You can pay through Paypal, or with a credit card. I will send the DVD right out to you. This would make a great Christmas gift, a way to encourage yourself or loved ones to get a Qigong practice going in their life for the new year. It is just $19.95 plus $3.99 shipping and handling.

Gentle Qigong for Health and Wellness

The Delightful Dozen

• Consists of 12 exercises.

• Teaches many Qigong principles you can apply to your life.

• Is accessible, doable, and useful for people at all levels of health

• Fosters internal relaxation and coordination of body, mind, breath, and energy.

• Is easy to learn. It is not confusingly philosophical, or super-serious.

• Helps all parts of your body become equal with the full flow of energy, information and awareness: left and right, palms and feet, arms and legs, head and feet, torso and legs, front and back, inside and out.

Developed from Primordial Qigong

Each of the 12 exercises is found in the flowing body of a gentle exercise form called Primordial Qigong. The word primordial here, refers to your original vitality. The Primordial Qigong form is a flowing, connected sequence of the movements, much like Taiji (Tai Chi) is a slow stream Qigong sequence.

I first developed the Delightful Dozen Set as a way to teach the moves of Primordial Qigong. Eventually I realized it was a marvelous practice in itself, and an ideal teaching tool for the principles of Qigong. It is a beautiful Qigong on its own.

After you master the Delightful Dozen, you may want to go on to learn Primordial Qigong, which I also teach.

Deepen and Expand Your Self-Healing Skill

If you have learned the Five Flows Qigong, which is the first video in this series, The Delightful Dozen will expand and deepen your skill. If you haven’t learned the Five Flows, you might want to go back and learn it first.

• For this new video I again take out mysteriousness and make Qigong as accessible as it truly can be. With principles taught on the DVD, you can gain great benefits from a regular Qigong practice.

• The Delightful Dozen is slightly more advanced than the Five Flows, but you can learn it as a first set if you choose. It is also an introductory set for Qigong.

• In terms of the flows of Qi as defined on my Fun With Qigong: Five Flows DVD, the Delightful 12 is mostly balancing, with some charging and some centering.

• I hope you gain rich rewards from your learning, practice and eventual mastery of the Delightful Dozen.

The video is divided into several sections

• An introductory section covers the basics of Qigong training.

• In section two I present and explain the moves of each exercise,.

• Section three is where you deepen your experience and magnify beneficial results by focusing on specific principles in turn. In order and over time learn and practice the Structure Principle; then, get the Movement Principle, Qi Principle, and Consciousness Principle.

• Once you have learned each of the exercises, you can go ahead in the DVD to follow along with the Full Set Practice in Section four.

• Once you are completely familiar with the set, you can practice it on your own.

It’s fun, easy to begin and helps you feel great. The Delightful Dozen can boost your immune system and could protect against illnesses…from colds and flu to far more serious diseases.

The Delightful Dozen trains you to be natural, at ease and empowered in your own body. By incrementally improving how you move, stand, breathe, and think, you improve your state of body, mind and emotions.

The Progression of Learning the Delightful Dozen

This Qigong is simple to begin to learn and most people begin noticing results right away.

Yet, the Delightful Dozen, like most Qigong, has layers and aspects more that add depth, breadth, sophistication that, as you learn them, increase the effectiveness of the practices and magnify results.

1. Basic Idea. First get just the basic idea down—a rough sense of what you are doing with your arms, legs and waist.

2. Structure and Movement. As you get better with a new exercise you begin paying more attention to structural details and movement precision. You also get more able to align the movements with your breathing rhythm.

3. Energy and Consciousness. After a span weeks practicing a move, the exercise becomes more familiar. Now you can begin adding focus on what the Qi flow is doing, how your energy is, and where your mind is. By this time you are attaining a complete exercise, one that is replete with benefits.

The Delightful Dozen

1.     Earth’s Breath Rises/Heaven’s Breath Sinks

2.     Separating Yin from Yang

3.     Holding the Qi Ball at the Dantian

4.     Circling the Qi Ball Along the Microcosmic Orbit

5.     Moving the Heart Through Time and Space

6.     Blending Fire and Water

7.     Rooting Left and Right

8.     Scooping Energy From Nature

9.     Dragon Washes its Face

10.   Stirring the Cosmos

11.   Drinking the Earth

12.   Collecting the Qi

Here is a List of the Principle Articles and Videos on this Qigong Website

Note: These listed articles come from the Blog section of this website. There is also a section of Pages, which contains much information as well. The links to the Pages can be found to the right on any page.

Fun with Qigong Homepage

How to use this site.

Welcome to Fun with Qigong

My first post.

Introduction to Qigong

A video explaining the basics of Qigong.

A Simple Explanation of Qigong

What exactly is Qigong?

Audio Interview

A 55 minute overview of Qigong, along with a sample of the Six Healing Sounds.

The First Principle of Qigong

Practice. Preferably daily.

My First DVD: Fun with Qigong

A video guide to learning the gentle, powerful, principle-based Qigong set called The Five Flows.

Moderation and Fasting

All endeavors seeking health should not be excessive. Excess kills. Moderation heals.

Healing the Heart

Simple approaches to heart health.

Reducing High Blood Pressure

Video detailing some Qigong ideas for lowering pressure.

Breast Health

Exercises and resources from a non-invasive, vitalistic, self-empowering approach. Every woman should learn about these methods.

Inexpensive Acupuncture

Social justice through heartful needles.

Sudden Inhalation Syndrome

Shock breathing is normal but not natural. Learn how to breathe with ease.

Qigong and Fibromyalgia

Decrease pain with Qigong.

Simple Taiji Video

An introductory form to practice the principles and basic movements of Taiji (Tai chi).

Insomnia

Insomnia Article

Thoughts and exercises for working on that night-stealer insomnia.

Insomnia Video 1

Overview of Qigong exercises for overcoming insomnia.

Insomnia Video 2

Charge the Kidneys and connect the Kidneys to the Lower Dantian.

Insomnia Video 3

Warm the feet.

Insomnia Video 4

Draw Qi from the Lower Dantian to the feet. 

Front-loading Qigong

Practice extra amounts of Qigong before travel, expected stressful events, or busy times to come.

Hot Hands of Qi

Qigong will warm and balance your hands.

Qigong and Warm Hands: Part 1

A second class with the heat camera shows some fascinating photos.

Relax Your Shoulders, Descend Your Qi

Sink your Qi to relax your being.

Qigong and the Upside Down Snowman

Get out of your head and center in the lower abdomen. Health and joy await you. Let go of tension and sink your Qi to feel much, much better. [with a video]

You Can Cure Hot Flashes

Make hot flashes a thing of the past with this simple, powerful technique. [with a video]

Qigong, Vitality and “Limitations”

Work within your limits, but don’t let them define you.

Four-Part Protection Process

A Meditation and Medical Qigong Method for staying sane and clear in an insane world.

Alleviating Depression and Other Traumatic Emotions 1

The overview video of the “Old Man…” exercise.

Alleviating Depression and Other Traumatic Emotions 2

The second video of the “Old Man…” exercise. Lungs and sadness.

Alleviating Depression and Other Traumatic Emotions 3

The third video of the “Old Man…” exercise. Open the heart and release armoring.

Alleviating Depression and Other Traumatic Emotions 4

The fourth video of the “Old Man…” exercise. Clear worry, excess emotions, and anger from the middle burner.

Alleviating Depression and Other Traumatic Emotions 5

The fifth video of the “Old Man…” exercise. Putting it all together.

Three Types of Qigong Practice: Singles, Sets, and Sequences

Three ways you might practice: Focused, expanded, or sophisticated ways.

Qigong Sets

Understanding what Qigong sets are and how to utilize them.

Qigong Sequences

Understanding what Qigong forms are and how to utilize them.

Five Flows in a Single Exercise

One exercise can take you through all of the flows, if  you stick with it.

Preventing Colds and Flu with Qigong

These gentle, immunity-enhancing exercises truly work.

More on Preventing Colds and Flu with Qigong

Use healing sounds and slow, gentle, movements.

Qigong Strategies for Illness

How, when, and when not to do Qigong when illness is in the picture.

Qigong Workshops

A baker’s dozen of Qigong workshops your group may want to host.

The World-Famous First 64 Form

From Wild Goose Qigong, there is much healing in the intracies of these fun movements.

Reduce Stress with the Super Powerful Method of Belly Breathing

So much of a person’s stress arises from the backward, upside down, unnatural, but entirely common practice of chest breathing.

Pay Attention to Your Feet

With so much heady focus in our world, we lose connection to the whole of our bodies and the sustenance of the earth. Become more whole and balanced by paying attention to your feet as much as to your brain.

Save Yourself from a Lightning Strike

Crouch and survive.

Simplified Exercise Set

Sometimes an entire set is too much.

Open and Move from the Gate of Life

The Gate of Life is so important and so practical and so unknown.

Can Qigong Save America (and the World?)

We desperately need inexpensive, effective healthcare. Qigong is one of the answers to this urgent need.

Slap Yourself Healthy

Gentle tapping methods for wellness.

The Three Intentional Corrections

How to reframe and refocus your experience in the moment with Qigong.

Healing Knee Pain 1

Using the wall sitting exercise.

Healing Knee Pain 2

Success with the wall sitting exercise.

Change Your Life in Two Minutes a Day

Getting a daily Qigong practice started can reward you with big health dividends later on.

Bend Your Knees for Health’s Sake

Bending your knees helps alleviate many chronic pain symptoms.

When in Doubt, Shake

Use the Shaking the Body exercise to release fear, uncertainty, and tension.

Exercise with Ease

Be gentle and moderate with your Qigong to get the most out of it.

Qigong Will Soon Be a Common Sight

“People just have to get used to it.”

Spend a Billion Dollars to Save a Trillion

Qigong could save huge amounts of money, nationally.

Qigong is a Medical Bargain

It is downright cheap. It is gold that takes put pennies on the dollar.

Three Little Words Can Change your Life

The first three principles of Qigong: Practice, Modify, and Refine.

I Healed My Smashed Toe with Qigong

Using the gentleness and gentility of Qigong for giant gains.

Stay Centered or Suffer the Consequences

Multi-tasking leads to injury.

Breathe When You Type

Qigong is cheap medicine, easily accessible.

Train Your Qigong in Calmness

Qigong practice cautions.

The Secret Practice of True Wealth

Invest in Qigong and reap the lifelong rewards.

The Half-Half Rule

At least do some Qigong. You will be happy you did.

The Baby Bowl

Healing babies instead of watching the Superbowl.

The thermal imaging camera works great as tool for exploring certain aspects of Qigong. The swashes of bright colors give an overview of how someone’s Qi and blood flow are. The balance of colors show how balanced the body is. The type of color shows the level of warmth in each area. Extech i5 is the camera’s designation. 

Thermal Imaging Camera

We took photographs both before and after class. Our class exercises consisted mostly of slow, whole body charging exercises with particuar focus on the hands, Kidneys, legs, Dantian and Lungs.    

Following are some of the things we learned.    

First Student

Even though cold at the begining of class, this persons’s hands were much more balanced to start with than earlier this year.    

And the hands are way hotter after this class than before it.     

Before class hands

After class hands

Notice also how the heat of her head becomes more balanced by the end of the class compared to the photo before class.  She has distributed some of the head heat down into her arms, hands, torso, and legs. 

Body shot, beginning of class

Body shot, end of class

She is learning how to use Qigong to shift the state of her body in an intentional way.     

Second Student

This person’s hands and fingers heated up a lot from the Qigong.     

Before class: warm palms, cool fingers

After class: warmer, but with an imbalance

Third Student

These photos show that the hands heated up very well from the Qigong, and that there is more energy in the head than is probably healthy. Too much energy in the head is a precursor to many kinds of problems. After viewing the photos, I suggested she focus on her feet more to bring more energetic, thermal and neurologic balance to her entire body.    

And focus on the Dantian when practicing Qigong.    

Hands before

Hands after

In the photos below you can see that clothes keep the heat in. But both the head and the hands were visible and comparing them was useful. A hot head and cold hands are, in general, the reverse of what you want. Seek a cool head and warm or hot hands.    

These photos show lots of energy in the head and moderate energy in the hands.     

I suggested working on learning how to send that head energy to the palms and fingers.This is actually the essence of a Qigong headache remedy: Send the excess heat in the head down the arms to warm up the hands. The pain in the head will often reduce or go away through this simple prescription.    

Before class: hot head and cool hands

After class: warmer hands

Fourth Student

This person heated her hands up significantly.    

Before class: sort of warm hands

After class: hot hands of Qi

My Hands on This Day

My hands are usually warm to hot. They tend to heat up and turn on when I do hands-on healing work with people. People who have practiced Qigong regularly for a few years usually have hands that are warm, alive, and balanced in Qi. This is a generally true even at the beginning of a practice. Warm hands become a way of life. Warm hands, balanced left and right, are usually indicative of health.    

Before class: Robert's hands

After class: Robert's hands

Fifth Student

Here is another example of the power of Qigong to energize. This student’s palm areas (Lao Gongs in Qigong lingo) are warm to begin with, but his fingers and left thumb are cold.    

Before Qigong: cold fingers

After Qigong

With Qigong practice this person’s Qi and blood began to suffuse his fingers. This student has been practicing Qigong for less than two years, and is learning well how to reorder his blood and Qi flow.    

Sixth Qigong Student

This student’s hands show a cold and imbalanced profile to start. Notice the marked purpleness on the right hand. The left hand is more lavender. Both are cold.   

Cold and Imbalanced to Start

     

So much better after Qigong

Wow! Warm and very close to being balanced. This person has been studying Qigong for more than two years. He is making great progress in learning how to shift his energies.

Seventh Qigong Student

Cold fingers with some brightness of  heat in the central palms to start.

Cold at the beginning

Warmer at the end of practice

Notice how much improvement there is here. A little imbalance shows in the fingerpads, but overall, the photos show a marked improvement in less than an hour of Qigong practice. This student has been practicing Qigong for a little more than a year.

     

 

According to an article on Vietnam net on Dec 12, 2010, a man died after two months of fasting, reportedly for a Qigong regimen. This 34-year old martial artist in Ho Chi Minh City was on a water fast in order to clear his blood and organs of toxins so he could build up his Qi . Instead he killed himself from starvation.

Going to the Extreme Does Not Heal

This fellow was practicing a method to the extreme. Extremes do not heal, strengthen, or make healthy. Extremes push boundaries, but healing happens with balance and relaxation. The great, crazed Nietzsche famously wrote that “What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.” In the context of a personal health approach, this is nuts. Anything that almost kills you makes you need to rehab and re-strengthen afterward.

Gentleness Heals

Gentle Qigong practice helps us recover from the stresses, messes, strains, and pains of life. Don’t reinjure yourself when you are trying to heal. Don’t break yourself trying to remake yourself into something greater.

My Fasting Story

I once experimented with fasting after reading various enthusiastic books about it and it’s magic. These books weren’t written from a Qigong perspective; more from the American Naturopathic tradition. After I graduated from Chiropractic college when I was 25, I checked myself into a fasting institute in order to capture some of this magic energy and health that the fasting books promised. I wanted a jump start for my upcoming professional career. My water fast was only 11 days, not two months like the guy in the news story.

Fasting Institute

The fasting institute was pleasant. It was in a former residence in the suburban hills north of San Francisco. A lovely setting amidst the rolling hills, fields, and oaks of Northern California. The doctor and staff there were personable, knowledgeable and committed to their work. There were 8 or 10 of us there for the fasting.

I Got Tired 

My experience was not as promised from my studies and inquiries. Friends had told me that after 3 days I would be full of energy. Not having to eat food I would be on a kind of a high. Instead, I got more and more tired. I got around the place in slow, heavy ambles. Once a day I would take a slow, labored walk up the hill on the paved road, feeling a thousand years old in my steps. Maybe I was just so full of toxins that I never did get them cleared all out.

I Got Hungry

I was also told that I wouldn’t feel hungry after 3 or 4 days. Yet hunger never left me. I will tell you, just from this little civilized test, starvation is no fun. I hope I never have to face it for real. I got hungrier and hungrier. I never stopped craving food; never stopped thinking about it, longing for it, daydreaming of it. On day 9 of the fast I was the sickest, clearing toxins through my amber urine.

By day 11 I was no longer sick, but was so hungry, so physically and mentally frail. I was too tired to read much even. To have the time and leisure and books, but no energy for reading is a kind of a hell for a bibliophile like me.

Coming off the Fast 

On day 12 I came off the fast, starting my caloric intake with a glass of watermelon juice each at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yummy. I savored that fruity succor. Another day or two of juices and then on to giant, dry salads that took an hour to eat, chewing at maximum speed. After the last day—number 17—I left the institute and drove home. Still weak and hungry, I craved fat and bought packs of macadamia nuts at a gas station/store. How delicious those were.

I Felt Weak for Weeks

I felt fragile and feeble in my body for several weeks after the water fast. I lost weight, but I also lost energy and oomph. It set me back, rather than vaulting me forward. It may be that I fasted wrong, or not long enough, or it just wasn’t right for my constitution. For me anyway, fasting wasn’t the answer. It would be 5 more years before I discovered the non-weakening power of Qigong.

Fast Moderately

Fasting should be taken in small amounts, a day or 3 for most people is plenty. Short, periodic fasts are a time-tested way to more health. Longer fasts may be appropriate for some people, occasionally, but I wouldn’t put much trust in going too long. Be careful of extremes of anything. Any extreme is an imbalanced state that doesn’t take into account the other extreme. It is a one-sided, lopsided, untenable position, for the other side must come along to balance out the lever.

Here’s a positive and proactive way to look at breast health. There are so many healthful, non-traumatic ways to work with breast health. Below are exercises, videos, a book, some links and some simple philosophy. The first information I share is from the Qigong tradition.  

One of the main points is to keep the tissues, fluids, and energies flowing. Stagnation is the breeding ground of disease. Movement is the keeper of health and progenitor of healing.

Keep in Mind and Practice

• Keep the Qi moving.
• Keep the blood flowing.
• Keep the lymph flowing.

Here are three Qigong exercises that help with breast health.

Note: The Five Flows DVD includes Exercises # 1 and # 2 listed below as well as additional immune-boosting, easy-to-learn, Qigong exercises.

Exercise #1. Shaking the Body

Shaking the Body is basically just gently shaking up and own. Shaking will stimulate circulation, increase lymph flow, and release stagnation at the cellular and tissue levels. Shaking with intent offers many benefits. One of them can be to release a stuck, stagnant or hot Liver. In Chinese Medicine thought, such Liver conditions are usually a part of the toxic stagnancies like cancers.

Exercise #2: Streaming the Fountains

One of the great benefit of Streaming the Fountains is that the arms are repetitively, rhythmically, slowly raised above the head and then lowered. Raising the arms in this way opens the lymphatic pathways through the armpit. The greatest part of breast lymph is drained through the lymph nodes in the armpit (the axillary nodes.) By slowly and smoothly practicing Streaming the Fountains, the axillary lymph nodes are gently stretched and opened; then lightly compressed. A lymph pulsation then ensues, releasing tenderness, decreasing tension, and increasing flow through your breasts.

Axillary Lymph Nodes

Exercise #3: Press Heaven and Earth

Press Heaven and Earth is a similar exercise to Streaming the Fountains in that you are raising the arms and drawing energy up and down the body vertically. It comes from the ancient 8 Silken Brocades Set. Once learned well, it is even more effective in moving stuck Qi in the chest and opening the armpit nodes than Streaming the Fountains.

Press Heaven and Earth Instructions

Slowly, over 3 to 5 seconds, press and stretch one hand high and one low. The high hand is over the head and the lower hand at the outer thigh. The upper palm is bent on the stretches, with fingers facing inward. The lower palm stretches down at the side of the thigh. Exhale as hands go away from each other. Inhale as they come toward each other, crossing at the chest. This also is done slowly over 3 to 5 seconds. The slowness allows a smoothness of movement and empowered lymph flow to take place. The hands also twist as they rise or sink, especially the rising hand.

Raise and Lower Simultaneously

Open the Armpit/Push Down

Relax Arms Down and Up

Twist the Palm as it Rises

Now the Opposite Armpits are Open or Closed

Medical Qigong for Breast Health

The International Institute of Medical Qigong has a DVD on using Qigong exercises for breast health and breast cancer prescriptions. These exercises use circular movements of the hands to increase breast Qi flow and special healing sounds. The teacher on the video is Jerry Alan Johnson, my own Medical Qigong instructor.

Lymphatic Self-Massage

Here is a short video of a lymphatic pumping breast massage, basic but powerful and important. Some 70 percent of the lymph of the breasts flows to and through the axillary nodes. It is very, very important to keep these pathways open and always flowing. Flowing lymph clears stagnations that might otherwise lead to disease.

Dressed to Kill

The book Dressed to Kill makes the argument that tight bras lead to an increase in breast cancer. Some authorities pooh pah this assertion. It makes clear sense to me, however. A tight bra will compress the skin and lymph flow of the breast, especially in the most important channel along the upper, outside ribs toward the armpit. Many women, after learning about this, rethink their bra choices and bra-wearing patterns. Basically, wearing bras less often; wearing bras more loosely; and keeping the flows a going. 

Those that might dismiss this book as pseudoscience are missing the point: That marketing undergarments is a science, one based on profit, not truth. And from my extensive studies in Qigong, Lymph Drainage Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, and Cranio-Sacral Therapy—I think the authors of the book have a strong message that needs to be listened to and explored further. 

Chinese Medicine for Breast Health

Here is a site devoted to the natural, Chinese Medicine thinking about breast health and approaching breast cancer through Qigong, acupressure and other proven natural methods.

Lymph Drainage Therapy

The superb system of Lymph Drainage Therapy has even more sophisticated approaches to working on the breasts. Anyone who has taken the second course in LDT from the Chikly Health Institute (formerly with the Upledger Institute) has learned the Breast Drainage approach. You might want to find a qualified therapist to help with this. Note: Different states, regions or countries have different laws for which licensed therapists can work on breasts.

Daily Breast Massage

Here is a video that is more of a teaser; it doesn’t show the breast massage techniques, just some women talking about the process. The video looks like it might be worth exploring, worth getting the DVD if it speaks to you.

Sudden Inhalation Syndrome

There are many aspects to becoming a better breather, and many benefits. One of the aspects is becoming aware in your daily life of how you are breathing. Lately I have been noticing how some people have a pattern of speaking that can’t be good for them. I call this pattern Sudden Inhalation Syndrome.

What people with this habit do is take a rapid, high-chest, short, intense inhale before quickly speaking. It is a quick, strong sniff followed even more quickly with talking. Most people with such patterns are not aware of them.

This is Shock Breathing

Grasping such fast, small breaths emulates the kind of inhale a person takes when they are suddenly shocked by something unexpected or fearful. It is the breath of surprise and fear. Try a few of those breaths yourself, right now. Do you feel how intense the experience is? Such a breath can immediately lead to feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, unsteadiness, and dizziness. This breath method uses only secondary or tertiary breathing muscles to pull in air, creating muscular tension in the upper chest and neck and throat. It compresses the heart, constricts the throat, and compromises the lungs.

This collection of mental, emotional and physical states is not the ideal platform for speaking.

So Many Symptoms from Shock Breathing

Other possible symptoms include headaches, jaw pain, back pain and shoulder issues. Because the heart is being compressed along with very little abdominal expansion on the inhales, high blood pressure will come. Stress, fatigue, low grade frequent illness, digestive issues and elimination issues are likely as well. Sudden inhalations into the chest before speaking is a type of stress breathing. It overstimulates the fight, flight, fright, freeze mechanisms of the Sympathetic Nervous system. (By the way, the Sympathetic Nervous system doesn’t have much sympathy; It is all about survival in the midst of danger.)

Causes of Sudden Inhalation Syndrome

There are many reasons someone might be a a quick breath speaker with Sudden Inhalation Syndrome. Most of the reasons have to do with upbringing and emotional trauma earlier in life. For most people there is a something about having to get in a word as soon as possible after someone else was speaking. Whatever the causes, becoming aware of the pattern and retraining it, will lead to much healing.

I doubt recreating the experience of shock over and over again all day long is what most people want to do.

Breathe...Then Speak

What to Do

Watch how you talk. Learn to notice when you breathe-speak this way. Give yourself reminders to check in frequently on yourself. Little stickers posted around are good for this. I like to give little green dots to my clients and students. This is a simple, cheap, and effective retraining technology.

“Ding”

Another method is to find a kind (a sympathetic) friend or coworker to help you notice. In Toastmasters, budding speakers are taught to eliminate verbal fillers like “ah,” “uhm”, and “you know” with a bell. Every time a speaker says a filler, the bellmaster rings the bell. In real time the speaker gets feedback. It takes only a few weeks to drop fillers to 5 to 10% of what they were. Have your watchful friend say “ding” or something else you choose when they catch you suddenly inhaling before speaking.

Also, when someone else is speaking, keep breathing. Don’t hold you breath.

Teach people who interrupt you to give you a chance to collect your thoughts and your oxygen when it is your turn to speak. As an adult, you don’t have to rush in to be heard, at least not in most of your life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you have cold hands, Qigong can warm them up. Qigong increases the Qi and blood flow to the hands. The hands get pleasantly fat and full and the palms and fingers turn reddish. Sometimes there is a red and white mottling. Warm hands indicate many good things: Your internal organs are charging up, excess energy in the heart is distributed to the periphery, overall blood flow is better. Hot hands can also indicate that harmful excesses of heat in the head or heart are being safely shunted to the hands–a place much better for body heat to reside. Qigong can warm cold feet too, which means the Qi and blood flow through your legs is improved and the body is more rooted, balanced in energy, and infused with life force.

Five Pairs with a Loyal Flush

Five Pairs of Hands

Above is a photo of my hands and four of my students’ hands taken at a Qigong class with a heat camera. The heat camera is a special device designed for finding heat leaks in houses. It works great as a Qigong tool of exploration. My hands are the white ones ringed with red, which indicates a lot of heat in them. Notice the palms of the others, which tend toward a middle-heat yellow with some warmer orange-ish red. Also notice the blue in the fingers, indicating coolness.

This photo was taken at the beginning of a Qigong Practice, showing my Qi-charged hands which are habitually, healthily warm already. In 1995, after practicing Qigong regularly for about a year, my hands turned on. They get pleasantly warm almost every time I practice my healing methods on someone, or practice Qigong exercises. They are warm to start with and get warmer.

Qigong Will Balance the Energy of Your Hands

Many exercises of Qigong help equalize the Qi, blood, lymph, and neural energy between your hands. Balanced hands indicate a balanced body. The blood vessels on both upper limbs are equally open and strong. The divisions of the cerebral cortex–left and right, front and back– are in equilibrium. The nerves coming from the spine to the hands are engaging equally as they travel through the shoulder complex, arms, and into the hands.

One Cold and One Hot Hand

The heat photo of the above pair of hands shows an imbalance between left and right. The right is much hotter. Qigong can help balance the temperature of these hands.

The Good Hands Practice

Robert's Hot Little Hands

These are my hands after 50 minutes of Qigong practice and teaching. Note that even the fingers are quite warm. An important part of my hands-on healing work involves using each finger, both independently and in conjunction with the rest of the fingers, the palm, and my whole body. I think that this engaged finger individuation also helps with keeping the Qi alive and warm in my hands.

A hot flash means you have too much heat being produced in the body. Usually the extra heat rises into the head, making you uncomfortable. It could arise for a number of reasons: sudden hormonal shifts, too much sunshine, a liver working too hard, or being drained of vitality so that your body has trouble keeping you cool.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Healing Sounds to Clear Your Body

Part of the expansive collection of Qigong exercises is the art of healing sounds. Over many hundreds of years, Chinese Qigong practitioners discovered and refined particular sounds. The basic use of healing sounds in this discipline is for cleansing the body, mind, and emotions of stuck, stagnant or excessive energy. Sounds vibrate the tissues, releasing contracting-tension and shaking loose what is stuck.

“Sheeeee” Helps Hot Flashes

Here is the sound for excess, high heat in the body: “Sheeeeee.” It is pronounced and performed in a special way. You will simultaneously do these three actions:

• Draw your hands from the top of your head down through your legs and into the earth. The eyes and head follow the hands down.
• Imagine and visualize and sense that you are clearing your body of extra heat from head to feet. It is like your cells are being showered with cooling water, or the inner windows are being squeegeed clean.
• It is a descending tone “Sheeeee.” This dropping sound starts in the high range and descends very low, like going from soprano to basso. The farther down your body you go with your hands and consciousness, the deeper becomes the sound.

Note: Do not bend over as you get closer to the ground. If you bend too much you will, via gravity, put energy in the head. With this exercise you want to get energy out of the head, not put more in.

The final video in this series puts each part of the form together into a flowing whole.

The Ratio of Moves

Once you have practiced each of the 3 moves separately and can perform them well–with good amounts of feeling and healing–then you put them all together. The connected movement ratio is as follows:

1, 2, 3

2, 3

2, 3

Put Another Way, You Do

1. Lungs

2. Heart

3. Middle Burner

2. Heart

3. Middle Burner

2. Heart

3. Middle Burner

Then start over, again starting with the Lungs.

The Daily Exercise Prescription

The basic formula for practicing the full “Old Man” exercise is to do it for set amount of time. Get into a flowing groove by the set over and over and over again for 5, 10, 20 or more minutes at a time.

As you practice, you don’t need to count reps. Just glance at a clock every once in a while.

Urgent Prescription

Those who need to get their bodies on track quickly can elect to do 25 minutes of the “Old Man” 3 times a day.

Click here to view the embedded video.