9 Spiral Gates Qi Gong

In this video I demonstrate a "warmup" qigong routine I developed called the 9 Spiral Gates Qi Gong. It's based on typical warmups that Jeffrey Yuen would often begin his qigong and Taijiquan classes with, along with some insights of my own as an Acupuncturist and practitioner of qigong for 15 years, and tidbits I've gathered from the warmups of some of my other teachers over those years.

The sequence works with spiraling coiling movements focused around the major joints and articulations of the body, working from the ground up so as to be energizing and help develop our energy upward. The spiraling motions help to promote circulation of qi, energy, which we can observe through out nature "loves" to move in spiral motions as seen in the movements of water, wind, fire, plants, galaxies, etc.

The Spiral motions are focused around the major joints, or "gates" of the body. these are, from ground up, the 3 gates of the legs: ankles, knees & hips. 3 gates of the spine: sacral lumbar junction, lumbar thoracic junction, and thoracic cervical junction; and 3 gates of the arms: shoulders, elbows and wrists.

As we all know, these joints, like gates, can be relatively more or less open, and this qigong series can help to gently bring greater mobility and flexibility to our joints, and help our qi, blood and body fluids to flow more smoothly and evenly through our system. it's a great way to pay attention to these parts of our bodies before they start giving us problems. and also gentle enough for those who have injuries, or issues from under or over use, or just creaky joints from old age.

I've had many people who felt they were out of shape say they felt doing this series on a daily or semi-daily basis helped them to reclaim their bodies.

It's a great practice to do in the morning before doing stretching, Tajiquan or Kung Fu forms!

leave a comment if you would like me to lead this qigong in a live youtube video class sometime!