Qi Gong for Healthy Joints & Bones , Pacific Healing Arts , 34
minutes plus bonus footage , DVD ,
$ 20 . Available at www. exerciseto heal. com .
Sometimes people need a kickstart (show of hands, please ) in the morning to get the blood flowing, warm the muscles and lubricate joints that become more irascible each year. A rousing round of kickboxing, step aerobics or jogging would set some folks to percolating, but others prefer to ease into their day in a more measured manner.
Here’s where gentle, yet invigorating Qi Gong (pronounced chee gong ) floats in and eases your body’s introduction to another day of active living. Qi Gong is a yogalike practice that dates backs to ancient China. The word “qi,” alternately spelled “chi,” means life force, so a qi practice involves cultivating the life force for our bodies’ health and our sense of well-being.
Lee Holden, who teaches Qi Gong and tai chi (another ancient movement practice ), has developed a catalog of Qi Gong videos with different themes. This one is on joints and bones, as the title says.
The 34-minute workout includes eight segments focusing on bones, spine, neck and shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles, wrists, and a combination of areas.
All movements are performed at a soothing pace, with Holden emphasizing the importance of timing inhalations and exhalations with parts of movements. Qi Gong breathing is simple and there’s no stress from trying to figure out how to coordinate breathing and movements.
The workout starts out with “spinal cord breathing,” which you perform in a standing position, rounding the back with arms forward and arms then coming back to open the chest. Next is a movement called “knocking on the door of life,” in which you twist the torso from side to side, letting the arms swing freely and bump into your stomach and lower back. A few repetitions and you will feel your circulation wake up and your body loosen.
Holden covers the entire body, offering hip circles to open up the hip joints and lower back, gentle knee circles to stimulate the synovial fluid that lubricates joints, ankle circles for increasing ankle strength and flexibility, neck circles to lessen stress, and hand circles around the elbows to lubricate the joints and increase circulation in that area.
Sense a theme ? Yes, there are a lot of circles. Don’t worry, though, you won’t get dizzy.
Qi Gong for Healthy Joints & Bones is suitable for people of all fitness levels, but is especially beneficial for people whose joints seem uncooperative at times. It’s also good for people who tend to hold onto stress by keeping their muscles tensed. Qi Gong can ease you into your day, but also be used to ease you out of it. For Qi Gong, the stress is gone.
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