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.
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. 🙂
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.
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”.
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.
Today I want to talk to you about the definition of Qigong health. What is health? Because simply not being ill is just not good enough!
My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong and I’m also the founder of Space To Relax which is an online programme of Qigong breathing and relaxation exercises.
In Chinese medicine and Qigong health is much more complicated and well-defined than it tends to be in Western medicine. In conventional Western medicine we often think that if we are not ill then we are healthy. Sometimes we may not be ill but feel a little bit under par, maybe lacking in energy, stressed or anxious (so emotionally feeling not quite right) and there may be other niggling things that we don’t even think about from day to day so don’t class them as signs of being unhealthy. We would usually only go to our doctor when we feel sick.
By contrast, in Chinese Medicine, if you are “Supremely Healthy” that is the very top rung of the ladder. There are 5 rungs to the ladder. From the top down:
Supreme Health
Health
Not sick/not well
Sick
Very unwell – maybe nearing the point of death!
Chinese medicine and Qigong health has these levels and people can be on any level at any time. The aim is to be at the top level of Supreme Health but in fact not many people are at this level. These people never get sick, even when there are lots of illnesses going around. If they become ill or are injured they recover very quickly. They have boundless energy and always seem to be able to take things in their stride. Take a look around your family and friends – many of them may be healthy but not many will have Supreme health. Supremely healthy people are in the minority.
We are aiming to be as healthy as possible and we can do that by managing many factors – our diet, lifestyle, relationships.
The main thing to remember here is that, from a Chinese Medicine point of view, health is simply not a case of being “not ill”. There are many levels of health in Chinese medicine.
In my face to face Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinics, and also in the Space To Relax online programme of Qigong breathing and relaxation exercises, I help people to become as healthy as possible and to fulfil the potential that they have to reach the best possible state of health for them. Not everybody has the same potential, everybody is different, but if you can be the healthiest possible for you then you couldn’t ask for more than that.
If you are interested in doing some healing using Qigong or getting a few more tips then please leave me a comment below the video or head over to Facebook and join my Space to Relax Free Group where I look forward to hearing from you!
Receive your FREE Video Series by entering your details below
You have Successfully Subscribed!
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
