Meditation

[freedom71]

Hi everyone

how does meditation fit into the CST philosophy & what are your thoughts
on the practise? I am curious as most systems (yoga, taichi etc) include this as part of their complete training

kind regards,
Michael Allen

[Scott Sonnon]

Focus on your breathing, use your Performance Mantras, never stop moving.

[mushtaq]

Hi everyone

how does meditation fit into the CST™ philosophy & what are your thoughts
on the practise? I am curious as most systems (yoga, taichi etc) include this as part of their complete training

kind regards,
Michael Allen

Hi Michael,

I can’t speak for the CST philosophy, but if you are interested in one person’s observations I will be happy to pass mine on.

In my opinion, every part of CST, Maxamology, and Bodyflow are in fact Mediation.

Now I admit that this is a pretty bold statement, and I could get a lot of disagreement if I am not careful.

If we look up “meditation” in a dictionary the definitions are pretty unsatisfactory (at least to me) and don’t encompass my understanding of the process.

We are given definitions such as:
“To engage in contemplation or reflection”
“To focus one's thoughts on : reflect on or ponder over”
“To plan or project in the mind”

We don’t get anything really useful to this discussion until we look at the etymology of the word. Which would be something like “Meditation> meditate> meditates> meditari> mederi= to heal, the same word that gives us medical and medicine.

So the “western” idea of meditation is rooted in the concept of doing something that provides healing and remedy.

From this point of view I think that I can successfully argue that the body of Coach Sonnon’s work, in that it demonstrably promotes healing on many levels could be (and perhaps should be) considered meditation.

I have suggested elsewhere on this forum that CST could be considered as “primordial Chi Kung” (Chi Kung literally meaning “breath skills”) in that its emphasis on integrating Breath, Movement and Structure is what developing “chi” is all about (in my opinion). So just as Chi Kung practices can be considered meditation, I think that Bodyflow could be seen in the same light.

I think though that to understand a very basic connection between Coach Sonnon’s work and meditation we need to look as one of the most important works on the subject, the Yoga Sutras attributed to Patanjali.

In Yoga Sutra Samadhi Pada (the first section of the work) Patanjali says:

atha yoga-anusanam
yogas citta-vrtti-nirodhah
tada drastuh sva rupe'vasthanam
avidya ksetram uttaresam prasupta-tanu-vicchina-udaranam


Now the teaching of Yoga*

Yoga is the stilling of the twisting and turning** of cognitive thought***

When cognitive thought is still, that which perceives is in its true function as observer of that which is experienced****

Otherwise that which perceives is caught up and identified with the turning and twisting of cognitive thought.
(Translation mine)

* Yoga in its base meaning is “to yoke”, from this we get the idea of “union”. In Patanjali’s usage I believe that it is synonymous with “meditation”.

**Vritti, which I translate as “twisting and turning”, has a feeling of movement without stillness, or agitation to it.

***Citta is often translated as mind, but I do not think that this is accurate. Manas is a better word for mind, or the organ of perception, whereas citta would be the undisciplined body of “thought content” which includes, but is not limited to verbal though, visual images and feelings.

****This is a hard verse to translate into English, but is central to the idea. I translate drastua as “that which perceives” to try to avoid unnecessary mysticism. This word refers to the essential part of the being which when citta is stilled, perceives what is given in the most objective way possible for a biological organism.

I think that if you get a copy of “Flow-State Peak Performance Spiral” (forgive me if I got the name of the tape wrong, it has been a while since I watched it) You will see that Scott has given a very effective process for achieving exactly what Patanjali is talking about in the Yoga Sutras. So all of Coach Sonnon’s work on “entering the Zone” could be considered meditation.

Verse three of the above is a pretty good synopsis of “The Zone” and verse four is a good description of “the vortex” (in my opinion)
If you are talking about a formal “sitting meditation” I have been experimenting with such using the “Be Breathed” material as one of the foundations. (much in the same way as Steve Barnes used “Be Breathed” as the key to unlock the full potential of “The Five Tibetans” in “The Five Minute Miracle”). If you are interested, and with Scott’s permission I would be happy to pass on what I have found useful here.

A note though, I Don’t think that sitting mediation reaches its full potential as a practice unless it is combined with “moving” meditation. As a matter of fact, for me, if I had to give up one or the other I would give up sitting mediation, as so far I have found “moving” meditation to be more “prime” to my development.

Mushtaq Ali

[Scott Sonnon]

Wow, beautifully stated, Mushtaq.

Never hesitate to post your insights.

[JasonE]

:idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea:

You just lit up some bulbs for me, bro. THANKS!

[freedom71]

Hi everyone,

thanks for the replies. A great explanation mustaq & I agree with you, between one or the other I would most definitely choose movement.
Meditation is really just a method to train your mind to stay in the present moment as often as possible; in fact the best meditation I ever had was jumping out of a plane at 14000ft!

kind regards,
Michael Allen

[mushtaq]

You just lit up some bulbs for me, bro. THANKS!

Kewl, I love it when that happens, and it does happen a lot on this forum :D

So, please, tell us what you came up with. as you may have noticed, this is something that I am really interested in.

Mushtaq Ali

[mushtaq]

Wow, beautifully stated, Mushtaq.

Never hesitate to post your insights.

Thanks Scott, it is entirely my pleasure.

Actually, for the past three or four months I have been noticing some interesting correlations between the Yoga Sutras and your work with Bodyflow. The question just sort of catalyzed everything into a more coherent set of thoughts.

Mushtaq Ali

[Scott Sonnon]

Please cross-post to the Musings Article Archive for everyone's viewing!

[mushtaq]

Please cross-post to the Musings Article Archive for everyone's viewing!

I'd be happy to :D

This is a cool thread, well explained mushtaq!!

Just gotta add my thoughts on the subject.

I feel that movement systems involving concentration on the body by the mind, such as ww or be-breathed prime the mind and body for electro-magnetic energy used by the CNS to run smoothly throughout mind and body.

I feel that sitting meditation of the type where you cultivate an intense but relaxed focus works to teach the CNS to use the most efficient neural pathways to get the job donewhether it be contemplation on meta physics or performing an advanced skill kinetic movement.

I haven't gone into much detail, if any of you would like me to expand on what i've written i.e how it primes the body or a couple of anology's then i'll get back to this in the next week or so when i've located the notes I wrote on the subject a couple of years back.

Hope my idea isn't to crazy haha.

Thanks!!