Qigong >
Introduction ∞
When Qigong was first imported to the West from China there was a strong tendency for people in the West to view it as mystical and dramatic. This is unfortunate in some ways because it kept Qigong from being understood in relation to reality — in a real way. Qigong was given all kinds of magical interpretations. Superstitious ideas where even attached to it. Though regrettable this is actually very normal…and it is still taking place.
In trying to understand different cultures people often project the solutions to their own hopes and wishes onto the newly imported culture’s offering. Just as things from the West seem exotic to other countries, Qigong was exotic to many in the West.
People would spend great amounts of time ‘imagining’ all kind of things – without anything actually really happening. Qigong was treated as a “fix anything western medicine can’t fix” thing. People in the West applied their usual Discretion, split reality approach to the whole thing, waiting for Qigong to do something — to “fix” them — without them doing anything. They thought they could just do the movements and they wouldn’t have to do any work or use any effort and the magical qigong would take care of their particular problems all by itself.
But Qigong is not magical. It is just a little new – to some people. And it doesn’t work if one just uses the mind; one must use the mind and the body…together. In fact, it is important to use the spirit as well. Intensive studies and experimentation on the positive and healing effects of Qigong in China have shown that five basic elements must be consistently present if one’s Qigong is going to work well. If any of these elements is missing one’s Qigong will not have its full effect on one’s health as preventive medicine or for healing. These five elements are movement, breathing, concentration, and relaxation, and attitude.
Movement ∞
(Movement)
One must move the body. Large movements or small movements, wide or shallow, it doesn’t matter. Just move. Movement and activity is essential for health. Of course if the movements are small one must do many more repetitions than if the movements are large. Like lifting weights one can do very heavy weights with less repetitions or light weights with many repetitions. The same concept applies. And it depends on one’s purpose and intent in doing the Qigong. Small movements will circulate a little energy, so one must do many repetitions to generate enough energy circulation. If the movements are large and vigorously opening the joints, ligaments,and muscles, then fewer repetitions may be sufficient.
When moving, in Qigong, one can use several fundamental approaches. Slow and steady, extremely slow with feeling, or more rapid yet smooth. What should not be done is jerky and violent movement. Use smoothness and sensitivity as a guide.
Breathing ∞
One must also breathe. Everyone knows this. Without breathing one wouldn’t be able to stay alive very long. But deep breathing is more beneficial and preferable than surfacy and shallow breathing. It oxygenates the body and massages the internal organs. Breathing also sets up a rhythm which helps one to relax more deeply. When one uses deep breathing in a very focused and slow way making the breath long, fine, and deep, one can let the whole countenance take a small vacation. Ones inner being can become calm and centered, and one can let go of all the outer stress producing agendas which inhibit one’s inner spirit.
One can use many strategies or styles of breathing, but most approaches involve breathing down low into the abdomen in some manner. “Reverse breathing” is when one draws the energy up deeply under the ribs, pulling up energy from the perineum then relaxing back to the chi down, stomach relaxed, position. “Natural breathing” is when one breathes down to the lowest point one can in the torso on the inhale then releases the breath as one expels the air. One may also combine these two types of breathing using the center point of both as the anchor and doing both styles of breathing. “Full breathing” is when one fills the abdomen and “sea of chi” (lower torso and lower back) on the first half of the inhale; then the chest all the way up to the collar bones or top of head on the second half of the inhale…then release everything as the breath is expelled.
These three types of breathing are just three of many types of breathing approaches one can us in one’s Qigong. One must investigate each approach and find out their individual benefits — then apply them accordingly.
Concentration ∞
(See Mildfulness[doesn’t exist] and Meditation)
Another of the basic four qualities which is necessary for good health is concentration. One must concentrate the mind. Regularly. Concentrating the mind helps to keep the pathways of mental activity open and viable. When one stops using the mind it kind of forgets how to work at its peak level. It becomes lethargic and lazy the more the internal synapses and junctures go unused. The mind works exactly the same way as with the body – in fact it is the body. When one stops exercising the body it doesn’t work as well…and is always difficult to get going again. The same is true with the mind. They are connected so, naturally, they function in the same way. Doing exercise without a concentrated mind may produce some results, but it cannot be as beneficial in a total way as doing exercise while using a concentrated mind. To be benefited in a total way one use one’s total being.
Paying attention to what is being done — implementing one’s intent is important. Without precise, definite, and focused intent one’s exercise — one’s Qigong will be nothing more than generic, non-specific movement; and it will produce exactly those kinds of results. If one is not paying attention, one will generally become bored. If the exercise one does seems uninteresting, this is only a signal that one is not really inside the exercise deeply — not using one’s curiosity and vitality to apply of one’s intent.
Relaxation ∞
Relaxation is the fourth quality which is necessary in order to produce the most positive effects of preventive health maintenance and healing. Relaxation is of course important in the reduction of stress and the letting go of negative agendas which produce life-strangling, “non-healthy” mind-sets. Naturally, a mind and spirit which is constantly urging, constantly doing, constantly pushing, with never any time off from such continual and interminable effort will suffer the consequences of such a driving, pressure filled attitude. The mind and body doesn’t function well under such unrelenting conditions. It needs time to settle down and back to the center of stillness within. It needs to get back in touch with what is really the inner source — calmness and ease. The human being’s condition needs a calm inner source to work from or many diseases and calamities will ensue. The body needs time to repair itself. Sometimes sleep is not enough, especially in today’s world, with its fast pace and insistent lifestyle. One must relax. And just as important as relaxing the body is relaxing the mind and spirit, in fact, most people get more than enough relaxation in the body. People sit when they drive to and from work, they sit at their jobs, and when they get home they sit around reading the paper or watching television, What they need in their body is movement and invigoration. Relaxation is what they need in their mind and in their spirit.
Sometimes one develops stored body tension from trying too hard or worrying too much, etc., but generally speaking this stored local body tension can be dealt with through active and vigorous exercise, which helps one to let go of such body anxiety and its inherent blockage. Relaxation is, for most people, more a matter of relaxing the spirit.
Attitude – the fifth element of Qigong ∞
It should also be understood that the attitude of the person plays a role in the effectiveness of one’s health practice. Attitude is similar to mental concentration, but not quite the same. It is comparable to relaxing the spirit, but is its own distinctly different thing. Even if the practitioner does everything else well — the movement, the breathing, the concentration, and the relaxation — if one’s attitude is not well attuned for the purposes of good health and preventive medicine, the benefits a practitioner gains will still be somewhat less than they would be if their attitude was more proper for the purpose.
Every attitude one has contributes to either empowerment or dis-empowerment, truth or illusion, health and recovery, or its opposite discomfort and disease. One’s attitude either advances the truth and has the consequential ramifications, or it enables and enlarges inappropriateness as has the consequent repercussions. Usually nothing except one’s own attitude can inhibit progress. Yet, the ability to affect one’s own attitude is part of one’s personal power. Anyone who believes they cannot do something denies their own inner strength and capability. Each practitioner is responsible for our own attitude and the path to change.
If one’s attitude is open and free, one will have the chance to see clearly. If one’s attitude is closed or run by inappropriate agendas, one will cling to such inappropriate modes and pretexts and see only from those vantage points. One’s inner source is the filter that colors whatever one sees and does. Through it, one creates one’s own heaven or hell. If one adopts an attitude which is unsuitable, one sees through that particular point of view.
It is up to each person, themself, to overcome any negative conditioning — what one learned from, what one bought into from others cannot be an excuse. Inaccessibility cannot be an excuse either, for the truth is all around us. If one can wake up to that constantly available truth, one can change one’s own attitude. Knowing reality deeply one can keep things in their proper perspective and, in turn, act from that reality to be more capable in one’s life.
Take for instance the idea of growing older. We all know that aging is inevitable. That time will eventually diminish one’s capacity — it cannot be helped. It is good to accept that reality. But, many people grow old before their time because they accept everything they have been told about the aging process. Having been told that they will be “totering” and “senile” by a certain age they accept that — and what’s worse they expect it. By expecting it, naturally they subconsciously guide themselves to follow that very path. They set up a self-fulfilling belief that is not necessarily what must happen.
Yet, perhaps adopting an attitude of staying young can help keep one young. By not setting up such self-fulfilling agendas, one stands a better chance of avoiding “premature” aging and its consequent “unavoidable” problems. Aging is inescapable, but why should there even be any such thing as problems. Remember, every problem has a cause.
If one resists the temptation to expect “problems of old-ness” by a certain age and one asks more from life than what others expect, one may not completely conquer aging, but one just might tailor it to oneself instead of to what the world has said it should be. The fountain of youth is not a stream, an elixir, or a place, it is our own inner attitude, the knowledge we as an individuals can bring to bear in our own life.
If one can see into this little piece of wisdom, one can easily understand at least one aspect of the Chinese saying, “foster the energies of a child”. Instead of accepting that one will grow old at 70, 80, or even 90, invest in some of the ideas of youth. What is it that the young do? What kind of attitude do the young have? Certainly, some qualities of the young are: being active, the ability to be spontaneous, not being jaded, the ability to have purpose or “no” purpose, being eccentric and individualistic and not worrying about it, a little skepticism and rebellion, being silly, playful, and even mischievous, having curiosity and an open-mind, and acting forthrightly without cynicism. The young and youthful, don’t follow ideas of grasping and clinging, they do something and move on, the old forgotten. They don’t harbor resentment and ill feeling; life is too exciting and too inviting to get bogged down with such sticky self-indulgent muck. The youthful play. They are free where ever they go.
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