Organizing the Qi Field + Opening the Joints

This practice features a 13-minute seated meditation followed by select sections from the Body & Mind Method of Zhineng Qigong. These sections open the chest and stretch the arms, waist, pelvis, and meridians of the outer legs.

Transcript

So welcome everyone to our time together. I'd like to organize the Chi field and then continue into. A practice to open up the chest, The pelvis. And do some movement to be able to integrate. Our meditation into our bodies. Knowing that in practice we can be static, No movement. Or we can also with movement guide chi throughout the body. So for now we're going to begin. By sitting upright. Lifting up bahuay Bahuay is the hundred point gathering at the top of the head. To do that, We're gonna tuck the chin gently, Subtly down and back. Again, Imagining as if you were to have a vertical pillow behind your head. Let your chest soften. And if possible, Actually sit a little bit towards the front of your chair. We want to make sure we're not leaning back. Feel that lengthening. Let your abdomen subtly tuck in. Aligning your navel. With what's called Ming Men between lumbar two and three, The waist area. The arms. Rest by the sides a little bit of space between the upper arms and the rib cage The hands face down or face up on the upper legs. And we raise what's called hui yin. This is the area between the genitalia and the anus for both men and women. Feel a gentle lifting inside. We're also going to relax the upper leg. Letting the knees. Open to shoulder width. And you're welcome to feel your feet by wiggling your toes. Remind yourself of where your feet are being supported by the earth. Whole body relax. And quiet. Quiet. From here we adjust the mind. Allow your focus. To rest on a point in front of you. At yangtong level. The center of both eyebrows. This point can be a point in space. A point on an object. Or an imaginary point all the way to the horizon. Focus your attention. Your intention. To this one point. Keep the eyes open and steady. For as long as you are able. Now draw this point inwardly. Gently closing the eyes. Drawing all senses and consciousness of mind. Into the center of the head. The home of the mind. From the center. The mind shines throughout the entire body. From the top of the head. Down to the bottoms of the feet. From deep inside. To outside. Integrating and harmonizing all layers of the body in oneness. Notice the spaciousness. Inside. And sigh. And from deep inside The mind continues to expand. Expanding beyond your perceived physical boundaries. Sense the mind expanding. Through the top of the head. A. Ah. To the blue sky. And beyond. Expanding down the leg out of the bottoms of the feet. Deep into the earth Through the center. Of mother earth all the way. To the other side to the blue sky. And beyond. Expanding through the front of the body The back. The last and the right. As you open. Feel as if. You are floating. Fully supported. And the endless Ocean. Av, Chi. Life force energy. Open. Even more. Dissolve it. All borders all boundaries. In this spaciousness You are the universe. You are the universe. And from this oneness. Draw your awareness back. From all directions. Drawing life force energy. Deep inside. Knowing where the mind goes. Chi follows. Filling. Filling. Failing. And with this inner awareness. We once again expand up. Open. In full freedom. Expanding in all directions. From all directions. Low. Step back deep inside. This time, Drawing the mind. To the space behind your navel. Closer to your spine. As you draw the mind inside, Physically guide your palms. Towards the navel. Right hand first for women, Left for men. Aligning the center of both palms with the navel. Yang chi meditation entering inside of your lower dan tien lower elixir feel. And we nourish this area. For our physical health. And healing. And on your own time. Gently open the hands. And slowly. Open the eyes. Very good everyone. So now optional, You're welcome to remain seated. Or you continue the practice standing. For those that would like to stand, Find your comfortable position. Our comfortable position. Focuses. On keeping either our feet together or as close together as is comfortable. If with the feet together, We have a little bit of tightness in the upper legs or the low back. You're welcome to step out to shoulder width. So again, We center ourselves. Feeling the spine upright, Lifting up bah hui. Tucking in the lower abdomen. Raising Huiyan. Arms by the sides. In the standing position. We shift our body weight forward slightly. So our weight is even on both feet. Whole body relax. And quiet. Now that we're more aware of our lower dantian This is where all movement initiate. With that we bring awareness to our little fingers. Turn our palms to face the front. And we hold chi up. Using the least amount of effort to create our movement. We raise our arms up. Up until upper arms are by the ears. We turn the palms to face the top of the head. And we lower the hands down, Relaxing the shoulders, Elbows, Hands in front of the face. Next. Chest. Bringing the hands down in front of the abdomen. Pelvis. Legs feet and toes back to starting position Again. Hold she up. Gathering chi from the earth. Chi from the earth, Raising the body up effortlessly. Blending it with the chi of heaven. And we turn the palms as we pour the chi down through bah hui, The center, Top of the head. And we lower the hands down. Life force energy penetrating deep inside palms, Scanning. Drawing life force energy deeper inside where the mind goes, Life force follows. We continue. Holding chi up. Keep the low back open. Whole body relaxed as we pour chi down A few more times, Follow your own pace. And when you are ready We meet with the arms back in the starting position. Hands by the sides. Maintaining the body posture from here. We raise the arms up by the sides. Slowly evenly. Keep the lower abdomen tucked in. When arms are straight, With the tips of the middle fingers, We bend the wrist. Here we're going to feel our shoulder blades come together and then push out. Notice how my elbows are not bent. Shoulder blades together push out. And up. And and push up. In, Out. And out. And push out. In, Out. In, Out. And out. In out shoulder blades together push out and out so this is more the arms straight In, Out. And out so make sure that your wrist is about shoulder height and out in out in out in up and up. And push out now keep the arms in a straight line Let the upper body relax. Feel your fingers reaching towards the body so we're really feeling a stretch. Breathing in and out naturally. Maintain your body posture. Relax the shoulders. Relax the chest. Tuck in the lower abdomen. The legs are straight but not locked. Very good. From here, Slowly turn the palms to face the earth. Let one shoulder blade come in and we're going to bend that elbow. That's going to push out the other shoulder blade. The arm extends out. Then the top of the shoulder blade goes in, Pushes the other arm out. In. Out in out in out. So we're feeling our shoulder blades moving. The arms follow this movement. Very good. From here we slow down. Arms once again in a straight line. And we lower the arms down by the sides. As we bring the arms down, We're gonna raise the hands up to the sides, Bringing the hands to rest on the waist. As we rest the hands on the waist, We're gonna step on chi, So we're gonna open both feet to the 45 degree angle. Then root the big toe. And open the heels to the 45 degree angle. And then straighten the feet. So feet should be about shoulder width. Or a little bit wider than shoulder width. For this next exercise, I'm gonna come a little bit closer. Now that you saw my foot position. We're going to focus on the pelvis and opening up the low back. To do that, We're gonna squat down slightly. When we squat down, We want to make sure our weight is even on both feet so we're not going to lean forward. Keep the weight even on both feet. Spine is upright. We're gonna focus on our tailbone tip. We're gonna first. . . Bring our tailbone tip forward and up. That's going to actively tuck in our lower abdomen even more. So here. Tucking in. Talking in. We tuck in. And that's going to raise the tailbone tip forward like a monkey tail, Feeling as if the tailbone is touching the front wall. Then we're going to center. From here, We're going to feel our tailbone go to the front left diagonal, Front left diagonal. So you're going to feel the right lower back. Lengthen as the tailbone goes to the front left. And then come back to center. Next, The tailbone to the left. That means the right hip goes down, The left hip goes up. Notice the spine is upright. We're not bending to the side. The spine remains upright. Then come back to center. The back left. We're going to feel the front right abdomen lengthen, Bringing our tailbone to the back left. Then come back to center. Then the tailbone tip goes straight back. So the pelvis. Is turning back. And then we center. Next. To the back right. So again, We're going to feel the front left abdomen lengthen. And the tailbone's going to go to the back right. Center. Tailbone to the right, Right hip raises up, Left hip goes down. And center then tailbone to the front right lengthening the left low back. And then center. So we're going to keep the knees in the same position. And together we're going to bring the tailbone tip forward and up. Now we're going to circle. We're going to circle. Now tailbone to the front left. Back left, Back. Back right, Right, Front right and forward. So let yourself really explore this movement. It's not about how big you can make your circle. It's more about being able to connect these eight different directions as best as you can. So this exercise is called hip rotations. It's also called rinsing the pelvis. So you can almost imagine as if inside. Cleansing. We're drawing fresh qi and blood into the pelvis. Beneficial for both men and women, But of course, Women. Benefit greatly from this practice. It does not matter where in the life cycle we are. For many of us in our daily living, We do a lot more sitting than the body would like. So an exercise like this is. Very beneficial to not only bring fresh chi and blood into the pelvis, To nourish the organs inside. It also opens up the low back. Take your time. So Ming Men, Between lumbar two and three, The waist area. This is the access point. So we want to try to keep from here. We're trying to keep from here up, Not as much movement. Not as much movement. We also want to feel the knees as an axis, So we're not. . . You know, Changing the height You want to keep the knees bent. The weight is even on both feet. Now, As some of us may be new to this practice, At any time, If you wish to bring your hands down, You're welcome to bring the hands down. You can rest the hands on your navel. Your low back, Whatever your preference. Going to do a few more in this direction. Very good and last full rotation. Your tailbone is in the forward position we're going to take a moment and center Now from center. Tailbone tip forward and up. Tailbone tip to the front right. Right, Back right, Back. Back left. Left, Front left, And forward. Continue. So you're welcome to make your circle smaller You're also welcome to go a little bit slower. You want to really explore. Again, These eight directions. So many of our movements in our practice. May seem in the beginning repetitive. And in that repetitiveness, The consciousness training comes. So we want to keep the mind fully focused. On the movement. And not so much the movement, But also the instructions behind the movement, Meaning the mind is instructing the body to do this movement. That instruction activates the qi, The life force energy in your body. So again, It's not so much about the movement. It's about the energy behind the movement. Your attention. So as we continue a few more rotations. Also make sure that your knees do not collapse to the center line. Keep the knees also open. Very good. When your tailbone is in the forward position, We take a moment and center. Keeping the knees bent. We're going to isolate the forward and backward movement. So this is standing. And this is knees bent. From here, Tailbone tip forward and up. Talking in the lower abdomen, Lengthening the low back. Tailbone tip down, Back and up. We're going to arch Mingmen. Mingmen is the area in the low back. We're going to feel that coming forward. So as the tailbone tip goes back, Ming Men comes forward. Tailbone tip down, Forward up. Tailbone tip down back and up continue. Good, From here we slow down. Slow down our movement. Coming back to center. From here, Draw your awareness to bahwe, Top of the head. Raise the body up. Back to the standing position. From here, We step on Qi to close both feet. Close feet to wherever is comfortable. And we release the thumbs. Fingers reaching deep into the earth. We again hold chi up. Up to above the head, Shoulders completely relaxed. Turn the palms over as we pour chi down. Bringing Chi deep inside. Keep the shoulders relaxed, Elbows up. As we lower the hands down to align with the navel. Right hand first for women, Left for men. Taking these precious moments to know all sensations. From your practice today. The full mind inside the space behind your navel. Your lower Dan Tien. Very good from here. We return the arms back to starting position. Whole body. Relax. Now we're going to do a few static practices. Static, Again, Means that the body is not moving, But we're going to get into the position. Get into the position. So we already started doing some pelvic work, Some lower back work. So now, I'm going to ask you to open your feet out. To shoulder width. If you have not done so already. With the feet at shoulder width. I'm going to ask you to root your big toes. We're going to go foot by foot. So now we're going to open the left heel out. The left heel out. Root the right big toe we're going to open the right heel out so now our feet our toes are going to be a lot closer to each other The center of our feet is going to be about shoulder height width. And the heels are going to be wider than shoulder width. Keep your legs straight. The beginning. From here. We're going to raise our hands up. Keep your lower abdomen tucked in. Keep your hands about. Head level. Tip of the middle fingers parallel to yingtung between the eyebrows. Here let your legs straighten and leaning from the waist we're going to lean forward Do not try to reach. We're not trying to reach. We're simply leaning from the waist forward. I'm going to do this from the side. So here. From the waist. Leaning forward. The legs are straight. Not bent like this, Okay? So in this position, Many of us are gonna feel a pretty nice stretch inside the Um, Pelvic area, The outside where the hip joint is and a stretch alongside the outer legs. Make sure we don't drop the wrists. We want to open what's called Shen Men, Heart 7, The outside of the wrist. So keep that flat. Don't collapse your hand. If we don't feel the stretch you're welcome to bring the toes closer and the heels out more. We're gonna be here for just a few more moments. Again, We're bending from the waist. That means the tailbone is still pointing to the earth. Shoulders relaxed. Opening the channels of the outside of the leg. Now, With bau hui, We're going to raise that body up. As we raise up, Now we're going to bring our knees towards each other. Keep the lower abdomen tucked in, Knees towards each other. And we're going to open the arms. Let the chest relax. Feel as if you were to have a huge chi ball. Between both arms. The knees. Are towards each other, Tucking in the lower abdomen, Tailbone is still pointing to the earth. Tuck the chin relax the head back slightly Relax the chest even more. Now, Bah hui, Top of the head, Raises the body up, Body straightens. When legs are straight, Bending from the waist about 30 degrees to the front. Again, Both legs are straight. Let your eyes look at the space between the middle fingers. Breathing in and out naturally. Bending at the waist. Now we raise up. Tuck in lower abdomen, Knees towards each other and we open. Relax the shoulders, Relax the chest, Hollowing the chest. Feeling as if you were to hold a heavy object. Between the palms and the arms. And one more time, We raise up. Up up straighten both legs and lean forward. Again we're not reaching. We're not reaching forward. We're simply straightening the legs, Tucking in the lower abdomen and bending from the waist. Banding from the waist. So make sure that your weight is even on both feet, Not towards the front. That means that you're most likely reaching. So in a way you come forward and then Lean back a little bit. Make sure the weight is even on both feet. That'll change the stretch. Now here, This is the last time we're going to do this one. So let your knees. Keep them keep the legs straight but let your knees slightly turn inward and upward you're going to feel a more prominent stretch Knees inward and upward slightly. We raise up. Now last time, Tuck in lower abdomen, Knees towards each other. Feel the chest open, Expand without pushing it forward. We still feel it relaxed. Remember, We're holding a huge chi ball. But feel the chest. Turning to face upward. From the chest, The spine is straight. The lower abdomen is tucked in. And we raise up, Raising up to the top of the head. Straightening the legs this time. We raise the arms up. Uh you upper arms by the ears good from here We're gonna step on chi, Bring the heels towards each other. The toes towards each other, Bringing the feet to wherever is comfortable. Maintaining the body posture. Now we're going to turn from the waist. Towards the front left. As we turn with the waist. When we are facing the front left, We're going to gently squat down as we lower the elbows. Shoulders wrists bringing the hands down to in front of the knees, Turning from the waist, We raise the hands up. Rest. Elbows. Shoulders and slowly turn to face the front. Again, Down the left. Squatting down. And up the right. Shoulders relaxed again, Down the left. And up the right. From the starting position, We reverse. Turning from the waist, So not with the shoulders, Neck, Or head leading the waist. We turn to the front right. Squat down. Bending. Bringing the body down, Hands in front of the knees. We raise up the left. Back to center. Good. Turning from the waist to the front right, We squat down. Lowering. The body down, Bringing hands in front of the knees. Make sure the knees don't collapse into each other as we raise up. Up the left. Back to center. Last time. Turning to the front right we squat down relaxing the shoulders elbows wrists, Hands back, To in front of the knees and we raise up the left. Up up up When we're in the starting position, We're going to bend the wrist. We're gonna bring the hands towards each other, Bottom of palms towards each other before they touch. We're going to bring the hands parallel to above the head. We're going to separate the elbows and bring the hands. Down until tips of the middle fingers are parallel to the top of the ears. Then we raise up. Hands close. And we open down Close. Open. Ah. Close. And open. Last time. Down. Close. Open From here, We raise up. Close as we open. Now we raise up. Uh. . . Take a moment upper arms by the ears we turn the palms to face the top of the head And we pour chi down. Lowering the hands down. Bringing the hands in front of the face. Neck. Chest. This time we bring the center of the palms to rest on the navel. As the hands rest on the navel, Now we're going to bring the hands just underneath the navel. We're going to circle nine times around the navel in larger and larger circles, And then we will reverse. So to massage around the navel, We first massage up the left. And down the right. Two. Three, Four, Let the elbows guide the movement. The hands are completely relaxed. Five six seven eight and nine. When hands are underneath the navel, We reverse. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five, Four, Three, Two. And one. Once again aligning the center of the palms with the navel. Nourishing life force energy. She is abundant. Abundant. Abandon. Entire body. Is harmonized with chi. Harmonized with Qi. Slowly. Returning the arms back to starting position. And gently.