Chinese Healing Exercises (36 page)

On the whole, qigong of any sort is frequently simple on the surface, but to gain all its benefit, a considerable amount of time and effort needs to be invested in study and practice. In fact, a sequence of one or two to six or eight movements, common in most qigongs, really needs to be studied under the guidance of an experienced teacher many times, in regular weekly classes that may last for months or longer, or in retreat/workshops for a few full days to a few weeks at a time to layer in all the deeper energetic aspects of a true qigong, and practiced for many months or years to embody each part before the next one can be added in. This is one main reason why qigong can seldom be effectively learned from a book or video format.

At this point it will be helpful to make some distinctions between qigong and Chinese self-care exercises. While all qigong practiced for oneself is self-care, self-care exercises are not qigong. Of those that are sometimes taught as qigong, none are truly complete qigongs. One could make the argument that anything that influences qi is a qigong, but that's not the case. Qigong practices are very specific things, with specific criteria, including among other things the coordinated regulation of the body, breath, and mind, leading to the direct, conscious regulation of qi.

This is not to say that there is no energetic benefit coupled with the physical benefit from these self-care practices. Acupuncture, acupressure, and Shiatsu all influence the body's qi in positive, health-building ways, yet no one refers to them as qigong. It's also not meant to diminish the value of these exercises in any way. In fact, their relative simplicity and effectiveness is exactly why I gathered and organized them in this book. The distinction is made only for the purpose of clarification, so that you have a better understanding of what you are learning here, and how that may be distinguished from qigong should you decide to learn that further down the road.

Rotational Stretch

The main purpose of Rotational Stretch is to provide more planes of motion through the stretched body part, creating both physical and energetic openness along many more pathways and trajectories than is possible in a linear stretch alone. This provides a much greater opportunity for healing an injured body part, and for increasing overall functionality to reduce the likelihood of injury in the first place.

In an active linear stretch, when one muscle contracts, its antagonistic muscle (the muscle that performs the opposite action) will then be stretched. For example, when a bicep contracts in a flex, bending your elbow, the tricep will be stretched. When the tricep contracts, straightening your elbow, the bicep will be stretched. Another variation of the active stretch is achieved by using one body part to actively stretch another, as when you sit on the floor, extend your legs, grab your ankles or your feet with both hands, and pull to stretch your low back and hamstring muscles.

In a passive linear stretch, body weight and gravity are used, and no muscle needs to actively contract to perform the stretch, as in a common standing toe touch. In this case, though, the stretched muscles will need to contract in order to return you to an upright position. A linear stretch is sometimes the most desirable, effectively targeting the involved body part in the most advantageous way. Many are included in this book.

In a Rotational Stretch, the linear lengthening of muscle tissue will always be accompanied by a gently wringing twist of those muscle tissues around bone. The action of the involved muscles will be like a corkscrew, the uncoiling or the winding up of a spring, or like the perceived spiral of the stripe rising up an old-fashioned barber shop pole which exhibits no obvious lengthening, depending on the type of Rotational Stretch. In some cases, as in the Rotational Stretches used in the advanced practice of neigong, there may be no obvious, outwardly observable linear lengthening, and the lengthening will only be internal. Similarly, there may be no observable Rotational Stretch, which will nevertheless be happening internally. In this book, the external lengthening is always present in an observable Rotational Stretch.

Rotational stretches are found in the practice of Wu style taiji and are used extensively in bagua. They are one important way those practices strongly open a body physically, increase energetic capacity, improve health, and promote longevity.

Shoulder's Nest

See
Energetic Anatomy
.

Yongquan

See
Energetic Anatomy
.

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Recommended Reading

Qigong:

Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body
, by B. K. Frantzis; North Atlantic Books

Mastering Miracles
, by Dr. Hong Liu; Warner Books

The Roots of Chinese Qigong
, by Jwing-Ming Yang, YMAA Publications

Harnessing the Power of the Universe
, by Daniel Reid; Shambhala

The Way of Qigong
, by Kenneth S. Cohen; Ballentine Books

Chinese Medicine:

The Web That Has No Weaver
, by Ted Kaptchuk; Congdon & Weed

Between Heaven and Earth
, by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold; Ballentine Books

The Foundations of Chinese Medicine
, by Giovanni Maciocia; Churchill Livingstone

General:

Earthing
, by Clinton Ober, Stephen Sinatra, Martin Zucker; Basic Health Publications

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