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Qigong Routines from the May 2005 Retreat

Here are outlines describing the Qigong routines that we did at the Vipassana Santa Cruz Retreat at the end of May. Each session takes approximately 30 minutes to perform.

May you be blessed with Peace, Happiness and Good Health!

– Marcy

First Session:

Start stretched out on the floor feeling body and breath
Knees to ceiling, feet on floor, feeling breath
Extend the natural exhale, allowing lower back to curve toward the floor, i
Inhale remains completely natural, spine recurves
Drop into a rhythm with the breath and movement so that the movement becomes gradually larger, pelvis rocking with the breath
Allow the lower spine to roll up off the floor on the exhale and roll back to the floor on the inhale, gradually working higher up the spine with each breath.
Go as high as if comfortable
If comfortable, rise up into arch, tuck shoulders under, clasp hands together behind back, resting and breathing in arched position.
Roll down

Hug knees to chest, reach nose toward knees, rounding spine
Roll upper back to the floor and circle both knees in both directions, feeling sacrum against the floor.

Place one foot on the floor, extend other leg, hold behind leg
Circle foot of extended leg, both directions
Bring leg toward chest, extend opposite leg on the floor, extend nose toward knee, Rock head from side to side, release and lie back down, circle bent knee both directions
Repeat with other leg

Hug both knees to chest, roll to side and push up to sitting
Legs extended forward, hands lightly grasping the backs of legs/ankles/feet, providing a gentle stretch
Chin curls toward chest, rolling down the spine, then reaches forward, out and upward, creating a circle. Repeat, exhaling while rolling down, inhaling while reaching upwards
Include “water off a duck’s back” awareness of flow down the spine as you rise up
Rest forward over legs
Chin extends, bring torso back to upright

Bend knees, soles of feet together
Repeat same chin movement and breath

Bend one leg back so that one foot meets the other knee
Press flat palm across the body and upward at a diagonal, about head level, twisting, exhaling
Palm faces up as elbow pulls back on same diagonal down to the belly area, untwisting, inhaling
Bring awareness to the gentle and complete spiraling of the spine from bottom to top on the exhale and unwinding from top to bottom on the inhale and/or bring awareness to hands and feet (periphery of the body) on the exhale and the center (lower belly area or centerline of the body) on the inhale
Repeat
At the end of repetition, if comfortable can lie backward, stretching the front of the hip and thigh
Repeat sequence on other side

Bring feet together and spread legs wide
Press palm of hand down the inside of the opposite leg, bending over the leg, exhaling
Arm arcs upward around face level and back to belly level as you lift up, inhaling
Awareness on the spiraling and unspiraling of the spine or on the periphery and the center or both
Repeat
Rest down over leg being stretched
Repeat sequence on other side

Bring knees together, come to hands and knees
Sitting on heels (with toes tucked, if comfortable)
Bend one arm overhead, hold the elbow with the opposite hand, stretching the upper arm, head presses back into arm
Repeat with other arm

Return to hands and knees
Led by chin and tailbone, arch and sink spine several times (Cat & Cow)

Press back into Downward Dog (or Child’s Pose)
Stretch one heel toward the floor at a time, stretching the backs of the legs
Walk feet toward hands
Hang forward over legs, one hand in the opposite elbow crease
Release arms, bend knees and roll up
Extend and lift arms to the sides and overhead, palms come together
Bring hands down centerline of body to heart
Bow

Second Session:

Standing, rocking forward to the toes and back to the heels, allowing the arms to swing naturally, inhale forward, exhale back
Consciously relax the back as weight shifts to the toes, wiggling the back, consciously relax the front as weight shifts to the heels, wiggling
Once there is a sense of alternate relaxation of the front and back of the torso, begin consciously including the front and back of legs
Continue any of the above as long as you like
Gradually allow the movement to become more and more subtle, so that it begins to seem motivated simply by the shifting awareness of relaxation, feel any internal sense of movement
Continue to allow movement to become more subtle, until the point of stopping

Shift weight from left to right legs, feel weight filling and emptying the feet (helpful to focus on one foot at a time
Continue as long as you like
Feel hips rocking from side to side, allow palms of hands to face each other
Let awareness rest on the tailbone, begin letting awareness rise up the spine, hands also rise
Slowly, and with awareness, rock up and down the spine
Repeat as many times as you like

Continue rocking while one hand comes to the back, palm facing outward
Let the other arm swing and begin to rise overhead, gently stretching overhead
Rocking stops as upper hand reaches across head to the top of the opposite ear
Twist in the direction of the ear, looking down at the earth toward the opposite heel
Untwist, looking upward at a diagonal, head pressing into forearm and visa-versa
Turn to face front while releasing the hand overhead and down the front of the body, imagining washing down through the very marrow of the bones, down into the earth
Repeat sequence on the other side
Can repeat both sides as many times as desired
When finished, both hands rise, palms face the sky overhead, send a soft gaze/awareness way up high “heavens beyond heavens”
Turn palms downward, bringing the awareness and qi back “shen hui, qi hui”, washing through the bones as before
Pause at the end for the rebound of qi from the earth
Rest with hands on lower belly/navel

Circle hips, imagining drawing a circle on the floor with your tailbone, many times, repeat in the other direction, feel the circle of changing pressure on the soles of the feet
Continue as long as you like
Circle hips counter clockwise around the left knee/foot and clockwise around the right –figure 8
Add hands to figure 8 movement, palms down, sensing the earth with hands and feet
Continue as long as you like

Lower body continues rhythm, palms face –qi ball
Expand qi ball to include entire body
Allow the body to move however it wants within this form (shifting weight, palms facing)
Continue as long as you like

Condense qi ball/ make smaller
Squeeze qi ball, exhaling as hands move toward each other, inhaling as they move apart
Repeat as long as you like
Hands float out, up and forward on the inhale and toward the belly as you bend the knees and roll up through the spine as you exhale –embracing the world
Repeat as long as you like
Hands float up the center-line of the body, overhead, inhaling, and out to the sides and down, exhaling, hands flair out to the sides, inhaling, and back down to the sides, exhaling –weightlessness
Repeat as long as you like

Gather a qi ball from the earth, rotate it through the lower body –hands around hips, exhaling as the hands drop down the back, inhaling as they rise up the front
Continue as long as you like
Hands around hips 3 times, fingertips touch, palms up, hands rise up the front of the body, around throat, rest behind the base of the skull, drop shoulders, rock head
“Look” back and “see” the hands behind the head, follow the image of the hands as they rise up the back of the skull to the crown and down to the forehead
At the forehead, open the eyes, let go of the image and let any “energy” that wants to move flow down into the earth as the hands push down the front of the body, palms down
Repeat as many times as you like

Hands rise to the sides and overhead, inhaling, palms face down, dropping down the front of the body, exhaling –qi shower
Repeat as many times as you like
The last time the arms rise bring feet together and hands together overhead, drop down to heart
Bow