Basic qi gong standing postures 4: Head in the stars

I refer to this standing position as “Head in the stars” as when I do it I combine awareness of the sky and stars above and around my head. It can be done as an exercise in itself or in combination with previous standing exercises (see links to other standing postures below).

NOTE: Because we are focusing on qi/energy within the brain and head, this exercise should always be done gently, taking care to to overstrain or force anything. Remember we are trying to guide energy and encourage it to flow through the power of the standing posture itself in combination with our awareness.

Head in the stars qi gong standing form.

Preparation:
Stand in the basic Qi gong standing position , take a little time just to relax, breathe and centre yourself properly. Visualize a line of light and energy coming down through the vertical core of your body: Through the centre of the crown of your head, your brain, neck, chest and abdomen, exiting your body through your perineum (the point between the middle of your legs, between the sexual organs and the anus). From the perineum this line of light of energy proceeds down into the earth passing through the dead centre of the Earth’s core. Spend a short while aligning your attention and energy around this central line or core of energy that runs down your body and being.

Locating the ‘Upper Dan Tien’ or energy centre in your head:
See along the core line of energy within your body, at the level of the middle of the brain, there is a bright ball of light about the size of a golf ball. Gently focus your attention on this living ball of light and energy within the centre of the brain.

Hand positions:
Raise your hands up to the level of your head, so that the palms are facing either side of the front of your face at an angle. The hands are about 50-7-cms apart, angled in such a way that the palms are facing the ball of light in the centre of your brain. The distance of the palms of the hands from the head can be anywhere between 10-40cms. Find a distance that feels comfortable and ‘right’ for you. If you experiment you will intuitively find a distance that is optimal for you personally.

Breathing qi in and out of the head:
With your hands in place, focus on the golf ball sized ball of qi in the centre of your brain. As you breathe out, feel it expanding gently in size so that it s edge touches the palms of the hands. As you breathe in feel the ball of light shrinking back to the size of a golf ball. As it does so feel its intensity and brightness increasing. Do this for a minute or two only at the beginning, building to 3-4 mins when you are familiar with it.
Conclude the exercise by letting your hands go back down to your sides, and then feel all the energy in your head and brain area flowing down into your torso in general, and belly area in particular.

A further development of the form:
Once you are familiar with the exercise you can try the following: As you breathe out, feel the ball of light expanding outward infinitely into the stars and the universe. As you breathe in, feel yourself drawing universal and stellar qi into the energy centre in the centre of your brain. Do this very gently, just for a few breaths, then relax and just observe the effect that you can feel it having on the energy in your body.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you must seek Toby’s permission first: info@tobyouvry.com

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