If you remember from my previous article introducing the basic concepts of Qigong, the third promise of Qi is that Qigong is easy if you let it be. You do not have to be of Asian descent or have to know anybody of Asian descent in order to practice. What you do need to get started is a mindful intention to want to be healthy. If you have made any previous attempts at Qigong, or any other form of meditation, and feel that you just can not clear your mind of any clutter, keep trying. I find the more a person is resistant or frustrated, the more they need Qigong in their lives. When you were a child and were learning how to ride a bike, it took some time, but once you got it, it was a lot of fun. The same can be said about Qi cultivation. Consider this article your Qi “training wheels”.
The first thing to remember is that Qi is everywhere. By practicing Qigong, you are gathering, or cultivating, it from not only your surroundings but from within you. Qi travels within you through the meridians, or tunnels, made popular through the use of acupuncture. Since Qi is all knowing, it will eventually find a way through any blockages that you may have (assuming you practice it on a daily basis). These blockages are what can contribute to disease. Acupuncture works by short-circuiting these blockages allowing a free-flow of Qi. The drawback here is that if you do not learn how to keep the meridians free, the blockages will come back. This is where Qigong practice is effective.
Start in a place where you feel relaxed and secure. You may be seated, but standing is ideal. Close your eyes and try to quiet your mind. Move your hands to about navel level and position them as if holding a delicate ball (or bubble) with the palms facing each other. Visualize this ball as being half inside and half outside of your body. Inhale from your belly (not from your chest) and imagine the delicate ball getting bigger. Feel your hands “expanding” apart as you do so. At the end of your inhalation, pause and hold your breath for a second before you begin your exhalation. During exhalation, visualize the ball “contracting”, or getting smaller as you feel your hands coming closer to each other. And that’s all there is to it. You can do this for however long you like. I generally recommend beginners to start with 10-20 breaths (inhalation/exhalation cycles). You can also do this based on time, with 5 minutes a good starting point. Eventually, you will be able to perform around 20 minutes of this everyday.
Some general points to make your practice better:
The slower your movements, the more powerful Qi will run through you. The faster your movements, the less powerful Qi will be. Try to coordinate your breathing with your hand movements.
While standing, maintain optimal posture: Head on top of shoulders; cheekbones over the collar bones; shoulders down and relaxed; maintain the normal curvatures of you spine; knees relaxed and not hyperextended.
Keep the tongue in contact with the roof of your mouth.
Whenever possible, try to practice outdoors.
Now that you have learned a simple technique to cultivate Qi, I challenge you to improve your health by dedicating 100 consecutive days of Qigong practice. One gong is translated as 100 days of practice. If you can accomplish this, I promise you will feel more health benefits than any pill or infomercial can give you. And probably more relief than any medical doctor can provide. Do not get me wrong, I am not bad talking doctors, but our current healthcare system has no clue regarding achieving optimal health. The current system is great at maintaining adequate health and unfortunately, many do not realize the difference. In other words, Western medicine will keep you alive, but at the cost of feeling like crap. If I asked you whether or not you wanted to live to be a 100 years old, most of you would answer 'no way'. Who wants to be that old and useless? Where’s the joy there? Most of us believe that being old is equivalent to losing a lot of our capacities. But the ideal is that you can be 100 and still run, jump, swim, work, play, and have tons of fun. Health is a choice,...make it a priority.
