April 9, 2005
(Note: The Eight
Rivers Qigong will be published
in installments at the Cloud
Hands website beginning in June,
2005. It will be published in its entirety by June, 2006.)
© Green
Way Research, Red Bluff, California, 2005
By Michael P. Garofalo, All Rights Reserved.
These eight qigong exercises are a fusion of
qigong and Hatha yoga exercises.
They are combined so that, in general:
1. All exercises are done standing up.
2. All movements are coordinated with
breathing so that there is one breath out
during a movement segment, and one breath in during the following movement
segment. These are a variety of vinyasa style of mindfulness exercises.
3. Each movement requires a specific use of the eyes - a concentration point.
4. The sequence of the eight movements
comply with the general principles
of my Qigong-Yoga Exercise Cycle for a complete set of
movements. The set
begins with a warm-up phase, moves to a heat building phase, challenges
one
with a vigorous exercise phase, shifts to a gradual cool down phase, and
ends
with a restful and relaxing phase.
5. Many movements are combined with
visualizations of circulating vital energies
in the body (i.e., blood, Prana, Qi) or the actions of animals or
imagined activities.
Emphasis is placed on using the mind-will to control the movements of the
muscles
and limbs of the body - developing a sense of the mind-will as Commander or
Wizard.
6. The eight movements will be useful to
students who decide to go on to study the
longer exercise sets of which these are a part, e.g., Grasping
the Sparrow's Tail is
an essential and critical sequence in the Yang style
Taijiquan forms.
7. If time is short, then a person can
perform a few of the exercises in this set.
They can repeat one movement over and over to experience the "flow."
The entire eight movements will take about 30 minutes to perform. The
number
of repetitions of each movement will depend upon the time available, the
energy levels of the person, and the sense of enjoyment in doing that particular
movement for the person.
8. All exercises are to be performed with
an emphasis upon the feeling
state of Sung: relaxed, open, loose, flexible,
energized, free.
9. The eight exercises all emphasize the feeling
of "flowing" like a pure, clean,
vibrant, living river. The human body itself, composed mostly of watery
substances,
is a system of "rivers" of blood, lymph, hormones, bio-electrical
impulses,
excretions, and cells of all types. Block one or more of these
"rivers" and
illness or death results. Keep these rivers clean, pure, moving,
unblocked,
and properly channeled and good health, vitality, and well being are the
result.
Eight Rivers Qigong
1. Turning the Thunderous Prayer Wheel
2. Grasping the Tail of the Fire Dragon
3. The Wild Geese Joyfully Return to the Lake in the Valley
4. Salutation to the Stars
5. The Wind Moves the Clouds
6.
7.
8.
Eight Rivers Qigong Movements
1. Turning the Thunderous Prayer Wheel
Links and Bibliography
Eight Rivers Qigong
Cloud
Hands: Taijiquan and Qigong
Valley
Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Club
Red Bluff, Tehama County,
North Sacramento Valley, Northern Central California, U.S.A.
Cities in the area: Oroville, Paradise, Durham, Chico, Hamilton City, Orland,
Willows,
Corning,
Rancho Tehama, Los Molinos, Tehama, Proberta, Gerber, Manton, Cottonwood,
Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro, and Redding, CA, California.
Valley
Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Journal
Index for the Cloud Hands Website
Valley Spirit T'ai Chi Ch'uan Instructional Program
Cloud Hands: The Gentle Mind-Body Arts of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Chi Kung
April 1, 2005
© Green Way Research, Red Bluff, California, 2005
Homepage: Cloud Hands - Taijiquan and Qigong