In performing any qigong (also spelled chi gong) exercise, it is important to remember to breathe deeply, slowly and continuously. Don't hold your breath. Don't pant. Let the air move into the bottom of your lungs to clear out stagnant chi. Let the air seem to permeate your entire body so it feels like you are breathing through your pores.
Qigong exercises need to be done in a relaxed state, as tension also blocks the movement of chi---so try to empty your mind of busy thoughts. Too much thinking will use up the energy you are trying to cultivate.
Warm-Up Exercise
Stand with your feet comfortably apart, knees softly flexed. Relax your arms at the shoulders. Gently swing from side to side. In swinging to one side, your knees will bend deeper; on reaching the side as far as you can twist, your knees should straighten again, but not to a locked position.
While swinging, swing your arms loosely so that one arm swings behind, tapping the opposite hip while the other arm swings up and across the body, tapping the opposite shoulder. So in swinging to the right side, the right arm swings behind and the left arm swings up and across.
Now repeat the swing to the opposite side, remembering to bend and straighten the knees. This will generate energy and help it to flow throughout the body. The light taps are to stimulate meridian points.
Stretch & Pull for Balance
Stand on your left leg and reach straight up, stretching as high as you can with your left arm while your right arm hangs by your side. In pulling up, pull up also with the right hip, so that your right foot comes off the ground slightly. Hold the foot flat---raised but parallel to the floor.
While standing this way, gently rotate or twist on your left hip so your right foot is swinging slightly over the floor. Swing/twist right and left a few times. Then switch sides and repeat while standing on your right. This will pull the energy up from the floor into your leg and up through your body. The slight motion will help strengthen the hip and work on your balance.
Kidney Cleansing
This exercise pulls energy up through your feet and up your legs, and circulates it through the kidneys and back out. Stand with your feet apart. Bend over and reach with both hands to your left inside ankle. Touching your ankle, slide your hands up the inside of your leg. Bring them across the stomach and over and around the right hip to the back, kidney area. Now continue sliding your hands down the back side of your right leg. At the ankle, slide your hands across your foot to your inside ankle.
Now repeat in reverse, sliding your hands up your right inner leg, across your stomach, back around your hip and down the outside of your left leg. Finish the circuit at your inside left ankle. Repeat this circuit nine times.
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