Qigong

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. ...

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. ...

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: ...

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 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. ...

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. ...

In this Inner Form office hours clip, Nate asked me about a specific issue on breathing in the Marriage of Heaven and Earth qigong. If your main focus is Tai Chi, then I would recommend that you pretty much ignore breathing as you practice, but you should focus on opening up the body enough to facilitate deep, even, smooth breathing. In the following clips, we look at how opening up the body will lead to deeper breathing, what stages you will go through in this process, and finally, I show him a specific technique for keeping the deep internal connections loose as he does the Marriage of Heaven and Earth qigong. ...

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. ...

_This is a guest post from my friend and fellow instructor, Paul Cavel. I asked Paul to talk a little bit about his experience teaching all over Europe and what he’s learned after nearly 20 years doing it. There are some great insights here about the internal energy arts that you can apply to your own practice, whether you teach or not. Take note when he talks about practice mindset! _ ...

One of the most counter-intuitive feelings in qigong, Tai Chi, or Ba Gua is the way that making more space inside the body allows you open more outwardly as well. In these two Inner Form office hours video clips, I show Brendan how making more space in the kwa and shoulder’s nest can help her take a more connected step in her circle walking practice and develop a more fluid single palm change. ...