Areas of Focus: the cues that are not instructions
There is a document I give certification students that opens with a warning about itself.
These are not guidance for every practice or movement. You will see some seem contradictory. They are here to be selected individually as an awareness focus for exploration in an entire class or a specific practice.
I want to say why that warning is there, because it is the most useful thing on the page.
Why a framework would contradict itself on purpose
Feet light and heavy at the same time. No force is needed, and also, move with power.
Read as a checklist those cancel out. Read correctly they are not a checklist at all. Each one is a lens you pick up for a while, and looking through one means not looking through another.
A class where everyone explores heavy elbows is a different class from one where everyone explores rolling the feet, and both are correct. There are 23 cues in that document. Handing a student all 23 at once produces a person concentrating so hard they have left their body, which is the opposite of the point.
So: one focus. Sometimes for a whole class.
The eight categories
Posture and structural alignment. The spine operates as a unit, and your nose should align with your navel. Do not lead with your head. Feet light and heavy at once, as though a silken thread pulls the head upward while the tailbone is gently weighted down, elongating the spine like an elastic band pulled from both ends. Move from your center of gravity, roughly 2 fingers below the navel. Tip of the tongue resting behind the upper teeth, which connects two major meridians.
Grounding and rooting. Be grounded, rooted to the earth and present. Be like a willow tree, soft and flexible while still strong and balanced. Adaptability builds resilience.
Movement quality. No force is needed, and active relaxation is what creates flow. Move with agility and grace, stretching only to your own comfort. Move with power, core gently engaged, energy rising from the ground, directed by the hips and waist, flowing through the spine and limbs. Go with the flow, continuous and wave-like, the whole body coordinating as one. When walking, roll your feet as though they had rockers on them, heel to toe going forward and toe to heel going back.
Breathing. Never hold your breath, because breath is the vehicle for Qi. Keep it smooth, quiet and abdominal. Inhale through the nose to center, exhale to circulate energy through the limbs.
Relaxation and subtle alignment. Heavy elbows and soft joints, hanging rather than held, because the joints act as energy gateways. Release the neck, shoulders and upper back. Soften the chest, neither puffed nor collapsed.
Embodiment and energetic integrity. Be connected. Every part of the body linked through fascia and energy, so that when one part moves, the whole body responds. The silk thread: movements continuous, circular and flowing, like drawing silk from a cocoon. And calm your mind, because inner stillness is what lets the rest of it happen.
Gaze and awareness. Alert, relaxed eyes that show presence, soft and open. Use peripheral vision, softening the gaze until you can see the whole field, including both hands at once.
Facial presence. A calm face. No furrowed brow, no tension held in the jaw. A gentle smile, which is not decoration: ease in the face supports relaxation and flow everywhere else.
How to use this as a teacher
Pick one. Say it at the start. Return to it 3 or 4 times. Say nothing else about form.
Students will report that the class felt unusually clear, and what they are noticing is the absence of competing instructions rather than the presence of a good one.
Which category you reach for depends on where the class is in its arc, which is the Five Elemental Class Design Framework, and on what kind of practice you are running, which is the Seven Foundations of Practice.
The cues make most sense once you have the movements in your body. Beginner exercises, and why I keep practicing.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Areas of Focus in Qigong practice?
Eight categories covering posture and alignment, grounding, movement quality, breathing, relaxation, embodiment, gaze, and facial presence. Twenty-three cues in total.
Why do the cues contradict each other?
Deliberately. Each is a lens you pick up for a while, not an item on a checklist. Looking through one means not looking through another.
How many cues should a teacher give in one class?
One. Sometimes for the whole class. Handing a student all twenty-three at once produces someone concentrating so hard they have left their body.
By Christopher Grant, Great Energy.
Where to go next
If you have never practiced Qigong. Jump Start Your Energy is a free beginner class. No background needed, nothing to buy, and it is the fastest way to find out whether any of this does anything for you. Most people know within one session.
If you practice and want to go deeper. We teach live classes online every week, and there is a self-paced Introduction to Qigong if you would rather work through it in your own time.
If you want to teach this. Everything in this library is drawn from the Great Energy Qigong Teacher Certification. The frameworks are here in full because they are more useful shared than withheld. The training is where you learn to deliver them.
Keep reading. The rest of the framework library is at the Library, and our longer articles are on the blog.
Great Energy is an independent educational organization founded by Christopher Grant and Daniela Hess.