There is no one way to practice qigong and tai chi. There are many different time-tested methods and principles of practice. Additionally, each individual must figure out what works for them.

That said, figuring out how to practice the material you are being taught in qigong or tai chi lessons can be a challenge. Of course, the simplest thing would be to go home and just do the qigong set or tai chi form that you are learning. And that would be fantastic. If you simply do this, you will likely benefit greatly from it.

However, you will get even more benefit if you use your practice time a little more efficiently. I’d like to offer some ideas about how to structure your practice sessions. These are practice strategies that have proven useful for me, or for others I have discussed this with.

Here is a simple exercise which can help you improve your balance and get out of your head and into your body. This is usually the first thing I teach in my Intro to Tai Chi class.

The emphasis in this exercise is on feeling your feet. There are several important reasons for this:

1. Your feet are your foundation - how you are using your feet plays a huge role in your ability to balance your body when you are standing on them

2. Your feet are sensitive instruments - the sensations in your feet can give you a lot of information about how to balance, if you are paying attention to them

3. Your feet are the furthest part of your body from your head, so resting your awareness in your feet will help to bring your energy down out of your head. An important principle in qigong and tai chi is that “the mind moves the qi.” This means that by directing your awareness into a part of your body, you can cause more chi to flow there.

When I was considering using a standing desk, I asked a fellow qigong practitioner about his experience using one. He said, “I always tell people, if you are going to use a standing desk, you need to learn how to stand.”

I knew exactly what he meant. For years I have been practicing a form of qigong that involves standing relatively still for long periods of time.

This qigong practice - which is called zhan zhuang or “stand strong” - is believed to be thousands of years old. Variations of it have been used for meditation, healing illness and injury, cultivating extraordinary health, and developing power for martial arts.

One of the great challenges of learning an art such as qigong or tai chi is developing a consistent practice. Here are some thoughts, based on my own experience.

Just a few minutes

When I first started learning qigong and tai chi, my teachers, Kathryn and Bill, emphasized that a few minutes of practice was better than nothing.

I’m glad they said this because I often didn’t feel like practicing, or felt like I had too many other things to do that seemed more urgent than practicing, so I was reluctant to set aside time for it. But I would tell myself, “I’ll just practice for a few minutes, It’s better than nothing.” More often than not, I didn’t stop after a few minutes.

This is the fourth and final (for now, anyway) installment of our video series on how to sit in a chair for optimal chi flow - whether you are meditating, working, or doing any other seated activity.

In the video below Bill teaches how you can use a kwa fold exercise to release tension that may build up in your back while sitting in a chair. This exercise can also be done standing - for more information about that, and about the kwa in general, please see this post from last year.

This is the third installment of our video series on how to sit in a chair for optimal chi flow - whether you are meditating, working, or doing any other seated activity.

In the video below, Bill show you how to lengthen your body upward from the feet to the top of your head, which helps to keep your energy channels open, allow healthy blood circulation, and avoid compression of your spine, hips and internal organs.

This is the second installment of our video series on how to sit in a chair for optimal chi flow - whether you are meditating, working, or doing any other seated activity.

In the video below Bill demonstrates how to use the back support of a chair to sit with good alignment. This is a good option if your back gets tired when you are sitting, or if you have back problems that make it difficult for you to sit up comfortably without support.

Bill and I recently recorded a series of videos about how to sit in a chair for optimal energy flow through your body.

Below is the first in our series of four videos on this subject. Next week we’ll post a video about how to support your back with the back of a chair if you have back issues, or if your back gets tired.

The techniques that Bill teaches in the videos were originally developed for meditation, but they are also helpful for doing other seated activities, such as work, crafts, artwork, or music.

Saturday, April 27 was World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, which falls on the last Saturday in April each year. It all started with a gathering of 200 people in Kansas City, Missouri in 1998. In recent years World Tai Chi & Qigong Day gatherings have taken place in hundreds of cities in over 80 countries around the world.

This year, I worked with other local teachers to hold a World Tai Chi & Qigong Day gathering here in Northampton. It was an inspiring experience to be a part of. I wasn’t sure if many people would show up. Saturday morning was cold and cloudy, with sprinkles of rain.

After every class at least one person would remark on how much more relaxed they felt. Even before they said anything, this was apparent. Of course, people generally seem more relaxed at the end of a good tai chi class. But after these classes the students were very noticeably more relaxed than usual, and lingered longer chatting before heading home. 

Some students came to class and reported, week after week, how the benefits of the breathing practice were spilling over into their daily lives. One person said that he felt calmer and more able to respond to stress and interpersonal conflicts. He said he was more aware of his breath throughout the day, and able to use the techniques to calm his mind by deepening and softening his breath. 

“When I flared for the first time, it was a really stressful time in my life. There was a lot going on and I was really upset, and I was really angry, and then that M.S. flare happened.”

That’s a quote from Carol, a longtime qigong student at Toward Harmony. She was talking about her first experience of symptoms that led to her being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

On Wednesday morning, I was on the local lifestyle show Mass Appeal, on WWLP 22 News. They wanted to do a segment on qigong for relaxation, and I suggested we focus on The 70% Principle.

This is a key practice principle of the Taoist Water Tradition. It’s a rich subject, and at some point I will circle back around and cover it in greater depth on this blog. On the show, we discussed how it can be used to facilitate relaxation, and we explored this in a movement from Dragon & Tiger qigong.

Caroline Ruderman is a reiki practitioner who works across the hall from Toward Harmony. She recently invited me to appear on her radio show Energy Matters, which airs every Friday at 4pm on Valley Free Radio, WXOJ 103.3 FM. On the show, Caroline interviews local practitioners of various healing arts and modalities. She is an excellent host and interviewer, and we had a great conversation.

Many of our students have told us that qigong and tai chi have helped them to deal with anxiety - especially the anxiety around having a major medical issue. Some of our students have mentioned this as one of the greatest benefits they’ve found in their practice. 

I can identify with this. Though I have not experienced severe clinical anxiety, I have struggled with anxiety throughout my life, and qigong and tai chi have helped tremendously. In addition to providing much relief, the practices have helped me to develop the internal awareness to be more present with uncomfortable feelings and identify when I am experiencing anxiety.

NPR recently ran a piece about how bending from the hips, rather than the waist can help people avoid straining their backs. If you google ‘hip-hinge,’ you’ll see that a lot of people in the fitness world have been writing about it as well. 

This a fundamental skill in tai chi and qigong. We call it 'folding from the kwa,’ and we teach it with an emphasis on relaxation and healthy postural alignment. 

Kwa is a Chinese term that refers to an area of the body that extends from the inguinal groove (the crease in the front of your body where each leg meets your torso) through the inside of the body to the crest of the pelvis. It includes the hip joint, the iliopsoas and adductor muscle groups, and other structures in and around this area, including the largest collection of lymph nodes in the body. 

When the kwa is supple and well integrated into the movements of your body, it facilitates the smooth transfer of power from the legs through the spine and upper body. When the kwa is tight or not being used well, a multitude of problems can arise, including undue pressure on the knees and spine.

Stress happens. Fortunately, you can learn to deal with stress more effectively. Tai chi and qigong are excellent tools for this purpose.

What is stress, really? There are many definitions out there, but stress is commonly defined as strain or tension in response to a challenge.

The predominant model of a healthy body today, at least in western culture, is based on having strong muscles. Having a tight, hard, muscular body is associated with health and fitness.

Yet the ancient Chinese who developed qigong - and much later, tai chi - used the young child’s body as a model for health and movement.

One of the greatest things about tai chi and qigong is that they bring together people of different generations. People of all ages, from small children to centenarians, do tai chi and qigong.