Smokers have tendency to be easily effected by viruses and sicknesses compared to non smokers. Cigarettes are filled with poison that goes into the lungs when you inhale. Coughing, dizziness, and burning of the eyes, nose, and throat are early signs that smoking is harming you. Smoking increases your health risks if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or high blood cholesterol. The long-term problems of smoking cigarettes are the following:
Cancer: Smoking increases your chances of getting cancer. Cigarette smoking may play a role in developing many kinds of cancer. Lung cancer is the most common kind of cancer caused by smoking. A smoker is at greater risk of getting cancer of the lips, mouth, throat, or voice box. Smokers also have a higher risk of getting esophagus, stomach, kidney, pancreas, cervix, bladder, and skin cancer.
Heart and blood vessel disease:
If you already have heart or blood vessel problems and smoke, you are at even greater risk of having continued or worse health problems. The nicotine in the tobacco causes an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure. The arteries (blood vessels) in your arms and legs tighten and narrow because of the nicotine in cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke increases blood clotting, and may damage the lining of your heart's arteries and other blood vessels.
Carbon monoxide is a harmful gas that gets into the blood and decreases oxygen going to the heart and the body. Cigarette smoke contains this gas. Hardening of the arteries happens more often in smokers than in nonsmokers. This may make it more likely for you to have a stroke (blood clot in your brain). The more cigarettes you smoke, the greater your risk of a heart attack.
Lung disease:
The younger you are when you start smoking, the greater your risk of getting lung diseases. Many smokers have a cough which is caused by the chemicals in smoke. These chemicals harm the cilia (tiny hairs) that line the lungs and help remove dirt and waste products. Depending upon how much you smoke, your lungs become gray and "dirty" (they look like charcoal). Healthy lungs are pink.
Chronic bronchitis is a serious lung infection which is often caused by smoking. Emphysema is a long-term lung disease that may be caused by smoking cigarettes. Cigarette smoking also makes asthma worse. You are at a higher risk of getting colds, pneumonia, and other lung infections if you smoke.
Gastrointestinal disease: Cigarette smoking increases the amount of acid that is made by your stomach, and may cause a peptic ulcer. A peptic ulcer is an open sore in the stomach or duodenum (part of the intestine). You may also get gastroesophageal reflux from smoking. This is when you have a backflow of stomach acid into your esophagus (food tube).
There are many other negative impact of smoking and having said all these you still love to smoke then you might need to consider of practising qigong to balance your health.
Please refer to the previous post (Healing meditation) on how to rejuvenate your body, mind and soul.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Healing Meditation
Qigong view the flow of the chi channel as a stream of water flowing. All the vein and capillaries need to be in a relax state without any stress or blockages. The positions in some meditations do block the channel to flow especially the lower parts (hip bone and below).
The most relaxing is to sit on a stool about 1 foot high and place your huiyin or base chakra to be in the center of the stool. Now place both of your hands on the knee facing upwards with right hand on right knee and vice versa. Now relax and visualise the universe and you are part of it. Bring yourself back and next we start with the meditation.
First, we start with the lungs and the way to do this is by making a circle with your thumb and forefinger. The thumb is actually representing the brain and the forefinger is the lung. So now you have the circle both your left and right. Now, feel the chi is flowing from your brain down to your lung. The chi flow should be continous and you may start visualise that all the chi channel and chi meridian of the lungs are fill with chi.
All the chi channel and chi meridian are smooth flowing with chi. All blockages and sicknesses are removed, dissapeared and gone. All disimpairment, dysfunctional, deterioration and diseases are all dissapear and gone. Gone and dissapear completely, totally without a trace.
Finish the lungs healing with turtle breathing by visualising the chi from the universe is entering the body from the head at baihui point(inhale) and down to the toe at yunchuen point (exhale).
Now, you may start the whole process to your other vital organs. Next should be your index (middle) finger, ring and pinkie finger. The index finger is representing the heart and pinkie is the kidney. A little different on the ring finger since we have two different organ on our left and right. Your right ring finger represent your liver and the left is representing the spleen.
Once you down with all the fingers and you want to close your meditation, just do a flush of baihui and yunchuen to all the vital organs that you had just gone thru.
Have fun..
The most relaxing is to sit on a stool about 1 foot high and place your huiyin or base chakra to be in the center of the stool. Now place both of your hands on the knee facing upwards with right hand on right knee and vice versa. Now relax and visualise the universe and you are part of it. Bring yourself back and next we start with the meditation.
First, we start with the lungs and the way to do this is by making a circle with your thumb and forefinger. The thumb is actually representing the brain and the forefinger is the lung. So now you have the circle both your left and right. Now, feel the chi is flowing from your brain down to your lung. The chi flow should be continous and you may start visualise that all the chi channel and chi meridian of the lungs are fill with chi.
All the chi channel and chi meridian are smooth flowing with chi. All blockages and sicknesses are removed, dissapeared and gone. All disimpairment, dysfunctional, deterioration and diseases are all dissapear and gone. Gone and dissapear completely, totally without a trace.
Finish the lungs healing with turtle breathing by visualising the chi from the universe is entering the body from the head at baihui point(inhale) and down to the toe at yunchuen point (exhale).
Now, you may start the whole process to your other vital organs. Next should be your index (middle) finger, ring and pinkie finger. The index finger is representing the heart and pinkie is the kidney. A little different on the ring finger since we have two different organ on our left and right. Your right ring finger represent your liver and the left is representing the spleen.
Once you down with all the fingers and you want to close your meditation, just do a flush of baihui and yunchuen to all the vital organs that you had just gone thru.
Have fun..
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Healing Sinusitis
It's annoying. Only people who suffer this sickness know the suffering. This is how I treat sinusitis problem with water and chi.
First, I would transfer or fa chi into the water in a bowl. Program the chi to clear all blockages in the sinus and nasal passage areas. Then I will inhale the water started with left and alternate to right (Alternate Kundalini Breathing). At this moment, you will direct the water to flow to all the sinus areas and removed all blokages. All the chi channel and chee Meridian are smooth flowing with chi. The nose is strong and healthy and the sinus is functioning perfectly.
Next, I will command the chi from the universe to enter the yintang. Start with focusing the universe, then bring it through your yintang and thru the yijen bone at the back. You will feel the force of the chi coming into your forehead and feel relax. Visualise the chi to fill all your sinus areas and clear all the blockages.
Give it a try..
First, I would transfer or fa chi into the water in a bowl. Program the chi to clear all blockages in the sinus and nasal passage areas. Then I will inhale the water started with left and alternate to right (Alternate Kundalini Breathing). At this moment, you will direct the water to flow to all the sinus areas and removed all blokages. All the chi channel and chee Meridian are smooth flowing with chi. The nose is strong and healthy and the sinus is functioning perfectly.
Next, I will command the chi from the universe to enter the yintang. Start with focusing the universe, then bring it through your yintang and thru the yijen bone at the back. You will feel the force of the chi coming into your forehead and feel relax. Visualise the chi to fill all your sinus areas and clear all the blockages.
Give it a try..
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Ulceration
Ulcer now is very common disease in out society. The most common one are peptic, colon (stomach) and mouth ulcer. Qigong techniques can be used to heal the infected areas.
Most people who have the peptic ulcer infection are without symptoms but long term stress and/or over consumption of coffee, alcohol, spicy food, long term usage of aspirin, ibuprofen, steroids and smoking can disrupt the protective mucus linings of the stomach and duodenum. This allows the strong digestive acid to directly contact the tissues of the stomach or duodenum and trigger ulcers.
Always stick your tongue to the upper plate for continuos healing and focus at the impacted areas.
Most people who have the peptic ulcer infection are without symptoms but long term stress and/or over consumption of coffee, alcohol, spicy food, long term usage of aspirin, ibuprofen, steroids and smoking can disrupt the protective mucus linings of the stomach and duodenum. This allows the strong digestive acid to directly contact the tissues of the stomach or duodenum and trigger ulcers.
Always stick your tongue to the upper plate for continuos healing and focus at the impacted areas.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Qigong can treat Fibroid?
Fibroid is a common problem in women and the most common fibroid is uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids are benign tumors composed of smooth uterine muscle and connective tissue. The uterus is the most common site for muscle tumors to occur. Conventional Western medicine believes that estrogen can trigger fibroids and make the fibroids grow more quickly. Estrogen triggers the myometrium (the smooth muscle coat of the uterus) to grow and thicken, which is where the fibroids are located. Depending on the location, fibroids are classified into "intramural fibroids" (located in the innermost layer of the uterus), "subserous fibroids" (protruding into the abdominal cavity), "submucous fibroids" (invading the endometrium) and "parasitic fibroids" (those which have migrated out of the uterus).
Statistics indicate that uterine fibroids develop most commonly in women who are in their 30s and 40s. About 30% of all women will develop fibroids by the time they reach 35. If the fibroids are surgically removed, there is a 10% chance they will grow back. This might be the reason that hysterectomies are so widely favored by doctors to treat uterine fibroids. Actually, uterine fibroids are the most common reason for hysterectomies in the United States. About 30% of all the hysterectomies performed in this country are for uterine fibroids. Some complications of hysterectomy include hemorrhaging, eventual ovarian failure, loss of bladder function, urinary incontinence, depression, and infections. Some studies estimate that up to 70% of all hysterectomies performed in this country are either unnecessary or can be avoided by using alternative approaches.
Deficiency of Kidney energy or chronic illness is the origin of this pattern. It is an advanced stage of Yin Deficiency. Symptoms include: early periods with heavy or scanty, long-lasting bleeding; a hot sensation in the chest or abdomen; a sensation of itching in the breast, or a feeling of sharp or distending pain in the breast; blood-streaked white discharge or yellow-white vaginal discharge after periods; a red tongue, dry or with a yellow coating; and a wiry-thin or thin-rapid pulse. Anemarrhena (Zhi Mu), and phellodendron (Huang Bai) are the leading herbs used to address this pattern. Water Fire Balance (Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan) is a widely-used herbal formula in China.
Deficiency of Spleen energy is the origin of this pattern. Symptoms include: regular or late periods with heavy bleeding; a pulling sensation of the lower abdomen; loose bowels; thin vaginal discharge after periods; a pale tongue or thin-white tongue coating; and a soggy-thin or thin-wiry pulse. The fibroid tumor is a soft mass. Buplerum (Chai Hu), and peony (Bai Shao) are widely- used herbs, and Liver Spleen Harmonizer (Xiao Yao San) is a leading formula to address this pattern.
As for specific qigong prctice, I would recommend "hip rotation" with proper visualisation might help to eliminate the fibroid to dissapear and gone forever.
Statistics indicate that uterine fibroids develop most commonly in women who are in their 30s and 40s. About 30% of all women will develop fibroids by the time they reach 35. If the fibroids are surgically removed, there is a 10% chance they will grow back. This might be the reason that hysterectomies are so widely favored by doctors to treat uterine fibroids. Actually, uterine fibroids are the most common reason for hysterectomies in the United States. About 30% of all the hysterectomies performed in this country are for uterine fibroids. Some complications of hysterectomy include hemorrhaging, eventual ovarian failure, loss of bladder function, urinary incontinence, depression, and infections. Some studies estimate that up to 70% of all hysterectomies performed in this country are either unnecessary or can be avoided by using alternative approaches.
Deficiency of Kidney energy or chronic illness is the origin of this pattern. It is an advanced stage of Yin Deficiency. Symptoms include: early periods with heavy or scanty, long-lasting bleeding; a hot sensation in the chest or abdomen; a sensation of itching in the breast, or a feeling of sharp or distending pain in the breast; blood-streaked white discharge or yellow-white vaginal discharge after periods; a red tongue, dry or with a yellow coating; and a wiry-thin or thin-rapid pulse. Anemarrhena (Zhi Mu), and phellodendron (Huang Bai) are the leading herbs used to address this pattern. Water Fire Balance (Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan) is a widely-used herbal formula in China.
Deficiency of Spleen energy is the origin of this pattern. Symptoms include: regular or late periods with heavy bleeding; a pulling sensation of the lower abdomen; loose bowels; thin vaginal discharge after periods; a pale tongue or thin-white tongue coating; and a soggy-thin or thin-wiry pulse. The fibroid tumor is a soft mass. Buplerum (Chai Hu), and peony (Bai Shao) are widely- used herbs, and Liver Spleen Harmonizer (Xiao Yao San) is a leading formula to address this pattern.
As for specific qigong prctice, I would recommend "hip rotation" with proper visualisation might help to eliminate the fibroid to dissapear and gone forever.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Meditation Postures
The first step in the practice of Qigong is to maintain a correct posture. It is important that the posture is natural and relaxed so as to allow for smooth breathing and to help lead the mind into a relaxed and quiet state. Each posture naturally has different physiological characteristics and therefore will have a different healing effect on the body according to the needs of the practitioner.
The most common postures are:
Normal Sitting: Sit upright on a chair, feet flat on the ground, legs slightly apart and torso at right angles to the thighs. Let the eyes and mouth rest gently closed with the tongue lightly placed on the upper palate. Assume a slight, unforced smile.
Cross-Legged: Sit upright on a hard bed or platform. Legs should be crossed naturally with the hands resting in front of the lower abdomen.
Half-Lotus: Sit upright on a firm bed or platform. The left foot rests on the right thigh. The right foot is under the left knee. Rest the hands on the knees.
Supine: Lie on one's back on a firm bed, with a low pillow. The upper body and legs should be straight. Arms should rest comfortably at one's sides.
Sideways Lying: Lie on one's side on a firm bed, with a low pillow. The upper body is straight and the legs are slightly bent. Rest the upper hand on the hip and lower hand, palm up, on the pillow.
Standing: Stand erect, feet parallel and apart at about shoulder width with toes pointing slightly inward. Bend knees slightly, hold in the chest and with the arms hanging comfortably at the sides, raise the forearms so that they are parallel to the floor in front of you about one foot apart. Palms can face down, up or towards each other. Keep the fingers separated and curved as if lightly holding a ball. Eyes and mouth are lightly closed with the tongue touching the upper palate. Place a natural slight smile on the face.
Walking: Stand quietly for about two to three minutes. Take a pace forward with the left foot. The heel should touch first; the body and hands swaying to the right as you move forward. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. When the weight is fully on the left foot, take a step forward with the right foot (body swaying to the left this time). The palms should be parallel to the floor with the fingers facing forward. The palms "collect Qi" as the arms swing forward and "release Qi" as they swing backwards.
The most common postures are:
Normal Sitting: Sit upright on a chair, feet flat on the ground, legs slightly apart and torso at right angles to the thighs. Let the eyes and mouth rest gently closed with the tongue lightly placed on the upper palate. Assume a slight, unforced smile.
Cross-Legged: Sit upright on a hard bed or platform. Legs should be crossed naturally with the hands resting in front of the lower abdomen.
Half-Lotus: Sit upright on a firm bed or platform. The left foot rests on the right thigh. The right foot is under the left knee. Rest the hands on the knees.
Supine: Lie on one's back on a firm bed, with a low pillow. The upper body and legs should be straight. Arms should rest comfortably at one's sides.
Sideways Lying: Lie on one's side on a firm bed, with a low pillow. The upper body is straight and the legs are slightly bent. Rest the upper hand on the hip and lower hand, palm up, on the pillow.
Standing: Stand erect, feet parallel and apart at about shoulder width with toes pointing slightly inward. Bend knees slightly, hold in the chest and with the arms hanging comfortably at the sides, raise the forearms so that they are parallel to the floor in front of you about one foot apart. Palms can face down, up or towards each other. Keep the fingers separated and curved as if lightly holding a ball. Eyes and mouth are lightly closed with the tongue touching the upper palate. Place a natural slight smile on the face.
Walking: Stand quietly for about two to three minutes. Take a pace forward with the left foot. The heel should touch first; the body and hands swaying to the right as you move forward. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. When the weight is fully on the left foot, take a step forward with the right foot (body swaying to the left this time). The palms should be parallel to the floor with the fingers facing forward. The palms "collect Qi" as the arms swing forward and "release Qi" as they swing backwards.
Qigong Meditation - Written by Master Wan Siu Jian
Quiet is the basis for all Qigong practice. Quiet water is crystal clear, quiet people have clarity of mind. In modern society, the seven conditions that cause disease are: Joy, Anger, Anxiety, Excessive Pensiveness, Sadness, Fear, and Shock. Too much anger can cause loss of Yin energy, too much joy can cause loss of Yang energy. Anger makes Qi rise and affects the liver. Joy slows Qi down and affects the heart. Anxiety and Pensiveness knot Qi and affect the spleen. Sadness dissolves Qi and affects the lungs. Fear makes Qi descend and affects the kidney. Shock scatters Qi and affects the kidneys and heart.
If any of these conditions persist for a long time, it causes stagnation of Qi and blood, creating malfunction of the body and disease such as cancer, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and so on.
Taoist and Buddhist meditations are used to preserve one’s health through movements developed over the long history of Chinese Qigong. Taoist meditation is the practice of breath control to get more energy to flow through the Xiao Zhou Tian (the yin and yang meridians) and Da Zhou Tian meridians (the twelve organ meridians), eventually to keep healthy and to have a long life. The Buddhist meditation is the practice of mind control to brighten people’s lives and to gain wisdom. So the practice of Taoist and Buddhist meditation together will result in improved physical and mental health, gaining new wisdom, and breaking off greed and foolish expectations; and finally, liberating one’s life from upset and sorrow.
In meditation, controlling the breath, the mind and the position of the body is important. Controlling the breath, practicing breathing is the way to save energy, which the ancients called "Tu Na". There are many types of controlled breathing practice: abdominal, counter abdominal, stop and close, and fetus breathing. In meditation practice, breathing will be slower, deeper, longer and more even; it seems to appear and disappear.
The highest level of breath control is fetus breathing, just like the baby in the mother’s belly. In old times, the Qigong Masters had these comments about breathing practice: "Breathing as a baby in mother’s belly, heart as sincere as a baby; the Yin and Yang are in balance; the heavens and earth are one. Breathing out gently, breathing in unbrokenly… by and by, energy manifestations will appear in the third eye (upper dantian). Fetus breathing restores to the original state – everything returns to the root, the universe." This is the ancient meditation procedure; the physical body is totally relaxed and peaceful, making the body and spirit completely harmonious.
Modern scientific researchers point out that breathing more deeply, slowly, more evenly and longer breaths can increase the oxygen intake of the body. In turn, the cells get enough oxygen and can improve the body’s metabolism, making the cells healthier. They found with x-ray machines that when doing meditation, the diaphragm and breathing system moves 3-4 times more than normal, thus improving lung function. Also, large blood vessels and heart have been moved more, thus enhancing heart function and helping prevent hardening of the arteries. The abdominal organs also were massaged internally, thus preventing problems of the stomach, intestines, liver and gall bladder.
The "Tao De Ching", authored by Lau Tze some 2,500 years ago, said, "make the mind as sincere as a baby". This means the practice of meditation can help us achieve the highest level of anything, such as kindness, unselfishness, equality, generosity, and spiritual attainment. It can help the bad Qi to exit the body and keep good health. It can also help the essence of energy (Qi) enter the body to build up the organs. Proper breathing helps a person to avoid diseases, vexation, anxiety and weakness. If the energy increases and the bad energy leaves the body, we can expect long life and total health.
If any of these conditions persist for a long time, it causes stagnation of Qi and blood, creating malfunction of the body and disease such as cancer, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and so on.
Taoist and Buddhist meditations are used to preserve one’s health through movements developed over the long history of Chinese Qigong. Taoist meditation is the practice of breath control to get more energy to flow through the Xiao Zhou Tian (the yin and yang meridians) and Da Zhou Tian meridians (the twelve organ meridians), eventually to keep healthy and to have a long life. The Buddhist meditation is the practice of mind control to brighten people’s lives and to gain wisdom. So the practice of Taoist and Buddhist meditation together will result in improved physical and mental health, gaining new wisdom, and breaking off greed and foolish expectations; and finally, liberating one’s life from upset and sorrow.
In meditation, controlling the breath, the mind and the position of the body is important. Controlling the breath, practicing breathing is the way to save energy, which the ancients called "Tu Na". There are many types of controlled breathing practice: abdominal, counter abdominal, stop and close, and fetus breathing. In meditation practice, breathing will be slower, deeper, longer and more even; it seems to appear and disappear.
The highest level of breath control is fetus breathing, just like the baby in the mother’s belly. In old times, the Qigong Masters had these comments about breathing practice: "Breathing as a baby in mother’s belly, heart as sincere as a baby; the Yin and Yang are in balance; the heavens and earth are one. Breathing out gently, breathing in unbrokenly… by and by, energy manifestations will appear in the third eye (upper dantian). Fetus breathing restores to the original state – everything returns to the root, the universe." This is the ancient meditation procedure; the physical body is totally relaxed and peaceful, making the body and spirit completely harmonious.
Modern scientific researchers point out that breathing more deeply, slowly, more evenly and longer breaths can increase the oxygen intake of the body. In turn, the cells get enough oxygen and can improve the body’s metabolism, making the cells healthier. They found with x-ray machines that when doing meditation, the diaphragm and breathing system moves 3-4 times more than normal, thus improving lung function. Also, large blood vessels and heart have been moved more, thus enhancing heart function and helping prevent hardening of the arteries. The abdominal organs also were massaged internally, thus preventing problems of the stomach, intestines, liver and gall bladder.
The "Tao De Ching", authored by Lau Tze some 2,500 years ago, said, "make the mind as sincere as a baby". This means the practice of meditation can help us achieve the highest level of anything, such as kindness, unselfishness, equality, generosity, and spiritual attainment. It can help the bad Qi to exit the body and keep good health. It can also help the essence of energy (Qi) enter the body to build up the organs. Proper breathing helps a person to avoid diseases, vexation, anxiety and weakness. If the energy increases and the bad energy leaves the body, we can expect long life and total health.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Qigong Healing for Weight Loss
Qiqong is a form of self practice exercise, which requires the integration of posture/movement, some type of breathing technique and mental focus. It cultivates the qi (vital energy) and actively realigns all levels of the body together thus creating a new internal environment.
From a TCM viewpoint, the pathological changes in obesity are mainly spleen and kidney dysfunctions, sluggish qi (vital energy) flow, poor vaporization processing of body fluid and turbid phlegm obstruction. Qigong helps to regulate the qi (vital energy) and blood flow, promotes the metabolic functions and eliminates blockages caused by evils such as dampness and phlegm. Moreover, through the practice of qi-gong, the excitatory state of the spleen and stomach can be prohibited, which will relieve or clear the desire for food.
Sample of qi-gong exercise: The Jade Toad Practice
1. Posture: Sit up right on a chair with thighs and legs at a 90° angle, and the feet placed on the ground. The knees are separated shoulder-width apart; let the elbows rest on the knees separately. The right hand is made into a fist while the left hand wraps around it. The upper body leans forward slightly, with head lowered and the forehead is placed lightly onto the top part of the fist. The eyes are slightly closed; adjust the posture to the most comfortable degree.
2. Mental focusing: Focus on the happy things in your life and put on a smile on your face; that helps the body and mind to be relaxed and peaceful. Keep the mind focused and regulate mental activity to be calm in order to a enter qi-gong state. When entering the qi-gong state, the mind should completely follow the respiratory activities and not be disturbed by the outer influences.
3. Breathing: This is the stage where the real practice starts. Firstly inhale a breath freely, make the air go deep down to the abdomen, and then exhale by the mouth very slowly. Secondly, relax the whole body especially the abdomen to become totally loose and flabby. The third step is to inhale through the nose slowly until the abdomen is fully expanded; hold the breath for 2 seconds; take a short inhalation again and then immediately exhale slowly. Repeat the third step again and again. A practitioner should not have any chest movement at all; only abdominal expansion and contraction are performed during the whole process.
4. Closing the practice: After exercising for 15 minutes, raise the head, keep the eyes closed slightly, and then rub hands in front of the chest for over 10 times. Then comb the hair with fingers for several times and open the eyes. Lastly, raise up the hands while still holding the fist; inhale deeply and exhale slowly; release the hands and finish the practice.
For individuals who would like to practice, an experienced qi-gong practitioner should guide them. Doing this exercise improperly can lead to the occurrence of abnormal phenomena; which may be harmful. This exercise is contraindicated in people who are pregnant or have cardiovascular disease, cerebral vascular disease or liver and kidney dysfunctions. It is not advisable for those who feel unwell with symptoms of dizziness and weakness. Individuals should also maintain a healthy diet when applying this exercise.
From a TCM viewpoint, the pathological changes in obesity are mainly spleen and kidney dysfunctions, sluggish qi (vital energy) flow, poor vaporization processing of body fluid and turbid phlegm obstruction. Qigong helps to regulate the qi (vital energy) and blood flow, promotes the metabolic functions and eliminates blockages caused by evils such as dampness and phlegm. Moreover, through the practice of qi-gong, the excitatory state of the spleen and stomach can be prohibited, which will relieve or clear the desire for food.
Sample of qi-gong exercise: The Jade Toad Practice
1. Posture: Sit up right on a chair with thighs and legs at a 90° angle, and the feet placed on the ground. The knees are separated shoulder-width apart; let the elbows rest on the knees separately. The right hand is made into a fist while the left hand wraps around it. The upper body leans forward slightly, with head lowered and the forehead is placed lightly onto the top part of the fist. The eyes are slightly closed; adjust the posture to the most comfortable degree.
2. Mental focusing: Focus on the happy things in your life and put on a smile on your face; that helps the body and mind to be relaxed and peaceful. Keep the mind focused and regulate mental activity to be calm in order to a enter qi-gong state. When entering the qi-gong state, the mind should completely follow the respiratory activities and not be disturbed by the outer influences.
3. Breathing: This is the stage where the real practice starts. Firstly inhale a breath freely, make the air go deep down to the abdomen, and then exhale by the mouth very slowly. Secondly, relax the whole body especially the abdomen to become totally loose and flabby. The third step is to inhale through the nose slowly until the abdomen is fully expanded; hold the breath for 2 seconds; take a short inhalation again and then immediately exhale slowly. Repeat the third step again and again. A practitioner should not have any chest movement at all; only abdominal expansion and contraction are performed during the whole process.
4. Closing the practice: After exercising for 15 minutes, raise the head, keep the eyes closed slightly, and then rub hands in front of the chest for over 10 times. Then comb the hair with fingers for several times and open the eyes. Lastly, raise up the hands while still holding the fist; inhale deeply and exhale slowly; release the hands and finish the practice.
For individuals who would like to practice, an experienced qi-gong practitioner should guide them. Doing this exercise improperly can lead to the occurrence of abnormal phenomena; which may be harmful. This exercise is contraindicated in people who are pregnant or have cardiovascular disease, cerebral vascular disease or liver and kidney dysfunctions. It is not advisable for those who feel unwell with symptoms of dizziness and weakness. Individuals should also maintain a healthy diet when applying this exercise.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Qigong For Cancer: Self-Healing Practice
Qigong (pronounced Chee Gung) has been said to be 1 of the most powerful healing traditions ever highly-developed in human history. It is Chinaware's 3000-4000 year-old system of ego-healing, which integrates simple focused movements or Qigong allows I to cultivate this vigor for wellness maintenance, healing, and postures, breath, and mental intention to balance and unify consistency, head, and heart. Based on the concept of Chi--inner vigour--the life force--practicing increased vitality. By strengthening the brain-consistence connection, Qigong tin determine the course of chronic disease.
(1) Millions of citizenry in People's Republic of China pattern Qigong every day to help relieve a range of maladies such as diabetes, asthma, Cancer, poor circulation, interior organ problems, arthritis, nerve painful sensation, bad backs, joint problems, hypertension, autoimmune disorders, and other tangible diseases. (2) I agree that this gentle form of exercise tin can be highly efficient in reducing stress and increasing vim, merely my question as a health care professional is whether there is any proof of its benefit for serious illnesses. For example, ace style called Guo Maya Lin's Genus Cancer Retrieval Qigong became so popular inside Mainland China that it was adopted in hospitals and centers across the country. To investigate this matter I decided to focus on studies examining the relationship between Qigong and genus Cancer and to interview prominent experts in this field.
Jahnke says Qigong activates natural home(a) healing mechanisms and encourages Cancer the Crab patients to start practicing now and be patient and consistent. "Use Qigong not only to activate biological and energetic healing, simply also to build a sense of inner calm and a trust for single's destiny," suggests Dr. "In other words, in addition to the touchable practices, explore and implement some of the philosophical aspects of Qigong as well." He shared a story with me about unity of his eight inquiry trips to Communist China. "I rich person visited with the Cancer the Crab Convalescence Society which uses the Walking Qigong by Guo with great success, along with "social oncology." I said to the group, 'Your method has apparently helped to save many lives, you must be doing enquiry.' Many multitude wanted to respond to this and after several had spoken, an elder just vital-looking woman said, 'I wealthy person Crab.
You see these other 60 masses here, they all give birth malignant neoplastic disease. We alive, that's our search. Yes, the scientific explore that is organism done is important. But, beingness with these mass and hearing their stories and practicing Qigong with them everyday--that is my .'" With a multitude of " cures" touted by certain individuals and companies out to make a fast dollar, a guiding principle would be to avoid those that discourage mainstream treatment.
Instead, doctors should encourage patients to try non-invasive and comforting complementary therapies such as Qigong. Since science doesn't deliver good means to measure subtle push, therapies such as Qigong ignored. Consequently, any positive personal effects attributed to placebo. Nevertheless, the benefits more than a psychological phenomenon because clinical observations and laboratory studies demonstrate improved immune function, increased microcirculation, and raised annoyance threshold.
(1) Millions of citizenry in People's Republic of China pattern Qigong every day to help relieve a range of maladies such as diabetes, asthma, Cancer, poor circulation, interior organ problems, arthritis, nerve painful sensation, bad backs, joint problems, hypertension, autoimmune disorders, and other tangible diseases. (2) I agree that this gentle form of exercise tin can be highly efficient in reducing stress and increasing vim, merely my question as a health care professional is whether there is any proof of its benefit for serious illnesses. For example, ace style called Guo Maya Lin's Genus Cancer Retrieval Qigong became so popular inside Mainland China that it was adopted in hospitals and centers across the country. To investigate this matter I decided to focus on studies examining the relationship between Qigong and genus Cancer and to interview prominent experts in this field.
Jahnke says Qigong activates natural home(a) healing mechanisms and encourages Cancer the Crab patients to start practicing now and be patient and consistent. "Use Qigong not only to activate biological and energetic healing, simply also to build a sense of inner calm and a trust for single's destiny," suggests Dr. "In other words, in addition to the touchable practices, explore and implement some of the philosophical aspects of Qigong as well." He shared a story with me about unity of his eight inquiry trips to Communist China. "I rich person visited with the Cancer the Crab Convalescence Society which uses the Walking Qigong by Guo with great success, along with "social oncology." I said to the group, 'Your method has apparently helped to save many lives, you must be doing enquiry.' Many multitude wanted to respond to this and after several had spoken, an elder just vital-looking woman said, 'I wealthy person Crab.
You see these other 60 masses here, they all give birth malignant neoplastic disease. We alive, that's our search. Yes, the scientific explore that is organism done is important. But, beingness with these mass and hearing their stories and practicing Qigong with them everyday--that is my .'" With a multitude of " cures" touted by certain individuals and companies out to make a fast dollar, a guiding principle would be to avoid those that discourage mainstream treatment.
Instead, doctors should encourage patients to try non-invasive and comforting complementary therapies such as Qigong. Since science doesn't deliver good means to measure subtle push, therapies such as Qigong ignored. Consequently, any positive personal effects attributed to placebo. Nevertheless, the benefits more than a psychological phenomenon because clinical observations and laboratory studies demonstrate improved immune function, increased microcirculation, and raised annoyance threshold.
Friday, September 28, 2007
How Chi Gong Works on Cancer
[Excerpt from Paul Dong's book, Chi Gong: The Ancient Chinese Way to Health, Paul Dong and Aristide H. Esser, 1990, Marlowe and Company]
Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits.
-I Ching (The Book of Changes)
Paul Dong has a personal interest in the effect of chi gong on cancer which he explains as follows:
Because several of my relatives and friends died of cancer, I always felt particularly fearful of cancer. When I came across a Chinese book on five chi gong exercise techniques and discovered that chi gong can cure cancer, I became highly interested and started collecting materials on this subject. I also went to China in 1984 to see for myself, and found that it is definitely true that chi gong is being used to cure cancer. In the eleven years since 1979, the Chinese have cured hundreds of cancer victims through chi gong, and thousands upon thousands have used chi gong to achieve improvement and to prolong their lives. When news of this spread outside China, many medical professionals from other countries came to mainland China to observe. Members of the staff at Harvard Medical School have shown great interest in this area and have been to China twice to observe the practice. According to the article "Cancer Does Not Mean Death" by Ke Yan,1 an American oncologist (the article doesn't give the doctor's name) visited China and requested an interview with the pioneer of chi gong cancer treatment, Mrs. Guo Lin (1906-1984). Guo Lin said, "Even if I tell you about it, you wouldn't believe me. You'd better find a patient of mine to talk to." The oncologist found quite a few of her patients in the Beijing district chi gong cancer class, spent four days talking with them, and saw the facts for himself
Doctors have taken two contrasting approaches to cancer. The first approach is to consider the cancer to be an isolated condition localized at one spot in the body and to attack it directly using chemicals, surgery, or radiation. The second approach, which is gaining more and more prominence today, is to consider the condition of the whole person as the environment for the cancer, and to strengthen the body's resistance to cancer. This may come under the modem heading of psychoneuroimmunology (discussed in chapter 13) and relies on many factors, including exercise, diet, and mental imaging to combat the disease. Chi gong is part of this second approach.
The use of chi gong cancer treatment in China originated with Ms. Guo Lin, a Chinese traditional painter, mentioned above. In 1949, she was afflicted with uterine cancer and had it removed by surgery in Shanghai. The cancer recurred in 1960. This time it had metastasized to the bladder, and she had another operation in Beijing to remove part of the bladder that was cancerous. When she had another relapse, the doctors gave her six months to live. However, she did not give up hope, and in her struggle against cancer, she remembered that her grandfather, a Taoist priest, had taught her as a child to practice chi gong. She determinedly began to research and practice chi gong, hoping to recover her health in this way. After initial practice with no effect, she turned to the ancient chi gong texts willed to her by her grandfather and created her own exercise schedule. She practiced diligently for two hours every day, and in half a year her cancer subsided. She was strongly convinced of chi gong's ability to cure diseases, and in 1970 started giving lessons in what she called New Chi Gong Therapy. According to Cyrus Lee, Master Guo's therapy is not based on the external energy (wei chi) of others, but upon the inner energy (nei chi) of the patient (for these distinctions, review chapter 1, "Special Section on Chi"). Her therapy combines "active and passive exercises in three stages: relaxation (sung jing), concentration (yi lian), and breathing (tiao hsi)."2
By 1977 Master Guo had achieved spectacular results and proclaimed publicly that chi gong can cure cancer. Cancer victims from all over immediately streamed into Beijing to take part in the chi gong cancer therapy class she had organized. Each day three hundred to four hundred people studied chi gong techniques for cancer treatment with her. Until her death in 1984 she worked tirelessly, curing hundreds of cancer patients, while easing the pain and prolonging the lives of thousands more. Mrs. Wong Chung-siu, a student of Guo Lin's currently living in Fremont, California, told Paul Dong that Guo Lin's pinnacle of success came in 1982. Aided by nine assistants she had trained, Guo Lin held nine cancer classes of seventy students each, meeting three times a day. With her nine assistants to help her, she was able over the next two years to travel all over China to twenty provincial capitals to teach and lecture at the request of many local health care and medical departments, and she became a national celebrity before her death in 1984 (twenty years after her life had been given up by Western medicine).
Because Guo Lin had demonstrated that her chi gong techniques were able to cure cancer, people trained in other styles of chi gong were eager to see if they could achieve the same results. Among these other styles, quiet gong and movement gong also demonstrated the same ability to achieve cures or alleviation of cancer. Paul Dong judges from the Chinese literature that movement gong is more effective in curing cancer. The technique used by Guo Lin combines both movement chi gong and meditation chi gong (movement first and quiet gong afterward).
One type of movement gong is Flying Crane, which is quite popular in China. According to reports, it has cured many cancer patients. In a journal Qi Gong of the flying Crane, published in Beijing, an article "Fight Cancer with the True Qi", written by Xie Hau,3 states that the Beijing Flying Crane Club invited eleven cancer victims to participate in an experiment. After three months of practicing chi gong, they showed varying degrees of improvement. Among them, Li Shan-cheng showed the most notable effects. Li, fifty-nine years old at the time, had cancer of the esophagus and was unable to eat; in fact, he couldn't even swallow water. He was emaciated. Then he watched a report on TV about chi gong curing cancer and joined a Flying Crane therapy class. After practicing chi gong for ten days, he had a check-up and discovered that his tumor had become smaller, and he was able to eat again. With this encouragement, he practiced chi gong an hour at a time, four times a day. After three months, he had made a complete recovery and went back to work as usual. He credited chi gong with saving his life.
In Hebei province's Tianjin University, the chi gong class for the fourth quarter of 1983 included fifteen cancer victims (the categories were cancer of the liver, the stomach, the mammary gland, and the rectum). After six months to a year of practicing chi gong, not one of them had died. Their conditions showed various levels of improvement, and all of the patients experienced the triple benefit of eating, sleeping, and feeling well. They were also firm in their conviction that "to exercise right is to survive." The styles of chi gong that they practiced were Standing-On-Stake and meditation gong, which will be described in chapters 8 and 12 respectively.
All kinds of cases regarding the cure of cancer with different styles of chi gong are frequently reported in chi gong magazines. The conclusion may be that no matter what chi gong style is used, it is possible to cure cancer. The simple truth is that every style of chi gong adheres to three principles: (a) achieving a state of tranquility, (b) relaxation and release of tension, (c) commitment and development of willpower. And each of these principles is important in one's fight against cancer. In addition, we think that the reason Guo Lin's chi gong was especially effective is because she had her patients train in groups. Group practice is the best way to arouse interest and bring good cheer. Interest helps one concentrate on doing the chi gong exercises, and cheerfulness produces a beneficial effect on the organism. As the first step in curing cancer, Guo Lin had the patients come together as a group and swear an oath to resist cancer, for the purpose of increasing their fighting spirit. Willpower was applied as a healing technique. In a large group of patients (Guo Lin's cancer therapy groups usually consisted of seventy people), there would be one or two of a more sensitive disposition, achieving the beneficial effects of chi gong earlier than the others. As soon as one or two patients had shown good results, the rest of the patients would be encouraged to have greater confidence, and as we know, a positive attitude plays a role in curing disease. Also, if people practice chi gong exercises alone and then fail to achieve results, they are more likely to become discouraged.
One reason for the negative impact of failure acknowledged in Western medicine is that the feeling of helplessness appears to suppress the immune system's ability to resist tumor development.4 On the other hand, fostering positive images appears to strengthen immunological competence.5 Lawrence Leshan has pointed to psychological factors in cancer causation since the fifties.6 Specific methods to fight cancer successfully with visualization techniques were introduced in the U.S. by Carl Simonton, M.D., in the early seventies. 7 Thus there are reasons to think that a positive attitude improves and negative thoughts decrease the immune mechanism's ability to defend the body.
Much, but not all of chi gong's effect is based on entering a state of meditation. In meditation, there are no distractions, depressing thoughts, or worries. The body's functions are able to return to normal by relaxation, which is the key to balancing the circulation of the chi and the blood. In Chinese traditional medical theory, stimulating the circulation of the chi and blood is the main healing method. Additionally, a sense of happiness is achieved in meditation, and that is a major wellspring of increased confidence and fighting spirit.
The several effects described above are important mechanisms for treating any disease. As the term psychoneuroimmunology implies, these mechanisms include both psychological and physiological elements. As we know, the psychological and the physiological aspects operate in interdependent ways. From the physiological point of view, the Shanghai Institute of Medical Science's Institute for the Combined Use of Chinese and Western Medicine has conducted a study on the effects of chi gong and tai ji chuan on elderly people's endocrine systems (the pituitary, thyroid, and sex glands). They invited forty-seven elderly people of the same age, sixty-six years old, to perform chi gong exercises regularly. After doing this for several weeks, the capabilities of their pituitary, thyroid, and sex glands were shown to have increased. This strengthening and stabilizing of the endocrine system can have a beneficial regulating effect on the vigor of the whole body's metabolism.
This is not to suggest that we understand the extent of chi gong's effects on cancer. We do know that practicing chi gong exercises influences many of the body's mechanisms. For instance, it not only raises the capabilities of the endocrine system, it also has a regulating effect on cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). These two substances play a vital bioenergetic role in phosphorylation, which is the key to respiration and thus the oxygen provision for all of the body's cells. As we will review below, oxygen prevents cancer growth. In addition, cyclic AMP is familiar as an intracellular signal transforming stimuli from outside the cell into a response by the cell, and therefore could play an important role in our immune system.
In a recent study, Wang Chong-xing and collaborators at the Shanghai Institute of Hypertension reported at a world conference on chi gong on improvement in the ratio of cAMP/cGMP within one year of chi gong practice.8 It is claimed that the concentration and physiological stability (expressed in a stable ratio) of these two enzyme messengers play major roles in the normal regulation and maintenance of health. It is assumed that cancer cells thrive when the blood cAMP content is low. Ding Shen and other investigators, reporting at the same world conference, have found that the practice of chi gong, among other beneficial effects, increases the cAMP content of the blood which may explain part of chi gong's effect on cancer.
Another important factor in cancer growth is whether or not the body's oxygen content is sufficient. Beijing's Qi Gong and Cancer Research Unit has conducted many experiments on this aspect. When the body is deficient in oxygen, cancer cells grow; and when the body is rich in oxygen, cancer cells die. One explanation for the sense of serenity produced by entering a state of deep meditation through chi gong is the increase in the absorption of oxygen. In ancient China, Taoist priests chose to meditate underneath the pine tree because they had discovered that the pine exudes the greatest amount of oxygen.
The above points are possible explanations by modem science of several mechanisms by which chi gong cures cancer. From the point of view of Chinese traditional medicine, chi gong has the functions of activating the body's vital forces (chi), strengthening the blood's circulation, balancing the yin and the yang, stimulating the conductivity of the meridians and improving the psychological state. Chinese medical theory emphasizes that chi is the driving force of life. The body's health is determined by the strength or weakness of its chi. As soon as the chi is weakened, the "blood is clogged," the yin and yang lose their balance, and disease will result. Research by the Bei Dai He Chi Gong Clinic indicates that after doing a chi gong exercise for a certain period of time (we judge this to be approximately forty minutes), the body's internal regional blood volume increases by 30 percent and the body temperature rises two to three degrees Celsius. For the Chinese, these facts demonstrate the way that chi gong acts to clear the meridians-unclog the blood-and moderate the chi and blood. In other words, when the chi and the blood are flowing freely, the body will maintain physiological balance (the balance of yin and yang), and diseases will disappear of themselves.
In recent years, scientists and medical specialists have been turning their attention to the immune system for the purpose of fighting disease. China took up this point more than two thousand years ago. As The Emperor's Classic state in "Questions and Answers": "Be imperturbable and the true chi will come to you; concentrate the inner spirit and well-being follows." This signifies that if the body's energy is at its full level, it will not sicken. Chi gong exercises bring out and mobilize the body's latent strength, raise the body's energy level, and activate the cells of the immune system, causing a feeling of well-being.
Many studies have demonstrated that people suffering from emotional damage, tension, a low level of energy, depression, and irritability have a markedly higher rate of cancer occurrence. Through the practice of chi gong, especially when reaching the level of the deep meditative state, a whole set of beneficial psychological and spiritual conditions emerge, including emotional well-being, spiritual happiness, stability of mood, and complete relaxation of the body. This directly inspires the patient's confidence of defeating cancer, as well as benefiting the body's dynamic balance, and as a consequence makes a positive contribution to the healing and comfort of the body.
Besides one's own practice of chi gong, another method of treating cancer is through the use of a chi gong expert who can provide relief by transmitting external chi from his body to that of the patient, thereby purportedly killing cancer cells. Dr. Feng Li-da, vice-president, General Hospital of the Chinese Navy, Beijing, and professor of immunology, Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has done many experiments in this area. She reported that by transmitting external chi for one minute, a chi gong expert can destroy 90 percent of colon and dysentery bacilli, and in ten minutes 60 percent of a flu virus. In sixty minutes, the rate of destroyed uterine cancer cells is also around 60 percent, and that of destroyed gastric cancer cells 25 percent. A twenty-gram tumor on a mouse disappeared within a five-week period of external chi treatment. A few of the experiments referred to above were reported in the following press release of November 28,1983, by the New China (Xinhua) News Agency:
A meeting for the evaluation and demonstration of the action of chi gong on certain bacteria had recently been held, presided over by Feng, Li Da, deputy superintendent of the Navy General Hospital and director of the Immunology Research Division. Test tubes filled respectively with coliform bacillus and dysentery bacteria, golden and white staphylococcus, and virus were handed over one by one to a chi gong master, who held each of the tubes firmly in his hand for a minute to release external energy (chi) at it. A projector displayed the image of each experimental sample on a screen. Under an electronic microscope, the bacteria were shown to be expanding, cracking, and dissolving, being killed by chi gong. From the immunological standpoint, Feng has thus demonstrated that chi energy is an objective reality. Furthermore, she has confirmed that chi gong is effective to a certain degree in treating B-hepatitis. There is also encouraging preliminary evidence of the therapeutic effect of chi gong with respect to the treatment of guinea pigs suffering from ascites ( an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen) caused by cancer. Dr. Feng declared that in mainland China chi gong has now advanced from the prescientific phase to a new epoch in which modern methods are employed in its study. The study of chi gong has been conducive to the development of immunology and other sciences.
Another example: A Japanese cancer victim, Ansei Shonin, who had a tumor in the lower part of his head, deeply imbedded in his nasal cavity. Made a special trip from Japan to Beijing's General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army to undergo external chi treatment. A chi gong expert performed twelve days of external chi treatment, and as a result Ansei Shonin's tumor, as large as an egg, shrunk, and his pain was distinctly eased.
Why external chi works toward strengthening of the cells and the immune responses of the body in the case of healing a disease, and appears to kill or otherwise interrupt and reverse the growth of cells (or bacteria) in the case of cancer (or the influencing of bacterial cultures) is not known. To the best of our knowledge, it is due to the different intent of the qi gong master. This may be similar to visualization or imaging therapy, as applied in Western alternative medical approaches. As part of the therapy, the determination is made in advance whether the patient will visualize growth of healthy or destruction of cancerous cells in his or her own body.
In conclusion, then, cancer victims apparently can achieve effective treatment by practicing chi gong as shown by Master Guo. But one might suggest that if the patient is too weak or for other reasons unable to practice chi gong regularly and vigorously, external chi should be tried as a cure or used as a supplement to chi gong. Finally, as described in the previous chapter regarding practices in the Bei Da Hei Clinic, combinations of "internal" and "external" chi with dietetic therapy and Western medical science may all be attempted when looking for a cure for cancer.
Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits.
-I Ching (The Book of Changes)
Paul Dong has a personal interest in the effect of chi gong on cancer which he explains as follows:
Because several of my relatives and friends died of cancer, I always felt particularly fearful of cancer. When I came across a Chinese book on five chi gong exercise techniques and discovered that chi gong can cure cancer, I became highly interested and started collecting materials on this subject. I also went to China in 1984 to see for myself, and found that it is definitely true that chi gong is being used to cure cancer. In the eleven years since 1979, the Chinese have cured hundreds of cancer victims through chi gong, and thousands upon thousands have used chi gong to achieve improvement and to prolong their lives. When news of this spread outside China, many medical professionals from other countries came to mainland China to observe. Members of the staff at Harvard Medical School have shown great interest in this area and have been to China twice to observe the practice. According to the article "Cancer Does Not Mean Death" by Ke Yan,1 an American oncologist (the article doesn't give the doctor's name) visited China and requested an interview with the pioneer of chi gong cancer treatment, Mrs. Guo Lin (1906-1984). Guo Lin said, "Even if I tell you about it, you wouldn't believe me. You'd better find a patient of mine to talk to." The oncologist found quite a few of her patients in the Beijing district chi gong cancer class, spent four days talking with them, and saw the facts for himself
Doctors have taken two contrasting approaches to cancer. The first approach is to consider the cancer to be an isolated condition localized at one spot in the body and to attack it directly using chemicals, surgery, or radiation. The second approach, which is gaining more and more prominence today, is to consider the condition of the whole person as the environment for the cancer, and to strengthen the body's resistance to cancer. This may come under the modem heading of psychoneuroimmunology (discussed in chapter 13) and relies on many factors, including exercise, diet, and mental imaging to combat the disease. Chi gong is part of this second approach.
The use of chi gong cancer treatment in China originated with Ms. Guo Lin, a Chinese traditional painter, mentioned above. In 1949, she was afflicted with uterine cancer and had it removed by surgery in Shanghai. The cancer recurred in 1960. This time it had metastasized to the bladder, and she had another operation in Beijing to remove part of the bladder that was cancerous. When she had another relapse, the doctors gave her six months to live. However, she did not give up hope, and in her struggle against cancer, she remembered that her grandfather, a Taoist priest, had taught her as a child to practice chi gong. She determinedly began to research and practice chi gong, hoping to recover her health in this way. After initial practice with no effect, she turned to the ancient chi gong texts willed to her by her grandfather and created her own exercise schedule. She practiced diligently for two hours every day, and in half a year her cancer subsided. She was strongly convinced of chi gong's ability to cure diseases, and in 1970 started giving lessons in what she called New Chi Gong Therapy. According to Cyrus Lee, Master Guo's therapy is not based on the external energy (wei chi) of others, but upon the inner energy (nei chi) of the patient (for these distinctions, review chapter 1, "Special Section on Chi"). Her therapy combines "active and passive exercises in three stages: relaxation (sung jing), concentration (yi lian), and breathing (tiao hsi)."2
By 1977 Master Guo had achieved spectacular results and proclaimed publicly that chi gong can cure cancer. Cancer victims from all over immediately streamed into Beijing to take part in the chi gong cancer therapy class she had organized. Each day three hundred to four hundred people studied chi gong techniques for cancer treatment with her. Until her death in 1984 she worked tirelessly, curing hundreds of cancer patients, while easing the pain and prolonging the lives of thousands more. Mrs. Wong Chung-siu, a student of Guo Lin's currently living in Fremont, California, told Paul Dong that Guo Lin's pinnacle of success came in 1982. Aided by nine assistants she had trained, Guo Lin held nine cancer classes of seventy students each, meeting three times a day. With her nine assistants to help her, she was able over the next two years to travel all over China to twenty provincial capitals to teach and lecture at the request of many local health care and medical departments, and she became a national celebrity before her death in 1984 (twenty years after her life had been given up by Western medicine).
Because Guo Lin had demonstrated that her chi gong techniques were able to cure cancer, people trained in other styles of chi gong were eager to see if they could achieve the same results. Among these other styles, quiet gong and movement gong also demonstrated the same ability to achieve cures or alleviation of cancer. Paul Dong judges from the Chinese literature that movement gong is more effective in curing cancer. The technique used by Guo Lin combines both movement chi gong and meditation chi gong (movement first and quiet gong afterward).
One type of movement gong is Flying Crane, which is quite popular in China. According to reports, it has cured many cancer patients. In a journal Qi Gong of the flying Crane, published in Beijing, an article "Fight Cancer with the True Qi", written by Xie Hau,3 states that the Beijing Flying Crane Club invited eleven cancer victims to participate in an experiment. After three months of practicing chi gong, they showed varying degrees of improvement. Among them, Li Shan-cheng showed the most notable effects. Li, fifty-nine years old at the time, had cancer of the esophagus and was unable to eat; in fact, he couldn't even swallow water. He was emaciated. Then he watched a report on TV about chi gong curing cancer and joined a Flying Crane therapy class. After practicing chi gong for ten days, he had a check-up and discovered that his tumor had become smaller, and he was able to eat again. With this encouragement, he practiced chi gong an hour at a time, four times a day. After three months, he had made a complete recovery and went back to work as usual. He credited chi gong with saving his life.
In Hebei province's Tianjin University, the chi gong class for the fourth quarter of 1983 included fifteen cancer victims (the categories were cancer of the liver, the stomach, the mammary gland, and the rectum). After six months to a year of practicing chi gong, not one of them had died. Their conditions showed various levels of improvement, and all of the patients experienced the triple benefit of eating, sleeping, and feeling well. They were also firm in their conviction that "to exercise right is to survive." The styles of chi gong that they practiced were Standing-On-Stake and meditation gong, which will be described in chapters 8 and 12 respectively.
All kinds of cases regarding the cure of cancer with different styles of chi gong are frequently reported in chi gong magazines. The conclusion may be that no matter what chi gong style is used, it is possible to cure cancer. The simple truth is that every style of chi gong adheres to three principles: (a) achieving a state of tranquility, (b) relaxation and release of tension, (c) commitment and development of willpower. And each of these principles is important in one's fight against cancer. In addition, we think that the reason Guo Lin's chi gong was especially effective is because she had her patients train in groups. Group practice is the best way to arouse interest and bring good cheer. Interest helps one concentrate on doing the chi gong exercises, and cheerfulness produces a beneficial effect on the organism. As the first step in curing cancer, Guo Lin had the patients come together as a group and swear an oath to resist cancer, for the purpose of increasing their fighting spirit. Willpower was applied as a healing technique. In a large group of patients (Guo Lin's cancer therapy groups usually consisted of seventy people), there would be one or two of a more sensitive disposition, achieving the beneficial effects of chi gong earlier than the others. As soon as one or two patients had shown good results, the rest of the patients would be encouraged to have greater confidence, and as we know, a positive attitude plays a role in curing disease. Also, if people practice chi gong exercises alone and then fail to achieve results, they are more likely to become discouraged.
One reason for the negative impact of failure acknowledged in Western medicine is that the feeling of helplessness appears to suppress the immune system's ability to resist tumor development.4 On the other hand, fostering positive images appears to strengthen immunological competence.5 Lawrence Leshan has pointed to psychological factors in cancer causation since the fifties.6 Specific methods to fight cancer successfully with visualization techniques were introduced in the U.S. by Carl Simonton, M.D., in the early seventies. 7 Thus there are reasons to think that a positive attitude improves and negative thoughts decrease the immune mechanism's ability to defend the body.
Much, but not all of chi gong's effect is based on entering a state of meditation. In meditation, there are no distractions, depressing thoughts, or worries. The body's functions are able to return to normal by relaxation, which is the key to balancing the circulation of the chi and the blood. In Chinese traditional medical theory, stimulating the circulation of the chi and blood is the main healing method. Additionally, a sense of happiness is achieved in meditation, and that is a major wellspring of increased confidence and fighting spirit.
The several effects described above are important mechanisms for treating any disease. As the term psychoneuroimmunology implies, these mechanisms include both psychological and physiological elements. As we know, the psychological and the physiological aspects operate in interdependent ways. From the physiological point of view, the Shanghai Institute of Medical Science's Institute for the Combined Use of Chinese and Western Medicine has conducted a study on the effects of chi gong and tai ji chuan on elderly people's endocrine systems (the pituitary, thyroid, and sex glands). They invited forty-seven elderly people of the same age, sixty-six years old, to perform chi gong exercises regularly. After doing this for several weeks, the capabilities of their pituitary, thyroid, and sex glands were shown to have increased. This strengthening and stabilizing of the endocrine system can have a beneficial regulating effect on the vigor of the whole body's metabolism.
This is not to suggest that we understand the extent of chi gong's effects on cancer. We do know that practicing chi gong exercises influences many of the body's mechanisms. For instance, it not only raises the capabilities of the endocrine system, it also has a regulating effect on cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). These two substances play a vital bioenergetic role in phosphorylation, which is the key to respiration and thus the oxygen provision for all of the body's cells. As we will review below, oxygen prevents cancer growth. In addition, cyclic AMP is familiar as an intracellular signal transforming stimuli from outside the cell into a response by the cell, and therefore could play an important role in our immune system.
In a recent study, Wang Chong-xing and collaborators at the Shanghai Institute of Hypertension reported at a world conference on chi gong on improvement in the ratio of cAMP/cGMP within one year of chi gong practice.8 It is claimed that the concentration and physiological stability (expressed in a stable ratio) of these two enzyme messengers play major roles in the normal regulation and maintenance of health. It is assumed that cancer cells thrive when the blood cAMP content is low. Ding Shen and other investigators, reporting at the same world conference, have found that the practice of chi gong, among other beneficial effects, increases the cAMP content of the blood which may explain part of chi gong's effect on cancer.
Another important factor in cancer growth is whether or not the body's oxygen content is sufficient. Beijing's Qi Gong and Cancer Research Unit has conducted many experiments on this aspect. When the body is deficient in oxygen, cancer cells grow; and when the body is rich in oxygen, cancer cells die. One explanation for the sense of serenity produced by entering a state of deep meditation through chi gong is the increase in the absorption of oxygen. In ancient China, Taoist priests chose to meditate underneath the pine tree because they had discovered that the pine exudes the greatest amount of oxygen.
The above points are possible explanations by modem science of several mechanisms by which chi gong cures cancer. From the point of view of Chinese traditional medicine, chi gong has the functions of activating the body's vital forces (chi), strengthening the blood's circulation, balancing the yin and the yang, stimulating the conductivity of the meridians and improving the psychological state. Chinese medical theory emphasizes that chi is the driving force of life. The body's health is determined by the strength or weakness of its chi. As soon as the chi is weakened, the "blood is clogged," the yin and yang lose their balance, and disease will result. Research by the Bei Dai He Chi Gong Clinic indicates that after doing a chi gong exercise for a certain period of time (we judge this to be approximately forty minutes), the body's internal regional blood volume increases by 30 percent and the body temperature rises two to three degrees Celsius. For the Chinese, these facts demonstrate the way that chi gong acts to clear the meridians-unclog the blood-and moderate the chi and blood. In other words, when the chi and the blood are flowing freely, the body will maintain physiological balance (the balance of yin and yang), and diseases will disappear of themselves.
In recent years, scientists and medical specialists have been turning their attention to the immune system for the purpose of fighting disease. China took up this point more than two thousand years ago. As The Emperor's Classic state in "Questions and Answers": "Be imperturbable and the true chi will come to you; concentrate the inner spirit and well-being follows." This signifies that if the body's energy is at its full level, it will not sicken. Chi gong exercises bring out and mobilize the body's latent strength, raise the body's energy level, and activate the cells of the immune system, causing a feeling of well-being.
Many studies have demonstrated that people suffering from emotional damage, tension, a low level of energy, depression, and irritability have a markedly higher rate of cancer occurrence. Through the practice of chi gong, especially when reaching the level of the deep meditative state, a whole set of beneficial psychological and spiritual conditions emerge, including emotional well-being, spiritual happiness, stability of mood, and complete relaxation of the body. This directly inspires the patient's confidence of defeating cancer, as well as benefiting the body's dynamic balance, and as a consequence makes a positive contribution to the healing and comfort of the body.
Besides one's own practice of chi gong, another method of treating cancer is through the use of a chi gong expert who can provide relief by transmitting external chi from his body to that of the patient, thereby purportedly killing cancer cells. Dr. Feng Li-da, vice-president, General Hospital of the Chinese Navy, Beijing, and professor of immunology, Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has done many experiments in this area. She reported that by transmitting external chi for one minute, a chi gong expert can destroy 90 percent of colon and dysentery bacilli, and in ten minutes 60 percent of a flu virus. In sixty minutes, the rate of destroyed uterine cancer cells is also around 60 percent, and that of destroyed gastric cancer cells 25 percent. A twenty-gram tumor on a mouse disappeared within a five-week period of external chi treatment. A few of the experiments referred to above were reported in the following press release of November 28,1983, by the New China (Xinhua) News Agency:
A meeting for the evaluation and demonstration of the action of chi gong on certain bacteria had recently been held, presided over by Feng, Li Da, deputy superintendent of the Navy General Hospital and director of the Immunology Research Division. Test tubes filled respectively with coliform bacillus and dysentery bacteria, golden and white staphylococcus, and virus were handed over one by one to a chi gong master, who held each of the tubes firmly in his hand for a minute to release external energy (chi) at it. A projector displayed the image of each experimental sample on a screen. Under an electronic microscope, the bacteria were shown to be expanding, cracking, and dissolving, being killed by chi gong. From the immunological standpoint, Feng has thus demonstrated that chi energy is an objective reality. Furthermore, she has confirmed that chi gong is effective to a certain degree in treating B-hepatitis. There is also encouraging preliminary evidence of the therapeutic effect of chi gong with respect to the treatment of guinea pigs suffering from ascites ( an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen) caused by cancer. Dr. Feng declared that in mainland China chi gong has now advanced from the prescientific phase to a new epoch in which modern methods are employed in its study. The study of chi gong has been conducive to the development of immunology and other sciences.
Another example: A Japanese cancer victim, Ansei Shonin, who had a tumor in the lower part of his head, deeply imbedded in his nasal cavity. Made a special trip from Japan to Beijing's General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army to undergo external chi treatment. A chi gong expert performed twelve days of external chi treatment, and as a result Ansei Shonin's tumor, as large as an egg, shrunk, and his pain was distinctly eased.
Why external chi works toward strengthening of the cells and the immune responses of the body in the case of healing a disease, and appears to kill or otherwise interrupt and reverse the growth of cells (or bacteria) in the case of cancer (or the influencing of bacterial cultures) is not known. To the best of our knowledge, it is due to the different intent of the qi gong master. This may be similar to visualization or imaging therapy, as applied in Western alternative medical approaches. As part of the therapy, the determination is made in advance whether the patient will visualize growth of healthy or destruction of cancerous cells in his or her own body.
In conclusion, then, cancer victims apparently can achieve effective treatment by practicing chi gong as shown by Master Guo. But one might suggest that if the patient is too weak or for other reasons unable to practice chi gong regularly and vigorously, external chi should be tried as a cure or used as a supplement to chi gong. Finally, as described in the previous chapter regarding practices in the Bei Da Hei Clinic, combinations of "internal" and "external" chi with dietetic therapy and Western medical science may all be attempted when looking for a cure for cancer.
Medical Qigong
Qigong is also used as a total healing method. That is, the 'doctor' of Qigong is able to use the Qigong stances to not only heal but also to diagnose any problems. Firstly on a large scale whereby he/she places the disease into one large area of the body and whether it is a 'yin deficient' disease or a yang deficient' disease.
The way that this is established is, (and his is on a very basic level), the doctor takes note of the position of the palms after some minutes of the patient practising his/her own Qigong stance. (The position of all of the limbs is also taken into account but for this article I will only deal with the simpler palm positions). If for instance the right palm has fallen to a lower level than the left palm then this indicates that there is a yang deficiency in the right side of the body.
One has also to take into account the position of the other limbs to establish if upper of lower body is effected. To further pin point the problem, the patient is placed into a series of other postures including some of the T’ai chi postures to find out which ones cause pain or are extremely more difficult than any of the others. If for instance the posture of 'brush knee twist step' causes some pain around the chest area and is grossly difficult (more so than normal for a beginner) to perform then this would indicate a heart problem of the yang deficient variety.
Further diagnosis including tongue, face and kin condition would further confirm the problem. The Qigong doctor has then to decide how to heal the ailment. He may decide to use acupuncture to heal the immediate effect of the pain and then use some Qigong postures to put some yang energy into the heart. He may also practice his own Qigong for either twenty minutes for a minor ailment or for ten days and fast on only fruit for that time for a more serious disease. He will then place his palms around the affected area or over the relevant acupuncture points and put his own yang energy into these points to further help the cure.
There is a point on the palm called 'laogung' point, which is a pericardium 8 point; this point is said to be the point where the Qi is sent from one body into another. If you close your fist and see where the longest finger points to, then this is the point to which I am referring.
The way that this is established is, (and his is on a very basic level), the doctor takes note of the position of the palms after some minutes of the patient practising his/her own Qigong stance. (The position of all of the limbs is also taken into account but for this article I will only deal with the simpler palm positions). If for instance the right palm has fallen to a lower level than the left palm then this indicates that there is a yang deficiency in the right side of the body.
One has also to take into account the position of the other limbs to establish if upper of lower body is effected. To further pin point the problem, the patient is placed into a series of other postures including some of the T’ai chi postures to find out which ones cause pain or are extremely more difficult than any of the others. If for instance the posture of 'brush knee twist step' causes some pain around the chest area and is grossly difficult (more so than normal for a beginner) to perform then this would indicate a heart problem of the yang deficient variety.
Further diagnosis including tongue, face and kin condition would further confirm the problem. The Qigong doctor has then to decide how to heal the ailment. He may decide to use acupuncture to heal the immediate effect of the pain and then use some Qigong postures to put some yang energy into the heart. He may also practice his own Qigong for either twenty minutes for a minor ailment or for ten days and fast on only fruit for that time for a more serious disease. He will then place his palms around the affected area or over the relevant acupuncture points and put his own yang energy into these points to further help the cure.
There is a point on the palm called 'laogung' point, which is a pericardium 8 point; this point is said to be the point where the Qi is sent from one body into another. If you close your fist and see where the longest finger points to, then this is the point to which I am referring.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Qigong FAQ
What is chi kung?
Chi kung is the art of developing vital energy particularly for health, vitality, mind expansion and spiritual cultivation.
Is chi kung the same as qigong?
Yes, they are the same. "Chi kung" is the usual English spelling, whereas "qigong" is the Romanized Chinese spelling. In Romanized Chinese, q is pronounced like the English ch'; and o like the English u. Hence, both "chi kung" and qigong" should be pronounced like the English "ch'i gung".
Are there many types of chi kung?
Depending on how we would define "types", there are two, three, four, five, six, hundreds of or thousands of types of chi kung. Some people divide chi kung into two types: quiescent and dynamic, or internal and external. Some into three types: quiescent, dynamic, and quiescent- cum-dynamic. Others into four types: standing, sitting, lying down, and moving. Still others into five types: Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, medical, and martial. Some add populace chi kung to the five to make six types. There are various schools of chi kung, such as Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, Shaolin Damo Chi Kung, Taiji Eighteen Steps Chi Kung, Flying Crane Chi Kung, Fragrance Chi Kung and so on. Sometimes, people may refer to different chi kung techniques as different types of chi kung, in which case there are thousands of them. Hence, it is understandable that there are also different levels of attainment in the various types of chi kung.
Is chi kung the same as Taijiquan?
They are different, although Taijiquan (if it is practised the way traditional masters practised it) makes extensive use of chi kung. Basically, Taijiquan is a martial art, whereas chi kung is a collective term for various arts of energy, which may or may not be used for martial art purposes. The movements of some chi kung types resemble those of Taijiquan, whereas many other chi kung movements are totally different from typical Taijiquan movements.
What are the benefits of practising chi kung?
There are many wonderful benefits derived from practising chi kung, and they may be generalized into the following five categories:
Curing illness and promoting health.
Enhancing vitality and developing internal force.
Promoting youthfulness and longevity.
Expanding the mind and the intellect.
Spiritual cultivation.
Many chi kung types focus on only one or two of the above categories, but a few cover all the five. For example, most types of medical chi kung aim mainly at curing illness, virtually all sexual types of chi kung emphasize solely on youthfulness, whereas Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung touches on all the above five categories of benefits.
What kinds of illness can practising chi kung overcome?
According to Chinese medical thought, practising chi kung can cure as well as prevent all kinds of illness, including diseases like asthma, diabetes, hypertension and cancer which are generally considered "incurable" by conventional medicine. Practising chi kung is also very effective for overcoming psychological problems. (Please see the following section.)
How does practising chi kung cure so-called incurable diseases?
One must, first of all, realise that the conventional medical paradigm is only one of many ways to look at health and illness, and it is not necessarily the only correct way. According to the Chinese medical paradigm, there is no such a thing as an incurable disease, although a patient may be incurable if his disease, even a simple one, has done damage beyond a certain threshold. No disease is incurable because it is our natural birth-right to overcome all types of diseases -- if our psychological and physiological systems are working the way they should work. Illness occurs only if one or more of these natural systems fail in their functions. When all our systems are functioning naturally, the Chinese figuratively describe this condition as harmonious chi flow, i.e. the energy flow that supplies the right information to every part of our body (and mind), that provides the right defence or immunity when needed, that repairs all our wear and tear, that channels away toxic waste and negative emotions, and that performs other countless things to keep as alive and healthy, is functioning the way it should. If this harmonious chi flow is disrupted, illness occurs. The forte of chi kung is to restore and enhance this harmonious chi flow, thus overcoming illness, irrespective of the labels one may use to define its symptoms, and promoting health, which the Chinese have always considered to be more important than curing diseases. It is significant to note that the claim of chi kung to overcome illness and promote health is not based just on the above philosophical explanation, but on thousands and thousands of practical cases.
How is chi kung related to kungfu?
All great kungfu makes use of energy training (which is chi kung) to develop internal force, without which it remains at its external, mechanical level, considered by Chinese martial artists as rough and low-class. Hence, a kungfu master may look, and actually is, gentle, yet with his internal force he can cause much damage to his opponent if he wishes. Moreover, his internal force does not diminish with age, and he can apply it for peaceful use in his daily living. Unlike in many other systems of martial arts where the training itself often results in physical as well as emotional injuries, kungfu training with chi kung enhances harmonious chi flow, thus promotes health, vitality and longevity.
How is chi kung related to Zen or meditation?
There are three aspects in all types of chi kung, namely form, energy and mind. If you practise only the form, without the energy and the mind dimensions, then you are merely performing physical exercise, strictly speaking not chi kung, for there is no training of energy. For an effective control of energy, you have to enter what is called in modern terms "a chi kung state of mind". In the past, this was called "entering Zen" or "entering silence". When you are in Zen or a meditative state of mind, you can, among other things, tap energy from the cosmos and direct the energy to flow to wherever you want in your body. It is this mind aspect of chi kung, even more than its energy aspect, that enables chi kung masters to perform what lay people would call miracles, or, depending on their attitude, fakery.
Chi kung is the art of developing vital energy particularly for health, vitality, mind expansion and spiritual cultivation.
Is chi kung the same as qigong?
Yes, they are the same. "Chi kung" is the usual English spelling, whereas "qigong" is the Romanized Chinese spelling. In Romanized Chinese, q is pronounced like the English ch'; and o like the English u. Hence, both "chi kung" and qigong" should be pronounced like the English "ch'i gung".
Are there many types of chi kung?
Depending on how we would define "types", there are two, three, four, five, six, hundreds of or thousands of types of chi kung. Some people divide chi kung into two types: quiescent and dynamic, or internal and external. Some into three types: quiescent, dynamic, and quiescent- cum-dynamic. Others into four types: standing, sitting, lying down, and moving. Still others into five types: Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, medical, and martial. Some add populace chi kung to the five to make six types. There are various schools of chi kung, such as Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, Shaolin Damo Chi Kung, Taiji Eighteen Steps Chi Kung, Flying Crane Chi Kung, Fragrance Chi Kung and so on. Sometimes, people may refer to different chi kung techniques as different types of chi kung, in which case there are thousands of them. Hence, it is understandable that there are also different levels of attainment in the various types of chi kung.
Is chi kung the same as Taijiquan?
They are different, although Taijiquan (if it is practised the way traditional masters practised it) makes extensive use of chi kung. Basically, Taijiquan is a martial art, whereas chi kung is a collective term for various arts of energy, which may or may not be used for martial art purposes. The movements of some chi kung types resemble those of Taijiquan, whereas many other chi kung movements are totally different from typical Taijiquan movements.
What are the benefits of practising chi kung?
There are many wonderful benefits derived from practising chi kung, and they may be generalized into the following five categories:
Curing illness and promoting health.
Enhancing vitality and developing internal force.
Promoting youthfulness and longevity.
Expanding the mind and the intellect.
Spiritual cultivation.
Many chi kung types focus on only one or two of the above categories, but a few cover all the five. For example, most types of medical chi kung aim mainly at curing illness, virtually all sexual types of chi kung emphasize solely on youthfulness, whereas Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung touches on all the above five categories of benefits.
What kinds of illness can practising chi kung overcome?
According to Chinese medical thought, practising chi kung can cure as well as prevent all kinds of illness, including diseases like asthma, diabetes, hypertension and cancer which are generally considered "incurable" by conventional medicine. Practising chi kung is also very effective for overcoming psychological problems. (Please see the following section.)
How does practising chi kung cure so-called incurable diseases?
One must, first of all, realise that the conventional medical paradigm is only one of many ways to look at health and illness, and it is not necessarily the only correct way. According to the Chinese medical paradigm, there is no such a thing as an incurable disease, although a patient may be incurable if his disease, even a simple one, has done damage beyond a certain threshold. No disease is incurable because it is our natural birth-right to overcome all types of diseases -- if our psychological and physiological systems are working the way they should work. Illness occurs only if one or more of these natural systems fail in their functions. When all our systems are functioning naturally, the Chinese figuratively describe this condition as harmonious chi flow, i.e. the energy flow that supplies the right information to every part of our body (and mind), that provides the right defence or immunity when needed, that repairs all our wear and tear, that channels away toxic waste and negative emotions, and that performs other countless things to keep as alive and healthy, is functioning the way it should. If this harmonious chi flow is disrupted, illness occurs. The forte of chi kung is to restore and enhance this harmonious chi flow, thus overcoming illness, irrespective of the labels one may use to define its symptoms, and promoting health, which the Chinese have always considered to be more important than curing diseases. It is significant to note that the claim of chi kung to overcome illness and promote health is not based just on the above philosophical explanation, but on thousands and thousands of practical cases.
How is chi kung related to kungfu?
All great kungfu makes use of energy training (which is chi kung) to develop internal force, without which it remains at its external, mechanical level, considered by Chinese martial artists as rough and low-class. Hence, a kungfu master may look, and actually is, gentle, yet with his internal force he can cause much damage to his opponent if he wishes. Moreover, his internal force does not diminish with age, and he can apply it for peaceful use in his daily living. Unlike in many other systems of martial arts where the training itself often results in physical as well as emotional injuries, kungfu training with chi kung enhances harmonious chi flow, thus promotes health, vitality and longevity.
How is chi kung related to Zen or meditation?
There are three aspects in all types of chi kung, namely form, energy and mind. If you practise only the form, without the energy and the mind dimensions, then you are merely performing physical exercise, strictly speaking not chi kung, for there is no training of energy. For an effective control of energy, you have to enter what is called in modern terms "a chi kung state of mind". In the past, this was called "entering Zen" or "entering silence". When you are in Zen or a meditative state of mind, you can, among other things, tap energy from the cosmos and direct the energy to flow to wherever you want in your body. It is this mind aspect of chi kung, even more than its energy aspect, that enables chi kung masters to perform what lay people would call miracles, or, depending on their attitude, fakery.
Monday, September 17, 2007
The Longevity Secrets of Qigong
Using Qigong to Protect and Enhance Our Life Systems as We Age
John Du Cane, qigong author and teacher
After thirty years of personal experience and research, I have yet to find a practice that more completely offers me a way to protect and enhance my life systems, than qigong.
The old cliché goes that “youth is wasted on the young”. Until we reach our thirties, most of us take our bodies for granted. We party, we blow energy, we burn the candle at both ends, aches and pain disappear as fast as they show up. We feel close to immortal. We are strong, flexible, energetic and eager to do anything, try anything. We do foolish things happily and often, without regard for the consequences. Hey, why not, we think, life is short.
Then life starts to rear up and slap us in the face. Then it starts to punch us in the stomach. Then it starts to kick us in the kidneys. Then it picks us up and body slams us into the concrete. And starts to stomp on us really hard. Suddenly, in our mid-thirties, mid-forties, or, God, certainly by our mid-fifties, we struggle out of bed, gaze weakly into the mirror and ask “What happened?” Yes, life is short, but I didn’t think I’d be reduced to this in the blink of an eye.
Big generalities, but you get the picture.
So, what did happen? Basically, aging happened. The decline really begins in earnest in our twenties, with a precipitous drop in hormone levels. It just takes a while to show up in our bodies.
If you don’t adopt a daily practice, like qigong, that has the capability to protect and enhance every aspect of your life system, the greased slide of your decline just goes on getting slipperier and slipperier.
Here’s a partial list of factors that will contribute to your decline, if you don’t act differently:
Decline in production of growth hormone paralleled by hormonal imbalances—leading to slower healing/recovery times.
Decline in digestive, eliminatory and circulatory systems—leading to weight gain, constipation, fatigue and cold extremities.
Emotional imbalances—leading to stagnation, debilitating tensions increasing inability to cope with stress.
Reliance on stimulants and other drugs to regulate energy—leading to depletion of natural energy reserves.
Addiction to stress-response—leading to depletion of kidneys, libido, vitality, feelings of discomfort and malaise.
Imbalances in meridian energy flow—compromising immune and other major survival systems.
Shallow breathing—leading to a decline in energy and strength.
Deterioration of joints—leading to lack of flexibility and mobility, increase in joint pain.
Postural irregularities—leading to increasing physical discomfort.
Decline in physical strength—leading to injury-vulnerability and task-inadequacy.
Decline in lymph system—leading to poor skin, edema, cancer and other major diseases.
Decline in powers of attention—leading to poor performance and social alienation.
Decline in sensitivity and responsiveness—leading to decline in ability to experience pleasure.
Inability to relax—leading to diminished capacity for spiritual growth.
What a good qigong program will give you, to address age-related problems
A worthwhile qigong program covers all the bases, when it comes to a daily self-hygiene practice. (Of course, you also need to pay attention to appropriate diet, your environment and other external factors for a complete health program.)
Some qigong teachers have emphasized one aspect of qigong over another, but I consider it unwise not to cover all the bases when the methods are there for you to access.
A good qigong longevity program will include cultivation of the following skills and habits:
Movement. Which should include tapping, shaking, pumping, coiling, twisting, squatting, stretching, flexing, joint rotations, walking, and spontaneous, playful dance-like releases. Movement will range from the very vigorous to the very tranquil.
Handwork. One of the distinguishing characteristics of qigong is the use of the hands, as off-the-body “magnets” to affect and redirect energy flow within and around the body. These self-carressive hand patterns complement the use of sensing and consciousness to cultivate stronger energy.
Breathwork. Qigong returns us to the innate breathing skills we possessed as small children, correcting the impact of stress-induced shallow breathing and other breath-related health challenges.
Posture. Qigong teaches skills for optimizing posture for “stillness” practices, both standing and sitting. These usually involve careful use of sensing and attention to cultivate energy while physically still.
Consciousness. Qigong cultivates and refines the skill of awareness and attention to both guide energy and attain deep meditative states.
Sensing. Cultivates the skill of “feeling” and affecting energy flow.
Find a good qigong teacher (or at least start studying available literature and DVDs) who can help you cultivate all of these skills. Develop a daily qigong program for yourself that addresses every aspect of your health—and you every chance of extending your life, while reducing the impact of the aging process.
A thorough qigong program will act to:
Cleanse you of toxins.
Elevate and balance hormone levels.
Accumulate, restore and maintain your energy.
Build a physically strong, limber, vibrant and resilient body.
Help you rest and recuperate, to avoid unnecessary depletion.
Protect you better from disease, whether it be an internal or external threat.
Restore all your internal organs and systems to optimal functioning.
Help you master tension and relaxation.
Balance your emotions—crucial for long-range good health.
Enhance your ability to meditate and to grow spiritually.
Build presence and the ability to be truly “in the now”.
On a final note: longevity is not just about living longer, it’s about living longer and deeper. Qigong offers a comprehensive methodology for enriching the quality of the life you have succeeded in extending.
John Du Cane, qigong author and teacher
After thirty years of personal experience and research, I have yet to find a practice that more completely offers me a way to protect and enhance my life systems, than qigong.
The old cliché goes that “youth is wasted on the young”. Until we reach our thirties, most of us take our bodies for granted. We party, we blow energy, we burn the candle at both ends, aches and pain disappear as fast as they show up. We feel close to immortal. We are strong, flexible, energetic and eager to do anything, try anything. We do foolish things happily and often, without regard for the consequences. Hey, why not, we think, life is short.
Then life starts to rear up and slap us in the face. Then it starts to punch us in the stomach. Then it starts to kick us in the kidneys. Then it picks us up and body slams us into the concrete. And starts to stomp on us really hard. Suddenly, in our mid-thirties, mid-forties, or, God, certainly by our mid-fifties, we struggle out of bed, gaze weakly into the mirror and ask “What happened?” Yes, life is short, but I didn’t think I’d be reduced to this in the blink of an eye.
Big generalities, but you get the picture.
So, what did happen? Basically, aging happened. The decline really begins in earnest in our twenties, with a precipitous drop in hormone levels. It just takes a while to show up in our bodies.
If you don’t adopt a daily practice, like qigong, that has the capability to protect and enhance every aspect of your life system, the greased slide of your decline just goes on getting slipperier and slipperier.
Here’s a partial list of factors that will contribute to your decline, if you don’t act differently:
Decline in production of growth hormone paralleled by hormonal imbalances—leading to slower healing/recovery times.
Decline in digestive, eliminatory and circulatory systems—leading to weight gain, constipation, fatigue and cold extremities.
Emotional imbalances—leading to stagnation, debilitating tensions increasing inability to cope with stress.
Reliance on stimulants and other drugs to regulate energy—leading to depletion of natural energy reserves.
Addiction to stress-response—leading to depletion of kidneys, libido, vitality, feelings of discomfort and malaise.
Imbalances in meridian energy flow—compromising immune and other major survival systems.
Shallow breathing—leading to a decline in energy and strength.
Deterioration of joints—leading to lack of flexibility and mobility, increase in joint pain.
Postural irregularities—leading to increasing physical discomfort.
Decline in physical strength—leading to injury-vulnerability and task-inadequacy.
Decline in lymph system—leading to poor skin, edema, cancer and other major diseases.
Decline in powers of attention—leading to poor performance and social alienation.
Decline in sensitivity and responsiveness—leading to decline in ability to experience pleasure.
Inability to relax—leading to diminished capacity for spiritual growth.
What a good qigong program will give you, to address age-related problems
A worthwhile qigong program covers all the bases, when it comes to a daily self-hygiene practice. (Of course, you also need to pay attention to appropriate diet, your environment and other external factors for a complete health program.)
Some qigong teachers have emphasized one aspect of qigong over another, but I consider it unwise not to cover all the bases when the methods are there for you to access.
A good qigong longevity program will include cultivation of the following skills and habits:
Movement. Which should include tapping, shaking, pumping, coiling, twisting, squatting, stretching, flexing, joint rotations, walking, and spontaneous, playful dance-like releases. Movement will range from the very vigorous to the very tranquil.
Handwork. One of the distinguishing characteristics of qigong is the use of the hands, as off-the-body “magnets” to affect and redirect energy flow within and around the body. These self-carressive hand patterns complement the use of sensing and consciousness to cultivate stronger energy.
Breathwork. Qigong returns us to the innate breathing skills we possessed as small children, correcting the impact of stress-induced shallow breathing and other breath-related health challenges.
Posture. Qigong teaches skills for optimizing posture for “stillness” practices, both standing and sitting. These usually involve careful use of sensing and attention to cultivate energy while physically still.
Consciousness. Qigong cultivates and refines the skill of awareness and attention to both guide energy and attain deep meditative states.
Sensing. Cultivates the skill of “feeling” and affecting energy flow.
Find a good qigong teacher (or at least start studying available literature and DVDs) who can help you cultivate all of these skills. Develop a daily qigong program for yourself that addresses every aspect of your health—and you every chance of extending your life, while reducing the impact of the aging process.
A thorough qigong program will act to:
Cleanse you of toxins.
Elevate and balance hormone levels.
Accumulate, restore and maintain your energy.
Build a physically strong, limber, vibrant and resilient body.
Help you rest and recuperate, to avoid unnecessary depletion.
Protect you better from disease, whether it be an internal or external threat.
Restore all your internal organs and systems to optimal functioning.
Help you master tension and relaxation.
Balance your emotions—crucial for long-range good health.
Enhance your ability to meditate and to grow spiritually.
Build presence and the ability to be truly “in the now”.
On a final note: longevity is not just about living longer, it’s about living longer and deeper. Qigong offers a comprehensive methodology for enriching the quality of the life you have succeeded in extending.
Using the secrets of qigong to live a more effective life
Calming the busy mind, healing the wounded heart and cleansing the toxic body
John Du Cane
QIGONG PRACTITIONERS INSIST there are three central intelligences in our beings, all equally important. There is one in the head, one in the heart area, and an intelligence system in the stomach. If only one intelligence receives attention, the other two suffer. One of the central insights in qigong practice is that all of these intelligences have to be recognized, otherwise they become like abandoned children.
The head or ‘monkey mind’ is very dominant in our culture—we’re very, very busy in our heads. The mind lives to create disturbance—it loves the surges of sudden excitement and wild fluctuations that arise from its addiction to stress as a favored lifestyle.
When we allow ourselves to live in this highly analytic, stressed out state we become preoccupied and inattentive and therefore less effective as human beings. When you’ve got 101 things going on in your mind, you end up not really paying attention to any of them. And all of your relationships—business, family, social, romantic—suffer accordingly. Because, really, nobody is at home anymore. Just an empty, preoccupied husk. One of the skills you learn in qigong is how to stop, let go, and be attentive.
You have to seduce the monkey mind, while its back is turned, to calm down and allow you to get back into your heart and stomach intelligences.
Our modern civilization has become a society of wounded hearts, busy minds, and toxic bodies. A wounded heart could be a neglected or abandoned heart. A busy mind is distracted, inattentive, and preoccupied. A toxic body is tight, closed, and stagnant.
We have become fragmented beings. We have lost our integration and joie de vivre and ability to operate in a connected, passionate way with life. If you want to be effective in business, if you want to be competent and truly help people, you need that passion in your life. If you allow yourself to get stressed out as a matter of course, it’s going to affect every aspect of your life, including the most practical. How practical is it to be sick in bed? How effective is it to be dead?
Qigong teaches us to get in touch with the subtle, bioelectric energy that we need to be alive. It’s important to learn to play with that, like a musician. Learn to be fluid with your energy, in touch with it, massage it, as it were.
When you train yourself to move in a very slow, relaxed way, you can remove all of the tension and blocks in your body, and become more like a wild animal. If you have to, there can be a sudden release of strong energy. But for the most part, you stay in a buoyant, relaxed state, rather like a little kid. As we get older, because of the way we create stress in our lives, we tend to lose that buoyancy, which is so essential to our overall vitality.
Our addiction to stress is one of the most devastating aspects of our modern culture. According to the Chinese, your vitality is intimately bound up in your adrenal and kidney areas. When you allow yourself to respond to pressure by stressing out, you’re depleting yourself and becoming sick and toxic inside. You start feeling run down. That’s your life-wax melting away.
The irony in our society is that in our quest for creature comforts we’ve actually created more stressors. We’ve produced a competitive environment. When the telephone rings, or when a fax comes in, our bodies react to these stressors. When a car cuts in front of you on the freeway, you have a potential stressor. Going to action movies, reading the newspaper, watching TV—all of these activities trigger that adrenal/steroid surge. Most of us have come to associate stress with pleasure—to the point of being addicted. Many of us, when not in a state of excitement or arousal, don’t feel that we’re enjoying ourselves. There are these lulls when we feel sort of depressed and out of it, so we start looking for the next excitement. That’s a roller coaster.
And then, there is the qigong-induced state of “harmonic balance.” You find this state when you look into a lover’s eyes, sit on a beach in Hawaii and watch a sunset, or listen to beautiful music. It’s that sensation of gentle beauty. Just appreciation and the feeling that everything is okay. But being competitive and yammering at people, arguing, screaming at the computer, freaking out at the emails you’re receiving, dealing with the telemarketers calling just as you’re about to eat, easily destroys this appreciative skill. You start to lose the ability to fall into harmonic balance. It becomes like a distant memory. You’re anxiously looking for it a lot of the time, but you start to lose the ability to manufacture it for yourself. One of the beauties of qigong practice is that you get seduced back into what I regard as your birthright—harmonic balance.
Why is this important? In terms of daily living, when we go into a state of stress, a number of things happen. We tense up, and instead of relaxing when the cause of stress disappears, we stay tight. In this way, we become more and more blocked and rigid in our bodies. Health and responsiveness in your daily life comes from the ability to respond to things with fluidity and flexibility. If you get into the habit of tightening and closing, sooner or later it’s going to impact the way you do business, the way you are with your family and friends, and your health.
Qigong practice starts to take you back into the heart and stomach areas, and allows you to get in touch with how it is to be relaxed and fluid. One of the keys to this is abdominal breathing. If you want to get back to that childhood buoyancy, learn to breathe like a child. The optimal breathing technique is that of a little baby, where the stomach gently inflates on the inhale and softly contracts on the exhale. Your attention and breath is low, near the stomach brain.
What happens when you breathe down in the stomach is that your lymph system is activated. When this system is stimulated, an automatic relaxation response is triggered, which puts you into that "aaahh" state. The lymph system is the body’s trash removal system. It is more extensive than the circulatory system and it’s responsible for removing crud from the body, including excess blood proteins around the cells. If the cells are going to be vibrant and alive, they need to receive blood and oxygen on a regular basis.
Imagine if one day the garbage man just didn’t show up anymore. That’s essentially what happens in a lot of our bodies. When the lymph system gets sluggish, as it tends to do as we age, the body starts to stagnate. It starts to have literal sludge. So no matter what you do, you’re not able to do it with optimal vibrancy or health. And sooner or later, you’ll almost certainly get cancer or some other major disease. When you breathe from the abdomen, and do certain types of upper arm movements, and when you bounce, as in rebounding, you stimulate the lymph system. This crud, if you take these measures every day, will be removed from the body.
We want to avoid disease, because it’s very impractical! But we procrastinate enough about our health that we set ourselves up for disease all the time. Want to be practical in your life? Then adopt a daily practice that stops you getting sick.
When you adopt a practice that takes you into a more serene, contented state, it helps you change how you react to stressors. There are two ways to handle someone cutting in front of you on the freeway. You can grip the steering wheel, shout at the person and treat them like they were stealing your time, stealing your life; or you can just smile and relax and breathe. It’s not going to help you to shout and curse; in fact it’s just hurting you. When you get into a daily practice and gain the ability to relax and breathe, you’re able to handle so-called stressful situations in a much freer, easier way. And this applies to your business. When something doesn’t go the way you want it, you can go ballistic and get all worked up about it, or you can relax out of that state. You need a daily practice to build the skill to be relaxed.
John Du Cane
QIGONG PRACTITIONERS INSIST there are three central intelligences in our beings, all equally important. There is one in the head, one in the heart area, and an intelligence system in the stomach. If only one intelligence receives attention, the other two suffer. One of the central insights in qigong practice is that all of these intelligences have to be recognized, otherwise they become like abandoned children.
The head or ‘monkey mind’ is very dominant in our culture—we’re very, very busy in our heads. The mind lives to create disturbance—it loves the surges of sudden excitement and wild fluctuations that arise from its addiction to stress as a favored lifestyle.
When we allow ourselves to live in this highly analytic, stressed out state we become preoccupied and inattentive and therefore less effective as human beings. When you’ve got 101 things going on in your mind, you end up not really paying attention to any of them. And all of your relationships—business, family, social, romantic—suffer accordingly. Because, really, nobody is at home anymore. Just an empty, preoccupied husk. One of the skills you learn in qigong is how to stop, let go, and be attentive.
You have to seduce the monkey mind, while its back is turned, to calm down and allow you to get back into your heart and stomach intelligences.
Our modern civilization has become a society of wounded hearts, busy minds, and toxic bodies. A wounded heart could be a neglected or abandoned heart. A busy mind is distracted, inattentive, and preoccupied. A toxic body is tight, closed, and stagnant.
We have become fragmented beings. We have lost our integration and joie de vivre and ability to operate in a connected, passionate way with life. If you want to be effective in business, if you want to be competent and truly help people, you need that passion in your life. If you allow yourself to get stressed out as a matter of course, it’s going to affect every aspect of your life, including the most practical. How practical is it to be sick in bed? How effective is it to be dead?
Qigong teaches us to get in touch with the subtle, bioelectric energy that we need to be alive. It’s important to learn to play with that, like a musician. Learn to be fluid with your energy, in touch with it, massage it, as it were.
When you train yourself to move in a very slow, relaxed way, you can remove all of the tension and blocks in your body, and become more like a wild animal. If you have to, there can be a sudden release of strong energy. But for the most part, you stay in a buoyant, relaxed state, rather like a little kid. As we get older, because of the way we create stress in our lives, we tend to lose that buoyancy, which is so essential to our overall vitality.
Our addiction to stress is one of the most devastating aspects of our modern culture. According to the Chinese, your vitality is intimately bound up in your adrenal and kidney areas. When you allow yourself to respond to pressure by stressing out, you’re depleting yourself and becoming sick and toxic inside. You start feeling run down. That’s your life-wax melting away.
The irony in our society is that in our quest for creature comforts we’ve actually created more stressors. We’ve produced a competitive environment. When the telephone rings, or when a fax comes in, our bodies react to these stressors. When a car cuts in front of you on the freeway, you have a potential stressor. Going to action movies, reading the newspaper, watching TV—all of these activities trigger that adrenal/steroid surge. Most of us have come to associate stress with pleasure—to the point of being addicted. Many of us, when not in a state of excitement or arousal, don’t feel that we’re enjoying ourselves. There are these lulls when we feel sort of depressed and out of it, so we start looking for the next excitement. That’s a roller coaster.
And then, there is the qigong-induced state of “harmonic balance.” You find this state when you look into a lover’s eyes, sit on a beach in Hawaii and watch a sunset, or listen to beautiful music. It’s that sensation of gentle beauty. Just appreciation and the feeling that everything is okay. But being competitive and yammering at people, arguing, screaming at the computer, freaking out at the emails you’re receiving, dealing with the telemarketers calling just as you’re about to eat, easily destroys this appreciative skill. You start to lose the ability to fall into harmonic balance. It becomes like a distant memory. You’re anxiously looking for it a lot of the time, but you start to lose the ability to manufacture it for yourself. One of the beauties of qigong practice is that you get seduced back into what I regard as your birthright—harmonic balance.
Why is this important? In terms of daily living, when we go into a state of stress, a number of things happen. We tense up, and instead of relaxing when the cause of stress disappears, we stay tight. In this way, we become more and more blocked and rigid in our bodies. Health and responsiveness in your daily life comes from the ability to respond to things with fluidity and flexibility. If you get into the habit of tightening and closing, sooner or later it’s going to impact the way you do business, the way you are with your family and friends, and your health.
Qigong practice starts to take you back into the heart and stomach areas, and allows you to get in touch with how it is to be relaxed and fluid. One of the keys to this is abdominal breathing. If you want to get back to that childhood buoyancy, learn to breathe like a child. The optimal breathing technique is that of a little baby, where the stomach gently inflates on the inhale and softly contracts on the exhale. Your attention and breath is low, near the stomach brain.
What happens when you breathe down in the stomach is that your lymph system is activated. When this system is stimulated, an automatic relaxation response is triggered, which puts you into that "aaahh" state. The lymph system is the body’s trash removal system. It is more extensive than the circulatory system and it’s responsible for removing crud from the body, including excess blood proteins around the cells. If the cells are going to be vibrant and alive, they need to receive blood and oxygen on a regular basis.
Imagine if one day the garbage man just didn’t show up anymore. That’s essentially what happens in a lot of our bodies. When the lymph system gets sluggish, as it tends to do as we age, the body starts to stagnate. It starts to have literal sludge. So no matter what you do, you’re not able to do it with optimal vibrancy or health. And sooner or later, you’ll almost certainly get cancer or some other major disease. When you breathe from the abdomen, and do certain types of upper arm movements, and when you bounce, as in rebounding, you stimulate the lymph system. This crud, if you take these measures every day, will be removed from the body.
We want to avoid disease, because it’s very impractical! But we procrastinate enough about our health that we set ourselves up for disease all the time. Want to be practical in your life? Then adopt a daily practice that stops you getting sick.
When you adopt a practice that takes you into a more serene, contented state, it helps you change how you react to stressors. There are two ways to handle someone cutting in front of you on the freeway. You can grip the steering wheel, shout at the person and treat them like they were stealing your time, stealing your life; or you can just smile and relax and breathe. It’s not going to help you to shout and curse; in fact it’s just hurting you. When you get into a daily practice and gain the ability to relax and breathe, you’re able to handle so-called stressful situations in a much freer, easier way. And this applies to your business. When something doesn’t go the way you want it, you can go ballistic and get all worked up about it, or you can relax out of that state. You need a daily practice to build the skill to be relaxed.
Six Powerful Qigong Secrets for Generating Greater Strength
Over many centuries, Chinese internal martial artists developed numerous skills for cultivating immense strength and formidable endurance, with or without the use of weights (as in weapons training).
Here are six of the most powerful qigong techniques for increasing your strength:
Low-stance standing
Whole books have been devoted to the power of standing postures to develop strength and energy. Crucial elements include: aligning the body correctly to minimize gravitational pull and optimize flow, the ability to remain relaxed while maintaining a low stance and correct abdominal breathing.
Absorbing
Central to this technique is the idea that we can employ an almost photosynthetic capability to “feed” ourselves by absorbing additional energy into our bodies from the external environment. The effect is similar to pumping up a car tire. The body becomes, with dedicated practice, highly buoyant and resilient. High-level practitioners are capable of “bouncing” strikes off their bodies. Absorbing techniques require great skill and perseverance in the use of attention to induce this phenomenon.
Creating a vibratory current
This is a very high-level practice for “upping the charge” in your body. Again, the skilled use of attention and extended practice are key, as you learn to vibrate energy backwards and forwards to promote higher intensity within your frame. The potential with this kind of technique is unlimited.
Compressed breathing
Qigong masters discovered that you can regulate strength in the body by creating greater pressure in the abdominal area. There are several methods used for “packing” extra pressure by compressing the breath in a forceful manner, while holding the stomach area very tight. The more you do this, the more strength you will be able to exert throughout your body.
Localized tension control
Once you have mastered compressed breathing and developed your attention skills, you can learn to shift your qi and “tension” into a very concentrated spot or area in your body. The training for this often involves specific movements or held postures that help direct energy to that area. Even vulnerable areas like the front of the throat can be trained in this manner. To illustrate this point, one of my teachers would use a palm strike to shatter a ballpoint pen lodged against his throat.
Elastic winding
Internal martial artists figured out how to “load tension” into their muscles by deliberately twisting their bodies like coiled springs. This coiled position is either held for long periods or used as a preparation or transition for explosive action. Iron Shirt qigong uses this technique as do forms like The 18 Buddha Hands and The Five Animal Frolics.
Dragon Door author Pavel Tsatsouline gave a modern explanation of how elastic winding works in a past issue of Milo magazine:
“Muscular force is generated by actin and myosin filaments overlapping each other and forming cross-bridges…once the actin and myosin filaments have maximally overlapped, more tension can be realized by spiralling of the myosin filaments. A change in the length of the pitch of the actin helix may also boost force production during a very intense muscular contraction. Both processes can be compared to twisting a rubber band after it has fully contracted…it enables the muscle to store high amounts of elastic energy as the descending weight stretches the bands and the twists in the bands on the way down.”
Here are six of the most powerful qigong techniques for increasing your strength:
Low-stance standing
Whole books have been devoted to the power of standing postures to develop strength and energy. Crucial elements include: aligning the body correctly to minimize gravitational pull and optimize flow, the ability to remain relaxed while maintaining a low stance and correct abdominal breathing.
Absorbing
Central to this technique is the idea that we can employ an almost photosynthetic capability to “feed” ourselves by absorbing additional energy into our bodies from the external environment. The effect is similar to pumping up a car tire. The body becomes, with dedicated practice, highly buoyant and resilient. High-level practitioners are capable of “bouncing” strikes off their bodies. Absorbing techniques require great skill and perseverance in the use of attention to induce this phenomenon.
Creating a vibratory current
This is a very high-level practice for “upping the charge” in your body. Again, the skilled use of attention and extended practice are key, as you learn to vibrate energy backwards and forwards to promote higher intensity within your frame. The potential with this kind of technique is unlimited.
Compressed breathing
Qigong masters discovered that you can regulate strength in the body by creating greater pressure in the abdominal area. There are several methods used for “packing” extra pressure by compressing the breath in a forceful manner, while holding the stomach area very tight. The more you do this, the more strength you will be able to exert throughout your body.
Localized tension control
Once you have mastered compressed breathing and developed your attention skills, you can learn to shift your qi and “tension” into a very concentrated spot or area in your body. The training for this often involves specific movements or held postures that help direct energy to that area. Even vulnerable areas like the front of the throat can be trained in this manner. To illustrate this point, one of my teachers would use a palm strike to shatter a ballpoint pen lodged against his throat.
Elastic winding
Internal martial artists figured out how to “load tension” into their muscles by deliberately twisting their bodies like coiled springs. This coiled position is either held for long periods or used as a preparation or transition for explosive action. Iron Shirt qigong uses this technique as do forms like The 18 Buddha Hands and The Five Animal Frolics.
Dragon Door author Pavel Tsatsouline gave a modern explanation of how elastic winding works in a past issue of Milo magazine:
“Muscular force is generated by actin and myosin filaments overlapping each other and forming cross-bridges…once the actin and myosin filaments have maximally overlapped, more tension can be realized by spiralling of the myosin filaments. A change in the length of the pitch of the actin helix may also boost force production during a very intense muscular contraction. Both processes can be compared to twisting a rubber band after it has fully contracted…it enables the muscle to store high amounts of elastic energy as the descending weight stretches the bands and the twists in the bands on the way down.”
How Qigong Can Help You Relax Out of Stress
Our birthright is to swim in an ocean of pleasure and harmony, luxuriating in the rolling swell of life. As young children—if we are fortunate—we live that birthright. We celebrate life with a buoyant, carefree, vital engagement in the everyday moment
Then something starts to happen to us. We begin to tense up. We begin to close down. We begin to lose touch with our bodies and live in our heads. We become confused about our feelings. We start to regret the past or fantasize about the future. We begin to fragment. We start to lose our fluid integrity as fully expressed and responsive human beings
What happened? In a nutshell, stress happened. While a certain amount of stress is natural to life, our search for technological shortcuts to comfort and convenience has ironically created unprecedented waves of stress in our modern lives. Our nervous systems are constantly reacting to a barrage of phone calls, faxes, e-mails, frenzied traffic and numbing schedules.
Life seems to have become more of a struggle, with less rather than more time to rest. Sooner or later we really hit the wall. We end up sick in bed. Or a major crisis stuns us into a temporary halt. Stress has got the better of us.
Not surprisingly, the World Health Organization is now listing stress as a prime contributor to the five leading causes of death— such as cancer and heart disease.
Although most of us are now aware of the dangers of stress, we’ve become so addicted to the surges and swings of feeling associated with stress, we can no longer imagine life any other way. If things get too quiet we start seeking out a new stressor to react to, for another chemical jolt, another toxic surge of excitement and nervous expenditure.
The Most Effective Self-Care System in the World?
There are many ways to intervene in this vicious cycle and reclaim our peace of mind—restoring balance and serenity in our lives. Meditation, yoga and moderate exercise can all help. But, after twenty-five years of personal research into what works best to counter stress, I’ve found the ancient Chinese art of qigong to offer the surest results.
So Why and How is Qigong so effective in managing stress?
First, qigong emphasizes and teaches how to breathe correctly into the lower stomach. When we breathe this way consistently, our lymph systems are effectively activated, detoxifying the body and sending a gentle stream of energizing oxygen into the tissues. Activation of the lymph system automatically triggers a relaxation response throughout the body. We automatically feel balanced and "well". Qigong also activates the lymph system with off-the-body stroking movements and an emphasis on pumping the legs with up and down squatting movements.
Secondly, qigong’s strong mental emphasis on internal relaxation shifts us out of the sympathetic nervous system (associated with fight-or-flight and our normal reaction to stress) into the parasympathetic nervous system (associated with feelings of pleasure and harmony). This is so important. Over-use of the sympathetic nervous system depletes our adrenals and floods the body with toxic levels of cortisol. We literally burn ourselves out. But like rats hitting the button for more cocaine, we just can’t stop. Qigong slowly seduces us back into the gentle world of the parasympathetic and over time we build up a "body-memory" that allows us to choose a different, relaxed response to stress rather than the frazzled, knee-jerk reaction we usually employ.
Thirdly, qigong balances the meridian energy flow in the body, through scientific movement and direction of mental intention. Areas that are depleted are restored to their correct levels; areas that are excessive are "calmed down." As we become more energetically balanced, we are automatically capable of better adjusting to daily stress.
Fourthly, qigong practice builds the skill of becoming tranquil and appreciating the value of that tranquility. Qigong accomplishes this by meditative standing and sitting practices where we go deep inside and use our attention to release ourselves emotionally and psychically. Significant healing occurs at this level of qigong practice, with tremendous mplications for stress management.
Lastly, qigong integrates our three major centers or "brains", the third eye area, the heart center and the stomach. In the computer age, we have become "headier" than ever, losing touch with the wisdom of our hearts and the grounding of our stomachs. Western science and organizations like HeartMath have proved that attention on the heart center can entrain the head to process emotions in a less stress-inducing manner. Through its emphasis and cultivation of all three centers, qigong ensures maximum resilience when it comes to handling stress effectively.
Qigong is like a practical course in acceptance and letting go. We learn how to conserve our energy and stay calm, whatever the pressures. We learn how to gain control of our inner being and take responsibility for enhancing the quality of our lives. These are skills you can use and apply for the rest of your life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Du Cane, who began his qigong studies in 1975, teaches qigong in the Twin Cities and is the author of four qigong videos, Serenity Qigong, Vitality Qigong, Power Qigong and Bliss Qigong.
He owns a publishing and mail order business devoted to qigong and related health systems. For more information on classes and for a free catalog of qigong resources, contact John at:
Dragon Door Publications,
PO Box 4381,
St.Paul, MN 55104.
Tel: (651) 487-3828
Email: dragondoor@aol.com
Website: www.DragonDoor.com
Then something starts to happen to us. We begin to tense up. We begin to close down. We begin to lose touch with our bodies and live in our heads. We become confused about our feelings. We start to regret the past or fantasize about the future. We begin to fragment. We start to lose our fluid integrity as fully expressed and responsive human beings
What happened? In a nutshell, stress happened. While a certain amount of stress is natural to life, our search for technological shortcuts to comfort and convenience has ironically created unprecedented waves of stress in our modern lives. Our nervous systems are constantly reacting to a barrage of phone calls, faxes, e-mails, frenzied traffic and numbing schedules.
Life seems to have become more of a struggle, with less rather than more time to rest. Sooner or later we really hit the wall. We end up sick in bed. Or a major crisis stuns us into a temporary halt. Stress has got the better of us.
Not surprisingly, the World Health Organization is now listing stress as a prime contributor to the five leading causes of death— such as cancer and heart disease.
Although most of us are now aware of the dangers of stress, we’ve become so addicted to the surges and swings of feeling associated with stress, we can no longer imagine life any other way. If things get too quiet we start seeking out a new stressor to react to, for another chemical jolt, another toxic surge of excitement and nervous expenditure.
The Most Effective Self-Care System in the World?
There are many ways to intervene in this vicious cycle and reclaim our peace of mind—restoring balance and serenity in our lives. Meditation, yoga and moderate exercise can all help. But, after twenty-five years of personal research into what works best to counter stress, I’ve found the ancient Chinese art of qigong to offer the surest results.
So Why and How is Qigong so effective in managing stress?
First, qigong emphasizes and teaches how to breathe correctly into the lower stomach. When we breathe this way consistently, our lymph systems are effectively activated, detoxifying the body and sending a gentle stream of energizing oxygen into the tissues. Activation of the lymph system automatically triggers a relaxation response throughout the body. We automatically feel balanced and "well". Qigong also activates the lymph system with off-the-body stroking movements and an emphasis on pumping the legs with up and down squatting movements.
Secondly, qigong’s strong mental emphasis on internal relaxation shifts us out of the sympathetic nervous system (associated with fight-or-flight and our normal reaction to stress) into the parasympathetic nervous system (associated with feelings of pleasure and harmony). This is so important. Over-use of the sympathetic nervous system depletes our adrenals and floods the body with toxic levels of cortisol. We literally burn ourselves out. But like rats hitting the button for more cocaine, we just can’t stop. Qigong slowly seduces us back into the gentle world of the parasympathetic and over time we build up a "body-memory" that allows us to choose a different, relaxed response to stress rather than the frazzled, knee-jerk reaction we usually employ.
Thirdly, qigong balances the meridian energy flow in the body, through scientific movement and direction of mental intention. Areas that are depleted are restored to their correct levels; areas that are excessive are "calmed down." As we become more energetically balanced, we are automatically capable of better adjusting to daily stress.
Fourthly, qigong practice builds the skill of becoming tranquil and appreciating the value of that tranquility. Qigong accomplishes this by meditative standing and sitting practices where we go deep inside and use our attention to release ourselves emotionally and psychically. Significant healing occurs at this level of qigong practice, with tremendous mplications for stress management.
Lastly, qigong integrates our three major centers or "brains", the third eye area, the heart center and the stomach. In the computer age, we have become "headier" than ever, losing touch with the wisdom of our hearts and the grounding of our stomachs. Western science and organizations like HeartMath have proved that attention on the heart center can entrain the head to process emotions in a less stress-inducing manner. Through its emphasis and cultivation of all three centers, qigong ensures maximum resilience when it comes to handling stress effectively.
Qigong is like a practical course in acceptance and letting go. We learn how to conserve our energy and stay calm, whatever the pressures. We learn how to gain control of our inner being and take responsibility for enhancing the quality of our lives. These are skills you can use and apply for the rest of your life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Du Cane, who began his qigong studies in 1975, teaches qigong in the Twin Cities and is the author of four qigong videos, Serenity Qigong, Vitality Qigong, Power Qigong and Bliss Qigong.
He owns a publishing and mail order business devoted to qigong and related health systems. For more information on classes and for a free catalog of qigong resources, contact John at:
Dragon Door Publications,
PO Box 4381,
St.Paul, MN 55104.
Tel: (651) 487-3828
Email: dragondoor@aol.com
Website: www.DragonDoor.com
How Qigong Can Help You Recover From any Addiction
What are the hallmarks of addiction? How can you tell if you are addicted to something, be it drugs, work or some other compulsion?
Essentially, addiction happens when you rely so much on an external substance or process to fulfill an inner need, that the removal of the substance or process leaves you agitated, uncomfortable and distressed.
In the case of drugs, we have made the choice to be harsh and crass with our internal chemistry. Instead of allowing the body to be the infinitely wise and subtle conductor of an orchestra of neuropeptides, we aggressively stimulate and trigger massive cascades of short-term pleasure-feelings. The more we do this, the more we lose the power to respond with sensitivity to the challenges of our life. We become powerless and ineffective, sometimes quite insane—we become toxic, “dirty” creatures (interestingly, the root meaning of sanity is “clean.”)
Many of us become addicted to our work, finding it increasingly hard to relax, release and enjoy the simple pleasures of life beyond the rollercoaster of our jobs’ demands. And, of course, as a culture, we have become addicted to stress, addicted to thinking, addicted to the high and lows of the “fight or flight” response.
Addiction to anything reduces us spiritually, cripples us emotionally and poisons us physically.
Recovery from addiction requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses every problematic issue simultaneously—the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
So how can qigong help?
Lets take addiction to drugs (including nicotine and alcohol) as the model:
Detoxification
Extensive drug use clogs the body with toxic debris. TCH, for instance, can lodge in the tissues for years. Qigong’s active stimulation of the lymph system speeds up the detox process, helping to remove impurities from the bloodstream. “Dirty” blood is uncomfortable and often translates into “dirty thinking” which in turn can lead to relapse.
Relaxation
Addiction to drugs diminishes our ability to manage stress and tension. For many months, if not years, after stopping drug use, the internal chemistry remains in turmoil, creating all kinds of dangerous cravings and instabilities. Group-therapeutic activities are invaluable as a partial remedy for these ups and downs. But qigong can help speed the process of mastering our relaxation response. Qigong’s breathing style, hand movements and postures actively induce a long-lasting relaxation response and a sense of well-being. If you own your own private toolkit for “switching on” feelings of contentment and internal—almost at will—you are less likely to become victimized by your chemical imbalances.
Acceptance
Spiritually-oriented approaches to drug-addiction emphasize the supreme importance of cultivating the skill of “letting go” in our lives. Qigong, in its more meditative forms, is a superb vehicle for training this skill experientially. Emotionally, qigong encourages us to accept and appreciate every emotion as valid and necessary—even fear and anger. By accepting our emotions more readily, we release from them the more easily (attachment and addiction are very close relatives.)
Self Care and Self Love
Self esteem, self care—and love in general—take a hammering when we get addicted to drugs. Qigong’s whole mindset is to encourage a sense of integrated well-being through daily practice. As we become more genuinely at home in our own bodies, more generally loving of ourselves, we will finally have love and care to share with others.
Energy
Most drug use impairs, depletes or rips off our energetic reserves. Qigong’s techniques specifically restore our energy and resilience by creating a fresh, balanced flow in the body.
Balance
Balance is actually a dynamic process of constant shifts in response to constant change. Drug use narrows the range of our sensitivities, so we become less responsive and less capable of handling change as it presents to us. Qigong training teaches us to constantly shift from dynamic to tranquil and to master those transitions with increasing ease.
Community
And finally, there’s communion with kindred spirits. Qigong group practice encourages a conspiracy of good humor and gentle friendship. The Chinese rate the healing power of this group “qi field” phenomenon so highly, they invite recovering cancer patients to immerse themselves in the “healing bath” of a group qigong practice.
Drug addiction tends to make us contracted, tight, isolated, self-centered and delusional—“terminally unique.” Qigong helps redress this dis-ease by naturally encouraging us to be expansive, loose, communal and appreciative.
John Du Cane is the author of the workbook The Five Animal Frolics and four qigong videos, Bliss Qigong, Serenity Qigong, Vitality Qigong and Power Qigong. Du Cane teaches qigong locally in Minnesota and nationally. For more information email him at dragondoor@aol.com or call 651-487-3828.
Essentially, addiction happens when you rely so much on an external substance or process to fulfill an inner need, that the removal of the substance or process leaves you agitated, uncomfortable and distressed.
In the case of drugs, we have made the choice to be harsh and crass with our internal chemistry. Instead of allowing the body to be the infinitely wise and subtle conductor of an orchestra of neuropeptides, we aggressively stimulate and trigger massive cascades of short-term pleasure-feelings. The more we do this, the more we lose the power to respond with sensitivity to the challenges of our life. We become powerless and ineffective, sometimes quite insane—we become toxic, “dirty” creatures (interestingly, the root meaning of sanity is “clean.”)
Many of us become addicted to our work, finding it increasingly hard to relax, release and enjoy the simple pleasures of life beyond the rollercoaster of our jobs’ demands. And, of course, as a culture, we have become addicted to stress, addicted to thinking, addicted to the high and lows of the “fight or flight” response.
Addiction to anything reduces us spiritually, cripples us emotionally and poisons us physically.
Recovery from addiction requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses every problematic issue simultaneously—the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
So how can qigong help?
Lets take addiction to drugs (including nicotine and alcohol) as the model:
Detoxification
Extensive drug use clogs the body with toxic debris. TCH, for instance, can lodge in the tissues for years. Qigong’s active stimulation of the lymph system speeds up the detox process, helping to remove impurities from the bloodstream. “Dirty” blood is uncomfortable and often translates into “dirty thinking” which in turn can lead to relapse.
Relaxation
Addiction to drugs diminishes our ability to manage stress and tension. For many months, if not years, after stopping drug use, the internal chemistry remains in turmoil, creating all kinds of dangerous cravings and instabilities. Group-therapeutic activities are invaluable as a partial remedy for these ups and downs. But qigong can help speed the process of mastering our relaxation response. Qigong’s breathing style, hand movements and postures actively induce a long-lasting relaxation response and a sense of well-being. If you own your own private toolkit for “switching on” feelings of contentment and internal—almost at will—you are less likely to become victimized by your chemical imbalances.
Acceptance
Spiritually-oriented approaches to drug-addiction emphasize the supreme importance of cultivating the skill of “letting go” in our lives. Qigong, in its more meditative forms, is a superb vehicle for training this skill experientially. Emotionally, qigong encourages us to accept and appreciate every emotion as valid and necessary—even fear and anger. By accepting our emotions more readily, we release from them the more easily (attachment and addiction are very close relatives.)
Self Care and Self Love
Self esteem, self care—and love in general—take a hammering when we get addicted to drugs. Qigong’s whole mindset is to encourage a sense of integrated well-being through daily practice. As we become more genuinely at home in our own bodies, more generally loving of ourselves, we will finally have love and care to share with others.
Energy
Most drug use impairs, depletes or rips off our energetic reserves. Qigong’s techniques specifically restore our energy and resilience by creating a fresh, balanced flow in the body.
Balance
Balance is actually a dynamic process of constant shifts in response to constant change. Drug use narrows the range of our sensitivities, so we become less responsive and less capable of handling change as it presents to us. Qigong training teaches us to constantly shift from dynamic to tranquil and to master those transitions with increasing ease.
Community
And finally, there’s communion with kindred spirits. Qigong group practice encourages a conspiracy of good humor and gentle friendship. The Chinese rate the healing power of this group “qi field” phenomenon so highly, they invite recovering cancer patients to immerse themselves in the “healing bath” of a group qigong practice.
Drug addiction tends to make us contracted, tight, isolated, self-centered and delusional—“terminally unique.” Qigong helps redress this dis-ease by naturally encouraging us to be expansive, loose, communal and appreciative.
John Du Cane is the author of the workbook The Five Animal Frolics and four qigong videos, Bliss Qigong, Serenity Qigong, Vitality Qigong and Power Qigong. Du Cane teaches qigong locally in Minnesota and nationally. For more information email him at dragondoor@aol.com or call 651-487-3828.
Practices: Breathing
Full Chest and Abdominal Breathing
This method is simply a deepening of the breath. Take slow, deep, rhythmic breaths through the nose. When the diaphragm drops down, the abdomen is expanded allowing the air to rush into the vacuum created in the lungs. Then the chest cavity is expanded, allowing the lungs to fill completely. This is followed by a slow, even exhalation which empties the lungs completely. This simple breath practice done slowly and fully, with intention, concentration and relaxation activates all of the primary benefits of therapeutic breath practice. In Qigong and Pranayama the breath is retained for additional benefit.
Application Suggestions:
Health maintenance: 6 to 10 repetitions, 2 to 3 sessions per day.
Health enhancement: 6 to 10 repetitions, 4 to 6 sessions per day.
Disease intervention: Start slowly and build up to 15 to 20 repetitions, in 10 to 15 sessions per day.
Getting started: 2 to 3 repetitions, once or twice per day. Remember to keep it easy and fun.
This method is simply a deepening of the breath. Take slow, deep, rhythmic breaths through the nose. When the diaphragm drops down, the abdomen is expanded allowing the air to rush into the vacuum created in the lungs. Then the chest cavity is expanded, allowing the lungs to fill completely. This is followed by a slow, even exhalation which empties the lungs completely. This simple breath practice done slowly and fully, with intention, concentration and relaxation activates all of the primary benefits of therapeutic breath practice. In Qigong and Pranayama the breath is retained for additional benefit.
Application Suggestions:
Health maintenance: 6 to 10 repetitions, 2 to 3 sessions per day.
Health enhancement: 6 to 10 repetitions, 4 to 6 sessions per day.
Disease intervention: Start slowly and build up to 15 to 20 repetitions, in 10 to 15 sessions per day.
Getting started: 2 to 3 repetitions, once or twice per day. Remember to keep it easy and fun.
Practices: Breathing
It is a bit unusual to us in the western world to consider the importance of breathing techniques. After all, we are always breathing, aren't we? It seems a little silly to put extra attention to something we do naturally. Notice your own breathing. Isn't each breath actually very shallow? Does your posture or position encourage or restrict your ability to take full breaths? If you note carefully you will probably realize that you are utilizing one quarter or less, of your lung capacity.
The presence of special breathing practices in the ancient cultures has always been a mystery to people in the Western world. There are numerous beneficial physiological mechanisms that are triggered when we turn our attention to the breath and then increase it's volume. When volume, rate and attention level are all altered, dramatic physiological, and even emotional, changes can occur. As it turns out, unknown to science until very recently, the action of the lungs, diaphragm and thorax are a primary pump for the lymph fluid, a lymph heart. This mechanism may be more important to the lymph heart than body movements. In addition, the breath is the source for oxygen which is the key element in the body's ability to produce energy. And the act of relaxed, full breathing moves the function of the autonomic nervous system towards balance or homeostasis. (Please see the section on physiology in "The Most Profound Medicine" for a complete revelation of the mechanisms initiated by Qigong).
From the traditions of the ancients we know that breathing practices are important. Why would they continue to employ techniques that were ineffective? Empirical science, the scientific method of all original cultures, is based on trial and error. That which has value is kept and employed. That which is found to have little or no value is dropped. In the empirical approach, that which is kept, is "tried and true". Empirically breath practice is "tried and true".
We also know that these practices are important through clinical experience. Patients who have learned and used breath practice as a part of their daily personal system of self-applied health enhancement respond more quickly to treatment, no matter what type of physician they are seeing. Individuals who are well are able to remain more well, adapt to greater stress and have greater endurance when they keep breath practice in their daily self-care ritual.
Inspiration is the rush that one feels when over taken by spiritual energy, it is the force that impels one forward into life, and it is the divine influence that brings forth creativity and vitality. Inspiration is, also, "to breath in ". The breath is a link to the most profound medicine that we carry within us. Within this nearly unconscious gesture, a breath, that we enact 1,261,440,000 (1 and 1/4 billion) times in our life span there is a simple yet profound healing capability.
Our first act when we emerge from the womb is to inspire. Our last act is to dis-inspire or expire. These breaths, first in and finally out, are like parentheses that encompass our corporal life. It is no surprise that the breath would be so remarkably linked to the power of healing.
The presence of special breathing practices in the ancient cultures has always been a mystery to people in the Western world. There are numerous beneficial physiological mechanisms that are triggered when we turn our attention to the breath and then increase it's volume. When volume, rate and attention level are all altered, dramatic physiological, and even emotional, changes can occur. As it turns out, unknown to science until very recently, the action of the lungs, diaphragm and thorax are a primary pump for the lymph fluid, a lymph heart. This mechanism may be more important to the lymph heart than body movements. In addition, the breath is the source for oxygen which is the key element in the body's ability to produce energy. And the act of relaxed, full breathing moves the function of the autonomic nervous system towards balance or homeostasis. (Please see the section on physiology in "The Most Profound Medicine" for a complete revelation of the mechanisms initiated by Qigong).
From the traditions of the ancients we know that breathing practices are important. Why would they continue to employ techniques that were ineffective? Empirical science, the scientific method of all original cultures, is based on trial and error. That which has value is kept and employed. That which is found to have little or no value is dropped. In the empirical approach, that which is kept, is "tried and true". Empirically breath practice is "tried and true".
We also know that these practices are important through clinical experience. Patients who have learned and used breath practice as a part of their daily personal system of self-applied health enhancement respond more quickly to treatment, no matter what type of physician they are seeing. Individuals who are well are able to remain more well, adapt to greater stress and have greater endurance when they keep breath practice in their daily self-care ritual.
Inspiration is the rush that one feels when over taken by spiritual energy, it is the force that impels one forward into life, and it is the divine influence that brings forth creativity and vitality. Inspiration is, also, "to breath in ". The breath is a link to the most profound medicine that we carry within us. Within this nearly unconscious gesture, a breath, that we enact 1,261,440,000 (1 and 1/4 billion) times in our life span there is a simple yet profound healing capability.
Our first act when we emerge from the womb is to inspire. Our last act is to dis-inspire or expire. These breaths, first in and finally out, are like parentheses that encompass our corporal life. It is no surprise that the breath would be so remarkably linked to the power of healing.
History of Qi (Chi) Cultivation
In the 1600's the social, scientific and philosophical history of western culture experienced a radical shift. The work of Newton and Galileo literally revised our world. For hundreds of years the humans were locked in the stagnation of the dark ages, with little advance since fire, the wheel and the sword. Then, in less than the life span of an oak tree, tremendous and sudden evolution occured with the rapid development of engineering, the automobile and antibiotics.
Western culture is at the edge of another profound and dramatic transformation. For the last 400 years we have understood that the world was a dynamic interelationship of substances, particles and bodies. Now, through the most refined scientific inquiry, it has become clear that there is no substance. What we thought was substance has been revealed as a dynamic interelationship of energies. Physics is now redefining time and space and generating a whole new sciences of resonance and energy fields. There is even emerging agreement on a theory that suggests that there are more than three dimensions of space and one of time. Again as in the 1600's everything is dramatically changing.
Oriental philosophies and the ancient personal transformation traditions of the pre-colonial, original cultures have always held that the world we experience through our senses is but a fragment of what "is". In addition, an individual's energy field is proposed to be more central to who they are than their physical body. As western science digs itself out from under it's "seeing is believing" position what occurs is a profound validation of ideas and traditions that were called "mysterious", "savage", "unscientific", and "primitive" as little as a decade ago. As we now use science to explain the "why" and the "how" of the mysterious, unusual arts and disciplines are revealed as practical and meaningful.
The medicine of the Asian cultures, which once seemed so strange, useless and unsophisticated by the scientific standards of the 20th century European world view is now licensed as primary medical care in a number of states and is a solid component in an emerging "new medicine". Oriental medicine is completely consistent with the supposed "new" idea in rational science that a person is more of a resonating field than a substance. The Chinese, however, never demanded the scientific proof that is now pouring forth, they just followed what they knew, from generations of experience, to be effective and real. Acupuncture has helped to needle science into the exploration and confirmation of important new information on the bio-electrical aspect of the human. It has played a significant role in the exciting and rapidly developing frontier of neurotransmitter bio-chemistry and is a central aspect of a revolutionary new treatment for addictions.
Acupuncture, however, is really just a modality, a tool used by doctors of oriental medicine to help the patient. Like surgery, though much less invasive or like medication though less likely to cause side-effects, acupuncture has startling implications for the future of medicine. The aspect of oriental medicine that has the potential to truly rock the western world is Qigong. Healing patients without touching them and with no medication, causing anesthesia by just pointing a finger and generating an acupuncture like response without needles are well documented effects of Qigong. Many observers have seen Qigong masters light florescent tubes with their hands, break massive stones and thick steel bars with their hands and feet and start fires by projecting the Qi.(5,6,7,11,16,22) The implications for the transformational impact of Qigong on western science are profound.
Qigong has captured the imagination and the scientific attention of the world. In China there is a multitude of Qigong research institutes. The need for research in the rigorous scientific method of the West, with control groups and ample statistical methodologies has shifted Qigong research out of the traditional empirical model of the Asian sciences. A flurry of research was presented at the historic First World Conference for the Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong which was attended by representatives from 17 countries. In the United States Qigong associations and institutes are proliferating rapidly.
In the San Francisco area the American Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine is working with Professor William Tiller of Stanford University on a collaborative research project exploring bioluminescence, expression of photons from the Qigong practitioner. The Qigong Institute of the East West Academy of the Healing Arts has a research team and a monthly scientific forum. In Southern California Qigong Universal is actively supporting the spread of Qigong teachings and the World Research Foundation is collecting Qigong information on its world wide scientific database and in its library. There is even a Qigong Association in Alabama, Chinese National Chi Kung Association, which has an extensive written and video training course and has begun to publish a magazine in collaboration with China Sports Magazine of China that has a major percentage of its content devoted to Qigong.
What is Qigong?
Qigong is one of the great mysteries of the Asia. It is the most profound of the aspects of Asian medicine. It is the root of self-care, in the Chinese health care system. It is the essence of the how "physician heal thy self" operates in China. Qigong is the grand overriding structure of the martial arts and is the central practice of the "internal arts". It is the current link to the ancient source of Asian shamanism and magic. And yet, with all of these qualities of the unusual and the esoteric, Qigong has a very practical role in the maintenance of health and the healing of disease.
Cultivating the Human Bio-Electric Field
The Chinese character that gives us the word Qi means the human vitality or essential functional energy of life. It also means breath. Bio-electrical breath, resonating bio-electrical field and human bio-magnetic field are other translation attempts that give a rich and graphic image for the Qi. It is the Qi or life force that maintains the healthy and harmonious function of the human body's self regulating systems. It is the Qi that the doctor of oriental medicine manipulates with acupuncture. It is the Qi that binds the planets into a solar system, holds the electrons in their orbital shells around the nucleus of the atom and drives the sprout upward, against 14.7 pounds per square inch of gravity, to reach for the sun.
The character that gives us the word Gong means "to cultivate" or "engage in". In every Asian community there is a wonderful place called the cultural hall or institute of culture. Sometimes it is called the school of physical culture. This idea of culture derives from the act of cultivation, which requires time, discipline and intention. Gong means to practice, train, enhance and refine but it also implies enjoyment, devotion and commitment. If some one loves to cook, garden or meditate and if they are devoted to practice and refinement, then, one's engagement in these practices is Gong. Because one of the all time favorite pastimes in China is gong fu, which in many historical periods has meant fighting or boxing, the idea of gong is often associated with the martial arts. . In fact, however, gong is applicable to any practice, discipline or self development art in which a person is deeply involved.
Qigong, simply stated, is the cultivation of Qi or vital life energy. Stated in a more modern and scientific language, Qigong is the practice of activating, refining and circulating the human bio-electical field. Because the bioelectrical field maintains and supports the function of the organs and tissues, Qigong can have a profound effect on health. Beyond this Qigong expands into a discipline of mental and spiritual development. There are many systems and traditions of Qigong ranging from simple calesthentic type movements with breath coordination to complex auto regulatory type exercises where brain wave frequency, heart rate and other organ functions are altered intentionally by the practitioner. In extremely advanced levels of practice the Qigong practitioner can transmit Qi or energy across distances and through substances. There are cases where the practitioner can manipulate the limbs of a subject from a distance and diagnose physiological disturbances without conversation or palpation.(5,6,7,22)
History and Tradition: The Roots of Chinese Light Alchemy
There is a growing literature on the history, tradition, science and practice of Qigong. (1-24) Its origin is shrouded in the mystery of ancient China. There are stories of special techniques of breath practice that lead to immortality, healing powers, and special abilities. During the ancient Shang dynasty (1766-1154 BC) there is evidence of a system to stimulate, what are now called acupuncture reflexes, that help to resolve disturbances of the Qi.
During the Chou dynasty and the Warring States periods (1100-221 BC) records appeared on bambo and on bronze that refer to breath practice. A number of Lao Tze's greatly revered verses suggest breath practice and the benefits of merging with the forces and elements of nature. A famous prescription of the period is frequently referred to and because of the wide variation of possible meanings for early Chinese ideograms it has many various translations.
The following translation is from Helmut Wilhelm, the son of Richard Wilhelm who translated the "I-Ching" and "Secret of the Golden Flower", "With breathing proceed as follows: The breath should be held and it will be gathered. If it is gathered, it becomes magic. If it becomes magic, it descends. If it descends, it quiets down. If it quiets down, it solidifies. If it is solidified, then it germinates. If it germinates, it grows. If it grows, it is attracted upward. If it is attracted upward, it reaches toward the heaven. In heaven, it ascends upward still. At the lower end, it descends still. Those who follow this will live, those who act contrary will die."(22)
The great Taoist poet/philosopher Chuang Tzu stated, in 300 BC, "the ancients breathed down to their heels". This suggests that the breath, in the form of the Qi, is projected and circulated throughout the body. In 1973 an archeological excavation of a Han dynasty (220 BC-220 AD) tomb in Hunan Province revealed a series of over 40 figures painted onto a silk scroll doing various Qigong movements.(22) It is reported that while many of the inscriptions have become unreadable one is clear which says "look skyward and exhale".(22)In this same period one of the first great acupuncture and herbal medicine practitioners, Bien Chieuh, taught breath practice to enhance the circulation of the Qi.(15)
It is a strong tradition in oriental medicine to teach a person to maintain health and many famous physicians developed systems of exercise. In the third century AD, Hua To, whose place in the history of oriental medicine is so illustrious that a series of important acupuncture points bear his name, developed a series of Qigong exercises called the "five animal forms". In the sixth century, Da Mo, a monk in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, also known as Bodhidarma, came from India and found the monks of Shaolin Temple weakly and undisciplined. He introduced a combination of movement forms with Buddhist meditation that invigorated the monks and increased their power. This was the beginning of the tradition of the superior martial artists of the Shaolin Temple.
Many lineages of Qigong have developed over the centuries. The martial Gong enhances the the strength, endurance and spirit of the warrior. The medical Gong can be used to heal diseases. Confucian Qigong is focused on self cultivation, ethical development and refinement of personal tempermant. The Taoist Gong is aimed at alchemical transmutation, merging with nature, longevity and immortality. The Buddhist Gong seeks refinement of mind, transcending the world of illusion and salvation of all living things.
In the "New China" following the revolution in the 1940's Qigong briefly disappeared. One elder practitioner reported through a 1986 LA times article that "At that time it (Qigong) was witchcraft, so I chanted Maoist slogans like everyone else." The article continues "since then Qigong has qualified for official patronage and a national society has been formed to classify and describe the Qi".
In the 1970'sand 80's numerous institutes for the study of Qigong have sprung up in China. Many hospitals now have Qigong doctors on staff and Qigong classes as regular allied treatment with acupuncture, herbs and western medical modalities. There is a genuine renaissance of Qigong occuring in China. The western world, with its tremendous breakthrough of quantum physics, has taken up a sincere fascination with the bio-energetics of Qigong.(7,11)
© Roger Jahnke O.M.D
Western culture is at the edge of another profound and dramatic transformation. For the last 400 years we have understood that the world was a dynamic interelationship of substances, particles and bodies. Now, through the most refined scientific inquiry, it has become clear that there is no substance. What we thought was substance has been revealed as a dynamic interelationship of energies. Physics is now redefining time and space and generating a whole new sciences of resonance and energy fields. There is even emerging agreement on a theory that suggests that there are more than three dimensions of space and one of time. Again as in the 1600's everything is dramatically changing.
Oriental philosophies and the ancient personal transformation traditions of the pre-colonial, original cultures have always held that the world we experience through our senses is but a fragment of what "is". In addition, an individual's energy field is proposed to be more central to who they are than their physical body. As western science digs itself out from under it's "seeing is believing" position what occurs is a profound validation of ideas and traditions that were called "mysterious", "savage", "unscientific", and "primitive" as little as a decade ago. As we now use science to explain the "why" and the "how" of the mysterious, unusual arts and disciplines are revealed as practical and meaningful.
The medicine of the Asian cultures, which once seemed so strange, useless and unsophisticated by the scientific standards of the 20th century European world view is now licensed as primary medical care in a number of states and is a solid component in an emerging "new medicine". Oriental medicine is completely consistent with the supposed "new" idea in rational science that a person is more of a resonating field than a substance. The Chinese, however, never demanded the scientific proof that is now pouring forth, they just followed what they knew, from generations of experience, to be effective and real. Acupuncture has helped to needle science into the exploration and confirmation of important new information on the bio-electrical aspect of the human. It has played a significant role in the exciting and rapidly developing frontier of neurotransmitter bio-chemistry and is a central aspect of a revolutionary new treatment for addictions.
Acupuncture, however, is really just a modality, a tool used by doctors of oriental medicine to help the patient. Like surgery, though much less invasive or like medication though less likely to cause side-effects, acupuncture has startling implications for the future of medicine. The aspect of oriental medicine that has the potential to truly rock the western world is Qigong. Healing patients without touching them and with no medication, causing anesthesia by just pointing a finger and generating an acupuncture like response without needles are well documented effects of Qigong. Many observers have seen Qigong masters light florescent tubes with their hands, break massive stones and thick steel bars with their hands and feet and start fires by projecting the Qi.(5,6,7,11,16,22) The implications for the transformational impact of Qigong on western science are profound.
Qigong has captured the imagination and the scientific attention of the world. In China there is a multitude of Qigong research institutes. The need for research in the rigorous scientific method of the West, with control groups and ample statistical methodologies has shifted Qigong research out of the traditional empirical model of the Asian sciences. A flurry of research was presented at the historic First World Conference for the Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong which was attended by representatives from 17 countries. In the United States Qigong associations and institutes are proliferating rapidly.
In the San Francisco area the American Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine is working with Professor William Tiller of Stanford University on a collaborative research project exploring bioluminescence, expression of photons from the Qigong practitioner. The Qigong Institute of the East West Academy of the Healing Arts has a research team and a monthly scientific forum. In Southern California Qigong Universal is actively supporting the spread of Qigong teachings and the World Research Foundation is collecting Qigong information on its world wide scientific database and in its library. There is even a Qigong Association in Alabama, Chinese National Chi Kung Association, which has an extensive written and video training course and has begun to publish a magazine in collaboration with China Sports Magazine of China that has a major percentage of its content devoted to Qigong.
What is Qigong?
Qigong is one of the great mysteries of the Asia. It is the most profound of the aspects of Asian medicine. It is the root of self-care, in the Chinese health care system. It is the essence of the how "physician heal thy self" operates in China. Qigong is the grand overriding structure of the martial arts and is the central practice of the "internal arts". It is the current link to the ancient source of Asian shamanism and magic. And yet, with all of these qualities of the unusual and the esoteric, Qigong has a very practical role in the maintenance of health and the healing of disease.
Cultivating the Human Bio-Electric Field
The Chinese character that gives us the word Qi means the human vitality or essential functional energy of life. It also means breath. Bio-electrical breath, resonating bio-electrical field and human bio-magnetic field are other translation attempts that give a rich and graphic image for the Qi. It is the Qi or life force that maintains the healthy and harmonious function of the human body's self regulating systems. It is the Qi that the doctor of oriental medicine manipulates with acupuncture. It is the Qi that binds the planets into a solar system, holds the electrons in their orbital shells around the nucleus of the atom and drives the sprout upward, against 14.7 pounds per square inch of gravity, to reach for the sun.
The character that gives us the word Gong means "to cultivate" or "engage in". In every Asian community there is a wonderful place called the cultural hall or institute of culture. Sometimes it is called the school of physical culture. This idea of culture derives from the act of cultivation, which requires time, discipline and intention. Gong means to practice, train, enhance and refine but it also implies enjoyment, devotion and commitment. If some one loves to cook, garden or meditate and if they are devoted to practice and refinement, then, one's engagement in these practices is Gong. Because one of the all time favorite pastimes in China is gong fu, which in many historical periods has meant fighting or boxing, the idea of gong is often associated with the martial arts. . In fact, however, gong is applicable to any practice, discipline or self development art in which a person is deeply involved.
Qigong, simply stated, is the cultivation of Qi or vital life energy. Stated in a more modern and scientific language, Qigong is the practice of activating, refining and circulating the human bio-electical field. Because the bioelectrical field maintains and supports the function of the organs and tissues, Qigong can have a profound effect on health. Beyond this Qigong expands into a discipline of mental and spiritual development. There are many systems and traditions of Qigong ranging from simple calesthentic type movements with breath coordination to complex auto regulatory type exercises where brain wave frequency, heart rate and other organ functions are altered intentionally by the practitioner. In extremely advanced levels of practice the Qigong practitioner can transmit Qi or energy across distances and through substances. There are cases where the practitioner can manipulate the limbs of a subject from a distance and diagnose physiological disturbances without conversation or palpation.(5,6,7,22)
History and Tradition: The Roots of Chinese Light Alchemy
There is a growing literature on the history, tradition, science and practice of Qigong. (1-24) Its origin is shrouded in the mystery of ancient China. There are stories of special techniques of breath practice that lead to immortality, healing powers, and special abilities. During the ancient Shang dynasty (1766-1154 BC) there is evidence of a system to stimulate, what are now called acupuncture reflexes, that help to resolve disturbances of the Qi.
During the Chou dynasty and the Warring States periods (1100-221 BC) records appeared on bambo and on bronze that refer to breath practice. A number of Lao Tze's greatly revered verses suggest breath practice and the benefits of merging with the forces and elements of nature. A famous prescription of the period is frequently referred to and because of the wide variation of possible meanings for early Chinese ideograms it has many various translations.
The following translation is from Helmut Wilhelm, the son of Richard Wilhelm who translated the "I-Ching" and "Secret of the Golden Flower", "With breathing proceed as follows: The breath should be held and it will be gathered. If it is gathered, it becomes magic. If it becomes magic, it descends. If it descends, it quiets down. If it quiets down, it solidifies. If it is solidified, then it germinates. If it germinates, it grows. If it grows, it is attracted upward. If it is attracted upward, it reaches toward the heaven. In heaven, it ascends upward still. At the lower end, it descends still. Those who follow this will live, those who act contrary will die."(22)
The great Taoist poet/philosopher Chuang Tzu stated, in 300 BC, "the ancients breathed down to their heels". This suggests that the breath, in the form of the Qi, is projected and circulated throughout the body. In 1973 an archeological excavation of a Han dynasty (220 BC-220 AD) tomb in Hunan Province revealed a series of over 40 figures painted onto a silk scroll doing various Qigong movements.(22) It is reported that while many of the inscriptions have become unreadable one is clear which says "look skyward and exhale".(22)In this same period one of the first great acupuncture and herbal medicine practitioners, Bien Chieuh, taught breath practice to enhance the circulation of the Qi.(15)
It is a strong tradition in oriental medicine to teach a person to maintain health and many famous physicians developed systems of exercise. In the third century AD, Hua To, whose place in the history of oriental medicine is so illustrious that a series of important acupuncture points bear his name, developed a series of Qigong exercises called the "five animal forms". In the sixth century, Da Mo, a monk in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, also known as Bodhidarma, came from India and found the monks of Shaolin Temple weakly and undisciplined. He introduced a combination of movement forms with Buddhist meditation that invigorated the monks and increased their power. This was the beginning of the tradition of the superior martial artists of the Shaolin Temple.
Many lineages of Qigong have developed over the centuries. The martial Gong enhances the the strength, endurance and spirit of the warrior. The medical Gong can be used to heal diseases. Confucian Qigong is focused on self cultivation, ethical development and refinement of personal tempermant. The Taoist Gong is aimed at alchemical transmutation, merging with nature, longevity and immortality. The Buddhist Gong seeks refinement of mind, transcending the world of illusion and salvation of all living things.
In the "New China" following the revolution in the 1940's Qigong briefly disappeared. One elder practitioner reported through a 1986 LA times article that "At that time it (Qigong) was witchcraft, so I chanted Maoist slogans like everyone else." The article continues "since then Qigong has qualified for official patronage and a national society has been formed to classify and describe the Qi".
In the 1970'sand 80's numerous institutes for the study of Qigong have sprung up in China. Many hospitals now have Qigong doctors on staff and Qigong classes as regular allied treatment with acupuncture, herbs and western medical modalities. There is a genuine renaissance of Qigong occuring in China. The western world, with its tremendous breakthrough of quantum physics, has taken up a sincere fascination with the bio-energetics of Qigong.(7,11)
© Roger Jahnke O.M.D
Qigong (Chi Kung)
The history of Qigong (Ch'i Kung) commences beyond the era of written records, in the mists of prehistory. Earliest estimates suggest that self enhancement and empowerment practices date into the time of Chinese shamans, previous to 500 BCE.
While Qigong has strong roots into mystical and philosophical ground, the practical healing and stress management applications are the most popular aspects of the tradition in China today. Both the health and spiritual applications are rapidly gaining in popularity in the Western world as people realize that disease and stress are relieved by peace of mind.
Qigong is one of the four pillars of traditional Chinese medicine: Acupuncture, Massage, Herbal Medicines and Qigong. Of these, Qigong is the one that can be most easily self initiated. Both massage and herbal remedies can also be done as self-care, however, Qigong is the mother of Chinese self healing. Patients who use Qigong faithfully need less medication, less acupuncture and heal faster.
The word Qigong breaks into Qi and Gong: Qi = vitality, energy, life force, Gong = practice, cultivate, refine; Qigong = to cultivate and refine through practice one's vitality or life force. The Chinese believe that the primary mechanism that is triggered by the practice of Qigong is a spontaneous balancing and enhancing of the natural healing resources in the human system. Over thousands of years millions of people have benefited from these practices believing that improving the function of the Qi maintains health and heals disease.
In the paradigm of mechanistic Western science, the practice of Qigong triggers a wide array of physiological mechanisms which have profound healing benefits. It increases the delivery of oxygen to the tissues. It enhances the elimination of waste products as well as the transportation of immune cells through the lymph system. And it shifts the chemistry of the brain and the nervous system.
There are various estimates for the number of varieties of Qigong. There are at least a thousand. Some elaborate and complex, some mysterious and esoteric and some simple and practical. If you adjust to a relaxed, upright posture, take a deep breath and relax your mind - you are already doing Qigong. Try this: sit up, relax your body, take a deep breath, rest your mind for just a moment. Already you are stimulating an automatic self healing response.
On any morning in the parks throughout China you will find literally thousands of people doing Qigong practices. Some practice individually quietly among the trees. Others practice in large groups of hundreds or even thousands. Often, one will see a patient, in hospital pajamas, doing a special form of cancer recovery Qigong (Guo Lin Qigong)- a form of slow and intentful walking. Or a group might stand in a circle chatting as they do a simple form based on hand movements (Fragrance Qigong).
Qigong is one of the most powerful self healing traditions ever developed in human history. It is literally a health wonder of the world.
© Roger Jahnke O.M.D.
While Qigong has strong roots into mystical and philosophical ground, the practical healing and stress management applications are the most popular aspects of the tradition in China today. Both the health and spiritual applications are rapidly gaining in popularity in the Western world as people realize that disease and stress are relieved by peace of mind.
Qigong is one of the four pillars of traditional Chinese medicine: Acupuncture, Massage, Herbal Medicines and Qigong. Of these, Qigong is the one that can be most easily self initiated. Both massage and herbal remedies can also be done as self-care, however, Qigong is the mother of Chinese self healing. Patients who use Qigong faithfully need less medication, less acupuncture and heal faster.
The word Qigong breaks into Qi and Gong: Qi = vitality, energy, life force, Gong = practice, cultivate, refine; Qigong = to cultivate and refine through practice one's vitality or life force. The Chinese believe that the primary mechanism that is triggered by the practice of Qigong is a spontaneous balancing and enhancing of the natural healing resources in the human system. Over thousands of years millions of people have benefited from these practices believing that improving the function of the Qi maintains health and heals disease.
In the paradigm of mechanistic Western science, the practice of Qigong triggers a wide array of physiological mechanisms which have profound healing benefits. It increases the delivery of oxygen to the tissues. It enhances the elimination of waste products as well as the transportation of immune cells through the lymph system. And it shifts the chemistry of the brain and the nervous system.
There are various estimates for the number of varieties of Qigong. There are at least a thousand. Some elaborate and complex, some mysterious and esoteric and some simple and practical. If you adjust to a relaxed, upright posture, take a deep breath and relax your mind - you are already doing Qigong. Try this: sit up, relax your body, take a deep breath, rest your mind for just a moment. Already you are stimulating an automatic self healing response.
On any morning in the parks throughout China you will find literally thousands of people doing Qigong practices. Some practice individually quietly among the trees. Others practice in large groups of hundreds or even thousands. Often, one will see a patient, in hospital pajamas, doing a special form of cancer recovery Qigong (Guo Lin Qigong)- a form of slow and intentful walking. Or a group might stand in a circle chatting as they do a simple form based on hand movements (Fragrance Qigong).
Qigong is one of the most powerful self healing traditions ever developed in human history. It is literally a health wonder of the world.
© Roger Jahnke O.M.D.
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