Secret, and not-so-secret practices

Secret, and not-so-secret practices

I love it when my Qigong teachers say they are about to demonstrate “a formerly secret practice”.  Qigong is full of such exercises, brought to the West in the 70’s at the end of China’s cultural revolution when the first wave of Qigong masters moved to the US and Europe.  No longer secret, these practices are highly esteemed for their ability to build energy and promote health and youthful vitality. I’ll be teaching the Big Kahuna of secret practices this week, stay tuned!

One “secret” to receiving the benefits of Qigong actually isn’t a secret at all: it’s to do Qigong regularly, ideally every day. It doesn’t have to be a long practice; it could be as brief as 5 or 10 minutes. I’ve seen this coming true for my Zoom group, some of whom have been taking class 3X a week since I began teaching them in March. What improvement! Everyone agrees it’s helping them handle the stress of the Covid-19 situation (and every other horrendous situation that has been coming down the pike). Many, if not all, report that their overall health has improved noticeably.  Some have found it useful in their efforts to survive loss and grief. Without doubt, it makes social isolation much less lonely for all of us; we look forward to seeing each other in the morning.

Here’s the thing: movement heals. Especially when it’s done in a relaxed, flowing, mindful way. We are truly able to change and improve in deep, lasting ways.

Qifully, Cris