If you are short of time and still want to get some Qigong in, you could do an abbreviated set using the Five Flows idea. Do one exercise from each type of Flow.

Or maybe you are showing a friend or family member a little Qigong and you want them to experience it, but doing a complete set seems too much. Five new exercises are easier to grasp than 12 or more.

A Short, Yet Complete Set from Five Flows Qigong

Warmup
#1: Shaking the Body

Clearing
#4: Outer Qi Shower

Charging
#6: Charging the Qi Ball

Balancing
#10: Riding the Waves

Centering
#12: Centering the Qi

Many-Rep Single Exercise Set

Another method you might want to work is to take one exercise and perform it over and over and over; dozens, scores or hundreds of times. As long as you are not hurting yourself by overdoing, you could gain a lot of healing shifts from such a mega-single-exercise-practice.

The reason to do one exercise of Qigong over and over is not for the high number of reps. It isn’t  quantity you are seeking but the ability to get deeply, comfortably familiar with the exercise and gain much greater effectiveness.

By deepening in this way, you come to understand the exercise more and are able to let it expand in all it’s possiblity through your body.

For those of you who have been to our place you probably remember our Alaskan Malamute Kiya. Kiya was a superb greet dog, always excited to meet and re-meet people who drove up to Axton Gardens. She would often hustle up to a car as it drove into the parking lot and do her “whoo” Malamute howl at the driver’s side door. She wanted people to get out right now to pet her.

Kiya with Robert in 2007

We had to put Kiya down this spring. She was some 13 years old and quite creaky in her last years. We believe that Kiya, in her previous home, probably didn’t get much exercise. Her joints were a pain to her for years with us. It is so important to get that exercise early in life and all through life.

Kiya was a loyal, friendly, gentle, people-loving, petting-loving companion for many years and we will miss her.

New Pup

Serendipitously, as Kiya’s health was failing, my sister’s dog–a full Malamute herself–managed to get out of the fenced yard. She was gone for a week and came back pregnant. We didn’t expect to get a puppy so soon after Kiya’s passing, but there he was. Just two weeks after we buried our dog, we drove to my sister’s house and came home with the cutest puppy in the litter.

New Greet Dog

So if you come to our place there is a a new greet dog in training. We’ve named him Ponderosa because he is both thoughtful (pondering) and going to be a big boy. From the clues of his build and behavior we are pretty certain his father is a Newfoundland. Ponderosa loves water (and mud), has webbed feet, has a crook in his tail, a large head and huge front paws–all Newfie signs.

Ponderosa

Looking through a basket

Wearing a basket

Ponderosa napping on a wet rock