Taiji is stillness in motion and motion in stillness. The beginning movement
demonstrates the separation of yin and yang as stillness is transformed.
1. Arms float upward like bubbles from the bottom of a pond. Wrists are bent and tranquil – fingers being drawn downward. Sink body slightly.
(1.5) At shoulder level fingertips lift slightly as if being puffed upward by a breeze.
2. Elbows sink toward the body as fingers extend. Hands are flat – palm down – as if sliding along atop the water. Sink body slightly more.
3. Arms float downward as elbows pull down and fingertips glide slightly upward (as if being lead around a log). Body begins to rise.
4. Elbows continue to pull down as fingers glide down an imaginary curtain and come to rest by the thighs. Body finishes rising same time as hands finish.
You can use Beginning as a stand-alone Qigong practice by repeating it over and over. Notice how your breath will begin to calm and the body relax. Remember to keep wrists below shoulder level and shoulder width in front of the body.