Meditation for Health, Happiness & Wellbeing
By Emma Suttie D.Ac, AP
For thousands of years cultures around the world have known about the benefits of meditation and have woven the practice into their daily lives. Meditation is not just a way to relax or clear your mind, it has been used for millennia to raise consciousness and connect us with the divine.
Meditation for many of us has become a sort of buzz word. Meditation is touted as a way to help you relax, get better sleep, lower stress and improve mental functions. And while meditation does all of those things, they are just a few of its wonderful byproducts. If you look at the complete picture of what meditation is and what it was originally intended for, the benefits of meditation go much deeper. A devoted practice can help not only feed the physical as well as the psychological aspects of ourselves, but can also connect you to your spirit, fostering self awareness, and filling you with feelings of compassion and loving kindness. When some are in a deep state of meditation, they are able to activate the pineal gland (also known as the third eye) - a small pine cone shaped gland that sits in the centre of the brain - and is thought by many cultures to be the doorway that leads from the physical to the spiritual worlds. The pineal gland is extremely sensitive to light, and this is why in many ancient cultures, serious meditators have always engaged in long periods of meditation in complete darkness. This darkness activates the pineal gland and allows humans to traverse from the physical to the spiritual worlds and gain insights into the nature of life and the cosmos as well as connect with the universal energy (of which we are all a part). These experiences remove the body and the ego completely and allow a person to shed their worldly trappings and feel what it is like to be in complete oneness. This has been described by some as what it is like when we "die", leaving our bodies and returning to source energy.
Science & Spirituality
It is only in our recent history that science and spirituality have been broken into two separate entities. They used to be considered part of the whole of things - the macrocosm, neither being able to exist without the other. But things started to change - subjects were broken apart and people began to specialize, meaning it became more difficult for anyone to see the whole picture. With the world as it is now, with its focus on science, it is difficult to accept that science and spirituality were at one time inseparable. Many ancient cultures had a holistic view of life and the cosmos, and their lives were part of a vast web that included all of nature and indeed, everything in existence. As a species we have become so identified with our minds and especially our thoughts, that this connection to the whole, of all there is, has largely been lost. We have slowly separated ourselves from the world that we came out of and have become more and more identified with our thoughts - one tiny aspect of who we are.
Impermanence - Anicca
Ancient cultures around the world realized what to us living in the modern world seem to have forgotten - that life is a microcosm of the universe itself, and is in a constant state of change. The only constant is change itself. This is what the Buddhists call "anicca" which literally means impermanence. This knowledge did not cause worry or fear as it might today, but a sense of calm and peace, the acceptance of the way things are, and that everything rises and passes away in an unending cycle. As a culture, we are taught to yearn for things or experiences that are desirable or cause us to feel pleasure, and to avoid painful or negative experiences. The acceptance of anicca in ones life is actually quite liberating. Instead of spending energy craving or avoiding things, you just accept everything as it comes, not judging it to be good or bad but simply allowing it to happen and then, inevitably, to pass away into the ether.
The Benefits of Meditation in Modern Life
The benefits of meditation are particularly compelling and needed at this time in our history. Many people live more unnaturally than they ever have, working long hours in offices in front of computers, living in huge buildings alone in tiny apartments, eating at their desks, consuming foods that are processed and made in factories, not getting enough sleep, spending little to no time outside and always in a hurry. Does this sound familiar? If this is not you, then you are fortunate, but it is the life that many of us have - often out of necessity. We also have problems like violence, addictive behaviours, mental illnesses and suicide in unprecedented numbers. Our modern lives, and the fast pace at which we live them, have caused us to lose the connection to ourselves and to others. So many of us are sick, sad and lonely and struggling to live lives with the most basic of necessities. Also, for the first time in a long time, life is not getting better for each subsequent generation, it is getting harder. The political, and economic landscape has become divisive, corrupt and many people are losing faith in their ability to live a happy, fulfilling life.
The gift that meditation can give you is a chance to slow down. It is amazing all the sounds you can hear in the silence. It is amazing what happens when you slow down and LISTEN. Going outside and sitting in the grass quietly, you will begin to hear that nature has a hum that you have never heard before. It is communicating with you, it has always been communicating with you, but you have never been able to hear it. The natural world speaks a language that we have all known since the dawn of time, but our lives - the way we are living our lives - are drowning it out and we have slowly forgotten it.
Our fast paced, hectic lives take a toll on us on many levels. Physically they exhaust our adrenal glands (the glands that sit on top of our kidneys and manage our fight or flight responses to perceived threats or danger). Due to the high levels of stimulus constantly coming at us, our nervous systems are overworked and easily become exhausted leaving us feeling frazzled and anxious. Many of us are overworked and under-slept not giving our bodies time to heal, relax and play that they desperately need. Some may need to work more to pay off debts, school loans or support families, parents or grandparents. It has become increasingly difficult to live a balanced life in an unbalanced world. With the widening gap between rich and poor, life for many is getting harder and not easier putting even more stress on us individually and as a species.
With this constant focus on the external world, which is where we must focus at least some of our energies if we are to survive, there is little time to look inward and cultivate our inner worlds. This includes the cultivation of our spirit which contributes to our health and wellbeing. It also allows us to remove ourselves from the world of the physical, detach from our ego's and reconnect with the one universal energy.
Meditation & Health
Meditation is something I recommend to all my patients. In my opinion, there is not a single person that would not benefit from meditating regularly. It does not require any expensive equipment, any in depth knowledge or adherence to a specific set of beliefs or a level of physical fitness. All you need is the desire and a little time.
I usually recommend starting slowly to help get your body and mind into the habit. It can be overwhelming at first and many experience what can be quite an intense "monkey mind". That is the mind racing from one thought to another and never seeming to quiet down. This is normal. If you think about it, we rarely simply allow our minds to wander - letting them move from one thought to another without pulling them in one particular direction. We are constantly tasking them with specific things, forcing them to focus and never really allowing them to relax and for our thoughts to meander as they like. So, when you begin, your mind tends to sort of freak out, having never been allowed to run free before, it runs wild and in all directions at once. I find that starting slowly helps, and after a few days or sometimes weeks, your mind starts to quiet down. There are many, many meditation techniques out there, and if you like, you can find one that resonates with you, but for the beginning I simply tell patients to get to a point where your mind is quiet. Once there, focus on your breathing and the physical sensations on the body. Just observing them. The wind hitting a spot on your arm. The breath as it enters your nose. The smell of a flower growing just outside an open window. The mind will inevitably wander, but you must not get frustrated, you simply kindly and gently bring yourself back to the breath. Twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening is ideal and you will find that just this small thing will have a positive effect that will ripple through your entire life.
Meditation Benefits
There are numerous benefits to maintaining an ongoing meditation practice for body, mind and spirit. They are:
- Improves memory, concentration and clear thinking
- Improves quality and quantity of sleep
- Decreases anxiety and stress
- Builds a sense of wellbeing
- Deepens our sense of compassion and insight
- Nurtures a sense of joy, peace and love
- Helps to build connections within ourselves and with others
- Helps us to process and manage our emotions
- Cultivates personal growth and self discovery
- Helps to connect us to our inner selves
- Separates us from the ego and helps us to connect to source or universal energy
Beginners Meditation Tips
- Start Slowly - Just 10 Minutes at a Time is Great
- Find Time Everyday - Preferably Morning, Evening or Both
- Find a Comfortable Seated Position
- Be in a Room with No distractions - Clean & Quiet with Good Energy
- Expect Your Thoughts to Run Wild at First - They Will Calm Down with Time
- Focus on Your Breath - Whatever Thoughts Enter Your Head, Just Gently Return to the Breath
- Be Kind to Yourself - It Takes Time!
A Guided Meditation for Beginners (4 Videos)
There are almost limitless meditations and techniques, and I encourage any of you that are new to meditation to try things out and find something that resonates with you. Here is a nice guided meditation with some information and good instruction that you can check out on our YouTube channel, I will embed them below. Feel free in the comments to let me know what you think. :)
Samadhi - Guided Meditation - Chinese Medicine Living YouTube Channel
Meditation Gear
The great thing about meditation is you really don't need any "gear" at all. All you really need is a quiet place and, if possible, something soft to sit on so your bum and legs don't hurt. But, if you want to get more serious, then creating a lovely, peaceful space where you can meditate and having a few things can help get you into the right head and body space to do some serious meditating. I would say that having a dedicated space for meditating is wonderful if you can do it. The thinking is that every time you meditate in that space, you are building up the good energy there and it will help you slip into your meditations more easily. If you don't believe me, try it. Once you have been meditating in a space for a while you will literally be able to feel how powerful the energy is there. And it doesn't have to be big, all you really need is enough room to sit down and cross your legs.
Seated on my SPOKO meditation bench.
There are many ways to sit in meditation, you just have to find the one that is comfortable for you.
Another thing that is nice to have is a meditation cushion, or bench to sit on for your meditation practice. There are a wide variety of both, and which kind you choose is really about your own personal preference. I have a few cushions of different styles that I love as well as this beautiful meditation bench which I have featured in this article. Now, I have used a few types of meditation benches which are originally what the Japanese use to meditate, and all of them were pretty uncomfortable, especially for long meditations. But, this particular bench was ergonomically designed and is actually incredibly comfortable - and beautiful to boot. It is called the Spoko meditation bench made by a lovely company in Canada. I love this bench as it is comfortable, beautiful and very portable for impromptu outside meditations. The legs come off so it is very easy to throw into a backpack if you are doing something like hiking up to a waterfall or walking in a forest and find a place you would like to stop and meditate to soak up the nature vibes.
If you would like to read my review of this sassy bench you can here - Spoko Meditation Bench Review.
Meditation for Everyone
In conclusion, I think it is exciting that meditation is getting so much positive attention these days. Scientists are now beginning to be able to prove its positive effects on the brain and body, and many cultures have known its benefits on all aspects of our beings for centuries. Even though I am a practitioner of Chinese medicine, I always stay open to all possibilities that can bring healing to us on any and all levels. Meditation, for me, has been one of the best healing tools that I have discovered. Like anything, there are layers to it and it depends on what you goal is when you begin, but I have found that one of the best things about meditation is that when you spend time in the silence, there is a unique opportunity to delve deeply into yourself, and that if you are willing to listen, this is where the answers to all the questions that you have ever asked lie. It has been a reminder that inside us is everything that we have ever needed to be healthy, happy and divine beings.
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End Notes
Vipassana Meditation
Vipassana meditation is approximately 2500 years old and is thought to be the meditation taught by the Buddha himself. If you would like to learn more about Vipassana meditation, you can read about the two 10 day silent Vipassana retreats that I have done here - My 10 Day Vipassana Meditation and Vipassana 2.0. There is also an excellent documentary about Vipassana meditation that I would highly recommend called The Dhamma Brothers.
In this article, I have featured the SPOKO meditation bench. If you would like to read the review, you may do so here - Spoko Meditation Bench Review. If you would like to have one of your very own, you may purchase it here - SPOKO.ca
The wonderful guided meditation is from The Samadhi Center via the AwakenTheWorldFilm YouTube Channel. Thank you for your awesomeness!
There is an excellent series of four videos called Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds. They cover a huge range of topics, but are a must see for everyone! There is quite a bit on meditation as well so check them out, I highly recommend them. :)
You can watch all four parts on the Chinese Medicine Living YouTube Channel.
Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds
Part One - Akasha
Part Two - The Spiral
Part Three - The Serpent And The Lotus
Part Four - Beyond Thinking
The beautiful featured image Photo by Sarah Ball on Unsplash. Thank you!
Winter Recipe - Lamb Thigh & Warming Herbs Soup
By NourishU
Winter Recipes in Chinese Medicine
This beautiful Photo by Natasha Vasiljeva on Unsplash
Winter, with the drop in temperature, is the time to slow down physical activities as our body's metabolic rate slows down at this time of year. It is also the time to eat nourishing food to help the body to preserve energy. Animals follow the law of nature and hibernate throughout winter. Human should also preserve energy and build up strength, preparing the body for regeneration and new growth in spring.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, tonic-taking in winter has a great bearing upon the balancing of Yin and Yang elements, the unblocking of meridians, and the harmonizing of Qi and blood. In the five elements theory of TCM, winter is when the kidneys are highly active and they have astringent and active storage functions that help in preserving energy. People should eat food with less salty taste in order to reduce the burden on the kidneys. Uncooked and frozen foods can damage the spleen and stomach and should be taken in moderation.
In winter when body's resistance is low, elderly people are especially advised to take food tonics which can improve their body constitution and promote better resistance to illness. Food tonics can have much better healthful effects than supplementation and drugs.
The tonics include superior warming herbs, fatty and meaty foods. Our body is designed to absorb the rich and nutritional foods better at this time of the year. For people who have a cold constitution with cold hands and feet, weak kidney health with frequent urination, cold and stiff body and constant pain in their backs and ankles, winter is the best time for them to correct these health problems, as it is when the body is most responsive to nutritional treatment.
The warming winter foods include chive, chicken, mutton, shrimp, ginger, garlic, walnut, mushroom, chestnut, mustard, vinegar, wine, gingko, red pepper and spring onion. For people who are cold in nature, they should also use warming herbs such as dangshen, ginseng, astragalus, reishi mushroom, longan fruit and deer horn, etc. to promote yang energy.
Winter Recipe - Lamb Thigh & Warming Herbs Soup
Symptoms
Lack of appetite, cold hands and feet and general weakness due to being overworked.
Therapeutic Effects
Warms the center, promotes blood and qi, promotes vital fluids and prevents aging.
INGREDIENTS (3 servings)
Rou Cong Rong
- Lamb thigh 羊脾肉 – 360gm
- Broomrape (rou cong rong) 肉鬆蓉 – 15gm
- Chinese Yam (shan yao) 淮山 – 30gm
- Angelica Sinensis (dang gui) 當歸- 9gm
- Asparagus root (tian dong) 天冬 ( 去心 ) – 9gm
- Astragalus / Astragali Radix (huang qi) 北耆 – 6gm
- American ginseng 花旗參 - 9gm
- Atractylodes Rhizoma (pai chu) 白朮 – 6gm
- Glutinous rice 糯米 – 60gm
Shan Yao - Chinese Yam
1. Rinse lamb and put in boiling water to cook for a few minutes. Remove, rinse and drain dry.
2. Brown lamb in a wok with no oil.
3. Rinse herbs and rice and put together with lamb in a slow cooker with 6 cups of boiling water. Turn on high heat and let it cook for at least 4 hours until meat is all tender.
4. Add salt and 2 spoonfuls of wine and serve.
Dang Gui Chinese Herb
USAGE
Not suitable if you have a cold or flu. Take once a day with a meal.
For people who may be too weak to accept this enriching recipe right away, it is recommended to start taking astragalus and dates tea, a couple of times per week for two weeks before taking this recipe.
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Featured image by Photo by Tom Crew on Unsplash
If you would like a downloadable information sheet that will tell you all about how to live in harmony with the Winter Season in Chinese Medicine, you can find it here - The Winter Season in Chinese Medicine.
Fall Recipe for Cough - Steamed Banana with Rock Sugar
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Fall - Cough & Other Lung Diseases
Fall is the season that is vital to lung health because it is the season dominated by dry air which can cause lung heat to accumulate. It is important to avoid too spicy and hot foods to prevent further intensifying of lung heat. Eating white colored foods such as white beans and raw white turnips can help to soothe lung and lower heat.
To promote lung health on a regular basis, deep breathing exercises can strengthen lungs and increase their capacity. Researchers have found that eating apples at least five times a week can help to promote strong lungs by removing toxins from them effectively.
According to Chinese medicine, chronic cough can be caused by external evils or an internal functional imbalance. External factors can be wind cold, wind heat and dry heat. Internal factors can be due to lung qi deficiency resulting in lung heat and phlegm or due to liver fire surging out of control.
For cough associated with fever and common cold, herbs such as ma-huang, aconite, asarum and bupleurum are used to ventilate the lungs, relieve exterior symptoms, stop coughing and dispel phlegm. For chronic cough due to internal injury with wheezing: pinellia, cinnamon, ginger, peony and licorice are used to clear lungs, strengthen the spleen, alleviate cough and resolve sputum.
Food cures for cough due to excessive heat type are Chinese pear, white turnip, sugar cane juice and steamed papaya with honey. They are most effective in lowering heat and relieving cough. Drinking, smoking and spicy foods should be avoided in order not to irritate the throat and intensify coughing. Food promoting digestion and sending energy downwards can relieve phlegm dampness due to spleen deficiency.
Emphysema begins with chronic bronchitis or bronchial asthma. It is the damage of lung tissue over a long period of time mostly due to smoking or environmental factors. The common symptoms are wheezing, coughing, a feeling of pressure in the chest and difficulty in breathing on physical exertion. It is a sickness that cannot be completely cured.
During asthma attack, Chinese doctors treat the excesses first. When the attack is over, treatment will be for restoring the proper functions of the deficient parts. Food cures for treating cold excess are to warm the lungs, resolve phlegm and relieve asthma. Foods for treating heat excess are to clear lung heat, resolve phlegm and relieve asthma. For treating lung deficiencies, foods to invigorate kidney are used because kidney is considered to be the main source of qi for lungs. When there is sufficient qi, it can prevent abnormal flow of qi and asthma attacks.
Steamed Banana with Rock Sugar
SYMPTOMS
Chronic cough
THERAPUTIC EFFECTS
Stops coughing.
INGREDIENTS
- Bananas – 2 to 3
- Rock sugar – to taste (30 to 60gm)
DIRECTIONS
1. Remove skin of bananas and cut into one inch sections.
2. Break rock sugar into smaller pieces.
3. Put both ingredients inside a bowl with water half covering the banana.
4. Place the bowl inside a pot or a steamer to steam for 10 minutes.
5. Remove bowl, let cool down a bit and serve.
USAGE:
Take once every evening for one week to see best results.
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If you would like a downloadable information sheet that will tell you all about how to live in harmony with the Fall Season in Chinese Medicine, you can find it here - The Fall Season in Chinese Medicine.
The Strangest Energy Healing Ever Reported - Part Three
By John Voigt
In Parts One and Two the curious and apparently true story of a healing aboard a UFO sixty miles from Beijing was summarized. Extraterrestrials showed a school principle how to send superconducting healing qi-energy into a sick girl; in minutes she was healed. In Part Three our analysis continues.
Note: Given the negative excesses of skeptics who would attack their professional careers, the names of the people who personally helped the author, or sent him their insights into this case, are not given. Many skeptics claiming that science is on their side, most curiously reject the reality of all things paranormal without giving any serious investigations of the known facts; they “just know” that such things are too weird to be. This of course is the height of unscientific ignorance. We also see this in the way the establishment often rejects aspects of TCM that have proven themselves for thousands of years. Check out Wikipedia, the mega-encyclopedia of our times. In their “Traditional Chinese Medicine” entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine the term “pseudoscience” is found thirteen times. In the beginning of their “Acupuncture” entry we read, “TCM theory and practice are not based upon scientific knowledge, and acupuncture is a pseudoscience.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture
Girl’s Symptoms - Possible illness caused by Wind-Heat.
According to the Yellow Emperor’s Suwen, Kidney Wind manifests as excess sweating and aversion to Wind. When diagnosing, one should look for a dark black color and hue in the flesh. There is also a dull gray cast to the face and swelling of the eyes; and the face may even have a charcoal hue color. This is exactly how the young girl first looked.
Note: For further information see: “The Concept of Wind in Traditional Chinese Medicine.”
The Big Hammer
A key operation in the healing was the Extraterrestrial striking Cao Gong’s “Big Hammer” acupuncture point [the Governing Vessel-14, the Dachui xue, 大椎穴] and sending into him what the ET called, “cosmic light, electricity and magnetic energy.” Cao Gong (an alias) struck the girl, Xiao Xiaomei (also an alias) on her GV-14 point for about five minutes to effect the healing.
From The Acupuncture Point Book, by Colleen DeLaney, L.Ac. David Bruce Leonard, L.Ac. Lancelot Kitsch, Esq. Roast Duck Publications, 1989.
DU 14 "Big Vertebra" 大椎 Dàzhuī
Intersection of all Yang meridians.
LOCATION: Below the spinous process of C7, approximately at the level of the shoulders. "Zhui" is also a term for hammer. The vertebrae are said to resemble hammers.
FUNCTIONS
- Relieves Exterior Conditions
- Opens the Yang
- Clears the Brain & Calms the Spirit
- Causes Sweat, Clears Heat, Fire, & Summer Heat, Dispels Wind & Cold, Moves Qi & Yang,
- Reduces Fever, Regulates Qi, Relaxes Tendons, Restores Collapsed Yin, Tonifies Wei Qi
INDICATIONS
- asthma
- blood diseases
- bronchitis
- Cold-induced diseases
- congested throat
- constricted feeling in chest & soreness in ribs
- cough
- eczema
- emphysema
- fever
- fever & chills
- heatstroke
- hemiplegia
- hepatitis
- hot sensation in bones with recurrent fever (associated with deficient Yin conditions)
- malaria
- pain in the back of the shoulder
- psychosis (good point)
- pulmonary tuberculosis
- seizures (good point)
- tidal fevers
NEEDLING: Obliquely upward 0.5 - 1.0 cun.
PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL USES: neurasthenia.
POINT COMBINATIONS:
ANCIENT USES:
OTHER: All the Yang Channels cross this point. Main point for high fever. Main point for malaria. fainting/ heat stroke; helps relieve toxicity—hot blood diseases, skin problems.
From a reader: Although the Big Hammer is the major collection point in the back for the gathering of Yang Qi (opposite from the Heaven’s Chimney located at the base of the throat for the gathering of Yin Qi), this area is also the center axes point for the "Back Bridge Bar" (the area located in-between the shoulders that energetically connects both arms together). This area is an extremely important place for transferring Qi.
I suspect that when the ET slapped Cao Gong’s Big Hammer that he simultaneously activated Cao Gong’s arms via the Back Bridge Bar, and also increased his capacity to store and maintain additional healing light within his body.
From a reader: If a Qigong Master was emitting strong Qi into the patient's GV-14 (i.e., the "Big Hammer,” where all of the Yang Channels converge), that specific point is often used to remove Wind Heat (and Wind Cold), which can sometimes cause tremors and even epilepsy, depending on the patient’s excess or deficient constitution.
TALISMANS
Remember that as part of the healing treatment the female extraterrestrial had the young girl stand on a diagram on the floor. I suggest that this was a talisman, or at least functioned as one.
The Chinese word for talisman is Fu - 符. Originally it meant “correspondence” [between the forces of the Heavens and Nature and the creator and owner of the drawn symbol.] Now the word means amulet, protective written charm, symbolic sign.
In modern times you don’t see much about talismans in TCM books or teaching syllabuses. Nevertheless many Daoist priests, and other spiritual healers, then and now did use and still use these ritualistic symbols to communicate with the heavenly spirit world and with the energetic forces of nature to cure illness. Starting an hour's drive out from any metropolis in Mainland China, and everywhere in Taiwan, you see them everywhere—but it should be clearly understood that unless created by one who is fully schooled in their meanings and in how to draw them, they are no more than art objects. I admonish any reader who without the needed extensive training not attempt to create a power talisman—for that you need a very wise, experienced and proficient person. Inadvertently an ignorant person (and most of us are certainly that in this area) may call down upon themselves and their clients the exact opposite of what they are seeking to accomplish. Talismans can mysteriously bring evil and sickness as well as good and wellbeing.
In lieu of that I was able to gain the following from a Chinese Daoist master knowledgeable in the use of healing talismans. This master asked that their name be withheld.
I am assuming that the patient [is] the young Chinese girl in the picture. In her particular condition - after the treatment (having successfully purged the Wind-Heat, and Tonified all of her internal organ deficiencies), I would then provide her with the following Talisman used to strengthen her Five Yin Organs, and rebuild her constitution:
Draw the following Healing Talisman on yellow paper with black ink, add the patient’s name and Four Pillars to the talisman (her birth year, month, day, and hour) at the center of the bottom hill, then at the bottom that - dedicate the talisman to the healing power of Taishang Laojun.
Daode Tianzun (道德天尊) is the official title of Taiqing (太清): the Grand Pure One.
Commonly known as Taishang Laojun (太上老君) "The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord." Source: Wikipedia.
While doing this [dedication] draw a Talisman Gall Bladder; i.e., a black ball and fill it with clockwise circling ink while speaking a healing incantation dedicated to quickly bringing healing Qi into the patient’s three San Bao bodies: physical-jing, energetic-qi, mental-shen.
Next “ Activate" the Talisman: First place a Three-Star Seal at the top of the talisman, representing the Celestial Power and Divine Authority of the Three Pure Ones (this top image looks like the out-stretched wings of 3 seagulls : side-by-side).
Second exhale your Daoist Priest Lineage Name into the talisman paper, and then place the official Daoist monastery chop seal in red ink in the center of the talisman.
Third place the talisman inside the Altar Incense, and swirl it clockwise nine times while repeating the talisman’s specific energetic function.
Right after that, light the talisman in the left red candle of the altar table,
then place the ashes into a small cup.
Add some water and stir it with a wooden chop stick while again repeating a healing talisman.
After that - give the talisman water to the patient to drink.
As the patient drinks the talisman water,
repeat the following Incantation “An - Lam” “An - Lam” “An - Lam” while she swallows it.
This is done in order to purify the way and to quickly release the imprinted energy currently inserted inside the talisman water.
ENDNOTES
About Cao Gong: “his great-grand father was a wizard, who healed people, and refused payments. The Emperor gave the wizard a wood plaque that thanked and honored him.” [Cao Gong is] skilled in Bone Massage inherited from his Buddhist family. Soon after the abduction he practiced such healing practices on several of China’s leading political figures. Certain sources say that he was a member of a governmental advisory group, the CPPCC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_People%27s_Political_Consultative_Conference
Cao Gong strapped to a lie detector
Professor Sun Shili, the renowned director of the Beijing UFO Research Association, made the following comments: “As for Cao Gong, the figure at the center of this incident, we first checked his personality traits and discovered that he is a man dedicated to public welfare. “Those that know him all admit that he is a respectable man of upright behavior, thus ruling out personality traits where he would willfully fabricate lies.” MUFON https://issuu.com/disclosureproject/docs/mufon_ufo_journal_-_2005_12._decemb
For more information about him see: http://it.sohu.com/20070129/n247899406.shtml .
Talismans
Sun Simiao (C.E. 581-682) was called China's “King of Medicine.” He wrote that the treatment of disease must include chanting the names of a particular Healing Spirit while tracing its esoteric Seal and Magic Talisman on yellow paper. The paper was then burnt and its ashes mixed with the appropriate herbs and swallowed by the patient, or applied topically to heal a wound.
Sun Simiao China's King of Medicine. Source - By Unknown - 清宫殿藏画本. 北京: 故宫博物馆出版社. 1994., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57203315
Stunning modern art Talismans (and a short essay) may be found at http://marlowbrooks.com/chinese-healing-talismans/#
Japanese UFO story.
Hidden within medieval Japanese mythology there is a story that synchronistically relates to our case, and strangely enough perhaps might even help us better to understand it. Many of the same images appear in it that we find in the Beijing Abduction: a UFO looking craft with a thirteen-year old Chinese girl aboard, a strange box (containing Ban Jiang Can, a medicine for Wind-Heat conditions), a Talisman looking diagram, an undefinable cup (remember the metal bottles at Xiao Xiaomei’s feet). But I admit this is more the stuff of fantasy stories than medical research.
Utsuro-bune ("Hollow-craft") painted in the mid-1800s.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsuro-bune\
Last ET Comment: Thank you for your cooperation. Our experiment has been very successful. Because our superconducting magnetic healing energies are too intense for earth people to directly receive, we used a really healthy earthling like yourself to be the conduit to harmonize the qi and transmit it to the girl.
Here we have something I wish all TCM healers could experience and enjoy: Being a conduit to harmonize and transmit energies to successfully aid in the healing of our clients, (minus of course the “healing energies…too intense”).
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1. The Strangest Chinese Energy Healing Ever Reported – Part One. Chinese Medicine Living
2. The Strangest Chinese Energy Healing Ever Reported – Part Two. Chinese Medicine Living
The author may be reached at john.voigt@comcast.net
Fall Lung Recipe - American Ginseng & Chicken Soup
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Cooking in the Fall Season
Fall is the time when dryness and cooler temperatures predominate. This is also the time of year when your lungs are most vulnerable to attack. Symptoms related to dryness include coughing with sputum, dry nose and throat, dry skin and lips, chest pain and dry stools.
It is important to increase the intake of soothing fluids to balance the effect of external dryness. The cooling temperatures can increase your appetite, especially for meat, but it is important to change gradually from a diet high in vegetables and fruit over summer months to one that is a mix of meat and vegetables so that the digestive system can adjust more easily. In fall, eat less eggplant because they can turn the digestive system sluggish.
The following superfoods are highly recommended to be taken more in fall to counter the dry seasonal effects.
Fresh Lily Bulb
Excellent for moisturizing lungs and is regarded as vegetable ginseng because of its high protein, phosphate, potassium, calcium and rich multivitamin content.
Red Dates/Jujube
Promote energy, reduce stress on the liver, benefit the formation and maintenance of the bloodstream, body hormones, bones, muscles, skin, hair, body enzymes, and neurotransmitters.
Sweet Potatoes
High in fiber and nutritional content can help to prevent constipation and adding pounds.
Goji-berries
Goji-berries have many health benefits and can improve immune functions to prevent sickness.
Pears
Excellent in lowering heat and moisturizing lungs, prevent cough and clear phlegm.
Pumpkin
Moisturizing, strengthen stomach and spleen functions.
American Ginseng Chicken Soup
American Ginseng / Image from nootriment.com
Symptoms
Lack of energy, easily tired, dry mouth and throat, lack of appetite and profuse perspiration.
Therapeutic Effects
Clears, moisturizes and tonifies the lungs, strengthens the spleen and builds blood.
Ingredients (2 to 3 servings)
- Chicken - one whole
- Ginger - 40gm
- American ginseng 花旗參 - 20gm
- Pitted red dates 紅棗 - 4
Chinese Red Dates / Image from katjuju.com
Directions
- Wash chicken, cut into halves and remove skin and fat. Put chicken in boiling water to boil for 5 minutes, remove and rinse.
- Wash other ingredients and put all ingredients in a pot with adequate water (about 3 liters) and bring to a boil. Remove foam, reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours to about 3 cups of soup left.
- Add salt to serve and drink soup mainly.
Usage
Suitable for the whole family.
Fall Recipe - Honeydew Melon Soup
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Eating in the Fall Season - Fall Recipes
Fall is the time when dryness and cooler temperatures predominate. Fall is also when your lungs are most vulnerable to attack. Symptoms related to dryness include coughing with sputum, dry nose and throat, dry skin and lips, chest pain and dry stools.
It is important to increase the intake of soothing fluids to balance the effects of external dryness. The cooling temperatures can increase your appetite, especially for meat, but it is important to change gradually from a diet high in vegetables and fruit over the summer months to one that is a mix of meat and vegetables so that the digestive system can adjust more easily. In fall, eat less eggplant because they can turn the digestive system sluggish.
The following super foods are highly recommended to be taken more in fall to counter the dry seasonal effects.
Fresh Lily Bulb
Excellent for moisturizing lungs and is regarded as vegetable ginseng because of its high protein, phosphate, potassium, calcium and rich multivitamin content.
Red Dates/Jujube
Promote energy, reduce stress of liver, benefit the formation and maintenance of the blood stream, body hormones, bones, muscles, skin, hair, body enzymes and neurotransmitters.
Sweet Potatoes
High in fiber and nutritional content can help to prevent constipation and adding pounds.
Goji-berries
Goji-berries have many health benefits and can improve immune functions to prevent sickness.
Pears
Excellent in lowering heat and moisturizing lungs, prevent cough and clear phlegm.
Pumpkin
Moisturizing, strengthen stomach and spleen functions.
Honeydew Melon Soup
Symptoms
n/a
Therapeutic Effects
Moisturize internal systems, promote blood and energy.
Ingredients
- Honey dew melon 青蜜瓜 – one whole
- Rehmannia Radix (sheng di) 大生地 – 30gm
- Lotus Seeds (lien zi) 蓮子 - 30gm
- Glehnia (bei sha shen) 沙參 - 30gm
- Solomon's Seal (yu ju) 玉竹 - 30gm
- Honey dates 蜜棗 - 8
- Sweet apricot kernel 南杏仁 – 60gm
- Bitter apricot kernel 北杏仁 – 12gm
- Lean pork/pork hock 豬展 – 180gm
Directions
1. Rinse pork, cut into large pieces and put in boiling water to cook for a few minutes, retrieve and rinse.
2. Soak apricot kernel for at least 2 hours and keep aside.
3. Remove skin and seeds of melon and dice into cubes.
4. Rinse other herbal ingredients and put together with pork in a soup pot with about 2 litres of water. Bring to boil, remove foam and reduce heat to medium to cook for 30 minutes. Add melon to cook for another 15 minutes.
5. Put apricot kernel in a grinder to grind into a fine paste and filter out any large pieces. Add the juice to the cooking and cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Add salt to serve. Eat some melon with soup.
Usage
No restrictions.
Detoxifying & Balancing 6 Vegetable Stir-Fry
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Detoxifying and Balancing
Toxins are a fact of life, but taking proactive actions to expel them and not allowing them to accumulate in our body can make a big difference. The best approach to detoxify is to eat fresh clean food with high fiber and antioxidant content, drinking plenty of good clean water to flush the system and passing bowel at least once or twice daily. Exercising and taking sauna bath occasionally are all effective in helping the body to expel toxins through sweating.
Eating foods such as carrot, pumpkin, garlic, seaweed, green tea and foods with high vitamin C content such as oranges, lemon, leafy green vegetables, water chestnuts, etc. are excellent in cleaning out heavy metals from our body such as lead. Blueberry is high in anti-oxidant but purple or black glutinous rice is even higher in vitamin E and anti-oxidants.
To get the most disease-fighting antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, choose those with color; usually the deeper the color, the more antioxidants. Also fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables have more antioxidants than those that are canned, processed or heated.
Therapeutic Effects
Benefits all five organs, balancing yin and yang.
Ingredients
- Chinese broccoli 芥蘭 – 3 to 4 stems
- Bitter melon 涼瓜 - half
- Lotus root 蓮藕 – a small section
- Carrot 甘筍 – one
- Fresh mushrooms 鮮磨菇 - 6
- Fresh lily buds 鮮百合 - 2
Directions
1. Wash all ingredients. Cut broccoli stems, bitter melon, lotus root, carrot and mushrooms into thin slices.
2. Remove stems of lily bulb to separate petals and cut out any blackened edges.
3. Heat a spoonful of oil in a wok to stir-fry carrot, broccoli, lotus root and bitter melon together. Sprinkle in a spoonful of cooking wine and a spoonful of water and cook for a few minutes or to desire softness.
4. Add mushroom to cook for a few more minutes. Add seasoning (salt, sugar, pepper, sesame oil and a little oyster sauce) and mix well.
5. Mix in lily and add a little corn starch water to finish.
Usage
No restrictions.
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Featured imagePhoto by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
The Strangest Energy Healing Ever Reported: The Beijing UFO Abduction Case
By John Voigt
UFO abduction cases are treated seriously in China where ranking scientists and political leaders, along with many interested citizens, explore this subject. In contradistinction to the USA, the Chinese government, its media, and general public take such things seriously. Admittedly finding verifiable, reproducible, measurable hard data is difficult or often seemingly impossible.
However this article presents a new approach to gain an understanding of this mystery: a presentation and exploration of the details of a seemingly Traditional Chinese Medicine like healing that took place on a UFO. This case ranks as one of the most popular and most studied Chinese UFO abduction encounters in modern times.
On December 11, 1999, in a suburb of Beijing, a 38 year old man, “Cao Gong” (an alias) was awakened at midnight by a loud noise on his bedroom window situated on the sixth floor of a high rise apartment building. Standing at the foot of his bed were a male and female with long heads and small round mouths, and dressed in silvery white tight fitting clothes. At first he thought they were thieves and was fearful for his life.
Caption: Drawn by Cao Gong under hypnosis. The male is 1.7 meters tall, the female 1.6 meters tall [each about 5 ½ feet].
The female said, “He’s the one who can cure illnesses. Let’s take him!” Then mysteriously the two floated out through a wall. Cao Gong, his body now seemingly as light as a rubber ball, followed them through the wall. (Later he said that it felt like pushing through a thin cotton curtain.) Flying through the winter skies, the unclothed Cao Gong thought, "a little cold." The female alien telepathically told him "immediately not cold," and the cold left his body; but the wind continued to rush by him as if he were on a high-speed train. In about eight minutes they traveled approximately sixty miles and arrived at a desolate and uninhabited hilly area of northern Qinhuangdao City. Below them was an enormous flying saucer in the shape of table tennis racket and as large as a football field. They effortlessly floated into it and entered a small room that resembled a laboratory. This room appeared to be within a medium size room, which in turn had a door that connected it to an even larger room.
The Healing
Cao Gong was flabbergasted. The male extraterrestrial (ET) sensing this telepathically told him, “Don’t be nervous. We are like you. Our universal life energies [Yuzhou nengliang] are the same. You’re invited here to be in an experiment in which earth people heal other earth people by using the abilities and capacities of this energetic force [neng li ].” The female extraterrestrial (ET) went into the adjacent large room, from which came the sounds of mechanical equipment, along with the mournful cries and screams of pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, and other unidentifiable animals. It sounded as if they were being beaten, dissected, or painful injected with chemicals.
The female ET returned with a seriously ill Chinese girl—(different reports give ages ranging from thirteen to seventeen, but most say thirteen].
Cao Gong’s drawing of the sick girl
The girl was made to stand on a symbolic marking in the middle of the floor. She looked helpless. She had a worried frown on her face. Her fingers twisted about on the palms of her hands as if she were looking for something. Her skin looked leathery—like dark processed meat. Her forehead was ashen grey and black. Her body was all skin and bones and wasted away. When she saw Cao Gong, another human, she seemed less frightened.
Cao Gong, himself a principal of a health secondary school, wanted to examine the girl to discover what her illness could be. But there was no time for that because the female ET telepathically called out, Start it! Give him the energy! (i.e.,Nengliang – “energy capabilities”). The male ET gave a hard slap with his hand to Cao Gong just below the base of his neck, on the “Big Hammer” acupuncture point [the Governing Vessel-14, called Dachui xue, between the seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebra]. Immediately Cao Gong felt a burst of heat surging through his body. It was an extraordinarily elevating, powerful yet comforting series of sensations of vital life energy (qi -气). It ran from the GV-14 point [on his back just below the neck] into his shoulders; and like a rivers of radiating pins and needles, down his arms into the palms and fingers of his hands, where now he felt numbing electrical-like discharges.
The male ET signaled Cao Gong to do the same to the girl. Cao answered that he didn’t know how, but he would try anyway. At that very moment, the female ET took out from a large box on the floor a strange undefinable instrument, five or six small metal (perhaps golden) bottles, and something that resembled a black flashlight.
She placed the curious instrument and the bottles at the sick girl’s feet, and put the black flashlight looking thing on the top of the girl’s head, [on her Governing Vessel-20, the baihui point]. She then pressed down on the object.
Immediately out from the thing oozed a translucent membrane. It wrapped itself around, quickly covered and tightly sealed the girl. It continued down to enwrap the metal bottles, and tightly adhered itself onto the floor.
The male said, “Start the experiment!” Cao Gong began striking the sick girl on her GV-14 acupuncture point. He felt heat flow from his hands into the girl. When he tried to pull his arms away from the girl a powerful absorbing force prevented it. His hands, now inside the membrane, were sticking to the girl. His arms and hands became numb while an electrical discharge passed from his palms and fingers and flowed into her GV-14 point. Her body now resembling a distorted leather bag, started trembling and twisting about. The instrument at her feet began to whistle; the metallic bottles shook back and forth. The semi-transparent covering surrounding the girl began to fill with a foul (wu zhou) gaseous substance (qi ti). And it seemed as if someone were conducting the dirty qi-energy systematically into each of the bottles.
The entire treatment lasted about five minutes. The girl started glowing with health and vigor. She seemed like a different person.
The two space beings seeing that their experiment was a success became happy and began to giggle and laugh. The astonished Cao Gong asked, “What’s going on? How can this be?” The male ET answered, “Because you are in good physical health, I could supply you with universal cosmic light (Yuzhou guang), electricity (Dian), and magnetic energy (Cineng). Since such magnetic energetic abilities are not mutually repulsive, you were able to transmit it to her. Because she needed it, she absorbed it. This is all very normal.
a picture of Cao Gong and now healthy girl, Xiao Xiaomei (an alias) taken two years after the abduction.
Next they invited Cao Gong to visit the large room from which still came the torturous cries of the animals. He declined, saying he had to be at an important City Board of Education training meeting for secondary school principles the next morning. [This was true, but more importantly he did not want to see the animals suffer]. The aliens obligingly flew him back to his home in Beijing. They kept the girl aboard the craft for further experiments.
In the next issue of Chinese Medicine Living this investigation will continue with extensive investigations of Cao Gong done by some of the leading Chinese ufologists, hypnotists, and with police investigative polygraph tests. A search to find the girl in the city of Qinhuangdao, with its population of 400,000, was conducted.
Then we will explore external qi used for healing, the use of the GV-14 Dachui point, and body wrap de-toxifications. We will study the use of talismans, and a herb that possibly may have been in that strange box on the floor. Even more amazingly hidden within medieval Japanese mythology there is a story of a thirteen year old Chinese girl that synchronistically articulates with our case and strangely enough just may help better explain it. Then the readers of Chinese Medicine Living will be asked to join in exploring this, the strangest energy healing ever reported. And there’s even more to come after that.
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Basic Source used: https://read01.com/4GN0dQ.html
The author may be contacted at john.voigt@comcast.net
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The Strangest Energy Healing Ever Reported - The Beijing UFO Abduction Case
The Strangest Energy Healing Ever Reported - Part 2
The Strangest Energy Healing Ever Reported - Part 3
Postpartum Recovery Chinese Herbal Soup – Restoring A Woman’s Body
By Cindy Mai of Root+Spring
During pregnancy, it’s often stressed to mothers that they should take special care of their health, because it directly affects the development and growth of the baby. However, in traditional Chinese medicine, maintaining a woman's health is also greatly important in the postnatal period. Just like the special attention mothers-to-be take during their pregnancy, the care a woman receives immediately after childbirth is often thought to impact her health far into the future.
this image from telegraph.co.uk
In Chinese medicine, the postpartum period refers to the four months following labor and delivery, the first month being of utmost importance to be thoughtful of nourishment to the body. It isn’t until the end of the fourth month after delivery that the yin and blood are considered “replenished” again, and the womb fully recovered.
In addition to hormonal and body changes, during pregnant a woman’s blood also almost doubles in volume in order to encourage the placenta and the developing fetus. However, labor is called labor for a reason: as beautiful as childbirth is, it takes a toll on a woman’s body. Blood loss during delivery can deplete the mother’s qi and blood. And because breast milk is formed from the same substrate as blood, breastfeeding is comparable to a constant loss of blood. For these reasons, women are often qi and blood deficient after their labor. The overworked spleen, temporarily worn out from replenishing blood, can result in poor digestion, poor appetite, and possibly poor breast milk production. Difficulty falling asleep due to qi deficiency is common as well. The resulting fatigue and sleep deprivation can be a cause of several postpartum health concerns. It cannot be said enough that supporting the middle burner and tonifying qi and blood with healthful food and herbs immediately after childbirth is highly recommended.
There is a superb Chinese herbal formula that is by far, the standard nourishing recipe to give to new mothers after giving birth. It has been taken for thousands of years and is considered a staple in China and Taiwan, usually taken for one to two weeks immediately following childbirth. This herbal medicine is called Sheng Hua Tang, and literally means "generating and transforming decoction" or "giving birth" decoction.
As the name suggests, Sheng Hua Tang aims to help generate and transform the body. Sheng Hua Tang's primary action is moving and warming the blood in the body, contracting the uterus to return it to its normal state, promoting discharge of the lochia (vaginal discharge of old blood, mucus and uterine tissue which occurs for 4 to 6 weeks following labor), warming the meridians, and dispelling pain. It is a great formula to also strengthen the health and immunity of the new mother.
Sheng Hua Tang vitally ensures that the uterus is clean, clear, and warm after childbirth. A healthy uterus will have a positive impact on the breast milk and can prevent a host of postpartum health concerns.
Sheng Hua Tang is almost always consumed as a nourishing soup by adding chicken, pork or beef bones to create a bone broth. Additionally, it can also be consumed as a tea (vegan approved!). Just omit the meat and mushrooms, and add sweetener instead of salt in the below recipe. Chinese herbs are great and versatile in that way.
This herbal soup is most effective when consumed during the week immediately following childbirth, up until one month.
Recipe for Postpartum Recovery (Sheng Hua Tang)
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
this yummy image from superfoods-for-superhealth.com
- 1 root + spring’s Postpartum Recovery herbal mix
- 2 1/2 pounds of chicken, pork bones, or beef bones
- 4 slices of ginger, each at least a quarter inch thick
- 5 shiitake mushrooms, fresh or dried
- 6 - 8 cups of water
this image from authoritynutrition.com
Directions
- Lightly rinse herbs under running water.
- Optional: Some Chinese people believe par-boiling the meat for ten minutes first helps to remove any residual fat and toxins the meat. If you’d like to include this step, simply cover the meat with enough water in a pot, bring to a boil for ten minutes, and remove. Rinse the meat. It is now ready for Step 2.
- In a pot, combine herbs, meat, ginger, mushrooms and water.
- Bring to a boil before covering and simmering for 1.5 hours on stovetop, or 3 hours in a slow cooker.
- Salt to taste.
- Consume this soup regularly for the first two weeks after labor. Do not consume after one month past labor, or while pregnant.
External Qi Healing - Part 3
By John Voigt
**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