Swimming Dragons

Summer’s here and the time is right…for swimming like a dragon!  Qigong’s beautiful, serpentine Swimming Dragon form is a perfect way to make the most of the warmth and beauty of this season.

In Chinese cosmology the dragon represents transformation, creating wise and generous ways around problems. There may be a little magic involved, too: remember Puff? Dragons are kind, and the Swimming Dragon form is extremely kind to your body, bringing smooth flexibility and strength to connective tissue that surrounds and supports the joints. It’s also famous as a longevity practice, as its twisting, coiling movements massage and detoxify the organs and enhance the circulation of lymph, blood, and rejuvenating oxygen through them.

But back to the magic part: last Saturday a group of us practiced Swimming Dragon together at Innisfree Gardens, in Millbrook. Most of the group was learning it for the first time. By the end of the hour, everyone looked and felt as relaxed, graceful, and calmly present as the lake in front of us. It was pretty amazing to witness the transformation. The effect was so striking that yesterday I devoted most of our online class to Swimming Dragon, and got feedback like “My joints have never felt so good!” So, let’s keep the magic flowing:  I’ll allocate a good portion of our Qigong classes this week to the beautiful Swimming Dragon.