Pranaveda Qigong Exercises
Vitality Qigong Part 1
Do some or all of these exercises for 30 to 60 minutes a day. Do these exercises slowly as if in a very slow dance. Inhale and exhale slowly, thus controlling the tempo of the exercises. These exercises help you feel refreshed, give you mental clarity, helps heal everything, and produces a state of deep calmness.
Opening - Lotus Opens and Prayer Hands. Stand with heel together in a V-stance. Energized opened hands are hanging at sides, palms facing the thighs. The shoulders and facial muscles are relaxed. Both hands open outwards, as you beging to inhale, raise the arms upwardsHold this position for a minute or two before starting or ending any routines. Take a few deep abdominal breaths and relax. Stand like a Mountain.
1. Wu Chi the Earth Position - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and parallel, energized hands are hanging at
thighs, shoulders are relaxed, facial muscles are relaxed. Rock forward and back on feet to find balanced, centered position.
2. Spinal Twists, Loose arms - Feet in wu chi, shoulders are relaxed and open. Feet are shoulder distance apart. Hold arms out to side. Use the turning of waist to whip the arms around. Also, one can use any of the arm positions of the seven planets with arm variations. Twist body to left, left arms and hands relax and sling around and slap body. Swing body to the right, the arms will follow and slap against the front and back of the body. This massages internal organs. Do ten or twenty spinal twists.
3. Spinal Twists, White Crane - Feet shoulder distance apart. Arms extended parallel to floor. Hands relaxed at wrists and hanging down toward the floor. Twist body to left at hips, not waist. Arms should move as though connected to hips. Do not rotate upper body past rotation of hips. Rotate back and forth from side to side. Repeat. Do ten or twenty spinal twists.
4. Arm Swings - Feet in wu chi, shoulders are relaxed and open. Arms are hanging at your side, with the palms facing backwards. With open and relaxed hands, begin swings the arms up over the head and down in front and back to the side position. Lower body to where knees are bent and do a little bounce up and right back down and then bounce all the way back to a full standing position. As you lower the arms swing down. On the small bounce, they swing back behind the body naturally. There is a very slight pause at the top where arms are extended above head before going back down again. Repeat. Do twenty or thirty arm swings.
5. Slap the Thighs - Hold arms out parallel to the floor palms down. Drop arms letting gravity control the speed of the drop and hands will slap the side of the thigh. Raise arms and repeat.
6. Ocean Waves - Hold the Belly Position and flip palms up and out. Stand with feet wider than shoulder width (Horse Position). Begin with hands in the Hold the Belly stance (hands down in front of the belly as if folding a large beach ball). Sway to the right and move arms up and to the right like a pendulum of a clock. As the right arm comes up with the right hand about the same height as the head, the right hand, which is palm down, will sort of flip up with the fingertips pointing to the sky. The left hand will remain palm up. Now sway to the left as the arm swing down toward the floor and then on up to the left wit the fingers of the left hand now flipping up toward the sky and the right hand is palm up. Repeat.
7. Open the Heart - Stand in a wider Earth Posture. Cross the right wrist over left right at groin. Bend forward head bent down. Knees are bent slightly. Straighten up, while spreading the arms up and out from the side of the body. Arching with the head back. so you are looking up at the sky. Inhale and rise up, as arms are spread wide at shoulder height. Pinch shoulder blades together while looking up hold the breath, stretching the sternum open. Exhale and bend forward while returning to the starting position. Take deep long breaths and hold them, then exhale and relax. Repeat seven to ten times.
8. Open the Bubbling Springs – In a Wu chi stance with the heels together. Put hands on hips. Bend knees and extend the left leg so the left heel touches the floor in front of you. The body weight is now on the right leg. Left Heel steps forward and touches down. Then without moving the right leg, smoothly pull the left foot straight back so the left toes smoothly touches the floor in the rear. Repeat 10 to 30 times. Switch legs. Bend knees and extend the right leg so the right heel touches the floor in front of you. The body weight is now on the left leg. Without moving the left leg, smoothly pull the right leg straight back so the right toe touches the floor in the rear.
9. Leg Swings - Cross Crawl - Shift all weight to one leg; sink as if into mud or sand, relaxing the muscles of the feet. Align top of head, heart, center of abdomen and perineum as a straight line over the weight-bearing foot (a vertical line both front to back and side to side). Swing other leg with a loose, open hip. Point fingers of opposite hand towards the swinging foot. Shoulders can be slightly forward. Look out rather than down.
10. Finger Rolls - Form fists, palm up, shoulders relaxed, elbows down, feet in wu chi, keep breathing. Roll out fingers starting with thumbs and ending with pinkies; stretch all fingers towards floor; roll each finger back separately starting with pinkies and ending with thumbs.
11. Finger Flicking - Wrap thumbs over fingernails in open fist. Apply pressure and, starting with pinky, flick each finger down towards floor. Keep shoulders relaxed, elbows down, feet in wu chi, keep breathing.
12. Wrist Flaps, Horizontal - Fingers are extended and palms face each other in front of abdomen. Loosely flap the open hands back and forth about 30 seconds. Hold palms still and separate for about 30 second. While holding, if you press your hands very slightly towards each other, you can feel an invisible ball of energy between your hands. Repeat two time.
13. Wrist Flaps, Vertical - Now turn hands so they are facing the floor and repeat this exercise as described above. Hold palms still and separate for about 30 seconds. While holding, if you press your hands very slightly towards each other, you can feel an invisible ball of energy between your hands. Repeat two times.
14. Arm Shakes - Stand in Wu Chi. With arms hanging at your side, totally relax your arms and shake them vigorously. Hold body still and flat palms separate for about 10 seconds. Repeat two times.
15. Bounce on the Heels - Similar to arm shakes, this relaxes and shakes the entire body. You will bounce up and down on your heels to create the shaking motion. Let heels come up off the floor about 1/4 inch and drop to floor up and down.
16. Drop the Fence Post - Stand in Wu Chi, raise heels off the floor all the way up on your toes. Let your full body weight drop to the floor on your heels. This creates quite a “thud”, that wakes up the vital energy all over the body, like potentizing a homeopathic remedy. Repeat ten to twenty times.
These exercises can be done standalone or as a warm-up before doing other qigong practices like Standing Meditations or Swimming Dragon.
