Diao Shen, The Key to Unlocking Energy and Grace

Have you ever thought to yourself in the middle of a Qigong class “How can I remember all this?!”. It’s a common concern, especially among students new to the practice. My advice? You don’t have to remember everything! Instead, focus on feeling and understanding the basic principles that apply to all Qigong movements; indeed, to all movements in life. These principles are the keys that unlock strength, grace, health, and ease of movement. The Chinese term for this process is diao shen, or “regulating the body”.  

What are these movement principles? Here are three to begin with:

I) Grounding: feel your connection to gravity, how it holds you securely rooted to the earth.
2) Alignment: Understand the concept of the Tai Chi Axis, the vertical line traveling through the center of your body, top to bottom. This will help with Grounding, as well.
3) Relaxation: My favorite thing to practice, teach, and to see in action.

As you learn to relax while moving, breathing, and standing still, you will automatically be practicing Grounding and Alignment as well.  It’s exciting and empowering to feel these three principles meld together into one, cohesive sense of integration and flow. This is what we look for and explore in each energy-cultivating movement we do, from the simplest to the most complex. As the earliest Taoist philosophers taught, we benefit most from moving with nature, rather than against it.

This week, in class, certainly, but also outside of class, look for these three movement “keys” in everything you do. Notice how it changes how you move, or how you feel as you move. I’d love to hear about your discoveries!