Opening the Heart Qigong

Opening the Heart Qigong is a gentle internal practice designed to create more space around the breath, ribs, chest and upper body.

The intention is not to force the heart open or manufacture a particular emotional experience. Instead, we begin by becoming more aware of the body, softening unnecessary tension and allowing the breath to move more freely.

Many people carry protection through the chest, shoulders, upper back and diaphragm. This holding may develop through stress, posture, injury, emotional experience or simply the accumulated habits of daily life. Over time, it can begin to feel normal.

Opening the Heart Qigong offers a quieter approach.

Rather than pushing against tension, we learn to listen to it. Rather than demanding release, we create the conditions in which change can gradually occur.

The Water Method

This course follows what I describe as the Water Method of internal practice.

Water does not fight its way forward. It responds to the shape of the land, moves around obstacles and gradually finds a pathway.

In the same way, we practise within a comfortable range rather than forcing the body towards its maximum. A useful guideline is to work at approximately seventy percent of your available effort and movement.

Seated versions of the practices are also encouraged—not only when you are tired, but whenever you want to turn your attention more deeply inward and focus on the breath, ribs, spine and torso.

The guiding principle is simple:

Open without strain.

The Six-Stage Journey

Opening the Heart Qigong explores six points along the upper Kidney meridian, traditionally known as KI22 through to KI27.

Each point provides a theme for one stage of the practice.

KI22 — Creating Space

We begin around the lower ribs, diaphragm and upper abdomen. Before attempting to open the chest, we establish space underneath it.

KI23 — Softening Protection

Attention moves towards the chest, shoulders and upper back. We notice where the body braces or guards and explore how that protection might soften without losing stability.

KI24 — Releasing Old Holding

This stage is not about searching for difficult memories. It is about recognising patterns of tension that are ready to change and allowing the body to release them gradually.

KI25 — Nourishing the Spirit

After releasing, we pause. This stage emphasises rest, quietness and replenishment. Opening the heart is not only about expression—it is also about learning how to receive and restore.

KI26 — Expressing Vitality

As the body becomes more spacious and connected, movement can become brighter and more expressive. Vitality is allowed to emerge naturally rather than being forced.

KI27 — Integrating the Whole

The final stage brings grounding, breathing, posture, awareness and movement together. What has been explored separately is reunited as one connected practice.

The Eight Core Practices

Throughout the journey, we return to eight foundational practices:

1. Body Swings

2. Spine Compass

3. Breath of the Heart

4. Opening the Heart Qigong

5. Taiji Commencement

6. Touch and Point Awareness

7. Drawing Energy Down from the Sky

8. Quiet Standing, or Wuji

The practices remain familiar while the emphasis changes from week to week. This allows students to develop depth without constantly having to learn new choreography.

The goal is not to collect more exercises. It is to discover more within the exercises we already know.

A Practice for Different Bodies

Opening the Heart Qigong can be adapted for different levels of experience and physical ability.

Beginners may practise for five minutes or less. Intermediate students might work for up to ten minutes, while experienced practitioners may choose to continue for twenty minutes or longer.

Longer is not always better.

The quality of your attention is more important than the length of the session. You are encouraged to shorten the practice, sit down or stop whenever you experience pain, dizziness, breath strain, excessive shaking or emotional overwhelm.

Some days the body will feel open and settled. On other days, the same practice may feel completely different. This variability does not mean that you are failing. It is part of learning to meet yourself as you are rather than demanding the same result every time.

Why I Created This Practice

I began martial arts as a child and spent my early years immersed in hard-style training—fitness, fighting, breaking, weapons and physical conditioning.

My first encounter with quiet standing came as a teenager at Cherry Island near Lake Taupō. It was early in the morning, with mist rising from the water.

I remember thinking: How difficult could standing still possibly be?

It proved more challenging than one hundred knuckle press-ups.

There was nowhere to hide from the discomfort of simply standing, breathing and meeting my own mind. That experience introduced me to another side of martial practice—one based not only on strength and effort, but also on awareness, softness and stillness.

After more than forty years of training and teaching, Opening the Heart Qigong brings together many of the lessons I have learned through Qigong, Taiji and the internal martial arts.

It is an invitation to slow down, breathe more fully and explore what becomes possible when we stop trying to force change.

The heart does not need to be pushed open.

Sometimes it simply needs more space.

Quintin Derham Founder and Head Teacher Quintin Derham School of Martial Arts

To learn more about the Opening the Heart Qigong course, private one-to-one tuition and upcoming workshops, visit the Opening the Heart Qigong section of our website.