Qigong: The three regulations

Three things, in this order

调身 Tiáo Shēn

Every qigong practice regulates the same three: the body, the breath and the attention. The order is not decorative — what holds everything else is attended to first — which is why any routine starts by arriving in the posture and ends by closing.

Regulating the body

Arriving in the posture: stable base, joints unlocked

Regulating the breath

It comes on its own once the body is there; never forced

Regulating attention

Last, and the first thing lost when something hurts

Closing the practice

Part of the routine, not a flourish at the end

Common mistake: Starting with the breath while the body is badly placed. You end up forcing the air to compensate for a posture that does not hold.

The comfortable range

The instruction that governs the whole unit: you practice within a comfortable range. It does not mean gentle or easy; it means the limit is set by joint comfort and not by the ambition to reach further than yesterday.

Elbows and knees unlocked

In every form, no exceptions

Lowering the height of the gesture

The adaptation that solves nearly everything

A knee turning inward

Corrected before going on

Reaching further than yesterday

Not a goal of this practice

Someone lengthens the out-breath so much they end up hungry for air. What do you correct?

1. Have them breathe through the mouth instead of the nose
2. Have them raise the volume of the sound to empty better
3. Have them lengthen the out-breath only while it stays comfortable
4. Have them hold briefly before exhaling

Each regulation with the sign that it has slipped

Someone starts counting breaths before settling into the posture. What will happen?

1. Nothing: the breath can be regulated at any point
2. They will lose count and have to start over
3. They will force the air to compensate for a posture that does not hold
4. They will tire before finishing the series