Walking, by itself is a great exercise for physical health, as many public health authorities have noted. Walking can also be a vehicle for self-cultivation and life fulfillment.

This essay describes a walking practice that anyone with average mobility can engage in for healing purpose, health improvement and life fulfillment. A thorough understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of this practice is a pre-requisite for success. Unless the reader has a solid background in qigong (a.k.a. chi kung) we recommend studying the following contextual information carefully before proceeding with the practice.

What Is Qigong

For our purpose, Qi (also Chi) is the energy that moves and animates all living things. Gong (also Kung) denotes focused and sustained effort.

Qigong is a generic term that refers to exercises in which we change/transform our internal energy through focused and sustained effort. The main purpose of qigong is to circulate the qi and improve qi flow. The qi flows already exist within our body and around us; the connections are all in place by natural design. However, our imperfect interaction with the world causes blockages resulting in imperfect flow. The task of qigong is to restore the natural flow: we direct our consciousness, through our intent to clear the blockages and reinstate efficient flow. Qigong can generally be found in the fields of martial arts, oriental medicine, and spiritual disciplines. Advanced qigong practice morphs into a deeper internal process called Neigong (loosely translated as Internal Work) which is a process for self-transformation.

To demystify qigong, we could refer to it simply as energy work. However, to qualify as qigong this energy work must conform to certain foundational concepts and principles. These are summarized as: conscious intent; heightened awareness of internal state; intent-directs-qi-moves-body; non-doing; sustained regular practice. Further below we explain how these principles apply to walking qigong.

What Is Walking Qigong

Walking qigong is a practice that applies the principles of qigong to the activity of walking. It is a practice that has the appearance of normal walking though it is infused with qigong substance. The most important aspect of this practice is qi circulation.

Since walking is an essential human activity, walking qigong can have many derivative purposes. The average person can use it to improve health as well as heal various ailments and illnesses. Athletes can use it to strengthen and integrate their body. Martial artists use it to improve footwork, energy concentration and grounding. Spiritual practitioners use it to purify their mind and practice meditation.

In the balance of this essay, we will focus on the health improvement aspect and the energetic structure of walking qigong.

The Health Connection of Walking Qigong

In our view, health is the ability to engage wholly with life, irrespective of our physical conditions or the circumstances.

To engage with life fully we must consciously plug into the sources of life and move in sync with it. In this respect, we discern three requisites:

1. Conscious intent
2. Plug in to the sources of life
3. Engage with the basic motion of life, which is a pulsation around a center

When these three conditions are present in any daily life activity, we are fully engaged with life, and we are healthy. We are “in the zone”.

The most basic human activity that potentially can lead us to this state of health is walking. We emphasize potentially because the walking must be learned as a qigong practice, in conformance with the qigong principles mentioned above, before it can bring about health.

Walking qigong invokes the three requisites of full engagement with life:

1. Clear intent to remain aware of each step
2. Connection with the sources of life: the vertical body posture allows us to plug into the bosom of the Earth (Yin) and the heart of Heaven (Yang).
3. Engagement with the energy flows between Heaven and Earth: with each step we circulate our individual qi and merge it with the pulsation of the qi of Heaven and the qi of the Earth that pass through our body.

We elaborate on these points further below.

Walking for Health

In this section, health is understood as its popular meaning.

The bipedal structure of the human body was designed to support mobility. Human creatures are supposed to walk, run and hunt. According to a study on the Blue Zones, where there is a high concentration of centenarians, the oldest men on earth live in the mountain town of Ogliastra, Sardinia. Most are sheep farmers who walk at least five miles up and down mountains every day. The literature in public health and self-improvement abounds with publications on how to walk for health. We highlight below the key points to get the most benefits from walking.

Key points when walking for health:

1. When walking just walk – no eating, drinking, thinking, talking, listening, etc.
2. Keep the head up looking straight ahead and the body vertical.
3. Move the legs forward using the hip muscles and without locking the knee joints.
4. Land with the heel softly then let the foot roll on the ground.
5. Push off firmly with the back foot.
6. Let the arms swing naturally and in a relaxed manner.
7. Keep a moderate to brisk pace, and keep the breath in the abdomen.

Each of these seven points is necessary to achieve the proper health benefits of walking. Any deviation from this model takes away some benefit.

Walking Qigong

Walking Qigong is a more serious and focused endeavor than walking for health as described above, and has additional requisites beyond the seven points mentioned above. We describe below the mechanics of the exercise.

Walking qigong is best performed in four consecutive phases.

Phase 1 – Vertical posture: Feet Down Into Earth, Head Up Toward Heaven

Take a half minute to relax, stand tall and check your posture. Keep the torso erect and the head lifted at the crown. Tuck the chin in and look straight ahead and not down. Drop the shoulders, let the arms hang. Feel the ground under your feet, feel your body pushing against the ground to extend the head upward, and take a deep breath.

Check your vertical stance before walking. Aligning our body vertically is also aligning it with the primary force governing our life: the gravity pull of the earth. As the famous physicist Moshé Feldenkrais declared, any posture that annuls the gravity effect is correct.

How you carry your body will be reinforced by the qigong practice, therefore check regularly for vertical alignment.

Phase 2 – Footwork: Sink-Roll-Push

For the next 5 minutes, as you walk, put your awareness at the bottom of the feet. Wear soft sole shoes. With each step, keep the foot relaxed and feel the heel sink into the ground; feel the foot rolling on the ground; then feel it pushing off the ground. This will awaken the sensory network in the feet.

Lead in the heels and spring in the toes. After about 5 minutes the feet should feel warm and relaxed. Keep the pace moderate to brisk.

Phase 3 – Small Circuit: Dandien-Legs-Earth

In this phase we build up the circuit of qi in the lower body.

Lift the leg by drawing the knee up using the hips (psoas muscles), as if to hit with the knee. Feel that you are retracting your foot toward the Dandien.

Extend the heel forward and let it land softly without locking the knee joint. You should feel as if your Dandien is pushing a stake into the ground with your heel.

Let the foot roll on the ground in a relaxed manner, as in Phase 2.

Push off firmly with the ball of the foot. Feel that you are pushing upward into the Dandien.

Practice Phase 3 for about 10 minutes.

Phase 4 – Large Circuit: Heaven-Body-Earth

In this phase we develop the larger circuit of qi that connects the body to Heaven and Earth.

As you take a step forward, feel the yang qi descending from Heaven through the crown of the head (at the Bai Hui point), following the Conception channel (midline of the front torso) passing through the perineum (Hui Yin point) then down the back of the leg, through the heel into the ground.

As you push into the ground with the rear leg, feel the yin qi of the Earth surging up the ball of the foot (Bubbling Well point) along the front of the leg, through the perineum, up the spine along the Governing channel to the crown of the head.

Landing with the heel feels like the Heaven descending to Earth through your body. Pushing from the rear foot feels like Earth rising through your body to meet Heaven. This is the manner your body reconnects with, and get recharged through, Heaven and Earth.

As an alternative, in Phase 3, instead of focusing on the small circuit, you can focus on the downward flow of the large circuit; then in Phase 4, work on the upward flow.

Advanced Practice

After a year of practicing the four phases described above, you may be ready for the next level. For advanced practice, as you walk, feel yourself as a stick (your central axis) moving while the energies of Heaven and Earth envelop you in two figure 8 patterns: one around the torso and left leg; the other around the torso and right leg.

Start by focusing on the figure 8 flow on just one side of the body, say the left side. As you step forward, feel the Heaven energy descending from above through the crown of the head, down the midline of the body, passing through the perineum, down the back of the left leg, through the heel into the ground.

As the left foot rolls forward, the ball of the foot presses down allowing the heel to peel off the ground, the foot draws the Earth energy upward the front of the leg, passing through the perineum, rising up the back, shooting upward through the crown of the head to Heaven.

Next, trace a similar circuit with the right leg. Eventually, feel both circuits operating successively with each step.

Guidelines for Walking Qigong Practice

Below are key principles that will guide the serious qigong practitioner.

When walking, just walk. Remember that the emphasis is your internal state. After sitting down to tie your shoes, stand up by pushing your legs into the ground and projecting your head to the sky, and stand a few seconds to feel your body. As you take the first few steps keep the mind focused on the walking and curtail thoughts and other distractions. When the mind wanders off, gently bring it back to the task at hand.

Walk like a crane, as the Taoist immortals recommend. If you have not seen it, look at a video clip online. The crane walks in measured step, with the body erect, drawing the knee upward, extending the leg forward, landing smoothly. The legs form a suspension system that insulates the torso from ground variations; thus, the vertical alignment of the central axis is protected.

Keep the limbs relaxed. The arms and legs should be free to swing at cross direction to balance the movement. Feel the stretching in an X shape in the back. When done properly, this is an internal stretching of the fascia in the body, from the heel of one hand across the body all the way to the heel of the opposite foot.

Just do it, don’t strive for results. If the flowers, birds, and dogs along the path distract you, or if the neighbors wave at you, it is okay; enjoy those momentary contacts with nature, then return to your practice. Don’t rein in your consciousness too tightly. Set your practice goals before the walk, then start walking without expectations. The most important thing is: don’t strive, but remember your practice. As with all qigong, daily practice is all that matters.

Feel, rather than think about. When our consciousness grabs onto an object (that is, an entity that is external to consciousness) it becomes aware of it and slowly assimilates it. We refer to this process as “feeling”. Consciousness works by grabbing, or feeling, without any intervention of the thinking mind. Initially, these feelings are weak; they become concretized with repeated return of consciousness. These feelings will gradually become “real”, if we keep the judgmental mind at bay.

Conclusion

Returning to our opening theme, health is the ability to embrace life fully. We embrace life fully when we move and breathe in sync with life. As we take steps in walking qigong, we breathe in and out the energies from the sources of life. With continuous practice, the energetic paths are cleaned and our connections to life are reinvigorated. The intelligence in the human body will realize that the Heavenly Father’s guidance and the Mother Earth’s sustenance have always lied dormant within our human form. The walking awakens these latent treasures. It gives us the confidence to face life squarely and urges us to grab the bull by the horns and thrive.

Hoa Newens

May 7, 2025