Hello everyone! Tutu Mora here with the Y bringing you tools to feel well in your
body, mind and spirit. So, today it's Friday and we're going to
start the weekend off feeling more relaxed, more grounded and
more present in our bodies with some Qigong. Now Qigong is similar
to Tai Chi in that it's a moving meditation and
Qigong means: the study of energy through time and effort. So, what we're going to
be doing, is moving energy. Balancing our energy
with a series of movements. So, the movements we're going to be doing
today are easy enough and accessible enough to be done while
sitting in a chair. So, go ahead and grab your chair.
Sitting down and allowing your feet to be firmly planted
on the ground.
And let's go ahead and place both of our hands over our low
belly, so the very center of our body. And let's start by just taking a couple
deep breaths into that low belly. Almost feeling like there was a little
uh flame, a little spark of energy that
we're going to feed with our breath. So, breathing into
that space.
Perhaps exhaling whatever you don't need anymore.
Residue from the day.
Whether your mind is still in the conversations that you've had
during the day, whether your mind is still in your inbox.
See if you can let some of that go with your exhale.
And with your inhale invite in new, fresh oxygen.
New, fresh energy to support your body.
[Breathing.]
And now you can keep your eyes open or closed
but, feeling into the bottoms of your feet.
So, imagining that the bottoms of your feet had their own
lungs and they were also breathing. And so, feeling that, that sensation.
Even if it takes a little imagination. Just feeling the bottoms of your feet
inhaling the earth, inhaling the ground beneath
you. And again, exhaling whatever your body
doesn't need. So, as you breathe, allow your feet to
breathe with you in this way and let's take a moment just to feel
into that sensation.
As if you were inhaling the earth beneath you
and, again, exhaling everything that you don't need anymore.
And one more here. And now, as you're in this space let's
imagine that we are sending down roots from
our seats, from the bottoms of our feet, down into the earth. And feeling those
roots just start to climb downwards winding their way through the soil.
And feeling yourself, maybe that gentle pull of gravity.
Just start to feel a little bit more connected
to the ground beneath you, a little bit more grounded
in your body.
And so now, feeling in through the crown of your head.
Feeling that space also having that ability to breathe -
inhale and exhale. And so, we're gonna breathe in
energy from the universe.
Taking in however much imagination you need to make this happen.
And imagining, with that inhale, that universe energy coming down
all through the spine into the low belly. So, let's take a couple inhales.
As if you're inhaling that universe energy.
Exhaling, again, everything that you don't need anymore.
Whatever from the day that you're just ready to let go of.
Ready to move on.
[Breathing.]
Let's take one more here. Again, inhaling from the crown of the head, that
energy from the universe, and allowing it to flow in.
All the way down the length of the spine into the low belly.
And so, now we're going to put all these pieces together.
So, the Qigong that we're doing today - it's happening inside our body.
So, that movement is inward versus the outwardly directed movements that we
have done before. So Qigong, in this way, can happen both
internal and out, and external. So, there is a
balance from above, below, internal, external all comes
together. So, this is this is an inward-focused Qigong
exercise. We're going to put it all together here.
Inhaling as you feel that earth come up through the bottoms of
your feet. Inhaling as you feel that universe energy coming through the crown
of your head. Exhale we're going to release what we no
longer need. Letting it fall to the ground, fall
to outer space. We're just going to inhale from these two directions,
exhale as well. So, let's take a couple here.
Inhaling, again, tuning into those feet having their own little lungs.
Crown of the head having its own little lungs.
[Breathing.]
And feeling as though this intake of energy from the earth and the
universe is, again, feeding that little flame. Feeding that,
that life force energy that you have in your
low belly.
[Breathing.]
So, we're going to take three more inhales. Inhaling in the earth.
Inhaling in the universe. Exhaling out what we no longer need.
Two more.
Last one.
And so, now we're gonna just feel that energy that we have
collected inside. We're going to sit here in a moment of stillness
and allow it to just circulate through your whole body.
So, let's lower our gaze or close our eyes.
And allowing that energy to circulate. As you breathe see if you can breathe
that balanced, new, fresh chi - breathe it into the tips
of your toes.
Breathe it into your fingertips.
Breathe it into your low back.
Anywhere that you might be feeling any tension or tightness.
See if you can breathe that fresh chi, that balanced chi, that we have collected.
Breathe it into those spaces.
[Breathing.]
And so, now if you've lost it, reconnect with that
root. Reconnect with those roots that you have
from your seats, from the bottoms of your feet that are
winding down into the soil. Just reconnect there
feel yourself held and supported by gravity and the earth.
And then you can gently open your eyes.
Feeling into, perhaps, the quietness or the more settledness or the more
peacefulness that you've been able to cultivate.
And I invite you just to carry this feeling with you.
throughout the day, throughout the rest of your weekend
and to return to this if you ever need just a still moment to
collect yourself, perhaps, to recharge yourself like you would a battery.
And this is the practice you can take with you on the plane,
you can - not that, maybe, we don't want to travel on the plane right now - but you
can take it with you wherever you have a moment to be seated
quietly with yourself. So, I hope that you found this supportive
and I'll see you next time on the Y's YouTube channel with more tools to help
you stay feeling well in your body, mind and spirit.
Take care.