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August 29, 2005
Qigong Methods for Quick Energy - When The "Devil's Cup" Won't Cut It Anymore
Question: Are there any other "quick" methods to wake you up or enliven you? I don't like relying on coffee when I am tired. I used to use a form of quiet breathing exercise I came up with, where I pictured drawing energy from around me, and then near the end I would sort of psych myself up a little, snap open my closed eyes, and would be good for a few more hours. Problem is, it took 20 minutes.
Answer: Despite my qigong, I still drink coffee. My preference is a couple of shots of neat espresso, perhaps with a thin slice of lime or lemon.
I used to suffer from moderate apnea, which I seem to now have mostly eliminated thanks to a combination of alternative bodywork and iron shirt qigong throat practices.
Basically, my throat was relaxing too much when I slept and was closing off the passageway. I would wake up frequently gasping for a breath. The apnea would leave me groggy in the morning and I would jump-start myself with coffee, then do my qigong. (The lazy qigong guy’s way to enlightenment, I guess!)
(It also helped to start consciously keeping my mouth closed with my teeth together at all times – a tip from one of my own qigong teachers.)
I thanked God for my qigong in those days, in that it helped me counter the oxygen deprivation I was experiencing at night. I am glad I seem to have figured out how to get rid of it.
When I went in to get a physical checkup recently… from a grossly overweight, preoccupied and generally unhealthy looking MD at my clinic, he remarked on the apnea history. When I told him I had dealt with it through various alternative means he harrumphed and commented, “Well whatever works…” in a disbelieving way.
So, I understand about the coffee and have noticed how often it is counterproductive if I try to use it for tiredness, especially when I am essentially already operating on fumes.
I console myself that coffee was the drink of choice for the mystical Sufis, as a spiritual intoxicant/catalyst. Hah! (For more on this, read a fascinating history of coffee, one of all time favorite books in fact: “The Devil’s Cup”.)
Anyhow, back to your exact question: Your technique above is excellent but as you say it takes a while.
Five of the fastest qigong pick-me-ups I have experienced are these:
Basic Iron Shirt Qigong Breathing: Inhale deeply while standing in Horse Position, hands in prayer position at chest. Snort half your breath out, tighten your whole body, concentrate your attention in the abdomen, press the hands hard together and hold this for five to ten seconds. Repeat about eight times.
For those of you in Minnesota, I urge you to come and take my Enduring Strength Qigong class, starting September 11, where you will learn almost the whole of this Iron Shirt system.
Qigong Fire Breathing: Two rapid inhales through nose, one strong exhale through the mouth, while swinging the arms from side to side across the body. Turn the head to your side on each exhale. One or two minutes.
Enhanced Qigong Neck Rotation: Tight fists, do the first neck technique from Qigong Recharge, vigorous inhale (nose) when the head goes back, vigorous exhale through mouth coming down. About twenty reps. (I originally learned this enhancement from Stephen Co in a Pranic Healing seminar.)
Red Dragon Qigong Heart Strengthening Method: you will learn this if you come to the next Unlock! Seminar. In Horse Stance, bring hands above head and then circle arms 360 degrees while fluttering hands from the wrists. Repeat a couple of times in both directions, nine circles at a time per direction.
Whole Body Dipping Qigong: again you can learn the subtleties of this either in my Enduring Strength Qigong course or at Unlock! Low Horse Stance, circle hands in thrusting motion away from and then back in to the abdomen area, while vigorously pushing the butt back out and down. Breathe naturally while doing. One or two minutes.
Any or all of these together should get you going. Let me know on the forum if they help!
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 7:24 AM | Comments (3)
August 22, 2005
Qigong To Help Back Problems
Question: I am having a lot of trouble with my back. I have pulled a muscle up between my shoulder blades while doing a kettlebell workout, and always have stiffness in my lower back. I am wondering if there is a qigong practice that may be better than another for loosening the muscles of the back? I have your Qigong Recharge, Bliss Qigong, and Serenity Qigong DVDs. Though I must admit I haven't been practicing like I should!! (probably why I am in this spot!) I appreciate your advice.
Answer: I have experienced the upper back situation myself sometimes with KBs. I don't think I have ever felt stiffness in my lower back.
Some of the techniques I showed at the Unlock! seminar would help with this issue for sure, so hopefully you can come to that in the next one in February 2006.
I will answer this more thoroughly in a future blog. However in the meantime, incorporate at least five minutes of shaking every day (see one of my very earliest blogs for detail) Spend two of those minutes with your attention in the back areas, working them loose with additional attention as you vibrate and shake in that area.
Do more of the shoulder rotations, the Shoulder Spirals, Release the Spine, Recharge the Core, Invigorate the Torso from Qigong Recharge.
Do the walking crane techniques from the Crane Frolic.
The initial Bear movements on Power Qigong would help.
Then you can do a dissolving technique:
Go into the sore area with your attention. See it as "frozen". "Melt" it with a "warm" inhale. Relax the area deeply on the exhale. (Tough to do, but see if you can sometimes do it for five minutes.)
I am indebted to Kumar Frantzis for his great teaching on this process. Check out his books Relaxing Into Your Being and The Great Stillness, which you can find on Amazon.
Then, an interesting way to direct internal healing energy:
Hold your breath for ten second periods (max) while you put your attention into the sore area, with a healing and relaxing intention.
All of this will speed the healing.
On a different note: I recommend you find a very experienced Craniosacral Therapist to help you unwind in those areas. Upledger.com will help you find a good provider in your area. Chinese Tui Na bodywork would also be a good choice, as, like Cranio it concentrates a lot on releasing the fascia.
As one highly experienced Tui Na teacher commented to me recently: almost all injuries of your kind result from weak or messed up fascia.
And finally, check out Body Rolling (see www.yamunabodyrolling.com ) for another effective way to release muscle and fascia tensions. If you decide to go ahead with the Body Rolling be sure to get some lessons from a certified teacher, though.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 6:56 AM | Comments (2)
August 15, 2005
"Me Tarzan, You Jane" Qigong Gives You Instant Courage
At the recent National Qigong Association Annual Conference (see www.nqa.org for details) I attended a great one-day workshop (Awaken to Being: An Exploration of Energy, Breath & Consciousness) by my friends Dennis Lewis, author of the excellent book "Free Your Breath, Free Your Life" and Gunther Weil.
While the focus of the workshop was how Qigong can help you be more present and was therefore based strongly in consciousness and “choiceless awareness”, rather than the physical technique end of the spectrum, both Dennis and Gunther did have us perform many excellent movement-based methods.
A favorite of mine, which I definitely intend to include in my health repertoire, Dennis jokingly referred to as the “Me Tarzan, You Jane” qigong technique. He prefaced this by asking if any of us would like an instant shot of extra courage.
Here it is: Simply, stand and pound your upper chest with both fists alternately, while letting out a deep, vibrating “Aaaaaahhhh!” sound. Repeat a number of times.
“So this is qigong, huh?” you’re thinking…
Well, yes, in fact very much so.
One of the biggest insights I’ve had personally about qigong as I have practiced it since 1975, is that much of qigong is like a systematization and focus on what we intuitively know to do to heal or energize ourselves as human animals.
Unfortunately most of us use these intuitive methods sporadically and haphazardly, or when we are in an emergency.
Qigong tapping and patting techniques are a perfect example of this. Why do you think we instinctively like to pat our kids or friends, or administer taps to ourselves and others? Yes, it’s often a demonstration of affection, but it’s also an instinctive move to enliven and bring energy to ourselves and those we care for.
With their tremendous interest on observing nature and animal behavior to gain insights into human Qi cultivation practices, the Daoists systematized many of these instinctive patting and tapping practices, so we could more consciously employ them to our benefit.
In the case of the Me Tarzan or gorilla technique, the chest pounding helps to enliven both the lungs, the heart and also key acupoints in the front of the body. We become immediately more alert and systemically activated to deal with a potential environmental challenge.
A good example of another qigong-like display from another culture is the Maori dance employed by New Zealand’s All Blacks Rugby team. This “dance” employs sound, stomping, pounding and vibrating to give the players an instant tune-up before play (and strike either terror or amusement into the other team’s hearts.)
Instant courage? Courage derives from the word for heart. Strong heart, courageous man. Pound your chest for some instant courage. Give your heart some shock therapy now, so when it’s suddenly shocked in conflict, it doesn’t bail on you…
So, next time you slap yourself on the forehead after forgetting something or doing something dumb, notice what the slap did for you energetically…
By the way, if you are interested in following up on Dennis Lewis or Gunther Weil’s workshops and resources, go to www.authentic-breathing.com for Dennis and www.aspen-consult.com for Gunther.
See John Du Cane’s Qigong Recharge for other effective qigong tapping techniques.
Posted by james at 6:44 AM | Comments (1)
August 8, 2005
A Qigong Practice to Help You Sleep Better
If you have trouble getting to sleep at night, chances are you are thinking too much. The following qigong process is designed to tune and energize the main energy centers of the body, but if you practice it last thing at night in bed I can pretty well guarantee you will fall asleep quickly and sleep like a baby.
Begin by scanning slowly through your whole body, starting at the head and finishing at the feet, looking for any tense areas. Inhale and then exhale into the tense area consciously relaxing it.
Then, using your attention:
Inhale through the middle of the chest into the heart center, and bring the breath/energy directly down to the lower dan tien. Exhale in to the lower dan tien.
Continue this process of inhaling into a chest, moving directly to the lower dan tien and then exhaling into the lower dan tien, unless otherwise indicated.
Inhale from spleen to dan tien.
Then from the solar plexus.
Then from the upper dan tien.
Then inhale and exhale into the lower dan tien.
Then from the center of the throat.
Then from the perineum – this time pull it up back to top of head and down your front to the dan tien.
Then from the third eye to dan tien.
Then from behind both knees to dan tien.
Then from the top of the head to the dan tien.
Then from the center of the bottom of the feet to the dan tien
Then inhale to about 12-18” above head and hold your attention there, in a meditative state.
When you feel like it, reverse the whole process, by initially inhaling into your feet and finally inhaling into your heart center.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 7:13 AM | Comments (1)
August 2, 2005
A Qigong Secret for Enduring Strength and Injury Prevention... Notes and Insights from the National Qigong Association Annual Conference
Have you ever been amazed by the agile strength of a relatively elderly tai chi or qigong practitioner? I was reminded this weekend that part of the secret is the emphasis on training the fascia/ligaments/ tendons to be strong rather than the muscles.
Jake Paul Fratkin, OMD, L.Ac. originally studied tai chi as a martial art under Waysun Liao in Chicago and is the author of Chinese Herbal Patent Medicines. In his workshop, The Twelve Wondrous Exercises, Jake credited his own excellent health, strength and physical resilience to condensed breathing methods aimed at bringing fresh qi into the fascia.
Internal martial artists concentrate on supporting the physical structure by strengthening the fascia rather than the musculature.
You inhale, simultaneously drawing qi from the skin through the fascia and into the bone marrow. On the exhale, you reverse the process. By doing this you encourage extra blood to flood the fascia, keeping it supple and strong.
Jake commented that the vast majority of injuries he sees amongst his patients are not muscle but fascia injuries. In the West we have the habit of training our muscles for strength while often ignoring the ligaments and tendons, or fascia.
From the great classical qigong systems for training the fascia is known as the Yi Jin Jing, credited by legend to Bodhidharma who developed it for the Shaolin monks. Frank Yurasek, who is a Tui Na expert and who has specialized in developing programs for treating violent offenders and addictions, taught one version of this classical set.
Frank told us that at the Chinese hospital he worked at for a year, the Tui Na practitioners would begin the morning each day with Yi Jin Jing, to sustain their bodies against the rigors of the practice.
If you are interested, he has made a DVD of the set. Call him at 1-708-466-7501 or email him at acumed@cs.com. Feel free to mention my name and tell him I say hi and thanks!
Jake Fratkin, who has a clinical practice in Boulder, Colorado hasn’t done a DVD of his program, but I recommend you jump on it if he does (which he is threatening to do.) Check out his website at www.drjakefratkin.com.
See all of John Du Cane’s qigong resources.
Posted by james at 6:44 AM | Comments (478)