Preserve and Strengthen

Preserving, clearing, energizing, and strengthening.

These are traditional practice notes, not medical advice. Move gently, adapt every exercise to your own body, and ask a health professional about any condition.

Preserving and Strengthening: Preserve/Awaken → Unblock/Dredge/Cleanse → Tone/Energize/Gather → Raise/Strengthen.

Dharma wheel with the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path

"Buddhist" qigong: Preserve, nurture energy flow around internal organs and the lower elixir field. Balance fire and water energy flows. Steady emotions, calm mind, open heart, warm belly. Unblock imbalances.

Yin-yang symbol inside a ring of the eight trigrams (bagua)

"Daoist" qigong: Consciously manage energy flows. Raise energy up to the middle and upper elixir fields. Strengthen reserves. Use mind-intention to move energy through nerves, circulatory system, spinal fluid, muscles, tendons, bones. Generate an external qi field.

Preserve/Awaken

  • Ring the Temple Bell, and then Big Windmills.
  • The full "Martha Graham", followed by heel raises and toe taps.
  • Activate hands: rubbing, clapping, massaging.
  • Waist rotation with hands on kidneys; strive for full range of motion.
  • Big 3-part squats using horse stance and lifting qi up: slow flying.
  • Slow, full-motion punching and pulling from horse stance.
  • Hands on kidneys, forward and back bends with healing sounds "ha" and "ho".
  • Full range of motion, free-style ball of qi: Embrace the Cosmos.
  • Nurture qi at abdomen (lower elixir field) and deep breathing.

Unblock/Dredge/Cleanse

  • Qi dredging: top to bottom, then bottom to top.
  • Tap on top of head, at top of spine, shoulders, upper chest.
  • Hands over groin, raise forward/up, cross horizontally. Look left. Repeat, look right.
  • Hands circle around from lower back to abdomen, lift/raise up, circle vertically.
  • Massage palms, face, shoulders, then comb the hair.
  • Nurture qi at abdomen (lower elixir field) and deep breathing.

Tone/Energize/Gather

  • Eight Treasures.
  • Pull qi down from the heavens.
  • Pull qi from the sky and earth/ocean; Dragon Breathing.

Raise/Strengthen

  • Bounce the qi: circulate down through legs, springing up/out to arms.
  • Seven Stars practice: empty arm/leg, full arm/leg, both, all connections.
  • Big steps: 3 times with toe, heel, sole; left, then right; breathing out.
  • San ti shi (three powers): with movement, without movement; with steps.

From movement.davidstitt.net/en-US/qigong/preserve-and-strengthen/