Qigong for Balance #1: Find Your Center with Gentle Steps | 10-Minute Daily Routine

Hello our citizens. My name is Chris and welcome to Brain Education TV. Today we're going to focus on balance. Many people come to Kong and Tai Chi because they're worried about losing their balance as they get older, which limits our movement and can lead to injury, can lead to trouble. So we want to expand our life. So today is a beginning session. So we're going to look to sensitize. We're going to look to check in with our body to assess how good or how bad our balance is. So, we're going to get ourselves to start moving. So, first I just want to start to walk in place. So, I want you to start to feel the pressing of your feet. Try to get to the balls of your feet, the front of your feet. Your toes are very important in balance. So, you want to really feel them connect. So, if you can with each step, try to squeeze the earth. Give it a little hug. Good. Good. And then you can start to move your arms a little bit. Now when we start to assess, what I want to feel is I want my center, my danjan, my second chakra, I want it to move from foot to foot, foot to foot. When I start to get it over the foot, I can skid a sense of balance. Most of us when we walk, we just move with momentum. So our body's side to side or front to front. We're not aware of our center of gravity. So, we want to put it over our foot. Over our foot. As we move side to side, we want to be able to assess when my foot is underneath my dungeon. And then I can find a sense of balance. And then when I come over to the other side, oo, I lost it. So, you feel that when your dungeon or your center is not over your foot, you're going to start to lose your balance. So, we want to be able to feel when we're stable and then we can start to lift maybe a little higher, a little higher. So, some of you might have great balance and this might be very easy. That's where I'm going to use a little bit of my walking sticks here to give us a little bit of help. Now, for those of you that have really good balance, what this helps us do is find awareness. So when I come over, I want to try to have no weight in these sticks. But many times people hold on and their upper body becomes really strong and tense. We want to have a relaxed sense of balance. And then I want to put less and less weight into the support. So when I start to move side to side, I can start to feel if I can stay relaxed in my upper body. I can shift my weight from side to side. I can move more freely. Now, if my balance is in trouble, I can hold on stronger. This will allow me to lift my leg a little higher, help me to support. I might still get the wobbles, but I'm going to be able to really start to find when my center is over my foot, then I can feel more secure in my balance and I can get better and better. Starting to lift a little higher, a little stronger. As we start to move a little bit more, we can get a little feel for the fatigue in my legs. A lot of our balance issues come from the lack of flexibility and movement, mobility, the lack of strength. So, if my legs are getting tired already, then the fatigue might be my problem. So, we got to build some strength. So, now I'm going to set this down. And I want to start to get a little bit more of a flow with this. So we can start to add the energy essence. Energy is the key of kong. And that we want to be able to move with energy. So as I slide my weight over, can I feel my danjan, my second chakra over my foot? Then my other leg can become light. If you need help, you can keep your foot on the floor and slide it in. Good. And then you can start to lift it up just a bit. If you still need to hold on to the support, please do. And then you can come down. And then reach out and set that foot back down. And then shift your center over the other foot. This heel becomes light. And then you can start to lift. So if you're feeling pretty confident, you can lift this foot up and bring it in and up. If you're a little tentative, you can drag it on the ground like a kickstand and then start to lift a little bit more. So you want to get this sense of flowing and strength through the legs. You can add the breath. So as you inhale, I come down. As I exhale, I come up and exhale. So you can start to find this sense of balance. If you're using the supports, it's a good check in to see if my posture is good, to see if I'm relaxed. Because holding my balance here, if I have to squeeze and tense myself, it's creating too much tension. It creates a fight orflight response. And that fear makes me more uncomfortable, even more painful. So, can I relax and hold my balance? Eventually, you may need to start to change a little bit more. And then you can come over and you can try the other side. You'll notice one leg might be a little bit more wobbly, one leg might have a little bit more discomfort. So, we're looking to really check in to see where I need to work to build that power. Use as much support as you need in the beginning because even when you're getting stronger, you're going to find those problems. Even me, I have some experience, but I still wobble. Why? cuz my focus is with you guys. I'm out here. I'm delivering. Oh, wobbles. If I come in, I can relax more. I can find my posture more. I can do better. So, it's a level of focus and a level of strength. We're going to go one more to each side. Coming in and over. And now come back. Bring your feet about shoulder width where we started here. And just feel your feet Can you feel that connection that your feet are pretty even? Can you feel a change in your legs? Warmer, stronger, maybe tired. Whatever you feel is the accumulation of what we've done and it's going to keep getting better and better. So coming back to this practice, you can really refresh and check in with your condition or you can really start to improve your condition if it's not great to begin with. If you would like to learn more about brain education or deepen your practice, check the link in the description. In there, you can sign up for our email list. And when you subscribe, you'll get a free first chapter for our new book by our founder, Ilchi, Take Back Your Brain.