Tai Chi Finder

This book starts from the very basics, explaining why we need to change our habits any then going through a simple set of exercises to increase our awareness of how we stand and how we move. Each part of the body is looked at in turn, increasing our awareness of how we interact with our environment. The reader is encouraged to use these exercises regularly to develop sensitivity to the energy field (and flow of qi).
This awareness of qi is called upon  in many of the subsequent exercises. Take for example the exercise  (from the book) of just standing and then thinking of the bubbling spring point in the centre of the foot. See what a difference it can make to your rooting and state of relaxation. This exercise is later developed into a clear and intuitive understanding of different variations of standing meditation postures.

Just when you are thinking that  "This is all very fine and dandy but isn't there a bit move to qigong than this?", Ged says that if you have being doing these exercises for a few weeks we are ready for the real thing. Then everything steps up a gear or two and we cover a lot of gound quite quickly but always backed up by an understanding of the essence of the movements..

With help from their website you are introduced to working with and experiencing each of the five elements - earth, wood, fire, metal and water, the feelings that go with them and some of the energy pathways in the body. Then there is an introduction to some animal forms.

This is an excellent book not only to serve as an introduction to qigong but also to help us gain clarity and reconnect with the basics. If it has a weekness it is that the reader needs to experience qi to get the most out of it (also I would have loved to have seen some colour photos instead of the black and white ones used throughout the book).

ISBN 978-1-84819-014-6 £12.99 Published by:  www.singingdragon.com