“Each moment of the journey is the destination. Be the destination”
– Author unknown
Exercise 1
- Assume your basic standing posture, not forgetting to relax and ground. Tune into body and mind.
- Exhale and turn your palms downwards, holding your hands at the level of your pubic bone.
- Inhale up your spine, turn your palms up and allow your breath to carry your hands up to chest level. Your breath begins at your perineum and finishes at the top of your head.
- Begin to exhale and simultaneously turn your palms down and allow your breath to float your hands down to the starting position. Gently bring your breath down from the apex of your head down the front of your body to finish at your perineum, forming a complete cycle up the back of your body and down the front with each inhalation and exhalation.
Be sure to not fully straighten your arms in the lower position – always keep a bend at the elbows.
- Do 9 sets of this, or as many or as few as you feel to.
- Once again tune into body and mind, and notice how you feel.
Exercise 2
- Assume your basic standing posture, and tune into body, mind and breath.
- Imagine that you are holding a large ball of energy in your arms, with your fingertips almost touching at about the height of your pubic bone. Hold this position for ten minutes, or as long or little as you feel to.
- Next, imagine that you are lifting your ball of energy and raise your hands so that your fingertips are almost touching at chest level. Again hold for 10 minutes or as long or as little as you want to.
- Now imagine that you are lifting your ball of energy over your head so that your fingertips are almost touching above the crown of your skull. Hold for ten minutes or as long as you like.
- Now reverse this procedure – move your ball to chest level, hold, then when you are ready move your ball back down to the starting position. Hold this, then release your hands and return to the basic standing posture.
- Tune into body and mind and notice how you feel.
All qigong can be greatly enhanced by doing it outside in green spaces. Experiment with doing it in front of trees, by streams or anywhere else that you have a good feeling about.
During all of these practices (and all life activities) it is helpful to notice our reactions to what we are doing. Just notice irritability, anger, joy, boredom, resentment, insecurity (especially when we do this in places where we might be seen!) without trying to change the experience. Notice how these different emotions, thoughts and reactions manifest both physically and mentally.
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