Creative Qi Gong

Keeping up Your Energy Levels: Sleeping Patterns and Your Liver Qi

2011-12-13T23:45:00.000-08:00

Those of you familiar with traditional Chinese medicine may be aware that each of the organs of the body is assigned a 2 hour period in the 24 hour clock, during which time that particular organ is supposed to be functioning at its optimal level.
For the liver this time is sometimes placed as 11pm-1am, or sometimes 1am-3am. One of the functions of the liver is to detoxify poisons that have built up in the body and the blood stream, and I have heard it recommended (again in TCM circles) that in order to help your liver de-toxify your body and replennish your qi levels it is good to regularly be in bed and sleeping between 11pm and 1am.
As a habitual late night sleeper I have certainly found that getting to bed by 11pm at least once every three days does have a really tangible and positive effect upon my qi levels, and so I strongly recommend it to other people. Simply getting 7 or 8 hours sleep regularly (eg from 1am to 8 or 9am) does not have the same effect for me as getting to be that bit earlier, so that i am lying down and resting as my liver moves into its optimum functioning mode.
So, for this reason, if you are a habitual nightbird like me I recommend getting to bed in good time at least once every three days, for the sake of your overall health and qi!
Finally, here is a digram of the internal organs together with their respective times. If you would like to view an interactive version of this diagram, which details the emotions connected with each of the organs, please click HERE.

© Toby Ouvry 2011, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

Our Anxiety in the Face of Inner Space and Stillness

2011-11-25T00:59:00.001-08:00

Transcribed from a five minute talk that I gave at the end of a Qi gong meditation class last week (23.11.11), enjoy!

I just want to say one or two things before we end. I mentioned whilst guiding the meditation that one thing that you may become aware of over time is that our mind resists inner space and stillness. If you ask people “Do you want inner peace?” they’ll generally say “Yes, yes, I want inner peace!” but deeper down actually they don’t. To be able to open to inner space and allow it to change you over time takes a lot of courage. This is a major reason why although meditation is free and it has been practiced for millennia as a way of developing mental peace, relatively few people will do it. This is because from the perspective of the ego, the ego has what you might call an existential fear of inner space. Part of the reason why we like to keep ourselves busy all the time, and when we are not doing anything physically our mind likes to think all the time is because we feel as if we have to keep affirming our existence, otherwise we feel like we are going to disappear! It is like a moment to moment fear of death, of dying. Essentially in this context dying means to have no future, becoming nothing. We feel like “If I am not doing something physical then I need to imagine myself doing something physical, because I still want to exist, and if I stop thinking or doing, then I will stop existing”.

This is a little bit of meditational psychology; it is the way in which our mind thinks, but unless we have examined it closely, for most of us this will be a subconscious pattern. And we need to understand that it is natural to have this type of anxiety (the anxiety of becoming non-existent), and simply having this anxiety is not a problem, it is existential anxiety, the natural tension that arises from being alive and wanting to stay that way. So, this in itself is not a problem, what is a problem is if you are not dealing with that anxiety well, if you are repressing it. A lot of psychological pathologies arise from the repression of this natural anxiety which then becomes pathological anxiety, compulsive doing, and compulsive thinking, compulsive everything!

So the natural anxiety of being alive will always be there, even if you continue to meditate. With a bit of practice in meditation you will start to find you can find a sense of inner space and stillness within yourself, but then it becomes an act of courage to keep opening to that space (which to the ego appears to be a type of death, a type of non-existence) and allowing it to inform your experience of life.

So I just thought I would throw that little thought in at the end of our meditation because it is common to find people having a great initial experience of inner space and stillness in their meditation, but then over time drifting away from their practice and this is one of the main reasons. It is not just because we are logistically busy all the time, although life these days is demanding upon our time and energy (although show me a time in history when life has not been such!), it is because our existential anxiety causes our ego to instinctively veer away from inner space and stillness and find excuses not to meditate. Our ego is actually happy to put up with a lot of stress and a lot of pain/problems, fear and anxiety because all of those things are affirming its existence, you know what I mean? Ego is not a bad thing, but the ego has a lot of fears that aren’t really founded upon anything wise and concrete, so it takes a bit of time for it to learn to trust that empty space, that stillness. So we need to keep if you like holding our ego’s hand and saying “Come on, come on, it is not going to be so bad, just relax and let go” like this!

So this is just and aspect of meditation practice that everyone needs to be aware of if you want to sustain your practice, because your mind and ego will try and find a lot of ways to duck out in order to avoid the anxiety of confronting empty space and stillness.

© Toby Ouvry 2011, you are welcome to use or share this article, but please cite Toby as the source and include reference to his website www.tobyouvry.com

"Water Element Landscape" Soul Portrait Plus Artists Notes by Toby

2011-08-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

This is the first of a series of works based around the Chinese five elements (these being earth, wood, fire metal and water). In it you can see a turtle (the power animal associated with the water element voyaging through the deep ocean toward a gentle but powerful water-element energy vortex.
In the distance above the water you can see a mountain and skyscape.

This is a piece of art that you can look at, enter into and meditate with in order to help balance your own water element and emotional being. In particular the water element energy in this picture can help induce balance and spontaneity to your mental processes, and to induce an emotional experience of calmness, spaciousness and flow.

For an overview of meditation on the five elements see Toby’s article“Meditating on the Five Chinese Elements as a Method of Achieving Balance and Harmony Through Dependent Relationship”.

This artwork is currently for sale, for enquiries please contact Toby on this email: info@tobyouvry.com

Image and text © Toby Ouvry, please do not reproduce without permission.

A Personal Reflection on How Meditation Develops Your Inner Vision and Ability to Work With Energy

2011-04-17T01:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Back in 2001 when I left my life as a Buddhist Monk part of the reason was that I wanted to return to a life as an actively working artist expressing his inspiration in paintings and sculpture. As I had meditated during the 1990’s I had touched the inner formless spaces that you find in deep meditation practice, but I had also found that, from these deep formless spaces a lot of inner visions started to emerge quite spontaneously, and that they often really demanded to be expressed.

Since then I have developed a method of combining my meditation and artistic practice where I will meditate on a particular topic or subject for a while in order to receive visual and sensual impressions of its inner nature, and then I will create an art piece based around what I have seen.

In order to give an example of this, at the top of this article you can see a working sketch that I have done for an artwork that embodies the energy of The Tao, Yin-Yang and the five Chinese elements of earth, wood, metal and fire. Here is a brief description of the inner landscape from which this image arose. You can do it yourself if you like, the basic images are simple, and there is plenty of room for creative imagination and to really make the inner landscape your own:

The Asian Tree and the Yin-Yang courtyard.

Before meditating set your intention to travel, within the reality of your creative imagination, to an inner landscape that embodies the spiritual energy of the Tao, Yin-Yang and five elements.

Spend a short while relaxing, focusing on your breathing and stilling your sense of time, space and energy.

After a while you sense yourself within what you intuitively sense is an Asian landscape, in front of you is your “Asian tree”, a tree embodying that embodies the energy of Asian spirituality and that you have a particular inner connection to. Spend a while seeing, feeling and sensing the landscape and the tree; the texture of the bark, the colour of the leaves, the time of day and so forth...

To one side of you in your landscape you see an ancient courtyard. Upon its old wooden doors is inscribed a yin yang symbol.

Passing through the doors to the interior of the courtyard you sense yourself entering into a state of deep peace. The roof of the courtyard is open to the sky. In the centre of the courtyard is a yin-yang symbol made of living light. The light part of the symbol is fed by a stream of bright white star light that comes down from the sky. The dark part of the symbol is fed by a stream of dark light rising from the depths of the earth. Within the courtyard are many beautiful ancient objects, such as bonsai trees, crystals and gemstones. In particular there are sculptures of four creatures:

A dragon, embodying the energy of the wood element, of spring, air and morning
A phoenix embodying the energy of the fire element, of summer and the noonday sun
A tiger embodying the energy of the metal element, of autumn and evening
A turtle embodying the energy of the water element, of winter and of night time.

Each of these statues, although static seems to be alive and radiates its elemental energy in the form of colour. These colours gather around the central yin-yang symbol, flowing around it in an ever changing flow of radiant elemental light.

Deep within the earth beneath the yin-yang symbol is a cauldron, which embodies the earth element and is the source from which the other four elements arise.

Simply sit and relax in this beautiful peaceful space, and as you do so feel the yin-yang and elemental balance within your body mind come back into balance. As your body-mind comes into balance, feel your inner being becoming still and spacious like a deep lake.

Thanks for reading,

Yours in the spirit of the rich landscape of the imagination,

Toby

PS: You can see more of my artwork in the most recent post on my Soul Portrait site:

Slideshow of Soul Portraits From the First Three Months of 2011

PPS: If you are not familiar with the 5 elements and want a bit more information, you can find more in my past article on my Qi gong blog:

Meditating on the Five Chinese Elements as a Method Achieving Harmony and Balance Through Dependent Relationship.

Similarly, you can also find a previous Yin-Yang meditation there:

The Meaning of the Term “The Great Mother” and its Relationship to Yin and Yang

"Starbathing"

2011-03-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

www.tobyouvry.com/soulportraits

Working with and absorbing stellar or cosmic qi is something that is increasingly emphasized as one becomes more advanced along many of the diverse paths of Qi Gong. But there is no reason why you can't start working with it now and enjoy the benefits using the very simple method detailed below. We have recently moved to a house with a roof garden, and so I am enjoying it very much. As well as having the energetic benefits of absorbing star qi, it also helps make the mind very big, spacious and light.

The technique:

Find an appropriate place to lie down at night, under an open sky.

Open your eyes and stare up at the starry sky for a while. Take in the vast expanse of the sky, empty your mind and enjoy the twinkling lights of the stars.

After a while close your eyes and imagine starry light flowing down from the stars and from the night sky into all the cells of your body.

In particular feel three focus points of starry energy and light building in the center of your brain, the center of your chest and the central area of your lower abdomen.

Take your time, finish when ready.

Repeat three times a week, or as often as desired!

Four Types of Qi That We Can Attune to and Harness For Self and Planetary Healing

2011-02-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

Generally when we talk about “qi” or energy in qi gong it can be quite generic, it is just the energy that flows through life and nature.

We can begin to look at specific types and manifestations of qi by observing landscape, and the way in which it is composed of the four elements; earth (body of the planet, mountains, tress etc), water(lakes, rivers, oceans), air(sky) and fire (sun and stars).

In each of these four elements qi manifests in a particular way, and has particular powers and characteristics that we can learn to attune to and consciously utilize for healing and energizing purposes.

Below is a meditation for attuning to qi within the four elements in landscape. It is one of the first meditations that I wrote after I left Buddhist monkhood and went back into secular life back in 2001. Once you are familiar with the basic process you can easily use it to attune to the qi within any landscape. Enjoy!

(Note: The four elements used in this article earth, air, fire water is based around the four observable elements in nature. This is different from (but closely related to) the system of five elements that you find in Qi gong philosophy; earth, wood, fire, metal, water).

Mandala and Four Elements Meditation

Find a comfortable position, either seated or lying down, with a straight back.

Spend a minute or so focusing on the breathing and bringing your attention inward.

Bring to mind now a beautiful natural setting that you may be familiar with and love, one that when you think of it makes you feel very relaxed and peaceful and that takes you away from the trials of your daily life. This place should be a landscape that includes both land and a water element, above you you feel the energy of the sun, moon and stars.

(note: If you are able to actually go out physically to such a landscape to do the meditation, then this is great).

Wherever you choose to see yourself, see yourself sitting or lying comfortably on the ground of this place of inner retreat, surrounded by bright sunlight, and cooling shade, as refreshing breezes caress your body.

Feel your feet on the earth, the flowers and wonderful vegetation and water features around you, the only sounds that you hear come from nature.

Take the time now to attune yourself to the your spiritual being that lies within you, see this as a light and feeling of love at your heart.

Feel your consciousness expanding into the elements of nature surrounding you. As you breathe in and out you can feel your mind blending and merging with the environment around you.

Attune yourself to the earth and rocks, and feel this earth energy moving up through your feet as beautiful golden green light. Feel this light pervading your whole physical body now, clearing and balancing the earth element within you. See it going through your organs, flesh and bones, clearing and balancing their energies within you. Feel your earth element merging with the harmony of the natural earth element around you.

See the water element arising from the water near you as a clear blue light. See this light surrounding you and entering into the water element in the cells of your own body. See it clearing all of the imbalance and disharmony in your blood, fluids and watery elements of your physical body. See and feel your water element coming into harmony and balance with the water element of nature, with the rivers, lakes and oceans of the planet.

Feel and see the light and fresh air around you now moving into your physical body, fell it move through your lungs and out thru your other organs, thru your arms and hands, thru your legs and feet, thru your neck and head. Feel the pure light and energy of the air element moving into all the spaces in your body, clearing out and balancing your own air element. Feel the air element within you coming into line with the air element within nature, and with the sky.

Feel the heat and golden light of the sun now surrounding you and caressing you. Feel this light moving into your system now, clearing and purifying the fire element within your body. See and feel the regulation and distribution of your heat energy being cleared by this beautiful golden light and heat from the Sun. Feel your fire element now coming one with the fire element of nature.

Now feel the energies of Mother Earth Herself now coming up through your feet chakras into your heart, feel her love for you as one of her children. Feel her heart and yours now coming into harmony and merging as one at your heart. Take this feeling of love and oneness with the Earth Mother as your final object of meditation.

When you feel ready, become fully aware of your physical body and surroundings, and when you are ready, open your eyes.

Meditations for Spring Time and the Beginning of the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-09T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
I’m off to Thailand for a week, so this will be my last post for ten days or so. Whilst in Thailand I intend amongst other things, to spend a healthy amount of time simply sitting and attuning to the energies of nature, of the landscape and of the sea.

The turn to February sees the energy of spring starting to manifest in the northern hemisphere. Here are two simple meditations with images that you can work with at this time in the year to attune to the energies of spring and of new beginnings.

The first draws upon traditional Chinese associations of the wood element. The second draws upon traditional images of the Goddess/divine feminine and the child self.

1. Working with the wood element to heal and energize of physical and energy body, mind and emotions:

In Taoist and Qi gong philosophy the season of spring corresponds to the wood element. Spring sees a re-awakening of the green world and an exponential expansion in the growth of trees and plants. Here are some of the qualities and correspondences of the wood element energy:

Wood element healing colour: Green
Direction: Energy rising upward from the Earth
Direction: East
Actions: Countenance or good posture
Bodily organ: Yin organ – Liver, Yang organ – Gall bladder
Emotions: Positive - Kindness, negative - anger/resentment
Mental Quality: Sensitivity (Integrate vision of Child and goddess into this section)
Senses: Vision/sight

Brief meditation on the wood element:

• Sit facing east, imagine a fresh spring breeze blowing from the east, refreshing your mind and body.

• Feel down into the earth beneath you. Sense a vast reservoir of light and energy in the centre of the earth. Sense the colour of this light as gold, white and green. Now see it rising up and filling your body through your feet. Sense this green and gold energy surrounding and infusing your liver and gall bladder. Feel any trapped anger and resentment being stored in these organs being released. Feel the organs being cleansed by the light, and being filled with the energy of kindness and sensitivity.

• Now feel the energy of kindness and sensitivity spreading out into your whole body. In particular feel it going into your eyes and eye sockets, refreshing the power of your inner and outer vision

• Feel the green and gold earth energy in your whole body, breathe it in and out of your physical cells for a few breaths, and then just relax in stillness for a while.

2. Two further images of spring: The Virgin Goddess and the child

The Goddess or divine feminine in her youthful or virgin aspect is a traditional image symbolizing new birth and spring.

The child, or new human life is another image strongly associated with spring, as childhood is when we are in the “spring” of our life.

Meditation images for the Virgin Goddess and the child within

• See yourself in your inner vision sitting in spring landscape (or sit in one physically if you can!). Quietly and intuitively feel yourself attuning to the energy of the season

• A beautiful young maiden approaches you, she is the virgin goddess, the goddess of spring. As she stands before you, three rays of light radiate from her

• Light radiates from her brow to filling your mind, brain and head with the energy and light of clarity

• Light radiates from hear throat to your throat, filling your speech with kindness

• Light radiates from her heart to your heart, filling it with the light of positive empathy, gladness and joy

• You notice that the Goddess is holding a newborn baby in her arms. She offers you the baby. Take it your arms, as you hold it, meditate on the seeds of new life, ideas and projects that you can feel beginning to germinate and grow within your being.

• A young child comes to join you and the Goddess. It is your own inner child. See how s/he appears to you. How easily are you able to relate to her? Try and feel the natural joy and playfulness of your child self as you connect to the child appearing to your imagination.

3. Meditating on the rabbit as a power animal

Because it is the lunar new year of the rabbit, February/March 2011 is also a good time to meditate with the Rabbit as a power animal. Here is a simple way to integrate it into the second Goddess and child meditation above:

• Within your spring landscape see the rabbit (could be one or many) appearing. For a while s/he sits and hops gently around the feet of the Goddess, examining you curiously. After a while (in its time not yours) the rabbit approaches you, allowing you to stroke it, perhaps hold it. Feel your mind and energy connecting to the rabbit and commune for a while in silence. What happens or what you see and experience at this time arises from your communion with the spirit of the rabbit.

Thanks for reading!
Yours in the spirit of Spring,
Toby

PS: On February 22nd and March first I will be leading two classes entitled “Landscapes Of The Mind: Finding Inner Power and Balance In Your Life Through Meditation on Wild Nature And Landscape” all are welcome, if you are not in Singapore the classes are available for purchase as recordings.

Article © Toby Ouvry 2011. You are welcome to use it, but you must seek Toby’s permission first. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Meditating on the Five Chinese Elements as a Method Achieving Harmony and Balance Through Dependent Relationship

2011-01-28T00:44:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

In general meditations on dependent-relationship are very good for developing insight into the way that everything in our life is inter-related. It shows you that if one area of your life is out of balance, then that will affect other parts of your life detrimentally. Similarly, if you focus on getting one imbalanced area of your life back into balance and harmony, then that will affect pretty much all other areas of your life in a positive way too.
One cycle of dependent relationship that I have been enjoying working with recently, both by myself and with students is the Chinese five element cycle, specifically as it relates to our mental and emotional qualities. Here is a brief summary of the five elements, together with their mental and emotional characteristics (emotional section includes emotion when balanced, and the emotions when imbalanced:

EARTH ELEMENT/SEASONS: Balanced mental quality: Clarity, Emotions: Empathy/Anxiety

WOOD ELEMENT /SPRING: Balanced mental quality: Sensitivity, Emotions: Kindness/Anger

FIRE ELEMENT /SUMMER: Balanced mental quality: Willpower/Creativity, Emotions: Hate/Joy

METAL ELEMENT/AULTUMN: Balanced mental quality: Intuition, Emotions: Courage/Grief

WATER ELEMENT/WINTER: Balanced mental quality: Spontaneity, Emotions: Calmness/Fear

So, the point about these five sets of elements and their qualities is that they are all in relationship. For example if you are able to generate mental clarity and appropriate empathy (earth element), then you with then be able to generate appropriate and balanced kindness to yourself and others (wood element emotion), which in turn leads to the experience of joy (fire element emotion). If you read through the list in a contemplative state of mind you will start to develop your own insights into how you can make emotional and mental adjustments in your own life to bring your own “elemental cycle” of emotional and mental dependent relationship into greater harmony and balance.

An example of a five element meditation on dependent-relationship:

Here is an example of one meditation on dependent relationship that I led in class last week
Stage 1: Sitting comfortably, generate an appropriate feeling of empathy (wood element emotion) toward your body and mind. Appropriate empathy means being in touch with the authentic feelings and emotions of your body-mind, without allowing your self-sense to get overwhelmed by them.

If you generate authentic empathy, this will give you a mental sense of clarity (earth element mind) regarding how your body-mind really feels.

Stage 2: If you have mental clarity, you will then be able to extend appropriate and balanced kindness (wood element emotion) toward your body-mind, which in turn will enable them (your body-mind) and you to feel joy (fire element emotion).

Stage 3: With the feeling of joy in your body-mind, and a sense of them both co-operating with you, rather than working against you, it will be quite easy to develop balanced willpower and creativity (fire element mind).

Stage 4: With your willpower working well and in an harmonious way, courage (metal element emotion) will be relatively easy to find within yourself. You will feel in control of your body-mind, and so it will be relatively easy to find that still centre within you where your intuition (metal element mind) resides.

Stage 5: With your intuition and courage working well it will be easy to find a sense of calm within (water element emotion), as well as to be natural and spontaneous (water mind).

Stage 6: Being calm and spontaneous further enhances our earth element qualities of appropriate empathy and clarity, and we find ourself back to the beginning the cycle once more!

So, this is one example of meditating with the mental and emotional qualities of the five elements, as I said above, if you read thought the list of elemental qualities in a contemplative way, personal insights into how these emotional and mental qualities are playing out on your own life will start to flow...
Thanks for reading!

Yours in the spirit of the harmonious five elements,

Toby

© Toby Ouvry 2011. You are welcome to use this article, but you must seek Toby’s permission first. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

A Working Defninition of Taoist Meditation

2011-01-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
Yesterday I started a series of three classes on the Tao and yin/yang, here is one of the basic principles that we are working with:
One way Taoist meditation could be defined as being focused on finding the balance between polarized, opposing forces. These forces can be categorized as either

- Yin – Feminine, receptive
- Or Yang – Active, dynamic

One point of interest here is that a person or thing is not fixed in their yin or yang nature. Something is always yin or yang IN RELATION TO something else.
For example: I may be a yin, quiet, introverted person in relation to my crazy, party animal brother, but I may relatively speaking be a yang, sociable talkative person in relation to my solitude-loving sister.
Life is always changing, the point of balance in our life is always changing, the challenge of meditating with the Tao is to be aware of the continuous flux, and make appropriate adjustments in your consciousness and action to “stay in the Tao”, or keep in balance.
For example: In the morning I may be behind in my work, so I have to focus on being very active and dynamic before lunch. After lunch I may have caught up on my work, but my body is tired, so I need to slow down, rest and recuperate.
From this definition we can understand that Taoist meditation (and I think we could expand that to meditation in general) is not an entirely passive activity, but a way of coming back into balance, coming back into the middle, and avoiding the negative extremes of either yin or yang.

A Practical Question for daily practice:
A basic question that we need to ask ourselves is “Where is my optimal point of balance right now, and what actions can I take to reconnect to that balance to the greatest degree possible?”
Try asking yourself this question once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evenining for a week. see where it takes you….

Yours in the spirit of the Tao,
Toby

© Toby Ouvry 2011, you are welcome to use this article, but you must seek Toby’s permission first. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

2011-01-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!
Over the next few weeks, starting on the 11th January, I will be doing a series of meditation classes entitled “Finding Your Outer Balance, Inner Harmony and Spiritual Centre Through Meditation on the Tao, Yin Yang and the Five Elements” . Really it is a set of classes looking at some of the spiritual and psychological underpinnings of Taoism and Qi gong, and so I will be posting articles relating to it on this Qi gong blog, rather than my meditation blog that I post most of my meditation material on.

The Tao is often referred to in classical sources such as the Tao Te Ching as “the Great Mother”. This is often taken to mean that the Tao is a path based around a philosophy that emphasizes the feminine, the receptive and the flowing. Indeed Taoism is sometimes called “the Watercourse Way” which refers to its emphasis on flowing around obstacles and deriving its strength from receptivity like water.

I believe that there are many ways in which the Tao is indeed a more feminine, flowing, harmonious form of spirituality. However, what I want to highlight in this article is the true-er meaning of the term “Great Mother” in this context.

Fundamentally, when we talk about the Great Tao, we are talking about a Universal creative force that lies immediately within everyone and everything, and at the same time is transcendent of and lies beyond everyday reality.

The Great Tao is actually beyond any concepts such as yin or yang, masculine and feminine, mother and father. It is the inconceivable, non-dual, oneness of everything and everyone in the Universe. The reason that is called “The Great Mother” is to indicate it’s all embracing nature. It embraces everyone and everything in the universe like a huge, cosmic mother. However, in and of itself it is beyond any kind of masculine/feminine, yin/yang duality, it is the primal unity that lies before yin and yang. It is the source of yin and yang.

One of the main aims of authentic Taoist practice is to harmonize the energies of Yin and Yang within ourselves in such a way that we can go beyond them into the primal, unified wholeness of the Tao. What are the main types of yin/yang harmonization that we are trying to achieve in order to get back in touch with the Tao? Here are some simple and major examples:

• We are trying to harmonize our the inner world of our mind and spirit with the outer world of our daily actions and interactions

• We are trying to balance and harmonize our thinking and feeling

• We are trying to balance and harmonize doing and being

• We are trying to balance strength and willpower with nurturing and love

There are many other such yin/yang polarities. The main point is that the path of the Tao is one of the balancing and harmonizing of the yin and yang elements in our life. When we do achieve this balance, the Great Tao, an experience of the primal oneness and unity of life emerges into our awareness and life. In fact the Great Tao is always with us, within us and around us, but our lack of inner harmony and balance causes us to feel separated from it.

Short breathing exercise for balancing yin and yang, and connecting to the “Great Mother of the Tao”

Look at or visualize a traditional yin /yang circle, such as the one in the illustration at the top of this article.
As you breathe in, feel forceful, energizing yang energy rising within your body and mind.
As you breathe out, feel your mind and body moving into a restful, receptive yin state.
Breathe like this for a while, alternating between yang energy on the in-breath and yin energy on the out-breath.
Now close your eyes. Feel your inhalation and exhalation becoming smooth, relaxed and of equal duration (that is the inhalation and exhalation are of equal length). Feel the yin and yang energies within your body and mind flowing together and becoming a single, unified, non-dual energy.
Identify this single, harmonized, unified energy as the Primal Tao, the Great Mother, beyond yin or yang.
Stay with this harmonized, unified state for a while, finish when ready.

Daily practice:

Try and stay in touch with this feeling of harmony and unity in your daily life. Notice that, even in time of emotional turbulence and outer chaos, if you quieten your mind you can still connect to the Great Mother, the Primal Tao, and feel its presence.
Thanks for reading!

Yours in the Spirit of the Great Mother,
Toby

PS: For those of you in Singapore, this coming Sunday 9th January I am holding a beginners Qi gong Workshop: “How to Raise your Health and Energy Levels with Qi Gong” . An ideal opportunity for those who wish to start a practice to get the knowledge and practical instruction they need!

Developing balanced sensory awareness – Feeing your back and into what is behind you

2010-11-15T02:03:00.000-08:00

Balanced sensory awareness can be experienced as an awareness that is evenly distributed between the six aspects of our body (front, back, left, right, top, bottom) and the corresponding directions that surround us (in front, behind, to the left, right, above and below).
Because four of our senses are based toward the front of our head, the bias of our sensory awareness tends to be focused to the front, with subsidiary awareness of the left and right.
General Qi gong practice opens us up also to awareness of the sky and stars above, and planetary qi below.
Which direction is left out of the equation? Yep, it is behind, and using the back of our head, neck and back (as in back of torso) to feel and sense into our world.

Consciously focusing our awareness in the back of our body and learning to sense and feel into what is behind us is an interesting exercise:

• It makes us stop and think/be aware, as it provides us with a new perspective that we do not often focus on
• It gets us out of our mind and into our body
• It brings our overall sensory awareness into balance
• It teaches us to not over-rely upon our visual sense, and to “feel” and “hear” into our world more
• It develops our tactile sense, as the back of our body has no other major sense organs, just the sense of energy and touch coming through the skin receptors
• It is just a pleasant way of re-experiencing your world
Focusing on feeling your back and what is behind you is something that you can do anytime as a mindfulness exercise that will help you balance your overall sensory awareness and get you out of your head.

• You can do it whilst walking along (hint: don’t totally loose awareness of what is in front of you!)
• You can find a piece of open space and practice walking slowly and mindfully backwards, sensing with the back of your body as you go.
• You can take a one minute pause when you are working in front of your computer and just spend that minute focusing on what you feel in your back.
• It is nice to go out and try and sense landscape around you through the back of your body, rather than just seeing and experiencing it from the front and what is in your line of eye-vision

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

Previous articles on directional awareness:

Balancing your awareness of the six directions

Meditating on extending the six directions and drawing back Wu qi

Meditating on extending the six directions and drawing back Wu Qi

2010-11-06T02:41:00.000-07:00

This is an extension of the basic meditation form explained on my previous article on “Balancing your awareness of the six directions” . The meditation explained below will work in and of itself, but if you have not read the previous article, you might find it useful to do so as a context.

This meditation has the following aims:

• To center ourself in the six directions

• To expand our awareness to go beyond the six directions, moving into a timeless, formless state of emptiness (or Wu Qi)

• To then draw back the infinite energy of Wu Qi into our temporal minds and bodies

From this brief outline we can see that the meditation invites experience of the deeper, mystical expressions of qi, and shows how to draw upon this deeper level of qi, drawing it back into our everyday minds and bodies in a way that is beneficial to their health and wellbeing.

The meditation on extending the six directions and drawing back Wu Qi:

1. Centre yourself in the six directions. To do this, simply be aware of:

- the front of your body and what is in front of you

- The back of your body and what is behind you

- The two sides of your body and what is on either side

- The crown of the head and soles of your feet, the earth beneath you and the sky and stars above you.

2. Find the approximate dead centre of your torso, somewhere between your solar plexus and the centre of your chest.

Imagine from that central point lines of light and energy extend out into the six directions simultaneously.

Let your mind follow all six lines simultaneously as they expand out into infinity. By doing this allow your mind to become an open, expansive, limitless empty space. Indentify this limitless, expansive emptiness as Wu qi, primal emptiness or the primal Tao.

At the same time let a part of your mind stay centred and aware of the dead centre of your torso.

If you do this you will feel a sense of being simultaneously centred in your body and limitlessly expansive.

Stay in this state for a while.

3. Now draw back the limitless energy of Wi qi back into your body, along the six directional lines that you extended outward in stage two. From the limitless expanse of primal emptiness feel the energy and light of Wu qi flowing into your temporal body as it exists in time and space, building a strong fulcrum of light and energy in the dead centre of your torso area.

4. Finnish by grounding and relaxing, allow the Qi that you feel in your torso to spread out into the whole of your body. If you like you can finish with a little core cellular breathing just to consolidate the energy into your cellular structure.

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

Balancing your awareness of the six directions

2010-10-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

www.tobyouvry.com/soulportraits

One of the simpler and the more profound realizations that Qi gong seeks to impart to us is the experience of ourself as a point of primal, formless, eternal energy (also known as Wu-qi) that simultaneously inhabits a physical body located in time and space.

In order to make our awareness still, stable and balanced enough to get in touch with our self as primal energy, it is necessary to balance our manifest energy in time and space. What are the basic elements that need to be balanced in order to do this? There is more than one answer to this question, but a major one is that we need to balance and center our experience of the six directions:

• Awareness of in front and behind

• Our left and right

• Above and below

The six directions are obvious, always present, and yet often we are always not really fully conscious of the way in which we interact with them in time and space, from moment to moment.
The following exercises are designed to help us cultivate awareness of the way in which we are constantly interacting with the six directions, and help us become grounded, strong and stable within that context. It is good to do them as a formal practice a few times, but once you get a feel for them they can be done wherever you are. Just to re-emphasize, these exercises are REALLY SIMPLE, but they are also profound and if practised regularly will reward you with many different layers of insight and a sense of deep mental, spiritual and physical stability.

Exercise 1: Basic awareness of the six directional elements of your body

Sitting or standing (in the basic Qi gong standing posture, or other standing form)

- First be aware of the front and back of your body. Alternate between awareness of either the front or the back for a while, then practice awareness of them both together.

- Then be aware if the left and right halves of your body. Practice alternating between awareness of the left and right for a while, then practice holding awareness of them both together’

- Now practice awareness of the top and bottom halves of your body, alternating between them for a while before practising awareness of both simultaneously

- Finally alternate between awareness of front and back, left and right, top and bottom for a while, finishing with an awareness of all six aspects of your body simultaneously held in a single awareness.

- Conclude with a brief period of stillness, enjoying the sense of balance within your body.

Exercise 2: Basic awareness of the six directions

Again, sitting or standing as is your preference, outside if you can but it is not necessary per-se.

- Extend your awareness in the direction in front of you, both in terms of what you can see and mentally beyond that. Then extend your awareness behind you, sensing into the landscape behind you. Alternate between awareness of the space in front and behind for a while then practice holding them both simultaneously. Feel them coming together and balancing in the centre of your body.

- Do the same thing for the landscape to your left and right, alternating between the two for a while and then holding awareness of them both simultaneously

- Then practice alternating your awareness between feeling deeply into the Earth beneath you, and then up into the sky and stars above you. Alternate between awareness of above and below for a while and then practice awareness of both simultaneously

- Then alternate between individual awareness of all six directions around and above you, concluding with a simultaneous awareness of all six directions simultaneously, with yourself as the centre.

- As with exercise 1, conclude with a brief period of stillness.

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

Alchemical Qi gong meditation

2010-10-05T02:03:00.000-07:00

Is alchemy an external art turning base metals into gold? Or is it an internal one which is really about learning to transform lower levels of consciousness to higher ones? My view on this is that it is both. The basic idea being that:

• If you isolate the elements of the periodic table (as in basic chemistry) from planetary and lunar influences, and expose them to primal stellar and solar forces, then they evolve or develop. Hence the idea of lead being placed in a crucible (that is, isolating it from planetary and lunar forces, and exposing it to stellar energy) and then as a result evolving into gold.

• If you isolate consciousness from the everyday coming and going of thoughts and emotions through meditation, then it will start to evolve naturally as the influence of “cosmic” or “universal” consciousness starts to fill it. Thus the mind of the meditator evolves from the “lead” of the everyday mind to the “gold” of the enlightened or cosmic consciousness.

Actually, the outer practice of alchemy and the inner practice of meditative alchemy come together in the body of a good meditator, and so it is not just the mind of the meditator that evolves, but the physical elements of the body that evolves as well. When the meditator goes into deep meditation, their mind and body are exposed to cosmic energies which cause both the mind and the body to transform.

This is why when the bodies of highly realized meditators (for example within the Tibetan Vajrayana, or Taoist Masters) unusual, pearl-like or metallic objects are discovered when they are cremated.

Another way of expressing this meditation is by saying that it is a way of connecting us as directly as possible to the non-dual energy of Wu-qi, the most powerful and primal form of qi, which acts as the source of all other forms of qi.

In terms of Three Body Qi gong™ , this is a form or practice relating to our cuasal or stillness body.
So, here is a very simple alchemical Qi gong meditation, please note I am in no way claiming that you will start to become an instant enlightened being, or that your body will suddenly increase in net worth. But it will begin a process that, if pursued will lead to expansion of consciousness and energy, and a peaceful, healthy body.

Alchemical Qi gong meditation:

- Find a quiet spot, indoors or outdoors. If indoors the room should be simple, not too many things in it and with space around your body. Actually if you have a handy cave, or other appropriate hole in this ground, this is ideal (!)

- A stone, bowl of water or solitary candle in front of you if you wish.

- Sit or stand comfortable in a suitable meditation posture that can be comfortably sustained

- Follow the breathing for a while until the mind starts to settle. If you like do some core body breathing or core cellular breathing to settle and energize the mind and body

- See your energy field like an oval or egg of light around your body, 20-40cms distance from the skin. The “shell” or edge of your energy field is dark and insulating on the outer surface, and shiny and reflective on the inside surface.

- See a small hole at the top of the oval, directly above the crown of your head

- See a small hole at the bottom of the oval, directly beneath your perineum.

- See a line of stellar or universal light coming down from the sky and into your energy field through the top hole, flowing down into the crown of your head and down into your heart/central chest area

- See a line of light and energy extending up from the core of the earth, rising through the hole at the bottom of your energy field and then into your body, rising to the centre of the chest area, where it converges with the primal star light coming down from the top of your energy field.

- In the centre of your heart space see a very bright ball, or flame of universal light being formed by the converging streams of energy from above and below.

- The universal light builds in the heart, and is contained within your energy field. As you will remember, the inner edge of your energy field is reflective, containing the light in your heart, and reflecting it back on itself, causing it to intensify.

- The outside of your energy field is dark and insulating, cutting it off from planetary and lunar sources of energy.

- Sit for a short while in this crucible-like structure, keeping your mind as gently focused and concept-free as possible. You may feel an intense flow of energy at times, sometimes deep peace. Don’t try and control it, just focus on “holding the space”.

- When you have finished, see the crucible form around your energy field dissolving. Ground your energy fully into your physical body and return to your daily wakeful state.

- 10-15 minutes should be fine, no more than 30 mins unless you are in some kind of retreat conditions.

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

Learning to bi-locate your energy body

2010-09-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

www.tobyouvry.com/soulportraits

To bi-locate your energy body means that your physical body remains in one place, whilst your energy body travels somewhere else.

One of the things that you may have heard emphasized in Qi gong is that it is important to find a location that has good natural qi, such as parks and other places in nature that have trees and such. This is absolutely true, but, in the absence of always having suitable location, you can always begin your Qi gong session with a brief meditation where you strongly visualize and imagine that you are in the natural, qi-rich environment of your choice.

If you do this regularly, you will start having strong feelings that you are actually in that environment, and you will actually feel the healthy qi flowing through your body. The reason for this is that your energy body, or qi body is made of light, and as such can travel at the speed of light to any location simply through the power of strongly imagining yourself there.

By visualizing yourself in a beautiful place, part of your energy body will actually go there and the experience that you have of being connected to the energies of that place is absolutely genuine.

The basic understanding here is that you can, energetically (in your energy body) go anywhere you want at any time. With regard to your Qi gong practice you can be in a concrete jungle and still practice your Qi gong connected to the beautiful, natural environmental qi of your choice!
Five minute exercise for learning to bi-locate your light body

Part 1- minutes 1-2:
Sit or stand comfortably, feel your physical body surrounded by your energy field, which is like an oval of light extending 20-30cms around the edge of your body. Gather your mental and physical energy into the present moment and into your energy field. As you breathe in feel yourself breathing light and energy into all the cells of your body, as you breathe out feel your mind and body releasing tension.

Part 2 – minutes 3-4:
Visualize yourself in the natural, qi-rich location of your choice. Strongly imagine yourself there and feel your energy body connecting to the energies of the environment. Breathe these energies in and out of your energy field for a while. If you like you can focus on breathing in the energy of particular feature of the landscape, an old tree, a waterfall, a mountain.

Part 3 – last minute:
Relax, keep present and just allow the energies that you are connecting to to flow through your energy body.
Then you can either finish the exercise or go on to do other aspects of your Qi gong practise.

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

Body shaking and patting

2010-09-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

Body shaking and body patting are very simple exercises that you can do as a way of awakening the flow of Qi in your body, releasing tension and creating a state of mental and physical alertness. I do this at the beginning of meditations sometimes if I am feeling a little sluggish, or as a way of refreshing my mind and body after I have been sitting at my work station for some time or otherwise involved in stationary work

Body Shaking:

Part 1: Standing with your kness slightly bent, place the backs of your hands upon your lower back, so that the weight of your hands and arms are resting on the tops of the hip bones. Using the thighs and knees, gently shake your whole body up and down in a regular rhythm. As you breathe out, do so in short bursts in rhythm with your body shaking. With each short burst of exhalation, feel yourself releasing tension from your mind, body and energy system.

Part 2: Once you have done part one for a minute or two, move onto shaking your body rhythmically in a more free form way. Go up on to the toes and front balls of the soles of your feet, shake your arms and shoulders around, use short kicking movements to release tension from the leg muscles. This is a free form stage, the main thing is just to shake your whole body in a way that releases tension and feels good (an not in such an energetic way that you injure yourself)!

Body patting

Take a moment to imagine that the palms of your hands are filled with light and energy. Pat the surface of your body lightly with the palms, see this light and energy moving into the surface where you are patting, energizing and awakeing it. Pat the whole surface of your body systematically. I normally follow a pattern that goes something like this:

• Across whole scalp, face and neck

• Across chest and belly area

• Using one hand pat across the top of one arm and hand, then along its underside. When finished swap arms

• Using one hand pat across the shoulder of one side of your back, and then underneath the armpit from the lateral muscles down to the lower back. Once finished repeat on the other side with using the other hand

• Using both palms together, pat the butt cheeks and then down the back of the legs to the ankles. Then work your way up the front of the legs to the top of the thighs

• Then pat the sides of the legs from the hips down to the ankles. Subsequently pat from the ankles back up the inside of the legs to the top of the thighs and groin area

When you finish, take a deep breath and relax!

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you must seek Toby's permission first! Contact toby@tobyouvry.com

Learning to conserve, build and circulate your energy, not waste it though dissipation and distraction

2010-09-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

One of the basic principles of Qi gong is that, through our awareness of energy we are trying to learn not to needlessly dissipate or “throw off” our mental, emotional and physical qi. Instead we learn to keep it within our energy field and circulate it within our mind-body continuum. Here are some practical ways in which we waste our qi and life force habitually:

• Continuous physical fidgeting and habitual muscle tension (often due to lack of awareness of how our busy mind is causing our body to feel uneasy all the time)

• Discomfort with feeling deep emotion (positive or negative), due to a habitual aversion to the vulnerability that deep emotion makes us feel. In general, deep emotion carries with it large amounts of qi that we can learn to circulate in our energy system. Repressing emotion, or becoming addicted to it/acting compulsively on it causes us to lose our ability to use its qi in an effective way

• Doing our physical actions using much more muscle power than is necessary. For example typing at a computer with our facial muscles locked in an unconscious frown.

• Compulsive and excessive (mindless or meaningless) speech

• Compulsive and excessive thinking or worrying

In all the above ways and many more, we dissipate our qi on a daily basis. So, one of the best ways to start practising Qi gong is simply to make it a daily habit and discipline to be aware of how you are using your qi on a moment to moment basis. Ask yourself questions like:

- “In the last hour, how effectively have I been using my life-force?”

- “How much physical energy do I really need to walk from one place to another, how can I make my walking more energetically efficient?”

- “Is the amount of thought that I am giving this problem really ergonomically effective?” (ie: the amount of good results relative to energy spent on the issue)

Here is a simple, 6 minute exercise that you can do to help develop awareness of your qi, and start to build it in your mind and body, rather than dissipate it needlessly. If you do this and nothing else as a Qi gong practice it will help you raise your energy levels:

For the first two minutes:
Sit in a comfortable position. Visualize an energy field around your body, the shape of an egg, extending roughly 10-20cms from the surface of your body. Simply sit still, and focus on the physical stillness of your body. Notice the temptations to fidget and don’t follow them. Try to keep all of your energy in the present moment, and within the boundaries of your energy field. Use your breathing, your still body, and the edge of your energy field as your basic points of focus

For minutes 3-4:
Use the core body breathing technique to breathe energy into the core of your body and out to the edge of your energy field. As the qi moves in and out of the core of your body, retain it in your energy field so that you can feel it building and increasing.

For the minutes 5-6:
Relax and breathe naturally, your body and energy field will now feel energised. Practice keeping mentally and physically still, whilst at the same time feeling full of energy and life-force.

This final state is the one that we are aiming to make the base line of our daily life and awareness as Qi gong practitioners: Simultaneously relaxed and energized.

For details of upcoming Three Body Qi Gong classes with Toby please go to www.tobyouvry.com/qigong

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

Healing, Art and Service: The three levels of motivation in Qi gong

2010-09-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

There are three levels of motivation that you can distinguish in Qi gong:

- Qi gong as Self-healing: Firstly you can practice Qi gong in order to learn how to self-heal your mind and body of a particular ailment. You can see stories of two people who have found Qi gong most helpful for their self-healing at the top of my testimonials page. The first is recovering from cancer, and the second found it helpful in re-establishing her body’s balance after premature kundalini activation that caused here a lot of problems.

- Qi gong as the art of energy-awareness: The second level is where you have gotten to the stage where you are basically healthy and well, and you are using Qi gong as a way of developing yourself and enhancing your quality of life. For example Qi gong facilitates the development of your energy awareness, helps facilitate your mind-body-spirit connection, increases your energy levels and mental sharpness, and enables you to commune with nature more and more deeply.

- Qi gong as an act of service: The third level of Qi gong practice is where the person’s primary motivation for practicing Qi gong becomes that of service. As this level the person is seeking to bring energetic benefit to the landscape in which he or she is practising their Qi gong. Rather than saying to the Earth “please heal me” such a practitioner says to the Earth “What can I do to be of service to you in my practice?”. This is really a level that evolves out of the first two. If you practice Qi gong and Qi gong meditation for a while then you naturally start to see your daily Qi gong as a way of participating in the life of the Planet and, by doing so enhancing the overall depth and texture of the Earth’s Qi.
A nice thing to do at the beginning of your Qi gong practice is to consciously generate all three motivations within your mind by reciting a simple prayer or affirmation such as:

“May my practice heal myself of all physical, energetic and psychological imbalances,
May it create joy, harmony and depth in my own body and the energy body of the Earth,
May it play a part in the restoring health and wellbeing to the Earth all who live within the sphere of her energy body.”

One of the secrets of Qi gong practice is that the level of energy that you connect to in your practice is influenced to a large degree by your mental intention. If you consciously expand your intention and motivation at the beginning of your session, then this will actually accelerate the development of your Qi gong practice!

Classes:
Upcoming Three Body Qi Gong™ classes with Toby in September and October
Related Articles:
An answer to the question "How do I experience meditation?"
Is your meditation a type of threrapy, and art-form or a spiritual practice?

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

What s Three Body Qi Gong™? (and why should you be interested in practicing it)

2010-09-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

Three Body Qi Gong™ (TBQG™) is a new form of Qi Gong that I hav been working on in my own personal Qi gong practice for the last few years. I will be giving my first series of TBQG™ classes this coming September/October, and I am quite exited by it.

With this in mind I wanted to write a little bit about some of the fundamental concepts of Three Body Qi Gong™; what sets it apart from other forms of Qi gong, what the benefits are and so forth:

Three Body Qi Gong™ combines physical fitness training, subtle energy training and meditation training into a single practice:
As I'm sure you are all aware, contemporary living is placing a premium on our time. Our "to do" list never seems to run out, and the amount of information that we have to deal with is ever increasing. Within this time-limited context we also understand that it is good to make time for:

- physical fitness in the form of conventional muscle, stamina and flexibility training
- energetic fitness in the form of exercises such as conventional qi gong or yoga that create a balanced flow of energy through the body
- and mental/spiritual fitness in the form of meditation training to still the mind and develop inner peace and our sense of our "centre"
What I have done with TBQG™ is to combine elements of physical muscle fitness, subtle energy work and meditative stillness into a single set of practices. With three Body Qi Gong™ you can learn to exercise your physical body, subtle energy body and causal (or very subtle/stillness body) all in one workout; mental peace, energetic health and physical fitness rolled into one practice! So this is both time effective and rewarding.

Three body Qi Gong™ simplifies a lot of complex terminology into an easy to understand and comprehensive format:
Many people interested in Qi gong have found that the way in which is explained seems to be quite complex and ambiguous. Different teachers explain it in different ways and using different terminology. TBQG™ presents Qi gong practice in a conceptual framework that is easy to understand, and therefore easy to put into practice. Whilst honoring the depth and complexity of the tradition from which Qi gong practice arises, TBQG™ aims to give people the confidence in their own ability to understand and practice Qi gong that arises from clear instructions and understanding.

Three Body Qi Gong™ will complement and enhance any physical body or sport training that you do:
TBQG™ uses traditional Qi gong stretching and bending movements to promote flexibility. In terms of strength and stamina training TBQG™ mainly works with different types of standing positions that creates gravitational resistance against which our muscles have to work. The type of muscle that we develop through this type of training is high quality, light and ergonomically effective (ie: in terms of the size of the muscle relative to its strength). It is definitely a type of fitness training in itself, but any other form of sport of fitness work that you do will be improved by the TBQG™ practices.

Three Body Qi Gong™ will complement and enhance any meditation or spiritual practices that you have:
In general I have found that conventional Qi gong practice has had a tremendously balancing and deepening effect on my own meditation practice, as it works so well to balance and harmonize the subtle energies of the body. TBQG takes this a step further by integrating muscle training and strengthening which further grounds and stabilizes our meditation practice. TBQG™ overtly integrates meditation and stillness practices into the workout, which means that formal meditation time is integrated into the exercises themselves.

Three Body Qi Gong™ will help you to develop your emotional and mental strength and balance:
TBQG™ teaches us how to transform physical resistance into energetic flow. By learning how to do this on a physical level, we will also come to understand how we can start to:
- Energetically transform emotional resistance and negativity in our mind and body, and direct it toward useful and beneficial ends
- Develop mental strength and endurance through the physical training itself

Three Body Qi Gong™ will increase your general health and energy levels as well as your body's capacity for self-healing:
Again, I have found that conventional Qi gong has has a tremendously beneficial effect upon my own general health and energy levels, and has given me a lot of knowledge and expereince when it comes to tapping into my bodie's innate capacity for self-healing. TBQG™ adds a couple of new dimensions to the health and healing power of Qi gong in general, by more overtly tapping into the healing power of meditation and the mind, as well as the health and confidence benefits of a physically strong body.

Three Body Qi Gong™ is easy to practice at home as well as in class:
The format of TBQG™ is such that, once you have a grasp of the basics it is quite easy to apply in your ow time as long as you have a little discipline. It is not like Tai Chi in the sense of being a complex set of movements that takes months to get a grasp of even the basic physical gestures. TBQG™ does however offer multiple levels of increased depth in the training, so it is a practice that you can engage in for years without feeling like you have ceased tapping into its beneficial potential!

If you are new to Qi gong and looking to start a practice, Three Boby Qi Gong is going to be a great place to start. If you have been practising Qi gong for a while and are looking for new dimensions to your practice, then I am confident that the TBQG format will provide those dimensions, perspectives and experiences in abundance!
So, if you are in Singapore, I invite you to check out the new series of TBQG™ classes that I am doing in September and October, numbers are limited to seven persons maximum, so please register your interest sooner rather than later to avoid disspointment.

For those of you not in Singapore, but following from overseas, I will be posting more articles on TBQG™ in the future, and hope to get some form of training manual together over the coming months...

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST seek Toby's permission first! Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Two energy meditations, one for dealing with exhaustion, and one for connecting to Wu-qi or primal emptiness

2010-08-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

I wanted to put these two meditations together, not because they are inherently linked, but they do work well together as a way of dealing with fatigue.

I came to the practice of qi gong at a time in my life when I found my energy levels taking a nose dove for no apparent reason, and qi gong was one of the main reasons why I was able to maintain a normal routine in spite of the energetic challenges that I faced. This difficult time in my life is one of the main reasons why I have such a lot of faith in qi gong, as I found it was incredibly helpful. Nevertheless there were times when I really felt too tired to do any standing qi gong exercise, and the first technique that I describe below was a method that I developed as a way of coping with exhaustion, and I find it still comes in useful at times when life is busy and tiredness sets in.

The second technique is very simple, it is a way of connecting to Wu-qi, also sometimes described as primal emptiness or the primal Tao (see description of Wu-qi in article on 4 levels of qi). When doing this meditation we focus on the energy at our heart. However, the level of energy that we are connecting with here is primal qi, which is deeper than any of the energies in our subtle body; any of the three dan-tiens or any of the chakras, so don’t confuse it with any of these. The ideas is that we are creating a link to our primal qi, and allowing it to flow out into our subtle energy body and gross physical body.

Technique 1: For regenerating one’s energy when extremely tired

Seated (or lying down if you are too tired to sit comfortably) allow your body to become as relaxed as possible, in particular relax your physical brain as much as you can. Feel into the sense of fatigue and exhaustion in your body, don’t fight it, focus on accepting it and extending a feeling of love and acceptance toward your body and the state that it is in. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus your mind on the exhalation, and as you breathe out feel yourself letting go of the exhaustion in your body, you can feel it leaving on the outward breath. Try and relax your mind as much as possible, make it as thoughtless as you can (see meditation on “breathing through the mouth to relax the brain” ). Simply stay with this relaxed state and breathing pattern for a while
Technique 2: For connecting to the energy of Wu-qi

If you are doing this in conjunction with technique 1, do the first technique long enough for the tension of the fatigue in your body to have dissipated a little. Once the body and mind start to relax you will feel them open up, and at that point they will then naturally start to look to regenerate their energy.

Feel into the centre of your torso, along the vertical core of your body, somewhere between the heart and the solar plexus (the precise location you will ‘find’ intuitively). Sense within the centre of your being a luminous, formless, empty space. Once you have located it, breathe in and out of it for a while.

Now sense emerging from that empty space within the centre of your being a light, you can either visualize it as a pulsing centre of light, or as a flame if you like. Starting gently and subtly at first, but growing in power over time, you feel this light and energy pulsing out from the deep centre of your being into your subtle energy body and your gross physical body. As this energy flows out into your subtle and gross bodies, you can feel them being regenerated and purified. Stay with this experience for as long as you wish.
© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST seek Toby’s permission first. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Learning to attune your body to Qi within the landscape

2010-08-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

One of the basic principles of Qi gong is that energy follows mind. Indeed mind in the sense of thought and emotion is really just a subtler, more refined level of qi relative to the bio-electric or prajnic force that is most commonly referred to in Qi gong practice (see article on “4 levels of qi or energy in Qi gong”).
Most commonly when we learn how to direct qi using the mind in Qi gong it is using the mind to direct energy around our body. However it is equally useful and important to learn to use our mental awareness to attune to the landscape that surrounds our body so that we can create a positive and dynamic interface between the qi of our body and qi of the environment we are in.
One simple way that I do this is to practice walking, standing or lying whilst being aware of the six basic spatial directions that my body exists within; above, below, in front, behind, left and right.
I’ll explain this in two practical examples below that should give you an idea of how this can be applied. It is very simple and primal, but very profound and effective. If you do it regularly you will find yourself moving naturally into states of heightened awareness of the interface between yourself and your environment.
Walking in woodland
On a recent trip back to the UK to see family I spent regular time just walking in the woodland by myself. Woodland has a natural healing and regenerating energy. As I walk at a pace that feels right for me I place equal awareness on the four directions of my horizontal awareness; I am aware of what is in front of me, what is behind me, the direction to my tight and left. As I walk along I can if I like focus on one direction, such as behind, or to the left, but I try not to lose awareness of the other three directions as I do so. The first few times you do this you will probably be most aware of the newness of being aware of the direction behind you, as it is the direction that we are least aware of most of the time (our eyes being in the front of our head)
Once I have walked like this for a while, I then include awareness of the sky above and the earth below, I expand my mind up, down and out to the four horizontal directions, being aware of a flow and exchange of energy between myself and my environment from all six directions. Again I can spend a little while focusing on one direction for a while, but always within the context of a holistic awareness of all six.
The walk is spent with gentle sustained attention to directional awareness with enough flexibility to follow the spontaneous experiences that it takes you to, but enough control to keep your basic attention coming back again and again to the foundational awareness of the directions.
For overcoming jet-lag or general sleeplessness
Having just returned to Singapore from my trip I have been up in the early hours, and in general I find attuning to the six directions a great way of getting more quickly into the rhythm of a new time zone or land that I have travelled to. Here is what I did last night from about 3-5pm.
Lying down I mentally make my mind big expanding it to the horizon of the directions before and behind me, to my right and left, above and below. I alternate my focus on each of the directions, spending a short time focusing and attuning to each, and then I move into an awareness of all six directions collectively. After a few minutes of doing this I can feel my body interfacing with the landscape in a very direct manner, it is almost like “plugging in” to the landscape so that my body’s energy and the energy of the landscape harmonize and merge with each other. Although I don’t fall asleep immediately, my body becomes completely relaxed and comfortable, with a gentle energy buzzing through it. My mind becomes rapidly almost thoughtless, open and relaxed.
Temporarily this state of awareness is pretty much as relaxing and regenerating as sleep, and in the longer term my body moves into sync with the new landscape in a highly accelerated manner, which means my bio-rhythms and sleep patterns settle down much faster and much more harmoniously. Actually this is a basic form of qi meditation that I often do before I fall asleep in general.

*****

So, there you go, a simple set of basic principles for attuning your body’s qi to the qi within landscape. You can apply it to various situations, as I hope the two examples above demonstrate.
“Try it, you’ll like it!” as they say.
© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this information, but you must seek Toby’s permission first! Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Sunshine qi gong energy body meditation

2010-08-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

This meditation is designed to help us enhance the amount of energy that we are receiving from the sun on a daily basis. If we ask ourselves "What is the biggest source of qi in the solar system?" the obvious answer is the sun, as it is upon the basis of the sun that all life is enabled and sustained on the planet. In general a few minutes of sun on our body per day is good for our health even if we are not doing any conscious qi work while we are absorbing the rays, but this simple meditation enhances the amount of energy that we can receive quite substantially. It can be done as a complement to the basic Qi body / Light body meditation.

The technique:
1. Standing, sitting or lying in the sun (preferably on grass or bare earth), feel the suns rays on your body. Feel the golden light of the sun transforming your physical body into a beautiful, translucent golden light body. Feel the energy of this light body being charged and energized by the light of the sun. If you can imagine that your body is like an organic re-chargable battery, and the sunlight is like the electrical current filling it with new energy.

2. As you breathe in, breathe the energy of the sunlight into the core of your body, as you breathe it out feel the energy glowing as it expands through out your cellular structure.

3. After two or three minutes of this absorbing and breathing, you feel as if you have a minature sun in the centre of your chest area that you can either contract to a small size (say the size of a tennis ball) or expand so that it surrounds your entire body and energy field.
The entire meditation should not take longer than 5-10 minutes, especially if the sunlight is strong. Later in the day if you like you can recall the sun in your heart and spend a short while feeling it and breathing with it to consolidate the solar energy in your system.

Variation: Meditating with sunlight filtered through leaves.
You can also do this meditation with sunlight filtered through the leaves of a tree that you like. Sunlight filtered though leaves has a very gentle healing property which also varies according to the particular tree that you use. If you do this, in addition to the gold light of the sun you will also feel the green light from the leaves in your energy body.
Both of these meditations are very nice holiday meditations, and as I am on holiday right now and have been doing them, I thought I would pass them on!

Related article: Solar Qi gong meditation

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST seek Toby's permission first. Contact info@tobyouvry.com

Qi gong, "jing qi" and our libido - A practical way for making wise use of our sexual energy

2010-08-01T02:02:00.000-07:00

I wrote last week about "jing qi" or our essential energy. One of the main ways in which our jing qi is expressed is through our maleness or femaleness, and one of the main store houses of our jing qi is our sexual organs and fluids.
Thus, in qi gong practice and philosophy one of the main things that we try and do is to develop and sustain quite a high level of sexual qi or libido within our body, learning to express and/or conserve it in a wise, sustainable and healthy manner.

Two extremes
There are two responses to the arousal of our libido that we often fall into:

Either we repress our sexual response to a person as something " bad" or inappropriate
Or we may indulge it, seeking to express in in an uncontrolled, inappropriate or indiscriminate manner.

The exercises I describe below is a practical method for beginning to enjoy a balanced and energy giving approach to our libido and sexual energy.

With people
When you notice a sexual or sensual response within your body to a person, rather than falling into the extreme of indulgence or repression of that energy, try to enter into a space of appreciation, gratitude and reverence for the energy that has been stimulated in your body. As you breathe in, breathe the energy into the core of your body (the central line between the of energy going down the center of the torso, from the crown to the perineum, see last weeks article).
As you breathe out, breathe the energy from the core of your body our to the surface of your skin.
As you breathe, just relax and allow your whole body to feel alive to the gentle experience of sensual pleasure.

Alternatively, if you are familiar with the microcosmic orbit meditation, you can practice circulating the sexual feelings and energy around your microcosmic orbit. Both types of breathing exercise can be consciously done with a sexual partner if you wish. the main point is to get used to enjoying and circulating your sexual energy in a relaxed and meditative manner that allows you to comfortably hold a relatively high level of libido in your body which enhances your jing qi, physical and psychological health and meditation practice.

Concluding thoughts
In conclusion, a healthy and balanced approach to our libido is an invaluable asset in taking care of and enhancing our jing qi, or essential energy.
A balanced attitude of appreciation and reverence for the sensual and sexual energy of ourself and others enables us to derive deep enjoyment from our libido. this can be whether we are in an active, engaged sexual relationship (such as I am in with my wife for example), or whether we are a celibate Buddhist monk or nun (I was a Buddhist monk for 5 years and spent 8 years outside of any kind of manifest sexual relationship during that period of my life).

Guided qi gong healing visualization and breathing exercise for developing, maintaining and increasing our Essential energy or “jing-qi”

2010-07-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

The main body of this article is going to be a practical guided exercise, but first I want to mention expand a little on the term “jing qi” which I mentioned in the overview article of the four levels of qi last week

What is jing qi?
Jing qi translates as meaning “essential energy”. Our essential energy is derived from the potency of the fluids in our body that carry the energy of our life force, particularly our sexual fluids, hormones and neuro-chemicals.
Qi gong exercises and lifestyle advice often centre on the development of this form of qi within our energy system, as when it is strong our immunity system will be strong and our energy levels will be high.
Our jing qi is supported by our “Yuan qi” or primordial energy (the pre-natal life force that we received from our parents) and “Jen qi” or true energy (postnatal energy derived from breathing and metabolism of food). Thus qi gong exercise nurtures our jing qi, and we support this by good diet and breathing habits (yuan qi), and the preservation and care of our yuan qi.
In general our jing qi pervades our body and all of the subtle energy meridians that interpenetrate our physical being. However, in qi gong the focus or fulcrum of our jing qi is explained to be in our lower dan-tien (dan tien meaning elixir filed or energy centre). For this reason the exercise below uses the lower belly area as its point of focus.

Qi gong healing visualization and breathing exercise for developing, maintaining and increasing our Essential energy

Preparation
Sit or stand in a relaxed position, with the head, neck, chest, belly and pelvis aligned vertically with each other, so that the weight of your upper body is able to travel down your lower torso in to the chair (if seated), or down your lower torso and legs into the floor (if standing).

Finding your core
Visualize a line of light and energy coming down from the sky, passing through the dead centre of your crown, brain, neck, chest, belly and pelvis, exiting through your perineum and passing down into the centre of the Earth. This is the vertical core line of your body. Once you have a clear image or feeling for it, breathe in and out of it gently for a little while.
Focusing your jing qi
Now see along the core line of your body at the level 3-6cms beneath your belly button there is a ball of light about the size of a golf ball. This is the fulcrum of the jing qi or essential energy in your body. Focus on it gently for a while, as you focus on it you will feel its light begin to glow and intensify.
(See general article for core body breathing HERE).

Building and distributing your jing qi
As you breathe in, visualize the ball of light in your belly glowing intensely with energy and qi. As you breathe our, feel light and energy flowing out from your lower belly into the energy meridians of your body. By the time time you finish your exhalation you can feel all the energy meridians of your body from your crown to your toes glowing with the light of your jing qi. Follow this breathing pattern for as long as is comfortable.

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

How is enlightenment measured in Qi gong practice? Identifying and connecting experientially to the four levels of qi that we work with in qi gong

2010-07-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

Over the next few articles I want to talk about practical ways of identifying different levels of qi. In this article I am simply going to identify these levels, name them, and give some simple exercises for identifying them. To do this I am going to be using comparisons between the four kingdoms mineral, plant, animal and human.

The names of the four types of qi are:
1. “Jing-qi”, or life-force energy
2. “Qi”, which equates to consciousness or mind energy
3. “Shen-qi” which equates to self-awareness (spiritual?) energy
4. “Wu-qi” which equates to words like primal energy, non-dual energy, all pervasive energy, causal energy.

Plants possess the first form of qi. Animals possess qi-types 1&2. Humans possess qi-types 1-3. The fourth type of qi, Wi-qi could be said to inhabit and pervade all four kingdoms of mineral (in inanimate matter), plant, animal and human.

Identifying Jing-qi:
Compare a living plant and a dead plant, or a living tree and a dead one (if you can actually go out and do these exercises physically). What is it that you can see, feel and sense as present in the living plant that is not present in the dead one? That which you see feel and sense is the living plants jing-qi, or life force energy.

Identifying qi:
Compare a living plant with a living animal. What is it that you see, sense and feel as being present in the animal (literally “animating” it) that is not present within the plant? That which you see sense and feel in the animal, not possessed by the plant is its qi, or mind and consciousness energy
(Note: somewhat confusingly, the word “qi” is used as an umbrella term for all levels of energy, and in the case of this level, the same basic term is used specifically to refer to mind or consciousness energy)

Identifying shen-qi:
Contemplate your own, and human beings capacity (sorely underused unfortunately) to reflect upon ourself, our mind and our being in a way that an animal is not capable of. This capacity of human beings is their self-awareness qi, which might also be termed as soul or spiritual qi.
(Note: I am not saying animals have no soul or spirit, just not in the same self-aware sense that is being referred to in the above exercise to clearly identify this level of qi)

Identifying Wu-qi:
Observe that any object, mineral, plant, animal or human has a certain innate being-ness or presence. This sense of being-ness or presence is paradoxical in the sense that it every object has its own unique presence or being-ness, and yet at the same time the essential being-ness that we sense is the same in every object everywhere. It is like the intuitive glue that unites the whole universe into a single unified being. Wu-qi is sometimes simply referred to as the Tao.

Concluding thoughts
The objective of Qi gong practice is to unite these four levels of qi into a unified, harmonious, functioning whole within our own being, to marry the “higher” or “heavenly” energies of Wu-qi and shen-qi with the lower or “earthly” energies of qi and jing-qi. You could say that enlightenment in qi gong practice involves progressively higher and deeper levels of harmonizing, fusing and engaging these four levels within the body of the practitioner.

In my next article I will guide a more detailed contemplation for connecting experientially to jing-qi.

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

Why is Qi gong practice so relevant in contemporary society and in the current global climate of environmental crisis?

2010-07-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here are six reasons that come at the top of my list when it comes to motivating people to learn Qi gong if you have not done so already, and for persisting in it if you already have a practice, but occasionally struggle for motivation. I have to say that for me daily Qi gong practice is never something that I have to motivate myself to do these days, as the way in which it value adds to my quality of life is so self evident, but if you want a conceptual taste of what is possible, here you are:

1. Qi gong teaches that we are in a living relationship to our environment

When we practise Qi gong we learn to experience the energy within our body as a dynamic living part of the energy of the Earth herself. We experience daily reception and sustenance of energy from the planet, and from the forces of nature. This re-awakens our sense of being in relationship to and a part of the greater life of the planet. This is good for our physical health, but it is also offers a wonderful spiritual and psychological re-connection the Earth for human beings like us who have become trapped in the sense of separation-consciousness that comes from living in artificial environments that inhibit our feeling for the subtle, bio-electrical energy exchange between ourself and our environment.

There is much talk these days about how we need to change our behaviours and become more environmentally friendly. One of the problems that people face is that they have been cut off from nature and the environment, so they do not FEEL the connection between the way they act and its impact upon the world. Qi gong practice creates a daily, living, truly felt interface between human and environment. Any person connecting to the energy of the Earth in this way is naturally going to sensitize to the relationship between what they do and their environment.

2. Qi gong teaches us how to reconnect to our body’s subtle energy and natural healing power

Qi gong empowers us with real, experiential techniques for gaining control of the subtle energy levels of our body. We learn how we can consciously direct and enhance energy flow to any parts of our body that are sick or in need of healing. When I think for example of the possibility that I may one day get cancer of another form of serious disease, my Qi gong practice always gives me confidence that I have a powerful self-healing tool that I can use effectively even in such extreme circumstances (in combination with whatever conventional or holistic therapies I might also choose to deal with the sickness.

3. Qi gong teaches us how to consciously control our nervous system

Our nervous system basically has two aspects. Firstly it has the action/fight or flight mode, called the “sympathetic nervous system” and secondly the relaxation/recuperation mode, called the parasympathetic nervous system. When our nervous system is in sympathetic mode, we are expending energy and ready for action. When it is in parasympathetic mode we are able to relax our mind and body, and regenerate our body’s energy circuits. Qi gong breathing and movement techniques teach us how to consciously control the nervous system, and ensure that we switch it regularly to “rest and recuperation” mode, rather than having it involuntarily permanently switched on to action/fight or flight/energy expenditure mode.

Having our nervous system permanently over-stimulated is a particular problem for us in today’s society as we are so informationally and energetically over-stimulated by our artificial environment.

4. Increased sensual pleasure

When we practise Qi gong the subtle energy in our bodies harmonize and flows in a way that enables our senses to experience their objects (tactile sensations, sounds, sights etc...) on a deeper and more sensually pleasurable way. We come to realize that simple acts such as walking, receiving the warmth of the sun, touching a leaf (not to mention experiences that involve sexual polarity) are naturally and wonderfully pleasurable.

5. Greater peace of mind and rapidly increased processing of negative psychic energy carried within our bodies’ cellular structure.

Every negative experience that we have had in our life has impacted or imprinted itself onto the cellular structure of our physical body. This can make personal growth (on the level of consciousness) slower than it would otherwise be, because the energy within our physical body itself resists new ideas and ways of being and experiencing our life.

Qi gong practice teaches us how to direct powerful, positively charged qi/energy through our bodies’ cellular structure, thus enabling us to energetically “de-program” and cleanse our body of the negative impact of past experiences. As a result it helps us to experience peace of mind in the short term, and makes inner, psychological progress much faster than it would otherwise be.

6. More energy

You know this benefit is as simple as that, to practice Qi gong is to learn how to circulate greater and greater “voltages” of natural, bio-electrical energy through your physical and subtle bodies, which makes them feel energized, refreshed and ready to go out there and live the life that you always wanted to, but never quite felt like you had the energy to achieve!

Basic qi gong standing postures 4: Head in the stars

2010-07-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

RELATED ARTICLES:
Basic facets of qi gong standing for beginners
Three aspects of qi within the human body
Basic qi gong standing postures 1
Basic qi gong standing postures 2
Basic qi gong standing postures 3

Qi Gong 101: What it Qi Gong is and the different elements of basic Qi Gong practice

2010-06-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday 4th July I will be doing a Qi Gong mini-retreat entitled “Energy in the heart of the City” , and so in view of this I thought it might be a good time to reflect upon two fundamental questions: What is Qi Gong and what are the different elements of qi gong practice?
I have placed the answer in six basic categories below. All of the Qi Gong articles on this web-site basically refer to one or another of these six categories, with a fair amount of organic crossing over. These are the basic categories that I use to practice, explain and teach qi gong in my classes, coaching sessions and so forth.

What is Qi Gong?

1) Qi Gong is learning to develop awareness of and circulate qi or energy.
All qi gong practices really focus around this one basic point. They are all methods firstly to improve the amount (quantity) of qi flowing through our body and mind, thus giving us more energy, and secondly to improve the harmony and balance (quality) of that flow of qi/energy. What is most commonly referred to as “qi” in qi gong is the subtle magnetic and/or bio-electrical energy that flows through the subtle energy meridians in our body. The qi in our body is a part of a vast field of magnetic and bio-electrical energy that pervades and infuses the planet on which we live. Other equivalent words for qi are vital energy, prajna, etheric force and “ki” (as in the Japanese word “re-ki” or “universal energy”).

What does Qi Gong practice consist of?

2) Standing
Qi gong practices teach us how to increase and harmonize the flow of energy through our body by adopting certain special standing positions. If you think about the sky and stars above you as being the positive pole of an electrical circuit and the Earth beneath you as being the negative pole, then your body is like the conductor of electrical energy between these two poles. Qi gong standing postures show how to tap into the energy of the universe simply by standing in an optimal manner.

3) Breathing
Qi gong practice teaches basic breathing techniques to develop and enhance the flow of qi around our bodies. At any given time, if you observe your breathing, you will find that it reflects the way in which your body and mind are feeling at that time. Qi gong breathing techniques focus on giving our breathing patterns eight fundamental qualities; Silent and fine, slow and deep, long and soft, continuous and even.

4) Smiling
This is such a fundamental part of qi gong that I tend to draw it out as an element in and of itself. Basically the expression on our face has a fundamental effect on the energy in our mind and body. By learning to develop a technique called the “inner smile” we can harness this special form of qi or energy for many, many positive purposes in our life.

5) Moving
Qi gong promotes special types of slow, gentle physical movement forms to help promote the flow of qi throughout the body. There is also a mechanical (in the positive sense of the word) aspect of qi gong movement that focuses on putting the joints of our body through their full spectrum of movement on a regular basis. “A used door hinge never rusts” as the saying goes, qi gong movement exercises help us to exercise our joints and basic muscle groups in a way that helps to maintain them in a healthy, optimal state.

6) Practical philosophy
Qi gong is based around a great wealth of practical wisdom from the (mostly) Taoist tradition of health, primal psychology and spirituality. This provides a context and way of life that surrounds, infuses and informs the Qi gong practices outlined in points 1-5 above.

©Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST seek Toby’s permission first.

Basic Qi Gong standing postures 3: Embracing the heart-mind

2010-06-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

This third of the basic Qi Gong standing postures I call embracing the heart-mind. For many people the mind is most commonly associated with the brain as it is the brain through which the mind co-ordinates the movements of the body. However, in Taoist thought the mind itself is said to be located in the heart centre. Since this standing position emphasizes building and balancing qi at the heart, I call it embracing the heart-mind.
In general I would say that regularly focusing on our heart space and bringing healthy energy into it is important. Energetically when we can really feel into the core of our heart space we will tend to feel balanced and in control. If we feel out of touch with our heart space, as if there is an energy in there that feels “locked in” or that we feel as if we have no access to (like the door to our heart is closed), then it is difficult to think and feel in a balanced and open manner. For this reason I generally spend a couple of minutes in this posture every day, and use the added flow of energy that comes from the standing posture to really balance and open up my heart.

Embracing the heart mind:
- Begin by adopting the basic Qi Gong standing posture
- Raise your hands to the level of your heart, palms facing the central chest area, fingers between 5and 15cm apart (you will intuitively find a distance that is right for you). The distance between the palms of the hands and the front of the chest can be anything from 10cm to 40cm. That sounds like quite a lot of variation, but again if you bring your hands up to this position and experiment, you will quite rapidly find that there is a certain optimal distance that feels right for you.
- See a ball of light/qi in the centre of your chest space. As you breathe in, feel it gently expanding outward so that the edge of the ball is resting on the palms of your hands. As you breathe out, feel it contracting back into the centre of the heart space. As it does so, try and really feel that the qi and energy at the heart is becoming compact, focused and powerful, displacing any dissonant or imbalanced energy that may have lodged in your heart space for whatever reason.
- Do this for 2-3 minutes, or as long as feels comfortable. Once you are familiar with it if you like as you breathe in feel the ball of qi expanding from your heart to enclose the whole of your body’s energy field, and then contracting once more into the heart space as you breathe out.

Note: For some people, you may feel easier expanding the qi from your heart as you breathe out, and contracting it as you breathe in. This is ok, go with what feels natural for you.
There may also come a stage (and this holds true with all the standing postures) when you feel as if it is no longer necessary to use the breathing to direct the energy in the heart because you can feel the energy in the heart expanding and contracting, ebbing and flowing naturally and intuitively. If and when you reach this stage, the formal focus on the breathing becomes unnecessary.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST obtain Toby’s permission first, and cite Toby as the author.

Click HERE to read the fourth in Toby's series of articles on qi gong standing postures.

Related articles:

Basic facets of Qi Gong standing for beginners

Qi Gong standing exercises 1: Light body Standing form

Basic Qi Gong standing postures 2: Holding your Buddha belly

Three aspects of Qi within the human body

Basic Qi Gong standing postures 2: Holding your Buddha belly

2010-06-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is the second of my articles on basic Qi gong standing postures, click HERE for the first.

This second basic standing position I think of as the buddha belly position, as your hands are in such a position as they look like you are holding a big belly out in front of you, like one of those big fat (Maitreya) Buddha’s that you see so often in chinese households and cultures. You can do it in conjunction with other standing postures (see my article on the three dan tiens HERE) or just as an energy meditation in and of itself.

- Begin by adopting the basic qi gong standing posture
- Raise your hands up to the level of your lower abdomen, with the palms facing toward and just below your belly button, with the tips of the fingers of each hand 3-15 cm apart (find your point of balance here). It looks like you are holding a big belly out in front of you, with the palms on the edge of the lower part of the curve
- Sense see and feel a ball of light in the center of your lower belly. As you breathe in it expands so that its edge rests on the palms of your hands, as you breathe out, the ball of light contracts and intensifies into the center of the lower belly.
- Spend a few minutes (2-3 should be fine) breathing in this way, if you like as you breathe in you can expand the ball of qi/light in the belly so that it surrounds the whole body, contracting to a small size again as you breathe out.
- Return to basic Qi Gong standing posture, relax and conclude.

This is a very helpful exercise for building the strength of the qi in your lower dan tien, which is the center of your physical body’s vital energy. Short time commitment, much to be gained!

Click HERE to read the next in Toby's series on qi gong standing postures.

© Toby Ouvry 20101 please do not reproduce without permission

Flow or Stillness

2010-05-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

Comparisons between the energy based meditations of Qi Gong and the concentrative or stillness based traditions of meditation.

This Sunday (6th May) I am going to be doing a workshop on Qi Gong meditation for healing and health, and so I thought it might be a nice idea to have a look at the way in which Qi Gong meditation differs from other forms of meditation. Put in very simple terms it could be stated like this:
Whilst many traditions of meditation such as the Zen tradition and the Insight or Vipassana focuses on stilling and focusing the mind to create insight and inner peace, Qi Gong focuses on the circulation of energy or Qi within the body, in order to promote balance and harmony (for an example of Qi Gong meditation, see my articles on the microcosmic orbit meditation HERE).
So, which one is better? I personally enjoy practising them both* as they complement each other very nicely, and both move us in the same direction in the long term. For example if you practise Qi Gong meditations on circulating energy within the body, then this will make your mind and body feel very balanced and harmonious, which will make it easy to move into a state of stillness and inner peace. Conversely, when you practice stilling the mind, this has a very beneficial effect upon the flow of Qi through the body, and so an experience of bodily balance is induced through meditation on stillness.

Another reason that I practise both is because, although they take us in the same direction in the long term, the two different forms of meditation help us to develop different “skill sets” along the way. To give simple examples of this; Stillness meditation forms help to calm the monkey mind and give us insight into the dynamic of our psychological being, whereas Qi Gong energy meditation shows us how to quickly and effectively clear negative or blocked Qi within our body that is created by negative emotions or other imbalances.

So, my advice here would be to learn simple versions of both types of meditation, and by working with them together in tandem in a way that feels right for you, you can learn the specific skills that each type of meditation has to offer.

(*for examples of stillness meditations see my articles on the meditation blog on Zen meditation HERE, and Insight meditation HERE)

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Qi gong standing exercises 1: Light body standing form/Earth light standing form

2010-05-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks I want to try and outline a few basic static Qi Gong standing postures. Although physically they involve standing still, energetically they catalyse a greatly increased movement and volume of Qi through the body. Thus, when you do them you will be outwardly still, but inwardly you will definitely feel various currents of energy flowing through your body. For me Qi gong standing postures are kind of like having a daily internal shower. In the same way that we stand under a physical shower each day to wash and cleanse our bodies with water, we can stand still for a few minutes in one of these postures and feel energy flowing though our body, washing and cleansing it energetically!
The main point with the standing Qi Gong forms is that you can achieve a much greater and more powerful flow of Qi through your body (flowing from the earth below to the sky and stars above, and vice versa) than you can when you are sitting down. So, when you are standing, you are not able to get quite the same amount of focus and concentration that you can when you sit, but in its place you get an increase in the power and force of the energy flow through your body.
The starting position for all the standing exercises that I will be explaining can be found in my article “Basic Qi Gong standing for beginners” , so please refer to this article for the structural basics of your posture.

Basic light body standing form
So, this first standing form is as follows.
- First read through my article immediately preceding this one; “Building and strengthening your light body by connecting to Planetary Qi”.
- Adopt the basic Qi gong standing posture. Stand there for a minute or two. You may feel the energies starting to flow quite quickly just from this standing posture itself. In more traditional times a qi gong adept would have been instructed to practise just this one posture by his Master for quite some time before moving onto anything more complex
- Now mentally sense below you the vast reservoir of living earth light / earth qi lying within the body of the planet beneath your feet. As you become aware of it feel two streams of earth light starting to rise up into your body through the soles of your feet.
- When you feel ready, place your hands down by the sides of your thighs. Raise your hands (just the hands, not the whole arm) so that your palms are at 90 degrees to the floor. Feel as if your palms are like magnets, substantially increasing the flow of earth light into your body through the soles of the feet. Stay in this posture for a few minutes, observing how it causes energy to flow up from the earth into your body in an increased manner. Feel your energy body filling with light and qi from the Earth.
- To conclude, place your hands back down by your sides and just spend a minute or so standing and relaxing, allowing the flow of energy through your body to gradually settle and return to normal.

Tip: Don’t try too hard, the structure of the posture itself does a lot of the work for you. So no need to try and mentally force things in your visualization, relax and you’ll start to feel the energy quite naturally after a while!

Click HERE to read the next in Toby's series on qi gong standing postures.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Building and strengthening your Qi/Light Body by connecting to Planetary Qi.

2010-04-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

This is a basic, simple and powerful meditation form that is really bread and butter for my own qi gong and meditation practice. It can be done as a meditation in its own right, as a preparation for Qi Gong movement work, before going for a walk, or as a part of more detailed meditations and practices (for example see recent magical walking meditation article on my meditation blog). Once you are familiar with it you will find it quite easy to sustain just in your daily awareness, as you are going about your tasks. Apart from the basic health and energy benefits of this exercise, which are substantial, it also helps us to develop or re-develop (as it is something many of us have lost) conscious awareness of our natural relationship to the Planetary Being or Earth of which our own body and energy is a part. Doing this exercise helps us to connect deeply to the Earth, and to feel at home wherever we are or whatever we are doing, because we feel her energy and warmth in a very direct and experiential way.

Basic Light/Qi body exercise.

Sitting down on a chair, or standing in the Qi Gong standing posture, take a few moments just to relax yourself, calm your mind and centre your attention. After you have done this, send your awareness down into the land beneath your feet. Sense and feel deep within the body of the planet there is a great lake of earth light, huge and vast. As you focus upon it, feel two streams of light and energy rising up from the Earth from the lake and connecting to the soles of your feet. Feel the earth-light rising up your feet and legs, hips and belly, chest and shoulders, arms and hands, neck and face until your whole body is filled with light and qi from the Earth. You feel that in addition to having a physical body, you have a body made of light and energy which interpenetrates and inhabits the same space as your physical body. If you like you can enhance the flow of this energy up from the earth using the breathing; As you breathe in, feel light flowing up through the soles of your feet. As you breathe out, feel the light and energy from the earth expanding through your body, becoming brighter and stronger. Stay with this experience for as long as you wish.

Belly, or lower dan tien meditation for finding your centre and reducing conceptual thought.

2010-04-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

This Qi Gong meditation form is one that you sometimes see variations of in Buddhist and Zen meditation practices. It involves the centring of our attention in our lower belly area, or lower dan tien (for a general outline of the 3 dan tiens in Qi Gong practice, please go HERE). This meditation form is particularly useful as a way of “ducking under” excessive mental or emotional turbulence in our mind, as, physiologically speaking the energy centres that hold our conceptual energy are above the solar plexus, in the heart and head. Fifteen minutes or so if this meditation a day is a really good practise for calming and centring yourself in a way that feels very grounded, solid and stable, one might almost say it is a very “physicalizing” meditation!

Stage 1:

Sitting with a comfortably straight back either cross legged or on a chair, or standing in the basic Qi Gong standing posture, visualize a line of light and energy coming down from the sky and going through the dead centre of your crown, brain, neck, chest and abdomen, then exiting through the perineum (point between the middle of the legs) and continuing down all the way into the heart-centre of the earth. Spend a short while aligning your body around this central line of energy, which we will now be calling the core of your body (see article on core body breathing). If you like you can gently rock your body a few millimetres from side to side in order to find the central point of right -left balance around your core , and then rock a few millimetres forward and back so that the front and back of your body can find their point of balance around your core. Then spend a minute or two just gently breathing in and out of your core; as you inhale, energy and Qi flows into the core of your body, as you exhale, feel Qi and energy flowing out of your core toward the skin/surface of your body.

Stage 2, locating the lower dan tien in the belly:

Now mentally follow the core line of your body down from the head and heart centres to the lower belly area, about 3 fingers width beneath the belly button (or a few inches above the hips). Visualize a luminous point of light and energy at this level of your body’s core, about the size of a golf ball. This is your lower dan tien (different from sacral chakra, see my article on difference between chakras and dan tiens.)

Stage 3, relaxing and focusing awareness in the belly:

Having found the location of the lower dan tien, the rest of the meditation is spent simply relaxing and trying to gently focus your attention and awareness in this part of your body, and letting go of excess conceptual thought and activity. If you like you can feel light and energy flowing into the belly area as you breathe in, and flowing out to the surface of your body when you breathe out. However, when you feel as if your mind and body have settled down, the main emphasis should simply to enjoy the state of non-conceptuality and relaxation that arise from focusing your awareness in the lower belly / lower dan tien in this way, and allow your mind and body to find regeneration and healing within this deep, calm space.

Qi Gong “calf and thigh walking form” for more shapely legs

2010-04-07T02:15:00.000-07:00

I have given this Qi Gong walking form a slightly humorous title, but as you will see it will indeed give you more shapely legs, and have other benefits besides!

This walking form places emphasis purely upon the mechanical dynamics of walking, and is based around the observation that, if you walk with the weight of your body more towards the front of your feet you will be exercising the muscles in your calves, whereas if you tend to walk with your weight more towards your heals, then you will be exercising and developing the shape and lines of your thighs. So, this walking form sees us consciously using the whole of the sole of each foot with each step, thereby giving a workout to both our thighs and calves equally.

The benefits of this are not just aesthetic, from a Qi Gong point of view it is important to keep the legs well exercised and healthy, as they form the foundation of our bodies strength and stability. Also, they (along with the feet) are the parts of our body farthest away from our heart and so regular, well rounded movement and exercise of all the leg muscles helps the heart to circulate blood to the legs effectively. So, this walking form we can say helps us to develop well rounded leg strength, helps our circulation and as a bonus can make our legs look nicer aesthetically! The other good thing about this form is that you can just integrate it into your daily walking around; it is just a matter of adjusting your walking style consciously to incorporate it.

Qi Gong calf and thigh walking

As you step forward with your left foot consciously make sure that your foot lands with the weight upon the heel. By the time you get to your midstep, the whole of your left sole should be squarely on the ground. As you get toward the end of your stride, consciously shift the weight of your body onto the front pads and toes of your left foot, so that you can feel the calf muscle flexing gently as the left foot lifts off the floor.

As your left foot has been lifting, your right foot will have been striding forward. So, as it does so you just need to do the same thing as you did with your left foot: Before it hits that ground, raise the toes and front pads of your right foot slightly, so that it lands with the weight of your body on the heel. By the time you get to your midstep, the whole of your right sole should be squarely on the ground. As you get toward the end of your stride, consciously shift the weight of your body onto the front pads and toes of your right foot, so that you can feel the calf muscle flexing gently as the right foot lifts off the floor.

So, that is the basic technique, it is just a matter of then repeating this pattern so that each time one foot strides forward the body weight lands toward the heel (exercising the thighs) and then as you lift off at the end of your step, the front pads and toes push off, thus exercising the calves. As I mentioned, it can be done as you are walking around doing your daily tasks, but it can also be slowed down a little and done as a contemplative walking form in a quiet space, taking the technique as the point of focus for developing a relaxed and meditative state of mind.

Microcosmic orbit meditation level 2: Connecting the microcosm with the macrocosm.

2010-03-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

This is the second in a series of articles on the meditation on the microcosmic orbit that provides the basis of so much of meditation practice in Qi Gong. If you are coming to this article without having read the previous article on Toby's creativeqigong blog, then you can find the “Introduction the the microcosmic orbit meditation” HERE. This will give you the background knowledge that you need to follow the below meditation technique easily and successfully.

The second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation that I am going to explain involves connecting the central energy circuit of our body, the microcosmic orbit, with the energy of the Macrocosm, or the energy and qi that flows between the Earth beneath us and the sky and stars in the heavens above us. The method dramatically increases the flow of energy and qi through our own body, as well as helping to encourage the flow of Qi in our immediate environment. For long term practitioners of Qi Gong and the microcosmic orbit meditation, the power and energy flow that we generate from our meditations will start to have a genuine, positive and regenerative effect upon our environment and the land around where we live. Initially most people come to Qi Gong as a way of working on and improving their own health, but in the longer term we realize that the most meaning from our practice comes when we are able to start to give back healing energy and life to the Earth and land her/itself.

Microcosmic orbit meditation level 2:
Begin by sitting comfortably in your meditation standing or sitting posture. Over the course of five minutes or so follow the stages of the microcosmic orbit meditation level 1, up to and including visualizing the microcosmic orbit in your body, and feeling the flow of energy circulating up the back of the body and down the front.

Connecting to Earth Qi:
Now become aware of the Earth beneath you, send your energy down into the Planetary Being, all the way to the core/center. Imagine that within the body of the Earth there is a huge lake of Qi, its surface a few meters below the ground under your feet. It is made of beautiful golden liquid light. Imagine that your feet are like magnets, gradually they start to magnetize the liquid light up from the Earth. The Earth light is drawn up in two streams to the sole of each foot. The Earth light then rises up the BACK of the legs from the heels, connecting to your microcosmic orbit in the perineum and the base of the spine. From there it circulates up the back of the spine, neck and head to the crown, and down the front of the body, following the course of the microcosmic orbit.
When the light reaches the sexual organs and the perineum, some of the light flows down the FRONT of the legs and feet, then out from the front pads of our soles and toes, back down into the Lake of golden Earth Qi below. Spend a few minutes circulating the golden Earth Qi through your microcosmic orbit and legs for a while.

Connecting to Universal/Stellar Qi:
Now become aware of the sky and stars above and around you. Imagine that there is a vast ocean of Universal Qi above your head in the sky, extending across the Universe. The quality of this Qi is different from the Earth Qi. It is lighter and more expansive, and seems to have the nature of white star-light. Feel it above your head for a while.
Now imagine that you have an energy center at the topmost point of your microcosmic orbit, at the crown of your head. It is made of light and about the size of a golf ball. This energy center in your crown now starts to magnetize the Universal Qi down from the sky. The magnetic pull from your crown attracts a stream of energy down from the Universal Qi above into the energy center at the crown of your head. As the white star-Qi enters the crown of your head it immediately enters the microcosmic orbit and flows down the front of the body. At the perineum some of it flows down the front of your legs into the Earth, whilst some of it stays in the microcosmic orbit, flowing back up the spine toward the crown of the head.

You now have a complete circuit of energy running from the Earth beneath you, up your legs into the microcosmic orbit to the crown of your head, which then connects to Universal Qi above you. The main part of your meditation should be simply to hold this visualization, and allow your body to mediate the energies up Earth and Heaven up and down its length, and in particular around your microcosmic orbit. If you like you can gently use the techniques for enhancing the energy found in the level 1 microcosmic orbit meditation, but you will also find that with repeated practice the movement of energy will have its own natural momentum, sometimes flowing slowly and gently, at other times with greater force and energy.

Concluding the meditation:
As with level 1, I recommend that you finish the meditation with just a few minutes of silence and pure relaxation, just to allow the energies in your body and in the microcosmic orbit to settle down and find their natural point of balance.

The true meaning of being human.
So, I have now explained the second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation. Just as a final chaser I thought it worth adding that in many of the primal, nature-based traditions of spirituality, the Chinese versions of which underlie Qi Gong practice, the true meaning of being human is articulated as being a mediating force between the energies of Heaven or the Universe above, and the Earth below. Our human consciousness and vertical physical posture, rightly used facilitates a communication and communion between the Earth and Heaven, catalyzing the evolution of them both. This second level of the microcosmic orbit meditation enables us to connect to the experience of being a human mediator between the energies of Heaven and Earth in a tangible way on a daily basis.

© Toby Ouvry 2010 please do not reproduce without permission.

Meditation on the microcosmic orbit.

2010-02-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

I am going to be introducing the meditation on the microcosmic orbit into my Qi Gong class over the next month, and so with this in mind I thought I would write an article on it, perhaps extending it to a series of two or three over the next few weeks. This way for those unable to attend or who are not in Singapore, you can try the meditation in your own time, by yourself.

What is the microcosmic orbit?
The microcosmic orbit in Qi Gong refers to the energy circuit composed of the major yang channel and the major yin channel or energy meridian in the human body.
The major yang channel runs from the perineum (the central point between the middle of the legs) up toward the coxyx/base of the spine. From the coxyx it runs up the spine and enters the skull at the base of the neck, continuing up the back of the skull to the crown of the head.
The major yin channel of the body runs from the crown of the head down the middle of the front of the face to the palette, and then from the tongue down the front of the neck, chest and abdomen down into the sexual organs. Finally it runs from the sexual organs to the perineum.
So, the yang channel runs up the back of the body, and the yin channel runs down the front of the body, connecting with each other at the crown and the perineum to form a loop or circuit of energy. This is why it is called the “orbit'', it is the major circuit of energy found within the human body,

The benefits of meditating on the microcosmic orbit.
The microcosmic orbit meditation is the Taoist equivalent of the meditation on the kundalini or chakras that one finds in other eastern traditions such as Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. Like kundalini meditation it raises the energies contained in the lower energy centers of the torso (pelvis, abdomen) and cause them to rise up into the higher energy centers in the heart, brain and crown. By doing so it helps to transform and refine the energies both of our physical body and consciousness, resulting in improved physical health, greater mental and emotional balance, and, for those that wish it, access to deeper levels of awareness and spiritual insight.

The main obvious difference between the microcosmic orbit and the other aforementioned kundalini/chakra techniques is that, whereas the chakras are visualized in a straight line, with the energy rising and falling up and down that one line, the microcosmic orbit involves the visualization of a loop, up the back of the body and down the front, as already described.

In my personal experience I have found that the microcosmic orbit meditation is easier to work with in the sense that energy can move up and down the back and front of the body simultaneously without a problem, whereas with a single line of chakras energy either has to be rising or falling, as there is only one channel for it to move up and down.

Once you get proficient at both chakra and microcosmic orbit work it is actually quite easy to combine them both into a single functioning meditation. However, another good thing about the microcosmic orbit meditation is that is can be practiced very effectively in a simple, non-complex way, with only a little basic technical knowledge. So, it is possible to practice the microcosmic orbit meditation both as a beginner, but then if you want to learn more details about the energy channels and the energy centers that lie along its path, there is much available to study and develop on the subject.

Ok, so the remainder of this article I want to dedicate to explaining the practical technique of how to begin meditating on the microcosmic orbit. I'm going to call it the “Level One Microcosmic Orbit Meditation'' with a view to posting a couple of more advanced techniques at a later date.

Level One Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.
This meditation can be done seated or in the basic Qi Gong standing posture , the former is slightly easier regarding developing deeper concentration, but the latter encourages the flow of Qi through the body more strongly. The main thing is that your pelvis should be aligned in such a way that your spine and torso can rise in a comfortable and erect manner, supporting the head and neck, which should be in line with the torso.
It is particularly important to have your tongue connected to the roof of your mouth, the tip placed just behind the top front teeth. This enables Qi to flow down from the pallet of the mouth down into the jaw and neck effectively.

After having found a comfortable posture, the next step is to sink your center of gravity down into the belly, so that the upper body is nice ad relaxed.

Turn your attention to the natural process of your breathing, give a little bit of time for your mind and body to settle. If you like you can practice a few minutes of simple Qi Gong meditation forms such as the core body breathing, or the inner smile.

The basic visualization:
When you feel ready, imagine there is a circuit of energy and light, about 3cms in width (like a hose pipe perhaps) running from the perineum up through the spine and back of the neck and head to the crown. From the crown it descends down the front of the face, neck, chest and abdomen to the sexual organs, completing the energy circuit at the perineum.

Feeling and seeing the flow of energy:
Spend a little while seeing and feeling this energy circuit, feeling its presence. After a while notice that energy is gently rising up the back of the body along the energy circuit, from the bottom of the spine to the crown of the head. You can also feel energy and light gently descending down the front of the channel, down your head, neck and torso, into your sexual organs and from there to the perineum.
Spend a little while gently seeing, feeling and sensing this energy flow up and down the microcosmic orbit. The energy may seem to be flowing in a continuous, gentle way, or it may ebb and flow somewhat. Don't try and control it too much, just allow it to move naturally.

Enhancing the flow of energy:
You can enhance the flow of energy and light along the microcosmic orbit by combining it with the breathing. For example as you breathe in you can focus on energy rising up the back of the body and spine to the crown, and then as you breathe out feel light and energy flowing down the front of the body into the abdomen and sexual organs. Alternatively it may feel more natural to reverse this; breathing energy down the front of your body as you breathe in, and breathing it up the back of the body as you breathe out. There is no right or wrong here, it is whatever you feel most comfortable with!

More techniques for enhancing the flow of energy:
There are two further techniques that you can try that encourage the flow of energy up the back of the body.
Firstly gently tensing the muscles in the perineum, pelvic floor and anal sphincter helps to stimulate energy to rise up the spine.
Secondly rolling the eyes up into the back of the head helps draw energy up the spine and neck into the head.
You can experiment with these techniques, see which ones feel best for you. They should be practiced sparingly during the course of the meditation, as and when you feel the need to encourage the flow of Qi around the microcosmic orbit.

Concluding the meditation:
I recommend that you finish the meditation with just a few minutes of silence and pure relaxation, just to allow the energies in your body and in the microcosmic orbit to settle down and find their natural point of balance.

Click HERE to view the second article in this series.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Cellular Core Body Breathing

2010-01-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

This Qi Gong breathing technique is a variation on the basic core body breathing form that I posted in my previous article on the Creative Qi Gong blog. The difference with this breathing form is that, rather than taking our body in general as the object we take the cells of our body and cellular structure as the specific object of our focus. This is a breathing form that I have developed myself, but it is very much in line with many of the other Qi Gong breathing techniques that you might be taught in a class or read in a good Qi gong book.

Description:
Either seated or in the Qi Gong standing posture (Wu Qi posture) spend a few moments relaxing your mind and body, breathing naturally. Now tune into the cellular structure of your body, from the crown of your head down to the tips of your toes, try and intuitively see or feel all of the individual cells within your minds eye. Within the center each of each cell there is a tiny point of light and energy, which is the energetic core of the cell. Breathe light and energy in and out of the core of each cell as you breathe in and out.
As with core body breathing, there are two ways of practicing this breathing form, natural and reversed:

Natural
To practice the natural form, as you breathe in imagine light and energy expanding from the core of the cells of your body, lighting up the whole cell like a light bulb. Then, as you breathe in, feel light and energy moving from the edge of the cells back into the core or central point of each cell. Practice for say 2-5 minutes.

Reversed
To practice the reversed form, as you breathe in feel light and energy moving into the core or central point of each of the cells of your body. As you breathe out, feel light and energy expanding from the core of the cells out toward the edges of the cell, lighting each cell up like a light bulb. Practice for 2-5 mins.

I find that some people seem to feel more comfortable practicing the natural form of core body/cellular breathing, whereas others prefer the reversed form. This is more a matter of preference than anything else, but I would recommend that you develop the ability to be comfortable with both as they are complementary to each other, and doing one will enhance the effect of the other and vice versa.

© Toby Ouvry Jan 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Core Body Breathing: Natural and Reverse Forms.

2010-01-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

This is an update of the original core body breathing article that you can find HERE

Core body breathing is a form of breathing that I find particularly useful when practicing Qi Gong as a method for developing a sense of mind-body synchronization. It is also an excellent way of developing a general awareness of Qi or energy within our body, facilitating the gradual opening and unblocking of our subtle bodies' energy channels and meridians.
It promotes an overall sense of balance and well being within our physical and psychological self. It works very well to dissipate stress and tension that has built up within our mind and body over time.
Like the other forms of Qi Gong breathing, it can be practiced on its own as a meditation form in its own right.

What do we mean by the ‘core’ of the body?
In this context, the ‘core’ of the body means the energetic center-point of any given area of the body.
With regard to the head, neck and torso, you could say that there is a core, a center-line of balance that runs from the crown of our head, down through the center of our brain, neck, chest and abdomen to the perineum (the mid point between the sexual organs and the anus).
With regard to the arms and hands, their core can be visualized and felt as a line of energy that runs down from the shoulders, through the center point of the upper arms, elbow joints and forearms. After passing through the wrists, it then splits into five lines of energy that flow down through the hands into the fingers and thumb.
In a similar way with regard to the legs and feet, their core can be seen and felt as two lines flowing down the center of the legs from the hips, each line splitting into five lines within the feet which pass down though the center point of each of the toes.

Your bodies core can be visualized as a line of light running through out the center of your head, torso and limbs as described above.

Practicing core body breathing
Core body breathing can be practiced in two styles, normal and reverse.

''Normal'' core body breathing.
This exercise can be done seated or by adopting the foundational Qi Gong standing posture. Allow yourself a short while to get comfortable, and then become aware of your body's core as described above. Focus particularly on the core of your body from the sacral area up to the mid-higher chest area. As you breathe in, feel your body's Qi in the form of light and energy expanding outwards from your body's core, moving out to the surface of your body and into your energy field, so that by the time you reach the top of your inhalation you feel as if your body is surrounded by a field of energy and light, forming a sphere or egg shape around the body, and extending perhaps 30cms from the surface of the skin.
As you breathe out, feel the light and energy contracting back towards your core, so that by the time you reach the bottom of your inhalation you feel as if your Qi has become condensed and focused within the ore of your body.
Repeat for 2-5 mins.

''Reverse'' core body breathing.
As you breathe out, feel light and energy moving from the core of your body our toward the surface of your skin, and then beyond it about 30cms so that by the time you finish your exhalation you feel as if your body is surrounded by a sphere or egg of energy and light. As you breathe in, feel that light and energy moving in toward your bodies core, so that by the time you have finished breathing in you feel as if all your Qi has become condensed and focused within the core of your body.
Repeat for 2-5 minutes.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission.

Smiling to the Inner Organs Meditation

2009-09-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is a fifteen minute recording of a meditation that we have been doing quite a lot recently in the Qi Gong classes. It is a fundamental Qi Gong meditation form for clearing the internal organs of negative or congested Qi within the bodily organs, and helping them to become positively charged and healthy. People at the clases have been mentioning how helpful they found it, so here it is for you to listen to at leasure! (click on link below)

Smiling to the Inner Organs Meditation

Incremental Breathing

2009-09-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

Incremental breathing is a way of using the breath to both energize and or relax our mind and body. Taking a few of these breaths at regular times during our day can really make a difference to the quality of our life, as well as making us more aware and empowered with regard to how we can influence the energies of our mind, body and nervous system for the better using such an easy technique. Incremental breathing can be practiced on the inhalation when we want to energize our body, and on the exhalation when we want to calm and relax our body and nervous system.
Practicing either of these two forms of breathing will be enhanced if we are first bringing our center of gravity down low into the belly, and breathing with the whole lung, as explained in the basic Qi Gong breathing article published earlier.

Incremental breathing on the inhalation.
As you breathe in divide your inhalation into three even lengths or 'sips' as follows:
Breathe into about 25% lung capacity, pause*, breathe in to about 50% of lung capacity, pause, breathe into about 75% of lung capacity, pause. By this time your lungs are comfortably full. Then, breathe a long, slow exhalation. Repeat 3-9 times.
(*the pause here should be short, a half second or one second max).
Once you have become used to the above technique, as you are inhaling incrementally, feel all the cells of your body becoming more and more energized as you inhale, so by the time you reach the top of your inbreath, your whole body feels full of Qi /energy.

Incremental breathing on the exhalation.
First take a long, measured inbreath to about 75% of your lung capacity, so that your lungs are comfortably full. Then, as you breathe out, divide your outbreath into three even lengths:
Breathe out to about 50% of lung capacity, pause, breathe out to about 25% of lung capacity, pause, empty remaining air from lungs, pause. Repeat 3-9 times.
Once you have become used to the basic process of incremental breathing on the outbreath, as you breathe out incrementally, feel your whole body becoming progressively more and more relaxed.

Once you have practised them individually, you can combine these two techniques together, so that you are breathing in incrementally to energize your body and mind, and then breathing out incrementally to relax your body and mind. The result is a very pleasant combined experience of energy and relaxation that we can take into and use in our life.

For the insomniacs among you, this type of breathing can be good to combine with the ''Hands on the belly to relax the brain'' technique in the article preceding this one on the creative Qi Gong blog.

© Toby Ouvry 2009 please do not reproduce without permission.

Hands on the Belly to Relax the Brain.

2009-08-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is another very simple technique that I use often in order to calm and reduce conceptual activity and center myself fully in my body. I use it most frequently when my mind is whizzing when I lie down to go to sleep at night, or if I want to take a quick nap during the day and want to move into a state of relaxed non-conceptuality relatively fast. It can be done sitting, standing or lying down:
Simply place your hands one on top of the other on your belly, just beneath your belly button. Close your eyes, relax the brain and simply focus on the feeling of warmth that the resting hands create on the lower belly. If you like you can imagine that the lower belly area is like a magnet, and that energy from the brain is gently being attracted down into the torso by the pull of this magnet. However, to be honest I find that this is not necessary, the natural sensation of the hand on the belly does the work for you, without you having to do a lot else!

© Toby Ouvry 2009 please do not reproduce without permission.

Free Form Breathing - Allowing your Body Conscousness to Decide

2009-08-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

One very simple technique that can be used in order both to prepare for Qi Gong exercise and also as a general calming and grounding meditation exercise is as follows:
Simply ask your body how it wants to breathe in order to find its point of balance, relaxation and calm. Then simply allow your bodies consciousness to guide the pace, depth and manner of your breathing for a few minutes.

In this exercise rather than imposing a technique or form upon our breathing and body, we allow our body consciousness to guide us in the breathing pattern IT needs to do most in order to find centered-ness, relaxation and calm. It may decide that we need to breathe in short bursts with an emphasis on the outbreath, it may guide us toward long, evenly spaced breathing or whatever (you may be a little surprised!). The point is that we are allowing our body consciousness to do it, rather than dictating to our body what the rhythm should be.
Once we have done this for a short while you will find that your mind and body are calm and centered, and you can go onto engage in whatever activity you then wish with a much greater sense of poise and presence of mind.

© Toby Ouvry 2009 please do not reproduce without permission.

Solar Qi Gong Meditation

2009-08-04T01:41:00.000-07:00

This is a meditation that is designed to connect to and move energy from three solar sources through our body and energy system, and in particular though our middle, upper and lower dan tiens. The three solar sources are the sun that is the center of our solar system, the molten solar core of the earth and our own solar center located in the center of the chest (middle dan tien).
Once you are familiar with it you will find that solar energy is a particularly powerful form of Qi which can be used to great healing, clearing and regenerating effect within our physical, energetic, soul and spiritual bodies.

Begin by sitting in a comfortable meditation posture in a chair with your feet comfortably on the floor, or standing in the Qi Gong standing posture. Settle your mind and body with a few relaxed deep breaths.

Be aware of the Sun that is the center of our solar system, see it as being directly above your head in the sky.
Now send your awareness down into the center of the earth, feel the sun within the center of the earth.
Now feel into the center of your chest, somewhere between the level of your heart and the level of your solar plexus (it varies slightly for different people, go with what you feel regarding precise location), see a beautiful ball of solar light/fire there, the sun within the center of your being.

Focusing on the sun above you in the sky. See a line of light now descending to the point above the crown of your head. See being formed there a powerful and bright miniature sun.
Now see a line of light from the sun within the earth extending up to the point immediately beneath your feet. See a bright and powerful miniature sun
being formed immediately beneath the soles of your feet.

Now see the miniature sun above the crown of your head descend and locate itself in the center of your brain and head area (upper dan tien), so that it is almost like a halo surrounding your head and neck.
Focusing on the miniature sun beneath the soles of your feet, see it rising up your legs and locating itself in the center of your sacral area, just above the hips (lower dan tien).
You now have three suns locates in your lower abdomen, heart and head respectively.

See the lower sun in your abdomen rising and merging with the sun at your heart. Now see the sun in your head descending and merging with the sun at your heart.
See the lower sun continuing to rise from the heart and coming to rest in the head. See the upper sun continuing down from the heart into the lower abdomen.
Now the ''sun in the lower abdomen'' and the ''sun in the head'' have exchanged places.

After holding this visualization for a while, see the both suns gradually descending and/or ascending from where they now are back to their original positions in the head and the lower abdomen, so that the three suns are now back in their original positions.

Now see the three suns merging and forming a unified column of light from your pelvis all the way up to the crown of your head. Hold this visualization for a short while, then see the light expanding out into your whole body and energy field, until eventually you feel as if you have a very bright sun surrounding and interpenetrating your entire body and being, the center of which is in the middle of your chest. You can either hold this visualization for a while, or if you like direct the solar energy/light to any areas of your body that may need it for healing purposes. You can also send it to people or places that you may want to assist in any kind of healing process.

Finnish in your own time, ensuring that you have connected and grounded yourself fully back in your physical body before getting up and moving on.

© Text Toby Ouvry 2009, please do not reproduce without permission.

Some Questions on Qi Gong: On warming down after practicing Qi Gong, and on Qi Gong and the Chakras.

2009-07-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

1) Why is it recommended not to expose your body to cold water after a Qi gong work out?

Essentially the reason is that, after a Qi Gong workout all the cells of your body, and the pores of the skin are energetically open. So, any cold energy that the body is exposed to, such as having a cold shower or jumping into a cold swimming pool will immediately penetrate the body which can result in a chill. So this is the same reason that when people are living in the tropics they should be careful of exposing their bodies to cool breezes (eg by going into an air conditioned environment after having been outside for a while). The ''cold'' energy will penetrate deeply into the body because the body's energy gateways are open. If you imagine a house with all its doors and windows open, any breeze will immediately penetrate into the heart of the house from outside. It is the same with our bodies in hot temperatures or when we have been doing an activity such as Qi Gong.

2) What is the relationship between the ''three dan tiens'' of Qi Gong philosophy and practice and the seven chakras taught in yoga and other spiritual traditions?

Quite a lot could be written on this one, but essentially Qi Gong identifies three main energy centers within the body; the lower dan tien which is in the sacral area, and houses the vital energy (jing) that overlights our physical body. The middle dan tien which resides in the center of our torso around the heart level, which is the center of our mental and emotional energy (qi) as well as our ''soul body''. Finally the upper dan tien which resides in the center of the head and houses our spiritual energy (shen) and is the center of our ''spiritual body''.
So, I would quite simply say that these three dan tiens are a three fold way of dividing energy up (energy, mind, spirit), whereas the chakras are a sevenfold, or slightly more complex way of dividing up the same energy (physical, energetic/sexual, emotional/mental, soul, atmic, causal and spiritual).
Another central facet of Qi Gong practice is the ''microcosmic orbit'', which essentially consists of a yang channel or meridian rising from the perineum up the spine, back of neck and head to the crown, and then a yin channel or meridian that travels from the crown down the front of the face (through the tongue, which is why we keep it placed on the roof of the mouth in Qi Gong workouts), neck and torso, all the way back down to the perineum.
These two channels have 14 points, 7 in each channel, spaced along them.
These 14 points form 7 pairs, each facing each other at various points along the torso, head and neck. These opposing yang/yin energy points then create 7 energy vortexes in the center of the body in roughly the places where we are taught the seven chakras are.
So, from a Qi Gong point of view the seven chakras are essentially energy vortexes created by the opposing yin/yang polarities of the microcosmic orbit.

Basic Qi Gong Belly Breathing

2009-02-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

In recent classes it has really been apparent how bad breathing habits are really deeply ingrained in us to the extent that unless we really pay attention to it, we don't notice. To this end I have been doing a 'basic Qi Gong belly breathing' with the class at the beginning and end of every session. Here it is, I recommend you use it regularly until it really is an instinctive habit for you and your daily Qi Gong practice:

Stand or sit comfortably with a naturally straight back (for more details on posture see article on "Basic Qi Gong standing posture" here).

Place your hands over your belly, one on top of the other. If you are breathing properly, you will be directing the air down to the bottom of the lungs as you begin each exhalation, such that your belly will gently rise as you breathe in, and you will be able to feel this movement with your hands. Then, as you exhale you will be able to feel the belly gently moving back down to its resting position. Consciously now practice breathing from the belly, so that you can feel the rise and fall of your abdomen as you breathe in and breathe out.

After you have done this for a short while, do the following; As you reach the bottom of your exhalation, gently pull in the belly so that you are drawing in your belly button toward the spine. This drawing in of the spine will cause you to expel any remaining air from the bottom of your lungs, so that as you inhale again you will be breathing totally fresh air into your lungs, and no stagnant air will be left to remain in the lower part of the lungs. Now gently relax the belly and begin your next inhalation, slowly and naturally. Again, use your hands to really be 100% aware of the movement of the belly and abdomen as you are breathing.

In the final section of the exercise, practice combining this basic breathing pattern described above with the drawing up of the pelvic floor. As you breathe in, gently tense the muscles in your perineum. This will cause your pelvic floor to rise and become firm, and you will feel the downward pressure of the abdominal organs pressing upon it as you continue to breathe in. When you reach the top of your inhalation, gently lower the pelvic floor to its starting position by relaxing the muscles in the perineum. Repeat this pattern with each inhalation and exhalation.

This final part of the exercise can take a little bit of getting used to, but it is worth developing as a skill because it enhances the power of our breath to circulate Qi through our body quite substantially. Practising this exercise for five minutes in a day is a Qi Gong exercise that in itself will have noticeable effects on your overall health and well being!

Feet and Crown Breathing

2008-12-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

In qi gong the soles of our feet are the main interface or energy gateway between our bodies and the qi of the earth. Conversely, the crowns of our heads are seen as a major gateway between ourselves and the energy of the sky and stars, or ‘heaven’.
In order to encourage the flow and exchange of qi between ourself and the earth we can practice ‘breathing’ through the soles of our feet. In order to do this, simply focus your attention on the soles of your feet. As you inhale, imagine yourself breathing in qi from the earth, like a tree drawing energy up through its roots. As you exhale, imagine and feel yourself breathing energy down into the earth.
In order to encourage the flow of energy between ourself and the sky, visualize a small golf-ball sized ball of light at the crown of your head. As you breathe in, feel yourself inhaling qi and energy from the sky down into your body. As you breathe out, feel energy flowing out of your crown and connecting with the sky.
Once you have a feeling for the flow of qi flowing through the soles of your feet and the crown of your head, you can then go onto practice ‘core body breathing’, or what I call ‘full body breathing’. Whilst practicing these either of these two types of breathing, retain a particular awareness of the energy gateways at the crown of your head and the soles of your feet.
To practice ‘full body breathing’ simply means to feel that, as you breathe in every cell of your body is breathing in and taking in new qi and energy. As you breathe out, every cell of your body is releasing old or stagnant qi, and allowing new qi to flow and expand through itself and our whole body. So, with full body breathing we are breathing with our whole body, and not just with our nose, mouth and lungs!

Core Body Breathing

2008-12-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

‘Core body breathing’ is a form of breathing that I find particularly useful when practicing Qi Gong, and also as a method for developing a sense of mind-body synchronization. Like the other forms of breathing mentioned on this blog, it can be practiced on its own as a meditation form in its own right.

What do we mean by the ‘core’ of the body?

In this context, the ‘core’ of the body means the energetic centre-point of any given area of the body.
With regard to the head, neck and torso, you could say that there is a core, centre-line of balance that runs from the crown of our head, down through the centre of our brain, neck, chest and abdomen to the perineum (the mid point between the sexual organs and the anus).
With regard to the arms and hands, their core can be visualized and felt as a line of energy that runs down from the shoulders, through the centre point of the upper arms, elbow joints and forearms. After passing through the wrists, it then splits into five lines of energy that flow down through the hands into the fingers and thumb.
In a similar way with regard to the legs and feet, their core can be seen and felt as two lines flowing down the centre of the legs from the hips, each line splitting into five lines within the feet which pass down though the centre point of each of the toes.

To practice core body breathing: on the inhalation, breathe into the core of your body, feeling qi flow into your body’s energetic core; as you exhale, direct your qi from the core of your body out to the surface/skin. By breathing in this way you encourage qi to flow through all areas of your body and in particular this establishes a communication and exchange between the core qi of your body and its surface qi.

Wave Breathing

2008-12-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Wave breathing is a form of Qi Gong breathing that is similar in some ways to circular breathing. However, whereas circular breathing emphasizes the maintainance of an even flow of breath throughout the inhalation and exhalation, in wave breathing the pace and power if the inhalation and exhalation vary like waves.
If you do this as a form of breathing meditation in itself, it can be pleasant and helpful to imagine yourself to be sitting on your favorite beach, with the waves rolling in and flowing out as you breathe.
As you breathe in, imagine your inhalation is like a wave rising up from the ocean gathering in height and power. As you reach the top of the inbreath, the pace of the breath will naturally slow to an almost still point as your lungs reach a comfortable point of fullness.
Now as you exhale imagine, that your out breath is like a wave breaking on the shore. Initially there is a sustained flow of breath, like the flow of a wave up the shoreline. However, as you move toward the end of the exhalation, the pace of the breath naturally starts to slow, like a wave running out of power as it rises up the beach.
After you have gently emptied the lungs with your out breath, begin your inhalation - allowing the pace of the breath to gather - like the water being drawn back into the ocean and rising again as another wave.
In this way you can establish a gentle and relaxing form of breathing that mimics the energetic ebb and flow of waves in the ocean.
Once you have become familiar with the basic flowing feel of wave breathing, you can feel yourself breathing power, energy and qi into your body as you breathe in. Then, as you breathe out, you can practice feeling this power and energy flowing through your body in a relaxed and even manner. By doing this you will be learning how to energize and empower your body and mind, whilst at the same time retaining as sense of relaxation, awareness and ease.

‘Breathing in a Circle’

2008-11-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

In Qi Gong, one of the basic breathing techniques is called ‘breathing in a circle’, or circular breathing. This means that we are trying to make our breathing a gentle continuous flow, with each breath following the one preceding it without a break in momentum. In general, if the flow of qi in our body is gentle, continuous and regular, then this will promote the long term health of the physical body and encourage our mind to become relaxed, comfortable and spacious. In general, in today’s modern society our body and mind tend to be quite over-stimulated, resulting in jagged fluctuations in our physical and mental qi, and in our breathing patterns. Learning to ‘breathe in a circle’ helps us to smooth out the jagged patterns in our energy and allow it to become smooth and steady, promoting both internal and external well being.
Breathing in a circle makes an excellent meditation exercise in itself for calming our body and mind. Here are some of the basic characteristics to pay attention to when practicing circular breathing:
1) The pace and length of the inhalation and exhalation should mirror each other. They should be of approximately the same time duration, and the intensity of the air flow should be gentle and continuous as you breathe in and breathe out.
2) There should be no gap between the inhalation and exhalation, and between the exhalation and the inhalation. As you reach the top of the in-breath, change gently and immediately to the out-breath so that the momentum of the breathing is maintained. Likewise, as you reach the bottom of the out-breath change gently and smoothly to the in-breath.

If you focus on breathing in these two ways, then it should feel as if your breathing is becoming ‘circular’ with the inhalation and exhalation forming two halves of a circle that intersect smoothly and seamlessly at the top and the bottom.
You may find that, as you ‘breathe in a circle', after a while, the rate of your breathing will start to slow down naturally. This is fine, just try to ensure that the pace and length of the inhalation and exhalation continue to mirror each other as your breathing slows.
Try doing a few minutes of circular breathing each day, you may be surprised at how quickly you can induce a feeling of comfort, clarity and wellbeing within your mind and body through consciously ‘breathing in a circle’!

Three aspects of Qi within the human body

2008-11-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

Qi Gong distinguishes three levels of qi within the human body; ‘essence’ (jing), ‘energy’ (qi), and ‘spirit’ (shen). Each of these different levels of energy are located in the three ‘dan tiens’ which translated literally means ‘elixir fields’. These are as follows:
The lower dan tien is the centre of our ‘primal essence’. It is located in our sacral area and is associated with our physical and sexual vital energies.
The middle dan tien is located between our heart centre and solar plexus, and is associated with our mind and our primal qi.
The upper dan tien is located in the centre of our brain (or third eye area), and is associated with our primal spirit.
The overall maintenance and health of these three dan tiens is one of the main goals of Qi Gong. It is said that the energy of our lower dan tien is depleted by excessive sexual release and physical activity. Our middle dan tien is depleted by excessive or negative emotions. Our upper dan tien or spirit is depleted by too much worry and thinking.
I would add to this that we can enhance the energy of our lower dan tien through balanced healthy use of exercise and sexual energy. We can enhance the energy of our middle dan tien by cultivating calm, positive and balanced emotions. Finally we can enhance the energy of our upper dan tien and spirit by cultivating calm, positive and balanced modes of thought and thinking.

Getting familiar with the three dan tien.
Basic standing postures are used in Qi Gong to develop and enhance the flow of qi to these three elixir fields. Here is a simple exercise that can be done in 5 or so minutes that works with all three of the dan tien:

First position
Adopt the basic Qi Gong standing posture, and adopt the basic Qi Gong breathing pattern.
See beneath your feet a ball of earth light, or earth qi, about a meter across. The top of the ball is resting on the soles of your feet. The bottom of the ball has a line of light extending deep into the earth. Breathe the qi from the ball into your body through your feet.

Second position
Now imagine that the ball of light rises up your body, to centre itself in your sacral area and lower dan tien. Raise your hands up in front of you so that the palms of your hands are 10-30cm in front of your sacral area, with the palms facing the centre of the lower dan tien. You should feel as if the palms are positioned around the edge of the ball of light, holding it in place. Breathe in and out of your lower dan tien a few times.

Third position
Imagine now that the ball of light rises further up your body to the middle dan tien. Raise your hands and arms up the body correspondingly, so that they are facing your middle dan tien, holding the ball of light in place. Breathe in and out of your middle dan tien for a few breaths.

Fourth position
Now imagine the ball of light rises further up your body to the centre of the brain, and upper dan tien. Raise your hands correspondingly so that the palms are in front of the face, holding the ball of light in place. Breathe in and out of your upper dan tien a few times.

Concluding
Having worked your way from the first position to the fourth in the manner described above, now bring the ball of light down from the fourth to third position, from the third to the second position and so on until you finish in the first position, back where you started.

Standing like a Tree

2008-11-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

In Qi Gong trees are taken as a role model for our standing posture, as they are strong, stable and balanced, with their roots deep in the earth, and their branches reaching high into the heavens. We try and emulate this in our own standing posture; drawing stability from our connection to the earth through our feet, keeping our centre of gravity low in our belly, our upper body relaxed, our head and shoulders open to receiving energy from the sky, sun and stars.

Imagine now that there is a tall, strong and beautiful tree in front of you (if you can stand in front of an actual tree all the better!). Feel and see its roots extending down into the earth, drawing up qi, water and nutrients. Feel the strength and flexibility of its trunk, and the branches reaching high into the sky, drawing down qi and light from the sky.
Now become the tree. Feel your roots flowing down deep into the earth giving you deep stability and energy. Feel the stability of your trunk, flexible and strong. Feel your branches and leaves reaching up toward the sky and sun, drawing down their qi into your being. Now as you breathe, feel every cell in your body breathing in qi from the earth beneath you and the sky above you. Feel light and qi flowing in and out of every cell in your body as you breathe in and out.

Directing energy with the hands and palms:
We can learn to direct qi though our body in a more powerful way through the positioning of our hands. If you like, you can try the following hand and arm positions as you ‘stand like a tree’. Initially this should not be done for more than five minutes at a time.
1. Whilst focusing on your roots (the soles of your feet) angle the palms of your hands upward so that they are facing the earth. As you breathe in feel qi rising from the earth below into your body. As you breathe out, Feel that earth-qi expanding through each cell of your body.

2. Now raise your hands and arms up so that they are at shoulder height, parallel to the ground. Face your left palm down, and your right palm up. As you hold this posture, feel qi rising up from the earth beneath you into your trunk/torso, and simultaneously feel the flow of sky-qi flowing down through your crown, head and shoulders. Feel these two energies merging and harmonizing in the centre of your torso.

3. Now raise your hands above your head, opening the palms to the sky above. Feel as if you have branches and leaves reaching up into the sky, drawing down qi and light from the sun, stars and sky. As you breathe, feel this sky-qi moving and flowing through

4. Move back to position 2, and then to position 1, ending in the basic standing posture.

Basic facets of Qi Gong standing for beginners

2008-11-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

Outlined below are the basic aspects of the Qi Gong standing posture:

- the feet should be just beyond a shoulder's width apart; and should be somewhere between parallel with each other and ninety degrees; find a position between these two extremes that feels comfortable and natural.

- the knee joints should be unlocked so that the legs are bent just enough for the thighs to be holding a little of the weight of the upper body, but not so much that they are straining. It should be a position that you can hold comfortably for minutes at a time.

-the pelvis should be slightly tucked in, so that the small/tailbone of the back moves about 1-2cm further in and down from its position in normal standing.

- your centre of gravity should be low in the torso, in the sacral area (1-4cm beneath the belly button. You should not be holding any body weight or tension in the chest, shoulders or neck.

- the back should be basically straight with the head in line with the spine. The lower spine above the tailbone should curve very gently inwards, describing a shallow convex curve before straightening up just above the mid back.

- the chest should be open, with the shoulders relaxed and slightly rounded. Imagine that you have a piece of string attached to your sternum. If someone were to gently pull that string up and out by 1-2 cm, that would give most people the correct posture for the chest and shoulders.

- the head should be in line with the spine, with the chin tucked slightly in. Imagine that there is a string attached to the top of your crown. Feel that string pulling your head gently up for a half to one centimeter. That will give you the correct position for the head.

- hands and arms should hang loosely by your sides, with the palms facing the thighs at about three o’clock (if twelve o’clock were the centre of the front of the thighs.
Elbows should be slightly rounded.

Relaxing in the standing posture:

Whilst in the standing posture, be aware of the crown of your head. Scan downward with your mind and feel any tension within your head, neck and shoulders gradually melting away like ice melting into water. Continue down the rest of the body, checking each area individually. Any tension that you find as you check, feel it melting away downwards through the legs and flowing out of your body via the soles of your feet.

Basic facets of Qi Gong breathing for beginners

2008-11-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

Outlined below are the basic aspects of Qi Gong breathing as taught in Toby’s classes. To begin with you will have to practice each aspect separately, in order to get a feel for it, but after a while you will find that you can combine all the features into a smooth cycle of breathing without having to exert effort.

- breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth*. The tip of the tongue should be placed on the palette behind the top front teeth.
*Specifically when practicing formal Qi Gong exercises - In daily life breathing in and out through the nose is generally recommended.

- breathe into the belly. This means, as you breathe in, you are directing air down into the bottom of the lungs, so that you can feel your diaphragm expanding downward, and exerting a gentle pressure on the abdominal organs.

- breathe in to about 70% of your lung capacity; do not breathe in more deeply than is comfortable and relaxing.

- when inhaling, as well as directing the air down into the bottom of the lungs, try also to utilize the sides, the front and the back of your lower-mid lungs. This means that as you inhale you can feel the front, back and sides of your lower and mid ribcage gently expanding. Then as you exhale you will feel your ribcage contracting accordingly.

- as you inhale, gently (no more than 40% strength) contract the muscles in the perineum, so that you can feel your pelvic floor rising and becoming firm. As you do this you will feel a gentle squeeze or pressure being exerted upon the abdominal organs as the diaphragm pushes down on them from above, and the pelvic floor rises from below.

- the quality of the breathing should be smooth, gentle and continuous, without a gap or break between the inhalation and the exhalation. This is called circular, or wave breathing. In the same way that as soon as a wave has broken upon the shore it begins to ebb and be absorbed back into the ocean, as soon as we have reached the peak of our inhalation, we should begin our exhalation. Likewise, at the end of the exhalation, we should begin the inhalation immediately and smoothly with no break between.

Below is a link to a basic Qi Gong breathing exercise (lasting twelve minutes approx)that we often do at the beginning of a Qi Gong class. It includes many of the breathing pointers above, and listening to it is a convenient way of getting used to the fundamentals of Qi Gong breathing. It also includes some free form breathing at the beginning.

Listen to basic Qi Gong breathing exercise