Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Sunday, May 12, 2013
First off, if you have comments on any of my posts, feel free to email me (address on the contact page), stating clearly if you want to be quoted publicly or not. If I do quote you later, your post may well be edited down. All mistakes and opinions here are my own, obviously...
Breathing - clients often ask about this.
In chi kung (qigong) lessons, it's all part of what is taught by our instructors - you will learn when to breathe in and out with specific movements. Chi Kung means "breath work", (like Kung Fu means "hard work"), so it's a specific part of that type of lesson. There are many different types of chi kung, so our instructors teach a set that is suitable for beginners to start with. Most people feel more energised after a chi kung session, so it's really good to start the day with.
However in tai chi lessons, just breathe normally. While many styles teach specific breathing, we teach that as your form improves over time, your breathing will settle down along with that. So just relax, don't worry about breathing in a tai chi lesson, it will happen anyway.