by janicetucker | 5 Apr 2016 | Qigong, Qigong Practice Guidelines & General Information, Qigong Routines
Qigong For Prevention Of Illness
Today I’m going to describe a different way of talking and thinking about health from a Chinese medicine point of view in comparison to how we think of it in the Western world. I’ll also tell you about how you can use Qigong for prevention of illness.
My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a Chinese medicine and medical Qigong practitioner. I’m also the founder of the Space To Relax online video programme of Qigong lessons.
Below is a quote from the most important Chinese medicine text, dating back more than 2000 years, called the Huang Di Nei Jing:
“To administer medicine after an illness begins is like digging a well after becoming thirsty or casting weapons after a battle has been engaged”.
The idea around health in Chinese medicine and Qigong is more preventative; it’s all about being prepared. Illness is obviously a possibility in the future but it is also something which can be prevented if we are prepared. This means taking the right steps to manage our lifestyle, diet, exercise and other things that we do on a day to day basis.
The essence of medical Qigong is to learn and practice Qigong exercises which allow us to prevent any illness from taking root in the first place. This is similar to weeds taking root in your garden. If you allow the seeds to germinate and grow into huge weeds then you quickly end up with a garden which has been taken over by the plants you don’t want. Once they are established they are also more difficult to remove. If you pull up the weeds before they become established, while they are still small, then they are very easy to remove and you can keep your garden clear so that you can grow all the flowers and vegetables you want to grow.
Similarly, in your body, if you let things take root and don’t do anything to regularly clear out what you don’t want then the “weeds” (illness) soon take over. Then you are not able to flourish to the best of your potential.
In Chinese medicine, Qigong and acupuncture we work to be continuously “weeding the garden”. These methods offer you a very easy way in which you can use Qigong for prevention of illness. Qigong methods can eliminate the root cause of disease and also prevent illness or disease from taking root in the first place. The practice of Qigong allows the smooth flow of Qi to be maintained. Your Qi is the “vital energy” in your body so if that is flowing smoothly then you maintain the best health possible.
If you’d like to learn a few methods of Qigong for prevention of illness and to “stop the weeds from taking root”, go to my Space To Relax homepage to download a free 3 part Qigong video course showing you some excellent exercises to:
1. Get you started on being able to manage your health
2. Stop the weeds from taking root
3. Maintain the smoothest possible flow of Qi on a regular basis
If you want more health enhancing videos like this on YouTube then subscribe to my channel here.
Don’t forget to also give this video a “like” or post a comment below if you found this information useful.
See you next time!
by janicetucker | 1 Apr 2016 | Qigong, Qigong & Emotional Issues, Qigong Meditations & Breathing, Qigong Practice Guidelines & General Information, Qigong Routines
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!
Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to be sure not to miss out on any future videos.
I’d love to hear what you thought of this simple exercise so please leave me a comment below. 🙂
by janicetucker | 17 Mar 2016 | Qigong, Qigong Routines
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”.
by janicetucker | 11 Mar 2016 | Qigong, Qigong Meditations & Breathing, Qigong Routines
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.
