A quick & easy guide to getting a Straight back!
Straightening your back is important and useful for Qigong and everyday life. In Qigong a straight back helps your Qi flow better. Correctly straightening your back also helps you improve your posture as you go about your day. Here’s an easy step-by-step guide on how to achieve a straight back with Qigong!
Here are the steps:
- Open your Da Zhui
Standing up straight and look forward, be aware of the Da Zhui acupuncture point and lift it up. You can find this point underneath the 7th neck vertebrae, which is the big bone at the base of your neck.
Opening your Da Zhui supports the flow of Qi in your neck, shoulders, and arms. It’s also called the meeting point of the Six Yang Meridians with Du Mai. It co-ordinates Yang and provides strength, balance and power.
- Open Yu Zhen
Start to straighten your back by aligning your Da Zhui to Yu Zhen, an acupuncture point at the base of your skull. Straighten your spine so that these two pressure points, and the rest of your back, are lined up and raised up.
Opening Yu Zhen relaxes your eyes, forehead, and neck. It is the crossing point of your left and right nervous system and influences the whole central nervous system and the brain. - Raise up Baihui
This is the acupuncture point on the top of your head. From Da Zhui to Yu Zhen, lift your Baihui up, straightening the spine. In general you should feel light, more relaxed, and elevated.
The Baihui is also known as the 100 meridian channel meeting point, and the Heavenly gate (the gate of life Qi between heaven and the body). As this gate opens to all “power lines” of the physical body, which meet in this point, you feel centered and quiet from inside.
Tip: An easy way to locate Baihui is to draw a line from the tip of your ears to your head and hair whorls. The Baihui acupuncture point lies 1 cm behind the center point of this line. - Drop your tailbone down
Continue to keep your Baihui elevated and your Da Zhui and Yu Zhen points centered and aligned. Then drop your tailbone down, slightly raising your pelvis and tucking in your stomach. This last step ensures that your entire spine is straightened yet relaxed.
Perfect for any Qigong practice you do!
Conclusion
In conclusion, a straight back is important because it allows for the meridian channels to open. In Zhineng Qigong the result is that you receive Qi better. This posture is useful for each method of Zhineng Qigong. People use these steps are to correct their posture amongst many other things. Watch Master Yuantong Liu demonstrate how this works here.