Mid-day reporter in the basic seating position for Zhineng Qigong

“Before we start, I want you to focus on three things: listen to my words, understand them and implement them faithfully,” requests instructor HB Muralidhara. We are seated on the edge of a chair, with our backs arched and legs spread apart, in an empty room. Once in position, we are asked to relax our shoulders, fix our gaze on an object, close our eyes and then, let our mind drift to the vast expanse of blue sky, imagining we are at the centre of the universe. “Now, bring your mind back to your body,” his deep voice echoes in the room and we follow his commands, turning our attention to loosen up every part of our body, from toes to nose. The 10-minute exercise begins a session of Zhineng Qigong (pronounced as chi-gong), a 4,000-year-old Chinese meditation practice that was developed by Dr Ming Pang in 1970s, which comes to Bandra’s House Of Wow this Sunday.