09/04/2026
This is something I shared in tonight's 5 Element Seasonal Qigong Session...
"So, just something I wanted to share before we get going…
We’ve got a few different sessions running now, and it’s interesting watching what people gravitate towards.
A few of you really enjoy the 18 Forms… and I do as well, I really do.
But then you’ve also got the Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday sessions, which are more follow-along.
So with those, we’ve got the Flow Form Qigong, which is really a blend of things like the 8 or 12 Brocades depending on the school… adapted a little to suit modern bodies and the way we live now.
And then Taiji Fit, which is, to all intents and purposes, more of a static Tai-chi… still quite modern, still very accessible, similar in that sense to the Flow Form.
And then you’ve got the 18 Forms.
Now the 18 Forms are actually quite a modern system. They came out around the late 1970s, when there was a push in China to bring practices like Qigong back into a more structured, accessible format after a period where a lot of traditional practices had been suppressed.
A man called Professor Li Housheng was one of the key people involved in developing and systemising the 18 Forms… so although it feels traditional, it’s actually quite recent in origin.
And that’s not a bad thing at all… it just means it was designed to be learned, shared, and practiced widely.
Now when you compare that with something like the Five Elements work… where you’re moving through water in winter, wood in spring, fire in summer and so on… that’s much more rooted in traditional Chinese medicine and older ways of looking at the body and the seasons.
So personally, I do have a leaning towards that side of things.
But… and this is the important bit… it’s not about one being better than the other.
They just do slightly different things.
The 18 Forms, the Flow Form, Taiji Fit… they’re very movement-based.
They’re excellent for getting things going, for circulation, for loosening the body, for calming the mind.
And a lot of the time, that’s enough.
But sometimes… it isn’t quite enough on its own.
Sometimes the body needs a little bit more direct input… which is where things like the self-massage, the tapping, the work along the meridian pathways come in.
Not in a forced way… just gently encouraging flow through the system.
And that’s more what we’ll be doing tonight, like we did in the winter sessions as well.
So it’s really just about awareness.
You might find that some weeks, just moving is exactly what you need.
Other times, you might feel a bit of stiffness, a bit of tightness somewhere… and that might be your body just asking for something slightly different.
Even something like a bit of tightness in the lower back… yes, it can just be physical, absolutely…
but in Chinese medicine, that area is often associated with the kidneys, so sometimes it’s just a little signal to slow down, warm up, take care.
Not something to overthink… just something to notice.
And that’s why, Brian, I was a little surprised actually… I thought you might lean more towards the Tuesday sessions at first… but you’ve really taken to the Wednesday 18 Forms.
Which is great.
And actually, what you’re doing… moving between sessions, trying different things… that’s probably the ideal way to approach it.
Because different practices will meet you in different ways, at different times.
Whereas if you stay in just one lane all the time… it might suit you, and that’s absolutely fine…
but from a health point of view, sometimes a bit of variety can be really useful.
So really, that’s all I wanted to say.
What you’re all doing is good.
There’s no right or wrong with it.
It’s just about starting to notice what your body responds to… and giving it a bit of what it needs."
