When you do chi kung, it’s easy to feel that you’ve entered a new, more peaceful reality. As you perform the slow, graceful movements of this Chinese method of working with chi, or energy, you set aside your cares and worries, and focus intently on the moment. Many chi kung practitioners report that when they’re in the middle of a practice session, they never want it to end.
The good news is that you can use chi kung to help you navigate the ups and downs of daily life. By focusing on daily tasks as if they are chi kung, you can teach yourself to achieve what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, professor of psychology and author of several books on optimal experience, calls “flow,” a state of complete immersion in what you are doing.
Use Chi Kung to Achieve Effortless Concentration
Step 1
Choose a time of day when you are doing a task that you must perform. In the beginning, it’s best to choose a repetitive task with low emotional involvement. Folding laundry, cooking a meal, gardening or doing dishes are all good choices.
Step 2
Begin performing the task. As you work, focus your mind on what you are doing. You may find that you are in the habit of problem solving or planning other parts of your day when doing the task. Always bring your mind back to what you are doing in the moment.
Step 3
Notice any thoughts that arise as you work. Emotions--related and unrelated to the task--might also come up. Let them go and return your mind to the movements of your hands, the sensations you’re experiencing and your purpose.
Step 4
Relax any areas of tightness that you feel in your body. You do not need tension in your hands, face or torso to fold laundry. Let go of any clenched muscles.
Step 5
Lift your spirit, allowing yourself to feel happy that you are doing something you need to do. Energy moves more readily through a relaxed, happy body.
Step 6
When you’ve mastered staying relaxed and focusing your mind on a relatively simple task, try using chi kung in more complex scenarios, like your job or a shared activity with another person.
Tips and Warnings
- Practicing relaxed focus while performing daily tasks may enhance your life, but are not a replacement for chi kung practice. According to Mantak Chia, director of the Universal Tao Center in Thailand and author of “Tan Tien Chi Kung,” performing chi kung allows you to become more grounded in your intuitive self, which in turn enables you to refrain from worrying and other forms of excess thinking—the habits that disrupt flow. Maintain a regular schedule of chi kung practice to build the foundation that allows you to achieve flow in other scenarios.
- It’s extremely difficult to learn chi kung without the help of a good teacher. If done incorrectly, some chi kung movements, especially those involving horse stance or any deep sitting movements, can injure your joints. The breathing and internal exercise aspects of chi kung can cause hernia and other forms of internal damage if you force them. Find a teacher in your local area who can give you lessons and help you overcome any barriers you might have to learning chi kung.
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