After being let down by modern medicine, more and more people are turning to Qigong. This ancient Chinese practice combines meditation, slow-moving exercises, massage techniques and more to create an all-encompassing practice that can help you with every aspect of your life, from your physical and mental health, to your relationships and even your career.
Qigong involves a comprehensive set of practices, with each retreat and each master doing things their own way. It is something that takes years, if not decades to master, but the basics can be learned fairly quickly, and even the simplest Qigong practices offer a wealth of benefits.
The Spring Forest Qigong Centre
Located in the state of Minnesota, the Spring Forest Qigong Centre has been helping students of all experiences to take their first steps in Qigong. It operates as a Qigong school, with courses broken down into 5 levels and with students beginning at the bottom and working their way to the top, after which they can learn how to become a Qigong master. And the best thing about the Spring Forest Qigong Centre is that you can take all of their courses online, from the comfort of your home.
The Spring Forest Qigong Centre was founded by Master Lin, who has created a number of techniques and exercises, a large percentage of which are aimed at newcomers.
Beginner Qigong Exercises
Qigong exercise is all about slow, methodical movements. It is about directing, renewing and unblocking the body’s energy, while also calming and centring the mind. Many of the basic exercises offered by the Spring Forest Qigong Centre can be found on the SFQ Fundamentals course. This is where many hundreds of thousands of Qigong students have taken their first steps, and it’s where you should look to begin if you are new to this art-form.
This course comes with a DVD, on which you will find a large number of Qigong exercises, all of which are performed by Master Lin himself, who will guide you through the exercises step-by-step. These exercises include the following three-part exercise:
- Moving of Yin and Yang: A simple movement that begins with you standing still and moving your hands up and down your body, directing your energy as you do so.
- Breathing of the Universe: Your arms open and you embrace the world as your breath deepens.
- Joining of Yin and Yang: The final exercise of this three-part process, and one which serves to renew your energy.
Beginner Qigong Meditations
Meditation is the backbone of all Qigong practice, which is why this is also an essential aspect of all courses at the Spring Forest Qigong Centre, including the SFQ Fundamentals course. You might think that meditation is just meditation, that if you know one way and one technique, then you know them all. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth and there are hundreds, if not thousands of techniques out there, many of which you will encounter during your study with the Spring Forest Qigong Centre.
As well as the techniques offered on the level 1 through to level 5 courses on the Spring Forest Qigong Centre, there are also additional techniques, many of which are recommended for all levels. These include:
- Small Universe: A great beginner’s meditation.
- Temple of Heaven: A 2-hour long meditation for all levels.
- Six Word Chant: A meditation that is based on a Buddhist practice.
- Healing Our World: A meditation that is all about showing compassion and love.
Head-to-Toe Body Repair Manual
This is a separate course, and one that you can take as an addition to SFQ Fundamentals. It shows you a number of massage techniques that you can use on yourself and on others, ridding the body of pain and discomfort, improving energy and feelings of well being, and generally lifting the spirit. There are seventy-six techniques in total on this course, including ones that can help with:
- Lower back pain.
- Breathing difficulties.
- Prostate/Urinary problems.
- Knee/Hip Pain.
- Long-term injury.
- Posture support.
- Cold/Hot flashes.
- High/Low blood pressure.
- Stroke recovery.
Qi-ssage Healing
Developed by Master Lin as an exclusive to the Spring Forest Qigong Centre, Qi-ssage Healing is a one-off course that complements all level 1 courses, much like the Head-to-Toe Repair course outlined above. Qi-ssage Haling is a mixture of massage and Qigong, detailing dozens of techniques that can help to alleviate pain, making life more bearable and more comfortable for yourself and for others.