Your Fountain of Youth with Lee Holden

Thousands of years ago, the ancients made a profound discovery.

Humans could experience a longer life with more radiant health, simply by mirroring the movements of nature.

Over the centuries.

They developed practices known as Qi Gong.

During my last 25 years of teaching these practices, I've seen remarkable transformations as my students tap into their own life force energy.

This is the real fountain of youth Not hidden in some far away land but inside each one of us.

Each episode is a complete Qi Gong routine focused on one aspect of preventative health and wellness.

So try them all to discover which leaves you feeling the most nourished, radiant and uplifted.

These routines are simple, gentle movements that don't require any special clothing or equipment.

All you need to do now Is stand up, get ready to move And I'll be your guide to your very own Fountain of Youth Described by the ancients as the vital essence energy or Qi is what creates health harmony and well-being just as the sunrise inspires the flowers to open and the birds to sing naturally and effortlessly Qi Gong can stimulate your own natural resources in this routine I'll take you through a series of warm-ups to invigorate the body and then we'll activate key pressure points to awaken your life force energy next the routine progresses to gentle stretching to open those areas that chronically hold tension and stress and by releasing stress you free up healing energy through the body the program ends with flowing movements to stimulate your whole system putting every cell of your body in sync with nature and the world around you enjoy the beauty of this Yosemite Valley as you charge up with more energy thanks for joining me welcome to this routine on more energy this sequence of movements will strengthen the Qi bring in abundant health and vitality you're gonna take a stance that's about shoulder-width bend your knees a little bit bring your arms up by the head and then do a slow rotation just do a twist over the shoulder and this movement is wonderful for bringing flexibility in and through the upper spine now come off the heel and onto your toes as you rotate and twist this will allow you to bring some range of motion a little further over that shoulder feel a sense of opening the upper back in the neck area twist and rotate we're gonna free up tension and tightness through the spine to increase the energy and the vitality through the back of the body when we free tension and tightness more life force energy now bring the hands a little bit lower this will help to open the joints through the mid-spine come off the heel onto the toes and rotate and you could turn and look over the shoulderas far as you can comfortably feel free to have the pace of the movement slower if that helps you and just take some nice deep breaths as you rotate bring the hands a little bit lower rotate the energy through the low back and then we'll go into a movement called knocking on the door of life relax your shoulders let the arms knock across the lower abdomen and across the low back knocking on the door of life is a wonderful exercise to increase the energy of the body take a nice deep breath the door of life is a key pressure point for energy and vitality it's directly behind the navel on the spine now bring one hand up to the chest let's energize a couple of lung points take a nice deep breath knocking on the chest wakes up the lung energy gets it to circulate and become alive and active one arm on the chest the other knocking on the low back knocking on the body is said to wake up the dormant Qi and get it to move into circulation now one hand comes up over the shoulder knock on the upper back and neck area and this will help to clear tension and tightness out of the neck and shoulders still that back arm knocking across the door of life the low back the other arm up over the shoulder clearing tension and tightness stimulate those key acupressure points for energy and vitality now come back to the chest knock on those lung points keep the knees bent and the spine moving now bringing the arms back to the low back knees are slightly bent breath is deep and full activate the body's energy with the knocking knocking on the door of life is a wonderful way to wake up the body's energy and now this variation helps to calm and clear the mind so instead of knocking on the body let the hands and arms swirl through the air this is called water waves the arms move through the air one arm in front the other behind and as the arms are moving through the air feel a sense of cleansing and clearing push away worries and mental stress and then come back to being centered here feet on the ground take a nice deep breath and just notice how your body feels now tapping on the chest go up and down the sternum area and do a movement called Qi massage go up and down the sternum wake up the energy through the chest the lungs and the heart this area of the body is said to carry a lot of emotional stress and tension and by knocking here we disperse emotional stress take a big deep breath and exhale all the way out and then knock down one arm on the inside of the arm and then come up the outside of the arm slap right on the neck and shoulder and then down the inside of the arm you can knock and slap with firm pressure right to the top of the shoulder and then one more time down the inside of the arm up the outside of the arm and then we'll do the other side knock just below the collarbone and then down the inside of the arm and slap with firm pressure up the outside of the arm to the neck area stimulate the body's internal energy wake it up get it to circulate slap down the inside of the arm and come up the outside come back to the chest knock up and down on the sternum take a big deep breath long exhale all the way out nice deep breath exhale all the way out inhale through the nose and exhale out through the mouth feel the energy waking up through the chest and then bring your arms down to your sides and notice how your body feels and close your eyes take a gentle deep breath now and feel the flow of Qi through the chest Qi is the body's internal energy and by knocking on it we get it to circulate better now knocking on the low back the tailbone and the kidney area wake up the energy through the low back tailbone kidneys inhale and exhale feel the energy open through the low back this is near the door of life area so it's wonderful to increase the energy through the body now slap down the back of the legs and slap up the inside of the legs wrap the hands around to the low back and again slap down the back and outsides of the legs and then come up the inside of the legs to the hips wrap around to the low back slap down the outside and slap up the inside wake up the meridians through the legs and now knocking on the front of the hips you can take a nice deep breath this area here is called the leg gates now just hold the hands over the leg gates and feel the energy circulating through the legs take a nice deep breath and now knocking on the abdomen knock right over the navel the abdomen is the reservoir of Qi and we knock here we're gonna stimulate the energy through all the internal organs come up to the solar plexus knock there just below the sternum and then go down below the navel knocking right along the midline of the abdomen below the navel is called the sea of Qi and come over to one side from the ribs to the hips and knock up and down stimulate the energy on that side of the abdomen and then go to the other side from the ribs down to the inside of the hip and wake up the energy through the abdomen take a nice deep breath and back over the navel wake up the body's internal energy both hands resting on the navel now take some deep breaths and feel the electricity the energy flowing through all the internal organs think of the internal organs as reservoirs and here we've cleansed and cleared and filled up those reservoirs with healthy positive energy now bring the hands up and we're gonna pump the energy through the body the legs bent and straighten when the arms go behind you the knees straighten bend straighten bend straighten and pump the energy through the body inhale as you come up exhale back inhale coming up exhale back and pump the energy through the body the pump is designed to bring more energy into the lungs and send it into the kidneys or into the door of life so you inhale here and exhale back draw the energy in and send it deep into the kidneys the kidneys are thought of as the roots of the body so the kidneys draw the energy in deep now bring your hands up one hand in front the other hand behind you and inhale as you come up and exhale one arm in front the other behind this is called Tiger Claw Tiger Claw helps us to push past limitations to clear old energy and draw in new energy you inhale as you come up fingers are curled exhale as you come down the front arm represents energy going towards the future and the back arm energy coming from the past and here feel a sense of being balanced between the energy of the past in the future keeping the heart center connected to the present moment Tiger claw is about cultivating courage power and confidence feel that back arm cleansing and clearing old energy from the past and the forward arm clearing worries going towards the future when the past is released and the worries transformed we feel more energy in the present moment now hold one arm in front the other behind you turn the head and look at the back arm and feel a nice stretch through the neck open the space between the shoulder blades the chest bring good energy into the heart center turn now and look at that forward arm take a nice deep breath and then the same thing to the other side push one arm forward the other behind you feel the palms pushing away from each other and turn and look at that back arm a nice stretch a nice opening between the arms and the hands stretching the upper back the neck and the shoulders nice deep breath turn now and look at that forward arm come down and arms down to your sides notice how that feels feel the flow of energy starting to circulate through you next let's hold a Qi ball bring the hands out in front of you palms facing towards each other we're gonna continue with this concept of recycling internal energy part of the way in which we cultivate more energy is keeping the energy contained within so here bringing the energy up the spine by lifting the hands and down on the front of the body as the hands come down inhale sip the energy up the spine exhale let it flow down the front inhale bring the hands all the way up exhale down this is called turning a water wheel feel the Qi moving and circulating inside you turning the water wheel inhale coming up exhale coming down when the energy circulates in this orbit it stays contained strong and powerful within this is a moving meditation sip the energy up the back let it flow down the front it moves up the spine like mist off a lake and it flows down the front | like a waterfall inhale draw the energy up exhale down this movement recycles internal energy it elevates the energy and brings it up to the mind and then the energy of the mind down to the belly bring it back down holding that Qi ball take a nice deep breath feel the energy open circulating and flowing now bring the energy down this front channel a little bit stronger with the |movement called centering circle the right arm down and around now left arm circles out to the side and then down the front back to the center feel like you're gathering your strength your power and your resources bring it right down this midline inhale as you circle exhale and come down the midline now bring that left hand up over the head right hand down connect to the energy of heaven and earth feel yourself plugged in and then circle the arms around down the midline and continue making a big circle around the body connect to the energy above and below right arm comes up by the forehead and then down left arm up to the sky circling around connect to the energy of heaven and earth down the midline contain the energy and then expand into the energy as you circle keep your body loose and relaxed fluid and flowing down the midline and now switch circle your left hand out and around Down the midline And your right hand floats up over the head connect to heaven and earth feel plugged into the energy all around you and then circle the arms left hand up over the head right hand floats up from below connecting to heaven and earth and swirl the energy around and through you this one brings in the energy from unlimited sources the energy of nature he energy of the sky the energy of the earth feel your body as a conduit a bridge between heaven and earth float one hand up circle the arms around down the midline to the center inhale and exhale gather energy circle it around down the midline feel connected to your source of strength and power float your right hand up over the head left hand towards the earth and feel connected and plugged in because the way in which heaven the energy of the sky relates to the energy of the earth there's Qi switch the hands left hand up right hand down feel connected to your source of energy a source of yang energy is the sky the source of yin energy is the earth breathe them in feel your body soaking up that energy and now have both hands down by the lower abdomen take some deep breaths here and scoop up the energy from the earth and extend it up into the sky bring the energy down from the sky circulate it around and through the body wrist cross and then the hands come down take a breath hinge forward at the waist gather the energy of the earth ng it up float the hands up to the sky palms turn and face up bring the hands down towards the head and circle around your wrists cross and exhale down take a deep breath exhale as you come over inhale float the arms up exhale up towards the sky inhaling in exhale around wrists cross and inhale exhale down this movement is called between heaven and earth feel the energy of the earth moving up through you and float your hands up to the sky like hot-air balloons draw the energy down circle around wrists cross and float the hands down take a deep breath exhale as you hinge over inhale coming up exhale float the arms up inhale to the head exhale around inhale up and exhale down and now let's do a posture called embracing the tree the energy of the tree grows up towards the universe and down to the earth at the same time feel your body mirror the movements of nature ow up towards the light in the sky like the top of the tree feel rooted through the feet into the earth again plug in to the source of energy above and below you let the breath be full deep and strong feel as if your whole body's breathing the leaves of the tree take in the energy from all around feel as if you're soaking up the energy from nature now bring your hands down float the arms up to your sides feel a connection to the energy of the horizon left and right and then connect to the horizon in front and behind you the hands come up over the head and then float down hands up to the sides connect let your mind expand into the space around you there's an infinite amount of energy all around you bring your hands in front and behind float the hands up over the head and then let them come down bring the hands up connect to the infinite amount of energy all around you then let your hands float one in front the other behind take a nice deep breath onnect bring the hands up over the head feel the energy above you feel plugged into your source like you're recharging your batteries and then the hands come down feel connected now to the earth feet rooted into the ground float the hands up forward over the head and down connect to the energy at the horizon of the sides energy of the horizon in front and behind energy of the sky above and earth below feel a sense of being plugged into the energy all around you to nature to the universe this is called pulling down the heavens to the six directions and when we think about the universe it goes out to the sides it expands in the space in front and behind it's over the head and it's below your feet feel plugged into the energy all around inhale float the arms up exhale twist inhale coming up and exhale down bring it into your center one palm on top of the other and the thumbs touch this is called the monk holding the pearl your knees are slightly bent feel connected to the earth the breath is deep full but relaxed into the lower abdomen the thumbs are touching one palm on top of the other breathe deep into the belly keep those knees bent still feeling connected to the heavens above and the earth below and focus your Qi into the lower Dantian the lower Dantian is the abdominal area think of this area as the reservoir and here you're filling up your internal reservoir charging up your batteries and now bring your feet together hands over the belly close your eyes and feel all that energy that we just cultivated circulating and swirling through you this last movement is called bamboo in the wind relax your feet relax your legs relax the hips and the waist and let your body rock and sway relax all the muscles around your spine relax the neck and shoulders take some nice deep breaths have that feeling of being both relaxed and recharged at the same time wherever that energy needs to go let it move through you feel that sense of being connected to your center where the mind is calm and the body is energized take a nice deep breath hands come down and bring that feeling with you into the rest of your day