Breathing and Relaxation Techniques – A Huge Misconception

Breathing and Relaxation Techniques – A Huge Misconception

Today I want to let you know about the huge misconception that’s out there about Qigong breathing, relaxation and meditation exercises. There is the idea that if you are going to do relaxation exercises then you need to put a certain amount of time aside every day to do this. Because of this, many people find breathing and relaxation exercises very difficult to implement. They have the idea that they would like to do some form of relaxation exercise but never seem to get around to doing it. They just don’t have time.

From my point of view, this is a huge misconception. As I teach Medical Qigong online through my Space To Relax programme and in face to face workshops, the main focus of that teaching is to show my students how to integrate Qigong breathing and relaxation exercises into their day. I know myself that if I have to put aside and allotted time every single day for practice then it is very hard to keep to that….but….I also know that if I’m able to integrate Qigong exercises into my day then I can do it so easily – it just happens!

Qigong exercises can be done when you are walking, standing in a queue at the post office or in the supermarket, in bed at night just before going to sleep (using some of the Qigong breathing and meditation exercises). It’s very easy to integrate Qigong breathing and meditation exercises into your day.

So, if you have found in the past that you have been discouraged from practising any kind of relaxation exercise because of the time factor and having to make a slot available in your day then be discouraged no longer!

The benefits of Qigong breathing and relaxation are huge and numerous. They will help you to relax, relieve your stress and overwhelm. Many will help you to sleep peacefully at night or give you much more energy so that you can achieve much more in your day than you thought possible, taking it all in your stride.

I would encourage you to try some Qigong exercises so if you are thinking, “Yes, I can do this, this will be workable for me” then head over to www.spacetorelax.com and on the homepage you will see you can download a free Qigong meditation called “Calm Your Busy Mind in 8 Minutes”. Once downloaded you can listen to it on your laptop or phone whenever you have a tiny bit of relaxation time while sitting enjoying a cup of tea or just before going to sleep at night. This method is so easy to integrate into your day as it takes so little time.

I’d love to know what you think of the meditation so please leave a comment below or head over to my free group on Facebook: Space To Relax Free Group and ask to join so you can then leave a comment there.

Combatting Excess With The Ba Duan Jin

Combatting Excess With The Ba Duan Jin

Hi, I’m posting this video on March 17th, and March 17th in Ireland is St. Patrick’s Day. Everybody is off today and many people will drink to excess. Today I’m going to talk to you about excess and how to combat that with a Qigong Exercise from the series called the Ba Duan Jin.

My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong and I’m also the founder of the Space To Relax online programme of video lessons where you can learn lots of Qigong to help to supercharge your health and fulfil your health potential.

What exactly do I mean when I talk about excess?
Excess in Chinese Medicine and Qigong is anything which is too much for that particular individual. This is a very important concept to understand because excess can be too much for one person and just fine for somebody else. Excess is only excessive for that particular person.

In the video you will see a short clip of a Qigong exercise which can help you to cope with an excess with respect to alcohol in case anybody is out there and intending to push things to excess on this day, St. Patrick’s Day. You will be able to practice this exercise (maybe tomorrow!) as it’s a great exercise to help deal with hangover!

Ba Duan Jin Video
This is one exercise from an 8 part series of Qigong exercises called the Ba Duan Jin or 8 Pieces of Brocade. It’s a very famous series of Qigong exercises and this particular one helps the Liver system which as we all know can suffer from excessive alcohol consumption!

This movement is called “Open Eyes Wide With Clenched Fists”. The position for this Qigong exercise is a horse stance. Step out into a horse stance that is comfortable for you, as wide or as narrow as you want. Check that the knees are not dropping inwards and are pushed out over the toes. Tuck the pelvis in under your body to make the lower back flat. Both hands rest on the hips, with loose fists and the palms facing upwards. The chest is pulled back slightly and you are nice and tall, with length in the back of the neck.

Women begin with the right hand and men with the left hand. Move the first hand out in front of you with a gentle punching action and as you extend it, at the end, twist the arm so the back of the hand ends up facing uppermost. Bring the fist back, turning the palm upwards as you draw it back in. Repeat with the other arm, extending the arm outwards and looking at the fist. Pull the arm back, twisting it back into the starting position on the hip.
The movement for this punching action actually comes from your hips. You need to twist in the whole body as you make the punching action, looking at the fist. The movement of the hip then draws the punch back. The hip turns and pushes the arm out. Look the fist. The hip then turns, drawing the arm back in towards the body.

Breathing
Breathe in before you begin. Breathe out as you punch. Breathe in as you draw the arm back to the hip.

If you’d like to learn more about the Ba Duan Jin exercises then they are available in my Space To Relax Programme. You can have a look at more about this on my website www.spacetorelax.com.
If you enjoyed this Qigong exercise then don’t forget, if you are watching this on YouTube, to subscribe to my channel where I’ll be posting many more helpful tips on a regular basis. Just click the red “Subscribe” button below my video to sign up and also give this video a “Like”.

How to Do Qigong Abdominal Breathing or Diaphragmatic Breathing

How to Do Qigong Abdominal Breathing or Diaphragmatic Breathing

I’d like to introduce you to a simple Qigong Abdominal Breathing exercise for beginners. It’s very helpful for giving you a bit more energy, calming your mind, relaxing your body, improving your sleep and improving your overall general wellbeing.

When you were born you breathed into your belly. As you breathed in, your belly would expand and then shrink as you breathed out. If you watch a baby or one of your pets at home when they are asleep you will see that as they breathe in the belly expands and as they breathe out the belly shrinks. The breath is very relaxed.

As we become older, usually by the age of about 7 or 8, our breathing becomes much more shallow – chest orientated rather than belly orientated, probably due to day to day stresses and strains, rushing around, even for children!

Qigong Abdominal Breathing is the perfect Qigong exercise for beginners because it is really only teaching you what you already know – you already did this as a baby!

Breathe in and out through the nose. As you breathe in expand the belly. If you place your hands flat on your lower abdomen, as you breathe in then you should feel your hands being pushed outwards as the belly expands. In order to make that happen you need to be relaxed in the abdominal area. The best way to feel this is actually if you are lying down. It is much easier from this position. You can place your hand on the lower abdomen, or something heavier like a book on this area. You will then see your hand or the book rise up as you inhale and sink down as you exhale.

This is a wonderful exercise to get things started if you are interested in learning Qigong. If you love Qigong Abdominal Breathing and want to take things further then please head over to my website homepage which is www.spacetorelax.com. On that page you will see there are a couple of Qigong freebies that you can download. If you have any comments then please leave them below the video. I’d love to hear how you got on with the Qigong Abdominal Breathing exercise.