We begin with lungs, because historically recorded in the classics of Chinese Medicine that all meridians branch out from the lungs. Life begins with breath, so the minute you are breathing, life happens.
As Robert Svoboda said in his book, Tao and Dharma, "Lung draws in cosmic Qi and through its harmonious rhythmic movement disperses the Qi throughout the body and especially down to the kidneys. Since Qi leads the fluids, so lung is in charge of dispersing fluids."
In Five Element Theory of the Chinese Medicine, the lung draws in Qi and kidney grasp the Qi, which is why we work with both the lung and kidney Qi in Qigong. Lung is associated with the Metal element, which is related to the Autumn season. When we nourish the Metal element, we nourish our lungs which helps to nourish us for Autumn to prepare for Winter. Please note that you can also focus on strengthening and tonifying the lung meridian anytime of the year, especially if there is weakness in the lungs or if you experience emotions of grief, sadness or depression.
Lung energy peaks at 3am - 5am, which is when the lung meridian is on duty. This is the time for:
△ deep sleep
△ dreams and memory
△ low body temperature
△ detox lungs
If you are awake between 3 - 5am regularly, you may have issues with the lung Qi like dryness that leads to cough or lung deficiency, a weakness in breathing or shortness of breath and weak immunity. Emotionally, you may be struggling with grief or sadness.
Practices to nourish your lung Qi: Ensure to keep your body warm and have warm liquid. If you are awake between 3 - 5am, do breathing practices that soothe the nervous system like taking a slow breath in for 5 second count and breathe out for 7 second count, focus on extending the exhalation. I suggest you try the Six Healing Sounds (see practice below) before bed which is very soothing for the nervous system and help to calm the emotions from your day.
I have been receiving a number of emails from my students who have been practising my Qigong that has helped with their long term covid recovery, which made me do some scientific research studies on the positive affect of Qigong has for prevention and recovery of Covid-19! Am excited to share with you some of these papers to inspire you to have a regular Qigong and Yoga practice! Click on any of the images below to read the article.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8553411/
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7227578/
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9601556/
The key to nurturing your lung Qi is to have a smooth flow of energy in the lung meridian and the suggested practices that I created in the Online Healing Studio is specifically to help Yang Sheng for your lung meridian.
If you are ready to journey into the Yang Sheng way, join me in my Online Healing Studio!
May you be filled with good Qi,
Carol x