One of the techniques that Doctor Yang (Master Yang?) taught yesterday was a couple of qi gong static postures specifically for improving the quality of one’s sleep. I did these last night before going to bed, and then slept from 10:00 pm to 4:35 am. This is about a half-hour more than I’ve slept all week, so that’s good. I’ll be incorporating these into my wind-down procedures at the end of the day, at least on weekends.
As has been my practice this week, I’ve done tai chi here in the hotel room this morning, but an abbreviated practice because I know that Dad and I will have about a half-hour to forty-five minute break between breakfast and our first class, and I’ve been able to do a longer iteration of the form then. That form has usually taken me a half-hour or so; and I’m also going to Dr. Yang’s second lecture today, so I know that I’ll be doing a fair bit of qi gong then.
My practice the last few days has been focused on re-working my footwork, to allow for a wider stance. This is going to take some getting used to. My front foot has been in line with my back foot for years; and widening my stance even a little would give me much greater stability. However, I’m working against habit at this point, and I’m going to have to be much more aware of this over the next few weeks and months to prevent drift back into my usual habits. Today was a mix of old habit and new deliberateness. We’ll see how it goes.
