First, slow down.
The slowness in the exercise of health qigong, intuitively speaking, mainly refers to the slowness of movements, which is a remarkable feature that health qigong is different from other exercise items. In China's traditional Qigong and TCM health preserving theory, man is a whole, which consists of three aspects: one is the tangible body, and the other is the intangible qi and spirit. Among them, the body is the most intuitive, and you can feel the breath with one breath, while the mind can only understand it, but it is difficult to express it, but everyone can feel its existence exactly. If we carefully understand the running speed of the body, breath and mind, it is not difficult to find that the mind is the fastest (in one spirit, an ape like the Monkey King can turn over 108 thousand Li in one somersault); Followed by the body (the action is dominated by the heart and brain, which can be fast or slow); Qi is the slowest (it can only run along the meridians at the inherent speed in the body).
As we all know, the goal of sports is "three tones": body adjustment, qi adjustment and heart adjustment; The high realm of acrobatics is the integration of three tones. Can get together, at least at the same speed? Because the speed of breathing cannot be changed, only the speed of body and mind can be changed. Therefore, in practice, practitioners should find ways to slow down their hearts (calm down) and slow down their movements (slack off). So "slowness" has become one of the important means of practice. Judging from the nine sets of health qigong promoted by the Health Qigong Management Center of the State Sports General Administration, the characteristics of * * * are slow, and the five sets of new technologies promoted later are slower than the four sets of old technologies promoted first. The author once led the students to perform with the music of "Watching the Grassland with You", which always showed elegance, stretch and calmness.
Second, stop.
When practicing nine sets of health qigong, many movements are not only slow, but even slightly stopped. The most obvious is the six-character formula, which has a pause after almost every action. Generally speaking, action is always faster than breathing. The ancients said: walk six inches at a time (the same size). And every gesture is much bigger. So sometimes we have to stop and wait for the breath to meet. For example, Yijinjing, Baduanjin, Shiduanjin, Dawu and so on. It's all marked pause Although it is not specified, generally speaking, every movement will pause after forming a set. If the practitioner doesn't understand the secret, moves quickly and moves back and forth, it will be wasted. So, no matter which method we practice, we'd better know where to stop. In actual practice, we should also carefully understand how the breath changes after a short pause. What's the effect after a long time?
If it is too late to understand the routine at first, then if you are not good at summing up experience after proficiency, or even always follow others, it is a waste of practice time.
It should also be noted that the so-called pause is only a slight pause in action, and the breath has not stopped. Therefore, the continuity required in practice mainly refers to the breath. Although the shape is broken, the breath is still connected.
Third, big.
The so-called "big" mainly means that the action range should be generous and not stiff. After human stood up, the brain became smarter, but it also paid a price, and the spine was deformed and bent. Therefore, many movements of health qigong are aimed at relaxing muscles and pulling bones, which is beneficial to the smooth operation of qi and blood, and sometimes it has to be corrected by reverse movements for special needs.
Here is a "two-point stretching method". For example, when standing, I want to hold my head high in the sky and my feet on the ground. At this time, my head and my feet are the two opposite ends farthest apart. Another example is: when the hands are horizontally raised into a Chinese character "big", it means that the left and right hands extend to the farthest distance respectively, then the middle fingers of the left and right hands are the two opposite extension endpoints farthest apart; Another example is the posture of stretching in the big dance. The trunk leans forward about 45 degrees, the palm is folded forward and upward, reaching to the inner side of the upper arm and sticking to the ear, and the heel is pulled backward to cooperate with inhalation. At this time, the middle finger end and heel of the folded palm are the two opposite extension endpoints which are farthest away. Then, the arm continues to extend forward and upward, the heel is lifted, and the hind sole grasps the ground, so that the middle finger end of the palm and the hind sole form two opposite extension endpoints, which are the farthest apart. There are many similar movements in the nine sets of qigong techniques, so I won't list them one by one.
It should be noted that not all movements need the "two-point stretching method". Practice pays attention to Zhang Youdao. When you are nervous, you must relax. Tension is only temporarily stopped, and then relaxation can better promote the circulation of qi and blood. When you relax, your arms stretch in an arc, and the running route is also in an arc, which reflects the roundness, looseness, softness and generosity of the technique. "Work goes round and round, round and round." Therefore, the action range is large, including not only "straight" but also "circle".
Fourth, views
As the name implies, the annotation of "view" in Xinhua Dictionary is: look (observation, sightseeing); What you see (wonders, magnificence); Understanding, views (views, concepts) of things; View (Taoist temple). The "view" discussed in this paper only takes the meaning of "view" and attaches the conditions of "view".
If you practice kung fu for a long time and use it properly, you will experience some phenomena: "Qi sense" and "Vipassana". What is more obvious and common is the "sense of qi", and the acupoints along which qi moves in the meridians sometimes have feelings such as beating, acid, numbness and swelling. At this time, if the practitioner does not have enough skill to recuperate, then be a bystander and let these phenomena pass by in the body. My heart is like a mirror, all the past phenomena have passed, so I don't need to bother to analyze, let alone command. Otherwise, it is easy to go wrong and get possessed.
However, feeling is better than not feeling at all. An important gain of practice is to be sensitive to your body and observe whether your qi and blood are unobstructed, so that we can better adjust our practice methods.
People who "watch" look inside. For those who have practiced for a period of time, they can experience the feeling of inner peace. For example, most martial arts "closing momentum" has the action of lifting and falling. When lifting, raise your hands in a big arc to cooperate with inhalation. At this time, it is observed that the inhaled fresh air meets the qi in the abdomen in the chest; Then fall, at this time, just exhale and you can fall back freely without your hands. If you cooperate with Dantian, the qi in your chest will also fall back to Dantian.
It should be noted that for beginners, it is best to practice in the order of "three tones", that is, first adjust your body (do a good job in body movements), then adjust your breath (breathe and breathe), then adjust your heart (think as appropriate), and finally achieve the integration of the three tones. In fact, don't think about anything when you are a beginner, just follow the teaching books and CDs or the correct guidance of the teacher, and you will get something if you practice for a long time.
To sum up, "slow, stop and watch" is an effective way to practice health qigong. As long as we practice hard and understand, I believe the level of practicing Qigong will definitely improve.