Tai Chi And Qi Gong For Warming Up

This gentle Tai Chi and Qi Gong warm up is designed to help prepare the body for movement. The slow, flowing exercises gradually increase circulation, loosen the joints, and release tension throughout the body. It’s a simple way to wake up the muscles, improve mobility, and bring awareness to your breath and posture before practice.

Transcript

When I first started studying Tai Chi and Qigong, I was introduced to a number of different warm-up movements. And once I started doing these, I recognized really quickly, As someone who's played sports his whole life and who's been rock climbing for the past three decades, That these are such good practices to do as warm-ups. I've been using these now for a few decades for climbing, But for any kind of sport or exercise program, These Qigong movements, They loosen up the body, They open everything up, They move the body through a nice little range of motion to prepare ourselves for whatever our activity is. Alright, So we're really just going to focus on loosening up through the body, Especially all the major joints. So this first part, We're just going to kind of make circular motions, Going from the neck to the shoulders. Hips and waist, Knees to the ankle. So let's bring the chin down to the chest. Going to inhale bring it over to the right shoulder if you want to do the opposite of me and bring it to your left shoulder and as inhale come over the top you don't need to strain the neck keep the neck neutral inhale Bring it over. I'm going to go to my left. You go to the right. Exhale come down trim the chest We're going to go three each way. Inhale over the top, Keeping the neck neutral. Exhale as you go chin across the chest and then go back the other way. And one more And then let's loosen up the shoulders. First, We're going to do three rolls forward and then three rolls back. I'm also going to show you a way to do it that also helps out with the scapula shoulder blades, Loosening up, Not just on this plane of vertical, Almost like a wheel-like motion, But also working on this horizontal plane. So what I mean by that is you're going to start off. Palm facing back. You're going to turn the palms forward and like squeeze the scalp of the shoulder blades to the spine. You roll up, Making sure don't scrunch the head. Keep a distance between the shoulders and the ears. And as you exhale, The shoulders come down and now the palms face back. So squeeze. Scapula to the shoulder blades to the spine, Roll them up. Exhale. Bring them down. Then we'll go backwards so we start off palms facing back bring the shoulders up And when they get to the top, Then turn the palms forward, Squeeze the shoulder blades of the spine, And roll back. Roll up. Back okay now let's work on the hips region we're just going to be making as big circles as possible so when i come to my right i'm going to come off the left heel when i'm going all the way to my left side i come off the right heel so the other thing is when i'm back In the circle, My belly's back, Chest and head are forward. When I come forward, My belly's forward, Chest and head are back. This is the exhale. See my belly's back. We're going to start here. So come to the side. You see I'm all the way on the left side. I'm coming as far as I can off my right heel. I inhale. Bellies forward, Chest back. Come to the right side, Exhale. Swaying the body, Making the circles as big as you can. Inhale as you're forward. Exhale as you come back and let's go the other way keeping one hand on the belly and one hand on the lower back. A lot of people do this hands on the hips, But it gives you a little more support when you keep one hand on the lower back here. Let's do one more Okay, Let's come down to the knees. Let's do five circles each way. So bring the feet together, Put your hands just above the knees, And just making five circles each way. Once again, You want to always be comfortable, Not overdo it, But go deep enough that you feel the benefits of the movement. Okay now let's work with the ankles. So we're going to be working a. . . Soon with a little bit more balance stuff. So if you're finding trouble to come on one foot, Get a chair or table that you can put your hand on to help out. So you're going to bring the foot in front, Right foot, Left foot, Whatever you're comfortable with. Do five circles each way. Just rotating through the ankles. And then switch feet. Then finishing up this opening part of this warm-up series, We're just going to come up on the toes and the balls of the feet, Keeping your hands on the hips. Exhale, Come back down into the heels. Inhale. Rise onto the toes and balls of the feet. Exhale, Come back. One more. And relax. Okay, Now let's work with some spiraling and coiling motions. Remember this is what I find the most unique. About the qigong system for movement, Really feeling like it's working on the level of the soft tissues and fascia to loosen and open up. So the first one is called snake creeping up the spine. You want to visualize the fingers are like a snake's head. I'm gonna start my left hand if you want to get start the right so it starts off fingers kind of pointing up just below the navel So as you come up the middle of the body, Palm faces you. Then it faces the opposite way. So my left palm, Or if you're right, Faces right, Faces forward, Pushing up. And as you push out, I'm pushing out left. I come off the right heel. And I push out with the palm. And as it comes to the shoulder, The palm faces backwards. Then as I come to the hip, It faces me, And then it comes in. Now we do the other side. So I'm using my right hand if you want to use the left, Doesn't matter. Fingers point up. Then its palm faces me. My right palm face is left. Palm face forward, Pushing up. Exhale. So as I push out, I'm off my left heel because I'm going to the right side. It should accentuate the stretch to the whole right side of the torso. Palm is out. As it comes to the shoulder, The palm faces back. Comes to the hip, It faces in and then come in. Connect to this feeling as we inhale and rise, You feel your stretch through the side. Creating space through the intercostal muscles. Exhale you're just releasing. Just relax on the exhale. Let go. Relax and release. Inhale and rise, Creating space. Exhale, Relax and release. Let's do one more each side. Okay, We're going to do a similar type of movement, But now we're adding a bit more of a torso twist here. So what I'm going to do, I'm going left hand. I'm going to cross my left arm. Across my body. I'm coming off that heel. So it's my left arm. I come off the left heel. I put all the weight into this right leg. I come across. And then as I come back to the middle, I'm even weighted. And then I push out on the exhale. Now as I push out left, I come off the right heel. And I'm just making the movement as big as I comfortably can. So I'm inhaling. Exhale. Okay, So you just come across the body. And as it comes to the middle, Bring the weight even. Then big exhale as you push up. You push out. And behind. Just making the movements. Big and open. Loosening up the shoulder, Getting a nice gentle twist, Making sure you don't over twist the body. We do one more each side. Come across, Inhale. The middle push up Push out, Push back. Final spiraling like movement. This is called crane flying. So what we're gonna be doing here is you're gonna be bringing the arms out, Palms are down. And then as you exhale, You coil the palms. It's like twisting at the wrists so the palms are up. And then you bring it back in. So inhale. Palms out. Exhale as you bring it back in. Let the whole body move. So start the movement like you're pushing off the feet, Power through the legs. You're loosening up, Almost a wave-like motion through the torso. The whole body feels like it's doing a wave from the bottom up. So just let the whole body be loose. Let's do three more and relax. Now we're just gonna work on some nice stretching. So now we're going to just bring in the hands up. Starts off right hand under the left, Left hand on the right, Whatever feels right for you. You're going to come up the middle of the body. And then the palms face you. They face down. They face out. Pushing up. Exhale. Them to the side. Inhale we rise. Exhale, We push out. Connect to that flow, Feel the nice torso stretch. And relax Now what we're gonna do is work on a little bit of opening up through the pelvic region. Strengthening through the knee with a kick. It also works with balance. So keeping the hands on hips. If you're going to find difficulty with the balance, I want you to grab a chair or a table. So you're going to come on one leg. I'm coming on my left. I'm going to bring the right leg. Don't need to bring it super high. The highest you want is parallel to the ground, But if that feels too high, Keep it lower. Then you're going to open it up. Once again, Don't try to overdo it. Bring it back. And then as if you're kicking someone in the knee or if that's too high kicking someone in the ankle. Okay, Switch sides. Bring the leg up. Opening through the groin. Bring it back. And it is if you're kicking with the toe. We'll do three on each side here. One more each side. And bring it back. Gonna work a little bit on some balance and swaying to the sides keep your weight Even now, But wider than hips and shoulders, A little bit of a wide stance. Bring your hands together so all the fingers are touching. Hands are here at the heart center. Now exhale. I'm going to bring your body weight to the side. I'm coming to the left. If you want to mirror me, Go right. Your hands are here but you're looking over the opposite way. So I'm on my left side, Bend my left knee, About 80-90% of my weight is here, My hands are here. Now I'm looking over my right shoulder. Now I transfer my weight. Inhale to the middle. Exhale. Now I'm coming over to the right side, Looking over my left shoulder. Once again, You could work same size as me or mirror. Inhale, Come to the middle. Exhale switch. And out to the middle. Let's go one more and then back. And coming on back. And then the close up, Keeping the feet hip to shoulder width apart. Feel the feet even weighted. Coil at the wrists. Sink a little bit into the heels. Now pushing off the balls of the feet, Power through the legs, Let the arms float up. And when the elbows and hands get even to the shoulders, Bend the elbows, Bring the hands to the top of the head. As you exhale, Just relax the body. Do that two more times. So connect to the feeling as you rise. You feel tall. As you exhale, You relax while keeping that. Length through the spine. Then you can move into whatever activity or exercise you're about to do.