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

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 facets of Qi Gong breathing for beginners

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

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

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 Belly Breathing

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!

Basic qi gong standing postures 4: Head in the stars

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

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

Head in the stars qi gong standing form.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cellular Core Body Breathing

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.

Basic Qi Gong standing postures 2: Holding your Buddha belly

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

Three aspects of Qi within the human body

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.

Incremental Breathing

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.

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

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

Meditation on the microcosmic orbit.

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.

Learning to bi-locate your energy body

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 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

Alchemical Qi gong meditation

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

‘Breathing in a Circle’

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’!

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

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.

All text © Toby Ouvry 2010 please do not reproduce without permission.

Fertilizer for the mind and body – Using the Energy of Negative Emotions, a Simple Meditation Technique

 In my recent article on “Darkness Emerging as Light” I suggested that the essential energy of negative emotions can be re-worked and re-directed in our life to become a force for the good, and even a force revealing our own enlightened nature. The meditation below is a simple (though not always easy) technique that we can use to:

•  Work directly to re-direct and transform the energy of  powerful negative emotion
• Work with at the beginning of a meditation if we are being directly bothered by a negative emotion/thought pattern present in our mind
• Simply wish to diffuse and recycle ambient negative emotional energy in our bodymind, making it available for us to use in other more positive ways.

The technique is somewhere between a contemplative meditation where we are working with the mind, and a qi-gong type meditation where we are working with the ‘qi’, ‘prajna’ or energy of the body.

Step 1
Sit comfortably in meditation, recognize and rest in a sense of being in a “safe space” for a short while, a safe space meaning here the recognition that at this present time there are no imminent physical or psychological threats to your safety.

Step 2
Bring to mind the negative emotion and accompanying thought patterns that you wish to work with. Try to create it intensively enough so that you can really feel it in your body. This stage can be a bit tricky in that, whenever you try and look at a negative emotion directly it tends to ‘hide’ or ‘disappear’ (and of course there is a lesson in that), so you may have to have to tease it back out again into the open.

Step 3
Ask yourself “Where is the energy of this emotion principally located in my body?” You will probably find that it is somewhere in the torso, between the sacral area and the heart centre, but if it appears to be somewhere else then you can go with that. The main thing is that you should feel you have located the physical and energetic ‘epicenter’ of the emotional disturbance so to speak.

Step 4
See the emotion in that area of your body as being a ball of tightly knotted black light in the centre of that area of your body. At this point let go of the object of your negative emotion (eg the person or situation that has upset you) and simply focus on the ball of light in the body.
See and feel in the centre of that ball an intense point of white light, so that the dark, knotted energy starts to glow from within. Gradually see and feel the knotted dark energy unraveling and lightening. As the energy lightens, it is released from that specific point in the body, and is released and redistributed evenly throughout the rest of the body.

Using the breathing
If you like you can use the breathing to help facilitate this:
As you breathe in, breathe into the centre of the dark energy, seeing the point of light inside growing intensely.
As you breathe out see the point of bright light in the centre expanding through the knotted dark energy, breaking it up and re-distributing it through the body, thus making the energy that has been trapped in the negative emotion re-available for us to use.
(Those of you that are familiar with the way I teach breathing in qi gong will find this basic pattern of breathing familiar, energizing the body upon inhalation, and allowing the energy to flow freely through the body upon exhalation. Here it is the same basic principal applied to a specific area of the body where there is a strong emotional charge).

Step 5 
Conclude the meditation with a brief period of silent awareness, just breathing and focusing on the body as you experience it in the present moment.

Final thoughts
Repeated use of this meditation will sensitize you to build ups of emotional energy in general, and once you are familiar with the basic technique enable you to modulate emotional energy in the body on a more organic, free-form basis.

© Toby Ouvry 2012, 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

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

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.

Text content © Toby Ouvry 2010, please do not reproduce without permission

Wave Breathing

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.

Sunshine qi gong energy body meditation

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

Standing like a Tree

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.