The Five Elemental Class Design Framework
A class has a shape, and the shape is not arbitrary.
Opening. Wood. Fire. Earth. Metal. Water.
That progression is the container. Learn it well enough and you can design a 30-minute, 60-minute or 90-minute class without writing anything down.
The six phases
Opening, 5 to 10 minutes. Arrival, intention, first breath or movement. You are preparing a nervous system and a heart, not warming up a body yet.
Wood, the warm-up, 8 to 15 minutes. Stretching, side stretches, twisting, Meridian Qigong, Separating Heaven and Earth. Joints and meridians wake up. In five-element terms you are activating liver Qi and the capacity for growth.
Fire, core activation, 10 to 20 minutes. Dynamic, flowing, invigorating. Pushing the Wave, Tiger, flowing movements. Heat comes up, energy ignites, courage and connection come online.
Earth, grounding, 8 to 15 minutes. Stable and rooting. Drawing a Circle, Embracing the Tree, Core Strengtheners, Skier Pose. The energy that Fire raised gets grounded, and the Lower Dantian activates.
Metal, refinement, 8 to 15 minutes. Cooling, clarifying, more inward. Flowing Archer, Parting the Clouds, Inner Smile. The Qi refines, clarity comes in, the body begins preparing to close.
Water, rest and closing, 8 to 15 minutes. Restorative and meditative. Cloud Hands, Water Wheel, Microcosmic Orbit, Two Gate Breathing, lying-down meditation. Rest, heal, integrate.
Scaling it
A 30-minute class is roughly 2 to 3 minutes opening, 4 Wood, 6 Fire, 5 Earth, 4 Metal, 6 Water and closing. A 90-minute class is the same arc with each phase extended. The proportions hold. The shape does not change.
That scaling is not a convenience, it is the point. A lot of traditional Qigong teaching assumes a life that most people do not have: daily 2-hour practices, long periods of standing meditation, extended theoretical study of the energy channels. Those teachings are potent and they were built for a different life than the one you are living. An arc that works at 30 minutes and at 90 is what makes the practice available to someone with a job and a family.
Why the same container works every time
Because you are not reinventing the teaching each week. You use the same arc and fill it with whatever the people in front of you need that day.
That is the point of having a container at all. It frees you from planning so you can pay attention instead.
What goes in each phase is the other question, and that is the Seven Foundations of Practice. How the two work together is at the two questions every class answers. A worked short version is at a simple 15-minute routine.
On the wider question of why structure matters at all, why Qigong is so powerful.
An earlier version of this thinking, written in 2025, is on the blog at The Five Elements: unlocking balance with nature's blueprint.
A short worked example of this arc, scaled down to 10 minutes, is at the 10-minute morning Qigong routine.
Frequently asked questions
What are the five elemental phases of a Qigong class?
Opening, then Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Wood is warm-up, Fire is core activation, Earth is grounding, Metal is refinement, and Water is rest and closing.
How long should each phase be?
In a 60-minute class, roughly 5 to 10 minutes opening, then 8 to 15 for Wood, 10 to 20 for Fire, and 8 to 15 each for Earth, Metal and Water.
Can this work for a 30-minute class?
Yes. A 30-minute class is about 2 to 3 minutes opening, 4 Wood, 6 Fire, 5 Earth, 4 Metal, 6 Water. The proportions hold and the shape does not change.
Why use the same structure every week?
Because it frees you from planning. You use the same container and fill it with whatever the people in front of you need that day.
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.