The Nine Phases Qigong form is the foundation for the “10 Phases of Qi Cultivation” from Roger Jahnke’s book, The Healing Promise of Qi: Creating Extraordinary Wellness Through Qigong and Tai Chi. It is a complete qigong practice that guides you step-by-step—from first sensing qi in the body to refining and integrating it at deeper levels of mind and spirit.
Rather than focusing solely on movement, this form develops awareness of energy through breath, attention, and subtle internal change. Over time, what begins as simple physical motion becomes a deeply felt internal process.
As a long-term, certified instructor with the IIQTC, I’ve studied and taught the Nine Phase Qigong form for many years. It is both a personal and a class favorite. Students find it to be a practical and accessible form. I find it to be a profound tool in my practice of Tao Cultivation.
This form unfolds in three energetic levels:
- Jing (Body) — building and awakening energy
- Qi (Heart-Mind) — circulating and refining it
- Shen (Spirit) — integrating and dissolving into stillness
1. The Body Domain (Jing)
Focus: Awakening the Body’s Qi & Cultivating the Ground of Being.
The Earth Domain is the foundation of vitality, embodiment, and self-healing. Focused on the physical body, these practices strengthen the Jing (the material basis of the body) to nourish, fuel, and cool the form. You are successful in this domain when you possess the health and energy to enjoy life and share your joy with others.
- Phase 1: Discover Qi – Forming the Ball of Qi.
- Phase 2: Gather Qi – Gathering Qi from Heaven and Earth.
- Phase 3: Circulate Qi – Inner Rivers Flowing.
By synchronizing movement and breath with mental intent, qigong offers a tried and true method of regaining or preserving health and vitality.
2. The HeartMind Domain (Qi)
Focus: Balancing Emotions & Harmonizing the Inner Landscape.
The HeartMind Domain is the meeting place of emotion, intention, and awareness. It focuses on the mind, emotions, and thoughts. Through these practices, you cultivate the HeartMind Elixir to release stagnant emotional energy and maintain equanimity and cheerfulness regardless of life’s stresses.
- Phase 4: Purify Qi – Clearing the Small Universe.
- Phase 5: Direct Qi – Tracing the Yin-Yang Channels.
- Phase 6: Conserve Qi – Watching Clouds Pass.
3. The Spirit Domain (Shen)
Focus: Awakening Shen & integrating with the cosmic field of consciousness.
The Spirit Domain invites you into the subtle and expansive dimension where energy refines into Shen—the light of spirit and higher consciousness. Focused on expressing your highest self, this domain helps you cultivate a direct relationship with universal consciousness and spiritual light. Success in this domain is marked by the expression of unconditional love and acceptance.
- Phase 7: Store Qi – Bathing the Marrow.
- Phase 8: Transform Qi – Immortal Dragon Cultivating Golden Elixir.
- Phase 9: Dissolve in Qi – Dissolving into Light.
In my years of teaching this elegant form, I’ve found that progress comes less from intensity and more from consistent, intentful practice. This is captured in the word itself: qi, meaning life energy, and gong, meaning skill developed through steady effort. Qigong, at its heart, is the patient cultivation of that energy — not a pursuit of peak moments, but a daily returning.
Nine Phases Qigong draws from the “10 Phases of Cultivating and Mastering Qi” in Roger Jahnke’s The Healing Promise of Qi. The nine movement phases cultivate and refine qi through body, heart-mind, and spirit. The tenth phase — offering that refined qi outward in service to others — is where the practice ultimately points. In group class, we work with the nine movement phases, trusting that the tenth arises naturally from consistent cultivation. For those who wish to explore all ten phases in depth, including the transmission of qi for healing, the complete teaching is available in the streaming video program.
Why practice the Nine Phases?
By moving through these phases, we learn to “make the medicine within,” for free. Transforming our internal state from the physical foundation up to the highest levels of conscious awareness.
The Nine Phases teaches you:
- how to feel qi (not just think about it)
- how to build and circulate energy safely
- how to refine awareness beyond physical movement
Over time, the practice becomes less about performing a sequence and more about entering a state.
Deepen Your Practice
The nine movements we practice in class provide the essential foundation for Roger Jahnke’s complete system of cultivation. While our sessions focus on the physical and energetic movements (Phases 1–9), the full form culminates in the 10th Phase: Transmitting Qi – where the practice extends beyond personal development into application and sharing.
For a deeper exploration of how these movements evolve into a complete healing art:
👉 See how the full 10 Phases system is taught step by step: Access detailed instruction for each movement and learn how they connect to the final phase of healing and service.
→ Learn more about the 10 Phases ProgramAlready familiar with the program?
→ Go directly to the full 10 Phases training
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