I guess you are here because you are curious about doing qigong for mobility. Well, you are in the right place! First, you can take a look and watch the full FREE video on White Tiger Qigong’s YouTube channel. This FREE qigong video by yours truly, who is also a White Tiger Qigong Instructor will help you feel the benefits of qigong for mobility. Click the video above and to watch the video now and then come back to this blog to learn and read more.
What is Qigong?
Qigong is a Chinese term that means “to organize the energy.” Qigong practices are not just physical exercises. Instead, they are designed to bring balance, harmony and unity into our lives.
Qigong is a Chinese practice involving meditation, breathing techniques, and physical exercise. It has been used throughout history by monks, masters, and lay practitioners as a way to develop mental and physical health, calm the mind and body, improve concentration, reduce anxiety and stress, and gain martial arts skills
Qigong for mobility and its effects
Qigong, also referred to as “Chi Kung” is an ancient Chinese martial art that involves developing the body’s energy and promoting health. This practice can be done both sitting and standing with various movements such as breathing exercises, stretching exercises, and meditation. The focus of Qigong training is to improve muscle strength, joint flexibility and overall body alignment. This improves mobility so that you are able to move more freely through your day.
How to Improve Mobility
Flexibility
What is flexibility? When it comes to the fitness world, the word “flexibility” can mean many things. It can be the ability to bend from one shape to another or stretch past your normal range. In this article we are going to discuss how you can improve your flexibility in ways that will truly make a difference for your everyday life. Flexibility exercises are the key to improving your overall range of motion. Stretching improves muscular strength and flexibility, increases range of movement and relieves muscle aches and pains. Flexibility is important in mobility. It is something that is trained when doing qigong for mobility.
Strengthening
Exercises are the process of strengthening and lengthening muscles. You can strengthen the body by using different types of exercises, but there are some effective exercises for strengthening the body. Some of them are very easy to start doing, while others require more effort. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises will help you to increase your muscle strength and make your body healthy. Strength training is sometime that qigong for mobility also has.
Qigong for Mobility is a BALANCED exercises – Strength = Flexibility
Qigong is a balance exercise that helps you to develop balanced flexibility and strength. When you begin practicing Qigong, your body will begin to react and move in new ways. This is a positive change for your overall health because it teaches your body how to work efficiently and effectively, giving you more energy for everyday activities.
Your body is an amazing machine with the ability to adapt, grow and change when given the right conditions. This means that you need to build a fitness foundation that is consistent throughout your entire life. Qigong is a gentle exercise to maintain, as well as being easy to learn and maintain. Unlike other exercises, it does not stress the body or cause any strain on the joints or muscles.
Qigong for Mobility Exercises
Meridian Qigong for Mobility
Rolling the Ball
Rolling the Ball is a qigong exercise that helps open up the hips and legs. It gently opens and warms up the hips by moving slowly reaching its full range of motion. This is a great qigong for mobility exercise that releases tension in hips and legs. Doing this qigong exercise helps increase range of motion in the lower body.
Wrist and Ankle Flossing
Wrist and Ankle Flossing is a very simple yet effective qigong for mobility exercise those releases toxins and blockage in the joints. This exercise especially focuses on the joints in the wrist and ankle; however, this movement also allows circulation all over the body. The gentle exercise has subtle movements that help with better mobility in the hands, feet, and other joints and its surrounding areas.
Girdle Vessel Rotation
The Girdle Vessel Rotation focuses on the hips. The hip is a very important part of the body for mobility. It connects movement of the upper body and lower body. If the hip area has tension, pain, or soreness movement cannot be maximized. In fact, when one has problems with the hips, movement can be very difficult. Doing this gentle yet effective hip rotation exercises allow one to gently release any tension in the hips at the same time helps train the hips to reach its full range of motion. This helps improve overall mobility.
Bowing to Heaven and Earth
Bowing to Heaven and Earth is a very dynamic qigong for mobility exercise that opens up the legs, lower back, ankles, and hips. This is a great exercise to improve flexibility in the legs. The gentle movement also helps release the lower back.
Two Hands Moving Heaven
Two Hands Moving Heaven is a great qigong for mobility exercise to loosen up and lengthen the spine. A lot of times, our daily activities, movement, and lifestyle causes our spine to compress. This compression may cause pain, difficulties, and misalignments that cause limitation in movement. Regularly doing exercises for the spine allows the body to balance the daily pressure in the spine. Spine health is a very important factor to improve one’s mobility. This qigong exercise also opens up the shoulders and lengthens the side of the body.
Tiger Qigong
The Tiger Qigong is a great overall exercise. It is one of the exercises that belongs to the 5 Element Qigong which is an ancient system of qigong that applies the 5 Element theory of Chinese Medicine.
5 Element Qigong for Mobility
The 5 Element Qigong is an ancient qigong system that focuses on releasing excess emotions stored as toxins in the body. These excess emotions are stored specifically in the organs. Now, you must be wondering what emotions have to deal with mobility. In Chinese medicine we look into any problems, pain, and illnesses holistically. Meaning, to be able to heal certain physical illnesses we must also look into the emotional, spiritual, and mental state of the person. All of these affect each other and all symptoms of imbalances in any of these areas are connected to each other. This affects directly one’s mobility. It also makes qigong for mobility deeply and optimally effective.
Certain imbalances in mobility in different areas of the body, such as pain, stiffness, and tension may also be caused by imbalances in the organs. In acupressure practice, these painful “areas” are cured by using pressure or needles. The holistic approach of Chinese Medicine also sees these imbalances in the body as a manifestation of imbalances in the organs. The 5 Element Qigong deals with this by squeezing out the excess in the organs as well as having deep yet gentle strengthening, flossing, and stretching movements.
Tiger Qigong – Stance
In the Tiger Qigong we use the Horse Stance. The Horse Stance is a deep stance that opens up and strengthens the hips. It helps balance strength and flexibility in that area. In practicing the horse stance, you should do it gently as one may experience injuries if you push it too quickly too soon.
Tiger Qigong Upper Body
The upper body movement of the Tiger Qigong helps loosen up the shoulders. The gentle and slow movement of the upper body of the Tiger Qigong helps gently release any tension and stiffness in the upper body, specifically in the shoulders, arms, spine, wrist, and elbows. Just like in the lower body, one must do it gradually. Do not push it to reach to full extent in the beginning as you may risk injuries. The trick is always gradual and gentle.
Try our Qigong for Mobility Courses
Try our Qigong courses to help you improve your mobility and expand your movement. The 5 Element Qigong course is a very easy to follow courses for all levels. White Tiger Qigong one-of-a-kind approach to teaching qigong. It fuses modern science to this powerful ancient practice. Try our courses now to feel the benefits of qigong for mobility. Click the banner below to see the details of this course.
