Qigong

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. ...

I get the question all the time, or at least it’s always implied, “When am I going to get it?” Or, “how do I know if I’m getting good at this?” Now, let’s unpack a little bit of what’s behind this question and then I want to share some different ways that I think you can answer this question on your own, without even asking your teacher. Practice Goals I’m on a training trip this weekend out in New Mexico with Robert Tangora. Robert is teaching to six of us, twice a day, for two hours each session and the only agenda is giving personal feedback. ...

Try this follow-along practice on Emptying the Leg. We’re combining principles from Standing Qigong and Tai Chi to create a blend of stillness, movement, and internal contrast. The progression includes: Varying your stance, increasing in complexity and physical demands. Increased contrast over time between empty and full or unweighted and weighted legs Heightened sense of sinking as you stabilize in each posture Perhaps the most surprising element of this exercise is the way that it’s going to help you build flow. Once you’ve set up the yin/yang contrast in the legs, you begin to search it out in your moving forms. Instead of thinking of shifting the weight, you dial in greater contrast between the legs, and that leads you to movement.

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. ...

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. ...

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: ...

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. ...

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: ...

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: ...

Lately, I’ve been feeling a strong tension between the outer form and the inner essence of practices like Tai Chi and qigong. One student presented this dilemma to me because he was trying to figure out what to practice. With limited practice time, he had too many different forms and didn’t know how to pick between them. I told him that he should have a balanced practice based on the attributes that each form develops, or express the full range of energetic principles at his disposal – some hard, some soft, some integrated and smooth. ...