3 Qi Gong Exercises for Anti-Aging (and the Benefits of Qi Gong for Seniors)

welcome to this short video on qigong for seniors in this video you're going to learn a few exercises for anti-aging for health and vitality you're going to learn what qigong is and i'm going to show and share with you a little bit about the philosophy of qigong as it relates to aging so qigong was called the art that prevents disease and prolongs life how's that that sounds good doesn't it the art that prevent problems from arising before they get started prevention is key to this medicine how do we prevent problems from arising we move our bodies we breathe deep and we clear stress that's what qigong is all about chi means energy it's your life force and think of qi as the electricity the bioelectricity that flows through you and when she is flowing and circulating through you the natural result is health and longevity it's like water that's circulating and flowing water that circulates is healthy water that doesn't move gets stagnant stagnant and the same is true for your body so we're going to keep this water of life flowing and circulating irrigating all the tissues now aging in chinese medicine and in qigong was revered because as you got older you got better at your qigong practice you cultivated more energy you got less stress you became more powerful that's different than the paradigm that we have in western culture so as you age you become more energetic you become wiser you become better at your qigong practice qi gong gong means skill a skill at working with life so as we get older we become more skillful so the art that prevents disease and prolongs life let me show you a couple exercises that are for anti-aging first one is about enlivening your spine you know and they say that sitting is the new smoking it's not that we get older and develop all these problems and stiffness and tightness and pain it's usually that we get older and as we get older we stop moving our bodies now if you're 20 years old and you stop moving your body you're going to develop the same thing pain stiffness tightness you're going to feel older before your time so movement is key that's why in the west now the research is saying sitting is the new smoking sitting too long isn't good for you so let me show you some healthy ways to move your body this one is called spinal cord breathing you're going to inhale nice deep breath and open your chest look up exhale round your back tuck your tailbone under and inhale open your chest exhale round your back deep breathing is good for you deep breathing plus movement is even better you're enlivening your spine and you're bringing more oxygen into your system every cell in your body can soak the up that oxygen and turn it into energy exhale as you round the back inhale open your chest exhale round the back move all the joints in your spine clear out stiffness tension and tightness and relax let me show you an exercise that i learned from a woman in china who was 106 years old and had 10 classes a week that she was teaching at 106. amazing right she was exemplary of of what it means to be vibrant and vital as you age this is called swimming dragon i want you to stand with a stance that's just a little bit wider your hands are here by your chest you're going to push your hands over to the left side i'm going to do your mirror image go over to the left side and you turn your head to the right and then your hands go to the right but your head turns left now what's happening here is you're massaging the muscles in your upper back and neck and through the rib cage around your internal organs get a sense of that movement hands go one way head and neck go the opposite direction now let's add another piece to this bend your knees as your hands go to the left your weight shifts to the left so weight shift then your head turns to the right come back to the center shift your weight push your hands and turn your head in the opposite direction that is called swimming dragon and now try to make it nice and smooth push your hands one way shift the weight and turn the head in the opposite direction push the hand shift the weight turn the head and this is good for your whole body feel right through your ribs and your internal organ it's like there's a gentle massage squeezing through the ribs and the organs and then your spine as you turn the head and push the arms you're invigorating the tendons muscles and ligaments right around your spine and just pump the energy through the body the breath is just natural it's full and deep deep natural breathing and you do this for a few minutes to invigorate your energy improve your circulation and to cultivate resiliency that combination of strength and flexibility through your mind and your body come back to the center relax walk your feet in shake it out a little bit and now let's pull down the heavens let's just bring in energy and vitality health and longevity let's bring in those intentions as inhale as the arms come up and exhale as the arms come down qigong is the practice of cultivating energy and there's always an abundance of energy in nature so tune into that feel these waves of relaxing energy washing through you feel waves of relaxing energy pouring through you from the head to the heart and from the heart to the belly waves of relaxation and healing going downward all the way down through the legs to the feet inhale and exhale qigong is done slowly with intention it's mindfulness in motion so it's an integration between meditation and movement and this is where the power the anti-aging benefits come in so strongly in this practice inhale the arms float up exhale your arms float down hands come down down to your sides bring your feet a little closer together and just relax i want you to notice how your body feels after those three exercises see if you feel a sense of lightness a buzzing and a tingling with energy breathe into that relax and shake it out you see this practice doesn't even take very long to start to get the benefits so if you like this practice click the like button on this page also if you want more videos like this click the subscribe button to this youtube channel we also have a free two-week qigong subscription where you get to participate in my weekly classes now these classes they're an hour long with a 15 minute meditation imagine doing that a few times a week how much health energy and vitality you can cultivate now if you don't have an hour three times a week each of those classes we pare it down into a 20 minute routine we just take the class and edit it down to 20 minutes so you can do a 20 minute or an hour or do the full hour and 15 minutes with that meditation the art that prevents disease and prolongs life let's do this together let's age gracefully and i hope to see you in that subscription thanks so much for joining

Channel: Holden QiGong

Views: 612,136

Keywords: holden qigong, lee holden, teaching qigong, qigong, qigong lessons, life changing, tcm, teaching tcm, five elements, traditional chinese medicine, acupuncture, yoga teacher, alternative health, acupressure, massage, energy healing, energy work, tai chi, self-healing, best qigong teacher, qi gong, qigong for beginners, energy medicine, energy medicine yoga, exercise for seniors over 50, exercise for seniors over 60, energy medicine for headache, exercise for seniors over 70

Id: 1Txav_A-vSo

Length: 9min 1sec (541 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020