A Chinese Self Massage in the Morning

A self-massage is good for you health, too.

Instead of a cup of coffee, right after you get out of bed, you can give yourself a Chinese self-massage to wake up your body and help balance your energy channels.  It only takes a few minutes, but it will give help you wake up and feel great about starting your new day. 

These techniques trace the energy channels of the body and help clear them for proper energy glow.  There are also closing massage techniques after meditation or movement exercises, as shown in the video at the end of the instructions.  Without further adieu, here is the sequence and methods that I use as I sit on the side of the bed when I get up:

1.  Place both hands with the palms facing the nape of the neck and bring both hands over the top of the head to the forehead, down to the jaw and back to the nape.  Do this eight times in this direction and reverse the direction for another eight times. 

2.  Place the second knuckle of each of the thumbs where the nose meets the bottom of the eyebrow and rub outwards eight times.  Also trace below the eyes in the same manner eight times.

3.  Roll the eyes in a circle eight times in one direction and then eight times in the opposite direction.

4.  Rub the ears with the thumb and the forefinger, starting at the top front, working your way backwards to the ear lobes.  Do this eight times and then do the same thing in the reverse direction.

5.  Rub with your first two finger tips on each side of the nose 20 times.  You may want to do more repetitions of this one if you are having sinus problems.

6.  Click the teeth together eight times, then roll the tongue three times in one direction and then three times in the next direction.  Swallow your saliva and follow it down to your lower dantien.  Repeat this sequence eight times.

7.  With the right palm, follow the left arm from the palm of the left hand to the armpit and then over the shoulder and down the outside of the arm to the hand.  Allow the palm of the right hand to whisk past the top of the left hand and then repeat seven more times.  Repeat this on the other arm.

8.  With the right palm, stroke the front left side of the body twenty times, going from the shoulder to the inguinal crease of the hips.  Do the same on the right side of the body.

9.  With the palms of the hands, massage the ming men or kidney area of the back twenty times.

10.  Stand and place the palm of the right hand on the lower dantien (2" below the navel) and then place the palm of the left hand over the right.  Rub in a clockwise direction, making larger circles until you get to the outer edges of the belly for a total of 36 circles.  Change the orientation of the hands, and move from the outer edge of the belly back to the dantien in a counterclockwise direction.  For men, use the opposite hand orientation.

11.  At the inguinal crease area on top of the thigh, place your thumbs with the palms of the hand on the side of the thigh.  Rub outward to the knee twenty times.

12.  Place the palms of the hands on the top of each knee and rube twenty times in a circle in one direction and then twenty times in the opposite direction.

13.  Place the thumbs on the shin below the knee and the palms on the outside of the calf and rub downwards twenty times.

14.  Place the palms of the hands at the inside of the ankles and rub up and down the inside of the legs twenty times.

15.  Put one of the feet on top of your knee and rub the bottom of the feet from the toes to the heel twenty times and then massage the K1 (Yong Quan) point in front of the middle of the foot.  If you don't know where it is, there is a depression in the foot between the first knuckle of the toes and the middle.  If you still don't know, there is a picture on this site. Do the same on the other side.

16. Place both feet on the floor and rest the palms of the hands on the lower dantien and take 20 abdominal breaths and focus your attention on the lower dantien, letting the energy settle there.  Then get up and do some qigong exercises to take advantage of the abundant energy that is flowing in the morning!

Bonus:

Here is a closing massage practice show by Master Pan Shaozu, who lives in Gansu Province of China.  He was 85 years old at the time this video was taken and was able to wield a broadsword deftly as well.

May your practice be rewarding!

Qigong Breathing Methods

There are two sites that I recommend which describe the first two stages in learning qigong breathing methods. The first is Following the Breath. This is where you learn to relax, allow distractions to disperse and then focus your intent. Some teachers would call this stage "training the monkey mind." The second step is to gradually work on the Stages in Abdominal Breathing. This blog entry describes the process of learning normal abdominal breathing.

Reverse abdominal breathing is an advanced method of Taoist respiration practiced by martial artists who practice tai chi chuan, ba gua and martial forms of qigong.  It is also used as a meditative technique for gathering qi in the dantien and increasing your total life force, making it of great utility in healing and disease prevention.

It is good to intellectually know these different methods and the sequence for learning them.  However, it is important to not leap forward before you have significant experience with the lower levels.  Thus, learning of reverse breathing should only occur after having some experience in the first two methods.  Be comfortable with each stage for at least a month before proceeding to the next stage.  Patience in learning these breathing methods will serve your progress well.

Qigong Meditation

"Qigong meditation" is a redundant phrase, because if you are doing qigong, your are engaging in a form of meditation. Static meditation postures are probably more familiar to most, sitting cross-legged or in a chair. In the qigong tradition, there are also static standing postures, or zhan zhuang.

The principles used in static meditations are carried into the movement forms, where practitioners observe tranquility and maintain internal awareness to become familiar with the emptiness within movement and the interplay between yin and yang energies as they practice the forms.

A meditative mindset is aided in the movement forms by focusing on centering the movements from the lower dantien and by doing them in a mindfully - mindful of the physical movements and how they are being performed, the state of mind, the internal aspects including the energy flow and the breathing.

Meditation can be done on a single physical aspect of a movement over fixed periods of time so that one makes stepwise improvement in awareness and ability, much in the way that sitting meditations often focus on a single aspect, such as following the breath.  Once this is mastered, one can progress to a more advanced practice like abdominal breathing. In moving practices, repeating a movement oven and over is helpful, but it is also helpful to focus on one aspect of a movement, such as movement from a single part of the body like the wrists or elbows.

Another aspect of Qigong Meditation in the Water Tradition is that there is no force.  Force has no role within this tradition, rather, it can hinder your progress.  Use your intention in a gentle fashion to bring you back to your practice when distractions occur. Return back to your central point of meditation.  

So, if you are doing qigong and you aren't meditating (or focusing in a relaxed manner), you are just dancing or doing free-form movement. Not that this wouldn't improve your health or result in healing (it would help with flexibility and mobility at least) but it does not include the internal aspects of meditation and energy development that are the principle benefits of Chinese qigong practice.

Qigong and Science

I was looking at a physics forum the other day and was interested in the nature of the discussion regarding qigong and science. However, I found that this particular forum (http://www.physicsforum.com), which was dedicated to the topic "Chi - A Real Force, was placed under the category of "Skepticism and Debunking." I have found other sites on the web that are similar, such as Quackwatch, where opinions and personal experience regarding qi, qigong, tai chi and other alternative healing practices do not have a welcoming audience. My thought was, why waste time posting information about personal experience in these forums if it is set up from the start as forum for negative attitudes that are based on a lack of experience? It amounts to mental claptrap that says nothing other than a rigid adherence to professional ignorance.

I have a scientific research background and have looked up many of the research articles that have been done regarding the effects of qigong and Tai Chi. There have been an overwhelming number of studies that have been done that have demonstrated a positive effect of qi practices for health improvement. A significant number of these studies may have used better experimental designs; however the sheer number of these tests have demonstrated healing for many different medical disorders provides a body of evidence that cannot be ignored. Except for professional skeptics or those with blinders.....

Standing Qigong Meditation

As Taoist lineage master Bruce Frantzis says, standing qigong is the million-dollar secret to qigong energy practice. It may not seem like one is doing anything by "just standing," but both gross and subtle changes occur while engaging in this practice. One must follow the proper postural recommendations and let the breath change from chest to abdominal breathing. During the course of standing, the body becomes both physically and energetically balanced. Relaxation and qi blockages (physical, emotional and spiritual) can be dissolved. It is from the physical and energetic foundation that is derived from this practice that one can advance further in moving qigong or Tai Chi forms.

Qigong Breathing and Internal Awareness

Qigong breathing practice begins with a simple method called Following the Breath. This practice introduces you to internal awareness and training of the mind to stay focused in a relaxed manner. Once you have practiced this for a couple of months, you can advance to abdominal breathing.

When you first start abdominal breathing, you may not notice any movement in your dantien area. If that is the case, keep visualizing a ball of energy in the center of your body in your lower dantien. Visualize the ball massaging the sides of your lower torso and lower back as you are inhaling and exhaling.  Over time the perineum area will also expand and contract.  Don't use force, instead, allow the breathing to open up areas that are tight or without feeling. Over time, perhaps a period of several weeks or a couple of months, the energy ball in the dantien will grow and will open up your lower back and the sides of the abdomen and you will feel the physical sensation of expansion as well as the energy.

You may also encounter blockages on the way down to the dantien.  Let the breath do the work, just following it as it goes in and out.  Let go and release tension and energy blockages on the exhalation,  Doing without doing will facilitate your advancement in your practice.  For a detailed manual on advanced practices in qigong breathing, read the book by Yang Jwing-Ming on Embryonic Breathing.

Another resource for beginners to consider is a guided meditation CD by Bruce Frantzis, a Taoist Lineage Master.  This meditation, called the TAO of Letting Go: Meditation for Modern Living. Frantzis guides listeners in meditations that allow feeling contractions and other types of blockages within the body. As the CD progresses, he also teaches the methods to dissolve physical as well as emotional blockages that are encountered. Frantzis also has published another CD called Taoist Breathing for Tai Chi and Meditation: Twenty-Four Exercises to Reduce Stress, Build Mental Stamina, and Improve Your Health, which has 24 qigong breathing exercises for increasing internal awareness.