Five Minutes Qigong for Relaxation and Healing

If you are suffering from tension pain and need instant and long-term stress relief, try the following Qigong Relaxation Technique.

Qigong (also phonetically spelled "chi kung") is all about relaxation. This exercise is easy to learn and even easier to master. Just five minutes of practice every day will provide immediate relief.

Here's how:

Before practicing these relaxation techniques, you should learn proper qigong breathing. Please see the description below. 

1. For our purpose, you can sit or stand for this exercise. If you are standing, you need to know how to do the Standing Qigong properly. Feet should be shoulder width apart, pointing forward, shoulders and face relaxed, spine straight. Please read about proper stance in Foundation of internal martial arts and posts below.
Standing Qigong produced superior results
Standing Qigong/Meditation Part 2
What is stronger Qigong or Coffee for an instant “hit”?
2. You need to know how to "relax" into the stance. If you are a beginning student or new to qigong relaxation techniques, it would be easier to sit.
   
3. If you are sitting, do not lean or slouch, but neither should you keep your spine ramrod rigid. The idea is to keep your back straight without being stiff. 
4. Inhale using qigong breathing described below. As you inhale, bring your shoulders up, tensing as much as possible. This is important if you are to know true relaxation.
5. Next, pause in your breathing before exhaling. As you release your breath slowly, begin to lower your shoulders again until they are totally relaxed.
6. Pause in your breathing, then inhale and begin the cycle again.
7. Practice this exercise for a total of eight breaths: inhale and tense the shoulders, pause, exhale and relax the shoulders, pause.

And there you have it — a very simple relaxation exercise.



The following exercises will also help to heal the body and relieve stress:
Rapid Relaxation Tips

How to build up Qi to fight off illness
Qigong to heal Your Liver
Quickly Release Stress and Heal using Qi

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Ever notice when people experience stress, the first thing they tense are the jaws? The second thing? Their shoulders. Learn to relax these two and the rest of your body will relax almost automatically.

Problem: How can you relax your shoulders when you don't even know when they are not?

To know relaxation, you must know the opposite. That is why these qigong relaxation techniques are so effective. By tensing your shoulders, you become much more aware of the opposite.

Try this qigong relaxation exercise. It is short and simple and takes little effort. Yet it is so effective! No other relaxation exercise work so quickly. Practice it regularly and you should encounter fewer problems with stress. 

How to do Qigong Breathing:

Ideally, inhale and exhale only through your nostrils. If medical reasons make this impractical, inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Inhale and exhale through your mouth only as a last resort.

1. When you inhale, feel your breath come into your nose, down your throat and into your lungs and belly. Let your belly muscles expand to move your belly forward.
2. When you exhale, let your belly return to its original position and relax. Do your best to completely relax your chest and not use any strength to puff it out when you breathe. You should have very little or no sense of air going into your chest.
3. First, practice by focusing on expanding and relaxing your lower belly. Your lower belly extends from slightly above the top of your pubic hair to your navel. Breathe in such a way that the lower belly does not move from below the top of your pubic hair. Avoid straining or any feeling of pressure in your genitals.
4. When you can expand and relax your lower belly comfortably, turn your attention to moving the middle belly when you breathe, which for most people is more difficult. The middle belly extends from your navel to just before your diaphragm. Placing your hands on the lower, middle and upper parts of your belly as you breathe will give you clear feedback as to whether and how much your belly is moving.
5. Finally, concentrate on expanding and relaxing your upper belly—your diaphragm and solar plexus—just underneath your lowest ribs. Try to have your diaphragm move downward as you inhale and upward as you exhale. This will help push air into the back and top of your lungs, parts that seldom get exercised. Eventually, you will be able to move all three parts of your belly in unison.

I highly recommend the following books on Healing Qigong.