The first level of the four levels of mind is the animal level. The animal mind is really the body mind. It’s the intelligence of your animal nature without which you have no vehicle in which to do your manifesting.
In Taoist movement, the animal that is focused on is the chicken. It’s an animal descended from dinosaurs that has been walking the earth for 250 million years.
In fact, all of the footwork in Tai Chi is based on the feet of the chicken. (Sidenote: I’ve eaten chicken feet because it’s pretty common among the Chinese and it’s pretty tasty although a lot more bones than meat.)
Chickens are instinctual, territorial animals that are paying attention to every detail. Their mind is in their feet. They have perfect balance because they have skinny little legs that hold up large bodies.
The ultimate in learning to ground is to learn how to do chicken walks as they are called. First, you have the feet that are glued to the ground (with millions of years of practice) and secondly, you have perfect balance from top to bottom.
You will never see a chicken fall over. They can go super fast or super slow, change directions instantly and even sleep on a perch using their feet.
For most of us, grounding is a concept, not a physical practice or an actual thing in the body. Yes, you can do a tree pose in yoga to learn balance, but Taoist movements are movements, not poses. They teach an animal’s intelligence.
It shows you how the Tao is in the way the animal uses its intelligence to live.
When you have connected your visionary mind, converted it to energy, and organized it in your linear mind, you put it in your feet and get ready to go.
Now you are grounded on the vertical plain from up to down.
When you hear all of this for the first time, it might sound complicated. With practice, it can become your natural state.
And from there the process of manifesting can begin.
