In this blog I’m going to explain how, in Qigong, you can use your breath and your mind together to inhale really good stuff and exhale really bad stuff that we don’t need in our bodies or in our minds. The essence of Qigong is to use your breath and your mind together. You can therefore “get rid of the negative” with Qigong breathing exercises.
My name is Janice Tucker. I’m a Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong practitioner. I’m also the founder of the online programme, Space To Relax, where you can learn Qigong lessons in order to better manage your health.
Think about this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh, the famous Vietnamese Buddhist monk:
Breathing in, I calm my body and mind Breathing out, I smile Dwelling in the present moment The only moment.
What this means, from a Qigong perspective, is that, as you breathe in be calm and clear. As you breathe out, relax and smile. The only thing you are doing during this breathing is concentrating on your breath and observing where you are in the present moment. This is something that no many of us do on a regular basis.
Another, more humorous, quote to consider is:
Breathe in the good shit Breathe out the bullshit!
This is not quite such a serene way of thinking about things as the first quote but it certainly gets to the point.
To summarise, when you are breathing in, think of breathing in good, clean, fresh energising air (Qi). As you breathe out, think of getting rid of anything you don’t want. This could be an ache, pain or other physical feeling. It could also be something more emotional or mental in origin, for example, anger, frustration, sadness, grief, fear, anxiety.
You can use your breathing to help dispel anything negative from your body or mind. Very importantly, visualise the negative thing actually leaving your body, leaving your nostrils as you breathe out. You can imagine the negative thing floating away from you and up into the sky so that it moves well away from you.
Simple Qigong breathing exercises like this can make a massive difference to your day to day life. All you have to do is stop for less than a minute, practice these exercises and be mindful of your breath. Breathe in the good stuff and breathing out the bad stuff while staying in the present moment. During the course of the day this can make very fine, positive adjustments to how you feel as your day goes by.
If you would like to learn more Qigong breathing exercises and meditation techniques then head over to the Space To Relax homepage. There you can download a free Qigong meditation which will calm your mind in 8 minutes. You can also sign up for a free 3-part Qigong video series where you will learn more about the Qigong breathing exercises and a couple of other great methods to help get rid the negative stuff from your mind and body.
For more videos like this you can subscribe to my YouTube channel here (and please also give this video a “like”).
I’d love to hear from you so why not head over to Facebook and join my Space To Relax Free Group. Leave a comment there to let me know how you got on and tell me what you do to get rid of negative feelings in your mind or body during the course of the day.
Have you ever wondered why everything is going on in your head and you can’t seem to calm down to feel a bit more grounded? Today I’m going to explain exactly how to calm down with Qigong and bring down the “Excited Point” in your brain!
My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong and the founder of the Space To Relax online Qigong programme of Qigong lessons where you can learn how to supercharge your health.
The problem is that when we have everything going on up in our heads we feel very easily overwhelmed and we often feel anxious. There are too many things going on and it’s very difficult to think clearly with focus and clarity.
In Qigong we can bring all of these feelings and thoughts down from what we call the “Excited Point” in the brain. We bring them down to what is called the “Dan Tian” area which is in the lower abdomen. Dan Tian is the seat and reserve of your energy. When you can bring your Qi down into Dan Tian you will feel much calmer, less anxious and less overwhelmed.
The following simple exercise will show you how to calm down with Qigong. Close your eyes and place one hand flat on your lower abdomen, below your belly button. As you breathe in feel your abdomen expand so it pushes your hand outwards. As you breathe out feel the abdomen shrink and become smaller. (This exercise is in a previous blog here).
As you are breathing observe where your excitement and all your thoughts are. Where is all the energy in your body? Does it feel like it’s in Dan Tian and the lower abdomen or does it feel like you are “up in your head” with lots of thoughts whirring around?
As you breathe out think of breathing out from your head down to Dan Tian and into your feet. As you breathe in, inhale good Qi and energy from the outside environment and then again, breathe out, bringing busy thoughts down from the Excited Point in the brain to Dan Tian in the lower abdomen and into the feet. Repeat this for as many breaths as it takes you to begin to feel more calm and grounded.
You will notice that very quickly, in just a few breaths, that you can calm your mind so that you have a little bit of breathing space to then easily go about the rest of your day. If you can do this very quick exercise on a regular basis, whenever you remember, this can be a very helpful way to quickly get you back on track to help you be clear and calm again.
Now you know how to calm down with Qigong and also very quickly refocus and relax.
If you want to experience more relaxing effects of Qigong exercises then head to my Space To Relax homepage where you can download a free “Calm Your Busy Mind in 8 Minutes” audio meditation. Also, you can sign up for a free “Space To Relax Qigong Video Series” (you can get this by popping your details in the green box at the top right of this page), practice Qigong for 5 minutes and find out how quickly you can transform yourself from feeling stressed to chilled out!
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I’d love to hear what you thought of this simple exercise so please leave me a comment below. 🙂
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.
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.
