Well,
Hello and welcome.
The topic of today's meditation will be Qigong,
Which is an introduction to the theory and practice,
Sometimes pronounced Qi Kong.
So this is an ancient Chinese practice of health and vitality and energy.
The word Qigong means,
Translated means energy skill.
And this is the basis for many arts in China,
Such as martial,
Medical practices and alternative medicine,
And the spiritual practices.
So it had three main areas of application.
We're going to be looking at a very simple and easy introduction to some first principles,
And just practicing with some breathing and a meditation idea.
So as always,
I'd like to invite you to sit comfortably with your back straight,
Either in a chair or on the floor,
And just relax nicely for a few moments.
To help us with that,
We can bring our attention to our face and relax the face.
A lot of us carry tension in the jaw and the tongue and the eyes.
So make sure you release the tension out of your eyes.
You can scrunch them up for a few moments if you wish to,
And then release,
Move your jaw around,
And then release.
Sometimes a good sigh or two is very helpful.
So you take a breath and you just let go with the exhalation,
Focusing our attention a little bit more on the breath.
As in previous meditations,
You can refer to my breathing,
5,
10,
And 20 minute,
And also the Opening the Heart,
5,
10,
And 20 minute meditations.
We can just emphasize the exhalation a little bit more than the inhalation.
So it is a smooth,
Comfortable,
Easy in-breath,
Nice and relaxed,
And a smooth,
Comfortable exhalation,
Nice and relaxed,
With a little bit more emphasis on the exhale,
So slightly longer.
The background intention that we carry is very important.
So the background intention of just releasing and letting go,
And coming present-minded.
This is very important as well,
To be here now,
To be present-minded in the here and now.
And you'll see if you look into the Opening the Heart meditation,
The observer mind is also fundamental to all these practices.
So it's almost as if we're just watching,
We're observing our breath coming and going,
We're engaging it gently,
Smooth,
Slow,
And steady,
Relaxing and centering a little bit more on the exhale,
Relaxing the skin,
Especially on the face,
The skin all over the body,
Releasing the tension,
Sit comfortably in the here and now.
Now the next thing that I'd like to say is that if you can practice outdoors,
This is great to do outdoors in nature,
Not all of us have that privilege,
So if you live in a high-rise building or a residential city or something like that,
I would suggest that possibly you could grow some pot plants and window boxes to help connect with earth and nature.
You can watch videos and look at images of mountains and ocean,
Gardens and jungles and so on.
This really does help us connect with the energy of the natural world.
So the Jigong practice in Taoist terms would be the,
That is one of the Chinese spiritual systems,
The practice would be known as the harmonization of earth,
Man,
And heaven.
So the harmonization also implies that as humans,
We need to have a good relationship and a good interactivity with our earth and the solar system and the cosmos that we live in.
So this is a wonderful opportunity and practice of engaging that positively and actively.
As I sit quietly,
As we sit quietly,
I will become aware of the earth below.
I'll become aware of the earth below with its elements of water,
Without water there is no life,
Its elements of earth with rich fertile soil,
Even sandy soil and strong foundational rock.
Earth is often esoterically associated with materialization,
The physical plane.
Water,
We have air,
Fresh clean air,
So necessary for life,
Oxygen,
And we have fire for warmth,
Cooking.
So we need to be in harmony with the earth and the elements of the earth.
Next I'll turn my attention to our heavens,
Specifically the sun at the center of our solar system,
That great fiery ball.
So without the sun there would be no life,
Nothing on earth would exist biologically,
Organically.
So the light and the warmth and the gravitational action of our sun is imperative.
So what we're doing here is very simple really.
As we sit quietly with our spine upright,
Breathing gently,
I hold an awareness of the earth below and specifically the sun above,
Connecting on that axis through the spine,
Gravity if you will.
There is a powerful magnetic action coming up from the earth and a powerful electrical action coming down from the heavens and our sun.
So just breathing in gently,
Long,
Smooth,
Steady,
Easy and comfortable.
Breathing out gently,
Long,
Smooth,
Steady and comfortable,
Peaceful and a steady,
Gentle awareness of the earth below and the heavens above,
With a background intent of equanimity,
Of balance,
Of restoration and healing,
Of increasing vitality as we take advantage in our awareness and attention of that rising force coming up from the earth,
The descending force coming down from the heavens.
And this really will be as far as we'll go,
An essence of the practice.
And this is a great foundation and can be practiced always.
I would say 5 to 10,
Maximum 20 minutes a day to establish and become familiar with this form of meditation or meditative breathing that has a very powerful energy component that works in with the energy meridians and the major channels that run through our electromagnetic field and as well as our physical body.
So simple practice of being quiet,
Being present-minded,
Being observer-minded,
Noticing the flow of breath,
Connecting gently in unity,
Everything together,
Harmonization of earth,
Man and heaven.
So I would like to stop there,
But I shall carry on and continue the series to move deeper into the Qigong practice.
Trust you've enjoyed,
Benefited.
To really benefit,
We do need to practice every day so that something can become established.
I look forward to continuing and I wish you a beautiful day further.
Rich blessings and I'll see you tomorrow.
Namaste.
