DAY 775. Today I’m inside taking refuge from the cold wind, with a kettle on the brazier— my soundtrack for practice, and for writing something I need to express, for just as the fire causes the water to speak, I find myself bubbling up with some words that got stuck yesterday.
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I posted my movie without mentioning the fact that it was Thanksgiving Day here in the US. I feel so much heaviness around that holiday I didn’t even know what to say. I grew up celebrating it and I want to respect those who still do; at the same time, I am grateful for the dialogue beginning to take place about what the date symbolizes at its source and how we can responsibly reconcile that knowledge with the ways in which we honor the day.
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Of all the things I’ve read about the celebration of this US holiday, what @mysticmamma wrote feels the most resonant with my own feelings on the difficult topic, so I’ll share her words here— not in an effort to get you to agree with them, but because letting the day come and go without saying anything feels like I’m not speaking my truth.
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“As many of us in the US gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to send acknowledgment about the grief in our collective fields. Gathering with family in gratitude to celebrate the harvest is a positive thing but my heart feels a deep sadness knowing that it overrides the truth of what preceded it by upholding the unspoken lie of its dark history and the genocide of Native American people.
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“I don’t know about you but I feel we can no longer turn a blind eye to what has been. We have the power to create new ways of participating and it comes through acknowledging what has been and creating something new. We could gather instead on the Equinoxes and Eclipses as an entire planetary family, coming together in what unites us as a humanity. I know many have deep ties to tradition but every generation is here to bring forth an expanded understanding and experience of what has come before. That is at the crux of our evolution.”
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Continue reading this if you choose, in the comments below…
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Continued words by @mysticmamma: “So let’s dream a new dream of what could be possible and let’s embrace the grief we feel from what has occurred because it’s very real and very healing to do so. Let it bring us closer. Let it unite our hearts.
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“In the spirit of giving, ‘transforming heartache into action’ today and through the weekend @together.rising is raising money for One Spirit, a non-profit primarily run by Indigenous people – to help the Oglala Lakota peoples living on The Pine Ridge Reservation--the 8th-largest reservation in the US, larger than Delaware & Rhode Island struggle to survive every winter. Temperatures drop to 40 degrees below zero. Heat comes from wood stoves. They do not have enough firewood.
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“If you feel moved please read more on the @together.rising post and offer what you can to keep those on the Reservation warm this year. ‘We honor the relentless resolve of Indigenous peoples.’ Every penny they receive through the weekend will go to this effort.”
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This Qigong form is called Pull Down the Sky to Present the Fruit. In the Ba Duan Jin, or the Eight Treasures/ Eight Brocades, this form is used to increase energy and strength; it vitalizes the liver and the eyes, which become fierce when the fist reaches its full extension. Then we soften into a palm, with a movement that feels as though we’re lovingly stroking the cheek of a version of ourselves that needs some tenderness.
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This is the third form in the personal medicine sequence we moved through during last weekend’s Immersion. For each woman present, we chose one form to best support her during this time.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 774. “In order to see a change and transformation through, you need to set aside time and space for it to happen.” —Lena Stevens, the Power Path. May this Full Moon help you make that space.
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This is Gung Li Qigong. Gung Li translates to Power Fist. All life is a cycle of birth and death, rebirth and redeath. Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, this form draws forth one’s potent power from the beyond physical realms. It’s the second form in the personal medicine sequence we moved through during last weekend’s Immersion. For each woman present, we chose one form to best support her during this time.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 773. Hand sewing is one of my favorite meditations. I used to be really good at doing nothing. My life is so full these days that the closest I get to doing nothing is meditating, but that definitely does not count. Hand sewing was my attempt at leisure today.
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This is the first form in the personal medicine sequence we moved through during last weekend’s Immersion. For each woman present, we chose one form to best support her during this time. This one is a Kidney and Spleen Nourishing form you may recognize; I spent a good five days posting clips of it a month ago. Here you can see both front and back at once.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 772. The cats love to go on hikes, but for years they wouldn’t go if the dog went too. These days we all go together; the dog takes the lead and the cats bring up the rear... Until I stop and extend the tripod legs. They all know what that means.
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Greta immediately finds a good rock to lie down on, and the cats start hunting out the pack rats or climbing trees to show off.
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Today I’m sending Qi out as a blessing. These are the Qigong stances of the Seven Swords. Each one has a very distinct feeling, frequency, and meaning. I heard the sequence during last weekend’s Qigong + Tea Immersion, and those present moved through it with me. May it awaken in us all the impetus to make the difficult decisions we know we must, in order to step into our full potential.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 771. Snake medicine is exceptionally potent in the process of transmutation. Like molting the skin that houses your soul, with Snake we cultivate the conviction necessary to move so very deeply into the external experience of pain and grief that our internal nature is revealed. In that inward place we remember our eternalness and are gifted with reverence for what is.
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Just as the snake’s body undulates on the surface upon which it travels, the state of grief is not one fixed in time but rather one that comes in waves. The work that Snake supports in our healing is the practice of remaining fully present with the sensations—physical or emotional—the pulses of pain we feel, so that we can truly move beyond them.
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When you come to a Qigong + Tea Immersion, each and every practitioner gets a personal Qigong form prescribed to them— one that suits you during this time and one you can bring home with you. This time around we touched on every single one of the Five Elements, and Snake Palm (the form you see here) came up as our representative of Metal.
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Want to learn this form in detail? If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can practice with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! Today is Patreon’s #thankyoupatrons day and that means I get to lavish you all with my most happy, smiling hugs and high-fives on the ether. You are incredible and I bow to you all. Thank you for your support, your practice, and your belief in this work.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 770. Morning of the last day of the Qigong + Tea Immersion. Making the decision to focus this one on cultivating the Warrior Priestess was one I’m so glad we made. Each and every single woman present put in the work necessary to make what at times was a very intense experience so very rewarding at the end.
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I bow to you @allmattersofspirit @alisaratner @ami.opal @athena_now @eva_holbrook @ooznea @seedsandstone @totem_health and to all those not physically present with us this weekend, who stand holding the sword, embracing the moon.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 769. Kwan Yin is a Warrior Priestess.
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These two sword stances are Hold the Moon and Kwan Yin Resting. We say she’s resting, but she’s anything but. Sometimes when I first teach this stance to sword practitioners they want to sit on the back heel— and take a break there.
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But what the movement is really asking of us is to embrace a harmony of discipline and grace— as one. We appear to be resting, just as Kwan Yin appears to be soft and gentle. In reality it takes a tremendous amount of strength, skill, and focus to sink into this particular stance.
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And as for Kwan Yin— soft and gentle she most certainly is, but holding those qualities while witnessing the suffering of sentient beings— to firmly remain calm and compassionate in the face of atrocity— THAT is all Warrior (in the sense of the term by which we reclaim it).
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #Warrior #Priestess #WarriorPriestess #QigongAndTea #QigongAndTeaImmersion #QigongImmersion #QigongAndChaDao #ChaDao #HoldTheMoon #KwanYinResting #KwanYinIsAWarriorPriestess

DAY 768. Sending you all Qi from today’s potent practice of Bowl Tea, discussion of what a Warrior Priestess is, and a deep set of Five Element Qigong before sleep. Enough to go around. 💫
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This is just one side of Warrior Draws the Bow, the second form in the Ba Duan Jin sequence. We begin by drawing the bow to the left, and on the second repetition we draw to the right. Form Notes in the comments below.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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[FORM NOTES] Warrior Draws the Bow
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1. Begin with feet wider than shoulders, knees just slightly bent, spine straight as if sinking your weight on a balance ball under your tailbone, and the tongue touching the hard palate just barely pulled back from the teeth. Inhale. 
2. Exhale*: Lift earthward palms up at your sides until arms are parallel with the earth; fingers soft, but close together.
3. Inhale: Turn palms skyward while drawing them toward the front of the body, crossing left over right, and lifting palms to face the chest. The knees begin to bend.
4. The left hand (outside hand) makes an "L" with index finger and thumb, bending the other fingers at the first two knuckles. The right hand (inside hand) forms an eagle claw: all four fingers are bent fiercely at the first two knuckles, thumb bent at all its joints.
5. Exhale: Begin to draw the bow with the right eagle claw hand, drawing back the right elbow as the left hand turns toward the left side and the arm extends parallel to the earth. Eyes follow to the left horizon, head turns, and the knees are bent to a depth that meets your level of fitness (go as deep as feels right for you). You should feel a slight stretch in the chest.
6. Inhale: Open the right arm unbending from the elbow until the arm is parallel with the earth; at the same time, turn the head slowly to gaze toward the right horizon.
7. Exhale: The hands release their respective eagle claw and "L" shape positions, turning earthward with fingers soft, but close together; the head turns slowly back to center.
8. Inhale: Descend the palms back your sides as you slowly extend the knees back to the beginning stance.
9. Repeat the entire sequence on the opposite side.

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*Follow the breath pattern that feels right in your body. You could breathe as I have outlined above, you could reverse them from the way so described, or you could let the breath be natural and move the body without specifically intending to match it to the movement.
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DAY 767. The Warrior Priestess Qigong + Tea Immersion begins tomorrow and today I’ve been in full preparation mode. To help send my Qi out to meet my future self (and all the future selves of the women with whom I’ll be practicing), my form today is Deploy the Stars On Your Chest. It is one of my favorite forms of all, and one that is rich with medicine, encompassing all of the Five Elements.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #Warrior #Priestess #WarriorPriestess #QigongAndTea #QigongAndTeaImmersion #QigongImmersion #QigongAndChaDao #ChaDao #DeployTheStarsOnYourChest #MeetYourFutureSelf #FiveElementQigong

DAY 766. Night sit with crackling wood stove music, oil lamp ambience, Japanese incense reminding me of tea, last flowers from the garden, favorite wool socks, three pairs of pants, five layers on top (scarf makes six), two hand-knit blankets, and one cat. Goodnight world.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #Meditate #Meditation #MeditateEveryDay #NightMeditation #NightSit #WoodStove #DraftyHandbuiltStrawBaleHouse #MedicineCat #MerinoWool #JapaneseIncense #RemindingMeOfTea

DAY 765. The spiritual aspect of Spleen is called Yi, which translates to intention, will, or purpose. Yi is housed in the ying qi, the nutritive qi of the meridians. In order to engage the world, it takes qi, and when the ying qi is deficient, it causes fatigue. Psychospiritually, one loses interest in life, lacks presence, and connecting with others becomes a challenge—literally, the will to live is depleted when Spleen is weak.
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Using the Earth element to regulate the Spleen and Stomach, the Qigong form I’m demonstrating today (and yesterday) assists us in creating an utter reliability, and as such, we gain faith in the self, faith in our surroundings, and faith in others. It is a vow to live one’s life fully; and this commitment is made not just once but is renewed every single day upon waking.
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This is the original version of the Earth Element Spleen form called Alchemy of the Self. Yesterday I shared the “teacup” variation— taking the movements and drastically minimizing them. When you practice a form “in a teacup,” even though the movements are smaller, you still envision yourself moving at the full extension, as I’m doing here.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me, including this form, Alchemy of the Self, you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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DAY 764. Since I’m not an acupuncturist, I do a ton of research in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For each Qigong form I practice I want to know exactly what the movements are doing, in as much detail as possible.
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My latest research dive was on the subject of Da Zhui, an energy center/ acupoint that comes up in some of my forms, including the next form on which I’ll be sending out as November’s Qigong Lesson Film to all those who are subscribed to the series. Here’s an excerpt from the notes for this Lesson Film:
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“In the Wei Qi Cleansing and Activating form, the palms describe the full moon around the head, drawing a line from the lungs to Da Zhui, the energy center located just underneath C7, the vertebra on the cervical spine that sticks out larger than the rest, on the base of the neck. Put your fingers back there now and you should be able to find it right away.
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“Da Zhui, as described by Skya Gardner-Abbate for Acupuncture Today, ‘is the meeting point of all yang channels. As such, it strongly tonifies wei qi and stimulates the adrenal cortex. It opens to the exterior, opens the yang, clears the brain, and calms the spirit. It can also dramatically increase white blood cell production.’ It’s an acupuncture point used to treat cough, colds and flu, and neck pain, to name a few (Acupuncture.com).”
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The form I’m demonstrating today is a variation of an Earth Element Spleen form called Alchemy of the Self. People who suffer from chronic conditions need to take care not to tax their energy, and for some, even Qigong can be too much. In cases like this, or if you’re in an acute state of illness due to an external pathogen, practicing Qigong forms in exaggeratedly smaller motions is much better than trying to do the full range of motion.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me, like the Wei Qi Cleansing + Activating form I mentioned above, you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #Research #Acupuncture #DaZhui #WeiQi #ImmuneSystemQigong #QigongForChronicConditions #QigongWhileIll #EarthElement #AlchemyOfTheSelf #QigongForSpleen #QigongForStomach

DAY 763. It began snowing just after noon, just as I was finishing a very deep tea sit with a Liu Bao a friend had gifted me, called Emerald Heart. With the warmth of the tea inside me I watched the flakes float down, large and heavy out the three southern windows, my view from my blanketed spot on the rug.
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I ventured out and felt the Water Element wanting to move in me. Many of my Qigong forms for Water require quite a bit of arm movement, and since I was feeling so inward I decided to come to this, very nurturing, gentle form, Wise Owl Turns It's Head to Eliminate Fatigue.
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By holding the kidneys we cultivate restoration and rejuvenation. The movement of turning the head tonifies the nervous system and along with the twisting of the spine, it eases back pain. Follow along with the help of the Form Notes in the comments below.
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With a bow to @kiah.thornton
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me, you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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[FORM NOTES] Wise Owl Turns Its Head to Cure Fatigue and Distress
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1. Begin standing in a soft Horse Stance (feet beyond shoulder distance apart, knees bent, spine straight, head suspended by a thread).
2. Hands are either on the hips (thumbs to the front, fingers to the rear) or the palms are placed on the kidneys (thumbs toward the side body, fingers toward the spine).
3. Inhale*, turn the waist to the L, allow the head to follow.
4. Exhale, continue turning the waist as far as it will go without lifting the R heel off the ground, while turning the head to gaze behind the body (or as far as your body allows comfortably).
5. Inhale, begin to turn the waist back to the front, also turning the head; reach the halfway point, then:
6. Exhale, continue turning the waist and head back to center.
7. Repeat on the R side, and continue for at least 9 repetitions (one side counts as one rep).
8. On each turn to gaze back the vision sharpens.
9. On each returning to the front the gaze softens and the lids can become heavy.

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*Follow the breath pattern that feels right in your body. You could breathe as I have outlined above, you could reverse them from the way so described, or you could let the breath be natural and move the body without specifically intending to match it to the movement.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #TeaSit #TeaCeremony #BowlTea #TeaWithSnowBackdrop #LiuBao #EmeraldHeart #WiseOwl #WaterElement #QigongForBackPain #QigongForFatigue #QigongForDistress

DAY 762. Dear California, I practice for you. I move for the trees on fire, I move for the animals fleeing, I move for the people leaving their homes and losing their homes. I move for the air. I move for the insects, the flowers, the soil.
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I move for water, may it take its role earnestly in the control cycle of elements. I move for fire, may it be calmed, and may it be heard, so that it need not continue speaking so loudly. I move for the earth being born of the ashes and for the Earth so fitfully seeking balance.
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This is the form that comes most often when I practice for the soothing of wildfires. It’s a Heart Nourishing Fire Element Qigong form. Form Notes are in the comments below. Please move with me this way and send along the Qi to all those affected by the wildfires— those burning now and those that have died out, since even though the individual fires will eventually go out, the trauma, the chaos, and the wreckage they leave behind is years in devastation for many beings.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me, you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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FORM NOTES] Heart Nourishing Fire Element Qigong (Paraphrased from Master Liu De Ming's notes)
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1. Inhale*, bend the knees, lift inward-facing palms to the chest.
2. Exhale, turn palms, extend the knees, and push the palms outward. Expel turbulent Qi and excessive heart-fire, putting the mind into the lao gong points in the palm centers.
3. Inhale, draw the palms back in to face the chest. Draw purified Qi from the tips of the little fingers along the medial aspect of the arms to the chest, filling the heart.
4. Repeat as many times as you like; ideally at least nine repetitions.

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*This is the breath pattern described by Master Liu Deming; however, it’s important to remember to let the breath be easy. Sometimes it’s best to let it go and allow it to be natural, especially when learning a new form.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #California #Wildfires #CaliforniaWildfire #IPracticeForYou #ForTheTrees #QigongTreatment #Fire #FireElement #FireElementQigong #HeartQigong #HeartNourishingQigong

DAY 761. I journeyed down the mesa this morning to go to the Post Office and see my postmaster friend. I stood at the counter with her with the whole place to ourselves for a good half hour while we talked about Qi, discernment, and skillful perspective.
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Afterward I stopped at the mesa-top shrine and met a raven free flying high above the valley, calling into the wind from the place of all mysteries and at the same time as light as a child on a swing.
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Black Eagle Qigong, pull me through this day on wings sharp as needles, to pierce the veil and remember the Truth. If ever there was a form to use as medicine on days you feel lost, this is it. Form Notes are below.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me, you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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[FORM NOTES] Black Eagle Qigong
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1. Begin in Wuji Stance: feet parallel, between hips and shoulders or wider if you like; knees soft, spine straight and long from perineum to crown, shoulders dropped, tongue on the palate. Take some time to settle into yourself. Notice what it feels like in your body. 
2. Cross Hands. Begin with whatever side naturally wants to be crossed on the outside and stick with that for several repetitions (6 is a good number), then switch sides.
3. Lift the palms; the wrists remain neutral. The palms transition from facing inward to outward.
4. At the peak of the movement, with palms overhead, the fingers point skyward and the tips of the middle fingers graze one over the other before arcing earthward.
5. The fingers lead the arc earthward, as if drawing a line on the air. The palms gradually gain tension as they form the tips of the Black Eagle Wings. The fingers are taught and together, the thumbs are pressed in and slightly curved so that they don’t stick out from the hand at all, and the wrists are bent. For a moment stay with the tension in the shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, and fingers.
6. Then release the tension and let the relaxation qi flood those areas as the palms float on the air a moment before drawing earthward to begin the cycle again.

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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #Raven #MesaTop #QigongForTruth #QigongWhenYouFeelLost #MetalElement #MetalElementQigong #LungQigong #BlackEagleQigong

DAY 760. There’s not a whole lot in life that brings to me a sense of true wonder on a more consistent basis other than good old Mama Nature. Give me a willow-lined river, a field of grasses like a sea in the wind, a canyon backdrop that grows more brilliant as the light wanes, and a friend to admire it all with and I will retain all the wonder I had as a child.
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My absolute gratitude to @seedsandstone for heading out on explores with me today, in search of the perfect shot. 
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This is an excerpt from this month’s Qigong Lesson Film, set to be published Nov 15 to all of you signed up to the subscription series. It’s an incredibly effective Metal Element Lung form to boost the immune system, the lymphatic system, and the Wei Qi— our protective Qi that defends us in the face of pathogens and psychic attacks. 
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If you’d like to learn this Qigong form (and many others) from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #SenseOfWonder #MamaNature #QigongForImmuneSystem #BoostImmuneSystem #QigongForLymphaticSystem #MetalElementQigong #LungQigong #QigongByTheRiver

DAY 759. This new moon morning before tea ceremony the grasses were sparkling with ice crystals in the broad sunflare gleam across the field by the river. I beat the drum of the earth with my heels and let my arms swing on the rhythm, while the little birds sang along in their own time.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #Warmup #StompTheHeels #QigongForImmuneSystem #BoostImmuneSystem #QigongForLymphaticSystem #NewMoonTeaCeremony #NewMoonQigong #NewMoon

DAY 758. New Moon in Scorpio is already calling on us today, this pivotal voting day here in the US. Here is @MysticMamma on the subject:
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“*NEW MOON* in Scorpio
teaches us about Life and Death,
the SEEN + UNSEEN,
the meaning beneath the words,
and the new life that awaits us
when we allow ourselves 
to go beyond the Known.
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With Eagle as her Guide,
She sees the Landscape
she is embedded in more clearly,
and CHOOSES with her Divine Will,
A New Point of Assemblage,
A New Foundation
as her point of Reference,
that informs who she is from
an INNER PLACE,
Resetting Her Compass
To New Frontiers.”
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Here’s a Wrist Opening warmup form for you. I’d love to write up some Form Notes to go along with it, but alas, today is not the day. The set runs through a series of back and forth bends at the wrists by using the opposite hand to guide the stretches.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #WristOpeningWarmup #OpenTheWrists #StretchTheWrists #Vote #VotingDay #MysticMamma #NewMoonInScorpio #NewMoon

DAY 757. As the New Moon nears I thought I’d share with you the insightful writing of Lena Stevens, whose monthly energetic forecasts keep me prepared for the Qi to come. They are in-depth and spot-on, and consistently so. Here’s an excerpt I particularly champion, from the HEALTH AND THE PHYSICAL BODY section:
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“Your relationship with your body and your health may be the most affected by this month’s theme of truth. We tend to take things out on our bodies and not treat them very well. Whose idea was it that being overly productive and a workaholic would get you brownie points and further your success?
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“How have you treated your body? And when it breaks down, have you listened to your own intuition about what it needs or given your power away to another “expert”? It is time to reclaim your relationship with your physical body and your emotional, energetic and spiritual health. This may require some soul searching and looking at truth that is personal only to you.
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“Every physical body is different and unique and no one formula for health can fit all needs. Question what comes across as authority, listen to your intuition and monitor your reactions to the various “sales” efforts around you that work off the collective fear of survival.
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“You have an opportunity this month to fall in love with yourself on a physical and emotional level, accepting the truth of your own greatness and value on the planet.” —Lena Stevens (www.ThePowerPath.com)
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Here is Earth Dog Qigong, part two (to find part one see the post prior to this one). The simple, flowing movements of this Qigong form cultivate and honor the aspects of Earth Dog Qi. Earth Dog brings us home. She calls us back to honesty, to fairness, integrity. Dog Qi is loyal, watchful, and just. If you’d like me to send you a link to the free Qigong Lesson Film for this form, email me to get on the mailing list and mention Earth Dog.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #ListenToYourBody #FallInLoveWithYourself #ThePowerPath #LenaStevens #EarthDog #EarthElementQigong #QigongForBalance #QigongForTruth

DAY 756. This morning I woke to meditate with the sunrise at its new hour on the clock, but happened to see I had a message from someone special on my phone. Normally I’d save it for after my morning practices, but this time I was a magnet to see what was there. I’m so glad I looked.
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In the message was a video of a woman standing silhouetted by the rising sun on a beach, the ocean lapping in its heavenly song behind her. A practice video from one of my dear students! I felt so incredibly honored to receive such an exquisite clip of her morning practice and I took that inspiration into my own.
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As a loving response to the luminous @sacredvisionquest I give you Earth Dog Qigong. Since one repetition of this form takes over a minute, I’ll post the rest of the form in the next post. If you’d like me to send you a link to the free Qigong Lesson Film for this form, write me an email and mention Earth Dog.
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I’ve been particularly enjoying watching videos sent to me by my online students. As part of the Qigong Lesson Film subscription, those who sign up for the Upper Dantien Level (or higher) have the option of sending me a practice video for me to study. They get written or audio notes from me about how to make their form more pure. This make a huge difference in learning the forms. Something to consider if you’re learning from me via the Qigong Lesson Films, or considering doing so in the near future.
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me online you can choose whatever level of membership you like, as the subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #SunriseMeditation #MeditateToStartTheDay #SunriseQigong #EarthDog #SacredVisionQuest #EarthElementQigong #QigongForBalance #QigongForIntegrity

DAY 755. All summer long we had a mama and baby bear hanging out at this spot on the river. In honor of them, my Qigong form today is Big Bear Sways from Side to Side. The Black Bear is New Mexico’s state animal and according to SandiaMountainBearWatch.org, they are “considered the most intelligent North American mammal after man. They are more curious than a chimpanzee and have very good memories.”
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While I was practicing today I got the distinct feeling I was being watched, but the feeling was more mountain lion than bear (maybe because I thought they’d be hibernating by now.) I learned in my research that bears in Northern New Mexico don’t actually go into full hibernation; they enter into a modified hibernation state called torpor. “Bears may move from den to den in winter months so it is possible to see them when they are supposed to be in torpor.”
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And did you know that Smokey the Bear was from New Mexico? “Smokey Bear, probably the most famous bear in the history of the United States, was a cub first found cowering and injured in a tree after a 17,000 acre forest fire in the Lincoln National Forest near Capitan.  Starting in 1950, Smokey was selected by the U.S. Forest Service and the Advertising Council as a spokesman and symbol for fire prevention campaigns all across the country.  Smokey served in this capacity for the rest of his life, even after his death in 1975.  He is buried in Smokey Bear State Park in Capitan.” --http://www.sos.state.nm.us
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This is the fifth form of the Ba Duan Jin: Big Bear Sways from Side to Side to Eliminate Heart Fire. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, heart fire is excess heat in the heart. HealingPointAcupunctureClinic.com writes:
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"Prolonged stress, anger, frustration, resentment, and depression, or juggling too many activities without enough “down time," and poor eating habits, all contribute to a build up of heat, which disrupts the energy’s proper flow."
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Symptoms include:
Trouble sleeping/ insomnia;
Anxiety or restlessness/ irritability;
Difficulty concentrating;
Hot flashes;
Dry mouth and excessive thirst;
Tension in the chest;
Racing thoughts/ overactive mind
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[FORM NOTES] Big Bear Sways From Side to Side to Eliminate Heart Fire
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    1    Begin standing in Horse Stance (feet beyond shoulder distance apart, knees bent, spine straight, head suspended by a thread).
    2    Hands are on the hips (fingers to the front, thumbs to the rear).
    3    Shift the weight to the L leg, L knee bends, the torso follows the diagonal line of the right leg, gaze, hips, and shoulders remain forward.
    4    Turn the waist (gaze, hips, and shoulders) toward the L corner.
    5    Bend from the hips with a straight spine; keep the chin aligned with the spine.
    6    Send the chin and lift the gaze to level; sway the head from L to R, drawing the torso across the front at the depth right for your body. The eyes see level and the chin is extended.* The leading shoulder dips slightly. The knee that begins bent will shift to lengthened and the opposite knee will bend when the torso sways to that side.
    7    With the gaze to the R horizon, press the R foot into the earth to lift the torso to vertical, then extend the R knee. Hips and shoulders are facing right.
    8    Turn the waist back to the front, let the head/ gaze follow, sinking in the legs (bend knees to the degree right for your body).
    9    Repeat on the opposite side.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #BlackBear #SmokeyTheBear #NewMexicoBears #BigBearSways #BigBearQigong #QigongToEliminateHeartFire #BaDuanJin #EightBrocades

DAY 754. ¡Feliz Día de los Muertos! On this day when the veils are thinnest, I offer this Qigong form, Draw the Circle to Sink the Qi. In this form we draw down the Heavenly Qi (the Yang) and feed it to the Earth (the Yin), which in turn rises up for us to collect in nourishment of the Sky. In this way we serve as the sacred vessel through which Qi flows between worlds.
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Here’s my friend @WildWitchOfTheWest on a little history of this day:
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“All Souls’ Day on November 2nd is a way to honor those we knew personally. On All Souls’ Day many modern Catholic churches still have a Book of the Dead, in which parishioners/visitors have an opportunity to write the names of relatives to be remembered. As Christian/Roman Catholic Spaniards took over Mexico, these Christian traditions merged with indigenous customs and gave birth to Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, which is celebrated around the same time. In this way, Samhain shares more similarities with newer expressions of Day of the Dead rather than the older religious holidays of Christianity.” —Rebecca M. Farrar
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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Draw the Circle to Sink the Qi is one of the Qigong Lesson Films, which means you can learn it in full detail online! To learn with me through this subscription series, my Pay What You Like offering, sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher. You get a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive as soon as you become a patron.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #FelizDiaDeLosMuertos #DiaDeLosMuertos #AllSoulsDay #DayOfTheDead #SacredVessel #Samhain #BetweenWorlds #WhenTheVeilIsThinnest

DAY 753. My grandmother used to tell the same stories over and over again, and none of them ever got old. That was partly because they were genuinely good stories and partly because of her hilarious delivery. My all-time favorite story teller, she was funny as hell. One of her stories went like this.
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My uncle had turned 18. Voting day was around the corner and he went to my grandma to ask how to do it. “Oh it’s easy,” she said. “All you do is go in, check the box for Democrat, and you’re done!” 
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I voted today, in the same room where I taught my first New Mexico Taiji class years ago. The room felt smaller, filled with tables and voting stations; but in a way it felt larger. As I entered my ballot into the contraption holding them all, a combination between a safe and a reverse printer, the machine let me know how many people in the valley had been there to vote early.
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I was number 361. For how small our community is, that’s a pretty good turn out so far. Here’s to a good turn out of voters across the whole country.
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This form supports the Ren and Du Channels, the Bladder and Stomach Meridians, and the kidneys. It’s called Bowing to Open the Channels, the seventh form of the Ba Duan Jin or the Eight Brocades. Form Notes are in the comments below.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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If you’d like to learn Qigong from me you don’t have to be in New Mexico— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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[FORM NOTES] Bowing to Open the Channels
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1. Begin standing in a Wuji Stance (feet hip to shoulder distance apart, knees slightly bent, spine straight, head suspended by a thread).
2. Place the palms on the fronts of the thighs to begin.
3. Draw the palms up the legs, around the waist (the Dai Mai, or the Belt Meridian), and to the Kidneys at the lower back, fingers pointed earthward.
4. Tucking the chin and making a soft back bend (or to whatever degree of bend that feels good to you); keep the chin tucked and draw the shoulders earthward so the scapula/ shoulder blades draw Inward toward the back.
5. The back bow opens the Ren Channel, or the Conception Vessel, which runs along the front of the body-- "the Sea of All Yin Meridians."
6. Keep the chin tucked, and begin to fold forward at the waist**, drawing the palms down the back of the legs (following the Bladder Meridian); exhale halfway down or so, & continue the plans downward, around the ankles and over the top of the feet, leading with the fingers toward the toes.
7. Extend the fingers forward and send the hips back as you lift at the waist, drawing the spine and arms either parallel with the earth or to whatever degree you can safely lift, even if just an inch. Take care here.
8. Fold forward again, drawing the palms over the tops of the feet and fronts of the legs (following the Stomach Meridian); tuck the chin until the torso is vertical again.
9. The forward bow opens the Du Channel, or the Governing Vessel, which runs along the back of the body-- "the Sea of All Yang Meridians."
10. Repeat at least nine times.

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**Bend to the degree that feels right to you. Even if you can't physically touch your toes, it works just as well to travel the mind down the legs to the feet and back up to meet where your palms reach.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #IVoted #USElection #Vote #PleaseVote #StoryTeller #QigongForKidneys #BaDuanJin #EightBrocades

DAY 752. Today was one of the most beautiful days, a spectacle put on by the earth, with an array of sights from dawn until the dark of night. I drove through forests frosted over with morning’s dew; brilliant October Cottonwoods with water-soaked trunks of deepest black and flaring brightest yellow crowns behind layers of fog; and huge, swirling flakes of snow framed in the windows of our practice space during one of the most serene Qigong classes I’ve taught in a while.
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All day long I wanted to record these scenes for you, to share what I was seeing with you here in my daily movie. Yet my day was filled to the utter brim until tonight, hours past sunset, when the air makes dragon’s breath. So when, exhausted from a very long day, I said some defeated thing to Ethan when he asked about my Qigong movie, he got out the solar-powered flood lamp and set the shot up for me.
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All I had to do was layer on my wool skirt, scarf, and hoodie over my pajamas, and pull on my boots. He led me to the spot and I did the form that wanted most to be moved in me, (Alchemy of the Self*) and now I can go to sleep, having done all my work for the day. Good night dear friends.
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*Using the Earth element to regulate the Spleen and Stomach, this Qigong form assists us in creating an utter reliability, and as such, we gain faith in the self, faith in our surroundings, and faith in others. It is a vow to live one’s life fully; and this commitment is made not just once but is renewed every single day upon waking.
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Thank you to all my patrons! My gratitude for you lifts me up. I’m continually inspired by your support, your engagement, your encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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Alchemy of the Self is one of the Qigong Lesson Films, so if you’d like to learn it, you don’t have to make the journey to me in person— you can learn with me online. The subscription series is a Pay What You Like offering. You get a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month and instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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To get on the list to be the first to know about upcoming workshops, immersions, and retreats I’ll be offering, sign up at www.KwanYinKungFu.com and you'll also get a free Qigong Warmup Lesson Film, a series of dynamic stretches to open your joints, warm your muscles, and prepare the body to move with more ease.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #SamhainQigong #SamhainNight #AlchemyOfSelf #QigongForFaith #StomachQigong #SpleenQigong #QigongForSpleen #QigongToRecommitToYourLife