Waking Energy 7 Timeless Practices Designed to Reboot Your Body and Unleash Your Potential

of Life.
The Root: The Root is located in the perineum, the small flat area of flesh located between the genitals and the anus. When I consider
the Root and how I engage it in this series, I like to think of the doors on the Starship Enterprise, the sound of the hydraulic press and
quality of movement when the doors open and close. Learning how to work with this all-important portal is very much the same,
squeezing and releasing in tandem with your breath and intention.
Receiving Disks: The power to direct your energy and heal lies in your hands. Laogong points, located in the middle of each of your
palms, are key entrance points for energy, and whenever you direct your hands toward heaven or earth, you draw chi into your body
through these points in your hands. Like your toes, your fingers are also considered entrance and exit points for energy. By rubbing,
gently pinching, and pulling them, as you will learn in Awaken and Play, you open and activate them, preparing them to perform energy
exchange with your environment. You can also use your hands to direct healing chi into your body by placing your hands wherever your
body needs more attention and energy flow.
Crown: If you were a marionette, the place where your string would go on the very top center of your head is the Crown, which is the
central entrance point for receiving heaven energy.
We too need to move if we want our bodies to be healthy and function optimally. Qigong gives us
the opportunity to move like flowing water without interruption. During the following exercise
sequences, you’ll flow from one exercise to the next, pausing between them only to take conscious
breaths that make you aware of the energy you are liberating and harvesting with your movements.
Every movement should be done as if you were a river, flowing ceaselessly with a sweeping
consciousness around each and every “rock” and becoming ever more aware of the miracles of nature
that surround you and feed you.
With every exercise you do, focus your energy on keeping your feet open to receive chi from the
earth and on keeping your crown open to receive chi from heaven. The idea is to continuously
circulate chi through the microcosmic orbit, so that it then gets amply distributed throughout the rest of
your body using your breath.
Perform the majority of the standing exercises at a moderate pace with deliberate movement and
quiet intention. Do your best to respect your body by honoring it as it is rather than pushing it past
comfortable limits. See if you can catch yourself when you’ve allowed your breath to become
shallow or your muscles to tense up, and respond by breathing and softening. Use minimal effort. This
is important, because you want your body to be as relaxed as possible in order to receive and
transmit the energy you are cultivating and harvesting within your body. Just as we do in our lives,
energy flows more smoothly and willingly without stress or opposition.
Unless otherwise specified in the instructions, throughout the practice concentrate on balancing,
rooting, and focusing on your energy portals. The exceptions will be clearly marked. In general, move
reverently, like a curious child who is enchanted at the prospect of discovering new grown-up
worlds. Go at a slow, almost languid pace. Try pretending that you are in a library, fully aware of
your every movement, careful, deliberate, in full possession of your balance, completely cognizant of
your spatial awareness and placement, so that you move like a cat, gracefully and quietly, so you
don’t make any sudden moves that would disturb your surroundings.
In Opening the Gates, where you’ll greet the utter splendor of the energy universe, you should
carry yourself regally and with an air of utter reverence, as if you were a queen or a king meeting
fellow royalty. Move at a pace that is moderate, reverent, and especially mindful, so that you are fully
present and dedicating yourself completely to the moment.
As you progress into Love Thyself, know that it also has its own rhythm and pace, which is like