Qigong Warm-up Exercises - Mukamal

I learned these exercises from Rebecca Wolf at the Dodge YMCA in downtown Brooklyn.

Do each exercise slowly, concentrating on the movement and taking deep breaths from the dantian (diaphragm). Repeat each exercise 6 times. Do not force anything. Learn your range and keep within it. These exercises are great on many levels. They help with concentration, balance, flexibility and coordination. Some of the benefits of Qigong include generating Chi energy and massaging your internal organs. For most exercises, you are standing in a Tai Chi / Qigong pose: knees slightly bent (never extend over toes), a straight line from the crown of your head to your perineum, chin slightly tucked, weight largely on the balls of your feet, feet shoulder width apart. It takes approximately 20 min to complete these exercises as described below. I have numbered them and given some of them names. There is also a video so you can follow along on your phone.

Warm-up Exercises

Neck

Turn your head to the right
Turn your head to the left
Tilt your head up
Tilt your head down

Repeat the above 6x

Shoulders

Circle your shoulders back (6x)
Circle your shoulders forward (6x)

Wrists, knees and ankles

Clasp hands and circle wrists – 3x in each direction
Circle wrists and right knee and ankle – 3x in each direction
Circle wrists and Left knee and ankle – 3x in each direction

Elbows

Circle right upper arm (6x)
Reverse direction (6x)
Circle left upper arm (6x)
Reverse direction (6x)

Reach up on tiptoes

Circle arms in front and up while going up on tiptoes
Come back down while bringing arms straight out in front, knees slightly bent
Palms up, elbows pull back
Circle hands in front
Press down as you straighten knees

Repeat the above 6x

Bend back, scoop up

Reach arms up and back as far as comfortable
Bend over and sweep arms forward and back
Stand straight with arms in front, elbows bent, shoulder height
Bend and scoop with both arms

Repeat the above 6x

Knees

Hands on knees – circle knees clockwise (6x)
Hands on knees – circle knees counter-clockwise (6x)

Bend, twist, look up

Standing slightly wider than shoulder width, bend over, each hand on opposite knee
Straighten knees
Bend knees
Twist to right and bring right arm straight up
Bring right arm back to left knee
Repeat with left twist

Repeat the above 3x

Cloud hands

Hold the ball facing left
Bring hands in front (palms towards you) and shift to right, weight to right foot
Hold the ball facing right
Bring hands in front (palms towards you) and shift to left, weight to left foot

Repeat above 3x

Repeat but with arms outstretched in front and down (3x ea. dir)

Repeat making big circles (3 ea. dir) and then reverse (3 ea. dir)