🔔 Important 🔔 - Only comments on THIS THREAD will count toward the giveaway — make sure to post your check-ins right here each day. Check-ins posted elsewhere won’t be included. - The LAST DAY to enter the challenge is January 25th. The New Year, New Qi 10-Day challenge has officially started today! This is your daily check-in thread for the challenge — welcome and let’s flow into the new year together! 👇 Here’s how to check in each day 👇 ✅ Daily Check-In Instructions ✅ 1. Pick any practice video from the community. 2. State which day of the challenge you’re on (ex: Day 1, Day 3, Day 7). 3. How you felt before and after practice — just a short sentence for each. 4. Photo or video — snap a quick pic of your screen, your space, or yourself practicing. ✨Sample Check-In: - Day: 1 - Practice: Yin Yang Qigong - Before: Feeling tight and foggy - After: Calm, clear, and more open - (Photo or video attached) Complete all 10 days and you’ll be entered into a lucky draw — we’re choosing 3 winners. 🏆 1st Prize Includes 🏆 - $100 Gift Card - Premium Handmade Tai Chi Stick - Custom Rooted Alchemy Hoodie - 30-Minute Private Practice Session with Sonny Let’s do this!

These are in no particular order (I think) 1. Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell 2. Seattle Taijiquan Pioneers edited by Blake Emery and A. T. Dale 3. The Taijiquan Classics: An Annotated Translation by Barbara Davis 4. The Way of Zen by Alan Watts 5. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff 6. The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff 7. The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh 8. The I Ching or Book of Changes by Brian Browne Walker 9. A Study of Taijiquan by Sun Lutang 10. Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness translated by Brian Bruya 11. T’ai Chi Ch’uan and Meditation by Da Liu 12. Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion edited by Diane K. Osbon Drop your book recommendations in the comments 👇🏾

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been dealing with upper and mid-back pain. I tried various exercises to relieve it, and when I did yoga poses like cat-cow and child’s pose, some of the pain would go away temporarily. However, it always came back within a day or two. I mentioned the pain to my wife, and she suggested I start going for walks. Over the past few days, I’ve been walking regularly, and my back pain has almost completely disappeared. Walking has made a huge difference! I now know I need to add it to my daily routine. Has anyone else found that simple walking helped with back pain? I’d love to hear your experiences!

The Qualities of the breath. The breath is something that is intrinsically linked to our practice and something that is often overlooked in other physical practices. You can look up and google many different kinds of breath work and even become a certified master of breathing;). So how does qi gong view breathing? Well first, let’s not over worry about breathing wrong or incorrectly. If you are currently alive then your breath is doing a great job of keeping you functioning and thinking, especially since the brain uses way more oxygen than almost any other part of the body, so thank your breath for all those good ideas:). Rather than think that we need to control our breath, instead look to become a student of your breath. Listen and observe for how it is already working alongside your movement and posture doing a great job without you ever having had to do a thing. To quote Sun Tzu, “The breath sets the strategy”, and how we connect to our breath is directly related to our concept of ‘song’. By taking the mental posture of a student, we can then relax into the deeper systems that bring stabilization and ease into our state. It is also good to know that the air we breath and exchange with the environment is an aspect of environmental Qi, which is something different from the qi we are observing within our system. The beauty of the breath is that it is something we can use to ‘shine a flashlight’ or “create resonance” within our entire body, but the respiratory process is contained within some very specific spaces and uses logical mechanics. Overtime, there is an integration of sensory inputs that will help support and benefit the system. It is as simple as beginning to learn more about the breath and how to interact and perceive it. Below are a list of qualities we can learn to observe and look for in our breath. These are intentions that we can carry with us to gently influence the nature and quality of our breath over time. Remember, intention is like a rock you cast into a pool. We are looking and listening for the splash and ripples and feeling for the change in current. They are also guides for further study as we can begin to learn what other aspects of our practice need to be present and cultivated to draw out these qualities more easily.

@Kirby Mannon hello Sonny, and all of you here, do you know any good, accessible books about the theories and principles of Qigong and Tai Chi? Your information raises even more questions and encourages further exploration and understanding of your information and terminology. ;-) I have the root of Chinese Qigong, a lot of information, which is quite complicated to read.