Qi Gong together means a form of movement and mind using intention and mindfulness to guide qi to make qi work. Practicing the same move over and over stimulates muscle, bone, heart, respiration and other functions in the body as shown through qi gong theory. The practitioner will repeat that specific move until he or she has felt the benefit begin to emerge. Morrill uses this analogy to explain the difference between the two practices:. The weightlifter repeats those curls to build the muscle, focusing on that muscle only.
Many of these follow the pathways of the energy meridians that run through the body. They also often trace the outer edges of our energy fields, smoothing and caressing the potency of the energy flow in our Light Body.
These movements often involve various degrees of exertion, and depending on the system you are training in, they can actually be quite rigorous. Recall the story of Bodhidharma and the Shaolin temple. This aspect is very much like the physical yoga systems in the Indian traditions.
Some hold static postures, while others emphasize more dynamic flow and continuity of motion. This is a critical aspect of the practice and is the one that students most often overlook. Paying attention is a critical component to any energy work, as it engages the fire energy of the heart and ties the spirit in with the actions at hand.
The ancients say the linking of attention and intention creates mastery in life. Here, we are asked to focus on the action at hand and to stay engaged in the body movements, tracking them with the eyes.
Doing so demands our mental focus and presence, and the reward is immense. This aspect also draws on the yi, or shen, of the earth element. It is the vital breath that is said to circulate through the various meridians, and it is the energy from the air, if you recall, that mixes with the food qi to create the functional energy of our body. The coordination of breath with body movements and attention drives energy through the designated pathways and opens blockages.
We use breath not only to open these pathways but also to gather and store the breath and energy in specific reservoirs called dantiens in the body. An adept student learns to extract vital energy from the air through breathwork. As simple as it seems, it is this framework that sets the precedent for all the magic to occur in qi gong.
The good news is that we are about to learn about these pathways, and we are going to unlock and understand the mechanisms of action here. We will engage the intellect yi and the attention shen with the intention zhi. This vertical axis gives us the mental and spiritual alignment we need in order to connect all aspects of our being into our body while in our practice.
The connection of all the various aspects of ourselves through the practice really begins to snap us out of our trances. Once we correct the flow of energy and divert it away from all the wasteful patterns of our past, we can start to gather and accumulate power in our reservoir and use this as a buffer against disease, fatigue, or simply falling back into a sleepy trance.
When we speak of accumulating power or storing energy, we are speaking of creating places where we condense and refine the quality of the energy that is moving through us.
We condense it to nourish our essence, and we refine it to illuminate our spirit. However, we want to be careful to not think of it in capitalistic terms. This is critical in our understanding of qi gong—or life, for that matter. There is actually no need for more energy at all because there is an infinite amount of energy available to us right here and right now. In fact, all the power that ever was or ever will be is here and now. There is no outside source from which we draw energy, like water from a well.
Qi Gong pronounced chee-gung is a form of spiritual exercise that has origins thousands of years old from ancient China. Gong is Chinese for accomplishment or rather a skill that is learned through routine practice. Qi Gong has 4, year old roots in China and it was discovered to be used in medicine as well as martial arts.
Qi Gong was a commonly practiced exercise in China until the middle of the 20 th century when the communist movement wanted to do away with any holistic or non traditional medicine. The efforts to get rid of Qi Gong ended up bolstering it and the practice eventually made its way to America and other parts of the world in the s due to increasing globalization.
Qi Gong involves connecting the mind, body, and spirit similar to Yoga and Tai Chi but it is unique in its own right. In Chinese culture, free flowing Qi that passes through the body is essential to good health.
The main goal of Qi Gong is to improve the quality of life by channeling, strengthening, and recirculating Qi through breathing techniques, meditation, and controlled movements. While the movements of qigong may be different from those of tai chi in some cases, both practices incorporate strength and flexibility with breathing exercises, focused attention and imagery.
The biggest difference between qigong and tai chi has more to do with the public's perception of these mind-body practices than it does with the practices themselves, according to Wayne, who said that qigong carries a stigma in certain societies. Chinese officials denounced one form of qigong, Falun Gong, as a cult in This resulted in a large demonstration of Falun Gong supporters in Beijing, which prompted the government to outlaw the practice altogether, leading to the arrests of thousands of Falun Gong followers.
The subsequent imprisonment and torture of these followers prompted responses from human rights organizations, as well as several resolutions from the U. Congress that denounce the Chinese governments oppression of what it calls a "peaceful spiritual movement. For many of those who practice it, qigong is an individual mind-body exercise, much like yoga. But there is also a form of qigong that focuses on healing others.
In external qigong, a qigong therapist first diagnoses patients according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine TCM and then uses "emitted Qi" to facilitate healing, according to a paper published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, which reviewed the health benefits of qigong and tai chi. The authors of the paper wrote that "both internal Qigong personal practice and external Qigong clinician-emitted Qi are seen as affecting the balance and flow of energy and enhancing functionality in the body and the mind.
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