Best Time to Practice Qigong

What is the best time to practice Qi Gong?

The most practical answer to this question is anytime you can! Provided you have suitable conditions. There is no really bad time to practice Qigong.

However, if you do not have the right conditions to practice you really shouldn’t. What conditions do we want to avoid?

When it is Noisy is Not the Best Time To Practice Qigong

First, avoid a noisy environment. In particular, this means sudden noises. Loud, sudden noises can be very startling. Being startled is known to injure the heart both in Eastern and Western medicine. This would also include sudden frights and disturbances. Sudden frights and startling loud noises can injure someone at anytime. Especially, if they are a frail, or fearful, type to start out with. If you are deeply relaxed, open, and focusing on the subtle quality of your being, while deep in Qigong, the affect can be worse. So try to avoid situations where you could possibly be subjected to sudden, loud noises. We might note that loud noises could also be people slamming doors, dropping things, doing construction work with power tools, or children being exceptionally loud, unruly, or boisterous.

When You Smell Strange Odors is not the Best Time to practice Qigong

If you are smelling strange odors or smells that is not the right time to practice Qigong. This includes all sorts of bad smelling odors and any types of toxic fumes or smoke. A day when the air is filled with smoke from a forest fire is not a good day to practice Qigong! Days when you smell paint fumes, exhaust from engines, or industrial odors are not a good day to practice. If you are doing deep breathing and the air is full toxins you can really coat your lungs and bring a lot of bad fumes deep into your body. This can make you really sick and effect your health for the long term. If you are in these conditions it is not a good time to practice. Better to wait until the air clears even if it means waiting until the next day. If you can change your location and avoid the fumes or smells in one area that works fine. Sometimes, such as in the case of a large fire, or severe air pollution you may not be able to good a local spot free from these smells. In this case, you might want to practice indoors where the air is filtered or conditioned. Now, if the strange odor is only your own armpits, I think we all know the solution to that one!

When it is Windy is not the Best Time to practice Qigong

If it a really windy day in your area you do not want to practice outside. The wind itself is considered to be a negative factor. The wind is called the bearer of 10,000 illnesses. Seems like a lot illnesses too me! In any case the wind also stirs up all the dust and pollen nearby and again yo do not want o breathe all of those particles into your lungs. Although not as toxic as the strange odors or fumes inhaling dust is still not desirable. Although it is a fun idea to practice at the beach or a mountain top, and it can be inspiring you should only use these locations if the wind is not strong. If the wind is strong it would be better to move to aspot that is sheltered by trees, shrubbery, or perhaps large rocks or a wall. being hit directly by a strong wind while practicing Qigong is definitely a negative condition. In Eastern medicine the wind itself is considered to be a condition of illness that might be diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor might say you have wind, or wind in your joints. signs of wind are trembling, or unease. One common method of diagnosis is to watch the tongue. If the tongue is trembling slightly, this is a sign that a person has wind that should be treated using the methods of Acupuncture or Moxibustion. Peppermint or Chamomile tea helps. Another self help method is patting. Patting such as in the Yin Yang Acupoint method of patting is very effective in dispersing wind. A great example of using patting to disperse wind is the switching with with branches many Scandinavians do after a sauna. the Sauna helps to heat up cold bodies, the sweating helps to release toxins and the switching or light beating with branches helps to disperse wind.

When You Angry is not the Best Time to practice Qigong

If you are very angry please don’t practice Qigong it can effect your liver and those imbalances are very hard to remove. If you are angry it would be much better to contemplate exactly why you are angry. Figure out how you were hurt, how your boundaries were violated, and then have clear communication to resolve the source of the anger in a responsible way. Then do your Qigong. Do not use your Qigong to deal with your anger. It is not the correct way to resolve your anger and it could affect your health negatively.

Tired and Hungry is not the Best Time to practice Qigong

If you are too tired or too hungry it is not a good time to practice. Instead have a good healthy meal, and rest. When you have digested and rested you will be ready to have a good Qigong practice. There is a definitive way to tell if you are too tired. This is when you cannot sink your Qi and get grounded. If you sink your Qi and get grounded you can press your body downward towards the ground. When you are too tired, you’ll tend to float, and be unable to extend your Qi downward and connect to the ground. That is a terrible time to practice your Qigong it will only exhaust you further and deplete deeper stores of your Pre-birth Qi or Original Qi. if yo cannot sink your Qi and feel connected to the ground this is called having rebellious Qi. Another reason this is not a good time to practice Qigong is that when you are doing Qigong your mind is supposed to lead the Qi. Your mind leading the Qi is when you use your will power and intention to feel your body and guide your feeling with your awareness to right places at the right time. If you are too tired or sleepy how are you going to pull off the intense mental concentration required for good Tai Chi?

Lung Time according to the Body Clock is the Best Time to Practice Qigong

So assuming there are no sudden noises, strange odors, strong wind, you are calm, rested and fed when is the best time to practice Qigong according to Eastern medicine and Qigong theory? You probably are not going to like answer….. In fact, I’m willing to bet cold hard cash most people won’t like the answer….. 3 – 5 AM! it seems too early certainly you’ll be too sleepy if you are atypical person to have any chance at all fo leading your Qi like I just discussed! The reason 3 -5 AM is the best time is because this is the time the lungs are most invigorated in the traditional Body Clock of Chinese Medicine. I will describe the body clock in much great detail in a future post. But briefly, the body clock takes the 12 meridians and divides the 24 hours o f the day into 2 hour sections. During this 2 hour section the Qi surges into the each organ much like a tide rises bringing more water into a bay or harbor. Breathing is primary in Qi Gong because breathing is one of the main ways we acquire Post-Birth Qi. Practicing Qigong when the lungs are the most invigorated by the cycle of Qi within the body makes perfect sense. For most people this simply an impractical time to practice unless they completely rearrange their lives to focus on this cycle. This is one reason so many monasteries and nunneries have such a an early morning schedule.

Liver Time is Not Advised

According to the body clock there is only one really bad section of time to practice Qigong. That is during the liver cycle between 1 and 3 AM. During the liver cycle you really want ot be deeply asleep allowing your liver to store and cleanse your blood. This is bad time to be awake. especially a bad time to be awake and really trying to concentrate and exert yourself. I usually don’t have too much trouble with my students stubbornly insisting on practicing Qigong at this time!

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Best Time to Practice Qigong