Qigong Teachings

Qigong Teachings 

My friend Thomas and I practiced a different qigong set over Zoom today. It is a set I first learned in 2003 and revisit from time to time. It consists of eight exercises and the titles, brief description, and book source are below. 

  1. Beating the heavenly drum: tap the occipital 24 times with alternating finger taps 
  2. Shake the heavenly pillar: clasp the hands into a ball and place it at the bottom right corner of the large intestine. Turn the head to the left and look to the opposite diagonal as the hands 24 times. Switch hand placement and look to the other diagonal. 
  3. Red dragon stirs the sea: massage the teeth and gums, with the tongue, in a circular fashion 36 times in each direction. Swallow the saliva. 
  4. Rub the court of the kidneys: hold the breath and massage the hands until they are warm. Then, massage the kidney area 81 times and feel the warmth there. 
  5. The single pass windlass: place one hand flat on the navel area and the back of the other hand on the kidney area. Massage in a counterclockwise direction 24 times—then switch hands and switch sides. 
  6. The double pass windlass: place the backs of the hands on either side of the lower lumbar. Roll the shoulders forward and feel energy coming up the spine and into the brain. (A windlass is a winch that winds up rope or cable).
  7. Pressing up to heaven: intertwine the fingers and press the palms up to the sky. Make a voluntary cough five times. Repeat 9 times. 
  8. Grasping with hooks: bend forward to grab the balls of the feet. Massage the balls of the feet at the Kidney-1 point 49 times. Repeat 3, 9, or 12 times).

Much more in-depth descriptions in Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-yun, by Stuart Olson

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