Qi Gong: The Art Of Living

 I first studied and discovered Qi gong many years ago at the beginning of my journey and training in energy medicine and manual therapy. My bodywork teacher introduced our class to Tai Ji practice to help our physical bodies learn how to set up structure and container to move energy while doing healing work. My initial lesson was the simple practice of rooted awareness through all parts of the feet and the experience of how to bring the energy of the earth into connection with my body through a subtle knee circling practice, over 15 years later I still benefit from this simple exercise and learn something new each time I practice.

I was taught how to set up the energetic and physical system of my body to become what my teacher called a waveform generator. Immediately I felt tangible body responses and subtle sensations of energy moving through my body and activating every part of my being. The slow gentle postures and movements helped support a deepened awareness of the internal aspects of my physical body, and how my breath was able to move and interact with the movement of my body.

The practice of Qigong supports:

• The depth and quality of the breath to move through the body efficiently, creating awareness and sending information to and from the nervous system.
• Clarifying barriers and blocks through dissolving debris and resistance, physically, mentally and emotionally.
• discipline and practice provides a space to learn how powerful the breath is in its capacity to create change in the body
• Learning how to generate energy and connect to the available energy of the universe
• Provides access to inner alchemy that can be used for healing, creation, repair and destruction. All these forces are necessary for the directional energy of our lives and growth patterns.
• Tapping into energy generation and its potential to spark synthesis and synchronization in our lives creating ease and expression on our paths.

Qi gong is a powerful practice for mental and emotional health by helping us to distance ourselves from the force of unchecked emotions and from belief systems and attitudes that take up valuable space in our consciousness that can hold us back.The practice is a powerful place to go internally to support processing emotions and experiences. The simple process of combining breath and movement with intention had been used for centuries for healing and transformation. It is a place each individual has a choice every moment to cultivate and immediate access to setting up a practice to focus on this art. All it takes is a little bit of time each day and a space to connect to your body.

Qi gong can help teach us how to maintain and develop healthy boundaries and create a well of reserve energy that allows us to direct and create internally and externally. It supports a deepened physical capacity for space holding for ourselves and the ability to transfer energy. I find it makes me better at giving and receiving in balance and not taking on other peoples “stuff” or putting my “stuff” on others. This supports healthy relationships and harmony in my life.

The health benefits of Qi gong are vast.

When we look at the role of oxygen in the physical body it is well known that any kind of practice that is going to increase our capacity to circulate and absorb oxygen has a profound effect on health. Not only through deepening the lung capacity and the exchange of oxygen into the blood system, it in turn, enhances and developing qi which is responsible for all of our daily repair and growth.

Physically this practice supports flexibility and openness through all of the joint system, which then creates conditions for increased circulation and harmony throughout the body, as well as structural alignment and integrity, with the physical bodies space in gravity.

All these physical benefits support better posture, deeper breath capacity and the reduction of pain.

Where I find the Qi gong practice to be the most profound, is that of the deepened sense of internal and external awareness that develops over time, with practice. If we can utilize the breath and the awareness to see what is happening inside of our body and know ourselves, we then have a clear connection to how to support and heal our bodies. What food to take in, what thoughts to eradicate and what dreams to pursue bolstering the internal and external potential of our bodies.

All of this increased energetic process and awareness creates a deeper sensitivity to how we are showing up physically and energetically in space, where we’re able to develop intuition and connection to the environment in ways that may have been previously shut down due to resistance, barriers or stagnation in the body.

The Qi gong practice is a completely safe and accessible movement practice that is available to anyone at any age at any state of health which makes it a profound resource for individual and community health. Qi gong literally translates to breath and movement together, and is the unification of the these two forces that creates intentional access to all creative universal energies setting up longevity and fulfillment in life connection.