Issue 57 - Tse Qigong Centre

the Qi is at the Lower Dantian, the mind will feel clear and thephysical body settled. You may even find that you are moresteady when you walk and not clumsy to bump into things.Settling the Qi in the body is very important and that iswhy we should not neglect doing Shou Gong. Following aresome guidelines that may help you do your Shou Gong withmore benefits.To DoGeneral: After we finish our Qigong practice, thenwe should do Shou Gong. We should also do ShouGong after we have finished our meditation. Ifstanding, stand with your feet shoulder widthapart, parallel to each other. If sitting, thensit forward on the edge of the chair withthe back straight and both feet placedflat on the floor. Make sure the headis up, not dropped. Eyes should lookstraight forward and only look atthe hands as they come up abovethe head. Once the hands lowerpast the eyes, do not drop thehead to follow the movementdown the body as it will unsettlethe Qi. When the eyes lookahead, they should be halffocused, half not. In this way you areconnecting with the universe and nature.1. Stand with feet shoulder widthapart and lift the hands up and outwardsfrom the side of the body, palms openedupwards to the sky. This is the attitude ofgathering or collecting the energy. Breathein as you lift the arms.Lifting the arms out to the side of thebody opens the chest and aids the lungs togather more Qi. Do not be stingy or lazy withthis movement by not lifting the arms wideenough or high enough. Our lungs are thegovernor for the Qi in the body. The more healthythe lungs, the more Qi we can gather. Openingthe palms helps us to gather Qi through theLaogong points.2. Lift the arms till they reach shoulderheight and then, bending the elbows, start tobring the energy past the top of head, Sky Eyeand face. At this point, the palms should nowface the body.The continuation of this movement helpsto pour the Qi back into the body and alsobenefits the heart because of raising the armsabove the head. In the movement, we first passthe Upper Dantian but also the eyes, ears, nose,mouth and tongue. These relate to our internalorgans, so we are also connecting the Qi withthe internal body. As we lower the hands, slowlyexhale.3. Continue to lower the handsslowly past the Middle Dantian and onto theLower Dantian.There are three channels that run down either side ofthe front of the body on either side of the Ren Channel. Theseare Stomach (Yang), Spleen (Yin) and Kidney (Yin) Channels.The Ren Channel is one of the extraordinary channels. We pourthe Qi into these channels and then onto the Lower Dantian.4. Repeat the same movement a further 2 times.In the end, we have done Shou Gong for a total of threetimes. Three means “multi” in Chinese numerancy. So when wedo three times, the idea is that it will have multiplying benefits.Conclusion:Some people are confused as to when weshould do Shou Gong. Most of you have hadexperience of doing this same movementthree times before we commenceany Qigong exercises. This iscorrect, but in the beginning,we do not refer to this asShou Gong, but just as arelaxation.We do not need todo Shou Gong inbetween every movement,only at the endof an entire set ofmovements or at theend of a form, andthen it is sufficient to doonly once. It is only when we arefinished with our exercises or withmeditation completely that we dothree times.Shou Gong is one of themost relaxing parts of Qigong. Youcan even do it outside of yourQigong practice if you findyourself getting tense or angry. Itwill help you calm downimmediately. However, you must doit slowly, in conjunction with yourbreathing and with as much relaxationas possible. If you do it too quickly, theQi cannot follow the movement of thehands and so you will not gather and storeas much Qi as you could.Sometimes, after a particularlygood practice, I find that when I do ShouGong, I can even feel heat and tinglingin my fingers as my palms pass thechannels. Even in the beginning beforepractice, when I stand and preparemyself to do the relaxation, I find it islike meeting with an old friend. You feelcomfortable straight away. When we dothe relaxation before beginning theQigong, it is exactly the same method.It will also bring the Qi back to theDantian, but this time it is so that youcan have more relaxation and let go ofdistractions. In this way you can getmore benefit from the subsequentpracticeBy Jesscia BlackwellQi Magazine 41