After many years of studying and practicing taiji and qigong, I was blessed with a healing that went deeper than I thought possible and which smoothed the often rough waters of my personal journey with Asperger's.
For virtually every day in the last fifty years I have been involved with the education and playing of music. In that time I continually found a shocking disconnect: What the music schools were doing seemed valid, but it seldom agreed with what the best musicians and singers claimed to be really important.
In the rich tapestry of Chinese philosophical and medical thought, the concept of qì (氣) represents a profound and intricate understanding of energy that permeates all aspects of existence. Far more than a simple physical force, qì is a dynamic, interconnected life essence that flows through the universe, binding together heaven, earth, and human experience in a delicate, harmonious system.
According to the Chinese medical society, the lungs and the heart are places where the air jing is converted into chi (qi). The food jing is stored in the stomach and the digestive system, which is absorbed and converted into ch'i.
Qigong is an ancient exercise and healing practice that consists of meditation, controlled breathing, posture, and movements. The word qigong is a combination of two Chinese ideograms: Qi, meaning "vital energy," and gong, meaning "skill or achievement."
Qigong is practiced in the internal and external habits that mold us, shaping the outward expression of our lives. Our bodies, like nature, grow from the inside out. Thus, we practice cultivating our qi in our body, organs and the wisdom mind, building the spirit temple in the heart every day.
Born in China in 1938, Master Li Junfeng has studied and taught kung fu, tai chi, bagua, qigong and meditation for over 60 years. A distinguished graduate of the Beijing Physical Education University, Master Li is best known as head coach of the world-renowned Chinese National Martial Arts Team.
I discovered one set of movements that appeared to be favored and preferred above all others. I saw it at Tompkins Square Park in the lower east side of Manhattan. I saw fragments of it scattered in the qigong of people on the Boston Common, and in New York City's China Town at Columbus Park, and in Washington Square Park in San Francisco.
(In the beginning) there was Profound Nothingness from which appeared One Primordial Energy, which expanded into the Two polarities of Yin/Yang. Then there was Three: the Heavens above, Man in between, Earth below. Three became Five: the myriad things of existence appearing in inter-related patterns of Five, called Wu Xing (pronounced woo sheen). In English this means something like The Five Phases of Energetic Forces or more commonly but not more accurately, The Five Elements.
Qigong can be practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality. The gentle movements of Dancing Qigong practiced with music can reduce stress and enhance the immune system and have been found to improve cardiovascular, respiratory, lymphatic and digestive functions. One of the most important long-term effects is that Dancing Qigong reestablishes the body, mind & soul connection. Anyone can enrich their lives by adding Dancing Qigong to their daily routine and it is fun to do!
The Seated Eight Section (or Pieces) of Brocade is a Daoist exercise for gaining physical, mental, and energetic well-being. This qigong has ability to enhance and purify vial life energy (qi) and its flow throughout the body. It also offers an introduction to the process of spiritual liberation known as Daoist Immortality.
To enter the realm of qigong is to find yourself immersed in a vast array of Chinese terms like 'baihui," 'laogong," 'dantien," "governing and conceptional vessels." Soon, as you stand in line at the supermarket checkout, instead of perusing the celebrity magazine headlines, your attention moves downward to the "bubbling wells' on the soles of your feet.
Many people are overweight. They seem to put on weight even if they drink only water. This excess weight puts strain on their hearts as well as other organs. Even walking causes them to lose their breath. Many people ask me how to lose weight. I tell them to practice "Lifting the Five Organs Training". I have found that with consistent practice, weight loss is practically guaranteed.
The technique herein offered is a fusion of Chinese Daoist (Taoist) and Qigong like-meditations with Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung's concepts of the unconscious. Academic purists may hate it, and call it no more than a simplistic reduction; but the author has personally used it and taught it and seen that it can work: it is possible to create a new more healthy you by assimilating the energy patterns of the slender person who is already in you.
A large proportion of white, African American, and Hispanic participants were obese (30% to 50%), while fewer Chinese American participants were obese (5%). The observed low prevalence of obesity in Chinese American participants indicates that high rates of obesity should not be considered inevitable.
Qigong (Chi Kung) comes from the Chinese words "Qi" meaning "Energy" plus "Gong", meaning "work" or "practice". It is a term that describes a Chinese Exercise system the focuses on cultivating and attracting "Qi" or "lifeforce" energies. Pronounced like "Chee Gung", Qigong (sometimes spelled "Chi Kung") is a unique Chinese exercise system. Through individual effort, practitioners build up their health and prevent illness by combining discipline of mind, body and the body's "Qi" (vital force).
Medical Qigong Therapy is useful for treating patients before, during and after surgery. Qi Emission can be used in order to reduce the patient's bleeding, enhance the immune system, minimize the risk of infection, strengthen the body, and accelerate the recovery rate. Medical Qigong modalities are involved in the following aspects of Operative Therapy: preoperative therapy, surgery, postoperative therapy, follow-up therapies and remedial prescriptions.
The modern term of 'pian cha' (deviation) is the preferred term of use for adverse experiences or events while the old(er) and archaic designation of 'zou huo ru mo' (devil running fire) may actually mirror what we deem as a serious adverse event (SAE) or symptom while the former may denote a minor problem that can potentially be fixed with minimal feedback to the subject. Qigong deviations, or better said, adverse symptoms associated with qigong, are actually few and far between.
An uncle who had disappeared returned on the day on which Fu Wei Zhong was born in 1949. This uncle, now a monk, blessed Fu Wei Zhong and took him under his care. By the age of six his grandfather and several other masters began training him in Chinese medicine, internal alchemy and the martial arts. By the age of ten, Fu Wei Zhong became a traditional Chinese doctor. By the age of twelve he opened his own practice.
Qigong works through a growing awareness and enhancement of the "Qi" within us, as well as surrounding us. A consistent qigong practice enlivens the many layers of the body from the physical to the energetic. Many studies prove enhanced physical, mental and emotional health from dedicated practice and integrated qigong instruction. One of the primary reasons individuals choose to learn qigong is because they seek a technique to help change unhealthy conditions.
The body is the basis of life and is dependent on the Qi and the mind. If the body is not correct, then the Qi does not circulate smoothly. And if the Qi does not circulate smoothly, then the mind is not at peace. When practicing Qigong, it is necessary to maintain the correctness of the body and to meet the requirements for posture so that one may practice Qigong well.
An aspect of China's tradition that the West has completely discounted is the health care system. Science has been so busy creating new technologies for treating disease that we in the West believe that health care and medicine are the same thing. While we in the West have a fantastic and very expensive system based on treating people after they are sick, China has a very inexpensive system of health care based on keeping people well...
The most outstanding use of qigong in the treatment of cancer centers around the use of various mental, social and physical techniques created by a Chinese woman named Guo Lin. It is widely practiced throughout the Chinese communities of Asia, however for various legal, economic, and cultural reasons it is rarely found—at least publicly—in the western world.
