Simple Chi Kung 6 - Five Elements
Recording of paid subscribers' online lesson
Recap, revision, new exercises and questions
Thanks to all who came this afternoon to our 90 minutes session wrapping up the free chi kung for paid subscribers here on Uncivil Savant. All these sessions are available in my archive for future reference.1 People seemed keen to have another live session in future, or perhaps ongoing sessions. When I return from travel abroad in late May, I’ll set up a poll and see what people might like. In the meantime there is lots for free at www.instagram.com/greatrivertaichi Just scroll back to the beginning and work your way through. I did it as a public service during lockdown.
Today we revised all the exercises I had shown so far, and added ‘bathing’ at the end. Then we learned the Five Elements set. Seeing as I have used Zoom very little the last couple of years, despite having used it lots in the past, I made some rookie errors. The video is not set to the highest quality (I have reset that now, too late!) but it is perfectly good to see the moves and the audio is excellent. I also forgot to record the first 10 minutes, so I recap that at the start of the video, so nothing is missed.
There were great questions regarding the breath, how to move the weight and the shape of the legs, these are all included in the video. We sync the breathing and the movements so that when the breath changes from in to out or out to in, the body’s movements also change direction. This can be tuned increasingly finely over time.
You can also think of the end of the out breath as like ‘midnight’ or ‘winter solstice’ and the end of the in breath as like ‘midday’ or ‘summer solstice’, and note how when fullness peaks, emptiness begins, and vice versa. Also, the movement of breath and body starts very simply and evenly in this recording. Think of it as a pencil sketch, not a full tonal painting. 2
Thanks again for your time, and for those of you who couldn’t make it along, I hope the recording helps you do a little practice regularly. Maybe see you in the summer.
Many thanks to my original chi kung teacher Kajedo Wanderer, in Findhorn, for teaching me these health-enhancing exercises.
(The video lesson is below the paywall.)
From now, the paid subscriber benefits will include access to these recordings, invitations to future sessions, subscriber only posts and the ability to comment on posts.
But if you are experienced, you may want to allow the tidal aspect of movement to manifest, with the ebbing and flowing being more like a tide coming in and out, with periods of increased flow, then ‘slack water’. All good things to talk about next time!
Thank you so much for doing this, Caroline! Such a gift.
I don't know if you have the appetite to teach via zoom in an ongoing way, but if so, I'd love it! I've had a hard time finding instruction where I live.
I imagine this would be separate from your writing and uncivil savant - although open to your readers if they also have an interest in Chi Kung, i.e. a separate charge.
Anyway, so appreciate your teaching style. I would love to have a regular practice.
Thank you for the chi kung refresher and introduction to the Five Elements. I've now cleared a room for practice and hope to maintain regular repetition of the movements. I hope it was okay having Malcolm come along; not family, but a friend. I might try and teach Malcolm pushing hands. If I can find a Yang short form, I'll try that as what yesterday taught me was how much seems to be still embedded in muscle memory and may yet be recovered. I didn't realise that Great River teaches Yang form; so that would be good if accessible later this year. Btw, I'm hoping this will all integrate with my Sufi studies going forward. I would say that my main difficulty has been a shared context of meaning within which practice can be sustained.