Craig's Qi Gong Spine Rolling

[Craig]

Hey everyone,

 

Got another program ready to roll! This is a great one, one of my favourites. It's a simple Qi Gong exercise, some of you may have done it with me at workshops, but it makes everything feel reeeeaaaallll nice. My coach and I have both used this exercise quite effectively to treat a range of back problems (on ourselves and for other people too).

Check it out below, as always post here if you have any questions or comments.

 

http://tutorials.awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/programs/spine-rolling-qi-gong

 

[KDas]

Looks interesting.  How long does it take to do the practice ?

 

Kdas

[Craig]

Hi Kdas,

 

You can do one roll up and down in about 3 - 5 minutes, however it feels much better (and is much more effective) if you stay at the bottom for longer, or do multiple roll downs in a row without doing the last bit (this is what is demonstrated in the follow along)

[KDas]

Loved it.  

 

This simple Qi Gong exercise is a great nugget that will work it's way into my routine.  I underestimated how effective it could be. 

 

It is worth mentioning that you have included this Qi Gong exercise in your daily routine for the last 10 years !  

[Craig]

It feels so nice to do after a training session! Which is why I did it so much. Glad you enjoyed it!

If you want to be really evil to yourself, try it first thing in the morning and get to know your nervous system intimately

[zenwoof]

Love the description of 'atmospherics'... only tried this a couple times, but loving the sensations

 

"You can do one roll up and down in about 3 - 5 minutes" - not including time spent on the bottom, are you saying take up to 2 minutes just coiling down, then 2 minutes coiling up?

 

I notice that when it comes time to coil the lower lumbar vertebrae & sacrum, I really have to slow down, relax, and breathe into it in order to get deeper

[Craig]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the nice feedback, glad you like it.  Slower is always better, if you go to fast you'll miss the dark spots along the spine, and the time spent at the bottom really develops the atmospherics. The coiling action in the videos is probably the fastest you want to go, no faster than this but slower is always always good

 

 

 

I really have to slow down, relax, and breathe into it in order to get deeper

 

Yes yes yes yes to this!

[Fabian M.]

Hey Craig,

 

great exerciese. I love the relaxed feeling afterwards. You really get that sweet athmosphere.

Is there any other way to acess the video than through your "Aware Relaxed Connected" side? I'm not sure if it was my browser or the site but the video was flickering.

 

See you in Berlin next month.

[Craig]

Hi Fabian,

Not sure why it's flickering, working well on multiple devices here.

You can try watching them through the uscreen application, grab it from the app store on Apple or the play store on Android. The app icon is a teal colored play button.

Glad you're enjoying this one

[Fidel Pomajambo]

Craig, I really like this one too, thanks for the upload. I've been trying to do as often as possible. I realized one could also do isometrics along the way when coiling down or up too, especially around the areas where need some work. Hmm will give that a try. 

[zenwoof]

Craig, I can only imagine the elasticity you've cultivated in the front & back fascial lines of the body from this exercise alone over the past decade. Some questions:

• Important to keep feet together?
• I find the further I go down, the more my weight shifts to my heels. Is this correct, or should I try to maintain equal pressure on the foot?

also I've noticed hamstrings seem to be the limiting factor from going further down in the final ROM (getting more coil out of the lumbar/sacrum)

[Craig]

Yeah my spine is actually quite bendy! Not contortion standards by any means, but the mobility is also quite evenly spread across the back, and the flexion and extension are reasonable evenly balanced.

To answer your questions:

Yes, keep the feet together, it amplifies the nervous system element

Do your best to keep the weight over the middle of the foot, if you know how ground through the Yong Quan point. Again it will amplify the nervous system element.

Any tight part of the posterior chain will impact, interestingly the deep front line also plays a role. For me, relaxing the abs and softening the deep lower back actually allows me to go deeper into the hamstrings and calves, however I suspect this is a highly individual thing. At any rate, you can use directed breathing to loosen off the tight elements while your are in the bottom position.

Keep reporting back

[zenwoof]

Thanks Craig. I meant, this seems to develop the elasticity of the front/back fascial lines... e.g. the spine as a 'bow'... bend in one direction (i.e. flex the spine), and you feel the reflex of the spine wanting to recoil back into the original position... right after doing the exercise the 'recoil' is most felt. Have you observed this?

[Craig]

Yes this is a big theme in all of my practice! In traditional Chinese martial arts they talk about the 5 bows, also if you look at Simon Thakur's YouTube you will find a whole stack of springy body videos which develops a similar quality!

In regards specifically to my spine, yes it has a very strong elastic quality, and I can throw myself around quite violently in total safety