Daisy Lee – 5-Animal Qigong

Description Of 5-Animal Qigong

Dive deeply into the full-length 5-Animal Qigong (Wu Qin Xi) form — and each animal’s corresponding seasons, elements, and organs.

Learn how to embody each animal’s qualities and energy — to cultivate vibrant health, focus, awareness, neutral compassion, and much more.

In this program with Daisy Lee, founder and principal teacher of Radiant Lotus Qigong, you’ll delve into the origins of the playful, joyful 5-Animal Qigong and experience firsthand why it’s thrived through the centuries.

Animals move skillfully and intentionally through the world, intuitively sensing when they need to focus their energy on something truly important, like when they need to rest.

They also remain vibrant and energetic into old age.

Wisdom teachers have long understood the profound wisdom we can absorb from our counterparts in the animal kingdom, says Daisy.

The animals’ remarkable wisdom and wellbeing inspired China’s renowned master physician, Hua Tuo, to create 5-Animal Qigong, which emulates the movements of the:

• Fierce and focused Tiger
• Quiet, powerful Deer
• Steadfast Bear
• Curious Monkey
• Elegant and wise Crane

5-Animal Qigong was inspired by the animals’ natural, agile movements and easy grace — which stands in stark contrast to how many humans have become quite sedentary and stressed, growing more feeble with age.

This unique and fun Qigong form offers a joyful path to “rewild your senses” and rediscover a more primal and unprocessed experience of your senses as you return to the wisdom of the animals — cultivating vibrant health and wellbeing in the process.

Join Daisy for her 7-module course as she guides you through 5-Animal Qigong in its entirety, just as she learned it from her lineage teacher, Master Wang San Hua, in Bo Zhou, China.

You can access this timeless practice whenever you need to self-regulate, release stress, and return to balance and harmony. 5-Animal Qigong promotes flexibility, strength, balance, and overall physical wellbeing. Its intentional movements and focused breathing create a deep mind-body connection for relaxation and stress reduction.

With each new animal movement — including hand forms and stance work — you’ll also explore its corresponding element, season, and organ, helping you enhance the flow of Qi (vital life-force energy) throughout the body.

Daisy, who is the 59th-generation lineage holder of 5-Animal Qigong, will be your guide as you explore how this life-enriching form connects you with the energy of the animals to retrieve the treasures of the past — a refreshingly grounded, beautifully centered, and unencumbered way of engaging with life.

What You’ll Learn In 5-Animal Qigong

In this 5-Animal Qigong course, you’ll:

• Explore techniques and movement practices to embody the inner and outer qualities of the Tiger, Deer, Bear, Monkey, and Crane to strengthen your body and brain while balancing your emotions
• Build both inner and outer qualities we’ve learned from the animals — including action and restorative rest, strength and flexibility, and a clear and vibrant mind
• Cultivate the animals’ natural practices into your daily life, including intuition, rest, action, movement, and natural nutrition
• Embody the Tiger’s energy to build courage, patience, and work-life balance
• Take on the Deer’s energy to lessen your anxiety while bringing new energy to your spine, kidneys, and adrenals
• Emulate the Bear to conserve your energy while you prepare for the future
• Laugh at life and at yourself, just as the Monkey does
• Understand life from a higher, more balanced perspective as you take on the Crane’s energy
• Learn hand forms and stance work for the Qigong movements inspired by each animal
• Explore each animal’s corresponding element, season, and organ

What You’ll Discover in 5-Animal Qigong

In this 7-part transformational intensive, Daisy will guide you through the fundamental skills and competencies you’ll need to successfully awaken joy, health, and vibrancy through the timeless wisdom of the animals.

This 5-Animal Qigong course will feature step-by-step teachings and experiential practices with Daisy. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to learn the full-length 5-Animal Qigong (Wu Qin Xi) form, featuring the Tiger, Deer, Bear, Monkey, and Crane — and their corresponding seasons, elements, and organs.

Module 1: Learning From the Animals to Cultivate Increased Focus & Alertness

Daisy will introduce you to 5-Animal Qigong (Wu Qin Xi), an ancient Qigong form that’s approximately 1,800 years old — one of the classic Qigong forms made famous by China’s renowned master physician Hua Tuo.

In this vibrant and joyful opening session, Daisy will share the principles and practices that make this form a favorite, from the youngest to the most sagely practitioner.

She’ll guide you to begin laying the foundation to practice the complete set of all five animals by the end of this program.

In this first module, you’ll explore:

• An overview of the 5 animals and how each animal relates to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles
• Each animal’s key characteristics and how they can guide us in becoming healthier and more vibrant
• The unique hand forms and the corresponding stance work for each animal
• How the animals teach us to cultivate focus and alertness while retaining inner calm and stability
• Techniques to increase strength and resilience in both body and mind

Module 2: Embody the Energy of the Tiger to Cultivate Courage, Patience, Work-Life Balance & a Clear Vision for Your Life

With its supple spine and powerful, agile legs that help it to spring into action with confidence and grace, the Tiger is one of the masters of the jungle — yet it’s also wise enough to know when it needs rest, relaxation, and play.

When a Tiger is focused on a goal, it gets a glint in its eyes and prepares for what’s ahead with patience and decisive action.

Able to maintain peace of mind and clarity of vision, the Tiger is undisturbed by emotions like anger or fear, making it both a formidable adversary and a powerful leader.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• The Tiger form, including hand and stance work
• The associated element, season, and organ that the Tiger represents in Chinese cosmology — fire, summer, and the heart
• How to balance work and play like a wise Tiger
• When you need clarity and ferocity to survive or thrive

Module 3: Take on the Energy of the Deer to Diminish Anxiety & Bring Renewed Energy to the Spine, Kidneys & Adrenals

Observing from behind the trees, the Deer’s quiet demeanor belies its remarkable power and speed.

Don’t underestimate the Deer’s shy and gentle countenance! Like the water element it represents, it can either move through the world like a life-giving stream — or like a rushing river breaking through the banks when speed, power, and agility are required.

The Deer’s movements help bring energy to the spine while regenerating the kidneys and adrenals.

In this module, you’ll:

• Practice the Deer Qigong form to boost your physical, mental, and emotional health
• Learn the element, season, and organ that the Deer represents
• Discover how to listen and observe with deeper awareness, like the Deer
• Understand how your self-limiting thoughts hurt you — and follow the Deer’s lead to experience freedom from fear and anxiety
• Allow the Deer to show you a gentle way of being that leaves the faintest footprint on the earth

Module 4: Follow in the Footsteps of the Bear to Conserve Energy & Resources to Prepare for the Future

You’ll learn to embody the steadfast, stable energy of the Bear.

It lumbers leisurely through the forest floor, foraging for berries and sweets, yet makes it clear that it will face conflict head-on when it needs to.

The Bear is in the middle of the five animals as it represents stability and groundedness, yet it will rise up to become larger than life to meet threats and danger.

In this session, you’ll embody the energy of the Bear as you explore:

• The Bear Qigong form to draw stability and power from the Earth
• The element, season, and organ represented by the Bear
• How the Bear prefers to avoid conflict, but when it must engage, it will stand up and fight
• How the Bear knows how to conserve what it needs, whether it’s energy or resources — showing you how to prepare for the future without squandering valuable life force on unimportant things

Module 5: Become Curious & Playful as You Laugh at Life Alongside the Monkey

The Monkey is curious, playful, and light-hearted, grasping at the new and letting go of the old.

The inquisitive Monkey is always on the move — observing, thinking, scratching its head, underarm, or back, and swinging from tree to tree, often getting into mischief.

When you play like a Monkey, you’re sure to discover new ways of looking at the world. The Monkey is a bringer of light and humor, representing the joys of summer.

However, as Daisy will explain, even monkeys need to rest or else they’ll burn up their seemingly inexhaustible energy — as we might too!

In this module, you’ll take on the energy of the Monkey as you:

• Learn the Monkey Qigong form, full of quick, mindful movements that inspire light and laughter
• Discover the element, season, and organ represented by the Monkey
• Explore how the Monkey is endowed with a brilliant mind and infinite curiosity, yet its greatest gift is its heart and humor
• Perfect the art of Iaughing at yourself and with the world
• Calm your “monkey mind” so you can derive more from life

Module 6: Fly Above Life’s Stresses & View Life From a Higher, Balanced Perspective as You Take on the Energy of the Crane

The Crane pushes off from the solidity of the earth, then lifts up and flies above and beyond the mundane.

Emulating the Crane improves the range of motion and flexibility of the shoulders, and imbues you with greater strength, balance, and poise.

With its elegant movements that open the heart and lungs, this worldly traveler sees life from a higher perspective.

In this session, you’ll embody the Crane’s energy as you:

• Practice the Crane Qigong form to create litheness, grace, and calm in your body
• Discover the element, season, and organ represented by the Crane
• Appreciate how the elegant Crane form is an antidote for overcoming sadness and melancholy
• Understand how the Crane’s gift of flight allows it to stand apart from the chaos and turmoil below, teaching us to rise above pettiness
• Learn how to shake off stress like a Crane and return to harmonious balance
• Explore how sometimes it’s okay to have your head in the clouds if you know what direction you’re headed in (Daisy will explain how to apply this to your daily life)

Module 7: Practice Hua Tuo’s Full-Length 5-Animal Qigong Form: Borrow Their Qi to Heal Yourself & Support the More-Than-Human World

As this course comes to a close, you’ll reflect on what you’ve learned: when you emulate animals in form and character, you learn that we humans can also have the same power and gentleness, agility and strength, resilience and resourcefulness, playfulness, and focus as these dynamic teachers.

As human animals, we can co-exist and support each other in living an abundant life — giving and taking in balance, and offering our unique gifts back to the wheel of life.

No one animal is lesser or greater than the other, as each has its special gifts. This classic form can be just the beginning of your personal connection to the more-than-human world.

In this closing module, Daisy will guide you to:

• Review and practice the full 5-Animal Qigong form
• Engage in a group discussion of the human animal — are we superior or inferior to other animals? Are we evolving or devolving?
• Reflect on what the animal frolics have taught you — perhaps you’re feeling more observant and discerning, you’ve started listening more deeply, you keep your ears and eyes more open to truth, or you act with courage and awareness when you’re faced with conflict or stress
• Recognize that when you embody the wisdom of the Tiger, Deer, Bear, Monkey, and Crane, you can better support all of life in our interconnected Universe

About Daisy Lee

Daisy Lee, the founder and principal teacher of Radiant Lotus Qigong, is a Level III Advanced Qigong Instructor and Clinical Practitioner certified by the National Qigong Association of America, and a past board member of the International Qigong Science Association in Beijing. She regularly leads in-person and online workshops and teacher trainings.

Daisy feels privileged to have learned ancient Qigong traditions held by wisdom keepers in China, Tibet, and the West. With the practical self-care knowledge she’s gained from nearly 30 years of immersive studies, Daisy continues to support people from all walks of life in their health and healing. She has guest-lectured in numerous schools and hospitals, including John Hopkins, Mount Sinai, and Women’s College hospitals, in Europe, Asia, Australia, and at home in the U.S. and Canada.

This year, Daisy has been focusing on women’s health and empowerment with a professional certification track in Radiant Lotus Women’s Qigong. In the spring of 2024, she will offer for the first time online the classic 5-Animal Qigong, of which she is the 59th-generation lineage holder.

Daisy was honored with the “Humanitarian of the Year, 2023” award from the 23rd World Congress on Integrative Health: Healing with Peace.

More courses from the same author: Daisy Lee