Simple Qigong Exercises

This page, originally started in 2011 is updated as new videos are uploaded. Subscribe here to be informed as new video and text material becomes available.

Stop Press: I would like to alert readers to my brand new Qi Sensing DVD/MP3 resource pack available now, with a special bonus for early purchasers.

 

You can read more about it here

I began filming qigong training videos with this easy-to-learn set of Three Simple Qigong Exercises, taught by my friend Cheyne Towers back in 2006 as a pilot for a proposed TV series. I quickly realized that the internet is a far more suitable place to share this information, and since uploading, this video alone has had more than half a million views to date.

 

If you would like to learn more about Simple Qigong Exercises as taught by Cheyne Towers, please visit his website at HeartMindTherapies.com where you will find a fine selection of his extended exercise videos that are enjoyable, beneficial and safe to learn online. Many of them were filmed in beautiful locations here in the mountains of Central Europe.

Qi exercises that can be performed daily are enjoyable and health-enhancing, but there are many more opportunities to develop and apply your understanding of qi in your daily life, even in the midst of stressful situations and interpersonal conflicts. In fact, these are the times when your knowledge of qi can be most helpful.  The Qi Sensing DVD/MP3 resource pack is primarily designed to prepare you for those moments when you need it the most. You can read about it here.

You can stay up to date with the latest qigong and qi sensing uploads by subscribing to my Youtube channel: Youtube.com/Breath4Health

The exercises discussed here at Breath4Health fall broadly into three groups:

1. Standing exercises and principles – easy to learn by people of all ages and levels of athletic ability and coordination, e.g.

Simple Qigong Exercises Limitless Qi of Heaven

2. Seated exercises and principles – beneficial for everyone, and especially helpful for individuals recovering from illness or injury, and the elderly. e.g.

Seated Qigong Introduction

(This is more of a general introduction to the subject of Seated Qigong Exercises. Actual examples appear further down this page.)

and

3. Interactive exercises and experiments. These can be of two kinds – one kind being exercises performed with an interested partner and the other being experiments and investigations of energy coming from outside sources in the course of your daily life.

 

 

You will notice that Cheyne’s and my lessons are complementary. The exercises Cheyne teaches would ideally have a scheduled slot in your daily round of activities – a time when you can relax undisturbed and experience and cultivate the flow of qi, of your life-force through simple movement and breathing patterns.

The videos I make of myself are more concerned with how you can develop and apply your increasing understanding of qi energy and the part it plays in your thoughts and feelings, and your interactions with others.

For many of us, the discipline of sticking to a schedule can sometimes be too much. Then when we miss a session or two, we may begin to feel disenchanted and even guilty. This guilty feeling can attach itself to the idea of practice to the extent that we become put off the whole thing. It becomes more of a chore than a joyful experience and a wonderful opportunity is lost. One of my first teachers used to address this problem with the words “don’t make your practice into a stick to beat yourself with”.

Having been through many cycles of ups and downs, I’ve actually come round to the view that my practice is the most incredible adventure – the thing that brings me to the very edge of my “known world” and opens up new vistas of possibility.

As you drive to work, you may consider the suggestion I put forward in my Mental Radio video – tuning your attention for increased relaxed alertness – the awakened sensitivity and receptivity that can enable you to  anticipate hazards and to avoid accidents in a way that uncannily defies deductive reasoning. Not only could considering such a possibility and acting on it save a life, but it directs our attention back toward the mysteries of the ancients and the indigenous peoples of the world, and to forgotten capabilities that humanity lost touch with long ago. Science may not yet have proven the existence of qi, but neither has it dis-proven anything. It can’t. As the classical skeptics asked themselves, “What do I really know?”

Part 1 of 3: Standing exercises:

Parting the Clouds

If you want a routine you can practice in the restroom when your neck and shoulders feel a bit stiff, try this: Standing Shoulder Roll Exercise

Part 2 of 3: Seated exercises

 

Body Passes Small Spiral

Body Passes is an excellent way to develop a feel of the qi energy field that surrounds your body.

Qi Awareness While Sitting at the Computer – here we are practicing “sitting for qi” principles in daily life while using the PC

Seated Arm Shaking

Shaking is a very easy and effective way to stimulate the qi. It has been claimed that shaking qigong can clear the body of free radicals.

Simple Qigong Exercises – Teacup seated Variation 1

Once you’ve learned the moves, you may find it helpful to follow along with Cheyne as he demonstrates these exercises without a spoken commentary. You will hear only the sound that was recorded while filming at the waterfall.

Simple Qigong Exercises – Teacup Spiral Seated (no commentary).

Simple Qigong Exercises – Arm Waves Seated

As with the teacup spiral exercise, once you’ve learned the movements, you may find it helpful to follow along with Cheyne as he demonstrates these exercises without a spoken commentary. Again, you will hear only the sound that was recorded while filming at the waterfall.

Simple Qigong Exercises – Arm Waves Seated (no commentary)

 

Part 3 of 3: Qi Sensing – mental and physical configurations, exercises and experiments

People who take up qigong, tai chi or other qi/chi-related practices are generally people who have woken up to a sense that life could be more rewarding, more fulfilling. The challenge is to recognize the limitations of mainstream thought …

While Cheyne and I were filming here in the mountains, a viewer of our Youtube clips wrote in with an interesting question …

The exercise Cheyne refers to in his answer – Embrace the Limitless Qi of Heaven – is also posted on this page.

Answer to Josh

Most of the above clips were filmed during Cheynes visit to Poland in the Spring of 2011. In late September, he returned to film a new series of qigong exercises in widescreen format. While he was here, I pursuaded him to visit a very strange spot in the mountains very near to the border with the Czech Republic. The following video is not an instructional video as such, but as always Cheyne has interesting insights to share from his wealth of experience with qigong, martial arts and somatic exploration and development.

Qigong and Gravity – Cheyne visits a noted gravitational anomaly in the mountains of SW Poland

Legal Disclaimer: The information presented on this website is for information purposes only. By viewing these videos, viewers express their agreement that they attempt the exercises at their own risk. Please consult a health professional before taking up any new exercise form.