Qigong and the Tai Chi Axis: Nourishing Practices for Body, Mind, and Spirit

tai chi chuan is a type of qigong practice: it follows set sequences that are martially based meditative movements. These sequences have been handed down primarily by five families and lineages in China – the Yang, Wu Yi Xiang, Chen, Wu Jianquan and Hao-styled tai chi chuan. The forms in tai chi chuan are among the estimated 7,000 forms of qigong f

therefore, best to pair the development of flexibility with an equal amount of rooting, stability and strength.

In Chinese, the word means to submerge, to immerse, or drop down in a deep, profound way. Chen is often used to help students stand and let go of rigidity or unnecessary tension. It enables them to begin finding deeper roots for a stable, nourished foundation.

With the radical for water, chen invokes qualities of depth, wisdom and flowing down to the deepest places, which is what water does in nature.

Spring and the Wood element relate to creation, beginnings, plans, initiation, optimism, power, activity and expansion.

In Chinese, there is an idiom that says if the roots are deep, the foundation is strong: gen shen di gu.

Though I tried some qigong during my early years in China, it was an American practitioner, Sifu Matthew Cohen, who was my first qigong teacher.

BASIC FORM INSTRUCTIONS 1.Stand with your feet shoulder-distance wide, feet pointing straight ahead. 2.Take long, slow, even, smooth (as opposed to coarse) and deep breaths. 3.Bend your knees slightly. 4.Relax your arms by your sides, leaving a slight gap between them and the sides of your body. 5.Relax the joints of your body. 6.Allow the tailbone

16.Finish without startling spirit. To come out of Wuji, move slowly so as not to startle the spirit. Begin by lifting through the center of the body; hold one wrist with the other hand behind your back and massage the bottoms of the feet by rolling your weight across one foot and then the other. Circle on your feet 3–5 times in one direction, and