Mental Clarity Qigong is an extremely simple form of sitting Qigong, but it has profound effects, especially in improving mental and emotional health and relieving stress.

It is especially useful when learning new material that is mentally or emotionally challenging. Often times, we find ourselves resistant to new ideas and self-exploration, but Mental Clarity Qigong improves certain types of chi circulation specific to the learning process.

You may use this Qigong to break down chi blockages and resistances to self-exploration, opening yourself to higher insight and self-understanding in Tai Chi and Qigong. You may also perform these “clearing” exercises before any learning situation to help increase mental clarity.

RIGHT NOW AT YOUR COMPUTER – Sit comfortably in your chair, with your feet flat on the ground. Allow your arms to hang down on the sides of the chair, to rest on the arm rests, or to lie comfortably in your lap.

Once you’ve made yourself comfortable, do each of these exercises in turn, spending at least 2 minutes or longer on each one.

Sighing – Begin inhaling using deep abdominal breaths, expanding your stomach (not your chest) on each in-breath. On the exhale, create a long, audible sigh. Sigh out loud during the entire exhale using an “ah” sound, such as “aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Practice sighing for at least two minutes.

Chattering – Continue to inhale with abdominal breathing, but now on the exhale, make chattering noises using your lips and tongue. For example, make sounds like “babababababa” or “tatatatatata” or “dadadadadada” or any mixture of these sounds. Chatter out loud for at least two minutes.

Making Faces – Now forget about your breathing. Instead, spend some time making faces. For example, roll your eyes, squish up your face, stretch your face out, stick out your tongue, stick out your jaw, wrinkle your forehead. Try to move, squish, and stretch every muscle in your face and forehead as much as possible. Make faces for at least two minutes.

After you’ve completed those three exercises, relax quietly for a minute or so, noticing any sensations in your body or mind. Do not dwell on any sensation, but merely observe and note them, then move on to look for other sensations.

After a minute or so of noticing sensations, you may then move on with the rest of your day.