qigong

For this qigong exercise, we will place our attention on the shoulder, neck and upper back area. So many individuals hold tension in this area. With this qigong exercise, you will be relaxing into the area and thereby opening up your energetic channels. When you open your channels, you increase the flow of healing energy to that area. In qigong, the intention is to focus on the coordinated movement with your breath in a relaxed manner.

Instructions

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and arms at your side.
2. Bend your neck to a 45-degree angle.
3. Inhale through your abdomen while raising your arms (try to take about 5 seconds to do this).
4. Exhale and lower your arms (try to take about 5-7 seconds to do this).
5. Turn your neck to the other side and repeat.

Tips

• If you notice that your mind has wandered, gently bring your attention back to your coordinated breathing and movement.
• Practice this and the warmup (see below) exercise for 30-days and notice the difference in your shoulders, neck and upper back. 
• You may desire to place a heating pad on your neck during the exercise. This will also allow you to relax more freely into the movement.
• Do the warmup exercise before doing this. Moving Meditation - Warmup | Qigong
• Try doing the meditation with music or outside with the sounds of nature. - If you meditate with music, choose music that is uplifting to you (makes you happy and smile) or music that is relaxing to you.

The above meditation is called the Bird Pose. The Bird Pose is part of the 5 Animal Qigong meditation taught in the Meditation for Health Program.

Related Article

• What is qigong?

Well everyone is different and as such their experiences will be different. Most people feel an immediate sense of relaxation.  This is due to many things, one of which is a quieting of the mind.  Many also begin to notice areas in their body they have never noticed before such as a particular tension* in an area.  This is due to a placing of your focus inwardly.  You are now beginning to notice areas of your body that have decreased energy flow and need to be opened.  In a similar line of discussion, you may also notice you develop certain physical symptoms* such as a cold. With continued meditation and qigong practice, many people will also encounter a resurgence of old emotional* experiences. 

The physical and emotional symptoms are signs that a healing process is occurring. Your body is “purging” and releasing “old lower vibrating energies”. Your meditation and qigong sessions will “trigger” a form of cleansing as your energy system must adjust to a higher level of vibration. If there are any blockages in your spiritual, physical or mental bodies, continued meditation and qigong will release them and provide healing. If you remain mindful, you will begin to notice a pattern of how you release.

Your ability to heal by releasing old energies and raising your vibration will be proportional to the amount of allowing occurring during the meditation and qigong session.  The more you allow the more healing will occur. This is why a daily meditation practice is important to get your body used to relaxing and allowing.

Finally, some people also experience frustration due to thinking they are not meditating properly (see related article).

*Seek medical attention if you feel that a physical or emotional symptom requires it.  For instance, noticing a pain in your body may require medical assistance.   Another situation could be an emotional healing crisis occurring that you cannot handle yourself.

Related Article

• How do I deal with a healing crisis?

Qigong (also spelled chi gong or chi kung) is an ancient Chinese health system of healing and energy medicine. Qigong is a system practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality. It is the art and science of using breathing techniques, gentle movement, and meditation to cleanse, strengthen, and circulate qi.  Regular Qigong practice leads to better health, vitality and a quiet mind.

Many times I am asked why do I teach qigong and mindfulness meditation. Well let's first define the two modalities:

• Qigong is an ancient Chinese health system of healing and energy medicine. Qigong is a system practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality. It is the art and science of using breathing techniques, gentle movement, and meditation to cleanse, strengthen, and circulate qi. Regular Qigong practice leads to better health, vitality and a quiet mind.

• Mindfulness is full awareness of your thoughts, feelings and actions in each moment. It is the full presence and awareness of your experience. Mindfulness can be compared to self-awareness. You are aware of self. Being in a mindful state can also be further defined as being in a state of self-awareness without judgment. Consciously observing without judgment is what I like to describe as passive observation. When you are mindful, you are completely self-aware, in the moment and in a state of non-judgment. You are just accepting and experiencing the moment. Being mindful (self-aware and passively observing) during meditation, will bring this awareness into your daily routine.

Now that we understand the two, let's look at why they are complimentary forms of meditation. The ancient energy medicine system of Qigong has many aspects of mindfulness meditation, although not traditionally looked at in this way. It can be correlated to mindfulness because as you exercise, you become consciously aware of the interplay of your movement, breath and your thoughts. You also learn to release your thoughts without judgment during Qigong practice. Qigong, is more than just a simple set of exercises, it incorporates the mind and breath. When you incorporate the mind and breath, you bring your awareness inward and you learn to do it in a mindful way. Again, while not traditionally defined as a mindfulness meditation, Qigong practice has many mindfulness aspects to it.