Swimming Dragon Qigong

Swimming Dragon Qigong is an ancient moving practice named after the serpentine movements of the water dragon. It will calm your nervous system, improve your balance, flexibility, coordination, breath control and mood. You’ll feel happier, healthier and more resilient. It’s fun, I hope you give it a try.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you probably know I am a huge fan of tools to help us feel joy, peace and appreciation. I call this being in alignment. When we’re in alignment our energy flows.

Tools help our energy to flow.

When our energy is in flow we move through feelings of anxiety, stress or fear and feel better quickly. Energy is meant to flow. But I know this is not always easy, especially when things aren’t going the way we want or if we’re in pain. This is why I have so many tools.

Tools help us connect with ourselves on a deeper level. They allow us to lighten up emotionally and physically. They help us to be nicer to ourself, embracing ourself, just as we are, with kindness and compassion. As a result, we come back into alignment and experience better health and more joy.

Here today is a fun tool called Swimming Dragon Qigong. I cycle through my tools throughout the year choosing the ones that feel best.

As the summer comes to an end I’ve been inspired to bring this practice back into my life for awhile. I hope you enjoy it. Here is a video to follow along. Below is a video tutorial with more specific details.

What is Swimming Dragon Qigong?

Swimming Dragon qigong is an ancient Chinese moving exercise that is named for the serpentine movement of the body which resembles the movements of a water dragon swimming in the sea and flying up to the clouds.

With its twisting, stretching, and shifting motions, Swimming Dragon works the ligaments, tendons, and organs of the body. It opens the spine and allows life force energy called Qi or prana to flow freely through the spinal column.

The sinuous movements of the form slenderize our waist, regulate appetite, balance hormones, and mobilize fats and toxins into lymphatic drainage.

It is a slow moving meditation practice that helps calm the mind and ease stress.

Benefits of Swimming Dragon Qigong

If practiced regularly it has the power to improve your health, enhance your physical appearance, and improve your general well-being.

Clears and Cleanses Stagnation Physically, Mentally, Emotionally

Physically the spiraling movement of your body free up and “squeeze out” stagnant energy from the internal organs. The movement also helps to undo knots in the body and releases tension from the muscles.

Mentally and emotionally, the process does the same with negative thoughts and old feelings.

The rotating movements cleanse the entire energy system. The cleansing process activates the body’s healing energy and allows it to circulate freely. This opens your heart, clears your mind and delivers an abundance of Qi to all the cells in the body.

Improves Flexibility and Strength

Full-body spiraling movements encourages focus on stretching lines of tension which increases your strength. As you rotate, part of your body relaxes into the rotating movements, another part is actively engaged in order for rotations to take place. It is described as “a push and a pull.” This leads to increased flexibility and a blissful feeling of being loose and relaxed.

Make Internal Organs More Resilient

The practice of Swimming Dragon massages and activates Qi in your organs.

Opens the lungs and diaphragm.
Stimulates the kidneys and balances Jing energy. Jing energy is the deep foundational energy reserves of the body and it is this energy that determines the vitality and quality of your life.
Regulates digestion, improving intestinal health.
Balances hormones, and connects the heart and kidneys (fire and water), which balances Yin and Yang energy.

Keeps Joints Strong and Flexible

A regular practice of Swimming Dragon provides a gentle yet powerful movement throughout all of your joints.

Helps Promote Weight Loss

The way Swimming Dragon is used to help promote weight-loss is by working the physical body in many different planes of movement while strengthening the internal organs and energy. Some people say doing it for 20 minutes a day helps you lose weight.