Whatever Shaolin Qigong that you do you must always activate your muscles. This is different to the term used in Western workouts, but there are some similarities as it means ‘waking up the muscle’. This automatically means an increase in blood flow and oxygen.
There’s a lot of misinformation about Qigong. And one of the main ones is that it’s a gentle exercise like Tai Qi. Suppose you do the movements without activating your muscles. Then you're doing nothing but gentle exercise. It won’t harm you, but neither will it give you the powerful benefits that Qigong does.
This is why in my classes, we do some Kung Fu exercises or external exercises which clearly show you the energy you gain from your Qigong and how this energy gives effortless power to your Qigong. This is not a theory. This is your actual experience.
The key is not to be too relaxed or too tense. You can tell if you’re activating your muscles because there’s an inner stretch to your body. And after doing this, your body feels warm, light and energized.
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