Doing Qigong With Nature

Doing qigong or energy practice with Nature is a very powerful experience. Doing qigong outside, especially in a forest, is a wonderful experience. Here is some simple guidance on doing qigong with trees!

Transcript

Here's a few forms of qigong that we can do with nature.

Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching says,

The highest sage is like water.

Water benefits the ten thousand beings yet contends with no one.

It flows in places that people reject,

And this way it is close to Tao.

In her dwelling,

The sage values the earth.

In her spirit,

She values the qualities of a deep pool.

Because she does not go against nature,

She is free from blame.

So Lao Tzu compares the sage,

Or the enlightened being,

To water,

Invoking what we call in Taoism the water-course way,

Which is a very important Taoist principle.

Water benefits all,

Says Lao Tzu.

Water from the sky produces mist and dew,

And on the earth it creates lakes and rivers.

Water always flows downhill.

It will gather in humble places like swamps that people often reject.

In its humbleness and willingness to go wherever the flow takes it,

That water is most like Tao.

Within the flow of water are shadows and reflections from the light above,

Yet it never loses its true nature.

We can freeze it or boil it and it will become different forms,

But the molecular structure of water does not change.

Can we become,

In our nature,

As flexible as water?

Water also takes on whatever shape it is put in.

If it is put into a round pot,

It becomes round.

If it is put into a square container,

It becomes square.

This characteristic of water is also the mark of a true sage.

If we can become completely free and able to flow with whatever situation we find ourselves in,

We can live a long and happy life.

If we are constantly fighting our life situation and trying to force it into the shape we prefer,

We will suffer.

Not going against nature means not going against the natural flow of life.

It can also mean not going against the natural flow of our own being.

When we try to force ourselves into a shape that others demand of us,

We end up becoming distorted and in pain.

But if we allow ourselves to flow like water,

We will be able to deal with any situation from an authentic place.

By not going against the greater nature or against her own authentic self-nature,

The sage is free from blame.

This means she does not suffer as others suffer.

She does not distort her true nature in order to fit in with the world around as so many of us do.

So here's a little water meditation qigong practice.

This practice is really easier to do lying down.

So lie down,

Make yourself comfortable,

Close your eyes and begin breathing slowly and deeply into your lower dan tian.

Imagine yourself floating gently on the surface of a lake or a river.

Feel the currents gliding gently around your body as you bob and float at one with the water.

See in your mind's eye the blue sky above you with just a few clouds dancing along in the sky.

Some of them may look like dragons,

Some like tigers,

And some like other shapes.

Feel the warm yang energy of the sun shining down on you,

Filling you with energy and light.

And at the same time,

Feel the cool yin energy of the water below and around you,

Holding you up and dancing gently with you.

Feel how the water in your own body responds to the water below and around you.

Feel the water in your veins and arteries speak to the water around you.

Be the water being that you are.

Let go,

Feeling your warm body blend easily and richly with the sun and the water.

When your meditation is over,

Try to keep a little of that feeling of yourself as a water being,

Flexible and open,

Humble and adaptable.

This will help you in your daily life and be of immense help in your spiritual cultivation.

This next practice is called standing like a tree or sometimes called standing like a post.

But I like the image of a living tree instead of a dead post.

This practice strengthens the kidney energy in the lower back.

It will also energize the whole body.

At first,

It'll be difficult to hold this post for long,

But over time,

You'll be able to hold it for a long time.

Start with three minutes and build up to 20 minutes if possible.

If your legs start to shake,

This means your legs or chi system are not strong.

But keep going for a few minutes longer before stopping.

You may also experience various twitches or shaking in other parts of your body.

This usually means your chi system is adjusting itself.

You can either control these involuntary movements or just let them play themselves out if you're comfortable with that.

Your chi body,

Just like your muscles and tendons,

Needs to adjust to changes.

And this practice allows that to happen.

Stand with your feet as wide apart as your shoulders.

If you have back or knee pain,

You can do this practice sitting on the edge of a chair.

Send your roots deep into the earth so that you're standing like a tree on the earth,

Open to the sky.

Bend your knees slightly while tucking in your pelvis as if sitting on a high stool.

Now raise your arms in front of you to the level of your lower dantian as if embracing a tree.

Your fingers should be pointing toward each other.

Your elbows should be lifted just a little as if you're holding an egg in each armpit,

One that you don't want to break.

Feel your bai hui at the top of your head being pulled up slightly as if you are being suspended by a golden thread.

Relax your shoulders.

Breathe slowly and deeply into your lower dantian.

Place the tip of your tongue onto the roof of your mouth and smile slightly.

This is a very important principle in qigong and also meditation that a lot of people don't realize that by smiling a little bit when we're sitting,

Standing or moving,

It relaxes our whole body and our spirit in a different way than if we were just standing,

Sitting or moving with a really glum or fierce expression.

So next time you're meditating or doing qigong or tai chi,

Let yourself smile a little bit.

Let your face muscles relax a little bit.

You'll be amazed at the difference of how you will feel.

Now imagine a golden ball of qi rotating between your arms,

Hands and your torso,

Your lower dantian.

Feel it turning around clockwise direction.

After a while you will really be able to feel the pressure or a feeling of substance or a feeling of movement between your arms and your body.

Now relax your whole being and extend your awareness to the world around you.

Use soft focus while looking straight ahead.

Draw healing yin qi from the earth below you into your lower dantian.

Draw heavenly starry yang qi in through your bai hui and into your lower dantian.

Feel this rich yin and yang qi blending together in your lower abdomen.

Picture it flowing together like a yin yang symbol.

Stay with this feeling for as long as you intend to do this practice.

To end the practice,

Bring your arms slowly down to your side and straighten your legs.

You can shake your arms and legs out a little as well.

When doing this practice,

Allow yourself to really open up and receive healing energy,

Guidance and wisdom from the earth,

The sky and the stars.

Here's another little treat practice.

To develop a deep connection to the Great Mother or Tao,

We can learn from nature and work with the energy of trees.

As my teacher Hua Ching Ni says,

Human life is conceptual.

We learn from books and new ideas.

Trees do not learn from ideas.

They learn directly from reality.

If anything changes,

They immediately know about it.

It takes humans much longer to discover a problem,

But the trees know immediately.

In this practice,

We can develop our connection with nature and the living beings that surround us by connecting with and learning from a tree.

Go to a tree that looks healthy and abundant.

Stand with your back to it,

Resting on its trunk.

Lace your fingers together in front of your lower dantian.

Close your eyes and slow your breathing.

As you breathe in,

Allow the qi of the tree to enter your body.

Then,

When you exhale,

Let all the tensions,

Toxins,

Disease and pain flow out of you and into the tree.

And by the way,

This will not harm the tree.

As you breathe in and out,

Feel the life form that the tree is and deepen how you connect your personal qi with the qi of the tree.

Trees breathe in their own way,

Contributing to the rich oxygen that humans and all living creatures breathe every day.

So once a connection is made,

You and the tree can breathe together.

Feel yourself breathing along with the tree,

Mingling your qi.

This allows you to receive information about the kind of beingness that lives in the trees surrounding us.

And at this time,

You can also send those roots down from the bottom of your feet and feel them mingling with the roots of the tree or the other trees around you.

Now you'll practice the small heavenly orbit with the tree.

And instead of bringing your qi up the dhumai in your back,

As you have in the other practice,

Send the qi up the roots of the tree and feel that qi rise up through the trunk all the way up to its highest branches.

Now guide the qi from those branches into your bai hui point at the top of your head and down to the front of your body,

Your renmai.

Pull the qi down to your lower dantien.

Stand quietly.

Feel the qi running from your lower dantien down to your feet,

Down into the roots of the tree,

Up the tree trunk and up to its highest branches,

And then down through your bai hui and all the way down to your lower dantien.

Do this cycling of qi between 9 and 36 times.

Then to finish,

Turn to the tree and bow three times.

At first it may seem funny to bow to a tree,

But especially if the tree is large and healthy,

The tree has not only its own qi,

But also wisdom that is just as real as that of any human sage.