Qigong for Heart and Lungs

Описание: Improving the respiratory system with some tried and tested qigong movements, and a fun balance challenge!

KNOCKING ON THE GATE OF LIFE
This gentle twisting movement releases all the joints and muscles, and brings a flash of energy to the whole system.
Let the arms be completely relaxed so that the turn of the waist sets them swinging. Loose fists knock on the lower back and belly, and then on the lung points at the front of the shoulder.

SHAKING
Really relax and see if you can feel the gentle shaking beginning to dislodge areas of tension in joints and muscles.

SMOOTHING THE CHI
Here, the hands lead the chi along the major meridian lines of the body, easing and smoothing their flow.
Exhale as your hands move away from the heart and inhale as they come back in to the heart.

LUNG CLEANSING EXERCISE
From the Organ Cleansing exercises with Daisy Lee and Garri Garripoli, this works on the wei chi, or physical field of the body.
Inhale as the hands rise and exhale as they drop, and let the breath be long and flowing.
If you like, imagine you are polishing the inside of a large metal sphere with your hands.

HEART CLEANSING EXERCISE
Again an organ cleansing exercise. Exhale as the hands push forwards and away from the heart, and inhale as they come back in to the heart, bringing fresh new energy back to the centre of the chest.

BRUSH KNEE TWIST STEP
This is a part of the tai chi form, a martial movement which works with the heart meridian.
You don't have to lift the toe off the ground, but if you want to try it's a lovely movement.
Place one foot slightly in front. Lift the foot or come onto the toe of your front foot, and at the same time the hand on that side comes over and across the chest, palm face down. The other arm is held out to the side, palm facing forwards.
Then bring the thumb down and across so that it brushes across the knee. At the same time the outer hand comes to the side of the shoulder.
Then step forwards, pushing forward with the outer palm as the foot steps to the floor and the weight transfers to the front.

DRAWING THE BOW
This move from the Bad'uan Jin opens the chest and works with both heart and lung meridians, which extend from the chest along the sides of the arms.
Take this opportunity to practice opening and closing of chi - a smooth expansion and contraction for the whole body. As you get more experienced, you will feel the chi as a tidal movement within you, opening and closing through every joint.
As you pull the bow across the chest, inhale, and let that breath extend and expand your chest and your arms, as the chi extends out to toes and fingers. As the arm sweeps round again to the front, exhale, sink the chest and feel the contraction through every joint as the upper back rounds and the hands come together.
It's this expansion and contraction of chi that does the most to improve your breathing - it naturally creates a deep breathing pattern that stays with you after the exercise is complete.

GATHERING CHI
Gathering chi to the heart. Let the arms and hands extend to their fullest then gather fresh energy in and bring it back towards the chest.
Relax the body and integrate it with the movement of the hands, so that the smooth flowing circling of chi is reflected from your feet to the hips to the top of your head.

MOON OVER THE LAKE
This calming movement opens the sides of the ribs and again encourages a deep breathing pattern. Inhale as the arms rise and the hands move across the sky. Exhale as the hands drop and skim across the surface of an imaginary lake.

DRAWING DOWN THE HEAVENS
Qigong techniques are often focused on grounding us, and this calming exercise is one of the best. Inhale as the hands reach to gather energy from the sky. Exhale as you bring that energy flowing down through every cell of the body and back into the earth.

COMPLETION
One hand over the other on the belly as you wait for the body to absorb the chi we've generated in our practice.

Thank you so much for practising with me, and a special thank you to those who have been regularly coming along. I really do appreciate it. Wishing you a great rest of the day :))

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ABOUT AMANDA
I've been practising qigong, tai chi and meditation for 25 years now. I love to share these techniques - they are truly awesome.