Forest Bathing Heart-Focused Qi Gong

This Qi Gong session will guide you to connect with your heart and pericardium, and feel into the sense of unity consciousness, love, and gratitude for life. I recommend finding a place to stand for this practice; however, you can sit as needed during the session. Enjoy and let me know how this Qi Gong in nature feels in your body! Nico. Please note: As this practice involves movement, please ensure you are in a safe space and listen to your body's needs throughout the session.

Transcript

Saying hello and welcoming in spruce and maple and fir. Fern and Oregon grape. Oh, Huckleberry. And all the other beings who live in this forest. And. Gathering the energy, The chi in this space. And sending it home to you, Wherever you are. Listening to this practice. And this is a summertime Qigong practice where we're going to focus on connecting in with the heart. The pericardium and, Uh, Just really feeling into that sense of unity, Consciousness and love. Gratitude for life. So finding a comfortable place to stand. And I really, As I sit here on this mossy. . . Uh old stump here i really encourage you to feel into the ground that you're on so taking off your socks if that's possible or putting on some wool socks something natural and just really feeling the textures in your feet. And letting yourself become aware of what it is that is supporting you in this moment. It might be the floor or a yoga mat or somewhere outside or your car. Who knows? Whatever it is for you, Just. . . Feeling that sense of Broadened gratitude. Expand down into your legs and out through your feet into this support. And then tuning in to the support that you feel all around you. In your life. So you might feel this as friends, Family, Greater community, Purpose. Animal beings, Children. Whatever it is that comes right away to your mind, Just letting gratitude expand out towards that field. Of support that you have in your life. Feeling those tendrils sweep out like colors on the wind. Like wisps of tail. Sparkling out rope, Reaching out and encircling those things that are supporting you and in turn. Giving your thanks. Giving your gratitude for their being in your life. So we're going to start this practice with some twists. Letting your gaze follow your upper body movement. Just going as quickly or as slowly as feels good here. And again, As vigorously or as gently as feels good for your body today. And just really coming into a harmonious awareness with what you are feeling today. In this present moment. Might feel a bit stickier, Might feel a bit loose. Letting what is be okay. And as you bring your gaze. From side to side, Starting to notice your environment around you. So bringing that awareness. Up to your gaze. And whether you are in a room or you are outside or somewhere else, Just. . . Again, Feeling that welling up of gratitude for this support. That is surrounding you. And letting that support slip out of your heart and move in the direction of that support. Continuing to twist and find that gentle ease. You may wish to begin to bring your hands up to top the chest. Or to tap. Up here in the shoulders, The trapezius area. Gallbladder Meridian. Ah, Wherever feels good. I'm going to stay at the hips because that's. . . What's feeling yummy to me right now? Just noticing if you can bring a gentle smile to your face. Or even just inside your mouth. Feeling this lift of the soft palate. Lift of the eyes. Lift in the throat Relaxing the tongue as you do this and maybe starting to feel an opening. In the throat wider than what was there before. And as you do this, Can you feel also that you're making space for your heart by lifting your rib cage as you twist, Inhaling into the ribs, The side ribs, The back body. And then exhale, Surrendering down. Starting to build awareness and relationship to your heart here. As you inhale, Feeling it spacious and wide. And exhale, Letting your diaphragm give it a little hug from the bottom. So a few more turns here and then settling into a still place. We've traveled down to the feet. And up into the heart. And now we're going to go up into the heavens. So starting to do our drawing down the heavens, Pulling energy up from the earth, Palms face down. At shoulder height, Flipping the palms to face up. Gathering in from the sky, Maybe looking up. And then exhale. Bringing the hands down through the central channel. And releasing that energy back down into the earth. So we'll build on this practice as we go, Inhaling up from the earth. Flipping the palms, Gathering in from the sky. And exhale, Drawing that energy through the body, Feeling it through your central channel. And sending it back into the earth. So as we continue in this practice, Starting to develop this sensation of being a conduit of earth energy and heavenly energy. Earth Chi. And sky chi. And the forest has me feeling quite energized today, So I'm going to encourage you, If you feel energized, To bend the knees as you gather from the earth. Bend them deeper as you gather from the sky and then bring the body up as you draw the energy down the central channel and release down into the earth. So again, Bending as you inhale. And then coming back up to stand as you exhale. This is energizing not only your body, But the body of the earth. It's giving information to the heavens about the earth. Such a lovely practice of connection to that. Sense of oneself as the conduit which we are especially when we are singing especially when we're. . . Creating music inspired by life. Feeling how your body might be shifting in its energy field as you continue on doing this. Practice. Do a couple more. And then coming to rest again, Maybe closing the eyes or just softening them and noticing. How your body feels. Mine is more tingly. And I'm standing a bit straighter My knees are also feeling a bit sore. So in today's practice, We're going to learn an essential Qigong form that helps us to build protective walls around the heart. Mmm. And also strengthens the pericardium, Which is the heart protector. It's the tissue that the heart is sitting within. So the form looks like this. Draw the hands up. We create this heart box. With our two hands holding the energy of the heart here. And with our lower hand, We sweep it. Under and up. Creating this wall. And with our upper hand, It follows. And finishes the wall. And when we're ready to transition, We move back so that the front hand sweeps down into the bottom and the backhand comes up over top. And this is the way that we switch sides. So when we go to the opposite side, We bring the bottom hand and sweep it up. Creating that protective wall, And then the upper hand comes to meet it. So when we're in flow, That's what this looks like. Inhale at the heart. And exhale. Creating the protective field. Front hand swoops down. Inhale. And exhale, Creating that protective field. Front hand swoops down Backhand over top. Inhale. And exhale, Creating the protective field. So as you learn the form, The easiest thing to remember is that that front hand, It always swoops down. To start again. So once you get this form going, You can really tune into that color of red. This feeling of protection. What do you want that wall to be like? I like mine to feel permeable and breathable, Almost like the skin of. . . These trees here where I can take in the world around me. And what's good comes in, And what isn't good bounces off or is protected. And this wall is holding that stuff away from the deeper tissues of my heart. You can also imagine on the inhale that you're breathing in this happiness and joy, This gratitude. And then on the exhale, You're releasing sadness. I find this one especially good to do in nature. Has the tendency to see duality, This good and bad. Really become so clear, Like, Oh, It's so sad this tree has fallen down. Oh, It's so joyful that this tree is now feeding the soil below and becoming a home for. . . So many creatures. This duality that humans have in our conscious awareness or perception of how reality works. Is part of our heart and in doing this practice we get to see how It is really just a spectrum, And there are two sides to. . . Every joy and every sadness. And that is okay. That is the natural rhythm of life. If you'd like to add on a step, You can also add. The sound, The healing sound of ahhh. As you exhale. It's bringing that power of sound into your practice. H-A-W Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Taking a few more passes and then coming to stillness. Ah. Letting the hands come down to the sides when you're ready. We're going to do another heart practice here. Where we gather. Energy up. Pull it up, Palms facing up to our heart. Almost as if we're filling an upside-down bowl. And that's on the inhale. And then as you exhale, You're pushing that out and away. You can bring in all of that energy that we were talking about in the last one. The red light. The sounding. Sigh. One of my teachers, Sonia Dracolich, She recommends gathering up all the prayers of the earth. All the prayers that anyone has ever said, Gathering them up, Feeling them fill your heart, All this love. All this hope, All this promise, All these wishes. And then exhale, Pressing them out and giving them back into the world. Feeling them spread wider. Inhale, Collecting. Filling the heart. Feeling that expansion in your rib cage, Back, Sides, And front. And then exhale, Sharing them out with the world around you. You can feel free to add whatever visual might be. Most yummy for you here as well. We're going to take a few more passes, Just three more. And our last form that we'll do today is for the triple burner, Which will also help with our small intestine and our heart. Is really about all the protective tissues around all of our organs. So we're going to gather energy up, Up towards about chest height, Palms facing up. And then flip the palms over. And reach all the way up. And then release down. And as we do this, We're going to make the sound H-E-E on the exhale. So I'd like you to imagine as we're doing it. Gathering all this good chi from your supports, Reaching up overhead, Feeling that smile, That inner smile, And then hee as you exhale. Inhale, Gathering the energy. Reaching up and then exhale. Inhale, Gathering the energy. And exhale. Feeling that inner contentment and balance. Just doing two more passes here. Ooooooh! Bye. Bye. And then to close our practice today, We're going to take a mudra from yoga that. . . Like a prayer wheel with a hand. So. To start off, Bring the thumbs, The pads of the thumbs together, Almost like a prayer mudra, But facing forward. And then from the pinky side, Start to disconnect the hands and press the pads of the thumbs still together. Curling the hands back. And the fingertips towards the heart, Brushing the heart. And then reaching the fingertips forward again. Pinkies are now touching. So to describe it again, The palms are touching to start, And the pinkies start to separate, All the fingers start to separate, And the thumbs are touching. And then your knuckles of your pointer finger touch. And the fingertips curl in and brush the heart. And the palms flip over and then the pinky side of the hands touch. Imagining a prayer wheel with me. Like you are a prayer wheel now. Your hands are and your arms are holding this prayer wheel and you're spinning it. You're spinning the prayer wheel of your heart. And as you spin it, I'd like you to start to imagine a prayer that you have for yourself, Someone you love. For the earth. Whatever it might be. A mantra of some type that. . . You can really bring into this practice. And if you want to say it out loud, You can. Feeling this mantra become alive with your voice. And supported by the energy of your heart. Sigh. You can come back to your ha sound. If nothing else wants to come through or just be in hum or in silence. Um Om. Amm. Closing out this part, This closing part of the practice now, Just by touching your heart and holding the heart space of your body. And bring this gentle lift with your palms like you're. . . And lifting and squeezing your heart. See if you can touch into your heartbeat. And imagine this. Whole body image of yourself. Glowing. Full and vibrant, Beautiful pink and red light emanating from you, From your heart space. The breeze of life touching your cheek. And the hairs on your skin. Feeling a renewed and refreshed sense of vitality and joy and gratitude. And a lightness of letting go of sadness, Sorrows. Griefs. If you feel capable of it, Spread your arms out wide. Like a star, Palms stretched, Fingers stretched. Feet stretched. Feel this widened sense of self. Either physically doing this or imagining yourself doing this. It feels good. And then twinkling the fingertips down towards the side. And then holding your lower dension, Your low belly. And just rotating nine times in one direction. And then going in the opposite direction, Balancing out the yin and the yang energies. Thank you for practicing today. And enjoy this invigorating sensation as you continue on in the world. Be well and take care.