In this Qigong video you can learn some Qigong for Heart health, taught by myself, Dr. Janice Tucker, the founder of the Space To Relax Programme of Qigong video lessons. These classes are free and everyone is welcome. However, if you’d like to contribute as a thank you for the class click here. 50% of donations will go to the ICU staff in my local hospital in Co. Kerry. The other 50% goes towards the upkeep of this website.
I have been teaching Qigong for two decades and am a practitioner of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. My passion is helping people just like you to develop skills, knowledge and tools to rebalance and maintain your health.
You can join my live classes on Zoom every Thursday at 4 pm Irish time. Click here to join us (lesson replays sent out by email in case you can’t make it).
Qigong For Heart Health – Introduction
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terms, our Heart system governs our circulation, blood pressure and pulse, influences speech, “houses” the mind to keep it calm and clear, allows us to get off to sleep at night and plays a role in our memory function.
A well nourished Heart manifests in healthy circulation and heart function, healthy blood pressure, a calm mind, and peaceful sleep.
An imbalance in our Heart system can result in blood circulation problems, palpitations, high blood pressure, anxiety, insomnia and poor memory.
The Qigong method I teach here shows you one of the 8 Pieces of Brocade (Ba Duan Jin) movements called “Shaking Head & Wagging Tail” which helps descend Fire (Heat) from the Heart system which commonly causes the symptoms above, down through the coccyx and perineum.
You’ll learn three different levels of this method, depending on which level of movement is available to you with the result that you will have one of these levels which you can incorporate into your Qigong routine or perform as a standalone Qigong exercise.
Settle into your practice with a few abdominal breaths to bring yourself into the Qigong state.
Level 1: Perform Shaking Head and Wagging Tail sitting with legs hip-width apart. This is suitable for wheelchair users and anyone with limited movement and flexibility.
Level 2: Perform Shaking Head and Wagging Tail sitting with legs wide apart. This creates more of a stretch in the groin and down the inside of the legs but is still gentle on the back.
Level 3: Perform Shaking Head and Wagging Tail from the classical horse stance position.
Many other live lesson replays can be found on my blog page. Take a look at some of them to find methods that you can easily combine with this one.
Click the image above to follow along with the Qigong class!
What Can I Do Next?
To sign up and attend the live online sessions please click here. Classes are free of charge and suitable if you’re a beginner or have more Qigong experience. Once you sign up I’ll send details to your email with links to the Zoom classes. Check your junk/spam folders for notifications. Please share this information with your family and friends as everyone is more than welcome.
If you’d like to take your practice to the next level with my structured, step-by-step Space To Relax Qigong programme of 50 video lessons accompanied by audio and PDF files with support from me every step of the way then click here.
To get my free part video series of 3 Qigong lessons which will be delivered to you by email over the course of one week please click here. In these lessons you’ll learn more about abdominal breathing, Qi movement and how to rid waste Qi. This will help you to feel more relaxed and energised.
You can also click the red “subscribe” button to join my YouTube channel. That way, you won’t miss any future Qigong lessons from me.
Shoulder and neck pain is one of the most common complaints I see in my Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture clinic. If you have ever experienced this before you’ll know how miserable this can make you feel. In the video on this page I’ll show you some simple Qigong for shoulder and neck pain so that you can feel much looser, more flexible and stronger in this area.
Janice Tucker is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong. She is also the founder of the Space To Relax online programme of Qigong video lessons.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button on that channel. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
How Does Shoulder and Neck Pain Affect Us?
You will know all too well if you have ever suffered with shoulder or neck pain before that it can leave you feeling absolutely miserable.
• Physically you may be in so much pain that you have to take pain medication. This may then have its own side effects that you have to deal with.
• You will most likely feel restricted in your movement. This may mean that you can’t lift things, reach up in to cupboards, tie your bra strap or put on your coat.
• The restriction will affect you when you’re driving. You may not be able to turn your head fully to look behind you when reversing. Your shoulders may become more painful after driving as you are holding them in tension.
• If this situation goes unchecked you may feel pain in other areas of your body such as headaches or lower back ache.
• Mentally and emotionally you will be affected too. You may feel depressed, irritable and anxious that this pain will never improve.
So, it is obvious that this is not a situation which you would want to tolerate for any longer than absolutely necessary!
The Solution – Qigong For Shoulder and Neck Pain
Any moving Qigong methods in general are perfect for dealing with shoulder and neck pain as they smooth the flow of energy (Qi) and blood flow through the area. In Chinese Medicine terms, it is a stagnation or blockage of the flow of Qi and blood which can cause pain. However there are a couple of methods which are particularly useful to help you regulate shoulder and neck pain more specifically.
1. Neck movements. Tilt the head forward and back, tilt the head from one side to the other, turn the head from one side to the other. Each movement is performed slowly. Breathe out as you move away from your starting position, breathe in as you move back to the starting position. Caution: anyone with serious neck problems be very gentle with these movements and take care not to over stretch.
2. Watch Lesson 2 in my free 3 part video series which shows you the “Circles” exercise. This is an excellent method of Qigong for shoulder and neck pain as it improves the flow of Qi and blood through these areas. See below on how to get this free video series.
3. Practice any moving Qigong for shoulder and neck pain as this will promote the smooth flow of Qi so that you can lessen any pain or stiffness.
What Do I Do Next?
If you would like to start using Qigong for shoulder and neck pain then:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Lesson 2, the “Circles” exercise is the perfect moving Qigong exercise to perform. It promotes the smooth flow of Qi through the shoulders.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box any tips you have to help relieve shoulder and neck pain.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you’ll receive really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
“Do you ever get angry?”
“No.”
“What, never?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you!”
Over the past 18 years or so this has been a fairly common exchange between myself and my clients in the acupuncture clinic. The reason I don’t believe people who say they never get angry is that everyone does. The difference is that some people express it by shouting and screaming and some people bottle it up in the form of frustration, silent resentment or sulking. In the video today I’m going to share with you how to use Qigong for anger management, more specifically, for getting rid of anger in a healthy way.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button on if you are watching over there. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to improve your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
How Does Anger Affect Us?
Anger is the emotion associated with the “Liver” organ system in Qigong. The Liver system is responsible for the smooth flow of Qi on all levels (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional). If anger is excessive it impacts on the healthy functioning of the Liver system which can result in many health problems such as:
• feeling a lump in the throat;
• abdominal distension;
• eye problems;
• tendon stiffness and inflexibility;
• digestive issues;
• pre-menstrual tension in women;
• lumps in the breasts or breast tenderness in women;
• tinnitus;
• headaches;
• brittle nails;
• muscle cramps and spasms;
• lack of direction and organisation in life.
As you can see it’s not a good thing to be experience and out of balance Liver system!
The Solution – Qigong For Anger
Qigong for anger management is perfect as the methods in general encourage your mind to be calm and relaxed, the very opposite of anger! However there are a couple of methods which are particularly useful to help you regulate anger more specifically.
1. Ba Duan Jin Exercise
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 is a perfect method of Qigong for anger because it helps the Liver system. It thereby helps to combat the damaging effects of anger your body and mind.
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. Exhale as you punch. Breathe in as you draw the arm back to the hip.
In this method you pick one thing that you want to release from your body or mind. In this case pick the emotion of anger and breathe it out using the technique shown in the video.
3. Practice any moving Qigong exercise.
Moving Qigong methods promote the smooth flow of Qi and thereby help to disperse the emotion of anger.
What Do I Do Next?
If you would like to start using Qigong for anger then:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Lesson 1 will teach you how to breathe more efficiently and calm your mind with Abdominal Breathing. Lesson 2 is the perfect moving Qigong exercise to perform and promote the smooth flow of Qi. In Lesson 3 you will learn how to rid waste Qi (in this case in the form of anger) from your body.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you do to help dispel anger in a healthy way.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
