The Artful Negotiator Logos Training Bulletin - Volume 1, No.4, March 1, 1999

Comments On "Finding Dynamic Balance"

Ken Cohen 1999

In the Chinese martial arts, the principle of slow time is best exemplified by Taiji Quan (also spelled Tai Chi), a slow motion exercise that trains the student in principles of healthy posture, movement, and breathing. The various postures of Taiji flow one into the next without break, like a slow moving stream. The practitioner looks like he or she is swimming in the air.

As Julian Gresser correctly notes, only by moving slowly, can one learn to move fast. The Taiji principle is, If you need four ounces of force to accomplish a task, do not use five! That one extra ounce is stress, and it depletes the body's reserves. How do you discover the extra ounce (or more likely - - extra pounds) of wasted tension and effort? By moving slowly enough to see the intricacies of each action. The Taiji practitioner learns to organize the body and mind most efficiently for every action. He or she tenses only the muscles needed for any task and then with a precise amount of energy. By getting rid of the obstructions to slow, precise movement, the Taiji practitioner becomes capable of extraordinary speed. Thus, although the daily exercise is practiced slowly; the martial art should be so fast that the strike is invisible to the opponent.

Taiji is a qigong - - a form of energy regulation and refinement. It is a daily mediation - - ten to twenty minutes a day - -which builds a reservoir of vitality. It is a small investment with big returns. Taiji also improves outlook and mental health. When the body flows, the mind flows. Awaken your mind without fixing it anywhere, says a famous Buddhist text. In psychological terms, you can train yourself to give up obsessive, self-defeating behavior and preoccupation with your personal needs. You can learn to ride and navigate life's currents - - or gently redirect them when necessary - - rather than swimming upstream. Most importantly, by slowing down and paying attention, you can be refreshed by each passing moment (the definition of enlightenment).

The bottom line? Taking time to slow down will give you more time in the long run. Productivity and decision-making become speedy and efficient. Make a commitment to your health. Spend twenty minutes a day in slow time by practicing activities such as:

• Breath Awareness. Count the breaths from one to ten. As the breathing rate slows down, your mind will slow down and relax. Listen to my tape Healthy Breathing from Sounds True (800-333-9185) for detailed instruction.

• Listen to sounds in nature without thinking about or naming them. Can you simply listen and enjoy, like a child?

• Observe a changing pattern in nature such as passing clouds, the patterns of flowing water, or the dance of pine trees in the breeze.

• Learn Qigong or Taiji Quan

Case #1

The first case is far too common in today's fast-paced (and accelerating) business world. The executive who cannot slow down and say NO in order to preserve personal health has a chronically active sympathetic nervous system. In Chinese terms, he is too YANG. The sympathetic nervous system mobilizes the mind and body for action - - a threat presents itself and we fight or run. Unfortunately, we can become so habituated to the hyperactive state that we lose the ability to turn the sympathetic system off. We are throwing spears at saber toothed tigers even when we should be safely asleep in our cave. We need the balance of YIN - - the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic system induces the relaxation response and gentle self-nurturing.

The KEY: Make slow time and parasympathetic dominance your default by familiarizing yourself with slow time, enjoyable activities each day.

A slow time Resource: Qigong: Traditional Chinese Exercises for Healing the Body, Mind, and Spirit. Video and Booklet from Sounds True (800) 333-9185.

Case #2

We read about a Buddhist Abbot who can be run through without blinking. My comment: AI would blink, but not obsessively.@

Yes we need courage in the face of challenges. However, we also need sensitivity. The reason I recommend Qigong to business executives is that it creates a Apermeable field@ around the body that allows sensitivity but prevents challenges from causing the stress response. After all, the stressful event is not the problem. The problem is our reaction to that event - - the rising blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, spasming muscles, anxiety, and frustration.

To the extent that we cannot control an external reality, it becomes all the more imperative that we control the internal one. Qigong can teach us to control our reactions.

Case #3

The man is about to be eaten by a tiger, yet he plucks a delicious strawberry. Not so far fetched. In sense, we are dying each day. We die to the past. We die to who we were. The psychologist Carl Jung once said, Live itself is a disease with a very poor prognosis. It lingers on for years and invariably ends in death!@ So what are we to do? Eat a strawberry! The Japanese say ichi go iche e, one time, one meeting. That is since no moment will ever return, we should pay attention and savor each moment of life. I am not talking about hedonism. To the contrary, an appreciation of impermanence leads to greater attentiveness and respect for people and nature. A person with these qualities has a healing presence. People feel good being around him or her.

A PHILOSOPHICAL EXERCISE: Think about the difference between your unchanging concepts about life and the reality of life's changing experiences. For example the concept Apple@ does not change. Yet the apple grows, is eaten, or decays. It is never the same. Even your AI is just an intellectual construct. You are always changing. The human brain is more Aplastic than that of any other animal. It is molded by experience. Who you are is not who you think you are. Thoughts are always a response to what has already past and thus, in a sense, no longer exists. Similarly, our descriptions about the world - - the intellectual boxes of words - - are not the same as that which is described. If you cease to rigidly identify with self-images, you are more capable of improving and of being attentive to subtle changes in your environment. You will catch business dilemmas while they are still Asubclinical - - that is when they are just beginning and have not blown up into major, costly problems.

Perhaps the most important benefit of slow-time attentiveness is that you will not take yourself too seriously. Do you know why angels can fly? Because they take themselves lightly! A flexible mind, an ability to see things from new perspectives, is the essence of the Artful negotiator."

Ken Cohen is the author of The Way of Qigong (Ballantine Books) and numerous best-selling audio courses. He is the Executive Director of the Qigong Research and Practice Center. For a catalog of Qigong educational materials and information about professional training programs, write to the Qigong Center at P.O. Box 1727, Nederland, CO 80466.