Creating Space in Your Body
Improve Posture, Release Tension + Reduce Stress Many events in life close people down in some way or another, especially because, in this age of technology, time pressures and repetitive micro-tasks have become the norm. They can leave your body, mind and energy feeling condensed and hard at the end of a day. Learning how to make space in your physical body is an excellent tool for reversing the cycle of compounding tension, so you can relax, empty your mind and become present to the here and now. How-to Exercises for Making Space in Your...
read moreLongevity Breathing Techniques: How to Boost Results of Physical Exercise
I’ve written about breathing techniques and offered several guided practice sessions on breathing because we do it all day, every day. Learning how to guide your breath at will therefore gives you the power to shift your state of mind and reinvigorate bodily systems whenever you choose. However, breathing well can go far beyond a little relaxation and peace of mind, and take health and well-being to the next level by boosting the results of any exercise programme. Starting with a few minutes of rhythmic, smooth and measured breathing can...
read moreLearn Gods Qigong
Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong Gods Qigong is from Lao Tse’s school in ancient China, offering a unique feature not found in other qigong systems. Typically qigong sets are practised with the purpose of learning particular strands of neigong, each with a distinct flavour, which can then be applied in deeper practices, e.g. bagua and tai chi. However, Gods serves as a container for all 16 neigong where practitioners can unify the internal power grid into one coherent whole. A supreme movement art, skillful Gods training can evolve qigong...
read morePulsing the Body’s Cavities in Qigong, Tai Chi & Bagua Circle Walking
My last blog introduced the concept of pulsing, and provided an overview of how to pulse the joints in qigong, tai chi and bagua for health benefits. However, the more dramatic, broad-ranging and long-lasting results come after the tuning in period, when you can go deeper than only pulsing the joints and gain some faculty in opening and closing the body’s cavities. Pulsing the Joints: The Middle Ground Activating the joints is only the beginning stage. Whether you only pulse the joints in the limbs (arms and legs) or the entire skeletal...
read moreBreathing Therapy: Engaging and Balancing the Sphere
December Breathing Techniques Tip Photo by Em Morley Photography Completing the Breath Over the last three months, we’ve deconstructed whole-body breathing to activate various parts of the body. If you’ve been practising, it’s now time to integrate everything into one whole, spherical breath. (Review the series, starting in September 2011, by clicking here.) Activating the Top of the Lungs Most people only breathe into the middle/front of their lungs and therefore have a very restricted breath. That’s why we spent the last three months...
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Bagua Water & Heaven Palms
New bagua video for your viewing pleasure: Bagua Water and Heaven...
read moreCreating Central Equilibrium in Bagua & Tai Chi
If you practise the spherical material from my blogs Sphere (1) and Sphere (2), then you’ll probably begin to at least develop some idea about how you open your body in a spherical way. Fully embodying spherical principles in your forms takes years of dedicated practise, so don’t be in a rush. The trick is to balance the energies that either open or close in the six directions (up, down, forward, back, left and right)—not the physical range of motion. When the energies are balanced you open up the space in the central...
read moreEngaging & Balancing the Sphere in Qigong, Bagua & Tai Chi
Engaging & Balancing the Sphere (1) When you have embodied the spherical aspect of the internal arts it will naturally appear in every form you practise whether Circle Walking, bagua, qigong, sitting or breathing. Until then, your focus is on creating circularity in your movements. So this lesson is much more suited to the long-term student. Although beginners could also use the information as a compass, as a directional indicator of where you are heading. Balancing the Body in Motion Now let’s look at engaging the physical opening of...
read moreEngaging & Balancing the Sphere in Bagua & Tai Chi
Many people who practice the internal arts completely focus on forward, up/down and left/right because that is what is in their field of vision. Rarely do practitioners place their consciousness behind them. This is a speciality of Gods Playing in the Clouds and bagua because each requires that you really work the sphere. However, becoming conscious of what is behind you is also implemented in tai chi. And, when you have it, you can use it anywhere. Photo © iStockphoto.com/Louis16 Methodology of Creating the Sphere There are many methods for...
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