Lately, I’ve been trying to do some sinking during standing qigong, in addition to other practices, like opening and closing, but I don’t get the full calming effect of the sinking. This is a problem, because it gets a lot of energy moving and something this manifests as more anger than I would like. What should I do?
This year, why not persuade your friends and family to be a little healthier and move better? I know that’s always a tricky area to wade into, so I’ve picked out a few things below that will help anyone become better educated about movement and inspire them to act (or trick them into it, depending on how you look at it!). Check them out: The Perfect Shoe If you ask me how many pairs of Vivo Barefoot shoes I own, I would ask you if you mean for just wearing around or for tai chi or for formal occasions.
Sinking the chest while raising the spine is a key energetic alignment practiced in Tai Chi to facilitate a grounding, downward flow of energy. Martial artists use it to develop their root and anyone who “gets stuck in their head” will find some relief employing this principle. The question is: Do you have a good standing position to practice sinking the chest?
Even if you have cultivated a daily practice that takes you into deep relaxation, it’s helpful to have a set of stress reduction techniques “that work in 5 minutes or less.” You can pull these out during the day when you have a few minutes of downtime. If you are busy and really stressed out, these relaxation techniques can prevent your stress level from going through the roof. Try them and let me know what you think.
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.
Soon after I took over as the director of Brookline Tai Chi, we were hosting Bruce Frantzis for a Circling Hands seminar. In the most basic version of Circling Hands qigong, you make a vertical circle out in front of your body, with your palms facing each other, focusing on smooth breathing, continuous pumping, and evening out the circle more and more with each pass (no corners or edges!). In this seminar, Bruce was weaving meditation into the exercise and the goal was very simple: as you extend your arms out away from the body, you bring your mind into your body as much as you can.
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
And they’re all in pain! When it comes to the aches and pains of moving around, you might be in pain from your day job, your vigorous exercise routine, or even a mindfulness practice that doesn’t involve any movement. Ever wonder why? The reason is exactly the same in each case: in your pre-conscious mind, you are basically trying to outsource your own movement patterns, from a body part that should be doing the job, to one that’s willing to, even though it isn’t designed for that job!
