Standing Qigong. The feedback I have received regarding Standing Qigong borders on it being a love-hate relationship…“hate doing it, love how it leaves me feeling after I do it.” In the Recipe for Recovery, I explain, “That’s all you do…stand. It is a very powerful exercise because it opens channels, lubricates joints and gets balance back where it should be.” Today, I offer something to help inspire your Standing Qigong and to assist in its effectiveness in your recovery.
First, here is the Standing Qigong from the Recipe for Recovery (when I had Parkinson’s, I leaned my back on a wall so I would not fall):
Below is a picture to identify the points I will be discussing as I explain how to add the Microcosmic Orbit energy flow and visualization into your Standing Qigong:
Microcosmic Orbit energy flow and visualization. Start at the Hui Yin area (squeeze the anus and release like you have been doing with the Standing Exercise) and as you inhale go up the back (Governing Vessel), and envision bringing energy up the spine to your brain on the inhale. The top point, Bai Hui, ends the Governing Vessel and starts the Conception Vessel, so when you reach the Bai Hui with your inhale, you exhale and follow the Conception Vessel down the front where it meets the Governing Vessel at the Hui Yin area. That is 1 cycle or orbit.
This may take some time to master, and that is okay. It is good for the body because, as a result of its location and because of gravity, the Hui Yin area is where energy can just sit and become “stuck.” This Orbit helps move the energy around. It also helps the mind clear out negative thoughts and emotions because it takes “conceived” (Conception Vessel) thoughts and “governs” (Governing Vessel) how we will respond to them. Just as a stagnant stream (stuck energy) can cause collection of all sorts of unhealthy things, a moving stream (circulating energy) keeps new and fresh thoughts and energy nourishing the brain.
As you focus on the Microcosmic Orbit as part of your Standing Qigong, the time pass by more easily. Also, you will be assisting your body in healing itself because you will be visualizing the energy flowing through the Microcosmic Orbit and this will help calm your mind. Over time, it can become a form of Standing Qigong meditation.
So, what are you doing right now? How about getting up and doing some Standing Qigong with the addition of the Microcosmic Orbit visualization!
Aren’t you worth it?
All my best,
Howard
Dragul meu psihoterapeut,prieten,om cu inima mare eu din departare iti trimit un gand bun .unLA MULTI ANI liber de simtom.multa BUCURIE,DRAGOSTE.langa frumoasa ta famile si aproape de noi comunitatea. Cu drag Leo
Translation:
My dear therapist, friend, man of great heart, I send you a good thought. Happy Birthday being symptom free. Much joy, love, and a beautiful thing this is to your family and community closer to you. With love, Leo
Hi Leo,
Thank you very much for your warm wishes.
With gratitude and love,
Howard
wow howard, you have made it more interesting.
Okay, Pratima — I am hoping “more interesting” equals “more Standing.”
You know I joke as you are working so hard and doing so well. I am happy to see that this new way of looking at Standing will help you.
Blessings and love,
Howard
You do such a wonderful job of explaining it. I am studying reiki and one technique I was using today is quite similar, visualizing energy as a white light moving this path. I like Standing and this visualization not only because it feels so incredible, but it’s perfect for a busy public day. Like jumper cabling, i find these are very covert, but wonderful tools. I used them today to deal well with a seminar that in the past involved much Rx-juggling
Read this and thought of all of us
“don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”
Robert louis stevenson
Hi Nancy,
It is so inspiring to see how you are able to covertly weave Standing and jumper cabling into, as you call it, “a busy public day.” Also, thank you for sharing that “I used them today to deal well with a seminar that in the past involved much Rx-juggling.” This is fantastic! And, thank you very much for the Robert Louis Stevenson quote…it says it all….
With gratitude and love,
Howard
Howard,
Maybe you’ve said this elsewhere so I apologize if I missed it. Can you describe more about the visualization — for example — do you see the pathway up the back and down the front like a thread, a light, a cable, a hose, a cloud, a river? Do you feel it going through those points on the surface of the body, or as a wide conduit, say, as an inch wide, 6 inches wide, penetrating into the body as it rises or staying in the spine area, extending like a tube or cylinder beyond the body as well as into the body, or more like a river up the spine with tributaries to the body?
Thank you for any impressions you would like to share.
Karen
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your questions.
The visualization is what makes the most sense for the individual. Different people visualize things differently. What we are accomplishing here is the movement of energy. I visualize a white light moving in an oval around my body, close to my body, with no break in the oval so that my inhale turns into my exhale at the top and my exhale turns into my inhale at the bottom. This keeps the energy flowing without a break at the top or bottom of the process and leads to smooth, flowing energy. Over time, it can become meditative – the focus on the breathing and movement of this white light of energy causes the mind to focus on nothing other than the breathing and the movement of energy. As relates to Standing Qigong, the time passes quicker, and the mind does not get in the way of the body being able to open energy channels.
Blessings,
Howard