Everyday Easy Qi Gong

This session begins with a short introductory talk to provide a brief background to what Qi Gong is - the 'energy skill of the ancient Chinese masters. The second part takes us through an accessible breathing and easy meditation exercise. Practiced regularly, the sequence gives us a powerful tool to improve our general health and vitality. Other benefits include enhanced lung capacity and function, better concentration, greater emotional and mental stability, and more.

Transcript

Hi there,

Paul Cullis here.

Today I will give a short talk to introduce a basic seated Qigong practice for us.

And in the second part we will get to try it out together.

The easy Qigong exercise is based in breathing and simple arm and hand movements.

Some listeners may be wondering what Qigong is.

The word Qigong means energy skill.

This is an ancient Chinese practice of understanding,

Utilizing and cultivating both intrinsic energy in the body and universal energy at large.

In olden times the Taoist and other Chinese masters worked on the fundamental premise that life force energy governs pretty much everything and so focused their attention and efforts to developing this knowledge.

The study,

Art and science of Qi branched into three main areas,

Martial,

Medical and spiritual.

Notably most Western people these days know about and may have had experience with the Meridian system of acupuncture and maybe other Chinese medicine interventions.

These all utilize the life force Qi as the foundation of therapy.

Balancing and maintaining healthy life force flow in the Meridians is seen as the basis for good health and even longevity.

So on that note,

Today's beginner exercise will be for general improvement of health and vitality.

Your concentration skills will also benefit.

Similar to the Yoga system,

The Chinese recognized two vital central energy channels in the body.

For ease of understanding this,

We can say that the one runs in the front aspect of the torso from perineum to crown and back down again,

While the other runs in the anterior aspect behind the spine from the perineum to the crown and back down again.

The two channels are or can be connected together and are known as the conception and government channels.

So we can think of the back of the spine and the front of the spine as two major energy lines that run on a vertical axis through the body.

Now let's leave that for a moment and introduce another fundamental discovery,

The ancient master's file.

They saw that a powerful axis of ascending and descending energy runs between the center of the earth and our sun and other heavenly bodies.

An easy way to understand this is to think of nature.

Absolutely everything in the natural world is seen as either growing up and flowering or breaking down and dissolving.

This is completely natural and a normal process and is healthy.

If we observe nature left to its own devices,

We see a perfect symmetry and balance and harmony.

It is only us humans who decided that dying down and withering away was to be avoided,

Was unhealthy,

Something to fight against.

It's similar to us wanting the sun to only ever shine and we actually call cloudy and rainy skies gloomy and bad weather.

We also want to have avocados all year round,

If you get my meaning.

The truth is that we really need both forces for balance and indeed health,

Harmony and happiness.

The heavenly or solar force was seen as the yang aspect and the earth force as the yin aspect.

Most folk today have heard of yin and yang.

This is very similar to polarity,

Just like the positive and negative poles of a battery.

In regards to yin and yang,

The one is seen as electric from the heavens and the magnetic principle coming up from the earth and this yin and yang or electric and magnetic is mirrored throughout the universe.

Once again,

Both forces are essential for balance and harmony.

In our bodies,

The water component is seen as magnetic and in the Chinese system there is a fire component or element which is seen as electric.

These two,

The water and the fire,

Are activated when energy runs up and down the two major channels in the body.

In the practice we get some say in the flow of qi.

This is achieved with a combination of breath and the focusing of our attention.

These two vital aspects,

Breath and attention,

Along with our power of intention and awareness of that heaven earth power axis,

Creates a very powerful agent for restoration and healing,

Rebalancing and reconnecting back to that perfection seen in the natural world and indeed the architecture of the cosmos.

So for our practice now,

I'd like us to sit in a firm chair with the feet flat on the floor.

Even better would be to have bare feet planted flat onto mother earth.

This is actually a practice known as earthing and it's a technique which has been shown to dramatically increase a healthy exchange of energy from the earth and our physical bodies.

So a big thing there is the insulating factor from our shoes and not sleeping on the ground anymore as we did in olden times,

Which had a great rebalancing effect on the physical body,

Which has innumerable health benefits in itself.

We should all spend at least 20 minutes a day walking in nature or sitting bare feet.

You can of course combine this with the jiggling practice we're about to perform.

So I'll invite you to relax,

Become present minded,

The back should be straight but not stiff and unnatural,

Shoulders are relaxed and drawn slightly back,

The chin is slightly down so that we feel a stretch on the back of the neck but not too much.

This activates an energy pump round about the occipital level.

Relax more and smile to yourself softly.

This smile releases tension in our nervous system and is a great benefit to all the organs and systems of the body.

As you sit peacefully,

Place your awareness and attention on the spine,

Feel the very base at the tailbone,

The coccyx.

Feel all the way through the spine slowly moving upwards.

Feel each section,

The lower back,

The middle back,

The shoulder level and finally where the spine joins into the skull.

Feel the spine as a whole unit,

Top to bottom.

Now let us sense two more essential energy centres in the body,

The crown point on the top of the head and the perineum located in the pubic occipital musculature.

Like us to really feel these two spots.

If you find it difficult,

Avoid stressing and simply carry on practicing and trying.

The awareness does come with a little repetition and regularity of practice.

Let's leave that and we'll come back to it just now.

Turn your attention towards the huge mass and volume of our magnificent planet earth.

In your imagination try to feel down deep into the bowels of the earth.

Imagine the inky blackness,

The cool earth,

The solid slabs and plates of rock.

Imagine the groundwater,

Pools and even underground rivers.

Recently scientists have found huge volumes of water like underground seas.

There is magma down here too,

Molten lava and gases at searing temperatures.

What would you find and what would it be like at the very centre of the earth?

So in the way that the mind can instantaneously switch,

Cast your awareness and attention straight above your head now,

Way up into the sky.

Imagine our huge blazing sun,

Source of all warmth and light in our solar system.

Just think,

Without the sun there would be no organic life on the earth at all.

See and feel this incredibly powerful centre in your mind's eye.

Imagine further and see the other planets,

All swirling in their staggering orbits.

Think of the awesome power generated by just our own solar system,

What of the entire galaxy,

Actually billions of galaxies.

Can you feel an axis running through your body,

With your spine,

Plunging downwards to the very centre of the earth,

Rocketing skyward on a dead straight line to our sun and extending beyond to the entire cosmos.

Although we're imagining this,

It's not actually such a metaphor.

There really is a powerful electric and magnetic axis running this way.

There is an actual ascending current of pranic energy,

That is life force energy,

Or Qi.

There is a descending one too.

With a little practice we can begin to feel this axis,

Feel these currents very distinctly.

Now it's time to breathe.

I want you to place your arms at your sides,

With the palms up,

Comfortably.

Now empty the lungs completely and breathe in slowly and raise your arms at the same time.

Slightly stretched out but not locked at the elbow and wrist.

Keep the arms relaxed,

Palms facing up.

Breathe in,

All the way until the hands are high above the head,

Which is the completion of the inhalation.

With a little practice you will be easily able to coordinate the slow but full inhalation with your hands and arms.

Make sure that you start from empty lungs and feel first the lower part of the body,

Then the middle part around the big breathing diaphragm,

And finally the upper chest at this turning.

Never force and aim to keep coordinated but natural.

It is really important to connect your breath and arm movements together,

Specifically the hands.

We'll try a few together.

After the full inhalation you can simply flush the breath out in a relaxed way.

So let's try one more time.

Hands,

Palms relaxed by the sides.

Start from empty lungs and take that slow,

Smooth,

Steady,

Very coordinated inhalation as you raise the arms up through the shoulder level above the head,

High above the head to complete and then just simply flush the air out,

Relax the hands down.

We're just practicing the inhalation for the time being and you can do a few more in your own time.

Now it's time to practice the exhalation and we'll take it exactly the same way.

For this we need a generous and fairly rapid inhalation that fills your lung capacity.

It's a good idea to still follow those three sections,

The lower part of the body,

Abdomen,

The middle and upper sections.

Move your arms up as well,

Hands,

Palms up as you inhale and now take a slow,

Controlled exhalation.

This time with the palms turned down and be sure to carefully connect your arm movements with the exhalation in your hands.

When you finish the exhalation,

The hands are back down at your sides.

Just take a few normal breaths to relax before starting the second practice cycle of exhalation.

Let's put the inhalation and exhalation together.

You may have to move slightly quicker to accommodate the full slow exhalation after your full slow inhalation.

Try a few times and you'll soon get the knack.

So what we're aiming for with this practice is to connect that earth-heaven axis into our breathing,

The coordination of the arm and hand movement.

As we breathe in,

We imagine the line rushing from the center of the earth up through our body,

Close to the spine,

Out of the crown point and way up into the head.

You can culminate in our magnificent sun.

We'll continue through into the greater cosmos.

As we exhale,

We want to reverse this movement and descend down through the spine,

Out of the perineum and all the way through to the center of the earth.

With some practice,

You'll be able to coordinate this easily and feel the gentle sway and rhythm of ascending and descending energy flows.

There is a slight sense of expanding as we breathe in and contracting as we breathe out.

Encourage this as it becomes a very powerful tool once we are more comfortable with the basic practice.

So in summary,

We need to use our feeling sensation and imagination to become aware of the earth-heaven axis.

This axis runs through our body,

Perineum to crown and down again.

There is an ascending current and a descending one.

Breathe slow and full,

Connecting the arm and hand movements with the awareness of the axis.

Palms up to breathe in and down to breathe out.

Raise the hands high above the head to complete the inhalation.

Feel the expansion of our attention.

As we breathe slowly and rhythmically,

Hold the intention to balance the energy in all your various layers.

That is the mental layer,

Emotional layer,

Physical and in spirit too.

Spirit has a lot to do with our intent.

If the breathing becomes a little intense,

Feel free to stop and rest a few moments and then continue.

Nothing is gained by forcing,

Rather by concentration and smooth coordination of all the aspects.

Practice for 15 to 20 minutes,

Morning and evening for best results.

Remember it takes some familiarity and you'll need to be regular.

A big flurry of practice and then nothing for days simply won't achieve anything at all.

If you take the practice seriously and concentrate properly,

Many benefits will come.

Some of those include calmness and a sense of inner balance and peace,

The strengthening of the lungs and greater oxygenation of the entire system.

So this includes detox,

Repair,

Vitality building,

Energy enhancement,

Better sleep,

Greater emotional stability as we rebalance with the natural order of the cosmos.

The ancient Taoists speak of the harmonization of man,

Earth and heaven.

Lastly,

Revisit here many times in order to become really familiar with the practice.

Keep an eye out for my other courses,

Guided meditations,

Sacred music and yoga offerings here on Insight Timer.

Take care until we meet again.

Rich blessings.

Namaste.