What Can Chinese Art Teach Us about Healing?
By Sally Perkins
“Where the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity,” said Hippocrates, highlighting the fact that medicine is a creative as well as a scientific pursuit. Medical professionals, after all, have a range of tools, knowledge, and experience at hand but often, in order for all these to align in the correct balance, creative choices need to be made. Ancient Chinese art, like ancient writings, are a rich source of information about medical practises, some of which are still used with patients today. They are also testimony to the celebration of humanity in all its facets and an open window into the suffering and joy involved in illness and healing, respectively.
Suffering for a Higher Good
The work Moxibustion, a hanging scroll by the Song artist Li Tang, depicts an itinerant doctor conducting moxibustion - a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials (moxa) are burned close to or on the surface of the skin, to invigorate the flow of Qi through the body and to eliminate toxins. In the beautifully detailed scroll, the man being treated contorts his face in pain and others hold onto him or try to accompany him during this difficult time. The work is not only illustrative of the importance of balanced Qi but also a symbol of the sacrifices that must be made to achieve it and the pain this can involve. In order to be healthy of mind and body, everything from one’s choice of diet to one’s breathing and exercise habits must work in unison since prevention is always better (and less painful) than cure.
Photo by The Harmony of the Eight Brocades
The Eight Brocades are a set of qigong exercises that focus on a different meridian, once again focusing on a different meridian to encourage the optimal flowing of qi through the body. The work Illustrated Album of the Eight Pieces of Brocade, created by an anonymous artist during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) portrays the eight exercises as well as breathing exercises. In the illustrations, both the beauty of the human form and the peace and joy that result from prioritizing health, are evident. In some postures, the subjects open their mouths to breathe but also seem to smile, their mouths turned upwards and their eyes both concentrating and enjoying the moment they are in.
Recreating the Beauty of Ancient Chinese Art
Art in itself can be a means of healing. It can inspire one to lead a healthier lifestyle and aspire to a higher ideal of health - a holistic, all-encompassing state of body and mind, one in which Qi is unblocked. If you wish to follow the example laid out in ancient Chinese art, begin by drawing the human face and body, paying special attention to proportion and perspective. If you are a beginner to drawing and you wish to express pain, joy, peace, and other qualities through the eyes, take advantage of online resources to hone the basics of eye sketching. Basic steps include making and joining curved lines, adding the iris, and adding color and details. As your skills improve, you can start to include more people in your drawings and create more sophisticated compositions.
Following the Examples Set in Ancient Chinese Art
You can also visit exhibitions featuring medical and health subjects to enlighten you on how to lead a healthier life. From studying the different positions and breathing techniques of qi gong right through to learning more about healing herbs, diet, and traditional medicines, you can balance the vital force of energy within you and feel more invigorated. In this state, it is easier to embrace creativity in everything from your work to your leisure time.
Art and science have a strong link and nowhere is this more evident than in highly praised objects of ancient Chinese art. The latter displays suffering, treatment, and healing methods. It also shows the importance of breathing and exercise to strengthen the body and enable Qi to flow as it needs to.
Featured image photo by Lisanto 李奕良 on Unsplash - photo from Sanxia District, New Taipei City, Taiwan
Supporting a Safe and Healthy Pregnancy Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
By Sally Perkins
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnoses are now included in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) of the World Health Organization (WHO) beginning 2022. The inclusion is good news for practitioners and patients, as TCM is increasingly becoming a part of global health care. One of the areas where TCM can help is during pregnancy where a woman can manifest symptoms that need intervention or treatment. Chinese medicine, when used properly, could offer a safe option to ensure a healthy pregnancy.
Herbal Medicine for Expectant Mothers
TCM has several components such as acupuncture and herbal medicine. Much in the same way that traditional medicine can assist in improving fertility rates and eventually in conceiving, it can also help during the gestation period. Pregnant women can take herbs such as ginger, chamomile, or peppermint that reduce the symptoms of early pregnancy specifically nausea or morning sickness.
However, it should be noted that there are other complications that may arise if you are pregnant. As the body undergoes hormonal changes, you will also experience side effects. For example, the placenta produces hormones that can contribute to an accumulation of glucose in the blood. If your pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, sugar levels will increase and a pregnant woman might develop gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Fortunately, it resolves once a woman has completed pregnancy or has given birth.
In the meantime, there are several things that you can do to control GDM. If properly used, herbal medicine can help bring down glucose levels. Other ways to manage the symptoms of GDM include wearing of stockings for good circulation, paying attention to diets, and exercising.
Acupuncture to Consolidate Energy
Acupuncture is another key component of TCM that can benefit pregnant women. It should be noted that the usual precautions apply - avoidance of infection and dangerous pressure points.
For expectant moms, you don’t want to touch pressure points that can induce any pain, touch vital organs, or puncture the fetus. In addition, there is a list of acupuncture points that must be avoided because of their oxytocic effect which may induce the mother to go into labor or at worst, a miscarriage. Overall, acupuncture may be practiced using gentle needling that will aim to enhance a woman’s energy without over stimulating or disturbing the pregnancy.
TCM can benefit a pregnant woman in several ways. It can consolidate her energy, improve mood and enhance overall health contributing to a safe and healthy pregnancy.
Beautiful featured image photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič - @specialdaddy on Unsplash
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The Anti-Cancer Walk: An Introduction to Guo Lin New Qigong Therapy
by John Voigt
From a Chinese clinical treatment standpoint, Guo Lin Walking Qigong became the most popular and effective form of Qigong for cancer. qigonginstitute.org
Guo Lin’s New Qigong Therapy is composed of many different gestures, breathing patterns, meditations, mantra-like sound utterances, all used by varying social groups within various physical settings. Space limitations, as well as the limited abilities of its author, force this article to focus on the main part of its practice known as Natural Walking Wind-Breathing Anti-Cancer Qigong.
Guo Lin Biography.
The Walking Qi Gong to cure cancer was created by a Chinese woman named Guo Lin. In 1949 when she was forty years old she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and a hysterectomy was performed. In ten years the cancer returned, and had metastasized to her bladder. After six more unsuccessful operations, she refused a seventh and was told that she would die within six months. She began to practice several Shaolin qigong forms that her grandfather had taught her when she was a child, but they didn’t seem to help.
Always known for her strong will, she now increased her studies, reading traditional Chinese and western medicine text books; as well as experimenting with various historical qigong exercises, and Daoist breathing and relaxation meditations. She practiced for many hours a day, seven days a week. The result was that she created her own qigong and within six months, even to her own surprise, the cancer went into remission and her health returned.
Guo Lin publicly unveiled what she called her “New Qigong” therapy on September 4, 1971 in Dongdan Park in Beijing. This was the time of the Cultural Revolution when anyone doing anything related to China’s pre-communist past such as qigong, or traditional Chinese medicine put themselves in danger, for at that time such practices were called “anti-revolutionary fake and fraudulent," and were politically and culturally unacceptable. Guo Lin, along with those who helped her, could be incarcerated for political indoctrination and re-education. Additionally, she and anyone practicing qigong with her were in constant danger of being physically attacked by the teen-aged thugs collectively known as the Red Guards and being beaten, or even murdered, by them.
Red Guards in Beijing, June 1966, at the beginning of China's Cultural Revolution. More than one million people
are believed to have died during its ten years of social chaos.
Source: Jean Vincent/AFP/Getty Images.
In 1976 the Cultural Revolution ended with Chairman Mao Zedong’s death. “By 1977 [Guo Lin] had achieved such tremendous results that she publicly announced that qigong could heal cancer, and thus her classes grew to 300-400 students a day.” http://www.orientalhealing.net/qigong/
“Since then, thousands of cancer patients have taken part in her Qigong therapy classes at various coaching centers, located over twenty cities and provinces in China, and have attained remissions from this life-threatening disease.” http://guolinqigongpuchong.blogspot.com/2007/
Caring more for others than herself, and by being over-committed to her work—(her husband said that “she had her patients in her heart and mind and not herself.)—at the age of seventy-five she suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage, and died on December 14, 1984.
By the mid-1980s it was estimated that there were more than one million people practicing her Walking Qigong in China. There also were many Walking Qigong institutions, associations, health resorts and hospitals established. http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/walking_qigong
In 1998 after extensive examinations by the Chinese government, Guo Lin Qigong was approved of as being effective for the health of the masses. [David A. Palmer. Qigong Fever. p. 181-2 https://books.google.com/books?id=RXeuibmD2dsC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=there+were+no+officially+sanctioned+qigong+activities+in+China&source=bl&ots=aNIlwjgoL2&sig=zUv9AUh_SUsoK4_vQagmuXSr5dQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2osrW3bnfAhUI01kKHV__CSsQ6AEwCXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=there%20were%20no%20officially%20sanctioned%20qigong%20activities%20in%20China&f=false
More than two million copies of books by Guo Lin and her “New Qigong” have been published in China, making her the author of the largest number of books about qigong ever to appear in that country. [http://www.ed2kers.net/资料/体育健身/130644.html.] Presently [May, 2019] there is no available translation in English or in another western language, of any book ever written by or about Guo Lin.
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Disclaimer: Before commencing this or any other exercise program consult your physician, or appropriate medical professional. This entry is not offered as a cure for cancer or for any other disease. It is not intended to replace any cancer therapy prescribed by a physician.
Guo Lin wrote, To achieve a reasonable treatment, organically combine Chinese and Western medicine, qigong, diet, and psychology. Adopt their respective strengths and avoid their shortcomings. This will make us more likely to recover, live longer, and live a better quantity of life. Guolin New Qigong: An Introduction, p. 20.
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Natural Walking Wind-Breathing Anti-Cancer Qigong: The Preparatory Exercises.
1. Stand in a Relaxed Fashion.
The eyes are closed. The shoulders are loose. The knees are slightly bent. The tongue is on the upper palate. If necessary, silently count to sixty to still the mind. Cancer patients generally stand this way for two to three minutes. Those with chronic diseases generally stand from three to five minutes. The direction you face in depends on the location of the disease. 1. East: liver, gallbladder. 2. South: heart, small intestine, brain, tongue. 3. West: lung, large intestine, nose, skin. 4. North: kidney, bladder, ear, bone, reproductive organs, endocrine. 5. Southwest: spleen, sarcoma. 6. Northeast: stomach, esophagus. 7. If not sure of the location of the disease face North. From: “Guolin Qigong: Preparatory Exercise” beginning at 1:40.
2. Three Special Breaths.
Place the hands on the lower abdomen just below the navel. Men place the right hand above the left; woman place the left hand above the right. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. Then one normal breath in and out through the nose. Do this same pattern for a total of three times. See: “Cancer – We Can Beat It” - from 23:56 to 27:35.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRAuzeVEwns
3. Opening and Closing Hand Movements
(Also called “Opening and Closing the Dantian”). The body, shoulders, arms, and hands are relaxed. The eyes are closed, and the tongue is on the pallet. The palms face each at the level of the waist. Gather in (close) the hands as you inhale through the nose. Open the hands with the palms facing downward as you exhale through the nose. Do this three times. See the video “Cancer – We Can Beat It.” (posted above) from 27:40 to 29:20.
Note: the Dantian is the major location for the storage and cultivation of vital life energy [Qi] located slightly beneath and under the navel, in the center of the lower torso.
Natural Walking Wind-Breathing Anti-Cancer Qigong: The Main Exercise.
Women take two quick inhalations and swing both hands to the left and step forward with the right foot by first lifting the toes up from the ground and then having their right heel step down on the ground. As the heel touches the ground, exhale through the nose and swing both hands to the right, and step forward with the left foot.
Take two more inhalations, and again swing both hands to the left, and step forward with the right foot. As the right heel touches the ground exhale and swing the hands to the right and step out with the left foot; but now (with loose shoulders and waist) turn the head to look to the right.
If the woman’s health and level of comfort allow for it, continue this pattern for fifteen to twenty minutes, then reverse sides (right becomes left and left becomes right) and continue for another fifteen to twenty minutes.
Men do the opposite. Take two quick inhalations and swing both hands to the right and step forward with the left foot by first lifting the toes up from the ground and then having the left heel step down on the ground. As the heel touches the ground, exhale through the nose and swing both hands to the left, and step forward with the right foot.
Take two more inhalations, and again swing both hands to the right, and step forward with the left foot. As the left heel touches the ground exhale and swing the hands to the left and step out with the right foot; but now (with loose shoulders and waist) turn the head to the left.
If the man’s health and level of comfort allow for it, continue this pattern for fifteen to twenty minutes, then reverse sides (left becomes right and right becomes left) and continue for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes.
After completing one of these 30-to-40 minute sessions, and before commencing another such session, both men and women should do the Opening and Closing Hand Movement for three times. This helps settle the newly activated qi-life energy into the lower dantian.
The question of how many and for how long such a 30-to-40 minute session should be repeated will be addressed directly below.
The Concluding Exercise in Three Parts.
When coming to the end of a completed Walking Qigong practice, perform the Preparatory Exercises again, but now in an inverted order. First do the Opening and Closing Hand Movements: Inhale and close the palms hands towards the belly, and exhale and open the hands with the palms facing downward; do this three times. Next do the Three Special Breaths: Place the hands on the lower abdomen. Women left hand on top of right. Men right hand on top of left. Inhale through nose, exhale through mouth. Then take one breath in and out through nose. Do this for a total of three times. Next Stand Relaxed For two or three minutes. This brings the practice to a close. Return to your normal day’s activities.
How fast and for how long should a person or a group of people spend in practicing Natural Walking Wind-Breathing Anti-Cancer Qigong? Properly speaking, the length, speed, and nature of the exercise should be determined by a skilled and experienced instructor based on observations of the health and stamina of the practitioner.
Qigong Master John Dolic writes, [Gou Lin] Walking Qigong should be practiced for two to five hours a day. The practice is done in 15-minute intervals with plenty of breaks in between. In other words, it is not a solid two to five hours’ worth of practice. Those who cannot walk for even 5 minutes can take a few steps, then stop and rest, then another few steps and so on (to start with). Gradually, as their stamina improves and they become able to walk for two hours, they should keep that as their daily minimum. Qigong Chinese Health
http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/walking_qigong
Guo Lin said it depends on the person and the state of their health, and if the person feels exhausted the next day, they should reduce the extent of their practice. She also said the entire practice with its repeating sessions can take up to four to five hours a day. Guo Lin would often advise that, “Patients suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, and other chronic diseases should use a weak wind-breathing [two inhalations, one exhalation] or perhaps just normal breathing, and their rate of walking should be slower. Those with poor physical weakness can walk in less than twenty minutes intervals.” Source: Guolin (Guo Lin) Qigong .pdf in English [sic] & Other Language.
http://cancer-qigong.blogspot.com/2012/04/guolin-guo-lin-qigong-pdf-in-enhlish.html
Very Important Note About Heart Disease
Throughout information on the internet, it often is advised not to practice Guo Lin’s Natural Walking Wind-Breathing Qigong if the person suffers from heart disease, or hypertension (high blood pressure). Here again it is absolutely necessary to consult with your physician or professional medical consultant.
Additional Comments.
For cancer of the liver, gallbladder, both male or female patients begin by first stepping forward with their right foot.
The practice is called “Wind-Breathing” because the air coming into the nose should feel like wind blowing through a small passage, and sound as if you are sniffing a flower. To accomplish this, you should quickly inhale twice and exhale once through the nose. To keep track of this breathing and its required movements, think—or have someone say—in-in out; in-in turn. On some Chinese videos you might hear something like, she-she, ho; she-she, dwahn. Which means, inhale-inhale, exhale; inhale-inhale, turn [the head].
Any saliva generated in the mouth is to be thought of as healing Qi. Swallow it in three mouthfuls down into the (lower) Dantian.
Conclusion.
This entry is no more than a short introduction to Guo Lin’s anti-cancer walking qigong meant only to introduce it to an English-speaking audience. As already mentioned, her complete “New Qigong” Therapy is composed of much more than what is presented in this article. A future article in Chinese Medicine Living will briefly explore her theories on how and why her qigong works through the use of breathing, psychology, meditation, bioelectricity and social gatherings—and even by the use of singing and dancing as successful healing modalities. There will also be more about the powerful creative personality of Guo Lin. Also additional videos and internet resources will be listed—(mainly in Chinese because there is so little available in English). And we will finish by listing various worldwide Guo Lin Associations.
And as always, consult your physician—trained in western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, or preferably both—before commencing this or any other exercise program.
Sources Consulted for this Entry - Books:
郭林氣功 - 簡介.(Guolin New Qigong: An Introduction); [in Traditional Chinese script]. http://www.cllam.com/contents/contenthtml/SSW-Doc/0804kuolin.pdf.
郭林新气功为什么能治病抗癌. (Why Can Guo Lin New Qigong Cure Diseases and Fight Cancer?). ISBN-13: 978-7-5009-3889-7. People's Sports Publishing House, 2016. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003SRJE4A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
郭林新氣功治癌功法.(Guo Lin New Qigong Cancer Treatment); [in Traditional Chinese script]. ISBN 9579263140. Taipei City: Lin Yu Culture, 1995.
Websites:
John Dolic. Qigong Chinese Health: “Walking Qigong: The Anti-Cancer Qigong.”
“Guolin (Guo Lin) Qigong .pdf in English [sic] & Other Language.” http://cancer-qigong.blogspot.com/2012/04/guolin-guo-lin-qigong-pdf-in-enhlish.html
Videos:
Jack Lim. “Cancer – We Can Beat It.” © Jack Lim. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRAuzeVEwns.
Guolin Qigong, Natural Walk, Walking Qigong, Anti-Cancer Qigong. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12RSk3BkCFw
Guolin Qigong: Concluding Exercise. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt-QSno0-dI.
Guo Lin Book (in Chinese)
Guo Lin New Qigong: Therapeutic Exercises.
(The book is in Chinese. Its title is 郭林新气功：治疗功法挖掘功法中高级功法.)
See Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Guo-Lin-Qigong-treatment-Paperback/dp/7500917813
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Featured image
Guo Lin Teaching New Qigong Walking
from http://ftpguolinxqg.cl543.4everdns.com/index.php?r=pages/category/index&cid=55 51La
Exercise Is The Perfect Complement To Traditional Medicine
By Sally Perkins
Being told to exercise is likely one of the most common treatments ‘prescribed’ by contemporary doctors. It’s not without merit, and there are a multitude of benefits to be gained from exercise that are discovered every day. For example, medical researchers have recently found that 10% of advanced lung cancer patients benefited from exercise.
What role does exercise have to play in traditional medicine? The likes of tai chi and tui na already have a physical aspect and the benefits of those practices are well known. Both within Chinese medicine and other non-western medicines, physical activity has been shown to have a positive contribution to overall health when used in conjunction with other methods.
Tai Chi, Yoga, and The In Between
Coming from different corners of the continent, tai chi and yoga have remarkable similarities despite their differences. Both rely on stretching movements, but yoga is more energetic and pushes into stillness; whereas tai chi relies on fluid movements to relax the muscles in preparation for stretching later. Recently, they have ‘combined’ in a way to create yin yoga. Early studies have suggested that this particular type of yoga, when conducted safely and with the proper equipment, can have a strong positive influence on health. One study, conducted by Lund University, Sweden, found that yin yoga could significantly reduce physiological and psychological risk factors. The study found that those taking part in yin yoga had reduced levels of ADM, a marker often found in those developing non-communicable disorders such as cardiovascular disease.
Is Vigorous Physical Activity Possible?
Vigorous activity is not part and parcel of Chinese medicine. As the Traditional Chinese Medicine foundation have noted, sweat is the fluid of the heart, and vigorous activity will unbalance your Qi creating a deficiency. What’s the solution?
One potential is swimming. Swimming can be moderately vigorous, requiring every muscle in the body to work in tandem to stay float and propel. However, it can be moderated, and sweat is greatly reduced when in a colder pool. There is also evidence to show swimming can work well in tandem with traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers from Zhongshan Hospital, Shanghai, China, found that songyou yin and swimming aided liver immunity when used in conjunction. Ultimately, this reduced the levels of liver cancer in the study group.
The Bottom Line
Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash
Bringing in more energetic forms of traditional exercise, and more mainstream methods, such as swimming, have an overall contributory effect to your health. However, multiple studies have shown the well established link between traditional Chinese exercises, like tai chi, and good health. As this South China Morning Post article clearly outlines, the holistic use of traditional Chinese exercises, good diet and mindfulness (or meditation) mitigate many cardiovascular ailments, regardless of country; the study cited pointed out that over 2,000 people across 10 countries reported on.
Traditional medicine has shown its effectiveness when paired with exercise. There are ways to augment this in order to provide the maximum benefits for your health. However, while these have been shown to help, the best way to stay fit is through traditional routines.
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The Most Important Qigong
By John Voigt
The most important qigong gymnastic is standing and doing nothing. Many masters of traditional Chinese martial arts, spiritual sciences, and healing practices have stated that this is the basis, the foundation, of all Asian inner and outer life-energy work.
It is called Zhan Zhuang (站桩), and pronounced Jhan Jwong. It means “Standing [like a wooden] Post.
"If I had to choose one qigong technique to practice, it would undoubtedly be this one. Many Chinese call standing meditation "the million dollar secret of qigong." Whether you are practicing qigong for self healing, for building healing ch'i, for massage or healing work on others, standing is an essential practice …. for ch'i gathering and flow." – Kenneth S. Cohen. The Way Of Qigong.
“Zhan zhuang, or stance training, is the most important single category of exercise for developing internal force. It can be safely said that all Taijiquan masters, all Xingyi masters, most Bagua masters, and many Shaolin masters obtained their internal force from zhan zhuang.” – Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit. Stance Training And Becoming A Scholar-Warrior.
Although this practice can over time potentially open to those who do it a path to liberation, it may be summarized in only a few words:
Stand straight and relaxed. Raise your arms and hug an imaginary large tree (or large ball). Breathe slowly, deeply, and smoothly. Relax into any discomfort you experience. Hold the pose as long as possible. If there is any pain, or even a hint of pain, stop immediately.
A Short History Of The Practice
Standing without moving is an ancient meditation practice. Shamans in ecstatic rituals enacted wild animals stalking their prey—the consciousness focused on the kill; the body virtually motionless, waiting to spring. Certain Hindu yoga asanas employ slightly similar standing poses, especially Tadasana, the “Mountain Pose.”
Over two thousand years old (and discovered in 1973 at the Mawangdui archaeological site in Changsha, China) are 44 drawings on silk, called the Daoyin tu, literally meaning “Leading and Guiding [Qi] Diagrams.” Many of the figures appear to be doing stationary standing forms. Here is a section of one of the scrolls. (In Standing Post the arms and hands may be at low, middle, high, or even raised positions.)
Nevertheless these Shaman, Hindu, or ancient Chinese practices are only precursors to Zhan Zhuang as we know and do it today.
The Practice
If possible, pick a regular time and place. Early morning in a pleasant outdoor setting is best. Fresh air is important: if indoors, and the weather permitting, open a window.
Warm Up
Feel free to use your own regime of loosening and gently stretching the muscles and joints. (But it is best not to do any strenuous physical exercises before doing Standing Post.)
Here are some suggested limbering up qigong forms: Rub the hands together and massage the face and head. Massage (or gently slap or tap) the torso, arms and legs, neck and head areas. Stretch the arm and leg muscles.
With hands on knees, look down at a 45-degree angle, and gently rotate the knees clockwise, then counterclockwise. Rotate the arms in front of the body, circling in, then out. Rotate the hips (as if doing hula hoops) clockwise, then counterclockwise. Do each five or more times each way.
Preparation
Stand with the feet approximately a fist’s width apart. Raise the arms straight up, palms facing, above your head. This keeps the head from sagging forward and straightens the back. Next bring the arms down by the sides of the body in sweeping semicircles. At the same time extend one foot (usually the left foot) out to the side to about shoulder’s width.
Preliminary Posture
Called “Wuji” - “Empty” - or “Basic” Stance.
Note
This posture, also called by other names, is used to begin many qigong and taijiquan (tai chi) exercises.
From the Preparation stance, continue standing straight (do not lean back). Keep the chin tucked slightly in. Imagine a string at the crown of the head gently but firmly pulling you up—and feel the spine actually lengthen. The arms and hands rest lightly at the sides. Turn the elbows slightly forward to ensure a hollow space in the armpits—enough to hold a "swallow’s egg." The knees are soft, slightly bent and not locked. The feet are straight. Breathe slowly, smoothly, fully into the lower abdomen. Lower the eyelids and look slightly down with a soft gaze, as if daydreaming. Rest the tip of tongue on the hard palette behind the front top teeth.
Stand in this manner for a few minutes or longer.
HOLDING and EMBRACING the POST
Continuing directly from the Preliminary Posture: inhale and curve the arms and hands and lift them to the front of the chest. Palms face the chest. Fingers are separated. The elbows are slightly lowered. The distance between the hands and chest is approximately one foot. Exhale, and keeping the shoulders loose and the back straight, sink down and sit back on an imaginary tall stool. The knees should not extend past the tips of the toes. Imagine that you are squeezing a large inflated beach ball—or a tree. The important thing is to be completely relaxed in body and mind. When the position is comfortably locked in—(this may take days or months to achieve)— pleasurable, even ecstatic, experiences may occur.
Grand Master Yu Yong Nian teaching Standing Post in Beijing, circa 1985
Note
Mentally holding on to the continual stress and irritation of modern life may make even a few minutes of standing and seemingly doing nothing seem like an eternity. If that happens, it is most likely an indication that your mental and physical energy flow patterns are in disarray. The more mentally torturous just standing and doing “nothing” is for you, the more you need to do it.
To End the Practice
After completing Standing Post, return to standing in the opening Basic - Empty - Wuji stance, but with your palms over each other on the lower abdomen. Stand like this for several minutes to store the energy. Then do the warm up as a cool down. Then take a walk.
WARNINGS
“If you have substantial [qi-energy] blockage in your body, the accumulated energy derived from Zhan Zhuang would cause internal injuries.” Wong Kiew Kit. The Shaolin Arts. p. 150. Do not practice when sick, instead see a doctor. Some sources say do not practice if you have high blood pressure, or excessive blood flow during menstruation or menopause, or if pregnant or right after childbirth. As always, consult with a professional health provider before doing any exercise or qigong; especially if you have any medical problems or health issues. And as mentioned throughout this article: if there is pain stop and consult with a professional healer, or an experienced teacher of Standing Post - Zhan Zhuang.
In the Next issue of Chinese Medical Living this article will continue with: 1. additional techniques on how to practice Standing Post; 2. how to deal with its discomfort; 3. its benefits; and 4. sources for more information. And how Dr. Yan Xin, a famous, outstanding, and charismatic qigong master, taught Standing Post in Beijing.
This article is a summation of “The Ultimate Energy Exercise: Zhan Zhuang – Standing (Like A) Post. Qi Journal, vol. 23/n.2; Summer 2013. https://www.qi-journal.com/store.asp?-token.S=qi&ID=3319
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Featured image from TaiChiBasics.com
The Strangest Chinese Energy Healing Ever Reported - Part Two
By John Voigt
In Part One details were given about an extraterrestrial sending universal healing qi-energy into a thirty-eight year old man, “Cao Gong” (an alias) which he immediately used to heal a very sick thirteen year old girl. This took place aboard a UFO in Qinhuangdao, an area about sixty miles east of Beijing. Our brief analysis continues with Cao’s return to his family’s apartment in Beijing.
Right After the Abduction and Healing
The male and female extraterrestrials and Cao Gong entered as they had left two hours and twenty minutes before, by floating in through a wall, this time into his nine year old son’s bedroom. The boy, “Cao Xing” (also an alias) awoke. He said, “What happened to the nerve [or “nerves” the Chinese is unclear] in my head that controls sleeping?” Cao Gong was amazed at such grownup words coming from his young son. (Were the ETs controlling the boy’s mind somehow? Could they have been controlling Cao Gong’s mind as well?) After the ETs left, again by floating through a wall, the boy spoke, “How did these people enter my room? And how did they leave like that?” (Later investigators saw this as circumstantial evidence that Cao Gong was not alone in actually witnessing the two extraterrestrials.)
It was now 2:20 AM. By 4:00 AM that same night Cao Gong was on the phone with a member of the Beijing UFO Research Association, a Miss Ma Linghuan, seeking an explanation for what had just happened to him.
The Investigation of the Abduction Begins [张靖平]
Zhang Jingping, Director of Investigations of the World Chinese UFO Federation, decided to take on the case, and by April of 2000 he began a through investigation.
After several hypnotic regression sessions, a lie detection session, physiological tests, and talks with Beijing police examiners, and other ufologists, Cao Gong’s story was found to be believable and truthful—at least he was honestly reporting what he had experienced. It seemed unlikely that he dreamt any of it: everything points to the probable fact that he was awake when his abduction took place. (His nine year old son also had seen the two aliens when his father was returned home.) On November, 2002, two years after the abduction took place, the girl, Xiao Xiaomei (an alias), now completely healthy, with a baby and a job with her a live-in lover cleaning other people’s homes, was found in Qinhuangdao, the city where the healing had taken place. The case is said to remain open, but no new information has been released as of September, 2017. Perhaps this analysis in Chinese Medicine Living will generate further information from our readers.
Cao Gong, and Xiao Xiaomei (an alias) two years after the abduction
Source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ca903250102e6h6.html
Cao Gong, UFO investigator Zhang Jingping, and Xiao Xiaomei
Source: http://news.qq.com/a/20080916/000852_8.htm
About Energy Healing
The use of external energy for healing is a worldwide technique from ancient times to today. The Christian Laying on of Hands, Reiki, and Healing Touch are all examples that have produced healings that western medicine can not properly explain or duplicate. The Chinese have been especially proficient and successful with this kind of healing―after all they have been doing it much longer and more extensively than any other people. For example, there is the legend―(I suggest that legends are somehow based on historical realities)―of the Yellow Emperor, (died 2598 BC), credited as being the founder of Chinese Medicine.
100-yuan banknote (1938) with a dragon and the Yellow Emperor who was said to have been taken up to heaven by a dragon. In ancient China UFOs were called dragons.
Source: Wikipedia.
In his court there was a shaman priest named Zhu You who practiced healing by emitting qi combined with sacred prayers. In the “Bible” of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine it is written that, “In earlier times most illnesses were treated in the manner of Zhu You.” (Chapter 13). Today in China this healing modality is called “External Qi Therapy” - Wai qi liaofa - 外气疗法.
About Qi
Chinese Traditional Form
Source: Google
气
Chinese Simple (“Modern”) Form
Source: Chineseetamology.org
Qi (pronounced “chee” in a descending tone) is a highly complex term that gains its meaning from within the context in which it is placed. Although impossible to get an exact translation of the word in English, it is often called “vital life energy.” In traditional Chinese thought, Qi is usually thought to be the underlying force of all of life, matter and consciousness in the universe. Within humans Qi may be understood as a being a bio-electric interface between conscious awareness and the physical body. As such, qi is the energetic foundation and cause of life. [For more about Qi see: http://qi-encyclopedia.com/ .]
More commonly and less accurately, the term Qi is used to describe its sensuous manifestations. For example in the Cao Gong abduction case: the sensations Cao Gong felt in the qi transmissions from the extraterrestrial into his GV-14 acupuncture point, and then what he felt as he sent qi into the sick girl: “a burst of heat, rivers of radiating pins and needles, numbing electrical-like discharges.” Even the glow of health coming from the healed girl certain people might colloquially call “good qi.” But strictly speaking these are not proper definitions.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), well-being is gained through the harmonious flow of qi. However, if qi is in excess or deficient in the organs and/or energy meridians of the human body, or if it is of the wrong kind, as with the foul gaseous energy removed from girl, Xiao Xiaomei, sickness and death is often the result.
Healing Qi-Energy from an Extraterrestrial’s Perspective
The male extraterrestrial told Cao Gong aboard the UFO: “Don’t be nervous. We are like you. Our universal life energies [yuzhou nengliang -宇宙能量] 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 能力].”
After the girl was healed, Cao Gong asked, “What’s going on? How can this be?” Extraterrestrial male answered, “Because you are in physically good health, I could supply you with universal cosmic light (yuzhou guāng - 宇宙 光 ), electricity (dian - 电), and scientific magnetic energy (cineng - 磁能). 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 very normal.”
The last thing that the male ET said to Cao Gong was, “Thank you for your cooperation. With it 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 (tiao jie – to adjust, regulate, harmonize, reconcile) the qi and transmit it to the girl.”
Those Chinese words, tiao jie … qi, may be the best summary ever given of what Traditional Chinese Medicine is all about: to adjust, regulate, and harmonize the qi in the patient.
Bad (pathogenic) Xie Qi
Qi can cause illness as well as heal it. This bad qi is called Xie Qi. It is pronounced “shay” in a rising tone, “chee” in a falling) tone. In the healing abduction it probably was cause of the girl’s black and grey complexion as well as the noxious stuff that oozed out of her. Cao Gong described it this way: The semi-transparent covering surrounding the girl began to fill with a foul (wu zhou - 污浊 ) gaseous/energetic substance (qi ti -气体.).
Various Meanings of Xie (邪):
Formal TCM translations offer: Pathogenic (disease causing) – Turbid – Toxic. Especially telling is what the word means in Chinese everyday colloquially speech: “Bad” – “Evil” - “Demonic” – “Devil” – “Killing.”
Xie Qi is caused by such factors as wind, cold, heat, wet, dry hot (fire) , improper diet, phlegm, polluted atmosphere and improper life style behavior. Emotional unbalance can both be caused and/or create xie qi. The girl, Xiao Xiaomei , only thirteen years old, was mentally challenged and unmarried. She may have been in the beginning stages of an unwanted pregnancy at that time. (Within the two years after the abduction she had given birth to her baby.)
For more about Xie (Turbid) Qi see http://qi-encyclopedia.com/index.asp?article=TurbidQi
Calling Out to the Reader For Answers
This is an invitation for you, the reader, to add your knowledge and experience to the Cao Gong-Extraterrestrial healing event. Email me at john.voigt@comcast.net. Selected replies will chosen for publication in Chinese Medicine Living. Your name and email address will not be given without your approval.
Suggested Possible Questions –
(but any comments about the healing are welcome)
1. Have you every used, experienced, or observed qi being externally sent for healing (i.e., External Qi Therapy)?
2. Why or how was the GV-14 point used?
3. Any comments about the semi-transparent membrane used to capture (or remove) the pathogenic xie-qi?
4. Have you ever removed xie-qi from a client? If so how did you do it? Was it black and oozy, smelly? How did you keep it from getting inside you?
5. The healing only took about five minutes. Can such a thing be possible?
6. Any educated guesses about what the thirteen year old girl was suffering from?
Remember that 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 wasted away, all skin and bones. Also she was reported to be mentally challenged as in possibly having a low IQ, as in “slow witted.”
7. I was told by one of my teachers that she seemed to be suffering from a condition of Wind-Heat. What is your hypothetical diagnosis?
You are not restricted to these suggested questions; but only replies that are pertinent to the healing will be published in future issues of Chinese Medical Living. I am looking forward to continuing the investigation of the TCM aspects of this case with your help. Email me at: john.voigt@comcast.net.
SOURCES USED
MUFON UFO Journal, December 2005, Number 452. “Chinese Schoolmaster Reports Flying Abduction and Healing by Proxy.”
https://issuu.com/disclosureproject/docs/mufon_ufo_journal_-_2005_12._decemb
外星人劫持北京人!電視台首次震撼曝光 – “China Central Television (CCTV) Reveals for the First Time the Abduction of a Beijing Resident”
https://read01.com/4GN0dQ.html#.WZWofyMrJL8
Zhang Jingping. 曹公对领导人说见过外星人吗 -
“Cao Gong told the leaders about aliens?” http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4ca903250102e6h6.html
Note: Most Chinese language sites can be translated into English (albeit not easy to read or fully understand) on such sites as https://translate.google.com/ For Chrome browser users see https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/173424?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en-GB
Further Information About External Qi Therapy
John Voigt. “External Qi for Healing.” Qi Journal, Vol. 24, No. 1: Spring 2014. http://www.qi-journal.com/store.asp?-token.S=qi&ItemID=D241&-Token.X=X
Yongsheng, Bi. Chinese Qigong Outgoing-Qi Therapy. Shandong Science and Technology Press, 1997; [text in English].
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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
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.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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
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
------------------------
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
External Qi Healing - Part 2
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.**
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
External Qi Healing - Part 1
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.**
Although External Qi Healing has certain general principles, it is an art as well as a science. Consequently it has many differing yet valid methods and techniques. Hopefully the information in this article—gathered from primary texts, personal teachers, the internet, and the limited personal experiences of the author—may prove instructive. For thousands of years the Chinese have been projecting vital life energy to heal illnesses. It was first called Bu qi (布氣) “Spreading the Qi.” Now it is called “External Qi Healing Therapy,” (Wai qi liaofa - 外气疗法). The basic technique has the practitioner emitting Qi [vital life energy] into the appropriate acupuncture points on the client’s body. There are different methods, but most often the healer emits qi through the fingers and palms. Traditionally there is no direct physical contact or touching and the client is fully clothed. However today, and especially in China, energy sending may be added into other Traditional Chinese Medicine methods such as qigong movements and meditations, acupuncture, acupressure, tuina-massage, moxibustion; even used in modern psychotherapy, and western medicine. In External Qi Healing (EQH), the qi-energy is transmitted from an experienced sender to an ill client, thereby regenerating depleted qi, opening blockages in the meridians, and bringing about the removal of pathogenic qi. The cardiovascular, respiratory, lymphatic and nervous systems are all stimulated and vitalized. This strengthens immunity to diseases, resulting in better health. There are numerous reports of External Qi curing life threatening diseases of all kinds. EQH works best on resolving chronic health problems. However the general belief is that it “cannot help in cases of purely physical damage, such as broken limbs … and it certainly cannot cure mental-illness.” [Paul Dong, Empty Force, 2006, p. 84.]
How to Do It: A - The Preliminaries.
The beginning student of EQH should be able to sense qi; and then be able consciously to lead and guide it in his or her body—the common standard being the “Microcosmic Orbit” (xiǎo zhōu tiān - also translated as “Small Heavenly Circuit”) where the qi is cycled up the back and down the front of the body. It is also important that the healer be in good physical and mental health. The stronger the qi of the healer, the more effective he or she will be. There are several qigong exercises that help to accomplish this. “Standing Post” and “Muscle/Tendon Change Classic” are often cited as superior methods to increase and strengthen a person’s qi. See Zhan Zhuang and Yijin Jing in the Bibliography below.
Diagram of the Microcosmic Orbit
Learning to Move the Qi.
The following exercises have been loosely adapted from the book Qigong Empowerment. Stand with loose shoulders, spine comfortably erect, and breathe smoothly, softly, deeply, and silently. Arms are in a half circle with palms facing. Gently, playfully—but making sure the hands do not touch—use a push-pull technique squeezing the palms back and forth as if playing a small accordion. Inhale as the hands go out, and exhale when the hands go in. Sense the activity of qi in the palms. When the hands go out open the palms. This will open the Pericardium-8 acupressure points, the laogong. When the hands come back in, relax the palms which will automatically relax the laogong. This should increase the sensations of the presence of qi. Now without any more “accordion playing” movements, have the arms return to a “hugging a tree” pose. Continue breathing gently but firmly into the lower abdomen. Sense the qi in the hands and with mental will and intention have the qi emanate out from your right hand into your left hand. It helps to make very slight pushing forward movements with the right hand. When the sensation of qi has become stronger, and continuing the right-to-left send, move the qi up to the left elbow. After success with that maneuver, send the qi from the right hand palm into the left palm and continue up the left arm into the left shoulder, then across the upper torso into the right shoulder, down the right arm and into the right hand. Continue with this circling of qi for two to five minutes. Then reverse the direction by sending qi out from the left hand palm into the right palm, then up to the right elbow, right shoulder, then through the upper torso and shoulder back down the left arm into the left hand. Practice the entire circling for two to five minutes.
Kirlian Photograph Of A Human Hand by Garion Hutchings found at fineartamerica.com
Small Circulation:
Send qi from the right palm to left palm, then send the qi to the left elbow, then to the upper central chest, then lead the qi down into the dantian, then to the perineum (CV-1) then to the tip of the spine. Then lead the qi up the spine to the head, then down the body’s center line to the chest, then over to the right arm to the right sending palm. For a moment allow the energy to radiate in the space between the palms. Next again do the entire circulation, but in reverse by sending qi-energy from the left palm to right palm.
Grand Circulation:
Begin with the same procedure as in the Small Circulation: lead qi from the right palm to the left palm, then to the left elbow, then chest, then to the dantian, then to the perineum (CV-1) then to the tip of the spine, then up the spine to the head. Then lead the qi back down to the chest, then to the dantian, to the perineum, where it divides into two columns down both legs to the Kidney-1 acupuncture points behind the balls of the feet. Allow it to remain there for several seconds; then lead it back up the legs, to the perineum, to the spine, then to head, back to chest and back down the sending arm to between the palms. Reverse directions by sending qi from the left palm into the right palm. Continually emit qi from the sending palm to the receiving palm as you guide and lead the qi in your body. Once you have built up your personal qi supply and have had some experience in leading and guiding the qi you are ready to proceed to the next step of the process.
Ancient Drawings of Medical Qi Gong : Image from qigong.net.nz
B - Diagnosis.
In interviewing the client about their ailments, it is important to spend more time listening than talking. When you actively listen, the client will tell you things you need to know, for both of you this can take place consciously and unconsciously. By actively listening, you will gain more knowledge and intuition on how best to do this energy work by finding out what is wrong and where to send the qi to correct it. Here is an intuitive technique to find where to direct the healing energy: Using an open flat hand, scan and spiral around and over the client’s body to sense the location of any pathogenic disease triggering elements. These pathogenic elements are called xié qì (pronounced something like shay chee. A similar Chinese term is bìng qì meaning “diseased energy.”) Your scanning should be done in what is called a “Mindful” way: by turning off the thinking mind and without touching just feel for the afflicted area. The healer—now “reader”—may sense places of excesses (heat) or deficiencies (cold) or turbidness (befouled); even sensations which could be described as “demonic” such as biting, itching and sticking. It is to these places—be they acupressure points, energy meridians, organs, or any other part of the client’s physical or energetic body—that the practitioner should direct the healing qi. Here is an even more abstract diagnostic method: Using both eyes and what is called the third eye, allow yourself to gaze into the body of the client. This will seem both literal and imaginative. Be prepared to witness unpleasant sights. Once after being requested to do so by a client, I began looking at the major organ groups to find problem areas where to direct healing qi. (The client was suffering from a medically supervised withdrawal from a doctor prescribed mood altering drug.) As I looked into his Heart Center in the upper chest, I saw something that resembled a darkly lit cavern of black stalactites and stalagmites covered with foul black tar. Even though this dealt with the heart there was no red to be seen. During the course of weeks of EQH treatment the black foulness began to dissipate and a healthy organic pink-to-rose color began to appear. The thought processes of the client became more rational and positive. (This is not offered as anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of External Qi for Healing, but only as part of a discussion on diagnosis in EQH.)
**This article originally appeared in Qi Journal, Spring 2014, Vol.24/n.1. http://www.qi-
**Also this article's subsequent parts - The Sending, Method to Remove Harmful Qi, Correcting Yin-Yang Imbalances, After the Send, FAQs, Bibliography and Links - will appear in future segments of External Qi Healing in Chinese Medicine Living, stay tuned!**
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**Featured Image of amazing Kirlian photography of 2 hands. To learn more about Kirlian photography, see this article.