Today,
I will guide you through a simple and effective Qigong exercise to help you recover from burnout.
Today's practice can be done seated or standing.
If you are seated,
Please come to sit towards the last one third of your chair and let your feet be flat on the floor,
About hip distance apart.
If you are standing,
Stand with your feet about hip distance apart.
Whatever position you are in,
With your next exhale,
Relax your shoulders,
Soften and release the weight of your body down through the points of contact you have with the earth.
And as you inhale,
Lengthen and grow the back and crown of your head towards the sky.
Exhaling,
Feeling a release and letting go down towards the earth.
And inhaling,
Feeling a lengthening and growing upwards towards the sky.
Exhale,
Release and relax,
Softening.
And inhale,
Growing,
Lengthening,
Opening.
Now gently begin to notice how it feels.
Is your weight evenly distributed between left and right,
Front and back?
If not,
Please take the next few moments to adjust and align your body and posture.
You might do this by gently and slightly leaning forwards or backwards,
Or shifting your weight more to the left or to the right.
Doing this slowly until you feel the crown of your head,
Your chest,
Your spine,
Your hips completely aligned.
Once you've found this alignment,
Exhale and centre through this alignment.
Feel that here you are the bridge between heaven and earth,
Heaven above you and earth below you.
And from your crown all the way to your perineum,
Your tai chi axis,
The centre pole or bridge between heaven and earth is completely and fully aligned.
If it feels good for you,
You may wish to let your eyes half or fully close.
If closing your eyes doesn't feel good,
Keep your eyes open but soften your gaze and guide your awareness inwards.
I will now guide you through a Qigong form called pulling from the heavens and we will practice this three times.
Each time we move through this form,
The movement will be the same but the visualisation and intention will be slightly different.
And you may need to inhale and exhale more than once to complete each movement.
The most important thing is to follow your inner teacher,
Your breath,
As you move through this practice,
Following your own rhythm and pace.
We begin by exhaling to sink and yield the weight of your body down to the earth,
Feeling the ground supporting you and holding you.
And with your next inhale,
Gently sweep your arms sideways and upwards as if like little droplets of water vapour floating upwards towards the sky.
Visualise that you are slowly gathering all that you want to clear out from your body,
Your mind and your spirit.
This might be fatigue,
Disappointment,
Uncertainty,
Anger,
Guilt.
As you reach the top,
Let your arms form an arc above and slightly in front of you,
With a little space between your hands.
Here,
Visualise that all the little droplets have come together and formed a rain cloud.
With your next exhale,
Slowly let the hands lower,
Palm facing down,
In front of your head,
Face,
Chest and lower belly,
Visualising and feeling this cloud reaching saturation and releasing rain,
Cleansing and washing away all that no longer serves you,
All that needs to be released and purified from your system.
Now,
Having cleared out what no longer serves you,
You are now pure,
Fresh and new.
You are now an empty vessel with space and potential to fill.
With your next inhale,
Visualise all that you want to welcome and fill into your body,
Mind,
Spirit and into your life.
This could be positive energy,
Balance,
Curiosity,
Possibility,
Whatever you want to welcome in your life.
As you visualise this,
We repeat the same movement,
Sweep your arms sideways and upwards,
Reaching up to gather all that you want to welcome and manifest in yourself and in your life.
As you reach the top,
Your arms form an arc,
Like a rainbow,
Above and slightly in front of you,
With a small space between your hands.
Remember that the rainbow comes after the rain.
As you exhale,
Let your hands slowly lower and feel your hands guide all that you want to welcome,
Gently entering within you,
Letting it saturate your consciousness.
Allow the beauty and the magic of this rainbow to surround and embrace you.
Now for the last round,
We will seal it in with your intention.
Connect with your conviction,
Your faith,
That through your experience of stress or burnout,
You are gaining clarity on what truly matters to you.
You are learning about yourself,
About how you can live more authentically,
In alignment.
With your next inhale,
Connect with this faith and conviction as you slowly sweep your arms sideways and upwards,
As if reaching up to gather and hold the energy of the sun above you.
As you reach the top,
Your arms form an arc.
Feel like you are touching the healing light and energy of the sun,
A representation of your higher self.
Know that this guiding light is here for you,
Always showing you the path through moments of darkness and uncertainty.
As you exhale,
Let your hands slowly lower and let your hands guide the light of the sun to shine down on you,
Healing you,
Supporting you,
Showing you your path forward.
To conclude this practice,
We gently place your palm one over the other,
Letting the centre of one palm stack over the other,
Three fingers below your belly button,
On your lower energy centre.
Here,
We'll take three deep breaths.
Inhale to acknowledge the rain.
And exhale to wash away and release what no longer serves you.
Inhale to acknowledge the rainbow.
And exhale to welcome what matters and is truly important to you.
Inhale to acknowledge the sun.
And exhale to trust and have faith in what is to come.
Gently place both of your palms together and rub them against each other.
And when your palms feel warm enough,
Cover them over your eyes.
In the warmth and darkness of your palms,
Slowly let your eyes blink a few times.
And then let your eyes fully open as you slowly slide your palms down your face and let them rest in front of your heart.
Thank you for joining me for this practice.
For maximum benefits,
You may wish to practice this at least twice a day,
Once in the morning before starting your day to energize and once before going to sleep to cleanse your energy and release what no longer serves you.
You may also do this as often as you wish to cultivate balance,
Clarity and inner peace.
