Activate: the second of the Seven Foundations
Wake the system up.
Most people arrive at a practice having been still for hours. Not rested, just still, which is a different thing. The Activate practices break up that stagnation and get the Qi online before you ask the body to do anything else.
What lives here
Shaking. Tapping. Sound. Laugh. Brushing Down the Body. Bing.
What it is doing
Stimulating the meridians. Tapping shifts the nervous system from parasympathetic rest into sympathetic activation, which is the wake-up the rest of the class is built on.
Where it sits
Mostly the Fire phase, core activation, though a little of it often appears in the Opening.
The one people skip
This one, usually, because it looks the least like exercise and the most like something you would be embarrassed to be seen doing. Shaking looks ridiculous. Do it anyway. We wrote about one version of this at shaking for anxiety.
Pairs with Warm Up, which comes next. If you have never tried any of this, the beginner exercises are the place to start.
Part of the Seven Foundations of Practice.
A single activating practice, taken on its own, is covered at Qigong for anxiety and stress.
On a low-energy day, or with a condition that makes activation feel like too much, start instead with the Autoimmune Recovery Method.
Frequently asked questions
What are activating practices in Qigong?
Shaking, tapping, sound, laughing, brushing down the body, and Bing. Practices that stimulate the meridians and wake the system up.
Why does Qigong start with shaking or tapping?
Because most people arrive having been still for hours. Activation breaks up that stagnation before the body is asked to do anything else.
Does shaking actually do anything?
Tapping and shaking shift the nervous system from parasympathetic rest into sympathetic activation. It looks ridiculous and it is doing real work.
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.