Course Content
Welcome
Welcome to "An Introduction to Qi Cultivation: The Fundamentals of Qigong and Internal Alchemy"! In this section, I'll share my personal journey into Qi and introduce you to the lineage from which this wisdom originates. We'll also go over the course structure and what you can expect. Let's embark on this journey of internal alchemy together!
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Qigong Warm Ups
Qigong practice has its own unique forms of warm up, including exercises which focus on joint rotations to improve the flow of energy, and the practice of shaking.
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Posture Notes & Balancing Exercises
This section contains preparatory posture guidance and post-practice balancing tools. The posture notes for standing and seated exercises are designed to improve alignment, balance, and energy flow, and the post-practice balancing tools are designed to ensure that any stored tension that may have occurred during practice is alleviated.
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Enlivening the Organs with Energy
In Taoist practice, the internal organs are regarded as particularly important places to focus Qi, because they are places in the body where key internal processes take place, as well as the place where our emotions are stored.
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Earth and Sky Breathing
The following meditations use the mind to extend the energy body beyond the confines of the physical body. As you do this, you open yourself to a whole palate of feelings that go beyond normal experience.
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Generating the Qi Ball
The Qi ball is a foundational concept in energy work: the idea that we can generate a quantum of energy which then is, and has, a force of its own which we can direct as we will.
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Working with the Qi Ball
Once we have generated the feeling of a Qi ball in the body, we open up a series of practices that, utilising the quantum of energy represented by the Qi ball, serve to further enhance the ability of the body to attract, store and command energy.
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The Microcosmic Orbit
This is a foundational Taoist exercise for health and wellbeing, otherwise called “circulating the light”.
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Working with Qi pressure & “Cooking” Qi
This set of exercises involves compressing and refining energy within the lower tan tien, transforming it into a more potent and concentrated form for enhanced vitality, resilience, and internal power.
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Inner Alchemy
By working with light, breath, and focused intention, we engage in the ancient art of inner transformation, taking a step closer toward our highest potential as beings of energy and consciousness.
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Absorbing Qi from Nature
External Qi absorption techniques harness the abundant energy from nature allowing practitioners to replenish, refine, and harmonise their internal Qi for greater vitality and balance.
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“Empty Force”
In this Section, we begin the sacred work of returning to ourselves — drawing our awareness inward, listening to the subtle movements within, and learning to gather and circulate our innate energy.
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Meridian Slapping
I call this practice "Better Than a Coffee", because it provides a full-body energetic stimulation, but without any side effects!
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Seeing the Qi
It is also possible to see the Qi visually!
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An Introduction to Qi Cultivation: The Fundamentals of Qigong and Internal Alchemy
About Lesson

Filling the Organs with Qi

 

This practice is designed to nourish and energise the internal organs by directing Qi into them. By consciously breathing Qi into each organ, we enhance their function, vitality, and balance, ensuring a smooth and harmonious flow of energy throughout the body.

 

This exercise assumes that you have already become established in “full-body breathing”, as described in Section 2, Lesson 7, whereby you can feel the “lightness of the breath” filling various parts of the body.

 

Here we take that kind of focus and apply it specifically to the organs, combined with the inner smile as above in Lesson 2 of this section.

 

Targeted breathing in this manner is a way to charge the organs with energy. You might ask – why do we need to specifically bring energy into individual organs if we can just fill the whole body with energy, as we did in “full-body breathing”? Surely that would also benefit the organs. Yes, however, there is an advantage to energising specific organs as opposed to a whole body focus (apart from merely building the mind-body connection).

 

To explain, here is an analogy. Imagine you owned a company and the company was running along fine. Then suddenly, you received a huge investment of money into the company. The company would surely be advantaged by simply dividing all that new cash into every department equally. But, on the other hand, there might be a strategic advantage by not dividing up all the extra funds equally. The company might grow stronger if a larger amount was placed into advancing a particular department, for example, just the marketing department.

 

The idea is that, sometimes it is better, for the whole body, to energise a particular organ rather than the whole body at once.

 

Practice Guide

The exercise is provided in the video below.

 

[INSERT VIDEO]

 

Written instructions for the exercise are provided at the Exercise Files tab.

 

After you have finished the exercise, sit for a few moments to reflect on how you feel. Write your experience into your Course Journal.

 

The video contains the short form of the exercise, which includes the Yang organs only. Feel free to expand the exercise to include the Yin organs too in your own practice.

Exercise Files
Filling the Organs with Qi – A Vital Energy Cultivation Practice.pdf
Size: 83.24 KB