Hey friends!
Welcome to Qi Yoga with Lutien.
Today we will be working on a quick sequence for the arms and the shoulders.
You can sit either cross-legged or on your feet.
Use a block to lift up your hips or place the block in between of your feet to be more comfortable if you choose the kneeling position.
And let's begin.
We're going to take a brief moment to connect with our breath.
Soften the gaze or you might close your eyes and finding stillness.
Blink your eyes open,
Extending the arms straight out in front of you.
Right arm over left,
Interlace the fingers,
Roll the fist in and out.
Lifting the elbows to shoulder height,
Finding the stretch between the shoulder blades and inside of the arms.
Very good.
Now bending the elbows and roll your fist in and out,
Lifting the arms by your ears,
Sending the fist straight up.
Press your arms behind your ears,
Opening the chest and stretching the armpits.
Keeping the fingers interlaced,
Then pull the right elbow to the side.
Press your head against the arm.
Keep the core engaged.
Release your fingers.
Use your right palm to press down the left elbow.
Press your head against the arm.
You might stay here or you can bring the right palm behind.
Hook up the fingers,
Hands pulling against each other and stretch through the triceps.
Keep the chin tucked a little.
Press the spine back.
Slowly release the hands.
Bring the arms forward.
Left arm over right.
Interlace the fingers and repeat.
Lifting the elbows high,
Tuck your chin,
Press your entire spine back.
Bending the elbow,
Roll the fist towards your chest,
Sending it all the way up.
Lengthen through your spine,
Pulling the left elbow to the side.
Engage your core and press your head back.
From here,
You might take the two options that follows.
Palm pressing down the elbow,
Press your head against the left wrist.
Now you also feel the middle spine is getting engaged.
Or bring the left palm behind.
Hook up the fingers and let's release the hands.
Roll your shoulders and shake your arms and your wrists.
Once more,
Interlace the fingers behind.
Bring the knuckles to your right side.
Hugging the right elbow in,
Your chin towards the right shoulder.
Gaze over to the left.
Mindfully rotate your neck to a full circle,
Finding a gentle neck stretch.
Switching sides,
Look forward.
Hugging the left elbow in,
Drop your chin towards the left shoulder.
Gaze over to the right,
Finding the gentle neck stretch.
Head back to neutral,
Release your hands.
Open both legs out wide.
Flex the feet,
Toes pointed up.
Take a deep inhale,
Arms reaching overhead.
As you exhale,
Open arm twist to the right side.
Pull the back arm back.
Keep the torso erect.
Inhale,
Arms rise.
Exhale,
Open to the left.
The tendency is to lean forward,
So really reach the back arm back.
One more time on each side.
Press down the back of your heels.
Arms rise and open and twist to the second side.
Inhale,
Arms reaching up.
Exhale,
Releasing down and shake your legs.
Once more,
Interlace the fingers behind.
Squeeze in the triceps and slowly project your chest forward,
Lifting the fist up.
You don't need to lower your torso much to find the opening across the chest,
Lengthening of the spine,
Also finding the nice stretch on the hamstring.
Either releasing the palms down,
Then push yourself up or use your fist to pull your torso back and up.
Lift the left arm while turning the torso towards the right and reach the hands towards the outer edge of the leg.
Other hand press against the floor,
Finding a nice twist in the lower spine and stretch on the hamstring.
Slowly lifting the torso,
Switch the arms.
Right hand reaching for the outside of the left leg.
Apply pressure on the left palm,
Intensifying the twist in the spine.
Stretching and twisting the same time.
It feels so good.
Slowly lifting the torso and hold the arms out to the side.
Press into the palms,
Fingers pointed up.
Relax the shoulders away from your ears.
By doing this,
Not only we are strengthening the arms,
But also we're stimulating the pericardium and the long meridians.
Notice the tinkling sensations.
This strengthens the heart and lungs.
Release the arms,
Release the arms,
Interlace the fingers in front of your navel.
Slowly lift the hands up to your chest,
Then flip the palms,
Press the palms up,
Gaze to the back of your hands,
And then gaze forward.
Relax your shoulders.
Hold for breath before opening the arms.
Repeat this twice more.
This is called two hands holding up the heavens to condition the triple warmers of the body.
A balanced triple warmer helps to calm stress,
Boost the immune system.
Last one.
This is the variation of the first brocade of the famous eight brocades qigong.
It has been practiced by many generations.
Let's release and bring your legs back to an easy cross-legged position.
Let your hands rest on your thigh or on your knees and close your eyes.
Notice the difference in your body after this short practice.
Slow and steady breath.
Bring your palms to your heart center.
We will close this practice with a cleansing breath in through the nose and out the mouth.
Bowing forward.
Namaste.
Thank you so very much for sharing your time with me.
If you like this arm and shoulder stretch,
You may want to check out another 10-minute full body workout.
And I look forward to practicing with you again soon.
