In Chinese medicine, Qi (or chi) is the invisible life force within and around all living things. Sensing Qi is one of the basic elements when practicing Qigong. We’ve talked about the importance of the Lao Gong acupoints in the palm of our hands in a prior blog. These are primary energy channels which help practitioners, especially beginners, cultivate and feel energy when practicing Qigong or Tai Chi.

Certain Qigong practices and even some hard martial arts (i.e. karate) create and utilize Qi (energy) balls to focus and direct energy. Making a Qi ball is believed to be one of the fastest ways to help you sense your Qi. Qi sensations are often described as warmth, coolness, numbness, electrical or tinging sensations, heavy feelings, and various other sensations. You may not feel anything right away when you create your Qi ball, but by following a few recommendations and some regular practice will assist you in your endeavor. Once you feel it in your hands, you will be on your way to sensing Qi in the rest of your body.

When you search for energy balls on the internet, you will find a lot of references and examples of actual “balls” of differing sizes and materials. In this blog, we will be talking about “invisible” Qi balls. Greg Ripley, author of Tao of Sustainability, refers to these balls and practice as “Intention Ball Qigong”.

So how do we create our Qi Ball? As you would expect by now, there are several different methods, opinions, and recommendations. I will provide several general recommendations and/or guidelines.

Some “experts” recommend doing a short meditation prior to beginning.
There are practitioners who recommend visualizing a white protective light surrounding you.
Be sure to stand properly aligned with your body relaxed, feet shoulder width apart, and rooted to the floor (or ground) .
Breathe in deeply and clear your mind, especially of any negative thoughts and/or emotions.
As you exhale, let the negative thoughts and emotions drain out of your body.
Focus on the area around your Dantian and become “centered”.
You may vigorously rub your hands together until they feel warm. This usually takes several seconds.
Some practitioners recommend placing your hands on the area around your Dantian prior to creating your Qi ball.
Take a few deep breaths and visualize a ball of light or energy growing. Use your imagination.
Palms face each other fairly close but not touching. Hands are slightly cupped (or what we sometimes call “ball hands”)
David Wong suggests your “ball” be held at sternum level, Gregory Ripley suggests “chest level”, whereas others suggest holding your energy just out from the Dantian, and various other areas of the body.
Move your hands slowly apart, perhaps 9-12 inches apart and mold an imaginary ball.
Imagine that this is a ball of energy you molded between your palms. This ball can be a color, invisible, translucent, sparkling, healing light, a haze ball, or whatever you feel comfortable with.
Continue to move your palms together and apart until you feel a slight resistance (like a magnetic force, an elastic band, or pulling taffy).
Hands expand and move apart as you breathe in and contract slightly as you exhale and they move towards each other (never touching).
Continue to move your hands in the same way. Then you can try squeezing this ball or stretching it a bit, always matching your breathing with your smooth, slow movements.
Experiment, but always keeping the palms facing each other like they are attached to this imaginary ball.
If you feel your Qi ball energy become weaker instead of stronger, bring your hands closer together to form a more compact ball.

Another variation of Qi Ball

Form a “baseball” shape with both hands, all fingertips touching (for example, little finger touches the little finger of the other hand, ring finger touches the ring finger of the other hand, and so on).
As you pull the hands apart, concentrate on the tips of your thumbs as you move them apart, then repeat with the other fingers one by one until all the fingers are moving.
Keep moving them gently apart and together without touching, still matching the movements to your breaths.

Yet another variation of Qi Ball

Hold your Qi ball using both hands at your sides to form the ball, while standing with your knees bent.
Let your ball float up to your shoulder level and then push it down to waist level.

More variations:

Form your Qi ball in front of your Dantian (lower abdomen).
Let your arms float out to the sides, expand and shrink as your hands and arms come together.
The ball can also float up to your head and face and/or down to the floor.

This where you can experiment and let your imagination guide you. The important thing is that you maintain the connection between your palms and fingers and match your movements to your breathing.

Closing your energy ball practice (two methods):

Of course, as you would expect, recommendations as to technique differ from practitioner to practitioner. However, do close the practice when you feel you are finished.

Breathe deeply and raise your hands above your head. Then in one smooth motion, drop them to your sides and shake your hands “to allow the energy to escape”. This prevents you from “burning out over time.”

Or you can:

Bring your right hand over your Dantian area, place your left over it.
Bring your left hand over the Dantian area, and place your right over it.

Most practitioners do suggest bringing your hands over your Dantian at the end of your session. This allows your Qi energy to be absorbed and stored in your energetic center.

When you create your Qi ball, magnetism is one the sensations you will probably feel first. The strength or weakness of the pressure depends on many things: intent (very important), how much energy you have when creating your Qi ball, how you are feeling (such as tired, sick, angry, depressed, etc.), as well as some environmental factors (are you alone, hot, cold, uncomfortable, etc.) Either way, always expect fluctuations in the strength of your Qi ball from one time to the next.

Important notes: Qi balls are considered to be powerful and some believe you can project any negative emotions you are feeling into your ball. It is recommended that you not do this exercise if you are feeling negative or have negative intentions. This may cause ham to yourself and others who are near you.

Some practitioners send the healing energy balls to others. If you do so, there are certain suggested guidelines to follow. It is beyond the scope of this blog to provide expertise in “healing others” nor to recommend “healing guidelines”.

Bottom line: creating a Qi ball just requires a little time and practice (as well as following some of the recommendations above). If you haven’t sensed your Qi before, it is an exciting feeling. Just be patient! Did I mention “practice”?

I know many readers have asked about YouTube video recommendations. I have, obviously, not reviewed them all but I do like Qi Gong Energy Ball for Beginners by David Wong. He provides some great explanations and instructions plus it’s captioned!

I can’t believe I am going to say this, but here goes: “Go ahead. Have a ball!”

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