[Dani Cullen stands on an exercise mat, wearing loose fitting pants and a comfortable top. She's in front of a white wall with a pot plant behind her and two windows on either side of her].
Dani Cullen: Qigong is a really great way to shift energy and get you back into the flow of life again with more ease and grace.
It's designed to awaken your vitality so you feel more energised, alive, clear and back into flow.
[Text appears on screen: 'Advice: While qigong is generally considered safe, pregnant individuals should speak to their health care provider before participating in this practice.'].
So, all you'll need is a nice quiet place, either indoors or outdoors in nature.
But be aware that you can do this practise anywhere, anytime that you feel like you need a little bit of a lift.
Let's get started and move some qi.
Standing feet shoulder width apart, feet forward, softening your knees, turning your pelvis forwards and drawing your tailbone down.
[Dani demonstrates the posture].
Imagine your tailbone is energetically connecting with the earth.
And then lengthening your spine, tucking your chin in a little bit towards the neck and lifting the crown up towards the heavens. Then relaxing your shoulders.
[She shifts her posture and brings her arms to rest with a small gap between them and her hips, then closes her eyes].
Let the shoulders sink down towards the hips, and the hips sink down towards the feet, and the feet sink down towards the earth.
And just bring your awareness to your breath.
Notice how just by bringing your awareness to your breath, your breath naturally starts to slow down and deepen.
And if not, just breathing in through the nose… filling up the belly... and then gently letting the breath go back and the belly back towards the spine.
Then just taking a few nice deep breaths, hands over the belly.
Breathing in… breathing out, just finding your centre.
Drawing your energy down into the belly.
Coming back to your body… and feeling grounded… grounding down to the earth.
Lifting up towards the heavens and feeling this, like a strong channel between heaven and earth.
And as you start to find your centre and feel your body again, we're going to start to wake up the energy.
[She opens her eyes].
So, keeping the knees nice and soft and the hips forward, we're going to start to twist at the waist.
[She begins to twist from side to side, letting her arms hand loose and bounce against her back and front].
Just gently twisting, starting to open up the spine.
Letting the arms just hang loose, be passive by the sides…
And let the arms just knock over the body.
So, as we start to open up the spine, just do what's comfortable for you.
If you'd like to get a little bit more of a twist and it feels right for you, you can just look over your shoulder.
[Dani begins to look back over her shoulders as she twists].
Just opening up, picking up the speed that feels right to you, just do what is comfortable for you.
Letting those hands really tap over the body.
And as you do, we're waking up our qi.
This is actually called 'Knocking on the Door of Life'.
So we're waking up, activating our qi or our energy, but we're also starting to release old, stagnant energy.
So, if you feel like you need to breathe, just take a nice big deep breath in through the nose and then let go through the mouth…
[Dani exhales].
And just continue to do some cleansing breaths.
[She inhales and exhales as she twists].
And then we're just going to get a little bit more specific with the hands and the tapping.
[She stops twisting and faces forward. Her arms continue to move, swinging one hand to tap on the front of the opposite hip while the other taps her back, roughly in line with her belly button. She alternates each hand between tapping the front of her hips and her back. Her arms are swinging in a wide, circular motion].
So, it's tapping on the hips and then opposite the belly button at the back is a acupressure point called the 'Ming Men'.
And this is the 'Door of Life'.
So, we're tapping over the Dan Tian, waking up this energy reserve in our place.
We're also opening up the leg gates, knocking later on the kua, or knocking on our hips.
And again, we're waking energy up, but we're also releasing.
So, if you feel like there's a breath there, don't hold it in, let it go.
So, breathing in…
[She inhales].
Breathing out.
[She exhales].
Have some fun with it. Use your voice, if you're in a nice quiet place, you might just want to [she let's out an exhale like a growl] let go, let go of any emotion.
And then taking those hands further up over the belly, tapping on those internal organs, digestive organs, liver, spleen.
[She moves her hands up to tap in line with her waist].
And then taking front hands up over the lungs.
[She brings the hand swinging to the front to tap over her chest, while the other taps the middle of her back in line with her waist].
Big breath in and let go.
[She exhales].
We can hold lots of stuck emotion in the lung area.
Breathing some nice fresh energy into those lungs.
And taking the hands up over the shoulders.
[One hand taps the opposite shoulder while the other taps the centre of her back, then they alternate].
It's a great one to help clear the mind… clear tension in the shoulders and the neck.
And then just coming back down over the lungs.
[She brings her hands down to tap her chest and centre back].
Over the belly.
[She taps her hands on her front and back, in line with her waist].
And then over the hips.
[She taps her hands against her hips and lower back].
I'm just going to let the arms just relax a little and start to feel your body wake up, become more alive.
[She shakes her hands out, then closes her eyes and holds her arms by her sides with a gap between them and her hips. Her feet are planted a little more than hip distance apart].
You start, may start to feel a little tingling around the hands and within your body.
I'm just going to start to shake.
[She bounces from the knees and shakes out her hands and arms].
So, imagine just bouncing in the knees, just letting the hips just go loose and the knees go loose.
[Dani lets her entire body relax, bouncing from her knees and relaxing her shoulders and arms so they shake with her].
Keeping the feet nice and grounded in, on the floor, on the earth, and just let that bounce come all the way up the body, letting the, all the internal organs go loose like they're getting a little massage.
[She exhales].
Again, cleansing breaths as you need.
And then let those shoulders go loose.
Really let the shoulders and the arms, the wrists and the fingers.
[She begins to shake out her arms and hands more aggressively].
Imagine just flicking out anything that doesn't serve you anymore.
Releasing tensions, any stagnation, just letting it go back to the earth.
[She exhales as she speaks].
And just gently let the neck and the head go loose if it feels right.
[She relaxes her head and rolls her neck, then starts twisting from side to side as she shakes her arms and bounces].
You can have some fun and use your voice [she lets out an exhale that sounds like a growl].
And then try smiling.
Smiling brings a lightness into the body.
Let's really let go.
Let's go loose and then take a nice big breath and start to slow it down.
[She gently slows her movements and then comes to a stop].
Just come back to that nice soft qigong stance and take a moment just to feel your body.
[She stands with her feet a little more than hip distance apart and her arms held a little way from her sides. She closes her eyes].
Feel that body awaken.
Feel energy enliven.
Feel yourself becoming more energised and awake.
Take some nice deep breaths, let the breath calm down.
Draw that breath deep down into the belly again… and let it calm so you can breathe in and out through the nose.
And when you've found your centre, take a nice deep breath in, raising the arms up… and then letting them float down through the midline of the body.
[Dani raises her arms on either side of her body with her palms facing the sky. Once they're over her head, she slowly brings them back down in front of her face and to her hips].
It's called 'Bringing Down the Heavens'.
[She repeats the motion].
Imagine drawing energy up from the earth, gathering qi from the heavens and letting it wash through the body.
This time, as the arms come up, take them up and then open up the chest…
[She begins to demonstrate the flow. Dani raises her arms in line with her hips, palms facing down and elbows bent. She brings her hands above her head, then leans back and tilts her head backwards so her chest is to the sky].
And then we're gonna curl, so turn the pelvis forward as far as you can and tuck the chin in towards the chest. So we're curling the back, a light fist with the hands.
[She leans forward with her hands still above her head, then brings her arms together in front of her face and chest with her palms toward herself. She tucks her head to her chest and curls her upper body forward, clenching her fists].
And then we're gonna open, breathing in, really opening up that chest.
[She releases her fists and opens her arms back up again, bending backwards so her chest is toward the sky].
And then curling, coming forward, folding… and then opening… and curling.
[She curls and releases again, and begins to repeat the movement].
You can find your own rhythm; you can pick up the pace a little bit.
So, we start to open the spine even more, open the front of the chest.
And we're pumping and opening that highway of qi from the sacrum all the way up into the cranium, up into the brain.
Opening.
Breathing in… breathing out.
Breathing in new fresh light and squeezing out the old.
One more time.
And when you open this time, just holding open, if your back allows, you can do a little back bend.
[She opens from her curled position and holds her arms up, bent at a 90-degree angle with her palms to the sky. She closes her eyes and bends back slightly to lift her chest to the sky].
Imagine opening up your heart to the universe.
Then we're going to come forward and we're going to bend at the knees, so the palms come flat with the earth.
[She leans forward slowly, keeping her hands in line with her shoulders. Then she bends her knees, bringing her chest and palms to face the ground].
And it's like the heart is kissing the earth... holding.
And then just releasing the arms and rolling up and do that again.
[She brings her hands to the floor, then rolls her spine up and drags her hands up along her legs and torso. Then she raises her arms and leans backwards again to open up her chest and repeat the whole flow].
Breathing in, opening up.
Breathing out, folding forward and connecting with the earth.
Letting go, breathing in, opening up…
Breathing out, coming down.
Rolling up, nice and slowly.
Coming back to qigong stance.
[She stands with her feet a little more than hip distance apart and her arms resting by her sides. Her eyes are closed].
Just taking a moment to feel your body.
Catch your breath.
Relaxing.
And raising the hands up, we're going to just smooth out the qi, calm the qi, seal the qi through the body.
[Dani begins a new flow. She lifts her arms and presses her palms together over her head. She brings them down to the top of her head, then separates her hands and runs them down her face].
Washing the hands over the face, down the neck, down the side body, around to the kidneys, down the legs.
[She runs her hands back over her face like she's washing it, then brings them behind her neck, over her shoulders and to the sides of the front of her chest. Then she brings them down her sides and to her lower back, which she massages gently before sliding her hands down the sides of her legs].
Bend the knees to come down if you need to.
[She bends her knees to run her hands all the way to her feet and the floor].
We're just going to come up, drawing the hands up the insides of the legs… and around the belly.
[Dani runs her hands back up her lags and folds one hand over the other to massage her stomach].
Take a breath…
And relax, sink into your body even more.
And again, raising up, breathing in… letting the hands wash down over the body... like a waterfall.
[She raises her arms above her head and begins the flow again].
Coming all the way down.
This time we're going to come into a forward bend.
[She bends until she is touching her feet, with her head toward the ground, then moves her hands to the ground].
So just coming down as far as you can, letting the crown of the head drop down towards the earth, so the forehead's facing the legs and lifting the tailbone up towards the heavens and letting the top of the body hang loose.
Letting the shoulders, the neck, the head, just hang loose, hang heavy.
And take a few deep breaths.
Engaging the legs and engaging your core, we're going to roll up as slowly as you can.
Let the pelvis and the tailbone drop back down forwards, and let the spine lift you up one vertebrae at a time.
[She very slowly begins to stand again, rounding through her spine and gently lifting her chest].
Slowly as you can.
Curling up.
The neck and the head come up last.
[She is standing up straight again with her feet hip distance apart and her arms hanging by her sides].
And then you can just drop those shoulders down, relax the shoulders.
Drop the hips forward and down and feel your feet on the floor.
Take a few deep breaths and just feel your body.
Raising the arms up, we're going to bring down the heavens just to close the practise.
[Dani begins a new flow. She lifts her arms with a bend in her elbows, raising them above her head.].
Dropping the hands down the midline of the body.
[She slowly brings her arms back down in front of her face and to her hips, palms facing down].
Closing the qi gates.
[She repeats the flow].
Drawing energy up from the earth, gathering from the heavens and balancing and aligning… centring the body.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Just letting this beautiful fresh new qi flow through the body, through the brain, the heart, the body, and storing it into the lower Dan Tian.
Bringing your feet together, standing in 'Bamboo in the Wind'.
[She brings her feet together and rests her hands on her stomach, closing her eyes and swaying slightly].
Feel your connection with the earth.
Standing strong… like a piece of bamboo.
Grounded and strongly rooted into the earth… yet light and flexible and able to move with ease and grace.
Just noticing how your body may want to rock and sway.
Just allow it to, and notice how it's just integrating the energies and it will find its balance.
Remember to bring a beautiful smile to your face… smiling to yourself, this beautiful warm inner smile.
Just connecting with how your body feels and accepting your body for all that you are, right here, right now.
Feeling more centred… alive and activated, energised… and clear.
You can stay here for as long as you need to.
Enjoy the feeling.
And enjoy your day with more qi and more life.
See you next time.
[Text appears on screen: 'Great work! See you soon.']
