Morning Breathing and Beginning Chi Kung

[Tux]

Hello Bums, I'm pretty new to both breathing techniques and chi kung. I'd like to have a few different breathing exercises I could do in the morning to get rid of sleepiness, and any suggestions on a form of chi kung that is suitable for a beginner would be cool. The very simple chi kung sort of routine I've been learning this past week keeps your feet at shoulder width the entire time and I'd like to be able to move my legs around a little during the routine. I've got little injuries all over my body, and a pretty good old one in my right ankle. I suppose I'm kind of on the lookout for any simple exercises of all kinds since I'm just starting to really get into my body and do that kind of thing.

[konchog uma]

in the mornings, blood is pooled in the liver and also to lesser extent in the intestines. Exhale and keep exhaling, until your abdominal muscles are sucked in and squeezing all the blood out of these organs and into the bloodstream again. Hold 2-3 seconds. It takes 5 sec to get to your brain but you will know you have done it right when you snap to awareness! hahaha my friend calls this "masai coffee" cause the masai were an african tribe known to wake up in a battle-ready state, and this is one of their secrets.

 

once you have done that, vigorous in-out-in-out rapidly, from about 80% capacity to 20% capacity without time in between breaths but just in-out-in-out like your abdominals are spasming hahahaah (not really, but they should get a workout!) you will know you are doing it right if your body temp raises a little or your skin feels warm

 

also, moving around is good for waking up, so take a walk.

 

hope all that helps!

[Tux]

helps a lot, thanks!

[zanshin]

Tried it too, still needed coffee, but it helped!

 

Thanks!

[Green Tiger]

in the mornings, blood is pooled in the liver and also to lesser extent in the intestines. Exhale and keep exhaling, until your abdominal muscles are sucked in and squeezing all the blood out of these organs and into the bloodstream again. Hold 2-3 seconds. It takes 5 sec to get to your brain but you will know you have done it right when you snap to awareness! hahaha my friend calls this "masai coffee" cause the masai were an african tribe known to wake up in a battle-ready state, and this is one of their secrets.

 

once you have done that, vigorous in-out-in-out rapidly, from about 80% capacity to 20% capacity without time in between breaths but just in-out-in-out like your abdominals are spasming hahahaah (not really, but they should get a workout!) you will know you are doing it right if your body temp raises a little or your skin feels warm

 

also, moving around is good for waking up, so take a walk.

 

hope all that helps!

 

 

Good advice!

 

After the breathing exercises, if you wanted a little movement, you might try eight pieces of brocade (ba duan jin). There are dozens of videos on youtube, but if you've got some spare change for something better, I would suggest either this oneor this one.

 

They are both good. Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming's is better, but for $20 more.

[thelerner]

in the tradition of Keeping It Short& Simple.

 

SHAKE. Shake in Vibratory mode, starting with fast quick movements of your hands (my sensei likened it to scrambling eggs) that start vibrating your whole body. Done right your body will feel a little ethereal afterwards.

 

And/or Shake Big (the KAP way), bouncing your knees, feeling your internal organs, shoulders & junk move and up down rythmically.

 

Either way shake for a few minutes (or more). You can find it in many traditions.

 

for the record I also use coffee

Edited September 12, 2011 by thelerner

[ChiDragon]

Hello Bums, I'm pretty new to both breathing techniques and chi kung. I'd like to have a few different breathing exercises I could do in the morning to get rid of sleepiness, and any suggestions on a form of chi kung that is suitable for a beginner would be cool.

 

The very simple chi kung sort of routine I've been learning this past week keeps your feet at shoulder width the entire time and I'd like to be able to move my legs around a little during the routine.

 

I've got little injuries all over my body, and a pretty good old one in my right ankle. I suppose I'm kind of on the lookout for any simple exercises of all kinds since I'm just starting to really get into my body and do that kind of thing.

 

If you had old injury in the right ankle, you should start with sitting Chi Kung like breathing down to your Dan Tian to speed the healing process of the ankle. You should do your Isotonic Chi Kung until your ankle was recovered.

 

 

FYI...

Any form of Chi Kung is like a form of warm up, already, for any sports or martial arts. IMO it is a fallacy to have some kind of warm up for Chi Kung or Tai Ji. I know some teachers had cooked up some warm up procedures for Tai Ji. It was totally unnecessary. You can do it with or without.

[Green Tiger]

IMO it is a fallacy to have some kind of warm up for Chi Kung or Tai Ji. I know some teachers had cooked up some warm up procedures for Tai Ji. It was totally unnecessary. You can do it with or without.

 

That's a good topic you bring up, ChiDragon. In our Tai Chi class we always do warm-up exercises, but I've often felt that the transitions between the warm ups and the Tai Chi form practice was almost seamless. I'd thought before that the warm ups were really also Tai Chi exercises, and we just called them "warm ups" because they occurred at the beginning of class. (We do a few static stretches but mostly they are circular movements and bends while standing.)

 

On the other hand, I've noticed that the Tai Chi form makes a good warm up for more frantic things like football, or soccer, or basketball. Perhaps you could elaborate on this concept in another thread?

 

The breathing exercises described at the beginning of this thread may serve as my warm up for the next couple of weeks.

 

Thanks again for sharing!

[thelerner]

I can't vouch for it, but Otis seems very knowledgeable. Here's a post he had about dealing and healing with pain. He doesn't post a lot, but when he does, its very good. I think his posts have a link to his Youtube site where you can see the man in action. Very inspiring.

 

Otis:

I have a lot of experience with healing muscle and connective tissue in myself.

 

What I would do, is to make the injury into my moving meditation. Find a good, non-stressful posture (even lying down), relax, and then slowly, lovingly, activate the areas that hurt, through movement. Get the pain to be just hot enough to be intense, but not enough that my system shouts "no!" at me. Basically, I listen for the "no!" and back off, just a smidge, and make that my arena of play.

 

And I emphasize "play", because it is better, IME, to be guided not by technique or concepts, but by the actual parameters of the injury. Every injury is unique, and the body's signals are there, precisely to guide me toward self-healing.

 

Also, because that level of intense (but not freak-out) pain, can actually be a very joyful experience. If it is not, then I'd recommend slowing down, paying still more attention. If I'm tripping over my body's "no!" signals, then I'm not listening enough. The more I can utterly and joyfully "fall into" the sheer sensation of the pain with my awareness, the faster the injury heals.

 

Once I learned how joyful it can be to pay attention to injury, and how easy it is to heal myself, it totally changed my relationship to injury, risk, and fear. So, this (and all) injuries can be true gifts, if they reveal the body's joyful capacity to heal itself.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Here is a walking qi gong exercise. It's part of a series, but I think it is good on its own as well. Also probably a good practice for Tai Chi students to feel more rooted in their stepping.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bhk03Wc3Is&feature=player_embedded

Edited September 13, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[Dainin]

Hello Tux,

 

I haven't seen this one yet, so I can't comment on it's quality, but the decription sounds like it could be of interest to you:

 

Morning Qigong Practices by Mantak Chia

[Tux]

Thelerner, that is a good little bit of writing from Otis. I actually have discovered the same thing about healing, which was prompted by a lot of time doing Feldenkrais and some fasting (made my system more sensitive). Playing around with the body that way is great, especially if you're doing it while doing some other somatic exercises--this because other peoples' ideas for how to explore your body are very useful...

 

And Green Tiger, I think Tai Chi is a good warmup because it's gentle and thoughtful so as to remind you how to efficiently use your body, and of course it balances out your energies and such...after I do some Feldenkrais I'm always feeling a bit more athletic (yet to be warmed up).

 

In my case, injury has been a huge blessing...even if it meant dealing with a lot of "I'm too young to be doing this shit" thoughts.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Tux

[dawei]

IMO it is a fallacy to have some kind of warm up for Chi Kung or Tai Ji. I know some teachers had cooked up some warm up procedures for Tai Ji. It was totally unnecessary. You can do it with or without.

I think it depends on the participants constitution. Many in the west carry lots of stress and their movements are quite mechanical and too controlled. Getting them to 'let go' is not easy. I think for some, some form of warm-up may be helpful to get them in the frame of mind/body they need, particularly if new.

 

Just talking from our own experience is one thing; once we try to actually teach to a group it is quite another. One should do what seems helpful. I just would not discount it so fast.

[ChiDragon]

You can do it with or without.

[joeblast]

I can't vouch for it, but Otis seems very knowledgeable. Here's a post he had about dealing and healing with pain. He doesn't post a lot, but when he does, its very good. I think his posts have a link to his Youtube site where you can see the man in action. Very inspiring.

 

Otis:

I have a lot of experience with healing muscle and connective tissue in myself.

 

What I would do, is to make the injury into my moving meditation. Find a good, non-stressful posture (even lying down), relax, and then slowly, lovingly, activate the areas that hurt, through movement. Get the pain to be just hot enough to be intense, but not enough that my system shouts "no!" at me. Basically, I listen for the "no!" and back off, just a smidge, and make that my arena of play.

 

And I emphasize "play", because it is better, IME, to be guided not by technique or concepts, but by the actual parameters of the injury. Every injury is unique, and the body's signals are there, precisely to guide me toward self-healing.

 

Also, because that level of intense (but not freak-out) pain, can actually be a very joyful experience. If it is not, then I'd recommend slowing down, paying still more attention. If I'm tripping over my body's "no!" signals, then I'm not listening enough. The more I can utterly and joyfully "fall into" the sheer sensation of the pain with my awareness, the faster the injury heals.

 

Once I learned how joyful it can be to pay attention to injury, and how easy it is to heal myself, it totally changed my relationship to injury, risk, and fear. So, this (and all) injuries can be true gifts, if they reveal the body's joyful capacity to heal itself.

spot on!

 

 

taijiquan is relatively comprehensive, I dont see where there's much of a context for "warmup" - the movements themselves fall readily within "warmup" classification. if there's any need for one, its a "head" warm up

[ChiDragon]

spot on!

 

 

taijiquan is relatively comprehensive, I dont see where there's much of a context for "warmup" - the movements themselves fall readily within "warmup" classification. if there's any need for one, its a "head" warm up

 

......................

[Tux]

Learning how to breathe deeply without thinking about it helped a TON. Not just healing, of course. I read Hanna's book on somatics and it really brought a lot of disparate information that I was getting from looking into Feldenkrais and other things together for me. Ever read "Bodies in Revolt"? I haven't read it all the way through but I picked a few chapters that sounded interesting...some thoughtful stuff. I hear Hanna was an alcoholic. Philosophy!