Qigong: When you stop

The five that stop the session

You practice within a comfortable range, with support nearby if there is a risk of falling. And there are five signals at which practice stops, without finishing the series and without negotiating with yourself.

Pain

Not intensity: a stop signal

Dizziness

Stop and sit; it does not “pass” by continuing

Unusual breathlessness

Stop, even if breathing was the exercise

Sudden weakness

Stop and assess

Loss of balance

Stop and review the support before going on

Common mistake: Finishing the series first. All five signals interrupt at the point where they appear.

Halfway through the six sounds, dizziness appears. The person says it always happens and it goes away. What do you do?

1. Continue more slowly, since they know it
2. Stop, sit, and check whether the exhalation was being forced
3. Switch to a standing routine to perk up
4. Continue without the sound, gesture only

Someone with fragile balance wants to do the whole Baduanjin. How do you set it up?

1. Reducing steps, twists and single-leg support, with a chair or wall nearby
2. Doing only the first four pieces
3. Practicing barefoot to feel the floor better
4. Leaving it until their balance improves

Do you stop the session, or adjust and carry on?

• DizzinessStopAdjust
• The gesture reaches higher than is comfortableStopAdjust
• Unusual breathlessnessStopAdjust
• Balance wavers in one particular pieceStopAdjust
• Sudden weaknessStopAdjust
• Normal tiredness halfway through the seriesStopAdjust

One of the five signals appears in the sixth piece of eight. What do you do?

1. Finish the two that are left and then stop
2. Skip to the last piece to close properly
3. Stop right there
4. Repeat the fifth, which went fine