Chinese culture--QiGong--Basic training of TaiJi and Five-animal plays

Taiji(Tai Chi) include Chen style, Yang style, Wu style, Sun style and so on.

There's something about Chinese traditional morality and Self-cultivation.

Regulation of breathing，regulation of the body，regulation of heart.

Most of Chinese practice:

Five-animal plays:  http://share.renren.com/share/242720714/16286612078  

simplified 24 style Taiji:http://share.renren.com/share/242720714/16186083525

42 style Taiji:http://share.renren.com/share/242720714/16186073397

1. Regulation of heart: control one's thought, it's the key point of QiGong.

Basic Requirements:
“清心寡欲”cleanse one's heart and desires,eliminate all of the distractions to reach the meditation.Everybody hard to reach the mind concentration at the primary stage,  if you impatient on reach to the this or you'll get more and more irritable and fretful, then harder to reach to the meditation.
meditation means turn "blind and disorderly conjectures " into"concentrated thinking", then reach to the "no thinking" by "mind concentration" make yourself happy, peaceful and leisurely.

Meditation: concentrate on any part or any activities in one's body activities or think some thing good to one's body.
The way of mind concentration: mind concentrate on breath with concentrate on "DanTian"(about at underbelly)

DanTian is about at "QiHai cupoint" (under navel one inch)

The breath of mind concentration and concentrate on"DanTian" is called“气贯丹田”(QiGuan DanTian)
The way of “气贯丹田”:

Do abdominal breathing, downward diaphragm when inhale and enhance the abdominal pressure to make underbelly bulge that feel like the air reach to DanTian through lung, then recoil when exhale feel like the ar out from underbelly through lung.
This way of “气贯丹田” can make QiGong have a good effect, it's not just can tonify the sleen and can make heart and kidney interconnection.

Regulate the breath means that control  breath consciously.

And the basic requirement are soft,quiet and long with a uniform speed, then can be soundless and stirless step by step.then you can reach to unbroken inhale and exhale.

Don't forth the breath can be long and soundless in the beginning, just let it runs the course.
Then breath can be from sound breath to soundless breath, from short breath to long breath day by day.

The circulation of Qi(air that we breath in) by deep and long breath and hold one's breath.
Let the consciousness lead the air flow in one's body to get through the meridians and the consciousness followed the air.

The significance of regulating of breathing is that it can enhance respiratory ratio to increase  lung capacity and carbondioxide of expiratory air and alveolar to decrease breath out the oxygen.
It shows that this way of breath can consume the minimum energy to get maximum oxygen.

This way of breath can  massage internal organs softly  by slow breathing exercises and change the pressure of splanchnocoele rhythmically
to improve the blood circulation of internal organs.

The regulation of body means that have to control the posture and movement conscientiously.

You can do it when you walking, standing, sitting, lying and doing anything.

Have to regulate heart and breath at that five conditions and wear loose when you regulate your body.

Walking:    

have to be straight and smooth and keep deliver air to DanTian, and draw up the anus when inhale, and loosen it when exhale.

Standing:

keep feet on line and wide as shoulder,   bent the kneesslightly,bend chest back slightly and tighten up the bellyand arms forward half lift, bend the elbow and wrist like holding a ball with half open the eyes and stare the apex of nose, then regulate the breath and keep deliver air to DanTian.

Sit:

free style and cross-legs style
free style: find a proper height chair, legs apart wide as shoulder, upward the palm then stack together in front of underbelly,
half open the eyes and stare the apex of nose or fold hands together and half open the eyes and stare the apex of fingers.

cross-legs style:

first style: put one calf on another calf;
second: put right calf on left calf first, then put left calf on right calf make two calves cross and let bottom of foot upward on the calves.                              Third: cross calves as  "eight" -shaped(八), put feet under the thighs. The guesture of upper body as free style.

lying(lay): this is good for those patients or insomniacs, they can do this before go to bed.
The right side lying is better, the head is forward slightly. then put the right hand before pillow bend the elbow and make palm upward.
And put another hand on the thigh, let palm downward or put this hand before DanTian and palm towards belly.
the downward leg is straight and the upward one bend the knee as 120° on that leg downward.

Doing:

first: always keep deliver air to DanTian through lung plus abdominal breathing when you doing your job or just in life .

second: it as a guidance when somebody practice any style of Taiji and just choose one to practice and persevere it.

In short, regulate body means regulate the body shape make your body fit the posture and shape when practicing.

Essentials:

keep loosening and quiet.
Loosening the muscles of whole body to improve you reach to mind concentration, then you will be loosened after meditation, so they're complementary.

Loosen: Loosen the muscles of body, but just loosen muscles not slack.

you have to loosen muscles first to make your body feel comfortable but can't over focus on the breathing of  mind concentration and deliver air to DanTian and have to eliminate the tight status to reach to the relaxation of sense.

Lying: loosen the whole body and slight shake several times after posed to make yourself comfortable.

Standing,Sitting: holding your muscles tight  with a certain degree ,and loosen your mind.

Quiet: it's comparative silence means that have a silent breath and reach to the quiet by eliminate all of the distractions.

 After all, relax and quiet are the keys of practice. If you command this skill good then you can get twice the result with half the effort.

How to train the mind and Qi and combine them together.

Qi is vitality in QiGong.Everybody has to train the Qi of lung (the Qi of breathing (Qi is air))at the beginning.

Requirement of breathing: slow, soft,quiet and long with a uniform speed

They can breath twice or three times in one minute to form a slow abdominal breathing after skilled.

Practicing inhale and exhale: from shallow to deep, from fast to slow step by step.

Everybody has to guide the Qi by mind at the begainning then can form a regular breath.

Trainning of sense:

first: eliminate all of the distractions, second: mind concentration on DanTian then make some changes to one's whole organism.

You have to pay attention to mind concentration of breathing when started to train your breath, then pay attention to up and down of abdomen when breath.

Then you can pay attention to mind concentration only after you can deliver air to DanTian unaware when you trained your breath skillful.

After trained Qi and mind like this,  combine Qi and mind together to make your body full of vitality to keep health.

Everybody has to keep mood steady and be happy. Everybody can eliminate some ills by regulate mood to improve health and everybody'll feel comfortable and happy after do this trainning.

Have to do it step by step and don't be hurry because those effects will be showed up as time goes on.

Although that way of trainning is not that complicate, but need a long time to skill it. Then hold your breath after you skilled the posture and deep breath,plus tongue press the palate.

Everybody has to have a good rest after trainning.

Rest: pay attention to proper rest, the regular of life, happy mood, abstemious eating and drinking and have some moderate physical activities.

Have to have a rest after half an hour train,lying on the bed and loosen the body and muscles 10-20 minutes. Then can continue after rest.

Everybody would better stop little intense body and mental activities to keep relaxation and quiet to regulate the breath and would better stop smoking and drinking.

Every patient can pratice this QiGong 3-4 times a day, no matter you are in nursing home or when you recuperated at home.
You have to choose a good environment, you'd better go to forest, garden or some places have fresh air and have to keep air circulation if you practice at home. And have to avoid the wind blow the back of your neck.