chi gong exercise
chi gong exercise contents
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introduction:
Lots of chi gong exercises have some sort of stretch where you circle your arms around in front of you - it helps chi flow. We’ve met several including ‘Turning like a flying wheel’ in Shibashi and as warm ups ‘Rainbow Circle’ or ‘Turning in a circle’. If you would like to learn more please visit shibashi introduction
The variations seem to be in the area of how far you stretch up and down and whether or not you bend your knees or raise your heels. Lots of different combinations for you to try out to keep the chi flowing!
It looks as though your arms are like the sails of an old fashioned wooden windmill first turning clockwise then turning anti clockwise in the wind.
Or you could imagine that your arms are like the hands of an old-fashioned dial clock following the path of the hours. First imagine starting from 12 thru 3:00 - 6:00 -- 9:00 to return to 12:00 – clockwise then the reverse – anti clockwise 12:00, 9:00, 6:00 3:00 to return to 12:00
benefits:
- Spine - mild forward bends and trunk rotation help relax trunk muscles and build strength
- Circulation - the turning and stretching move major muscles groups allowing lymph, blood and chi to flow better
- Opening the Baihui point – an energy point on the top of the head – is said to help prevent headaches. Although we find that if you already have a headache – it does not help …..
tips:
- some teachers teach this chi gong exercise so that your arms are fully extended upwards and touch the ground on the down path. We don’t – it’s too easy to strain muscles if you are not used to exercise. So remember to work within your own comfort zone.
- the discs in the vertebrae of the neck should be protected Only tilt head slightly downwards and upwards to avoid crunching the cervical discs together.
- avoid making your windmill sails too big! – you could over-stretch on the way up and make yourself dizzy by bending too far over
- always do things slowly and comfortably – Tai chi and qigong for health and relaxation are not meant to hurt! - ever!
chi gong exercise
turning like a windmill in a calm breeze:
opening position:
- stand with feet shoulder width apart
- feet parallel and facing 12:00
- imagine head lifted from crown
- chin tucked in slightly
- eyes forward and relaxed
- shoulders relaxed
- arms hang loosely down
- fingers gently apart and slightly curved
- palms towards body
- tailbone tucked in
- knees relaxed - slightly bent
transition move:
- breathe in
- raise arms above head shoulder width apart
- elbows slightly bent
clockwise arc arms:
- breathe out
- arc arms down in clockwise direction until arms are straight down
- arms shoulder width apart
- keep elbows rounded
- sink body as the arms reach your waist
- follow movement of hands with eyes
clockwise raise arms:
- breathe in
- bring arms up in clockwise direction until arms are straight up
- arms shoulder width apart
- keep elbows rounded
- raise body as the arms reach the waist
- follow movement of hands with eyes and head
repeat clockwise lower arms thru clockwise raise arms 4-6 times
Change direction of turn:
- breathe out
- bring arms down in clockwise direction until arms are straight down
- arms shoulder width apart
- keep elbows rounded
- sink body as the arms reach your waist
- follow movement of hands with eyes
anti clockwise raise arms:
- breathe in
- bring arms up in anti clockwise direction until arms are straight up
- arms shoulder width apart
- keep elbows rounded
- raise body as the arms reach the waist
- follow movement of hands with eyes and head
anti clockwise lower arms:
- breathe out
- bring arms down in anti clockwise direction until arms are straight down
- keep elbows rounded
- bend knees as the arms reach your waist
- follow movement of hands with eyes and head
repeat anti clockwise lower arms thru anti clockwise raise arms 4-6 times
return to starting position:
- breathe in
- raise and straighten the body
- let arms return to sides
- palm face to leg
end of chi gong exercise
Putting it all together:
The complete chi gong exercise sequence