« "And How Is Your Liver Today?" -- Qigong Practice Can Strengthen Your Internal Organs | Main | Why Kettlebell Training Is a Good Complement to Your Qigong Practice »
May 2, 2005
Qigong to Take the Edge Off Long Days of Sitting
I have just finished up attending Yanik Silver's excellent Underground Online Marketing Seminar which was held opposite the US Treasury and one block away from the White House.
My first time in Washington DC. Seeing the White House for the first time reminded me of the first time I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Partly because of the jostling crowds clicking endless shots of the poor gal, Mona Lisa felt strangely diminished compared to her iconic cultural status. Same with the White House. After all the movies and the TV, my reaction was “Is this it?” I was surprised at how “small” it was.
As usual with these affairs, what’s toughest for me is having to sit still… straight through from 9 in the morning until 6 or 7 in the evening. The human body was designed to participate in sudden bursts of activity, on a regular basis, not to sit on your duff listening to people speak at you from a podium.
At my Dragon Door office I find constant excuses to jump up and move around whenever I can, even if it just means standing up to answer the phone. So, I find it excruciating to be jammed prisoner as a polite student hour after hour, however enthralling the content. And don’t get me started on the airplane flights!
So I never thank God more than at these seminars, for my Qigong practice.
There’s a number of qigong methods that help both de-stress after a full day of sitting and to energize the body beforehand. My favorite seminar techniques involve shaking, pumping, twisting and circling, in particular. When you only have a few minutes to reconstitute or power up, nothing beats methods like the Wall Squat for instance. (See my Qigong Recharge program for full instructions.)
If you know you are going to be sitting in meetings or a seminar all day, create an extra fifteen minutes first thing in the morning and practice the most vigorous qigong you know, including some shaking. If you are staying in a hotel, like I am here, then take as many of the fifteen minutes breaks as you can, plus some of lunch time, to go up to your room and put in a quick five or ten minutes.
When others are gradually degrading into zombies from the enforced inactivity, you are more likely to remain fine-tuned and alert. Plus you’ll survive with your humor intact!
Check out John Du Cane’s Qigong resources here.
Posted by james at May 2, 2005 7:51 AM