Chi Kung – Page 6

Is Chi Real?

I’ve trained with Western doctors who believed in Chi.

And I’ve read about a Tai Chi master who doesn’t believe in Chi.

Is Chi real?

Well, I can’t prove it exist. And it doesn’t matter if Chi exists, technically anyway.

To me the concept of Chi is more valuable rather than proving its existence.

And the way to understand the concept of Chi is to reflect on the philosophy of Tai Chi and practice the movements.

When this is done over a period of time you will then be able to ‘feel’ the Chi ‘regardless of whether it exists or not’.

360 Degree Breathing

By Chris Leave a Comment

One of the Chi Kung techniques I use occassionally to energise my body and calm my mind is what I call ‘360 degree breathing’.

You can do this skill either lying down, sitting or standing.

Here’s how it works;

Take a deep breathe and imagine you are breathing in good Chi inside every cell of your body
Breathe out slowly and imagine you are breathing out negative Chi (toxins or negative thoughts or feelings)
Do at least 8 repetitions to start with and build to whatever is comfortable for you
relax your breathing – make it natural – don’t force it

A very simple technique that with practice will give you a quick way of feeling good and staying focused when you need to.

Sitting Meditation

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As part of my overall training I do about ten minutes of sitting meditation each day.

I do it for two reasons;

it enables me to calm my mind
it gives my wonky knees a rest from the more physical training I do

When I do this meditation I spend two minutes on the ‘inner smile’, three minutes on ‘dissolving’ and five minutes on focusing on my tan tien.

Here’s how to do it;

sit on the edge of the chair
relax the shoulders
Imagine a string attached to your head, gently pulling you straight up
feet shoulder width apart and flat on the flloor
Hands resting on the knees
Breathe slowly, deeply and comfortably

Although I combine my sitting meditation with other techniques, it is okay to sit there and just meditate.

Have a go and let me know how you feel afterwards.

Inner Smile

By Chris Leave a Comment

The inner smile is an effective way of reducing tension in the body and the face.

I use a simplified version of the ‘inner smile’ technique as part of my training.

It can be done either sitting or standing.

Here’s how to to do it;

align your body correctly
breathe slowly and deeply
slightly raise the corners of your mouth to form a smile
guide the chi (energy) from the smile to any tense areas of the body or face
Feel the chi dissolve any tension

The benefits of the inner smile are;

in training – stops you from grimacing which can lead to tension and poor performance of your skills
in general – makes you feel good and sends out good chi to people you commincate with

So don’t forget, put a smile on your dial with your inner smile!

Source: Tai Chi tip #9

Shallow Depths

By Chris 1 Comment

Many years ago I attended a Chi Kung workshop and the teacher did a move which was similar to the opening posture of my Wu Style Tai Chi form.

He said, ‘It took me twenty years to understand this move.’

I thought, ‘You have got to be joking! What’s so hard about lifting your arms up and down?’

What I didn’t realise at the time was that my mind was wading in shallow depths.

I did not understand that a simple move in Tai Chi often requires a depth of understanding which can be only achieved through years of thought, discussion and practice.

This understanding is like going on a journey of;

simplicity
complication
new found simplicity

So if your mind is wading in shallow depths when learning ‘simple’ movements allow yourself to go on this journey without any preconceived ideas.

Then you will be able to discover the depth and essence of a particular movement.