December 2008 - Featured Articles

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Qi Gong Standing Exercise
By Steven Logan

The first standing exercise in the system of One Finger Chan Qi Gong is a simple form but contains all the basic posture rules for standing Qi Gong.

To enter the stance start by standing slightly “pigeon toed”, that is, the toes of both feet pointed slightly inward and have about one foot length of space from your left big toe to your right big toe. Keep your knees pointed forward. If this feels twisted and uncomfortable then turn both toes outward slightly until there is no strain on the knees. Now look forward and drop your bum backward and downward slightly like you were going to sit on a chair. Let the knees unlock and relax while you make the small sitting motion but don’t let the knees extend forward past your toes (this protects the knees from excess strain). OK, the bottom part of your body is lined up.

Now the arms and hands. Hang your arms at your side, backs of the hands facing forward, fingers pointing at the ground. Keep the fingers pointing down and your shoulders relaxed and move the hands forward until the elbows are in front of your torso. Now lift your fingers until your hands are parallel to the ground. Spread your fingers slightly so they are not touching each other and bend your thumb pointing it in the same direction as your index finger. Don’t force this; some people’s thumbs curl out too much to line them up completely with the index finger. Now tilt the hands a little so that the little finger is lower than the index finger. This tilt helps the wrist relax. Gently move the hands together, then apart until they are directly out to your sides, now together, now half way to your sides.

Now make your torso vertical, lift your head up with your eyes looking forward. Extend your head upward and slightly tuck in your chin. This opens up your cervical vertebrae. Now do a small pelvic tilt; tucking your sacrum under and forward. Along with your sitting position this opens your lumbar vertebrae. OK, now gently hold this position and relax as much as possible.

Check that your feet are flat on the ground so that your weight is balanced forward and backward, left and right.

One last thing - SMILE. This is supposed to be fun and it is much easier to keep the body relaxed if you smile.

In this stance all your joints are open, your weight evenly supported in your lower body and your muscles as relaxed as possible. Breathe naturally. Keep your eyes open. At some point you will feel the signs of energy movement. Warm, tingling, muscle movement. All sensations are good sensations except cramping. If standing in this position starts to hurt anywhere just stand naturally and massage the sore points and then re-enter the stance. Let your body move if it wants to. You are not trying to be a statue. You are trying to be loose and open to the energy flow. If the movement gets to crazy or you get tired of moving just relax back into the stance and stop and stand naturally. This is your energy and is always under your control. Enjoy the standing for as long as you like. Work yourself up to 20 minutes a day or more if you love it but don’t push yourself; that will cause tension. Be gentle… like petting butterflies.

Steven Logan has practiced, studied and taught Tai Chi since 1984 and Qi Gong since 1992. us Click Here to check out his other article "Some Thoughts On Qi Gong" shown on page 17 of the Autumn Issue of The Violet Ray - Natural Health and Conscious Living Magazine.