! The Reynaud’s is still with me, but I am confident that it’s just a matter of time until it too is only a memory.
Reynaud’s Syndrome was not my only challenge. A skiing accident left me with a lower back injury that required treatment once or twice a week since 1997. Then last year I was diagnosed with Osteopenia (low bone density.)
These ailments were limiting as I have always lived an active, adventurous life. Years ago I backpacked alone through Europe and Central Asia. Later I worked in the Caribbean teaching scuba diving at both sport and professional levels. For the past six years I have worked with Candy Kitchen Wolf Refuge in the rescue and care of wolves and wolf-dog crosses. These magnificent, sensitive, intelligent animals are nonetheless large, powerful and opportunistic. Working successfully with wolves requires strength and fitness as well as love, patience, educated understanding and presence of mind.
Before Chi Lel, the health challenges facing me were seriously compromising my ability to work with the wolves, and most days involved significant pain. Even worse than the pain was the feeling of hopelessness. I was watching myself deteriorate and could only believe that tomorrow would be worse than today.
Chi Lel changed all of that. Through intensive daily practice I have replaced despair with hope, anxiety with optimism and fear with empowerment. Preliminary bone studies indicate a positive response. Now I’m the practitioner who treats my back-- with Wall Squats!
For several months I have facilitated a practice group in Santa Fe. Our community practice was originated by instructor Ginny Walden who now lives in Hawaii. We have a small but dedicated group of loyal participants who attend morning or afternoon sessions with approximately twenty-five people who attend Full Moon practices.
I combine three hours of daily solitary practice with afternoon group practice. My initial gongs were LCUPCD and Wall Squats. As I added more gongs, I just set the alarm clock earlier. Now I get up around 5:45 AM and practice until 9:00 AM. I have been more than compensated for lost sleep with increased vitality, strength and flexibility as well as a decrease in pain and symptoms. Even the wolves at the refuge seem to notice a change in my energy. Thanks to Chi Lel I will be running with the wolves for many years to come!
NOTE: Candy Kitchen Rescue Ranch is a non-profit wolf sanctuary and educational facility. We currently provide permanent sanctuary for 75 wolves and wolf-dog crosses. We also conduct extensive educational programs throughout New Mexico and the western United States. For more information contact:
Candy Kitchen Rescue Ranch Star Route 2 – Box 28 Ramah, NM 87321 www.inetdesign.com/candykitchen/
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The Art of Wall Squatting
Lyn Dean
I yearned to practice a graceful, luxurious wall squat, which would line up my body, lubricate my spine and put a big smile on my face. However, it became readily apparent to me that this was not going to be my initial experience of wall squatting, nor the secondary. Yet, I believed that guidance coupled with practice would eventually bring about this result. I’m learning to take things one step at a time, as well as, appreciate the small gifts of each victory.
In the beginning a doorframe was the necessity. When no door was in sight my squatting attempts left me sitting on my butt. I tried using a book under my heels, which made a huge improvement. I began focusing on the opening of the mingmen and the movement of the tailbone. This action was the foundation that I built upon.
My second gong of wall squatting was the most difficult practice I have ever completed, still it was the one through which I developed seeds of self-respect that had never taken root. My husband noticed this as he witnessed me finishing a hundred squats (perhaps it was the grunt I let out as I retired to the floor shortly thereafter) applauding my accomplishment. Everyday from then on wherever he was in the house, when we heard Luke say 100…Congratulations! I could hear him clapping. Soon I began running to where he was sitting, pivoting the front AND back of my body in order to absorb the applause. This never felt corny or ridiculous to me….sometimes it was the very thing that helped me appreciate my own efforts.
I imagined as I lowered that I was drinking in the healing blue sky through the bai hui (mouth of chi), illuminating the brain and then radiating into each vertebrae through the tailbone down into the feet. Today I experience a new visual as I progress from the squat. I am literally pushed skyward just like the antenna of a snail emerging to make contact. From the soles of my feet, soft and open, I feel the energy burst upward and I allow my spine to catch the wave. Vibrant chi moving up through each vertebrae, illuminating the brain then releasing outward like the snail’s sensor, to touch more blue sky. Sometimes I notice the wall within myself while connecting with the waves and space within the wall.
On day 87 of this gong one of my upper thoracic vertebrae which must have been frozen thawed out, and settled into the rest of my spine in a wonderfully welcomed fashion. Yes! The highlight of my wall squatting experience happened at the Mount Shasta retreat. After two days of practicing Bend Body, Arch Back, I began squats closer to the wall than ever before. I was amazed at the lightness and softness I felt inside. During one squat I saw a white light flash in the yin tang point. As my mingmen opened I saw a sunrise in my mind’s eye. It was exquisite. When I opened my eyes I saw that I had inched even closer to the wall! Very exhilarating!
I haven’t been back to that horizon yet, but it opened up a completely new level of enthusiasm. A renewed respect within me grew for the art of the wall squat. One of China’s true legacies is The Great Wall. May it be so for all of us.
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Here are my few words on wall squatting. Nancy Parker
Wall Squatting was an exercise I thought I would never be able to do. The first time I tried I fell over backwards. I have knee problems that have essentially frozen my knees so they do not bend much past 90 degree angle. So I cannot go all the way down to touch the back of the ankles (or calves) with my rear- end. When I would try at workshops Luke or Frank would come along and "pat" me in the mingmen area, saying I must raise up this area first. I didn't even know one could move that part of the back separately from the rest! But as I became more aware of that area, and started visualizing lifting it up, something changed. They told me also to think of being pulled up by the head so that I wouldn't use my legs to push up and down. Doing this was another aid in taking the stress off my knees. I watched my cats, and started learning from them and practicing what Luke and Frank told me. I started with a couple, then 10, 25, 50 and one day I tried the wall squatting tape which came out after I had started the wall squats and was for 100 squats. My knees were holding up and beginning not to hurt as much. My lower back area also started to respond.(I have two bulging disks as a result of accidents and the orthopedic surgeon told me my lower lumbar vertebrae were "a mess!" (How's that for descriptive medical terminology!) I had spent two separate years in physical therapy already. But my back and my knees would hurt if I sat too long, stood too long, or for what appeared to be no reason at all. They still do. But now it is much less frequent, and when I do the wall squats regularly, I keep the frequency to a minimum. When I went to my second workshop at a Whole Life Expo., not long after I had been introduced to Chi Lel qigong, I had so much pain in my knees I could barely climb the stairs, and was taking a very expensive anti-inflammatory drug (which didn't help) I had been taking 10 to 12 extra-strength coated aspirin every day, but as that didn't help, they gave me the heavy duty stuff. When I would walk and especially when I would be teaching Tai Chi, the pain would hit, and my leg would suddenly go weak, and almost give out on me. I had to warn my students not to imitate this move, as it was not part of the action! (One actually did once!) I occasionally have a slight recurrence of this, but only rarely and very slight. When Luke came out with the Journey to Health and Happiness tape and introduced it at a workshop, he encouraged us to try to do the wall squats to the tape, or to choose our own movements. I had been adding 25 on to the 100-squat tape, but had only done 150 a few times. So I tried. I completed the tape and the 200 wall squats to my great amazement, and from then on do 200 every day, sometimes more. If I have a day when I am not home at all, and end up doing only 100, I feel it. I always break out into a sweat when I do it (which ruins my hair, etc.) so I normally don't do them before I'm going out anywhere where I want to look good. However, sometimes feeling good takes precedence, and I do them anyway. If you haven't started doing them, I encourage you to begin at once. The benefits are worth it, and the doing of them is what counts. As time goes on, how you do them will improve, and so will the benefits. I have found my over-all health is good and my immune system has become stronger, as I seldom get sick or have colds, when everyone around me does. If I do get a flu bug, it's gone in a day or so. Though I don't like to say my age (in case someone really believes me ! -because I still don't believe it), but maybe it will help those who might feel age is a factor. I am almost 69, and teach Tai Chi and Chi Lel several times a week, train and help teach karate several times a week, and teach in an alternative high school program. So your energy level will also increase, and you will feel younger!
Love, Nancy
Hi, again! It's been suggested that I should have said what was wrong with my knees so people could relate. So here goes:
Both knees were displaced earlier in my life, one knee has a lot of torn cartilage, and the other has had two surgeries to remove torn cartilage and a broken meniscus. I now have two bones (from the upper and lower part of my leg) rubbing against each other without any cartilage between them. (I figure I just need to keep the bones strong and healthy as well as all the tendons, ligaments, and muscles.) A chiropractor I used to have once told me he had patients with fewer problems than I had who were in wheelchairs, and he tried to give me a placard for disabled persons to put in my car. I told him to keep it and give it to someone who needed it.
Love, Nancy
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