In Western culture we seem to love the idea of taking exercise to its limit, going for intensity, sweat and exhaustion, more speed, more strength, the biggest stretch. If we have absorbed this approach, even unconsciously, it can be hard to understand practices such as qigong and tai chi, where we are encouraged to soften and stay relaxed in body and mind. When we lengthen or contract, for example, we only take the movement to around eighty per cent of our capacity.
“Better stop short than fill to the brim.”
Daoejing, 4th century BCE
A simple experiment shows why. If we slowly extend our arms to the horizon, allowing them to smoothly unfold, paying attention to keeping the muscles, soft tissue and joints relaxed, we will reach a point where to go any further produces muscular tension. That’s when our joints lock and the flow of what is called qi and blood is blocked and obstructed.
And that is the key aim of these practices – to assist the smooth and easy flow of blood, body fluids, chemical messengers, nervous impulses and everything else that circulates in our bodies. All the tissues of the body are nourished and even our emotions flow more freely.
Practising like this is often called ‘stopping before completion’. It is a core tenet if early Daoist philosophy and is applicable to many aspects of life – for example the everyday Chinese saying ‘eat to seven tenths’, meaning we should stop eating before we are stuffed.
If you would like to follow the teaching of Peter Deadman and learn Qigong, explore all of Peter's Online Video Courses available on Vimeo. 
