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?” ...
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. ...
When you practice spinal qigong exercises, you learn to loosen up your spine and connect your whole body to the movement of the spine. The whole process starts with your ability to feel your spine. I've learned a lot about spinal qigong from Robert Tangora and I talk about some of the specifics of what I've learned here. Basically, you need to go through several stages of practice before you can get to pure energetics of the spine: ...
One thing that’s been on my mind since Bruce was here teaching a Push Hands Intensive is what it means to follow instructions in your training. He basically laid out a year or longer curriculum during a week. What do you come away with? What should you practice? How do you reconcile “downloading” a whole curriculum at once vs. really upacking it and learning to use it over the next year. ...
Tai Chi can play an important role in weight loss, from several different perspectives. In this article, we are going to look at the way Tai Chi can be a part of your overall fitness and health regimen in 3 ways. We'll look at the way Tai Chi: Helps you transition into exercise if you've been hurt or out of practice for a long time. Refines your sense of movement, alignment, and flow. Reduces your overall stress level, which is essential from a hormonal point of view in the weight loss process. When you understand the very specific role Tai Chi plays in each of these dimensions, you'll see how Tai Chi can be an important component in your overall weight loss strategy. Let me be clear, though, Tai Chi as your sole tool for weight loss is not the best approach. You need to refine how you eat and how you move to be successful. Tai Chi will help you with the latter. ...
This is a resource page for qigong videos that will help you cultivate your internal energy, relax, and open up your body. We will look at several different qigong sets from the Energy Arts curriculum, including Dragon and Tiger Qigong, Opening the Energy Gates, the Marriage of Heaven and Earth, and Gods Playing in the Clouds. Before we talk about specific qigong videos, a quick message about practice mindset: ...
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: ...
Here is the full 71-minute Intermeditate Tai Chi class. Watch at your convenience.... Next Steps: Check your inbox for a link to the class, so you can come back to it whenever you want. I also sent you links to other resources mentioned in the class. Read other recent Tai Chi articles on DanKleiman.com. Get feedback and guidance on your Tai Chi practice through the Inner Form Coaching Program. Hope to hear from you soon!
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. ...