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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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #Research #Acupuncture #Spleen #YingQI #NutritiveQi #Intention #QigongForFaith #EarthElement #AlchemyOfTheSelf #QigongForSpleen #QigongForStomach

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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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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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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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

DAY 750. Shennong, is a character from one of the origin myths of tea. Shennong means Divine Farmer. According to Wu De of the Global Tea Hut, Shennong is “a mythical being who was one of the early emperors of China and ruled for a thousand years.” In a recent episode of the Global Tea Hut podcast (the Extended History of Tea), Wu De explains how the Chinese use “a thousand” as a way to categorize an amount that refers to a whole lot, but not all.
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I transcribed a bit of what Wu De said in the episode on this, so the following quote is written from his speaking words…
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“What that means— ‘a thousand years’ is just a really long time. In those days ten thousand was the largest number. So “the ten thousand things” means everything. …In all the ancient classics [you encounter] ‘the ten thousand things’ a lot… Today, in Chinese language, even big numbers, like a million, are spoken of in ten thousands. So a million is a hundred ten thousands.”
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This comes into play for the Ba Duan Jin form I’m demonstrating today. The title is called, Seven Jolts Dissolves the Hundred Illnesses. If ten thousand refers to all, and a thousand means lots and lots, then a hundred is pointing to many. So this Qigong form is medicine to treat many different illnesses.
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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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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #SantaFeQigong #Shennong #DivineFarmer #OriginOfTea #TheTenThousandThings #GlobalTeaHut #WuDe #BaDuanJin #EightBrocades

DAY 749. A stop to practice during one of our family hikes, cats and dog and humans together. This is Warrior Draws the Bow, from the Ba Duan Jin, aka the Eight Brocades, or the Eight Sections of Precious Brocade. So much of my favorite writing on the Ba Duan Jin comes from Xiaoyao Xingzhe. 
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Xiaoyao Xingzhe is “an anonymous pilgrim, recording some of the gleanings of the Dao that he has been exposed to over the years, in slightly dramatised form.” Here is how Xiaoyao describes the Ba Duan Jin:
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“An ancient series of Daoist yang sheng [nourishment of life] exercises, passed down since the Song dynasty 800 years ago, is the Ba Duan Jin– the Eight Sections of Brocade– so named due to their precious effect on health. The earliest reference that I have found so far is a book called The Pivot of Dao (Dao Shu) which contains the sitting postures of Ba Duan Jin.
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“Designed to be simple enough for children to learn, and gentle enough for old people, the series consists of eight associated exercises that stretch and strengthen the body from top to bottom.
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“The movements also have the intention of opening the acupuncture channels in the body, including the eight extra channels: the movements often include repeated running of the hands over the pathways of the channel for this purpose.” — thefatmonk.wordpress.com
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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.
.
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 #XiaoyaoXingzhe #TheFatMonk #BaDuanJin #8Brocades #EightBrocades #EightSectionsOfBrocade #WarriorDrawsTheBow #MetalElementQigong

DAY 748. Tomorrow is my weekly day off from technology. Most weeks it falls on Sunday, and most weeks I’m off all screens. I’ve written about this before and I will again, because I really believe that taking a break from the digital world is a necessary practice for our health in this world.
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Personally, it helps me cultivate spaciousness. By designating one day out of my week to be free of the internet, the laptop, the news and all the other fillers of silence, I make space for reflection. That space tunes me into the present moment. It brings me clarity and serves as a period of rest, reset, and replenishment.
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I’m also in the habit of keeping my mornings sacred— I don’t go online until after noon. This a rule that is sometimes broken, but not very often. It’s an easier one to keep than my evening digital curfew. That one I’m currently working on.
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I got into a habit of waiting until evening to post my daily movie here, and my posting process is not a quick one. Most days I work on these for at least an hour after filming them. I have to edit the clip, then I need to write something interesting. I’m a careful writer and it takes time. My goal is to get my digital work completed before 5pm.
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So tomorrow I’ll reset, and pass the day in silence from tech. When Monday comes I’ll post two Everyday Gongfu Films. Sometimes Ethan will film the movie of me on my day off from tech, sometimes I make it myself and that’s the only use of my phone in which I partake, and other times I just make two movies on Monday, in which case I still practice on Sunday, of course.
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If you practice a form of tech-fasting I’d love to hear about your method. And if you don’t, I invite you to share ways you want to commit to making space for yourself that way. See you all in a couple days, friends.
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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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Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
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For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
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For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
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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 #DigitalFast #DaysTechFast #DayOfSilenceFromTechnology #CultivateSpaciousness #MakeSpaceForSilence #YinCrane #EarthElementQigong #WaterElementQigong.

DAY 747. One more on this Kidney-Spleen form. This is the mega-nurturing variation, using the gentle bounce much like the motion we instinctively use to soothe a crying infant in our arms. The backs of the hands rub against the kidneys, giving them warmth. It is an extremely comforting movement and one I’ve been needing a lot on this tender day.
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How are you doing? This social media platform in particular is an especially here’s-only-my-best-self place and I just want you all to know that not every day here for me is magical and happy. Today was a challenge and I am tired. If you‘re feeling the weight of the world, your own and the collective, I’m sending you light just as I send it my own way, that we may pick ourselves up again when the cycle rounds; as it does.
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Like I said in the last posts, I’ll be filming this as a full-length Lesson Film soon, so if you’d like to learn it, sign up to become a patron. Pay What You Like and get a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month + instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher {Link in bio}.
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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, you encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
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Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
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For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
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For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ or DM me if you want me to send you the direct link.
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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, DM me your email address. Or 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 #NurtureYourself #GentlenessForTenderDays #BeGentleWithYourself #WeightOfTheWorld #EarthElementQigong #QigongForSpleen #QigongForKidneys #WaterElementQigong

DAY 746. My physical therapist Kristen is an incredibly powerful energy worker. In our weekly sessions, she combines physical therapy and CranioSacral therapy. Not a session goes by that I don’t feel grateful for her.*
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In our session today she asked if I was still practicing a lot of Spleen Qigong in my home practice. Yep, still on Spleen. Then she moved to my kidneys, and asked about Kidney forms, because they too needed support in working through some stuff. I broke out of my deep-zoning to tell her about my recent semi-obsession with this particular Kidney-Spleen Nourishing form. It seemed like such a clear indication that I’m on the right track, since I’ve devoted the last three days’ worth of Everyday Gongfu Films to this one form.
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When I choose the forms I practice on my own, I don’t put too much thought into it. Sometimes I just go to work and observe as the forms present themselves to me. Other times I touch in just briefly about what I’d like to work on, using my thinking mind to match it to a specific Element, but I don’t do this too often. For me it’s more a process of receiving than of figuring out.
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When you’re a patron here— meaning, if you subscribe to the Qigong Lesson Films— you know that the archive of forms is there for you to choose from. I’d love to hear how you pick the forms you practice. Do you consciously think of what your life is giving you, perusing the forms to find the ones that will support? Do you randomly choose? Do you pick your forms based on the ones you enjoy most? Are challenged by most?
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So, here again, is my sweet-spot form: the Kidney-Spleen Nourishing form using both Water and Earth Elements. Here you can see what the hands do behind the body. There’s some massage-type action happening, with wrist rolling and kidney pressing, and even mudra making.
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I plan on filming this as a full-length Lesson Film soon, so if you’d like to learn it, sign up to become a patron. It’s Pay What You Like! You get a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month + instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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*So who is this exceptional physical therapist (who takes insurance, by the way!)? Her name is Kristen Adams. She can be found at Active Recovery on Lena Street in Santa Fe, NM. Clearly, I HIGHLY recommend her.

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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, you encouragement, and most of all, your practice. ✨🙏🏼✨
.
Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
.
For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
.
For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
.
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 #SantaFePhysicalTherapy #PhysicalTherapy #CranioSacralTherapy #CranioSacral #QigongForSpleen #EarthElementQigong #QigongForKidneys #WaterElementQigong

DAY 745. On water: Diving deeper into the topic of our off-grid details. Continuing where we left off… “After years of living [off the grid] we’ve learned how to use as little power as possible. It’s a practice in itself, the conservation of resources.”
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This goes for water, too. We do have running water in our little straw bale house (water on tap is a very nice thing to have, indeed). It’s all caught from the sky with our roof catchment system. Our water pump is powered by the sun, so if we’re charging the batteries to full, going days without using the power, once in a while we need to flip it back on to pressurize the reservoir and pipes from our 3000 gallon cistern.
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We prefer oil lamps and candles to our electric lamps (especially when it’s chilly out), and you won’t ever find us brushing teeth with the faucet running. Typically we keep it a trickle for all needs. We also have the luxury of NOT flushing five whole gallons of clean water into sewage. We use compost toilets so all our waste goes back to the earth and our gardens are happy for that.
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I’m not kidding when I call this lifestyle luxurious; it is a rich life to learn so deeply from the elements by the cycles of scarcity and abundance.
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A week of thick cloud-cover can mean we go without power for many days. A drought year can leave us hauling in much more than just our drinking water. When we’re blessed with New Mexico’s big sun, and the planet gives us a massive amount of precipitation that goes above and beyond our regular Monsoon (like this year), we are grateful in the having, just like the grasses, trees, and animals of this tenacious mesatop wilderness.
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This Water-Earth Element form is the same one from yesterday, here in its standing variation. Much of the hand positioning happens behind the body, so I’ll show you that next. I plan on filming this as a full-length Lesson Film soon, so if you’d like to learn it, sign up for the Qigong Lesson Films Subscription Series. It’s a Pay What You Like offering that gets you a new, full-length Qigong Lesson Film every month + instant access to the entire archive when you sign up via Patreon.com/breafisher.
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Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
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For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
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For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
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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, DM me your email address. Or 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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The writing for this post was inspired by a question I was recently asked here online. If you have a Q, ask me! I may feature the A in an upcoming post!

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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 #CompostToilet #StrawBaleHouse #RoofCatchment #OffGrid #OffTheGrid #WaterCatchment #QigongForKidneys #WaterElementQigong

DAY 744. Living off the grid can be a part of a whole variety of lifestyles, some with electricity, some without, some in town, some in the wilderness, some modern, some rustic. At our home we have a very limited amount of electricity powered by the sun.
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We typically run low on power during winter, as the several hours less of light makes a big difference to our decades-old solar panel and modest set of four golf cart batteries. Once in a while we need to shut off the power to let them charge back up to 100%.
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Typically we have enough electricity to power our lamps (equipped with efficient LED bulbs), charge the laptop, and pump up the volume on the @HarmanKardon speaker. We also have a portable solar generator (thank you @goalzero) plus a few portable power banks we use to charge our phones and the hotspot internet device we use to get online.
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After years of living this way we’ve learned how to use as little power as possible. It’s a practice in itself, the conservation of resources.
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This is part one of my answer to a question I got recently by @identified_flying_object: “I see that you can charge a phone everyday, what about a laptop, or how do you edit and store videos, keep up with a website?” If you have a question, ask me and I may feature it in an upcoming post!
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Thank you to all my patrons! You make this work possible and every day I feel grateful for your support. ✨🙏🏼✨
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Want to be a patron, too? Well, 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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Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
.
For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
.
For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
.
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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This is a Water and Earth Element Qigong form. It’s a very nourishing Kidney and Spleen form I practice as part of my daily first thing in the morning set. I’m modifying it here by sitting. My energy was very low this morning, so sitting felt best.
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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #TaiChiChuan #ChineseInternalArts #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #GoalZero #SolarPowered #OffGrid #OffTheGrid #WaterCatchment #QigongForKidneys #WaterElementQigong

DAY 743. 〰️SOUND ON〰️ I took the dog out for a walk this morning before the sun rose. It took a while of arroyo hiking to scout our movie location, but this tree was all jumpin’ at the chance to make an appearance.
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I’d been moving through this form for a good twenty minutes when I heard the unmistakable sound of a large flock of birds soaring overhead. I just couldn’t keep form as I saw them out of the corner of my eye— I had to look! Glad I did. Not sure what kind of birds they were— I recognized them, but don’t know their names.
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This form is part of a Five Element set called Moving the Emotions. This one is the last form of the sequence; it’s the Earth Element Qigong form to cultivate balance, stability, peace, harmony, and self-worth.
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Thank you to all my patrons! You make this work possible and every day I feel grateful for your support. ✨🙏🏼✨
.
Want to be a patron, too? Well, 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.
.
Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
.
For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
.
For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
.
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 #TaiChiChuan #ChineseInternalArts #QigongAndTeaImmersion #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #QigongWithTrees #QigongWithBirds #ArroyoHiking #QigongForSelfWorth #QigongForBalance #EarthElementQigong

DAY 742. Full Moon is in couple days folks, and it may be a challenging one. It peaks this Wednesday, Oct 24 at 10.45a MDT. Here’s a little help from Lena Stevens of ThePowerPath.com:
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“This could be by far one of the most challenging Full Moon aspects of the year. There is a chance that resistance, hopes, dreams, anger, disappointment, irritation, inspiration will all be triggered. It is a full circus, a crisis of thought, choice and will. What will you do with it? We always say it is much better to move towards something you want than against something you don’t.
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“The resistance percolating within each of us is strong and stubborn and needs to be turned towards inspiration and positive choice. Change what you can and accept what you can’t. We also suggest you stay away from arguments and negative encounters fueled by anger.
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“The underlying foundation of this time is the powerful presence of the feminine and anything related to the relationship with the feminine. Issues around nurturing, support, whether we were loved by our mothers, whether we deserve to be fully embraced and fed, whether we fear the power of this energy, may surface in each of us depending on where our issues lie. It is time to heal this love/hate relationship with the feminine and fully step into the container of support it can provide.” —Lena Stevens
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This is another Snake form, with full or ripe palms. The feeling of this variation is that of a coiling snake. We twist on the spine and even when pressing the palms down the center line we can feel the snake coiling around it within. It’s a fairly advanced level Qigong form, so I’m not going to add Form Notes today. Keep studying with me though, Patrons, and you may just find this in your Patreon feed!
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Want to be a patron, too? Well, 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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Thank you to all my patrons! You make this work possible and every day I feel grateful for your support. ✨🙏🏼✨
.
Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
.
For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
.
For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/ 
.
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 #TaiChiChuan #ChineseInternalArts #QigongAndTeaImmersion #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #FullMoon #FullMoonQi #LenaStevens #ThePowerPath #WorkingWithResistance #CoilingSnakeQigong

DAY 741. My parents got married this day forty years ago and they are more in love than ever.
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This is a variation on Master Liu He’s form, Activate the Lungs by Cupping Qi (Form Notes are below). “This movement activates the lung Qi, which disperses the Wei Qi, or energy of our immune system, over the surface of the body. [Wei Qi] acts as our first defense against negative Qi. When the lungs aren’t working well, Wei Qi cannot protect us from external pathogens.” —Master Liu He
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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.
.
Thank you to all my patrons! You make this work possible and every day I feel grateful for your support. ✨🙏🏼✨
.
Join us at the next weekend of intensive study in Santa Fe! Cultivating the Warrior Priestess: Autumnal Qigong + Tea Immersion, Friday Nov 16 - Sunday Nov 18.
.
For women who wish to receive the medicine of the body in harmonious tandem with the medicine of the Leaf. We’ll practice Qigong as potent medicine and learn to wield and respect the Sword— through Eagle Claw forms we cut through what no longer serves us.
.
For more information and to book your spot, please visit http://ayamlife.com/events/
.
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] Wei Qi Activating Lung Qigong (a variation on Master Liu He’s form Activate the Lungs by Cupping Qi”)
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1. Before beginning the form, make light fists, massaging the thumb knuckles into the lung acupoints, located beneath the clavicle near where the chest meets the arms. 
2. Exhaling through the mouth, with gently pursed lips as if blowing through a straw, drop the chin, open the fists into slightly cupped palms, one over the other, skyward-facing at the Middle Dantien (Heart Center)
3. Inhaling through the nose, draw the hands over the front of the face, gradually parting them as they rise overhead.
4. Exhaling through the nose, draw the palms around the back of the head to the base of the skull; the knees bend as we sink in the stance.
5. Inhaling through the nose, turn palms skyward while pressing feet into the earth to lengthen the legs and roll through the body, lengthening the spine; lift the palms above the head (the gaze lifts also).
6. Exhaling through the mouth (again, gently pursed lips), fold at the hips and send the arms earthward vigorously, letting gravity and the momentum of the folding body carry the arms down.
7. Coming back up swiftly, inhale through the nose, cupping the Qi into the lung acupoints as the fists hit and massage in a circular motion.
8. Begin again from no. 2.

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#Kungfu #Gungfu #Gongfu #TaiJiQuan #TaiChi #Qigong #Qi #TCM #MoveQi #Practice #EverydayGongfu #EverydayGongfuFilms #BreaFisher #KwanYinKungFu #GuanYinGongfu #TCM #TraditionalChineseMedicine #EagleClawGongfu #EagleClawKungfu #TaiChiChuan #ChineseInternalArts #QigongAndTeaImmersion #QigongAndTea #WarriorPriestess #MyMomAndDad #Parents #StillTogether #40Years #MetalElementQigong #QigongForImmuneBoosting