How many times should I do this?

“How many times should I do this?” is a question I get regularly. My usual reply is “Until you feel it.” That’s the way I’ve always taught, even before discovering Qigong in the 90’s.

Chinese masters often suggest doing things in multiples of 3; a total of 36 times is frequently the instruction. One day I asked Robert Peng “How do you keep track of that precise number while also relaxing enough to feel the qi?”

“You don’t need to actually count it,” he answered. “It’s just a guideline. After a while, you get a “feel” for when you’ve done enough.”

Ah ha! What a relief! So, here’s my friendly advice: when you find an exercise that feels really good, do it often enough that you can sense the circulation flowing into any areas of tightness, weakness, or restriction. Instead of counting “reps” focus your mind on taking slow, deep breaths. Breathe into the movement. Notice how this brings warmth, ease and circulation right where you need it. In general, this takes somewhere between one and three minutes, but who’s counting?