Days 21 and 22 of the Qigong Challenge

Sorry to do this to you, I know you were dying to learn the new movement but I thought about it and decided that it’s best you built up your energy a bit more to prepare for some emotional purging.  So, you guessed it, I want you to repeat the full Wudang set for the next two days.

Click here for the video: Wudang Set

Being poked and prodded is never my idea of fun…

How am I doing?  Oh, well thank you for asking.  Well, aside from running around like a chicken with its head cut off with wedding planning, colitis curing and the occasional studying for my licensing exam, I’m doing great.  I went in for a blood test the other day in preparation to see if I can start weening off my drugs.  That (the blood test) did not go so well.  No worries, I haven’t even gotten the results yet.  It’s just that they had to draw so much blood that they poked around in one vein so long it was shot and so they had to poke around in another vein leaving me looking a bit like a junkie.  It was always my goal, when I was a young 19 year old getting blood tests every couple months, to be able to watch them draw the blood rather than look away and cringe.  I can now proudly say, I can watch them puncture it and draw it.  Though, I have to say, I still don’t like it.  Hmm, I guess that would be a good thing.  And may I never enjoy being stabbed in the vein with a needle and having my blood sucked out. I’ll let you know, when I know, what my blood (and doctor) says about the next step in this journey.

Days 19 and 20 of the Qigong Challenge

We will now be practicing the art of qigong armpit farting. Heehee, just kidding. I think I’m demonstrating the flow of energy over my armpit.

Congratulations, you completed the Wudang set.  Now, you guessed it, I want you to repeat the set for another couple days to become more familiar with it as well as to build up the circulation of energy in those organs/elements of your body.  This is important because the next step is to do some emotional detoxification.  Did you know that, not only are our organs associated with the five elements but they are also connected to our emotions.  So, tap back into those organs so we can learn to detoxify them of negative emotions.

Click here for the Wudang Set: Full Wudang Set

Qigong to Help You Sleep…

I know I’ve been in this boat before.

I hear too often about issues with sleep.  Mine began probably around high school or middle school when I discovered how cool it was to stay up late talking on the phone with my friends or just dilly dallying around doing who-knows-what until all hours of the night.  Although, I mostly blame it on the ungodly hour that school starts (mine might have even been around 7:30!).  I most likely spent about every day of my high school career half asleep.  I remember taking extra art classes just so I could sleep on the floor  (and then I went on to become a painting major, go figure).  I had really long bangs which worked to my advantage because I could cover my eyes (an emo-esque look in a pre-emo era) and “rest my eyes”.  It was definitely helpful that I was an A/A- student in mostly advanced placement classes (except mathematics), not much for a teacher to complain about.  I only furthered this habit of sleep deprivation in college where I would often boast of a week of finals in which I slept a total of about 4 hours in one week.  Not something to be proud of my friends (though I did see some pretty trippy stuff in my sleep deprived state).  I have actually functioned on sleep deprivation most of my life.  It wasn’t until a couple years ago that I really started prioritizing sleep.  That’s the funny thing; we say “function on” yadda yadda amount of sleep.  We should be more than just “functioning”.  I feel like we aren’t fully living if we are just only “functioning”.

That being said, I created a qigong video targeted to those of you who yearn for more REM sleep and quality of life.  So, if you are interested in more than just “functioning” I’d recommend you check out this video and give it a shot.  I show some movements that help with sucking all that buzzing that goes on in your busy heads  out of your heads, grounding you and calming you so that you can have more peaceful/restful/quality sleep.

Click the link and check it out: Qigong for Sleeping Better

Closing the Wudang Set: Day 17 of the Qigong Challenge

This is Wudang mountain in China. Don’t think it has anything to do with the Wudang set (or maybe?) but thought it was really cool looking and pretty.

Congratulations, you have made it to the closing movement of the Wudang set.  This set is excellent to be done in full or done to target specific problem areas/organs.  This final movement helps to spread your energy evenly throughout your body, helping you to feel more balanced.

Check it out: Wudang set (closing movement)

I think my next video will be a combo I put together to help with sleep.  I’ve been noticing a lot of people (friends, family, etc) that struggle with sleep.  Sleep is really one of the most important components in leading a healthy happy life.  I certainly like my sleep.

Qigong for Your Tummy: Day 16 of the Qigong Challenge (stomach/spleen/earth element)

Sometimes it’s helpful to look at a diagram of your anatomy to get a feel for where you are sending the colors for the sets.

We are on the fifth element: earth.  This element corresponds to your spleen.  So, of course, today we will learn to rejuvenate our stomach and spleen.  This movement can help with digestion or any issues with your stomach.  Just as a warning, don’t do this movement on its own.  Definitely always begin with the clearing and end with pushing the energy out of your head and chest and storing your energy.  However, you also need to incorporate an energy circulation movement in your beginning stages of your qigong practice with this exercise.  I know this from experience.  I thought I’d cut corners and just do this movement with the clearing and storing and ended up with a tummy ache and a bit of loose stool.  I brought up my issue with my teacher and he explained that in the beginning, I need to do more energy circulation in conjunction with the movement to make sure I’m not just building up energy in my stomach and leaving it there.  I explain this more in the video.

Check it out: Wudang set (stomach/spleen/earth element)

Heart Healthy Qigong: Day 15 of the Qigong Challenge

Join me today for some qigong for your heart.  Happy qigonging!

Click here for you next video: Wudang set (heart/fire element)

How to cure a headache with qigong: Qigong Challenge day 14

Look into my eyes…you are getting sleepy…hahaha, just kidding, this is a still from the movement to cure headaches.

Howdy and welcome to day 14 of the qigong challenge.  If anyone is following this you will probably notice I did not post anything yesterday.  That was not intentional, I just got really caught up with what I was doing and didn’t have time to make a video.  I did still do my qigong however and hope you did too.  That being said, we could just skip to day 15 but I’d feel like I cheated you and that’s not my style so here it is: day 14.

Today is the liver/gallbladder part of the Wudang set.  These organs correspond with the wood element (as you will see each movement in the set corresponds with an element).  This movement is great for headaches and for focus.  So if you are in the process of studying for an exam (like me) this is a great exercise to do to help yourself to better focus and concentrate.  I have also used this exercise at least 2-3 times when I felt a headache coming on and was able to avert it by doing this exercise for 4-5 minutes (well worth the short period of time to avoid my headaches that can often last for hours).

Give it a shot and click here for the next video: Wudang set: headache cure

Your kidneys are your life force energy, take care of them: Day 13 of the 30 day Qigong challenge

Welcome to day 13.  I hope you are seeing some benefits to this exercise. And yes, this is exercise.  When you go to the gym and exercise, you are exerting energy and your energy is going out of you.  When you do qigong, you are strengthening yourself from the inside and building up your energy and life force.  Pretty cool huh?

So today we will learn the water element associated with the kidneys.  This is the second element of the Wudang Set.

Click here for the next video: Wudang set: water element/kidneys

Day 12 of the 30 Day Qigong Challenge: Immune system (metal element/lungs)

Hi ya’ll today we’ll be strengthening our immune systems through the next movement of the Wudang set.  This movement involves the lungs and the metal element.  Check out the video to see how it all works.

Video: Wudang Set (metal element/lungs)

Qigong Challenge: Day 11–The Wudang set (combining the five elements)

Welcome to day 11 of the qigong challenge.  Don’t worry if you are starting this late (i.e. I’m on day 30 and you are on day 11), you will still get the benefits and I will give you a virtual high five for giving this a shot.

Today we will begin the wudang (pronounced wu-dong–at least that’s how my teacher pronounces it).  This video is the opening movement for the set that you will be learning over the next few days.  The wudang set helps you to be able to target specific organs and strengthen them.  Each organ corresponds with an element.  During this series, we will be focused both on the elements and the organs.

The wudang set goes as follows:

Each element corresponds with an organ

1. Clearing (as we open for every movement with connecting to the light and letting it wash through the body)

2. Opening (we will do today)

3. Metal/Lungs

4. Water/Kidneys

5. Wood/Liver

6. Fire/Heart

7. Earth/Spleen

8. Closing

9. Storing (as we do with every set and movement)

Alright, so are you ready for the opening?  If so, click here: Wudang Set: Opening