Following series of qigong practices are designed by Dr. Jahnke for maximum result along with maximum ease and can be done by almost anyone regardless of health, age, or physical condition.

  To make the practice of qigong more beneficial and accessible to the person just starting out, Dr. Jahnke suggests:

• Take it easy and don't rush. Excess effort and trying too hard go against the natural benefits of qigong. Remember, qigong is intended to help you heal.
• Although qigong may seem simplistic, a dedication to these practices can mobilize one's inherent healing forces.
• Results come over time, so don't overdo it or expect too much too soon.
• If performed correctly, qigong is safe to practice as often as you like.
• Feel free to make up your own routine and to change the practices to suit your needs, likes, and limitations.
• Always approach each practice with an intention to relax; direct the mind toward quiet indifference.
• Regulate the breath so that both the inhalation and exhalation are slow and deep, but not urgent or exaggerated.

 

 

1. Tracing acupuncture meridians to circulate the vital life energy: The goal of this practice is to move the qi along the meridians. Rub your hands together to build up heat. The Chinese say this increases qi. They will become warmer if you are relaxed and the environment is comfortable. As if washing your face, stroke the palms upward across the cheeks, eyes, and forehead. Continue over the top and side of the head, down the back of the neck, and along the shoulders to the shoulder joint.

  Continue under the arm and down the sides to the rib cage. At the lower edge of the rib cage, move the palms around to the back, across the buttocks, down the back and sides of the legs, and out the sides of the feet. Trace up inside the feet and the inner surface of the legs, up the front side of the torso and onto the face again, beginning the second round. You may rub the palms together before each round.

2. Directing vital life energy to internal organs: Rub your hands together to build up heat. Apply the right hand to the area over the liver at the lower right edge of the rib cage. Visualize the liver-the largest, most complex organ in the whole body-receiving the qi and benefiting.

  Apply the left hand to the area over the spleen and pancreas at the lower left side of the ribs. The spleen-an immense lymph organ-is the producer of white blood cells, and the pancreas is a critical link in energy metabolism and digestion. Move the hands circularly continuing to create heat, breathing full breaths, and relax. Feel the heat, or qi, passing in through the surface of the skin and penetrating to the organs as the entire metabolic process becomes more efficient.

  Holding the hands still over the organs, continue to feel the heat penetrate. On exhalation, visualize the qi circulating from the center of the body out the arms, into the hands, and penetrating from the hands into the organs.

  Now, move the palms to cover the navel and breastbone. The navel is the human original connection to life and nourishment, and the Chinese feel that in adulthood it still connects to the whole body. The breastbone protects several vital organs, the heart, and the thymus. The heart pumps the blood, of course, but the Chinese believe it is the resting place of one's emotional and spiritual self. The thymus is the source of T-cells, some of the most powerful immune agents. Visualize them benefiting from the warmth, the qi, pouring into the navel, heart, and thymus, being more able to do their essential functions.

  Move the palms around to cover the lower back. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this area is thought to be directly connected to the kidneys, which not only remove toxins from the blood but also is the storehouse of vital life energies. The adrenal glands rest on top of the kidneys and control much of what the Chinese associate with the regulation of those energies. Rub these areas, penetrating theqi deep into the body to improve the ability of the kidneys and adrenals to do their work. Visualize the kidneys and adrenals receiving the qi and being empowered to more efficiently help eliminate waste products, produce energy, and activate healing throughout the whole body.

3. Massaging the acupuncture microsystems: In modern Chinese medical terminology, the hands, feet, and ears are called reflex microsystems. Pressure applied to these areas, usually with the thumbs, stimulates qi throughout the body.

With your thumbs, vigorously press all areas of the palms and the soles of the feet. Find sore points and concentrate pressure on them several times.

  Press out along each segment of the fingers and toes. At the tips of the fingers and toes press on the lateral sides of the base of the finger- or toenails (feel for an indentation). Continuing to press, roll the receiving finger or toe under the pressure of the thumb and forefinger of the working hand. Return to give additional pressure to those hand or foot points that were particularly tender.

  Now using the thumbs and forefingers, massage the ears simultaneously. Begin with moderate pressure and work over the entire ear on both sides, until the ears begin to feel hot. Notice any areas of discomfort and rub the uncomfortable areas vigorously.

4. Building up vital life energy with breathing: Sit or stand, keeping your eyes lightly closed or just slightly open; attention focused inward. Shoulders are relaxed and the head rests directly on top of the shoulders and spine. Hands are held palm facing upward, fingertips pointing toward each other two inches below the navel.

  Slowly inhaling, bring the hands upward to the lower edge of the breastbone. Then, take in three additional short puffs of breath to maximally fill the lungs, raising the hands a bit with each puff to the level of the arm pits. Hold for a moment. Slowly turn the palms face down and exhale slowly, lowering the hands slowly to the navel. Exhale three additional puffs of breath, to maximally empty the lungs. Lower the hands a bit to the beginning level. Hold for a moment. Repeat.

  On the exhalations you may feel a warm or tingling sensation spreading outward from the center of your body toward your hands. On inhaling, visualize the qi accumulating deep inside the pelvic and abdominal cavities (known as "the sea of energy"). Continue visualizing with exhalation.

5. Contracting and relaxing with breathing: In this exercise, the whole body musculature contracts on exhalation and deeply relaxes on each inhalation. The breath and the contraction together help to cleanse the tissues of the body.

  While sitting or standing, bring the hands in front of the heart/breastbone, inhale, and relax. Begin to exhale, pressing the hands forward as if pushing something heavy. Contract as many of the body's muscles as possible. Grip the floor or ground with the toes and, while the hands slowly push forward, contract the perineal muscles (located on the pelvic floor between the genital and anal area).

  When the hands are extended, all muscles contracted, breath is completely exhaled; relax. Release tension from all muscles and float the hands back toward the heart with a deep inhalation. Release the toes, the perineum, and the abdomen.

  Repeat the same cycle, pressing the hands upward as high as possible, as if lifting a great weight off of yourself, exhaling and contracting. Then relax completely, inhale slowly, and return the hands to the position before the heart.

  Next, repeat pushing out to the sides, then pressing downward. Continue forward, then up, then to the sides and finally downward. Contraction and release of muscles pump large volumes of lymphatic fluid away from the tissues, carrying away metabolic by-products and pollutants through the bloodstream.

6. Twisting the waist: Standing, with your feet at shoulder width, rotate your torso. This can be done seated. Upper body movement should come from moving the waist. Shoulders follow the waist and the arms follow the shoulders, they just dangle and swing. Turn the head completely, as far as it will comfortably go, to look behind you.

  Breathe fully and note a dynamic relationship between action and relaxation. Bring as much relaxation to the movement as possible. Notice that the arms and hands hit the body. This hitting or thumping can become purposeful when aimed at the reflexes of the kidneys, spleen, and liver around the lower torso.

7. Spontaneous movement: Spontaneous movement qigong is very common in China. Instead of following a prescribed set of instructions each individual is guided to move about or not move at all by an internal sense of the body's needs, a sense of the qi. Some people seem to be doing nothing or almost nothing, others may be sitting and moving their arms about in coordination with the breath. Still others may be dancing about in a deeply energized state.

  Standing with feet at shoulder width or sitting in an armless chair, begin to wiggle the fingers and shake or rock the body; deepen the breath. Increase the body's activity and allow hands and arms to shake. Add shaking of the head and shoulders. Relax the jaw, allowing some sound to be generated on the exhalation, like a giant sigh of relief. This is one of the best exercises to bring about an immediate sensation of the energy or qi. Exaggerate the movement, prolong it; shift weight from foot to foot; make sounds; find your own best way to use this exercise.

8.Qigong meditation: This practice can be done standing, sitting, or lying down. In the severely ill, it can mobilize important healing resources. If the person is healthy, it can help maintain health and coordinate body, mind, and spirit.

  In this practice, natural forces accelerate through breath, relaxation, intention, and visualization. On inhalation, visualize a concentration of qi in the abdominal area. On exhalation, visualize these resources circulating out from the center to all the parts of the body: extremities, organs, tissues, and glands. Continue, through thought and visualization, to circulate healing energy with deep breathing and deep relaxation.

 

  Although qigong exercises are widely practiced in the United States, the conventional medical community has been resistant to its use in a medical context. Dr. Jahnke says, yet one factor makes qigong an inevitable innovation in Western culture: the staggering cost of postsymptomatic medical intervention. With qigong, individuals learn to cure themselves and maintain their health-a profoundly cost-effective feature. Dr. Jahnke adds that ancient, low-impact, self-healing traditions like qigong, tai chi, yoga, and pranayama are being referred to as "self applied health enhancement methods" (SAHEM) in the international medical literature. This name allows Western culture to embrace qigong and its benefits in terms that are familiar. SAHEM combines gentle body movement, self-massage, relaxation exercises, breathing, meditation, and visualization, and is now being implemented in hospitals, schools, YMCAs, corporate wellness programs, and communities at large throughout the country.