qigong

I bought a book at Half Price Books the other day called The Qigong Year by Michael Bruney. It's an interesting approach in that he introduces one exercise per month, but each exercise includes an basic, an advanced (which is way harder) and a sitting version. In addition he introduces a breathing technique and a few other key concepts each time. The idea is to learn one move very well and get more benefit than to do many movements poorly and get little benefit. The past two days I've woken up and done the first exercise, holding the heavens. It seems like a simple exercise, except it's difficult for me to stand on my tip toes while my arms are above my head. Plus my right shoulder does not go straight up well because it slips in the joint, so I can't do it exactly correct. However, just doing that one exercise 10 times makes me feel more alert. I'm also learning how to relax my body more to keep my balance. This must be what he's talking about. With only one exercise to focus on I naturally take more time to do it right. After doing the exercise you're supposed to follow with a breathing meditation. Today I simply stood there with my eyes closed and my hands at the lower dantien and just breathed. I was suprised how long I could keep my focus, it's so much better than when I started! I didn't keep track of how long I did this, basically until I decided to stop. After just breathing I also starting adding hand movements to the breathing, moving out towards the sides on inhale, and in on the exhale. Just to practice I sent energy to my hands and could feel it, though not enough to make an energy ball. I also switched to doing the same thing vertically, opening my hands on the inhale and closing them on the exhale. Overall I had moments of excellent focus, and moments of some drift, but not bad at all. Very enjoyable!