Qigong on Dan Kleiman

Breathing Techniques: Am I Doing it Right?

Tue, 06 May 2014 11:52:13 +0000

I recently received this breathing question and I thought it was worth sharing with everyone here as a post. (Don’t forget, you can send me your practice questions!)

I’m really confused! I took a Yang Style Tai Chi course and at the end of the class we would do Qigong. He said “We will do diaphragmatic breathing. As you breath in draw the navel into the spine, as you exhale release and let the belly relax but don’t collapse.” What kind of breathing is this and what is the correct breathing for my qigong practice? Is this wrong?

Immersion Week 2014 Update

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 09:19:00 +0000

Here’s a quick update on what we’ve been working on during Immersion Week 2014.

I’m very impressed (and I say so in the video about 15 times!) with the way this group has patiently explored many different facets of the Swings and Spine Stretch without rushing ahead to try to fit seemingly contradictory pieces together conceptually.

Instead, they’re doing a great job experiencing/exploring each different component on its own.

When you practice this way, you naturally come to integration points where the components gel in a way you couldn’t have predicted.

Relaxing Your Feet to Find Your Root

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 08:44:05 +0000

When you settle into your practice each day, you should always give yourself a couple of minutes to just feel and see where your body, your energy, and your awareness are.

In one sense, each practice session is about bringing the rhythms of each of those into harmony.

That’s why Tai Chi and qigong can be so powerfully restorative.

So, if you take a couple of minutes to just “settle in,” you’ll discover several possible things:

Energy Gates Moving Exercises: Immersion Week 2014

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 10:47:53 +0000

I’m getting excited about Immersion Week at BTC next month, where we’ll take another look at the Spine Stretch and the Three Swings. Another look? Like we’ve done it before? Yes!

Why is it exciting to go back to the same qigong sets over and over again?

So-called creative people understand better than most that there is nothing new under the sun. Working with boulders of granite, with empty stages, with blank paper, they are credited with making something out of nothing, but that isn’t exactly what they do. All art is derived from what is in actuality a remarkably finite human experience. Whatever the medium, the creative person’s task is to interpret an essentially unchanging reality, a dog-eared reality pondered by Homer and Mel Brooks and everyone in between. The artist succeeds if he or she can present something familiar from an unfamiliar angle."

Don't Dissolve Your Blockages

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 08:43:17 +0000

That’s right, don’t dissolve blocked energy, tension, or contraction in your body….let it dissolve.

Now, that might seem like a fine semantic distinction, but it captures an attitude towards practice that is essential for energetic resolution and finding deeper layers of the mind.

Let your body relax.

Let your chi sink through the structure of your joints and bones.

Let your mind land on the body.

Let the blockages dissolve.

Embrace the Cold to Feel Your Chi

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 08:48:48 +0000

It’s been such a cold winter in the Northeastern US this year, that even Niagara Falls has frozen over.

Every night, students come in to class shivering, that is, once they’ve resolved to venture out in the cold and the dark. And many haven’t even been up for that.

Today I want to tell you about an important practice lesson you can learn from all this cold. You will develop a better feel for the chi of your etheric body and stay warmer in the process.

When to Follow a Practice Recipe and When to Reflect on Your Practice

Wed, 19 Feb 2014 09:12:35 +0000

In this video, we’re talking about building up the skill of Outer Dissolving in your standing qigong practice.

When you start out, it pays to follow a recipe - a set of instructions that lead through a certain procedure physically, energetically, and with your mind.

However, there are times you want to break away from the recipe and times you’ll want to reflect on your experience verbally – but there are good and bad ways to do both.

The Recipe for Rewarding Practice

Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:50:13 +0000

“Is it better to structure your practice to stay with one energy gate, such as the crown, until you feel some dissolving happening there, or should you just keep moving through the gates week by week moving onto another gate?”

Excellent questions like this one keep pouring in. Thank you for sharing your practice experiences with me. I know other folks who read the blog really appreciate it too.

Dissolving, Breathing, Structure, and Stillness: Follow-Up Q&A

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:32:01 +0000

Thanks to everyone who reached out with questions about the first standing audio practice in the Energy Gates Dissolving series.

I want to share some of the questions with you here. Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions or comments or think there is anything the needs clarification. Hopefully we can approach this series together as an ongoing learning process!

What’s the Difference between Outer Dissolving, Downward Dissolving, and Sinking?

Starting at the Crown of the Head

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 14:13:18 +0000

If you read last week’s post on standing qigong and the Energy Gates book, or better yet, you can stand comfortably “just feeling” for 15-20 minutes, you’re probably ready to embark on the downward dissolving process.

This week, I want to help you get started.

I recorded a guided practice mp3 to get you through the first workout in the Energy Gates series: Feeling the Gate at the Crown of the Head.

Form Versus Feel in Standing Qigong

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 09:55:48 +0000

When you set out to develop your internal energy using standing postures, there are two main ways you can go about it: by feel or by form.

Now, there will be a lot of overlap in these two broad approaches, like aligning your body with gravity without collapsing internally and progressively releasing and relaxing as you stand, but when it comes to the role of the mind, form and feel can be very different.

Outer Dissolving and The Role of the Mind in Standing Qigong

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 10:35:38 +0000

Next month, we’ll be starting a new Energy Gates course at Brookline Tai Chi, focused on Outer Dissolving and working through the Gates of the body.

When you work on dissolving the gates, you will inevitably be fighting the urge to:

visualize instead of feel
“chase” energetic releases, untethered from the physical body
wonder if you are really feeling anything at all

In this episode of Qigong Radio, I’ll give my recommendations for avoiding these pitfalls and for setting up the conditions for actual energetic resolution.

The Itch to Move Your Chi

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 08:48:18 +0000

We tend to think about our energy level like the money we have in the bank. You wake up in the morning, look in your energetic wallet and say, “I’ve got a lot of energy today” or “Man, I need 7 cups of coffee.”

Or, to put it another way, thanks to this New Yorker cartoon:

In qigong, we think about “having energy” a little bit differently. Often, it’s not just how much or how little, but how well is your energy circulating?

Chasing Secrets and Shortcuts in Taoist Energy Arts

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:19:33 +0000

When you set out to learn Taoist Energy Arts like Tai Chi, qigong, or meditation, you come across the lore of masters with supernatural abilities or techniques too deadly to teach openly.

Or more insidious, we grasp after images of unattainable perfection, always slightly beyond reach, unless we just find the right technique or are initiated into a secret practice.

And even if we’ve given up silly kung fu fantasies of flying through the bamboo reeds, on a subtle level we still chase ideas and dreams that only live in the mental realm.

The 3 Most Common Questions About Learning Qigong

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 13:17:12 +0000

One of the most satisfying things about running this site is when you guys reach out and ask questions about Qigong and Tai Chi.

Today, I wanted to share with you 3 of the most common ones I get about starting up a qigong practice (and if you have a different one, something I’ve missed, let me hear about it!). Hopefully, these questions will line up with something you’ve been thinking about in your practice too (again, let me know in the comments!).

7 Medical Qigong Movements

Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:32:58 +0000

The name “tai chi” has become fairly well known in the United States and the ar t is being used by the western medical community for the treatment of a number of different conditions. The fact is however that the art of tai chi was developed from an older art called qigong. While there are a number of different styles of qigong the focus of all of them is to focus the body’s natural energies. Unfortunately many people confuse the tai chi term “chi” with the qigong term “qi”, thinking that they both mean energy. The fact is however that it is qi that means energy: Chi means “ultimate” not energy. Qigong is the parent of tai chi and it is from qigong that we learn to regulate and control our body’s natural energies for healing and strength.

Follow-Up Questions on Standing Qigong

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 08:19:44 +0000

I was thrilled to receive such a positive response to my last post on Standing Qigong. And it wasn’t just support, even though I confessed that now I have to climb back up the mountain on the way to 2-hour sessions again.

You guys asked really great questions about standing qigong.

Instead of answering them in the comments of the last post, I decided to turn the questions into a post of their own. So here we go!

From Inevitable to Impossible in Standing Qigong....and Back Again?

Tue, 03 Sep 2013 08:54:08 +0000

Update: After you read this post, check out my answers to some great questions that were asked in the comments,here.

Last spring, I set out to enter “the 2-Hour Gate” in standing qigong. And I got there. In fact, it was easier to get there than I thought it would be.

Before you think I’m bragging about my practice, though, there’s something else I have to confess. As soon as I missed a couple weeks of practice, going through the gate became impossible for me. That’s right, holding a standing posture for two hours went from feeling completely inevitable to pretty much impossible.

5 Surprising Nei Gong Benefits

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 15:03:34 +0000

When you go to the gym and hit the weights or take laps at the community park the exercise that you get does a great deal of good for your body. The problem with exercise programs like this is that they are entirely focused on external development. The muscles are developed, excess fat is shed and joints are strengthened, but at a cost. These high impact exercises put stress on the joints that will eventually develop into injury and the increased circulation will wane soon after the session is complete.

Standing Qigong Breathing Exercises -- Mp3

Thu, 27 Jun 2013 08:38:09 +0000

The biggest question people ask me about standing qigong, especially when they hear about the 2-hour project, is “what do you do, just stand there?”

There is actually a really delicate balance between “doing” and “feeling” when you stand. You learn lots of different techniques, like breathing, sinking, dissolving, and pulsing, but how you apply them internally when you are holding a static posture is a tricky topic.

The Virtues of a Newborn in Taoist Practices

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:40:26 +0000

In all Taoist practices, there is a theme of moving like a newborn. We look to the softness, connectedness, and smoothness of their movements to re-learn and relax how we normally get around.

Taoist breathing trains you to move your belly, sides, and back in a gentle compress and release pattern that tones the internal organs.

The Opening and Closing of the joints that we train in the Marriage of Heaven and Earth qigong, teaches you how to minimize muscular force and lead your movements from the natural hydraulic pumps in the joints and cavities of the body.

Arm Swinging Exercises for Relaxation

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:29:11 +0000

The study of Tai Chi requires that you also study Qigong as well, separate from your Tai Chi Classes. The tensions that we feel, both physically and psychology are largely the result of blockages in our body’s natural energy paths. Qigong refers to this energy and it is the study of bringing our breathing into harmony with our movement. One of the best Qigong exercise is the arm-swing exercise. Usually done as a warm-up, it prepares the body for relating the movement of your arms with your shoulders and spine.

How to Shift Your Sense of Time in Standing Qigong

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:40:30 +0000

Last month, we discussed the sense of progress you can sometimes struggle with in your practice. At the time, I mentioned that I’ve been working up to a two-hour standing session, which is a very structured practice goal.

Today, I wanted to report back about what I’ve been experiencing in standing qigong and show you how to shift your sense of the time that passes when you stand. The structure of adding one minute to the length of the stand each day is seems like it should make for a very linear sense of time when you practice. So far, though, that’s not what’s happening at all.

Dragon and Tiger Exercises for Activating the Lower Tantien

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:32:03 +0000

We’re borrowing a technique from Dragon and Tiger qigong to try and get a better sense of the lower tantien.

The lower tantien (“dan-tee-en”) is the energetic center of your physical body, located just below your navel, on the central axis of the body. If you dropped a line down from the crown of the head, through the body, and out the bottom of the pelvis, it would pass through the lower tantien.

3 Layers of Neigong Practice and Taoist Meditation with Paul Cavel

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:00:50 +0000

In this episode of Qigong Radio, Energy Arts Senior Instructor Paul Cavel explains the 3 different layers of neigong practice:

Beginner or Foundational Practices -- Dragon and Tiger, Opening the Energy Gates, and Heaven and Earth
Intermediate or Power-Production Practices -- Spiraling Energy Body and Bend the Bow
Advanced or Integration Practices -- Gods Playing in the Clouds

Paul explains what to focus on at each level and how your learning spiral takes you back through them over time.

Qigong Focus: Chinese Arm Swinging Exercises

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:08:18 +0000

Are you looking for a warm-up exercise that invigorates the blood and loosens up the body? Are you a beginner to physical fitness and looking for an exercise that won’t leave you painfully discouraged? Try this popular form of qigong: Chinese arm swinging exercises are an easy and gentle choice suitable for beginners and professional athletes.

The exercise comes from various traditions. In India, British troops learned and adopted the practice of club swinging. Chinese arm swinging exercises are an ancient practice now commonly used in Qigong. The Japanese and other Asian cultures likewise use arm-swinging exercise in the various martial arts disciplines. The basic style and variations find modern use in warm-ups for professional athletes and rehabilitation centers.

Playing with Qigong Standing Postures

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:39:50 +0000

When you perform standing qigong, you develop acute physical awareness, get access to internal space, and make subtle physical connections that you would never otherwise make if you only did moving practices.

According to my teacher Bruce Frantzis, the Taoists developed over 200 different standing postures, so how do you know which one to practice?

Guidelines for Holding Qigong Postures

As we’ve discussed in the past, whenever you settle in to standing qigong, you need to follow these three principles:

Common Sensations That Arise When You Are Developing Chi

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:24:36 +0000

In this episode of Qigong Radio, I answer some questions about different sensations readers have been experiencing when they practice.

In the Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong Instruction Manual, Bruce Frantzis lays out important guidelines for what kinds of “chi reactions” to expect. I want to show you how to apply these guidelines to your practice.

Expect Chi Reactions

Dragon and Tiger is a powerful tool for awakening your body on physical, energetic, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. As you practice these movements and begin to move your body in ways that may be different for you, energy and fluids in your body are stirred up and begin to move more vigorously. At some point you may experience reactions that may seem either positive or negative to you. These are called chi reactions: the body’s response to the effects of energy beginning to flow more freely through previously blocked places.

Why the Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong is Packed with Internal Content

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:24:51 +0000

This summer, Bruce Frantzis will be teaching a Marriage of Heaven and Earth Instructor training. Heaven and Earth was the first instructor training I attended in 2004 and I can still remember what a profound effect learning to “pulse” had on me.

Within the Energy Arts system, Heaven and Earth is considered a bridge from the basic to more advanced practices.

Qigong for a Healthy Spine

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 08:01:07 +0000

Recently, I received a question about qigong practices for spinal health.

I am always looking for ways to keep my body healthy inside and out. I practice yoga, I do my daily cardio and some weight training. I am especially interested in keeping my spine healthy. I am 57 and am concerned about osteoporosis which runs in my family. Anything you could share with me would be greatly appreciated.

There are some pretty sophisticated spinal health techniques in Qigong and Tai Chi, but the progression is basically this:

Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:28:48 +0000

In this episode of Qigong Radio, Energy Arts Senior Instructor Eric Peters describes what it’s like to work with the energy of the spine, using Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong.

Bend the Bow is an advanced qigong set that requires precise alignment and refined sensitivity, but it gives you access to a much deeper level of internal connection and coordination than standard ways of moving your body through space.

Eric performing Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong:

Refining Your Opening and Closing

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:00:42 +0000

I remember the first time I really got a sense for “opening and closing” my joints. We were on a qigong retreat and the person who was helping me probably spent 20 minutes “pulsing” my wrist, so that the fluids in the joint were moving in a smooth, even way, alternately creating more and less space between the bones.

When you pulse, you’re manipulating the fluid flows inside your body so that the spaces inside your body compress and expand.

What is Your Relationship to Your Qigong Practice

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:27:26 +0000

I’m posting this episode on my annual summer retreat/vacation/recharge, where I assess my practice and teaching from the past year and plan courses for the coming year.

This year, in the midst of big changes at Brookline Tai Chi, I’ve been wondering a lot about the way qigong practice informs your encounters with change in other areas of your life.

Of course, I always like to think that there’s a strong connection, but this year everyone at Brookline Tai Chi is truly testing whether the art of smooth change in the classroom manifests itself in real life as well.

The True Value of Your Qigong Practice

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:40:32 +0000

We live in a culture where doing more, having more, and working harder are valued above pretty much everything else.

This is a dangerous attitude, a linear approach to life that denies the need for rest and renewal.

Of course, if you constantly push yourself, you know it will lead to burnout. If you operate as if you have an infinite capacity to do and never rest, sooner or later you will get the message in some form that it is time to slow down.

Moving Your Energy to Soothe Your Mind

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:20:39 +0000

In this episode of Qigong Radio, I thought I was going to get a report about the Dragon and Tiger instructor training.

Yes, the six instructors who joined me for the episode talked about the training. If you missed Maui, you’ll get a sense of what it was like.

But they also shared some true qigong gems with us, that I think you’ll be able to apply to all of your energy practices.

3 Essential Questions to Ask Yourself During Standing Qigong

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 08:23:15 +0000

From the outside, standing qigong can look calm, peaceful and meditative.

On the inside, if you don’t ask yourself these 3 essential questions, standing can be grueling. Your muscles ache, you tremble and sweat, and in burning discomfort you strain to see how much longer you must endure.

It doesn’t have to be torture, though, if you adopt the right mindset as you practice.

On Expectations and Progress in Your Qigong Practice

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:07:31 +0000

We just started summer classes at Brookline Tai Chi this week, which means new students are coming in for the first time and experienced students are coming back after a break.

That means there are lots of good questions floating around about getting started, making progress, and the frustrations you encounter along the way.

In this episode of Qigong Radio, I hope to address some of those concerns.

Putting The Mind Inside The Body with Cathy Kerr

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 07:47:42 +0000

What do we mean when we say we “put our mind inside our body” when we meditate, do qigong, or Tai Chi?

Dr. Cathy Kerr helps us understand this question from the perspective of modern neuroscience. In addition to being a Tai Chi practitioner, Cathy is the Director of Translational Neuroscience at Contemplative Studies Initiative and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Brown University.

Spiraling Energy Body Qigong with Isaac Kamins

Mon, 28 May 2012 06:57:58 +0000

The Spiraling Energy Body Qigong set is one of the toughest in the Energy Arts system, so I asked Energy Arts Instructor Isaac Kamins to tell us about his experiences with this practice.

In this episode of Qigong Radio, Isaac explains how as a teenager he came to appreciate the counter-intuitive approach that the internal martial arts take to fighting and how the energetic sensitivity he has developed doing Spiraling Energy Body qigong has influenced how he interacts with other people and the world around him, far beyond the martial arts.

What Are The Benefits Of Doing Qigong Prior To Meditation?

Mon, 07 May 2012 06:00:06 +0000

The most popular discussion topic in the Inner Form coaching section for April was the question of how to integrate qigong and meditation.

The original poster asked, “What are the benefits of doing qigong prior to meditation? I would think that doing qigong before meditation would help to have a deeper meditation practice and vice versa? Is this true ? Does it depend on the set or practice you are doing? What should one consider?”

Bill Ryan on Developing Energy Sensitivity

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:06:00 +0000

When learning qigong or Tai Chi, people are often either more tuned into to energy or to their physical bodies. In this episode of Qigong Radio, I asked my first qigong and Tai Chi teacher, Energy Arts Senior Instructor and founder of Brookline Tai Chi, Bill Ryan to explain why this is.

More importantly, Bill teaches you how to navigate the experiences of developing your internal energy, regardless of how you first become aware of them. It turns out, you’re probably already more tuned in than you think.

The Evolution of Smoothness in Your Practice

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:27:09 +0000

We talk a lot about the health benefits of Tai Chi and qigong, or the way they create mental and emotional relaxation, but if you really had to distill all these benefits down to one common thread, you could say that the smoother your mind, body, and energy get, the more you are truly making progress in your practice.

In this hour-long webinar, we’ve used the transition between two qigong courses at Brookline Tai Chi as an excuse to look at the issue of smoothness.

Straight Lines, Circles, and Spheres

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 07:53:18 +0000

One of the most fascinating connections between your mind and your body is the way that the actual physical movements that you make affect your awareness.

When your movements are linear and jerky, your mind stops and starts too, essentially gapping out.

If you can move in a smooth circular way, your mind tends to stay calmer too. Or at least, you can calm your mind through circular movement.

The next level of “smooth”, though, is spherical movement. That’s the specialty of Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong.
Next session, at Brookline Tai Chi, we will begin to work on Gods again. Here’s what we’ll be focusing on:

More of the Best Qigong on YouTube

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:18:31 +0000

My friend Jess makes a point of studying with as many different teachers as he can. His goal isn’t to dabble in a lot of different styles or systems. He is faithful and dedicated to his main practice, but he knows that each time he gets exposed to a new system, he learns something about his own.

See if you can glean one new thing from each of these qigong videos from YouTube to refine and improve your practice today.

Cloud Hands for Rhythm and Flow

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:58:58 +0000

Cloud Hands is one of the best containers for developing better rhythm and flow in your practice, but you’ve got to work on rhythm and flow separately. The reason is that you develop two very different qualities of mind when you work on these two seemingly related skills.

Better Rhythm

Better rhythm comes from “harmonizing” more and more moving parts over time in your practice. At first, we all face the challenge of not being able to feel into the body well. When you can’t feel, you can’t actually move different parts under conscious control (which is why I always recommend isolation work, like Z Health mobility drills). The more you can feel, the more connections you can make.

Qigong Radio Episode 2: Developing Your Soft Tissue with Paul Cavel

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:00:56 +0000

In episode 2 of Qigong Radio, I sat down with Energy Arts Senior Instructor Paul Cavel to discuss what it feels like to work with soft tissue – muscle, fascia, and ligaments – in the internal arts.

We discussed the different stages of practice and one of my favorite topics: adopting the right mindset so that the progress you make in your body isn’t outpaced by what you think you’re doing in your mind.

What I Learned from Robert Tangora about Spinal Qigong

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

Recently, we hosted Robert Tangora at Brookline Tai Chi for an introduction to Bend the Bow Spinal Qigong. Prior to the workshop, I had put together a few thoughts on what it feels like to work with the spine in Tai Chi and qigong. This weekend definitely helped me refine my sense for what Spinal Qigong can do, so I wanted to share some of those lessons with you.

The Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Next session at Brookline Tai Chi, we are re-introducing a course on the Marriage of Heaven and Earth Qigong.

In preparation for the course, I sat down with several Energy Arts instructors who are certified to teach this set, to discuss why these exercises are beneficial, how they related to other forms of qigong, and what it’s like for people to learn some of the stranger techniques involved, like “pulsing” the joints.

My Favorite Breathing Hack

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:02:15 +0000

The Wall Test is one of my favorite “breathing hacks” – a simple, fast exercise you can do to get feedback on how well you are breathing. Check out this instruction in this video and try it for yourself:

This breathing exercise is taken from a live breathing class I taught last week. In the class, we looked at several different facets of training your breathing, including:

The difference between nerves, fluids, and chi when you practice.
How to play with internal pressures to get the biggest health benefit.
The quality of all-day energy you get from massaging your internal organs (which is really different from the typical “buzz” you think of from stimulants like caffeine).

The class included theory, practical guidance, and follow-along exercises. If you didn’t have the chance to attend live, you can still get the webinar replay, which is over an hour long. Sign up here for instant access.

To Breathe or Not To Breathe -- January 29 Webinar

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:13:21 +0000

Join me for “To Breathe or Not To Breathe”, a webinar where we will explore the challenges and big payoffs that come from doing your breathing practice correctly.

Perhaps more than any other technique, cultivating a breathing practice presents an interesting training paradox: how do you change something your body does automatically 20,000 times a day, that is so intertwined with your mind, emotions, and internal energy?

In this webinar, I will take you through the major issues around developing your breathing practice, whether your goal is to smooth out your breath (and thereby your nerves), increase your breathing capacity to have more energy, or use breathing as a gateway practice to relaxation and meditation.

16 Lessons from Qigong Instructor Trainings

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:06:12 +0000

This June, my qigong teacher Bruce Frantzis will be offering a two-week Dragon and Tiger Qigong instructor training on Maui. Over the past 10 years, I’ve attended most of the instructor trainings that he has offered, as well as many weekends and week-long retreats.

Being in an intensive learning environment at these events is great for your personal practice.

How Do I Keep My Awareness for Jumping Around?

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:57:30 +0000

One of the major goals of standing qigong is to develop a strong downward flow that clears stagnant energy out of your system and strengthens your natural restorative abilities.

When you begin to work on this process, though,Â it’s natural to wonder how strict you need to be able sticking with the downward flow and what to do if you start to notice other things happening in the body. Recently, I got this question via email that nails the exact issue:

Case Study: Energy Gates Tune-Up

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 06:51:02 +0000

In this case study, you’ll see how Kevin improved his Cloud Hands and Swings through video feedback.

While you can follow a guided practice for the standing qigong portion of Energy Gates, doing a follow-along for the moving exercises doesn’t really help you improve your practice, so feedback is key.

Going through the process of not only getting a correction, but watching yourself before and after, helps you internalize the new movement pattern. If you are just told to change the way you are moving, sometimes the new pattern is so different from what you are used to that you can’t feel the difference, and the correction doesn’t stick.

Swings Webinar Replay

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:15:07 +0000

Just a quick note to let you know that if you missed Sunday’s webinar on the Three Swings from Opening the Energy Gates, you can check out a replay here.

5 YouTube Qigong Videos You Can Actually Learn From

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:43:35 +0000

I’m sure you’ve spent time looking around YouTube for qigong and tai chi videos. According to their website, people upload 24 hours of video to YouTube every minute! No doubt you’ve seen some crazy stuff. So how do you sift through all of it and more importantly, are there any qigong videos on YouTube worth watching?

The good news is, of course there are. And I’ve put together a list of 5 good ones to get you started.

The Challenge of the Three Swings

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:03:58 +0000

The Three Swings from Energy Gates are some of the most challenging exercises to do well in the entire Energy Arts curriculum. You have to relax, maintain good alignment, and coordinate stepping and turning while moving faster than most other qigong exercises.

Let’s talk a little bit about why the Three Swings are important and what you need to integrate to do them well.

Getting Started with the Three Swings

In the Tai Chi Classics, it says, “the motion should be rooted in the feet, released through the legs, controlled by the waist and manifested through the fingers.” Think of practicing the swings as a way to test this concept. You will get much clearer feedback from the swings about how the motion you generate from the feet travels out to your fingertips than you will from solo form practice.

Opening the Energy Gates by Bruce Frantzis is The Most Important Qigong Book To Have in Your Library

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:05:03 +0000

There is no other book I return to more for my qigong practice than Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body by Bruce Frantzis. It’s the one I consistently recommend to students and anyone who emails the school to inquire about starting a qigong practice before they have access to a teacher.

Here’s how to get the most out of it, whether or not you have someone who can give you regular feedback on your practice:

Sinking Your Mind through Your Body

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 09:18:15 +0000

As you explore layers of relaxation through standing qigong, you’ll hit a point where everything starts to feel fluid, as if you’ve dug down deep enough to find a rich aquifer, filled with nourishing water.

We describe the experience with words like “sinking” and “soaking” the mind into the body, and that’s literally what’s happening. Remember the qigong expression, “your mind moves your chi and your chi moves your blood”? When they say “blood”, they mean all the fluids in the body. When you truly start to fuse your mind and your body, your insides start to feel more wet, fluid, and connected.

Learning to Soften the Body

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:17:43 +0000

You can encourage your body to relax just by paying attention to it the right way.

Using standing qigong, you can build up a relaxation feedback loop between your feeling awareness and the body’s natural ability to soften when circulation improves.

The qigong expression, drawn from Chinese medicine, is, “your mind moves your chi and your chi moves your blood”.

In the first lesson on standing qigong, we worked on creating a buffer between “real life” and “practice time” with five minutes of settling in. Now we want to move a little deeper into the body and explore how increased you can trigger relaxation with increased feeling awareness.

Settling in with Standing Qigong

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:17:01 +0000

Do you include a “settling-in” phase each time you practice?

If not, you’re wasting time and energy resolving issues from your day when you could be going deeper into your practice.

A settling-in phase acts as a buffer between your busy day and the place you’d like your practice to take you.

Standing qigong is one of the best buffers between “real life” and “practice time”. You could jump right into your tai chi form, but you’d need to do 10 or 15 minutes of “cold” tai chi, with no warm-up, to arrive at the same place, ready to practice, after 5 minutes of standing and settling in.

Is Your Practice All in Your Head?

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:15:36 +0000

As you’re sitting here reading this, I want you to try something. I want you to push yourself back away from your desk, let your arms hang by your sides, close your eyes and see how many fingers you can feel. Go ahead, try it.

Now do the same thing again, but stand up and count your toes instead.

Could you feel more fingers or toes?

Chances are you have much greater feeling access to your fingers. But how does the sensation of feeling a finger compare to the clarity of a thought you just had or an image you can generate in your head? If thoughts and images are much clearer than feeling sensations in your body, you might have a problem.

How to Balance Practicing Multiple Qigong Sets

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:00:48 +0000

This post is the first in a series of student practice questions that I’d like to answer on the blog. The question is, “given that I know and practice several different qigong sets and the tai chi form, how do I organize them into a coherent practice?”

For my answer, check out this video, where I will either explain how learning which sets to practice, in what order, is like learning to taste wine, or I will actually drink the bottle of wine. You’ll have to watch the video to find out which one.

How to Achieve Whole Body Relaxation

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:42:40 +0000

As a Tai Chi teacher trying to educate people about relaxation, I come across some pretty common misconceptions. Which of the following two ways is how you think about your personal energy levels? Your answer will determine how well you can achieve whole body relaxation:

Couch Potato Model of Relaxation -- How many people try to bust their butts during the day only to come home and completely crash at night? Maybe you play this out during the week and crash on the weekends? I call this cycle the Couch Potato Model ofÂ Relaxation. You have to become one with the cushions of your couch to recharge your batteries. This is a fundamental misconception about the nature of work and rest being like an on/off switch.
Energy on a Dimmer Switch --Â In tai chi and chi gung, we actually value the ability to seamlessly shift between high and low energy output, like a light on a dimmer switch. This is in direct contrast to the Couch Potato Model of Relaxation that alternates between complete crashes (the light is turned off) withÂ the short, quick bursts of high energy (the light is turned on).

In the Dimmer Switch Model, relaxation has a form. In the Couch Potato Model, it is formless, floppy, and disconnected. In order to smoothly shift the gears of your energy level between complete relaxation and high output performance, you need to build an energetic matrix that supports this process. One of the best ways to build up your energy matrix is through a standing chi gung practice.

Don't Run on Empty

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:02:08 +0000

Nobody moves through life with exactly the same amount of energy. Do you know how much you have to draw on? Do you know how to replenish your reserves? In chi gung, the energetic reserves you are born with are called your “pre-birth chi”. What you cultivate as you go through life, using practices like chi gung,Â is called “post-birth chi”. You use the combination of what you are born with and what you develop to run your body and your mind.

How Does Qigong Work?

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:12:22 +0000

In class the other day, a student asked me what kind of chi gung (qigong) we study. She said a friend of hers had been learning a different form and they wanted to compare notes. This is always an interesting conversation, because the term “qigong” covers a lot of different forms of exercise. Literally, it means “energy development” or “energy cultivation”. The chief aim of any qigong practice is to develop your natural energy levels, making your energy, or chi, smoother, increasing your capacity to move it through your system or using it for specific applications, like martial arts or meditation.

How to Practice Qigong According to My Wife

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:57:42 +0000

I learned everything I know about practicing qigong from my wife. Or I should say, from watching my wife make magic in the kitchen! If you saw us cooking together, you’d see her doing everything right and me doing everything wrong. When I started to practice qigong the way she cooks, my whole qigong world changed. Let me tell you how.

30 Day Better Breathing Challenge

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:17:51 +0000

Recently, I’ve been talking a lot about two things, improving your breathing to give you a major energy/relaxation boost and developing tools that help you follow-through on your home practice. I’ve even created an online course with all the information you need to cultivate better breathing habits: Better Breathing. The biggest lesson we learned as we talked to BTC studentsÂ was that the best time to use reminders to trigger your practice was when you were invested in learning a new skill. When you’re going through a period of sustained practice, integrating stuff you’ve learned before, you need external tools less. However, when you shift back into learning mode and set a specific training goal, getting extra, regular motivation from an outside source can push you over the line from wanting to learn something to ingraining it as a habit.

Gods Playing in the Clouds at Brookline Tai Chi

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:09:30 +0000

We’re running a little experiment at Brookline Tai Chi to see if providing students with practice reminders, ahead of time , will make them more comfortable starting the Gods Playing in the Clouds chi gung class this summer.

Read about the course here.

The set is made up of six, repetitive spherical movements and I think, if students have a chance to practice the basic shapes before the class starts, they will be much more comfortable and ready to learn the nuances of the internal work that goes into these basic shapes.

Disrupt the Stress Cycle with Better Breathing

Thu, 26 May 2011 10:06:43 +0000

Most of the practice tips on this blog are about setting good practice habits in motion, but bad habits, like poor breathing, need to be disrupted too. The tools you use to disrupt bad habits are the same ones you use to create good practice habits:

Make the “when” and “how” of your practice highly contextual: “On Tuesday, I will practice for 15 minutes between meetings in my office, so that I can feel more energized as I head into the afternoon.”
Focus on small chunks of skill: “As I do my qigong form, I will focus on how the weight-shifting connects my feet to the floor.”
Finally, leave yourself wanting more. If you always finish a practice session feeling like you’re not burnt out, but actually a little bit hungry for more practice, you’re going to crave your next practice session.

Over time, you create a practice snowball, where the little doses of highly contextual practice add up to a greater inner drive to practice, more practice stamina, and the ability to focus on meaningful aspects of your practice. This is the best path to acquiring new skills.

Follow the 20-20-20 Rule for Better Breathing

Sat, 21 May 2011 07:50:37 +0000

Implementing a breathing practice that has an impact on your energy levels and actually chips away at stress can be tricky. It requires a blend of persistence and relaxation that can seem like a paradox at first. That’s why I recommend the 20-20-20 Rule (which I made up) for better breathing.

I explain the 20-20-20 Rule in this clip, pulled from the breathing course in my Foundations of Relaxation series:

Repetition as Rhythm: Why Do 20 Reps?

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:09:15 +0000

People often ask why we do chi gung sets in certain numbers. Whenever I’ve heard Bruce Frantzis answer that question, he tells a story about these elaborate experiments they run in the Taoist monasteries, over generations, with control groups and varying repetitions, to see what the optimal number of repetitions for each exercise is. I always feel bad for the monks who spent their lives doing a few too many of each exercise.

Introducing the "Foundations of Relaxation" Series

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:48:56 +0000

As a tai chi teacher and movement coach, I get to meet a lot of people who want to relax, slow down and have more energy for the things they love to do in life. But there’s a very common misconception that I encounter and I think it leads people to spend too much time chasing the wrong things when it comes to a relaxation practice. Hopefully, this series will begin to clarify what the best way to start a relaxation practice is and how to most efficiently get the results you want.

Learn Qigong Online?

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:16:07 +0000

Can you learn qigong, or any movement art, online? This is a burning question for me right now. My immediate reaction is “NO!”. However, I believe there is a significant role for supplemental online material in the overall learning process, even for movement arts.

Here’s why it’s a bad idea to learn movement online:

Learning movement is a kinesthetic experience, not a visual one – you have to feel where you are in space and you certainly can’t get that from staring at a screen
You need feedback – when you are learning something new, you need refinement and guidance, usually hands-on
Some things need to be felt on another person – we get into this all the time with more subtle qigong principles and there is no way around feeling what’s going on in the instructor’s body to learn what you are trying to do in your own

Those are my big 3 “No way!” reasons you can’t learn qigong online. Or I should say, the reason why online learning shouldn’t be your sole way of learning this stuff. Let’s look at it from a different point of view.

Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body -- Instructor Training Review

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:11:54 +0000

Last week I got back from two weeks in the UK doing an instructor training with Bruce Frantzis on Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body, the core chi gung set in his program. We’re right back into the swing of classes now, but I wanted to post a little review before too much time passes.

The Energy Gates set is made up of six different exercises – they run the gamut from standing still holding a simple posture, to vigorous shifting, turning, and swinging. The range of skills and movements you can practice with them sets the foundation for all of the other work done in more sophisticated chi gung sets as well as in tai chi and ba gua.