Tai Chi Gong: Flow Like Water

This session explores Qi Gong movements inspired by the Water Element. In traditional Chinese philosophy, Water represents stillness, adaptability, and the natural flow of life. Through slow, gentle movements coordinated with the breath, this practice helps release tension, support circulation, and cultivate a calm, steady state of mind. Move at a comfortable pace and allow the body to follow the rhythm of the breath.

Transcript

Welcome. In this session, We're going to be cultivating the water element. In the Qigong arts, The water element is connected with the season of winter. We really cultivate a sense of transforming feelings of fear and anxiety into a sense of tranquility and balance. We also work with the organ of the kidneys, The lower back, And bringing a water-like quality to the body as we move through these flowing-like practices like a slow-moving river. So enjoy the practice and know that you can return to these anytime you want throughout your day when you want to cultivate these qualities. Okay, Beginning this practice with a movement called Knocking on the Door of Life. Remember, The organ that's connected to the water element is the kidneys in the lower back. So what we're going to be doing is giving ourselves kind of a light massage by gently tapping on the lower back with the back of our hand. So as we come to our side, As I come to my right, My left hand will be tapping the obliques just above the hip bone. On the right side, My right hand lightly taps the left lower back, The kidney region, And just exhale lightly. Nice exhale with every tap. Just letting the head and the torso move. A nice little gentle massage for the lower back. Exhaling with the taps. Nice gentle twist through the torso. Dynamic warm-up. Gently shifting the weight, Turning the waist, Letting the arms feel weightless through the movement. Do a few more each side. And you could slow it up and relax. The second movement is called the Fountain. And if you like, You can work with this visualization as when you see a fountain, Like in a piazza, And the water goes up, And then it kind of comes down gently to the sides. Okay, So what you can visualize is the water is coming up through the soles of the feet, Coming up from the earth, And it's as if with the fingers you're drawing the water up through the soles of the feet. They come up the legs, And as if there's a small tube or big straw inside the spine, We kind of guide the water up through the crown of the head, And then the water just gently falls out to the sides, Just like a fountain. The fountain comes up, Inhale as you rise, Exhale as you sink, And really relax the body. So the feeling here is as you come up and you inhale, Feeling the rising quality of the spine, And as you exhale, Just complete relaxation. Spine rises with this inhale, Exhale, Relax, Release, And let go. We'll do five more. Just link the movement with the breath. Inhale and rise, Exhale and sink. And three more, Guiding the water up through the earth, Up through the spine, Up through the crown, And release. Let's just do one more. All right, Next movement we have is generally called the water wheel. This is a very common one used in the water element, Or you can think about it, We're really just circling the hands. So we're not coming up like the last movement to the sides, We're creating a circle coming out in front of our body. So if you see me from the sides, That's the hands as if they're holding a small ball, They come to the chest, They gently come out, And we just create a circular motion. We're letting the body very lightly move with the movement. So as you come up, You're gently off the balls of the feet, And as you hit your apex, Now it's the exhale, And it's a gentle pressure into the heels. So just a very gentle shift, 52-53 percent of balls of the feet as you rise, And 52-53 percent heels as you sink. Pushing off the feet, We rise, Just creating a circular pattern with the hands, Holding the small ball. For now, Your eyes follow the middle of the ball. Inhale as we come up, Exhale as you come down. Just follow the middle point of the ball with the eyes, Let the body just move naturally with the hands. Three more with the eyes open. Now I want you to close your eyes and bring the awareness inside the body. Now the feeling is you come up, It's that big straw, Small tube inside the spine, The water comes up over the crown, And as you exhale, It's just like water coming down the front of the body as if you're under a gentle waterfall, And the water just washes over the front of your body, Releasing any bit of tightness or tension. So be in the spine, On the inhale, Rising through the crown, On the exhale, Just this wave falling over the front. Three more, And last one, And relax. We're going to change the stance right now. They call this a bow stance. You're going to put one foot in front of the other, The other foot behind, And feel very comfortable with the rocking back and forth. When we rock back, Come off the front, Ball the foot and toes. As we come forward, You're coming off the back heel, Okay, And you just want to feel a very nice feeling as you rock back and forth, Keeping with the feeling of the water element. The first one's like doing the breaststroke as if you're swimming. So as you come forward, Palms are up, And then palms face each other, Face forward, Face out, And you're just parting the waters. You exhale and you rock back, And then you scoop them up, Inhale, Come forward, Exhale, Part the waters. We do five on each side, Nice and relaxed with the breath, And then on this fifth one, As you come back, Bring that front foot back, Bring the back foot forward. Just feel very comfortable rocking back and forth. Last one. We're going to move straight into the next movement, Which is called pushing waves. Step the foot back, Front foot forward, Back foot just very comfortable, A little open, And we're just going to feel as if you're just pushing the waves away. So you can even imagine, Visualize the hands in the water, That light pressure pushing through water, A very lightness of being. Exhale as you come forward, Inhale as you come back. On this last one, On this side, Bring that foot back, Bring the other foot forward, Just continue that flow, Pushing waves. All right, And then relax, Feel into the body, Feet hip to shoulder width apart, Knees slightly bent, Just relax, Feel that connection of the spine rising, The body relaxed. It's optimal posture. Now we're going to do a movement called the cheese shower. All right, So what we're going to do is we're going to bring both hands in front of the navel, The lower abdomen, Left hand in front of right, Right hand in front of left, Whatever feels most comfortable. They're not touching each other, They're not touching your lower belly, But close. You sink a little into your heels, Push off the balls of the feet, And you rise, Come up your center, And as you exhale, Just relax with the hands up. On the inhale, Open the palms as if it's collecting water or chi from the sky, And then exhale. It's like you're bringing that chi down, Bathing back of the head, Come down the chest, Comes down the outside of the legs. As you inhale, You draw it up the inside, Come up the center, Exhale, Relax. Inhale, We open the palms, Exhale, Give ourselves a nice bath, Cleansing and cleaning. Inhale, We rise, Exhale, Open, Relax. Inhale, We open and collect. Exhale, Washing, Cleansing, Clearing. Let's do two more and one more. Now to close off the sequence, We always want to do a closing down movement. So the classic way we close off qigong sets is as they call it, Sinking the chi or pouring the chi down through what they call the baiwei or the crown. So we're going to take the hands, Coil at the wrist so the palms are facing out, Sink a little, And then pushing off the feet, Power through the legs, The feeling of the arms is floating. Hands and elbows come to shoulder height, Bend the elbows, Hands come to the top of the head, And then keeping the mind with the hands, You just relax layer by layer. So we can do this link in the movement with breath for two goes. Inhale, We rise, Exhale, Relax through the eyes and the face, Throat and neck, Shoulders, Chest, Upper back, Lower back, And down through the legs. Do one more. Exhale, Softening, Relaxing. Now this one will take a few breaths to come down. We're going to come down really slow. So relaxing through the forehead and the eyes, Softening through the face, Taking a few nice slow deep breaths, Throat and neck, Soften, Shoulders nice and loose, Down and relaxed, Relax the upper chest, Upper back, The mid-torso, The lower back, And then just taking the hands as if you're guiding this feeling of relaxation down through the legs, Through the soles of the feet, Back into the earth. And just feel into the body and feel into the breath here in the lower dantian, And just taking, You put your hands on your lower abdomen, Taking three breaths here, Just being with the expansion and contraction through the lower abdomen. Cultivating this feeling of tranquility, Serenity, Calm, Peaceful. Taking this feeling with you into the rest of your day. Thanks for joining.

Reviews

Thank you, having the visual was a fantastic addition