Qi Gong exercises explained

Cloud hands

This exercise represents another way to improve your Fire element in balance to bring. In the process, the hands make flowing and soft movements, like clouds moving across the sky.

The slow movement, with the idea of the wide sky causes a deep relaxation, both physically and spiritually. The spirit of the fire that Shen (=mind, consciousness) comes to rest and with it your whole being relaxes.

Exercise description

Starting position is the shoulder to hip width qigong stance. Inhale and raise your hands, palms up, to in front of your chest. Once there, the palms move towards the body and then descend to stomach level. Here, slowly turn your palms away from your body and push them forward.

The hands are moved forward until the arms form a circle when viewed from above. Concentration is directed to the little fingers, where the heart meridian ends.

Then pull your hands apart at your sides until your arms are nearly extended. Once at your sides, let your arms sink back to the starting position at the side of your body.

Then repeat this movement from the beginning.

Frequently asked questions

I don't feel any stretching anywhere - what is the point of this exercise?

Always remember that qigong is not yoga. In yoga, you look for muscle stretching in many postures (asanas). In qigong, this is also the case in some exercises. However, the stretching in qigong is usually more subtle and not so noticeable.

In this exercise in particular, you will only feel the stretch when you push your hands forward if you place your palms as close to vertical as possible. If this small rotation in the wrist is missing, you will hardly be able to feel the stretch.

Alignment is therefore very importantif you want to get the best effect from your qigong practice.

Portrait of Wolfgang Stemer for my TCM Qi Gong Academy, Simply Live Better

Pro tip from Wolfgang

Don't pay too much attention to the details of this exercise in the beginning, just dare to play and experiment a bit. Take the idea of flying clouds and imitate these soft, flowing movements. Only in the course of time you can work on the accuracy of the movement.

Qi gong exercise cloud hands - element fire

Most common errors

The arms do not form a circle, but are stretched through.
The hands do not sink to stomach level, but are lowered to the navel. This prevents the chest from expanding as much during the opening movement of the arms.
The shoulder blades are raised during the movement and not at the lowest possible position.

Training tips

Practice Qi Gong as regularly as possible.
Cultivate the inner attitude that qigong can also be playful. It is not a serious thing!
Do also regularly exercises from the "Silent Qi Gong" or another form of meditation. The inner peace gained through this also has a positive effect on qigong in motion.

Assistance

What can you do if the exercise is too difficult?

I have never experienced this with this exercise. If the movement sequence causes problems, only one thing helps - practice, practice and practice again! Unfortunately, there is no shortcut here. But the path is the goal and it is worthwhile to go this - step by step.