The first steps in “un-kinking” our medians is to learn to relax. Many of us are under so many stressors (school, job, children, parents, and now Covid-19) that we don’t know anymore what it physically feels like to be relaxed. We often carry the tension on our shoulders, our backs, and across our foreheads. Below are two exercises that will help you feel the tension, and then feel the difference between that and relaxation.
Squeeze your hands tightly into fists and hold for 20 seconds (3 long, slow, deep breaths is about 20 secs for most people). Feel that? That’s tension. Now release your fists. You can feel the muscles relaxing.
Next go stand in a doorway, lift your hands to shoulder height and press them against the door frame, again for about 20 seconds, as hard as you can press. Now drop your hands. Your arms will try to rise of their own accord as the muscles relax.
Why do we need to relax ? Tension holds back the flow of qi creating stagnation. Hold the tension long enough and you manifest pain. Sifu Cheung reminds us ” The more you can relax, the stronger the universe connection, and the more qi will flow through you”. But you can’t force yourself to relax, that only creates more tension. Relaxation is a process of letting go, and begins in the mind.
Following are three qigong meditations; the first two meditations from Sifu Cheung’s Solar Qigong Course http://taichi18.com/online-video-course/solar/ are a condensed version of the third, so can be useful when your time is limited, or to help you prepare for a Reiki session. The third mediation, from Dr. Bill Douglas, founder of https://www.worldtaichiday.org/ is worth practising on a daily basis.
Opening Meditation: A Beautiful Place
- Close your eyes.
- Legs shoulder width apart, slightly bend your knees.
- Relax your whole body, palms touch each other at Middle Dan Tian (solar plexus).
- Visualize you are at the beautiful place (from a first person’s perspective)
- It is a sunny day, the sun is shining all over your body, so you feel warm and relaxed.
- Smile.
- Do you hear any sounds from that beautiful place?
- Feel the energy from the sun vibrate every cell of your body.
- Visualize yourself immersed in sunlight and then your whole body gradually becomes the sunlight. You are the sunlight, the sunlight is you.
Here is a similar meditation from Sifu Cheung in video format: https://youtu.be/SclPRkS_V84
Bill Douglas’ “Stress Relief Relaxation Calming Sitting Qigong Meditation” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t7IyZSxe8w&t=66s is about 20 minutes long and worth practising daily.
Next: Correct Posture and Breathing
Sage Wise Arts 