Health Qigong Exercise Principles

    First, follow the steps.

    When practicing, adjust the body first, then adjust the breath, then adjust the mind, and then combine the three adjustments into one. The four current exercises are all dynamic exercises, and the movements are not too difficult, which helps to start from adjusting the body and reach the three adjustments into one. Adjusting the body is to adjust the limbs and the movements. Health Qigong is a routine dynamic exercise, which has certain requirements. The routine dynamic exercise can be divided into seven types from the perspective of adjusting the body, one is the flexible type, such as Tai Chi; the second is the firm type, such as hard Qigong; the third is the dance type; the fourth is the gymnastics type; the fifth is the bionic type; the sixth is the massage type; the seventh is the walking type, such as Meihuazhuang and Guolin Qigong.

    Yijinjing and Baduanjin are both exercises that combine hardness and softness, which are not only suitable for middle-aged and elderly people, but also for young people. Wuqinxi is a combination of bionic and dance types, with beautiful movements, and women are willing to practice it. The Six-Character Formula is relatively peaceful. It is a breathing-based exercise. It is mainly based on regulating the breath. It should be coordinated with breathing exercises and the movements should be relaxed. If you feel that your qi is not smooth, practice the Six-Character Formula. If your arms and legs are not smooth, choose the other three. I suggest that you choose one of the four exercises. As an instructor, you should be able to do all four, but if you want to practice for a long time, from adjusting the body to adjusting the breath to adjusting the mind, you may always stay in the stage of adjusting the body. If you want to achieve the state of three adjustments in one, it will take at least three to five years. There is no quick success in qigong. When practicing qigong, you should choose the exercise you like most. Liking yourself is a very important psychological need.

    What is the difference between qigong movements and gymnastics and martial arts? For example, when you raise your hand, is it qigong, gymnastics, or martial arts? The internal elements of different exercise programs are completely different. If it is a martial arts action, there is an external purpose at the beginning. For example, if I want to chop someone, all my thoughts and strength are projected outward; for example, if I want to do exercises, my purpose is to exercise the shoulder joints and muscles, so my strength acts on the shoulder joints and muscles; for example, if I want to practice kung fu, the power of my hand does not come from the shoulder joints and muscles, but from the qi in the dantian. The action of raising a hand is indeed the same, but the connotation is completely different, so it is called laymen see the prosperity, and experts see the doorway. You can each raise it once, once according to martial arts, once according to exercises, and once according to kung fu. When practicing health qigong, if you don’t know how to do it at the beginning, you can turn it into gymnastics first, but don’t stay at the gymnastics stage, you have to do it further.

    The second is to persevere.

    You can’t practice it if you fish for three days and dry the net for two days, especially in the first 100 days, you must practice every day, and after 100 days, you can practice for one or two days. According to the principle of psychology, it usually takes three months to form a habit. When I teach students, I ask them to write a practice diary for the first 100 days. No one should be missed. If one day is missed, I will not teach them. Health Qigong is a tough sports project. It should be carried out step by step. To follow the steps means to adjust the body first, then adjust the breath, then adjust the mind, and finally adjust the three into one. I met a famous Tai Chi coach. I asked him about his teaching experience. One thing he said still has a glimpse of my memory. He said that when students came to ask him questions, he first asked, “Have you practiced this action a thousand times?” If you haven’t practiced it enough, don’t ask me. If you have practiced it a thousand times, come and ask me, and I will answer. Qigong must be practiced over and over again. Many problems will be solved after practicing a thousand times.

    Third, practice should be relaxed and natural.

    What state does this require you to be in? Let me give you an example. When practicing, you should have a playful mentality and a relaxed mentality, not a working mentality. Relax with a smile on your face. It should be a smile from the heart, not a deliberate smile. It is wrong to smile with your skin but not your body. It is right to smile with your body but not your skin. There may be no trace of smile, but you will feel happy in your heart. Health Qigong is different from other projects in that you cannot practice it in a nervous state.

    Second, how to practice Health Qigong well

    The first step is to adjust the body.

    To adjust the body is to relax, and then start to learn. The first step is to learn the movements according to the practice of gymnastics, requiring accuracy but not precision. For example, once I went to Germany to teach, the students asked me, when you raise your hand, is it 45 degrees or 47 degrees, and what should the angle be? I said, you don’t have to be so accurate, just raise it, it’s okay to be roughly the same, please pay attention to not requiring complete accuracy, but try to be as accurate as possible. Then gradually learn the internal Qi guiding movements, not just the muscle movements, at this time you have basically completed the learning of adjusting the body. If you have never practiced Qigong before, it will take about three to six months to reach this step. When you start practicing, you do exercises, mainly to train your muscles and joints. There is no harm. When you learn further, you need to go beyond these and reach the Qigong body adjustment. Qigong movements are different from sports. Strictly speaking, Qigong does not have partial movements. When you move, the whole body moves. You will not move just one part. When you feel a sense of partiality in your movements, it means that you have not yet practiced the Qigong movements. Qigong movements have a sense of the whole body, and the Qi is harmonious throughout the body.

    The second step is to adjust your breath.

    The so-called breath adjustment is to adjust your breathing. To adjust your breathing, you must adjust your breath length and breathing method. One is natural breathing, breathing with the chest, the chest contracts when you inhale, and the chest contracts when you exhale, without abdominal movement. Another is abdominal breathing, including positive abdominal breathing and reverse abdominal breathing. Positive abdominal breathing is when you inhale, your stomach bulges out, and when you exhale, your stomach shrinks. Reverse abdominal breathing is just the opposite. Strictly speaking, the breathing of practicing Qigong requires reaching reverse abdominal breathing. In Yi Jin Jing, Ba Duan Jin and Wu Qin Xi, natural breathing is enough, and there is no need to practice other breathing methods. Liu Zi Jue is a method based on regulating breath. It can transition from natural breathing to abdominal breathing, and then to reverse abdominal breathing. You can do it if you can, and you can choose not to do it if you can’t. The effect of reverse abdominal breathing is better than that of abdominal breathing, but don’t practice it hard. It will not work well if you practice it hard. After practicing for a long time, you will gradually form it after finding the root of breathing. Another requirement of Liu Zi Jue is that you don’t need to read it loudly, just hear it yourself. The movement should be slow. For beginners, don’t inhale too much, and don’t exhale too much. Both inhalation and exhalation should stop within a controlled range, and it’s enough to inhale 80% and exhale 80%. Slowly extend the length of breathing while letting it go naturally. Don’t start long at the beginning, but follow the steps. Among the three adjustments of Qigong, the regulation of breathing is the most likely to cause discomfort. You must be careful to grasp it and grasp the basic principles.

    Teach you to correctly understand the “deviation” of Qigong

    Qigong, if practiced correctly and controlled correctly, can completely play the role of strengthening the body, curing diseases, and stopping premature death. However, many people know that Qigong has this effect, but they are worried about the so-called deviation, so they are mentally cautious and dare not practice. Even if they practice, they are still terrified.

    In fact, there are very few people who go astray when practicing Qigong. Some so-called “deviations” are not actually deviations, or there is nothing terrible. As long as they are correctly understood and handled, they can be completely prevented and corrected.

    Some of the so-called deviations are caused by psychological factors and lack of correct guiding ideology. Bad psychology is an important factor in the formation of Qigong deviations. Physiology determines psychology, and psychology reacts to physiology. Anyone with negative psychology such as depression, sadness, distress, eagerness for quick success, unrealistic ambitions, deep-mindedness, and impetuousness is very likely to go astray. Therefore, psychological factors are very important in practicing qigong, and the cultivation of psychological factors is part of Taoist sexual practice, such as tempering the mind and self-cultivation. Only when the mind is healthy can one make rapid progress in practicing qigong, thus avoiding deviation.

    Other deviations are caused by improper practice methods.

    The factors of improper practice methods are divided into:

    One， “The practitioner does not control the correct method” or “wrong practice method”, such as not having a master, not receiving the true teachings, practicing blindly, or receiving the true teachings, but not having a high level of understanding, and not being able to grasp the key points of the practice, etc.

    Second, the method itself is wrong, or it has been misguided. For example, the method you learn is created by modern people, or named after some ancient celebrities, such as the method based on Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, the method based on Huangdi Neijing, etc., which are actually fake methods that are not authentic. There is no master, and the person’s theoretical experience is insufficient, so it will naturally go wrong.

    Another reason for deviation is due to environmental factors. Such as noise, fright, bad weather, the new moon and the dark moon, etc. In addition, it is because you don’t know how to let nature take its course and follow the yin and yang.

    When Qigong is practiced to a certain stage, sometimes the body will shake, which is generally called “external movement” or “spontaneous movement”. Some people think that this means that Qigong practice is ineffective, so instead of letting nature take its course, they try to make the movement more obvious and more violent, even to the point where it is uncontrollable, thus forming a serious deviation.

    In fact, the practice of Qigong follows the principle of Yin and Yang. Qigong, especially some advanced Taoist skills, is mainly based on sitting still, that is, static exercises. According to the principle that Yin produces Yang and Yang produces Yin, after sitting for a long time, Yin will inevitably turn to Yang, and movement will be generated from stillness. This movement is the manifestation of Yang. It is normal that the result of extreme stillness and Yin produces Yang. Movement is divided into internal movement and external movement.

    Internal movement refers to the movement of internal Qi. At this time, it is necessary to follow the teacher’s guidance to make appropriate guidance and temperature operation, otherwise the furnace will collapse.

    External movement refers to the movement of limbs. At this time, it is necessary to let it go naturally and control it slightly. It is not allowed to follow or try to make the movement more obvious, which is called “spontaneous movement”. It is very dangerous.

    The ancients had a series of requirements for cultivation, such as life and practice. In life, there are all kinds of golden rules that need to be followed. In practice, the most important thing is the use and control of temperature. Remember, without the guidance of a master, randomly using breathing ideas, guiding the internal energy, circulating the Qi in the body, etc., will cause unnecessary mistakes and troubles for yourself.