QIGONG IN A PARK: EARTH DAY QIGONG

What a lovely morning practice we had in Davis Lane Park.

We celebrated Earth Day, one week late, but shouldn't every day be Earth Day?

Being a chilly morning I chose to begin with more vigorous warm-ups and Silk Reeling. We then practiced forms associated with the Earth element. Now, hold on to your hats, this is where I took us to for a ride.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), of which Qigong is one branch, references the elements, the seasons, directions, sounds, our body's organs and meridians and even animals.

You'll notice that there are FIVE seasons. What, What? Yes, we have the run of the mill Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter but between Summer and Fall we have a season I like to call Harvest.

You will also notice that Earth is the element of Harvest. Brian! It's Spring! Deer Frolic time! We're supposed to focus on the Wood element, the deer, the Liver and Gall Bladder Meridians. I was never good at "supposed to." I was thinking out of the box when I proposed Earth element forms including Monkey Frolics! Being cheeky myself, Monkey Frolics are my favorites.

As with all group practices, I pick and choose movements and forms to fit our group. From this list we did Spinal Twist (good warm-up), and we talked the Qua (the inguinal crease) with the goal of feeling weight distribution through our legs and opening our hip sockets. More warm-ups with shoulder and back opening pumping and swinging.

By this time we were ready to bring it down, do some flow, some Silk Reeling, Coiling Snake, and a little brain exercise called Open and Close the Door.

After a meditative earth focused Wuji (emptiness stance) we started our flow with some "frisbee throwing" a.k.a. Diagonal Flying. This also introduced our focus on the Solar Plexus, the Earth Element Center.

As always, I am providing YouTube videos created by some of my many teachers. Some of the forms will feel familiar, some will be new. Enjoy your practice!