Lesson 4: QiGong Breathing
Breathing Process
Qi Gong is an ancient Chinese healthcare practice that comes out of the Taoist tradition, which has been used for over five thousand years. It is the ancestor of acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Chinese martial arts. Qi Gong’s primary purpose has always been to promote a long and healthy life by balancing the energy within one’s body.
Balancing your energy allows your body to relax and your mind to be peaceful, which promotes good physical, mental and emotional health.
Breathing is the primary element in Qi Gong, as it is in most Eastern health practices. Visualization and imagery are used extensively. When you learn to balance your energy through Qi Gong breathing and visualization techniques, you become acutely aware of when you are in or out of balance.
Proper breathing can calm the mind, lower blood pressure, and provide other benefits to the mind and body. Through proper abdominal breathing, lung capacity can be improved, promoting the circulation of oxygen in the blood, massaging the internal abdominal organs, and helping digestion and assimilation of food.
Mastering Qi Gong breathing is the key to improving and maintaining your health.
Qi Gong Breathing Techniques
Preparation:
Relax (whether sitting or standing)- take a deep breath, hold that breath for a few seconds, release the breath and mentally tell yourself to relax. Repeat- three or four times.
Inhaling:
First and foremost, become mindfully aware of your breathing. Gently inhale (slowly and quietly up to the count of 5) guiding your breath into your abdomen. Feel your abdomen expand as air fills up your stomach. Visualize and feel energy (Qi) being transported into your body cleansing and healing it.
If you have a health issue, visualize your breath transporting the energy (Qi) into your body- traveling to the targeted area. See the healing Qi replacing the unhealthy cells, revitalizing our immune system, or repairing injured bones or tissues.
As you inhale, feel abundance, love, gratitude, joy, happiness, acceptance, peace, health, and well-being spread throughout your mind and your body.
Exhale:
Gently exhale (slowly and quietly up to the count of 5) using your abdominal muscles to guide the air out of your abdomen. As you exhale, be mindful that you are ridding the body of old, negative, and sick energy.
If you have a particular dis-ease, gently focus your mind on pushing out the non-beneficial energy. Use your mind and breathe to transport it into the surrounding area. Sometimes it is helpful to visualize the exhaled breath as a dark cloud.
As you exhale, allow tension, stress, fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, pain, sickness, and dis-ease to leave your mind and body.
Repeat the process several times a day to feel the benefits of a healthy state of being.