External Qi Healing - Part 3

**Disclaimer. This article is written for educational purposes only. It is not offered for the healing of any serious illnesses. If a person is sick he or she must see a proper professional, in either (or both) western or traditional Chinese medicine.**

E - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

Is it necessary to ask permission before doing a Sending?

Absolutely yes. The practitioner must ask permission from the receiver before emanating qi. To send without gaining approval is insulting, offensive and invasive.

Is it “your” qi that you are sending? Or does it come from somewhere else?

Well, yes and no to both questions. At one level qi is the energy you have brought into your body by breathing and eating; and have built up and preserved through qigong practices, as well as by reducing or eliminating physical and emotional problems. Additionally it is important to reduce or stop the loss of Jing (often thought of as being sperm or ovum, which is only partially true.) Jing is better understood as being a highly perfected subtle energetic potentiality: in other words the essence of life. So from this perspective, you are not the one sending your qi, but rather only being a conduit for a universal force that is flowing its jing-essence-qi down and through you.

The Chinese character for "Qi"

Where does this essence come from? Many healers cannot, or refuse to, answer that question. Others simply say it comes from nature, or the sun, or the direction of certain stars. There isn’t enough space here, nor do I have the wisdom, to explore this much further, except to point out that throughout the ages mystics when in visionary states perceive all and everything as a unity in a universal consciousness. So much so that each of our individual consciousnesses appear as being joined together within a larger and more profound reality. Personally I call this reality the Dao (Tao), but here definitions are not that important; rather it is about experiencing, manifesting and using this Power. A number of quantum scientists have reached a similar understanding in believing that such things are beyond rational verbal definitions, but nevertheless do offer entrances into practical applications in the use of energy. Likewise EQH offers practical applications in the use of Life Energy (Qi). Whatever your specific beliefs, this more speculative approach offers possibilities to help prevent a basic problem in sending healing qi: the depletion of the healer’s personal qi. It no longer is just “your” qi. It comes from the outside and through you. However, there are different schools of though about whose qi is it anyway.

Can Healing Energy be Sent from a Distance?

Yes. But the sender and recipient should agree on a specific time; and make sure the client understands that at that chosen time he or she is not to be driving a car, or using anything (machinery, tools, etc.), or doing anything where an accident could take place. Once on the telephone just before doing a distance external qi healing, I half-joked to a client “not to be on a roof repairing leaks” – which was just what she was about to do!

This lovely image from thoughtco.com

About the Sending: How Often and for How Long?

Paul Dong offers this advice: Depending on the severity of the condition, a send is required every day or every other day. Concerning the health of the healer he writes, the more internal qi you give out the weaker you become, therefore: “One to three healings a day are about the right number… A young healer with strong power can do as many as six healings in one day… One session usually takes 10 or 15 to 20 minutes, or up to 30 minutes in more serious cases. The first healing session for a new client should be no longer than 10 minutes.” [Paul Dong, Healing Force, pp. 84; 90-91].

This beautiful image from deborahking.com

How Long Does EQH Take to Learn?

Two of the preeminent masters of External Qi offer slightly deferring suggestions: “People should at least go on doing Qigong exercises for 2 – 3 years in order to be able to emit the “external Qi” without doing any harm to his own health.” [Lin Housheng, p. 332]. “By practicing [‘healing chi kung’] an hour a day, one can master it in nine months to a year.” [Paul Dong, p. 24]. Slowly and steadily practice your sending qi skills. First send to qi sensitive family members and friends. Then begin the healing practice with those afflicted with minor conditions such as a sprained ankle, a cold, a sore muscle, then slowly go to more serious conditions. And never approach this as a silly party game; it’s unlikely, but people could get hurt that way.

Sure it seems to work sometimes but isn’t it just psychosomatic or a placebo?

To do controlled scientific experiments on the “validity” of EQH there would have to be Healing Qi Emissions done without a qi-energy component. But that by definition would not an External Qi Send: you cannot have a healing life energy transmission of qi without the qi. Even if possible, if the psychological suggestions of EQH were removed then the qi energy and the information it contains would be compromised or blocked. Nevertheless, the energetic components of qi have often been measured. If interested see the scientific study done by Kevin Chen Ph.D. MPH, An Analytic Review of Studies on Measuring Effects of External Qi in China. An abstract is available on the internet. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15285273

A personal anecdote about someone being unable to accept the validity of EQH. I am sure the reader will draw his or her own conclusions. I was offering a qigong class at a local senior center. No one came and I was about to leave when a middle-aged man entered who had great difficulty walking. We spoke and he told me his story: he was a Vietnam veteran who had gone through several operations for a war injury in his right hip and there had possibly been some botched surgeries. He was in continual pain, but because he was frightened about becoming addicted he took no prescribed painkillers. I offered to send him healing qi and he agreed. As the qi was pouring through me into him, we both could feel it. After a send of ten minutes I stopped. He looked stunned. I asked what was happening and how did he feel? He answered that the pain was gone. He continued to silently mull over the experience. Finally he said to me, ”But what happened, that is only psychosomatic.” I was taken aback but answered him, “But it seemed to have worked.” He shrugged, and seemingly continued to do his best to reject what just had taken place. I told him when I would again be at the senior center and if he wanted another send I would do it. And at no cost—perhaps that was my biggest mistake—but whatever the case I never saw him again. I deeply hope he is better.

There is another thing that causes many people to disregard and discredit External Qi Healings: the phony internet healers and quacks. As a rule of thumb stay away from anyone who claims he or she can heal terminal illnesses, and who charges exorbitant fees for their services. If a so-called healer has many cancer clients and all except a few die, the charlatan can point to ones who are still alive as proof of their healing “powers and abilities.” In all of this both seller and buyer beware!

Isn’t it the same as Reiki or Therapeutic Touch?

There are obvious similarities, but EQH comes from and uses Traditional Chinese Medical concepts of the inter-relationships of Energy-Body-Mind-Breath to bring about well-being. Generally speaking in Reiki and Therapeutic Touch the practitioner touches the client, but in EQH generally this does not happen. Also unlike Therapeutic Touch, and other so called “Energy Healing”—and even much of contemporary Medical Qi Gong—EQH does not deal with Western medical belief systems, although many today, especially in China, are trying to scientifically justify EQH. (This is not necessarily a bad thing for it may lead to a better understanding and more productive use of this exciting healing modality.)

Conclusion.

Remember there is a difference between healing and being healthy: there are situations where even the most accomplished energy healer cannot “cure” their patient; but with energy healing there is an opportunity of bringing someone who is terminally ill to a place of mental and spiritual health which can make the process of dying be no more than a passing from one sphere of existence to another higher one.

This beautiful image from spiritualunite.com

The author may be contacted at john.voigt@comcast.net

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F - Bibliography.

Bi Yongsheng. Chinese Qigong Outgoing-Qi Therapy. Shandong Science and Technology Press, 1997. https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Qigong-Outgoing-Qi-Therapy-Yongsheng/dp/7533110412

Kevin Chen, Ph.D. MPH. “An Analytic Review of Studies on Measuring Effects of External Qi in China” [abstract]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15285273

ibid. “A Criticism of Qigong with Pseudoscience Method--Book Review of Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscience?” https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242424421_A_Review_of_Lin_Zixin's_Book_Qigong_Chinese_Medicine_or_Pseudoscience

Paul Dong & Thomas Raffill. Empty Force: The Power of Chi for Self-Defense and Energy Healing. Blue Snake Books, 2006. https://books.google.com/books/about/Empty_Force.html?id=zHwoS80noVoC

Roger Jahnke. The Healing Promise of Qi. Contemporary Books, 2002. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Healing_Promise_of_Qi_Creating_Extra.html?id=Y3FcaF4V6AIC&source=kp_cover

Professor Jerry Alan Johnson. The Secret Teachings of Chinese Energetic Medicine [in five volumes]. http://qi-encyclopedia.com/index.asp?author=Professor-Jerry-Alan-Johnson

Lin Housheng. 300 Questions on Qigong Exercises. Guangdong Science and Technology Press, 1994. https://www.amazon.com/300-Questions-Qigong-Exercises-Housheng/dp/7535912699

Shou-Yu Liang & Wen-Ching Wu. Qigong Empowerment. Way of the Dragon, 1997. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1889659029/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Tianjun Liu, and Xiao Mei Qiang, editors. Chinese Medical Qigong. Singing Dragon. 2013. https://books.google.com/books/about/Chinese_Medical_Qigong.html?id=anlyarISmyAC

Bryn Orr. Wai Qi Liao Fa – Healing By External Qi Projection. VitalityLink Finder. http://www.vitalitylink.com/article-qi-gong-1132-wai-liao-healing-external-projection-energy

John Voigt. External Qi for Healing. Qi Journal, vol. 24/no.1, Spring 2014. http://www.qi-journal.com/store.asp?-token.S=qi&ID=3187

Ibid. Taiji Qigong … Lin Housheng. https://www.qi-journal.com/Qigong.asp?Name=Taiji%20Qigong%20%E2%80%93%20Shibashi%20and%20Lin%20Housheng&-token.D=Article

Yijin Jing [see:] “Muscle/Tendon Change Classic.”

http://www.egreenway.com/qigong/yijinjing.htm#Biblio

Zhan Zhuang [see:] “Zhang Zhuang: Standing (like a wooden) Post.” Qi Journal vol. 23, no. 2: Summer 2013. Also Mark Cohen. “Zhan Zhuang.” Qi Journal vol. 23, no. 4: Winter 2013-2014.

LINKS - YouTube

“New John Chang video.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aos0hnwiHt8

Sifu Kelly Kwan. “Qi Energy Projection - Chi (Qi) Healing 布氣.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9fGiPSBUUA

“Qi Gong Powerful Qi Emission.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVNvzZ24JmE

by Emma

Cancer & Chinese Medicine - Part 3

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

The Treatment of Cancer with Chinese Medicine

Because of the way that Chinese medicine looks at health and the human body, the treatments for any disease in Chinese medicine are varied and complex. In Chinese medicine, a practitioner is not treating cancer, they are treating YOUR cancer. And they are not in effect treating the cancer, they are treating you. In essence, Chinese medicine works to treat the person, not the disease. And although this might sound like a nice tagline, it is the way Chinese medicine works, and why it is so effective.

When a patient comes in with a diagnosis from a Western doctor of cancer, the first thing we do, is to look at what is happening in the body and what is causing the cancer. We do not just treat the cancer, because if you treat the cancer without fully understanding why it has occurred in the first place, then even if you do manage to get rid of the cancer, the factors that created it are still present and the cancer will return. This is the reason why looking at absolutely everything about a persons health, be it physical, emotional and especially their lifestyle is integral to successfully treating any disease in Chinese medicine. The cancer is the symptom, so we must, as practitioners, find the root.

There are literally an infinite amount of factors that contribute to diseases, especially one as complex as cancer, so the search for the cause or, more likely, causes is not an easy task. Many factors are things I wrote about previously in this article - nutrition, toxins, unresolved or unexpressed emotions, the quality of our water, stress, the list goes on. This vast ocean of potential causes is the reason why the practitioner of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) does such a thorough intake and asks many questions at each session, trying to collect as much information as possible. Something I always tell my patients when we are talking is that they should tell me everything, no matter how silly or seemingly irrelevant it may seem, because in my experience, everything is significant and is another piece of the puzzle that I am trying to create for each patient to get to the bottom of their present condition.

As a side note, this is why many times patients will ask why, if they have come in for sleep problems, would I be asking about their digestion or emotional state? I tell them it is all connected and we do not draw distinctions in a holistic model of medicine. It is not the reductionist model of allopathic or Western medicine that likes to reduce the body into parts, focussing on each if it breaks down. In a holistic system, every part functions synergistically with all the others, they cannot function in isolation. Every part affects every other part. This is the reason that we need a picture of the whole to determine what is going on, and why it works so well, because treatments are tailored to the individual. Cancer can arise from a myriad of reasons, so we need to understand why the cancer has manifested, correct those imbalances and the body will readjust to a healthy balance and the cancer should disappear. Chinese medicine believes in the body's powerful and innate healing abilities, so when we are diagnosing we must ask ourselves: "what it is that is blocking the healing process? Why is the healing not being allowed to occur?" Chinese medicine also believes that if the body has everything it needs, then health and certainly healing will be the result. Disease is just the body's way of telling us that something is missing, and needs attention. This is why listening to your body is also so important for your health. Your body will always tell you when things are not right. At the beginning when the imbalance is only minor, it may only be a whisper, which gradually moves to a full blown yell by the time we get to a very severe imbalance which is what we see in cases like cancer. Learning to listen to the subtle communications of your body is such a good way to be able to correct things before they become more serious and practice what Chinese medicine is all about - preventative medicine.

Self Love and Loving Kindness

One of the biggest things that practicing Chinese medicine has taught me has not been about medicine at all. It has been about the pain and the immense struggles that human beings go through in life, and often, on a daily basis. The things that I have heard from my patients over the years about what they have been through have been humbling to say the least. As I am a highly sensitive person who can strongly feel what others are feeling simply by being in the room with them, this information, at least at first, was very difficult to process. Hearing stories of such pain and suffering took a toll emotionally and I quickly had to learn to manage those feelings so that I would not be consumed by them (because they could also make me sick!). This also taught me something very valuable. That I could never, ever judge someone from what they were projecting on the outside, because I realized that I had no idea what was going on in their life and what struggles they were facing. It gave me enormous empathy for people, especially ones who were rude or otherwise unpleasant to be around. It also made me realize why people get sick as I began to see a correlation with these struggles and pain, and the kinds of illnesses that people develop. Many people are suffering alone because they feel they have to. Many people have no outlet for such problems or simply do not want to burden others. I think this is what we desperately need from each other. We need each others kindness, love and understanding. We need to really listen to each other and not just wait for our turn to speak.

The other part of this is that I think we need to be kinder to ourselves. To look at any TV reality show or movie you would think this was insane. From what we see in the media, it seems that we are a hedonistic bunch, very capable of looking after ourselves, and only ourselves, and that is certainly the culture we are living in these days. It feeds this kind of narcissism. But, in my experience, overwhelmingly, people are working hard, sleeping less, and struggling more. It seems to be getting harder, certainly in the last generation or two, to get ahead and be able to live a simple life and provide for our families. Gone are the days when someone could have the same job working at the same company for their entire lives or that a married couple could survive, and even thrive on the salary of one working person. Children now leave school saddled with so much debt that they cannot afford to leave home, and things like social security are something my generation and the ones after will never see. It is these things, these stresses in our lives that contribute to disease. We must all have hope. We must all believe that we can achieve our dreams and make a life for ourselves if we are smart and work towards that goal.

Self love is a hard thing for a lot of people, and it is something I talk to a lot of my patients about. We are all energetic beings, and when we are so stressed and exhausted by modern life, it is difficult to find the time to take proper care of ourselves. And this is so important for our health. Having the intention of being kind to ourselves, eating well, spending time with our friends and people we love, doing things that feed us energetically and make us happy are just as important to health as herbs and acupuncture. And this goes back to listening. If you have had a particularly stressful day at work, or have had a particularly negative interaction with a stranger on the way home, recognize how it is making you feel and take the time to cleanse that energy and feed yourself to build yourself up again. Take a walk in the park and breathe deeply the cool, clean air. Have a hot bath and read that book that you have been meaning to start for weeks. Make yourself something delicious and eat it mindfully, really savouring it. These are the things that recharge batteries and let your body and psyche know that you love it and are taking care of it. In the cases of cancer that I have treated and indeed in so many of the illnesses that I treat, there is a definite connection to this loss of self love and care. Think of these personal acts of kindness as medicine of prevention. It is your health insurance policy, a way to make sure you never get sick.

In conclusion, when it comes to a disease as complex as cancer, there are many factors at play both in its development and treatment. In a holistic system like Chinese medicine, it is not the cancer that is important, it is determining why the cancer has manifested and making corrections necessary so that the cancer is both able to resolve itself, as well as not be recreated in the future. In contrast, in a Western model of medicine, giving chemotherapy or radiation without any investigation to the causes, the factors at play in the persons life, no nutritional counseling, no inquiry to the persons emotional life might lead to a temporary remission of the present cancer, but it will no doubt return as the circumstances that created it are still present. This is not to say that Western medicine does not have its benefits, not at all. I only say that the approach to healing is different, and in my opinion, by not looking at the system as a whole, there is so much that is missing. Treating cancer, like any other disease is a delicate balance of searching for the reasons that it has manifested, dealing with them thoroughly especially any emotional ones, rebalancing the system and giving the body, mind and spirit everything it needs to thrive allowing us to regain our health so we can be healthy, happy human beings.

by admin

5 Ways To Cleanse Your Energy Field

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

Everything is the universe is made of energy; from the planets to rocks, to human beings. Energy affects all of us, which is why it is a good idea to keep your personal energy field clean and free of negative influences and vibrations. For a healer, this is extremely important, so many healers have rituals that they perform to ready their energy for the healing session as well as cleansing their energy afterward. I know that before I see a patient before I even enter the room with them I make sure that I take a moment to clear my head, ground myself and set an intention for the session. After the session, I make sure to cleanse my energy so that I am not carrying any remnants of the previous person's energy to the next patient, as well it is a sort of recalibration, or reboot of your energy field so that you are starting fresh with each patient. For me, what ritual, meditation, intention or objects you may use are not as important as doing it in the first place. There are many, many ways that you can cleanse and restore balance to your energy field, you just need to find the one that is right for you.

I like using crystals and stones in my treatment room and sometimes with patients for healing specific issues and attracting certain energies to the space. I burn a lot of incense and sage, especially after a particularly intense or emotional session. I always make sure to wash my hands constantly throughout the treatment and certainly after each patient. I use Qi Gong regularly with patients (with their permission). I have salt lamps in my treatment room for cleansing and purification of energies and I like to use colours for activating certain chakras and building certain energies that will help in my treatments. Below are just a few things you can use to cleanse your energy field. Try them out and see which ones resonate with you.

Sage & Smudging

this lovely image from heyfranhey.com

Burning sage is one of my favourite ways to cleanse energy. This practice goes back to Native American tribes who would use it in various rituals and healing practices. The practice of burning sage or "smudging" was often used to cleanse the energy of a person, group of people, animal, living or workspace. Native American tribes would often smudge people as they entered a sacred space before a ritual or healing took place to make sure everyone's energies were clean, and they weren't bringing anything with them that was not pure and might negatively influence the ritual that was about to take place. The Latin word for sage is Salvia from the word Salvus meaning "to heal". Burning sage keeps a person and their environment energetically balanced. Other benefits of burning sage are said to be a heightened sense of spiritual awareness and intuition, wisdom, cleansing of energy and clarity. Burning sage is also an excellent thing to do after you have been around people who are depressed, emotionally unbalanced, sad, ill, mentally ill, angry or emotionally toxic. Burning sage can also help you when you are feeling any of the above as it acts to clear those energies and restore balance. The idea of how this practice works is that the smoke attaches itself to the negative energy, and as the smoke clears away it takes the energy with it.

An example of the many herbs that can be used to burn for smudging : This lovely image from alchemy-arts.com

There are many cultures around the world that have adopted burning sage and countless other burning rituals. You may use burn many different herbs depending on your purposes. Traditionally, the Native American tradition of burning sage uses white sage or desert sage. To smudge yourself, another person or an environment like your home or workspace, do a small meditation to clear your thoughts and make your intentions clear. Sage burning is a wonderful way to regularly keep your home or workspace clear of negative energies, and you will find that you will feel a tangible, positive difference in how you and the space around you feel afterward.

Himalayan Salt - Salt Lamps & Salt Baths

Pink Himalayan salt is not only beautiful but has amazing cleansing properties as well, both for the body and the spirit. There are many ways that you can use Himalayan salt to cleanse your energy of negativity; you can carry a piece with you as a sort of protection from taking on negative energies from the world and other people in your day to day life, you can put Himalayan salt lamps in your home or workspace. Salt crystals absorb water from the air. The small light bulb in the salt lamp dries the crystal and causes it to release healthy negative ions - which are abundant in natural, healing places like oceans, waterfalls, and the beach - into the air. Negative ions in the air attract particles of pollution giving them a negative charge causing them to seek an electrical "ground" making them fall harmlessly to the ground. Nature is constantly producing negative ions to combat pollution in the air, this is why the air after a lightning storm always feels so invigorating - lightning produces a high concentration of negative ions. Because an energy source is needed to create negative ions - like the heat from the bulb in a salt lamp, lightning in a storm, rise and fall of tides at the beach and friction and evaporation in a waterfall - carrying salt does not have the same powerful effect. Think of salt lamps as protective as well as cleansing energy.

Carrying salt, as well as bathing in salt baths are a great way to cleanse energy. A salt bath cleanses both body and spirit. These can be used once a week to once a month to cleanse any negative energies that may have accumulated. It is a good idea to shower and wash first, then give yourself some uninterrupted time and the intention of cleansing so you can completely relax and be mindful of what you are trying to achieve. Burning incense or candles, having crystals or listening to relaxing music can also enhance the experience. Do whatever makes you feel good. All of these things contribute to the beneficial effects of the bath and open you up to the universal energies that rebalance and heal us.

A Cleansing Meditation

this calming image from buddhaweekly.com

Meditation is something I talk about a lot and I think is really vital to our health and wellbeing. That said, I know it can be a bit intimidating for anyone who has never done it and feels that they might not know "how". My thought is that the "how" isn't as important as doing it in the first place. Just starting by clearing your mind (which is no easy task, I know), and in the case of cleansing, setting an intention or having an image in your mind is what you need. You can think about whatever represents cleansing or purifying to you... it could be a white light, fire, creating a barrier around yourself, whatever you feel is cleansing, you can do a little meditation where you visualize the process of this cleansing of your energies, and it should do the trick. When I am energetically cleansing a patient, I see myself pulling negative, sticky energy off of them, balling it up and tossing it away. In many cases, they can feel me pulling it off and feel much better and lighter afterward. After a treatment, I have many different techniques that I use to cleanse, but a short meditation before and after each patient to recalibrate myself and cleanse any energy that isn't my own is vital to being an effective practitioner and a healthy, happy person. Find something that feels right for you and experiment. You will eventually hone it to what is exactly what you need.

Grounding, Drawing Energy from Nature

this beautiful image from magazine.gow.asia

Another favourite of mine is to leave it to the power of mother nature to remove negative energy and revitalize your body, mind, and spirit. You can draw energy from the earth, the sun and all the flowers, plants and trees that have been soaking up and are now radiating that wonderful energy right into your person. A great way to absorb good energy from nature is to take off your shoes and just stand with your feet on the ground, in the grass or in the sand and soak up the earth's energy directly into your feet. You can reach up into the sky and absorb the sun's energy at the same time and complete the circuit, becoming a conduit for the power of the sun and the earth at the same time.

Because so many of us now are living in big cities and live in apartments or houses and work in buildings all day long, we get less and less time to be in nature which is the ultimate healer. There is nothing better to cleanse negative energy and boost positive feelings and thoughts than simply going for a walk in a forest, on a beach or along a path outside, breathing deeply and taking it in through all your senses. To some, this may sound a bit silly, but this connection to nature's healing power is something we have largely lost and I think is a huge contributor to our decreased health, happiness, and well-being as a species. Chinese medicine believes that a close relationship with nature is an integral part of health, and is a huge part of its system of preventative medicine. So, if you want to clear negative energy, rebalance, recharge and reconnect, go outside. Breathe deep. Take off your shoes. Lie in the grass. Climb a tree. Your body, mind, and spirit will thank you.

Move Your Body

this happy image from startupdope.com

One of the major causes of both pain and disease in Chinese medicine is energy that gets stuck, or stagnant. This can start energetically and eventually can manifest physically as well. A large part of these "stagnations" in the body are due to the fact that we have become so sedentary. Exercise is good for your body for many reasons, not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically as well. A great way to also get rid of negative or old and stuck energy is to simply move your body. You can do this any way you like. Go for a run. Do some yoga. Practice Qi Gong or Tai Chi. Go out dancing. Anything that moves you will increase circulation, and move energy inside your body as well as move old energy out to make room for new, good energy.

by admin

External Qi Healing - Part 2

By John Voigt

C - The Sending.

It is important to be relaxed, both physically, mentally and emotionally. Never send healing qi if you are fatigued, sick, or mentally distressed; your client could become sicker, and possibly you could more easily infected with their illness. Proceed in the following manner:

1) Ground yourself, center, and connect to your sources of spiritual energy. Breathe fully, softly, deeply. Have a hint of a smile at the corners of the mouth. Gently tighten the muscles in the perineum area.

2) With your creative imagination, build an Energy Shield all around yourself to prevent the entry of any pathogenic qi. Rub your hands together. Stretch open your palms and wiggle your fingers.

3) Bend your knees and crouch down a little to better ground yourself and to increase, solidify and intensify the qi in your body. Look directly at the area or areas on the client that you are about to send to (qi follows sight) and form a “Tiger’s Claw” with your right hand. The left hand is held by the left side. [see picture].

4) Send qi to the acupuncture points related to the condition. Use your eyes as well as your hands to direct sharp pointed beams of radiant qi-energy. As with acupuncture treatments, simultaneously send to as many points and places as the condition requires. The healer’s “sent qi” will become the client’s “internal qi” and dissolve and drain out pathogenic elements.

5) When engaged in a send it is proper to feel heat, especially in the hands, and even to heavily sweat. But if you feel cold then stop. Do a qigong closing form and try again at some future time.

Although there are many accepted places from which to emanate healing qi, the author prefers the acupuncture points Large Intestine-1 (Shangyang), Pericardium-8 (Laogong) and Pericardium-9 (Zhongchong). The locations are LI-1 on the outer side of the index fingers just below the corner of the nail. Pc-8 is on the palm approximately where the tip of the middle finger would touch when making a fist. Pc-9 is at the center of the tip of the middle finger. Generally the sending comes from the right hand, with the left hand functioning to release and drain noxious energy, but both hands can be used to send. The hands could be stationary, but it is best to lead and guide the “good qi” forward and move the bad qi out of the troubled areas. This is done in pushing-pulling manipulations; or by waving, rotating, or quivering motions. Good qi can be “screwed in” and bad qi can be “unscrewed” by moving the right hand in a clockwise motion, and the left hand counter-clockwise. These are only suggestions: there are many other different well established methods to perform external energy healings.

Large Intestine 1 Acupuncture Point from A Manual of Acupuncture by Peter Deadman

The Pericardium Acupuncture Points Running Along The Inner Arm : Image from ITMonline.org

Scan-Snatch-Throw method to remove harmful qi.

If the practitioner is skilled enough he or she may be able imaginatively to bring their hands into the client’s body and, as it were, scoop and pull out the polluted illness causing qi. One of my teachers succinctly described this method as, “Scan-Snatch-Throw.”

Correcting Yin-Yang Imbalances.

Health problems are often caused by imbalances of yang-heat and yin-cold. This EQH treatment comes from VitalityLink Finder: If a patient shows signs of excess heat or cold we are able to rebalance these energies through emitting wai qi [external energy] of the opposite quality. This conforms to the TCM treatment principle of using cooling techniques on heat conditions and warming techniques on cold conditions.

To create warming energy, the therapist imagines drawing down the energy of the sun into the Dan Tien, a major energy centre below and behind the navel. The energy then collects in the Dan Tien in the form of light and heat. The therapist then draws the qi from the Dan Tien to the Laogong point (Pc 8) in the centre of the palms. This qi is then emitted to the client.

To create cooling energy, the therapist imagines drawing cool earth energy up into the Yongquan (Ki 1) points on the soles of the feet. The qi should then be mentally drawn up from the feet to the Laogong points in the palms. Imagine cool wai qi forming on the palms only, and emit this qi to the client. It is important not to imagine this cool energy anywhere else in your body as cold has a tendency to slow qi and blood flow. [ Wai Qi Liao Fa – Healing by External Qi Projection. http://www.vitalitylink.com/article-qi-gong-1132-wai-liao-healing-external-projection-energy

this image from lexicolatry.com

Sensations Experienced During Healing.

When doing External Qi Healing both the sender and the client may feel tingling, itching, hot or cold or electrical pin-prick sensations. For the sender especially in the hands and in particular the palms and fingers. The client may experience quivering in the problem areas. Any of these sensations may also travel in the meridians, especially in the arms and legs—but more often this feels like numbing electrical currents. These all are signs suggesting a healing may be taking place.

When the energy is being guided and moved by your mental intention to leave your fingers, palms, eyes—even from other parts of your body—you might actually see the qi. From what teachers have told me, and including my own experiences, this often appears as a phosphorescent mist (interestingly the original meaning of qi was something like a “vaporous foggy mist”). Or the qi may appear like a luminescent white cloud clustered around the hands, fingers, and especially the palms (laogong points). This light may increase as your practice deepens and become something like a bright moon shining on a clear dark night. During distance healings at night I twice saw rays of this phosphorescent qi substance running from my hands to the targeted subject. At another sending, this time in the same room, the client saw it as resembling heat waves rising from a summer sunbaked highway.

D - After the Send.

The healer might offer suggestions and instructions to the client in such things as meditation, qigong or tai chi exercises, or appropriate dietary changes and other lifestyle modifications.

After the client has left...

It is important to remove any unwanted qi you may have picked up during the send:

1. Shake your hands as if you were shaking off dirty water; kick your feet front and back as it you had stepped in dog feces and you were cleaning it off your shoes. It will be absorbed into the ground and function as compost.

2. Rub down the outsides and insides of your arms and again flick the “evil qi” from your hands. If practical, jump up and down to further rid yourself of anything noxious. This is all best done outdoors and in sunlight.

3. If the transmission took place at night (understanding sending during the day is best) stand and raise your arms up in front on the inhalation and back down on the exhalation. When inhaling lift your heels. When exhaling lower your heels back to the ground. The goal is to have the pathogenic elements flush out the soles of the feet and the tips of fingers.

4. After washing and changing clothes, use inner (nèi dān) qigong-like meditations or visualizations: From outside sources, which may range from flowers and trees to the sun, gather external qi into yourself. And if acceptable to the belief systems of you the healer, gather in the energies of divine spiritual entities. This is the time to do whatever is necessary to clean and recover your life force.

Sage Smudging : Image from nari-gordon.livejournal.com

by admin

Stress Relief Chinese Herbal Soup - Just 5 Ingredients in 5 Minutes!

By Cindy Mai of rootandspring.com

Stress….need I say more? With the pressures of our now modern life, none of us are immune to stress. Small daily challenges like work deadlines, multiple errands, and traffic jams can build up stress, which then interferes with optimal wellness. What stress does is it can cripple the immune system (which is why people get physically sick after being stressed for too long), upset delicate hormones, and disrupt digestion, among other things. Most dangerous of all, it can build up inflammation in the body.

Now, It is quite common for people to pour a glass of wine or beer at the end of the day to de-stress. Yet, there are other more healthful ways that can help, to not only de-stress, but actually support the body nutritionally. In traditional Chinese medicine, there is a classic combination of four herbs that support the adrenal function. This same classic combination is what inspired our “Stress Relief Herbal Mix", and in ancient Chinese literature is referred to as having effects like “meditation in a bowl”. They are: Poria, Chinese Wild Yam, White Lotus Seeds, and Euryale Seeds. In Chinese herbal medicine, a great infusion of herbs can work wonders on your mind and body, and when these herbs are consumed, it can help reduce stress and anxiety as well as calm the heart and spirit.

Poria

Chinese Wild Yam

White Lotus Seeds

Consuming herbs is arguably one of the best ways to increase intake of medicinal herbs. With the right measurements, this classic combination of stress relieving herbs can be prepared in a soup or tea. In a soup, it will create a beautiful broth that helps your body decrease tension, and soothe the mind. Plenty of vegetables can be added that would further enhance the properties of the soup for your body most of which you can find at your local market. According to traditional Chinese medicine, foods act just like herbs and can and should be selected and prepared appropriately to match your body. It is important to know about the energies of food because different energies act upon the human body in different ways and affect our state of health. If a person suffers from acne that worsen when exposed to heat, it is beneficial to eat foods with Yin energy (cold or cool energy) such as bamboo shoots, lotus roots, spinach, or mushrooms to relieve the symptoms. A general rule of thumb is if you eat predominantly Yin foods, your body will be capable of producing more Yin energy - darker, slower-moving and colder. In contrast, eating predominantly Yang foods (onions, asparagus, peppers, ginger) will produce more Yang energy - faster, hotter and much more energetic. It's helpful to remember certain rules to determine the type of energy a food produces, so that you can prepare soup accordingly to what type of stress you’d like to rid.

Euryale Seeds

A super simple recipe that takes just a handful of ingredients and five minutes to prepare to get your mind and body right.

Stress Relief Herbal Soup Recipe

Ingredients

2-3 pounds of chicken, pork bones, or beef bones
43 grams of Poria
31 grams of Chinese Wild Yam
29 grams of White Lotus Seeds
26 grams of Euryale Seeds
8 - 10 cups of water
Salt (optional)

Directions

Lightly rinse herbs.
In a pot, combine herbs, meat, and water.
Bring to a boil before covering and simmering for 1.5 hours on stove-top or 20 minutes in pressure cooker.
Salt to taste.

This delicious image from the omnivorescookbook.com

by admin

Cancer and Chinese Medicine - Part 2

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

Nutrition - The Biggest Weapon Against Cancer

It is always amazing to me that patients receiving conventional treatments for cancer (chemotherapy and radiation) are given little to no information about what to eat. I know because I always ask if there was any nutritional counseling that went with the other therapies and more often than not, the answer is no. This shows an alarming lack of understanding about how important what we eat is to our health, and especially in the case of cancer.

I think that the correlation between what we eat and our overall health is understood by many industries, and certainly by many informed people, but the cancer industry (and I say that because it has turned into an industry), seems to be decades behind. Now, without getting into why that might be (which would be a whole other article), let's just say that there is a tonne of evidence to suggest that our food can both give us cancer and help keep us healthy so that we never get cancer. Food is also a powerful weapon in detoxing the body and healing from a cancer that already exists.

Foods to Avoid

Sugar

In my opinion, the number one thing to know concerning diet and cancer is to stop eating sugar. Completely. It is literally the food that cancer eats. The tests that Western medicine uses to find and diagnose cancer in the body, called PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and CT (Computed Tomography) scans, actually inject glucose - a type of sugar - and watch the cancer gravitate to it because sugar is what cancer eats. Eliminating sugar from your diet is the most important thing to do if you are either struggling with cancer, or having health issues in general. Sugar is a poison to the body, and most people in the developed world eat far too much of it. Now, let me be clear, I am talking about refined sugar which is in a huge amount of our foods, especially processed foods. There are naturally occurring sugars in things like fruits, and although we need some of these, it is a good idea to cut back when you are trying to heal from cancer. Refined foods of all types should be avoided whenever possible, and refined sugar is the worst of all.

Chemicals

We also have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of chemicals used in our foods, many of which are untested on human beings and cause harm to not only us, but pollute the earth we live on, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Our food becomes more and more processed all the time with the addition of these dangerous chemicals, and our bodies are not designed to deal with them. There are also the dizzying amounts of chemicals in other products that we use in our homes, like makeup and personal care products, soaps and detergents, cleaning products, gardening products, etc.. not to mention toxic chemicals that are the byproducts of industries which are released into our soil, water and air.

It is a good idea BEFORE you get sick to have a look at how many of these chemicals you have in your home and are coming into contact with on a daily basis so that you can eliminate any that are not absolutely necessary. I would always recommend eating fresh, local, organic food (more about that below), using completely natural beauty and personal care products free of toxic ingredients, make sure the water you are drinking is as clean as possible and limit any environmental toxins that you can. All these toxins combine to place a huge burden on our immune systems which we need to be at full strength to keep us disease free.

Eat Real Food

Because of the philosophy of living as harmoniously with nature as possible, this obviously bleeds into the foods we consume as well. I believe that many of our current health problems as a society are due to the UN-natural nature of the foods that we eat. Small farms are disappearing and being replaced by large-scale factory farms, our soil is depleted of essential vitamins and nutrients, and men in hazmat suits spray toxic herbicides and fungicides on the foods we are supposed to confidently feed our families. It is becoming increasingly difficult to even understand food labels, and corporations spend billions of dollars to keep what is actually IN our foods off the labels, which is certainly a worrying trend and not designed to make us feel confident about what is being put into our food.

My solution is to keep it simple. Eat as few processed foods as possible (this means anything in a box or can that has been altered from its natural state), eat as many fresh, local and organic foods as possible. Keep your diet mostly plant-based, especially if you have cancer. If possible, grow as much of your food as you can in a backyard or front yard garden. Vertical gardens are awesome for this! If you have limited space or live in an apartment, make friends with a local farmer, or frequent a farmers market. Also, take time to lovingly prepare meals for you and your family. Energetically, this is important too. Be mindful and thankful to the food you are eating for sharing its life force with you. Being grateful is also a powerful tool and beneficial to your health and the way you feel.

Acid & Alkaline Foods

Disease thrives in an acidic environment and cancer is no exception. As a culture, we eat a disproportionate amount of acidic foods (as you will probably see the list below) and precious few alkaline ones. Use the information below as a guide and a good way to begin is to slowly start replacing acidic foods with alkaline ones. It may seem hard at first (because who doesn't love a burger every once in a while?), but you will soon notice how much better you will feel, as that you will no longer have the cravings for the fatty, sugary foods that are so acid forming once they have been out of your system for a while. I promise you will definitely feel a difference!

Acidic Foods

**Note - there are different ways to measure the acidity and alkalinity of foods, but this one - from Energise for Life - makes the distinction of measuring a foods acidity and alkalinity AFTER it has been ingested - therefore, how it is affecting your body. If you would like to have a copy of a good few charts detailing acid and alkaline foods, you can find them here - Energise For Life.

Below is a list of acidic foods. If dealing with cancer, cut out as many of these as possible (I would recommend ALL) and introduce alkaline foods as an alternative. Remember, cancer thrives in an acidic environment.

Acidic Foods

Look yummy? *sigh*, I know. But these foods are highly acidic. Try eating some cucumber instead!

MEAT

Bacon
Beef
Clams
Corned Beef
Eggs
Lamb
Lobster
Mussels
Organ Meats
Venison
Fish
Oyster
Pork
Rabbit
Sausage
Scallops
Shellfish
Shrimp
Tuna
Turkey
Veal

DAIRY & EGGS

Butter
Cheese
Milk
Whey
Yogurt
Nuts & Seeds!
Cashews
Peanuts
Pecans
Pistachios
Walnuts
Brazil Nuts
Chestnuts
Hazelnuts
Macadamia Nuts
Oils!
Cooked Oil
Solid Oil (Margarine)
Oil Exposed to Heat,
Light or Air
Cottage Cheese
Ice Cream
Sour Cream
Soy Cheese
Eggs

FRUIT

Apple
Apricot
Currants
Dates
Grapes
Mango
Peach
Pear
Prunes
Raisins
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tropical Fruits
Berries
Cantaloupe
Cranberries
Currants
Honeydew Melon
Orange
Pineapple
Plum

NUTS & SEEDS

Cashews
Peanuts
Pecans
Pistachios
Walnuts
Brazil Nuts
Chestnuts
Hazelnuts
Macadamia Nuts

DRINKS

Alcohol
Black Tea
Coffee
Carbonated Water
Pasteurized Juice
Cocoa
Energy Drinks
Sports Drinks
Colas
Tap Water
Milk
Green Tea
Decaffeinated Drinks
Flavoured Water

SWEETENERS

Artificial Sweeteners
Carob
Corn Syrup
Fructose
Processed Sugar
Saccharine
Sucrose
Sucralose
Honey
Maple Syrup

OILS

Cooked Oil
Solid Oil (Margarine)
Oil Exposed to Heat,
Light or Air

SAUCES

Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Mustard
Soy Sauce
Pickles
Vinegar
Tabasco
Tamari
Wasabi

OTHER

Mushrooms
Miso
White Breads, Pastas,
Rice & Noodles
Chocolate
Chips
Pizza
Biscuits
Cigarettes
Drugs
Candy

Alkaline Foods

Some super yummy alkaline foods. They look fresh, cleansing and delicious, don't they? ;)

VEGETABLES

Asparagus
Broccoli
Chilli
Capsicum/Pepper
Courgette/Zucchini
Dandelion
Snow Peas
Green Beans
String Beans
Runner Beans
Spinach
Kale
Wakame
Kelp
Collards
Chives
Endive
Chard
Cabbage
Sweet Potato
Coriander
Basil
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Carrot
Beetroot
Eggplant/Aubergine
Garlic
Onion
Parsley
Celery
Cucumber
Watercress
Lettuce
Peas
Broad Beans
New Potato
Pumpkin
Radish

FRUIT

Avocado
Tomato
Lemon
Grapefruit
Fresh Coconut

GRAINS & BEANS

Amaranth
Buckwheat
Brown Rice
Chia/Salba
Kamut
Millet
Quinoa
Spelt
Nuts & Seeds!
Almonds
Coconut
Flax Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Sunflower Seeds
Oils!
Avocado Oil
Coconut Oil
Flax Oil
Udo’s Oil
Olive Oil
Lentils
Lima Beans
Mung Beans
Navy Beans
Pinto Beans
Red Beans
Soy Beans
White Beans

GRASSES

Wheatgrass
Barley Grass
Kamut Grass
Dog Grass
Shave Grass
Oat Grass

NUTS & SEEDS

Almonds
Coconut
Flax Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds
Sesame Seeds
Sunflower Seeds

OILS

Avocado Oil
Coconut Oil
Flax Oil
Udo’s Oil
Olive Oil

BREADS

Sprouted Bread
Sprouted Wraps
Gluten/Yeast Free
Breads & Wraps

SPROUTS

Soy Sprouts
Alfalfa Sprouts
Amaranth Sprouts
Broccoli Sprouts
Fenugreek Sprouts
Kamut Sprouts
Mung Bean Sprouts
Qionoa Sprouts
Radish Sprouts
Spelt Sprouts

This comprehensive list of acid and alkaline foods came from a great chart I found from energiseforlife.com There is an 8 page PDF that you may download with more information which can be found here - Acid & Alkaline Food Information.

Water

Water is also something that I don't think people think about enough in terms of health. I think there is a misconception that if we are drinking bottled water and not water out of the tap that we are somehow safe from many pollutants that may be in our waterways and make their way into water processing plants. Unfortunately, this has been shown not to be true, and many bottled waters' are just as unhealthy as drinking straight out of the tap. If you must drink tap water, find out from your local city or town, what they are adding to it. Is there flouride in it? What levels of certain contaminants are acceptable as far as they are concerned? Do some research. If you have a water filtration system, again, do your research and get one that filters out as many undesirable chemicals as possible. Water is incredibly important for our health and it is worth the effort to be drinking the healthiest and cleanest water possible. The good news is, that there are many good water filtration systems out there that will allow you to enjoy clean, healthy water which is essential for a strong, healthy body.

Emotions

Expressing emotions freely is just as important to our health as a strong, flexible body.

I really feel that the emotions do not get enough attention or recognition for the role they play in our health. This is another area that seems often entirely left out of the diagnostic as well as the healing process in Western medicine. In Chinese medicine, the emotions are just as important as what is physically happening in our bodies. The two are inseparable and when someone is going through the intake process with a doctor of Chinese medicine, there are a lot of questions inquiring about a person's emotional life. You may be wondering how much of a role the emotions can play in a disease as devastating as cancer. My answer is - a HUGE one.

In my experience with my own cancer patients, the emotions are often where it starts. Complex and serious diseases often begin with extremely stressful, difficult, and emotionally devastating events that the body is simply not able to cope with. Preceding almost every case of serious disease I have treated, there was either one or a series of extremely stressful/emotional or difficult events that the patient had to contend with. I have made this observation over and over again. The body can handle a lot, but it has its limits, and the way we live along with the pressures and stresses we are under often are too much for our bodies and psyches to bear which can result in disease and illness.

In terms of how this relates to the emotions I want to be clear, it is not HAVING emotions that can make us sick, in Chinese medicine, it is how we deal with our emotions that is the key. In modern culture, at least in North America, we are not taught what I like to call "emotional intelligence". We spend decades in school learning how to live in this world, but I find that so many of the most important things that we need to be healthy and happy in our lives are missing. How to express our emotions in a healthy way is one of them. This expression is important not only to our health but to our happiness and well-being as well. So often our emotions can come out in hurtful or destructive ways to ourselves or the people around us, or worse, they are held in where they fester and eventually turn into disease. So, find healthy ways to express the emotions you are having. Write, talk to a friend, acknowledge them, process them in a healthy way and let them go. They are taking up precious space, that, once they are dealt with and let go, can be replaced with lovely things like love and light, happiness and feelings of joy and gratitude.

Managing Stress

Stress is something we hear about a lot and I believe is also a huge factor is our health and well-being. Stress is something I ask every single patient about both in our initial consultation, and at almost every visit. I give it a one to ten scale and ask patients to rate where their stress is in relation to that scale. Most people are at the top end, and many have become resigned to living there. Stress is difficult to avoid, but what we do have control over is how we deal with it. Managing the stress we are feeling is the key, not eliminating it altogether. I am not even sure if that is possible considering the world we live in. I have seen patients doing everything right - eating the right foods, exercising, sleeping enough, really taking care of themselves and still they get sick. Those cases very often lead back to stress. You can't work hard to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle but be in an unhealthy relationship that is driving you crazy or going to a job that you hate every day and still expect to be the picture of health. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work like that. In Chinese medicine, as in life, it is all about balance.

One of my keys to managing stress is meditating. Now the thought of meditating can be intimidating for some people and I understand that. This doesn't mean having to give up all your worldly possessions, shaving your head and going to live in a cave in the Himalayas. That is totally cool if that is how you want to do it, but what I am talking about for the rest of us is just taking some time for yourself every day to sit quietly and try to empty your thoughts. In our hectic, modern lives, we hardly ever get a chance to do this. Stop. Listen. Relax. Breathe deeply. Meditating is like a gift you give yourself. It benefits your brain, your nervous system, your heart and your psyche. Think of it as preventative medicine. I think we all need to start thinking about medicine and health differently and Chinese medicine can teach us how to do it. Do small things every day. Tend your garden (the body and spirit), and disease will never develop. Disease cannot thrive in a healthy garden.

If you would like to read about a bit of a hardcore immersion into meditation (and the amazing benefits that it yielded) you can read about my two intense Vipassana meditation retreat experiences. They are not quite the shaving your head and disappearing into the Himalayas, but they were definitely the most intense meditation experiences I have ever had. They were also the most edifying and positively life-changing experiences of my life.

by admin

Cancer and Chinese Medicine - Part 1

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

Cancer and Chinese Medicine

I get a lot of people writing to me, telling me that someone they love has been diagnosed with cancer and asking if there is anything Chinese medicine can do. This is a good question, but it has a complex answer. It means looking at a disease like cancer in a completely different way than we have all been taught to look at it through the eyes of science, which is difficult especially if the world science is all you have ever known.

To begin a discussion about cancer and Chinese medicine, we must first gain an understanding of where Chinese medicine came from, the philosophy behind it, and a little bit about how it works. Let us begin.

The Proliferation of Cancer in Modern Society

For at least the last fifty years there seems to have been an explosion in cancers, especially in industrialized nations. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be 1,688,780 new cancer cases diagnosed and 600,920 cancer deaths in the US in 2017. According to a WHO report, there has been an alarming increase in cancer rates all over the world. The report also states that:

"Globally, life expectancy has increased from 45 years in 1950 to 66 years in 2000, but the population of the world is aging rapidly—the median age will have risen from 23.5 years in 1950 to 36.5 years in 2050. By 2050, more than 20 percent of the population will be 60 years and over, versus 10 percent in 2000. By comparison, the number of cancer deaths increased by 35 percent during the period 1985-1997. The report states that “[w]hile extending life expectancy is desirable in itself, it is equally important that increased expectancy is accompanied by freedom from any prospect of years of suffering as a consequence of chronic diseases, pain or disability.”

Why is There So Much Cancer?

Why is this? Why has there been such an apparent increase in the numbers of people getting cancer in the world? Perhaps our diagnostic methods have gotten better, and there is certainly truth in that. Perhaps people are taking better care of their health and going for regular checkups more than they have in past years and that is also probably true. But would these factors account for the explosive numbers of cancer diagnoses in the past half a century?

Living in an Unhealthy Way

In my experience and opinion, these are not the main factors contributing to the huge numbers of cancer being diagnosed every year, it is the way we are LIVING. And what you may ask, do I mean by that? Well, that is what I am going to try to tell you. Most human beings on this planet, save a few communities scattered around the world, are living in a way that is not conducive to health. This lifestyle becomes more toxic every year resulting in more disease, mental health problems, addictions, violent crimes, and suicides. We are an unhealthy and deeply unhappy culture.

Chinese Medicine and the Importance of Lifestyle

Our culture, with its ambitions, innovation, and reliance on technology as well as its obsession with bigger, faster and MORE has largely become disconnected from the way we were designed to live on this planet. We have, as a people, become disconnected from our true nature. This idea goes far beyond the reaches of Chinese medicine, this is a human being issue that touches each and every one of us regardless of religion, race, gender or nationality. But for the purposes of this discussion, let us talk about Chinese medicine, and how it views the human being and how it is designed to live in a harmonious and healthy way. I feel like the name Chinese medicine really limits the seemingly endless wisdom that encompasses what it represents. People think, oh yes, Chinese medicine means things like acupuncture and smelly herbs, but in fact, Chinese medicine grew out of Eastern philosophy that had been explored and understood for thousands of years, a wisdom that many people seldom encounter in their day to day lives. Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher credited with developing Taoism (or Daoism) is where much of Chinese medicine wisdom springs from. In Taoist philosophy, the person is connected to every other living creature, the planet and the universe itself. They are all one energy and indivisible. You cannot separate them into parts, or you would be hurting the sum total. Whatever happens to one part, also happens to the whole.

this incredible illustration from theawesomedaily.com

Our Relationship with Nature

What people have been doing (and only really for about the last 10,000 years, starting after the beginning of agriculture by then hunter gatherers), is that we decided in our wisdom that we did not belong in the throng with the rest of the plants and animals, living harmoniously within the perfectly balanced web of life. We began to have delusions of grandeur and wanted more for ourselves. It was at this point in history that people removed themselves from the food chain and started to grow crops, and begin to have more than they needed. This move also began a long descent into a relationship with nature that was no longer symbiotic and mutually beneficial, human beings began to try to dominate and control nature for their own personal gain.

A Medicine of Prevention

According to the philosophy behind Chinese medicine, a person doesn’t wait until they get sick in order to correct the illness. This philosophy teaches a way of life. The philosophy is intensely pragmatic, understanding (in a way that many modern people have forgotten) that living in a healthy way, or preventatively, is a much better approach to health that waiting until things become catastrophic (i.e., a disease) to correct the problem. So how did Chinese people live preventatively? Well, for the sake of explanation I love to use the analogy from the wonderful book Between Heaven and Earth - that the body is like a garden. You must tend your garden for it to flourish and grow. You must go out into your garden every day, pull weeds, water and inspect your plants to see what the garden needs. Small changes every day are much easier than large changes every few years, often when it is too late. This, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of Chinese medicine and part of what makes it so effective. That said, because of the ways that Chinese medicine describe the body, the organs, qi and their relationships, it is also excellent for correcting diseases when they do arise, and this is why it is so effective, even after 5000 years, at treating modern diseases in the Western world.

Waiting Until It's Too Late

In the West, we tend to wait until something is quite wrong before we seek medical attention. We wait until something hurts, there is a pain we can no longer ignore, a lump or some other symptom before we go to the doctor to get it checked out. We are not taught the value of living in a healthy, balanced way and instead, we rely on doctors, surgeons, and pharmaceuticals to cure our ills when they come up. It is a different approach, and we are not entirely to blame because it is the way we were taught by our parents before us and that thinking is galvanized by advertising as well as the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry. This reliance on medications and complex surgeries seems to have increased also in the past fifty years (and is increasing all the time) as we become more and more disconnected from nature, each other and ourselves. In a country like the United States where people spend more than any other country on health care, they are some of the sickest people on the planet. Do you see something wrong there? In a PBS newshour report published in July of 2016, the United States saw a rise in healthcare spending that reached a mind boggling $3.35 trillion dollars which works out to $10,345 for every man woman and child. The report also stated that US healthcare spending is wildly unbalanced reporting that about 5% of the population, which encompasses the most frail and ill, accounts for nearly half of all healthcare spending in any given year.

this amazing illustration from theawesomedaily.com

A Healthy Way of Life

To give a brief overview of the “way of life” that the Taoists were talking about and Chinese peoples subscribe to, as I said above, Chinese medicine is a medicine of prevention. This means that there is a constant awareness of what is happening in (and out of) the body and that you learn to really LISTEN to what your body is trying to tell you. Does this sound strange? It may, but your body talks to you all the time. Consider your last headache after a long stressful day, pains in your stomach when you knew you had a presentation at work, the hair that stood up on the back of your neck when that person got on the bus behind you, the sense you got that maybe you shouldn’t eat that piece of sushi… there are all ways that your body speaks to you. And it is speaking to you all the time. Are you listening?

Living in Harmony with Nature

Because the Chinese were living in a way that was much more in tune with their natural environment, the way they lived changed in subtle ways according to the seasons. The foods they ate, their daily activities including how much and when they slept and how much physical activity was appropriate were ways in which they were able to stay healthy. Foods were eaten that were available at that particular time of year and grown locally, as these were the healthiest according to Mother Nature and her wisdom, and the people recognized this. The amount of sleep a person would strive for depended on how much energy would be exerted during the day. If a persons energy was to be conserved (as in winter) or expressed freely (as in summer). Internal practices were also important as things like Qi Gong and Tai Chi were a way to keep the body and mind supple and agile well into old age. 5000 years ago there was no retirement, a person had to work until they were no longer able, so keeping your body and mind in the best shape possible was the main motivation.

The Importance of Emotions

Another thing and this is unique to Chinese medicine and very different from how we view health in the West, was and is the importance of the emotions. A healthy emotional life was just as important as a strong, flexible body. The emotional life of a human being is complex, just as complex, it seems, as the workings of the human body. And being emotionally healthy has a great deal to do with a person's overall health. The fascinating part is that in Chinese medicine each emotion is associated with a specific organ so that an imbalance in that emotion can point to a problem in its respective organ and vice versa, an imbalance in an organ can point to problems with a particular emotion. It is all interrelated. So, being able to understand, and freely express emotions was and are an important part of overall health.

this image from huffingtonpost.com

Chinese Medicine and the Organs

Without getting too deep (because we could get so SO deep into this), let me explain a little bit about how the organs work in Chinese medicine and how important they are in the process of diagnosis. One thing that is important to note, is that the organs in Chinese medicine have very little similarity with the organs and their functions in Western medicine. This causes a lot of confusion when explaining things to patients so it is good to clear that up right away. There are certainly some similarities, but there are far more things that are completely different and unique to the organs in Chinese medicine. The organs in Chinese medicine each have a list of responsibilities. Processes in the body that they are responsible for. The organs are also, all connected. So, if there is a problem with one, then you must look at them all to discover where the root of the problem lies. This is another unique feature of Chinese medicine, is that everything is connected and nothing, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, exists in isolation. This is why as a practitioner, you have to have a very solid understanding of, well everything before you can begin to understand anything that might be happening to your patient. Our intake procedure and questioning are thorough and complex, and this is why.

How Symptoms Point to Specific Organs

Knowing each organ, its associated emotion and its list of responsibilities help one to understand what might be going wrong when problems arise. If someone is struggling with the loss of a spouse and having lung symptoms, in Chinese medicine, this would make perfect sense, as grief is the emotion of the lung. If a particularly angry person comes in with symptoms of red eyes, headache and bitter taste in their mouth, this would point to excess heat in the liver as anger is this organs corresponding emotion. Understanding the connection that the organs have to each other is also important as an excess or deficiency in one can spill over to the next in the cycle, affecting it adversely. Time also is very relevant, as the longer an imbalance has been active, the worse the imbalance will become, creating more severe symptoms and being more difficult to correct.

Location is Important

In a disease like cancer, we are always looking at where the cancer has been found which can tell us a lot about why it has come about in the first place. It is because of the way Chinese medicine sees the organs, their responsibilities, and their interrelationships that the location is so important. In treating my own patients with cancer, it became obvious after the initial consultations why the cancer had presented itself. Often, in listening to a patient's history it is clear that there have been particularly severe stresses on either the body, the psyche or both that have pushed the body to its breaking point, and cancer is the result. There is also often a long history of signs and symptoms that the patient has had but has either not been aware of or unable (or unwilling) to deal with for various reasons.

Having an understanding of the philosophy of Chinese medicine and the organs and their functions can do a lot to help you to stay healthy, and be able to recognize warning signs; ways that your body is telling you that something is not right. Cancer in many cases is the result of many years of imbalance that started small, building into something larger and more complex and thus, is more difficult to treat.

Resources

WHO report - increase in cancer rates: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2003/04/canc-a26.html

by admin

Happy Fun Qi Gong - Part 3

**This article originally appeared as "Happy Fun Qigong."Qi Journal, Vol. 25, No 3, Autumn 2015.**

By John Voigt

Laughter.

Learn to laugh deep inside, feel that the laughter is vibrating tremendously inside you. When you do this, the blood, the chi [qi], the energy are all moving. So the stagnant chi is gone, and the most important pump, the heart, can work with less effort. Mantak Chia. Wisdom Chi Kung. Destiny Books, 2008. pg. 64.

With a big smile and without saying what you are about to do, go up to people in the group and slowly and softly start making “Ha” sounds. When someone joins in, show your approval with grinning nods and thumbs up gestures. Wave your hands inviting others to join in. When you have as many folks conscripted into this as you practically can get, increase the tempo and volume. Once they catch on they have been tricked into laughing, they will laugh even harder. After a minute or so of this stealth hilarity, signal them to stop. Some should still be giggling or at least smiling. Most of them should be feeling good all over. Now you may want to give a mini-lecture along these lines: “As an old great qigong master of the past said, Laughter is not only the best medicine, sometimes it can be the best qigong. [Note to reader: actually I made that one up, but I like the way it sounds and anyway it isn’t totally wrong.] I continue with, “Much of the so-called “civilized” world that surrounds us is just plain nutty, and has the ability to creep behind our eyes into our minds with its worries, fears and negative judgments—and that can mess us up. Laughter helps prevent that from happening.”

this joyous image from thegospelcoalition.org

Five Organ Laughter for Emotional Wellbeing.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) there are five major organs, but these organs are not exactly like the body organs of western medicine. Rather than being like something seen in a display case at a butcher shop, the Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung, and Kidney are interrelated profound energetic forces. That is why they are capitalized and not written as plurals. Even though understood as being in part physical, in traditional Chinese thought these organs are more like active verbs than stationary nouns. The way they function is the basis for all life, including physical and mental health or sick- ness. For our purposes sending laughter into any organ enhances its well-being.

Have the group begin with some deep belly laughs. A minute or so is enough. This should bring qi into the dan tian located in the center of the lower abdomen; this is the place where qi is gathered and stored for future use. Carefully monitor the group so that no one laughs too hard. At times you may need to lower the volume to a quiet or medium laughter so no one hurts themselves. Finish with a clockwise rub- bing of the lower belly. Cats and dogs like their dan tians rubbed this why. Why shouldn’t we?

Next laugh gently into each of the organs in the order given below. Silent laughter and even humming into the chosen organ seems to help break up negative emotions. Simply smiling into an organ might even produce good results, as long as a full but comfortable abdominal breathing is maintained throughout this gymnastic.

Liver (on the central right side of the torso).

When the qi flow is harmonious in the Liver a person feels empowered. When the flow is disturbed a person may suffer from personal frustration and feelings of being too vulnerable. Laughing into the Liver can function as a way to change feelings of anger into a sense of relaxed self-assurance.

Heart.

The Chinese traditionally conceive the Heart as being the center of both mind and emotions. It is located in the upper center of the torso, in much the same place as the heart chakra, or the Middle Dantian. When the flow of Qi is disturbed or if there is an excess of qi in the Heart, a person may become mentally hyperactive, even hysterical. Laughing into the heart will not only increase the healthy circulation of blood in the arteries, veins, and capillaries, it is said to smooth out and reduce excessive emotions; and the over-thinking of what the Chinese call, “too many monkeys in the head.”

Spleen.

This organ is on the lower left side of the torso and governs digestion. In TCM it often includes the pancreas and stomach. (Mantak Chia tells his students the importance of owning an anatomy book and study at its pictures so you know where to look inside yourself when doing qigong). Disharmony here triggers worry. Harmony here helps create a state of clear calm mindfulness. Laughing aloud or silently into your lower left abdomen seems to drive away worrisome thoughts and replace them with feelings of clear happy confidence.

Lung. (upper torso).

It is given as a singular and not plural “lungs” because we are talking about one interrelated group of energetic

It is given as a singular and not plural “lungs” because we are talking about one interrelated group of energetic functions, and not simply a physical organ on both sides of the chest. Here disharmony, stagnation, and depletion of qi can create - or be created by - feelings of isolation, grief, and depression. (It’s the same in all the organs: the emotion effects the qi and the qi effects the emotion.) The Chinese saw that when a person was in a state of intense grief and or depression they would seem to stop breathing, and often bend over so much that they could hardly breathe at all. If we understand the word “qi” can also mean “breath” it makes sense that laughing into the Lung can bring about feelings of courage and victory. I like using the image of the Tarot card The Chariot, as a visual metaphor of this positive state of being, with the breastplate of the Charioteer signifying the ribs of the chest.

Kidney.

As mentioned above, the Kidney is a singular term in Chinese traditional thought. When a person is very frightened they may “pee themselves.” Therefore the Chinese posited that the Kidney relates to the energy element Water, and when the qi is not right in the Kidney the bad emotion most likely to appear is fear. To create harmony in the Kidney, access it by laughing into both sides of the lower back, and into both sides of the lower front of the body just below the belly. Breathe in, and with short staccato repeating exhalations, laugh into the Kidney. As with all Happy Fun practices be relaxed and don’t force anything. A minute or so of this inner laughter can help in dissolving the emotions of fear into feelings of joyful personal power.

If the group would be comfortable with it, here is a way to close the Laughter gymnastics. It comes from http://www.laughteronlineuni- versity.com/150-laughter-exercises/64. Heart to Heart Laughter: (Intimacy Laughter) Hug each other and laugh by feeling the vibrations in each others’ bodies; alternatively, you can hold hands and laugh. The participants come closer and hold each other's hands and laugh with compassionate eye contact. One can shake hands and hug each other while laughing if convenient.

Ending The Happy Fun Qigong Session.

1. Total Body Shaking, Twitching and Wiggling.

This is a quick gymnastic to cleanse and refresh the organs and meridians. It should be done quickly and loosely. It should feel good and be fun to do. We start twitching, shaking and wiggling the toes, then the feet, and continuing these nervous wiggle twitching movements in the feet, we move it up the legs, waist, body, head, and still continuing this wiggle twitching in all those places, we move it into the shoulders and down the arms and into the fingers. Now your entire body, legs, arms, and head should be twitching and wiggling like a rag doll in a wind storm. Now reverse the process. As quickly as you can, stop the wiggling in the fingers, then stop it in the lower arms, upper arms, shoulders. Then stop in the head, upper body, lower body, hips, upper legs, lower legs, feet, finally the toes. End by taking a deep breath and carefully jumping up and coming down with a shouted “HA!” Next, pretend you are a collie dog coming out of the ocean after a swim and shake the water off your fur.

2. Flicking the Schmutz Off.

Next, we do some outer gymnastics I have often seen people doing early in the morning in parks around the country. It is a way to get rid of any remaining xié qì! meaning “bad qi.” (For any Mandarin purists out there it is pronounced shay chee. The arrows indicate pitch direction of the words.) Schmutz is a German word, and the similar“ shmuts” is Yiddish; both mean “nasty, filthy, yucky, or xié qì.

The Gymnastic. Bring your hands up and out to your sides and as if they were covered with dirty dish water shake and flick the schmutz off - especially from the fingers. I instruct those in my groups to do it this way. Shake off the bad stuff. Wipe it off yourself, wipe your arms, hands, legs and toss it on the ground. Don’t worry about ecology, this stuff goes right down into the earth like compost.

3. Kicking the Schmutz Off.

Next, I lead the group in kicking their feet forward as if we were getting rid of dog poop on our shoes. Then we kick the heels back. Then we kick the feet out sideways. Having the group move about kicking this way is a lot of fun. It gives me a chance to yell out, “Don’t kick that stuff on me!” to really enhance the experience, (and I seriously don’t want that stuff on me anyway.)

This all may seem silly, but nevertheless, it is a valid Chinese technique to get rid of xié qì. If you are doing this gymnastic outdoors and there is sidewalk close by, go to it and wipe the bottoms of your shoes on the curb, the area between the sidewalk and the road. We don’t want to be tracking any bad qi into the house, now do we?

4. Close the session.

You can close the session with any standard smoothing and centering the qi exercises that you might normally perform.

Disclaimer.

Happy Fun Qigong is practiced to gain feelings of health and well-being. It is not meant to be a substitute for medical treatment for physical or psychological illnesses. Consult your doctor or an appropriate medical professional before beginning this or any other exercise regimen. Otherwise, Fun Happy Qigong is not suitable for people who have physical or mental health problems. This is even more so for anyone who may suffer from uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart disease, metastasized cancer, epilepsy, hernia, serious backaches, or psychiatric disorders. If discomfort or pain is felt when doing this or similar exercises consult a doctor immediately. The author and the publisher disclaim any liability or loss, personal or otherwise, resulting from any of the procedures and information presented in this article.

Concluding Comments.

Even though I used the word “visualization” in this article, I really do not like the term; it puts too much of a distance between the individual and what she or he is imagining. “Visualization” carries the idea of internally seeing something, and not actually being it or doing it. As in: You are here. It is there. You are watching it. It is being watched.

Instead of “visualizing” I prefer the terms “active imagination” or even better “inner-imaging.” But most people do not know what they mean. I want the practitioner to internally create an imaginative reality and then actively merge with and become it. However, this is advanced inner-energy work and therefore best studied with an advanced master. I am not saying don’t do it by yourself. What I am saying is that it is mandatory you are able to leave this “inner imaging” state whenever you wish and return to a more normal everyday reality. Otherwise, it could begin to resemble insanity. After all, you are not really Tarzan, Jane, or the ape.

In summary, Happy Fun Qigong uses inner-imagining yourself to become some or all of these formidable characters: Franz Liszt, a hula dancer, LeBron James, Tarzan (or Jane), a tiger, phoenix, peacock, a car lube air dancer. In this qigong you talk and listen to your smiley heart, laugh into your organs, shake twitch wiggle and jump, then flick and kick off the schumtz.

After all that I hope we all return to our everyday lives happier, healthier, and full of radiant healthy qi. BTW: Feel free to keep Tarzan and any of the other creatures alive inside yourself and ready to bring out of hiding and use whenever you wish - as long as you can put them back whenever you want to.

Endnotes

If you are going to send qi-energy to anyone first always ask and get their permission; not to ask is impolite, improper, and invasive. The same with touching anyone to correct a posture or to show them an acupressure point: always first ask permission.
Wiggling Fingers A personal note. This practice has helped me heal, or at least eliminate, the pain of arthritis in my fingers. Some of the joints are still gnarled, but now I can move my fingers easily.
See “T-cell Modulation Group” at http://www.tcells.org/beginners/tcells/.
“Five Animals.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Animals.
“Phoenix (mythology)” [at] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology).
“Fenghuang” [at] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenghuang.
The “Phoenix Spreads its Wings” gymnastic presented in this article is a simplification of number 15 of the second set of Taijiqigong- Shibashi created by Lin Houshung, See “Lin Housheng’s Qigong” [at] http://www.lin-housheng.com/products.php.
After these techniques are learned there is the potential of adding to them other Asian healing modalities such as using mantras, hand mudras, qigong gestures, ritual movements, affirmations and tuina massage. And adding some love into all this increases its effectiveness. Only the safety and security of the group and the presenter limit what may be done. Nevertheless laughing into the organs creates a foundation for any such future work.

by admin

Happy Fun Qi Gong - Part 2

**This article originally appeared as "Happy Fun Qigong."Qi Journal, Vol. 25, No 3, Autumn 2015.**

By John Voigt

Qi-Balling

1. Sensing qi.

Another fun and seemingly magical gymnastic is to have the group rub their hands together, then have them pretend they are playing small accordions. When their hands go out, they should inhale. When the hands come in, they should exhale. I have them do this for awhile, and then ask, “Does anyone see the qi between your hands?” If no one does, I suggest they look for an ethereal mist, a commonly used description of qi energy. (The Chinese word “Qi” originally meant “vapor”—like the phosphorescent mist you see hovering over a lake very early in the morning.) We do some more squeezing in and out then I ask, “What does it feel like?” If they do sense it, their answers often are, a heaviness, a tingling, magnetic, electromagnetic, prickly, it’s hot, cold, a suction. If they see or feel nothing, I tell them, to imagine it. Using the imagination can be effective in preparing someone to gain more skills in their qigong practices.

2. Forming a qi ball.

Have them mold a ball out of the qi between their hands; as if the qi were a clump of moist flour dough and it was being kneaded on a cutting board. If they don’t get it tell them “Pretend you’re playing a game.”

3. Tossing the qi ball.

Now have them toss the qi ball from one hand to the other. Tell them to watch the ball as it goes back and forth (that will enhance the experience). Suggest they feel the ball in their hands when they catch it.

4. Lifting the qi ball.

Then have them lift the ball from side to side. The right-hand lifts the qi ball up to the left shoulder and holds it there for a few seconds. Then the right hand comes back down dropping the ball into the left hand. Then the left hand lifts the ball to the right shoulder, holds it for a few seconds, and returns down dropping the ball into the right hand. These movements should be repeated for a few minutes. Once people are comfortable doing this, when the hand is at its zenith they should toss the ball a tiny bit straight up in the air, and quickly catch it.

5. Tossing the qi ball around.

This is an exercise in which we create through our imaginations the sensations of sending and receiving qi with other people. We pretend we are all at a playground tossing our newly created qi balls to each other. I occasionally stir the process up by saying, “Hey, not so hard!” when they toss the ball too vigorously at me. Imagination is wonderful. You can do so much with it if you only allow yourself to.

6. Basketball - the Qi way.

Here is a way to combine all the Qi Ball gymnastics. I call it the “Free Throw Game.” I introduce this by saying, Did you ever watch an NBA basketball player shooting a free throw? Next time you do, study how he coordinates his breath, body posture, and mind to project a ball towards a basketball hoop. That is pure qigong ladies and gentleman: body, breath, mind, energy all being used together. Okay, time to play ball. Feel that energy ball as a basket ball between your hands. Toss it from hand to hand. Take a deep breath and imagine you are LeBron James (or your favorite basketball player) and walk around and bounce it off the floor, dribble it. Hold the ball in front of your the solar plexus (the second dantian). Center yourself by breathing into the lower abdomen and allow gravity to ground you. Take a few more deep breaths and fill your lower belly dantian with pure high powered qi-energy. Your whole torso should feel like a balloon filled with water, pleasantly heavy and bouncy. Once again feel the energy resonance between your hands and the basketball. Mentally picture seeing the ball going into the hoop, and after that relax your shoulders and entire body and toss the ball in. Another point for your side.

Happy Fun Animal Frolics.

In ancient times Chinese Shamans, usually women called “Wu”, would do ritualistic dances to gain the energetic powers of animals and birds. As time passed such practices were recast into the first documented qigong form, the classic Wu Qin Xi, or Five Animal Frolics.₄ But be prepared for a new spin on an old theme. Our Happy Fun version may look more like dances from1960’s—as in the Bird, the Duck, the Funky Chicken, the Horse, the Pony, the Raccoon, the Dog, the Funky Penguin, the Monkey, etc.

Tarzan Thumps His CV-19 and Makes the Victory Cry of the Bull Ape. The ancient Chinese were not the only ones seeking
to gain the power of wild animals, Tarzan did too. Here is a Happy Fun Qigong TCM version: With closed soft fists, or with percussive fingertips, thump or tap on the center of your upper chest, between the breasts (over and around the acupuncture point CV-19). Do this about twelve times and not too hard. Then you might add your version of Tarzan’s Call of the King of the Jungle - however, this is optional, especially in public. You can hear and see it on many YouTube sites, just type in “Tarzan Call.”

Benefits

This type of exercise is said to revitalize the thymus gland, a source of T-lymphocytes (T cells), which kill virally or bacterially infected cells and naturally eradicate cancer cells. I have no idea what benefits accrue from making that weird Call of the Jungle - but it is so much fun I like to do it anyway, and suggest you might too.

CV-19 (ZiGong) Acupuncture Point

Note

If any women have a problem with visualizing themselves as a semi-nude male pretending he is a big monkey doing silly things and making funny sounds, this gymnastic can work just as well for them if they turn themselves into a Jane the Queen of the Jungle Beats On Her CV-19. The original Jane did; go to YouTube and search Jane Tarzan call.

Tiger Claws.

Make your hands into tiger claws. The hands are cupped and squeezed in as if squeezing a tennis ball, but the middle finger is a bit extended. Members of the group can walk around waving their claws at each other. Any growling is optional. Occasionally they should bend forward and trust out their arms and grasp at imaginary prey with their paws.

Benefits

Squeezing your hands this way will compress qi and cause it to be absorbed into the fingers, hands, and possibly into the muscles and bones of the arms and shoulders. This resembles a martial art technique called “Iron Shirt” which internally armors the body to prevent injury. Tiger qigong is said to be good for the Liver, and also to stimulate the flow of qi in the du mài and rèn mài channels of the microcosmic orbit (the major pathway of qi up the back and down the front of the torso.) The grasping motions help open the six acupuncture points at the tips of the fingers.

The Phoenix.

The Phoenix is a mythological creature that reincarnates itself by rising from the ashes of its past. In Chinese Mythology it is called Feng-huang, the “Bird of Wonder,” and signifies the merging of masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) life forces, which brings about good fortune. So in this gymnastic there is an implied re-birthing of the self along with the gaining of good fortune. That all sounds pretty good to me.

The Gymnastic

With feet spread apart wider than shoulder width, turn to the right, inhale and keeping the wrists limp and fingers hanging down, lift the arms up by your sides. The heel of the left foot should rise up as you do this. When the hands are level with the ears, open and unfold your hands and arms out to your sides as if you were a beautiful Phoenix unfolding its wings. Pause as if you were floating high up in the sky. Then slowly exhale and float your arms (wings) back down and return to facing forward with arms hanging down by your sides. Then turn to the left and repeat this rising up and down gesture. When turning to the left, the right heel should lift off the ground. Do this exercise for six times or for as long it feels good to do.

Benefits

Shifting the weight of the body from side to side and rising up with extended arms increases the circulation of blood, as well as the flow of qi in all the meridians of the body. Bending to the left and right will smooth strengthen and harmonize the yin and yang energies of the practitioner. Therefore this gymnastic is good for all the organ systems of the body, but especially for the Lung, Pericardium and Heart.

Peacock Spreads Tail To Show Beautiful Feathers.

Raise your hands straight up, palms facing out. As they go above your head spread your arms open. From the sides of your eyes using peripheral vision imagine your beautiful feathers. With your arms uplifted and palms facing out, slightly bend the elbows and slowly sway to the left and right like audiences at a rock concert.

Air Dancer.

In our present day urban environment it is not easy finding free roaming apes, tigers, peacocks, and just forget about the phoenix. But it is easy to find Air Dancers: they’re endemic in the city – they are often used to advertise car dealerships, gas stations and other automotive places. When you do the Air Dancer you freely wave your arms around and bend over a lot. (If you have health issues, especially uncontrolled hypertension, you shouldn’t do this without a doctor’s approval). The Air Dancer I work out with is advertising oil changes. However, I’m advertising we all get “qi changes” by flushing out the old bad qi and breathing in some good new qi. For those skeptical about the reality of this, I propose that circling and bending up and down from the waist facilitates bowel, kidney, and bladder functions. So don’t be shy, try it out for yourself. But do make sure there’s a bathroom close by. You can find varied kinds of Air Dancers doing their thing on YouTube or better yet somewhere in your neighborhood. But seriously, take it easy unless you too are made out of heavy rubber tubing.

Rather than an oil change, the author is attempting a Qi change.

**Beautiful featured image from combinedarts.org

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Happy Fun Qi Gong - Part 2 : The Health Benefits of Qi Gong Exercise : Chinese Medicine Living

by admin

How to Get Healthy in 2017 with Chinese Medicine

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

Another year is upon us! The arrival of the new year always causes me to reflect, and think about what I would like to improve upon in the coming year. Health, happiness and well-being are always top of the list, so here is a list of some things that we can all do to be a little healthier and happier in 2017.

Take Time for Yourself

this beautiful image from 68.media.tumblr.com

This is a hard one. Our lives seem to get busier and busier and we all seem to be working more and sleeping less which means less time for, well, us. Even though taking time out for ourselves is often not easy, it is an important part of our health. Psychologically, it is you caring about yourself enough to take the time to do something that feeds you, whatever that may be. Go for a walk, read a new book you've been meaning to start, have a bubble bath, start a new art project... do something that feeds your soul. Your whole body, mind, and spirit will thank you for it.

Meditate

this relaxing image from www.chatelaine.com

Now I know the thought of meditating is scary for a lot of people, especially if you have never done it before. But meditation doesn't have to mean spending hours on a mountainside in complete seclusion. If you are new to it, start slow. Spent ten minutes a day, either when you get up in the morning (the energy of the day is so calm and lovely at this time), or if it is easier, at the end of the day before you go to bed. Just sit or lie quietly without distractions (the TV, your phone, computer, etc..) and just relax. For the first many times you do this, your mind will no doubt be racing and it might not feel relaxing at all, but if you think about it, you never just "let your mind go" like this. We are always forcing our minds into doing things, like work, cooking, driving or what-have-you. Your mind also needs time to empty itself out, but once it does and goes quiet... it is wonderful. With some practice, you will be able to drop into a quiet meditation easily, and your body and mind will crave it because it is so nourishing to every part of you. I find that the benefits of a little daily meditation spill out into the rest of my life causing me to be calmer, more patient and generally happier which is a wonderful thing.

Find a Local Farmer

this image from larahudson.com

Reconnect with your food. Food does not arrive at the grocery store wrapped in cellophane and politely organized and placed onto carts. That food is grown and tended by farmers - people who have one of the most important jobs on the planet - feeding us. Our food is the medicine we use every day to keep us healthy, and many of us have lost our connection to where it comes from. If you are able to, find a local farm where you are able to visit and buy fresh, organic (if possible) foods for your family. If this is not possible, then find a local farmers market and meet the farmers there. This will give you a new appreciation for where your food is coming from, who is growing it and in turn, you will be eating local (very good in terms of Chinese medicine) and supporting your local farmers - who absolutely need and deserve the support of their communities. Farmers markets are also a wonderful place to meet other local, health conscious people, eat local treats and reconnect with your community. Win-win!

Reconnect with Nature

this lovely image from www.drjimtaylor.com

I know I say this one a lot, but it is so imperative to health on every level. One of the reasons we see disease on such an unprecedented scale is that we have lost our connection to nature. We live in huge cities where we spend our days behind desks in buildings under florescent lights instead of in forests and jungles, which is where we belong. We were not designed to live this, well, unnaturally. Obviously, it is not feasible to go completely wild and live in forests (unless you are really hardcore) but in Chinese medicine, we are always striving for balance. So, even if you work in an office or a factory and sit behind a desk or stand on an assembly line, eat your lunch outside. Take off your shoes and put your feet in the grass. Feel the earth, it is talking to you in a language you have probably forgotten. It is feeding you in a way you desperately need to be fed. When you have time off, go for a walk in a forest, swim in a lake or ocean, or instead of working out at the gym, go for a run outside. Our connection to the planet feeds us as much as what we eat and drink, so think of your time outside as food for your body and soul. You will notice how much better you feel, inside and out.

Zoom Out

this magnificent image from youtube.com

I love this one, and doing it helps your mental state more than you can imagine. Zooming out just basically means, keeping things in perspective. When you are having a problem or something disastrous is happening in your life, just take a moment and back up. Zoom out of your situation. Zoom out of the building, the street, the neighbourhood, the city, the country, the continent, the planet, and so on. The farther out you go, the better you will feel. It is so easy for our lives to become very small. Problems become huge and often seem insurmountable, but zooming out will help to keep things in perspective. Think to yourself... in the grand scheme of things, does this really matter? In a week, will I be thinking about this at all? Zooming out is a sort of meditation, and one I do often if I am struggling with something. Instead of feeling small, I am always trying to be as big, as expansive with my mind and my awareness as possible. Not always easily done, and certainly takes practice.

Be Grateful

Gratitude is something I try to practice every day. It has been one of the most beneficial practices that I have in my life, and I am so grateful for it. Ha. Being grateful doesn't mean that life is not going to present challenges. Life is full of them. But spending some time each day to consciously think about what in your life you are grateful for will put you in a happy, loving state of mind, which will attract more happy, loving energy to your experience. This energy will help you to cope when difficult situations arise and help you to fully appreciate all the wonderful things/people that you have in your life. Absolutely everyone has things that they can be grateful for, and focusing on this positivity will only draw more of it into your life and that is a wonderful thing.

Unplug

this image from gameacademy.com

We are all connected, and now this is even more true with the advent of the internet and the miracle of cell phones which allow us to communicate with one another from almost anywhere on the planet. This wonderful technology has allowed access to information by millions of people who would otherwise not be able to benefit from it. There are so many positive aspects to our ability to connect, but there are drawbacks too. The pendulum seems to have swung quite far in that direction so that in our attempt to stay technologically connected to each other, we have lost our human connections. I see groups of teenagers sitting together, each looking at their cell phones, instead of talking to each other. People live is vast cities, crammed into apartment buildings, but never interact with each other. As with all things, we are going for balance. Many people could not live without the internet or god forbid, their cell phone, but trying to unplug, at least for parts of the day or week is a good way to bring about that balance. Call a friend, then go and meet with them. Have a coffee and a conversation. We are social animals (not social media animals, although sometimes it seems we certainly are) and human contact is good for us and we NEED it.

Be of Service

A part of being human, and one of the reasons that I think we are here, is to serve our fellow human. This doesn't have to mean volounteering in a cancer ward or an old age home (as these are big commitments - but wonderful things to do), it may be as simple as helping someone struggling with their groceries, opening the door for someone with their arms full, giving someone directions when they ask you on the street. These small things make a huge impact. No one makes it through life alone. We all need each other, and by being kind, generous and helpful with our fellow human being is the glue that holds us all together. In a time where there is so much divisiveness in the world, it seems there are so many reasons for us to fear and hate each other, all it takes is the conscious effort to not let in that darkness and to treat each person with love and compassion, just as you would like to be treated. It will go a long way to healing the negativity on this planet and it happens to feel really good too. <3

How to Get Healthy in 2017 with Chinese Medicine : Chinese Medicine Living

by admin