Somatic Vibrancy, Qigong & Standing Meditation Practice

Welcome to this decolonized practice of Qigong.

Please refer to the practice notes before following this guidance for the first time.

Anytime you need to pause,

Move your feet,

Shake your legs,

Sit,

Or lie down,

Please heed your body's needs and do so.

If you feel pain in any movement,

Please honor your body's limits and ease up or pause.

Throughout this practice,

Invite yourself to let go of all expectations,

Judgments,

And stories your mind might create or project.

Offer your attention to your body openly,

Unconditionally,

Compassionately,

And it will guide you in this practice.

Stand with your legs straight down into the ground from your hips,

Not angling out,

In,

Backward,

Or forward,

Feet slightly angled outwards.

Take a deep inhale,

And as you exhale,

Begin bouncing your body,

Rising up onto your toes,

Gently thumping the ground with your heels on each bounce.

Your hips might want to jiggle side to side,

Back and forth,

All around.

Shake your shoulders,

Wiggle your head,

Make monstrous faces to stretch those facial muscles.

If you wish,

Vocalize with each exhale,

Inviting your body into deeper release through the sounds it wants to express.

Invite each inhale to be deep as comfortable.

Allow each exhale to be easeful and complete.

With each bounce,

Flick your fingers towards the ground while allowing your arms to relax into the motion.

Be attentive to whether your body wants to shake more intensely,

Or if it wants to flow more easefully.

Notice any parts of your body that might tighten up,

And gently invite those places to relax.

Invite your entire being to relax into the shaking by breathing the feeling of relaxation into your heart with each inhale.

With each exhale,

Invite relaxation to flow throughout your body,

All the way to your fingers,

Toes,

Head.

Now feel into something you deeply enjoy,

And feel the joy it brings you.

Inhale,

Breathe joy into your heart.

Exhale,

Joy flows throughout your body.

Invite joy to expand and flow with each round of breath.

Now feel into someone or something you love,

And feel your love for them.

Inhale,

Breathe love into your heart.

Exhale,

Love flows throughout your body.

Invite love to expand and flow with each round of breath.

As love flows throughout your body,

Invite yourself to feel more deeply into love,

And notice how it feels like ecstatic sensation.

Feel how your being responds to this flow of ecstatic sensation,

And invite your being to feel the full vibrancy of all that flows within.

Gradually,

Slow down.

Pause into stillness.

Allow yourself to soak in the sensations,

The vibrancy you have just created within yourself.

After your next exhale,

Continue to hold your breath out,

Slowly releasing every last bit of breath and inviting your entire being to slow down.

Your heart,

Your blood flow.

As you begin to feel tight in your chest and lungs,

Expand your attention to the rest of your body.

How are your fingers feeling?

Your toes?

The back of your knees?

You aren't pushing away or hiding from the discomfort your chest and lungs are feeling.

You are expanding your awareness and attention to include other parts of you.

Each time you feel a surging demand for breath,

Invite your attention to expand again,

And watch how your being,

Your body,

Responds.

When you feel you've reached your limit,

Slowly,

Gently invite breath in.

If any parts of your body have tightened up,

Gift them your attention without any demands or expectations.

Simply offering the loving gift of your attention,

Watching how they receive this gift.

And settle.

Stabilize.

Return to balance.

As we flow into movement,

Invite all motion to initiate from the Tantian.

With your feet anchored,

Hips facing forward,

Begin to rotate your body to the left and right.

Arms completely relaxed.

Allow your breath to pace your movement.

Inhaling to turn in.

Exhaling to turn out.

Invite increasing force with each exhale.

Expanding depth with each inhale.

Arms swing freely.

Feet anchored.

Hips forward.

Your body's rotations respond to the force of your breath.

With each inhale,

Invite chi from the earth,

Rising up your feet,

Flowing through your body.

Each exhale,

Chi flows out all around you.

Eight more turns.

Pause into stillness.

And soak in the aliveness of what flows within you.

Continuing to offer attention to this vibrancy,

You may find it sustains,

Even expands.

Bring both hands to the front of your body,

Palms facing in front of your Tantian.

Feel the energy in the space between your hands.

Find the distance at which it feels most clear.

Notice how your attention can intensify it,

And notice how the energy flow in your body remains.

We will now flow into warrior breath.

In this part of the practice,

Keep your feet anchored and invite all movement to energetically initiate from your Tantian.

On your next inhale,

Open your hands and bring them towards your body,

Drawing them up to your chest.

Exhale.

Push your hands out in front of you.

Inhale.

Circle your hands downwards.

Bring them back towards your chest.

Exhale.

Push your hands out towards your left and right.

Inhale.

Circle your hands downwards.

Bring them back towards your chest.

Exhale.

Push your hands up towards the sky.

Inhale.

Circle your hands downwards and bring them up towards your chest.

Exhale.

Push your hands down towards the ground.

Continue at your own pace of breath to complete three more rounds.

Breathe so slowly and gently you cannot hear your breath.

Allow your breath to guide your movement.

With your feet actively anchored to the ground,

Each inhale invites energy to rise up from the earth,

Flowing throughout your body.

With each exhale,

Chi flows outwards in all directions,

All around you.

Notice how,

Along with chi,

Your awareness can flow beyond the body,

Down into the earth,

Up to the sky,

Into life all around you.

Your feet remain anchored.

Your sensation of chi clarifies.

Your experience of chi deepens.

And your somatic experience of life all around you expands.

After completing four rounds of warrior breath,

Pause.

We will complete another four rounds with the inhale slow and gentle,

But the exhale and movements outward,

Being eruptions,

Begin again.

Continue to energetically initiate all movement from the dantian,

Vocalizing with each exhale.

Your feet remain anchored to the ground.

Each inhale a deepening invitation for chi to rise up from the earth,

Flowing throughout your body.

Chi emanating outwards in all directions with each exhale,

Up to the sky,

Down into the earth,

All around you.

Even in the force of your exhale,

Remain attentive to how chi invites awareness outward.

And,

As it does,

Awareness expands beyond body into the space of life all around.

As awareness expands,

Sensation of chi deepens.

And each movement invites you to expand and deepen further still.

Pause into stillness.

Soak in all the vibrancy you have created within yourself.

And in the deep,

Intimate connection you have woven with life all around you.

With your arms relaxed by your side,

Anchor your feet to the ground.

Relax your quads and glutes.

On the inhale,

Gently activate your hamstrings while inviting chi to rise up from the earth.

Exhale and release,

Allowing whatever you might be holding onto to drop down into the earth.

Anchor your feet,

Activate your hamstrings,

And allow your pelvic bowl to relax.

Inhale,

Inviting chi to rise through your anchored feet,

Past your activated hamstrings,

Into your relaxed pelvic bowl.

Exhale and release,

Watching what you let go of fall beyond your feet,

Into the earth,

And allowing your awareness to drop along with it.

From this deepened place,

Feet anchored,

Hamstrings activated,

Inhale and invite chi to rise,

Past your pelvic bowl,

Flowing up your spine to the space between your shoulder blades.

Exhale and release,

Letting it all drop,

An awareness to follow beyond your feet,

Into the earth.

Holding this deepening in your awareness,

Chi rising up the spine,

To your crown.

Exhale,

Releasing down the front of your body,

Everything falls further past the deepening.

Continue this practice at your own pace,

Your awareness dropping deeper with each release,

And each inhale rising with ever deepening nourishment from the earth.

You may start to notice how such deepening release is opening spaciousness within you.

You might invite your attention to stay with this spaciousness,

Even as,

With each exhale,

Awareness drops ever more deeply into the earth.

As you expand into this spaciousness,

As chi rises and flows with each inhale,

You may notice how it fills these newly opened spaces within,

So that each round of breath is an ever deepening release,

As well as an ever expanding nourishment.

Know that all you are letting go of is received by the earth,

And transmuted to that which will serve others,

So that the more fully you let go,

The more deeply you are in service to all of life.

Every exhale,

A gift to life and to yourself.

Every inhale,

A blessing received,

And a preparation for the next offering.

Slowly open your eyes,

Returning to the physical space around you.

While maintaining awareness of the expansiveness within,

And the depths of the earth to which you are anchored.

Receiving this world around you through your eyes,

Through all your senses.

Not reaching for or seeking out,

But intimately connected.

Soak in this intimacy,

This nourishment,

This expansiveness,

This depth of connection.

Return here anytime you create this space,

And set the intention.

The blessings you experience now will always flow through you,

And be shared with life all around you.

Your gift to life,

And life's gift to you.

Divine,

Infinite,

Open completely my being,

And connected completely in oneness to you.

And may the blessings of this connection be shared deeply,

Powerfully,

Completely with all creation.

That all beings and I may together be free,

And together experience our natural unity with each other and with you.

Through the blessings of your infinite grace,

Love,

And compassion.

And thank you for this perfect,

Beautiful life and all its blessings.

May they ever flow forth from within,

That they may always be deeply,

Powerfully,

Completely shared with all.

Thank you deeply for joining me in this practice.