On and Beyond the Surface of Qigong

On the surface, Qigong originated in China centuries ago. Today Qigong is practiced regularly in China, but the practices are fairly new to our Western culture. I am constantly frustrated that while yoga has become popular in our culture, the general population is still unaware of the health benefits Qigong offers to those who practice this discipline. People even have difficulty pronouncing the word “Qigong” (chee gong). Qigong emphasizes the importance of synchronizing the breath and mental focus with physical movements choreographed into a variety of sequences intended to activate energy in our vital organs and meridians of the body.

There are many styles of Qigong practice.

Beyond the surface, Chinese masters refer to this energy as the life force they call Qi. I studied with a Qigong master who told us that, “Every day you practice Qigong adds a day to your life.” Those words inspire me, and I’m hoping his words will inspire or continue to inspire you to try a Peaceable Dragon Qigong class to experience this life supporting practice, a transformative process that strengthens and enhances our energetic life force, thus influencing overall mental focus, emotional health, balance and coherence in the body.

Importance of Breathing Deep diaphragmatic breathing is vital to a ‘beyond the surface’ Qigong practice. “Just breathe” are the words of teachers who understand the need to oxygenate the blood with deep diaphragmatic breathing that nourishes the energetic condition of the blood. Deep inhalations bring oxygen to the blood and to the meridians extending throughout the body. When subatomic particles interact coherently in the oxygen atoms, these particles ignite and fire, which creates charges that we call Qi. Breathing oxygen deeply into our internal organs activates Qi at the cellular level in the organs, which strengthens and enlivens Qi in the whole body’s energetic field. An intentional Qigong practice, with a focus on the subatomic level, activates Qi that energizes and creates coherence and balance in the body, mind, and spirit.

Mental Focus

Letting go of repetitious thoughts is a difficult task for humans to accomplish. Achieving clarity in our mental space is necessary to focus our attention in order to do a deep dive into perceptual awareness that takes us beyond the surface of Qigong practices. Heightened perception enables us to monitor ourselves internally to determine how well our physical body is functioning. Consider Qigong as sensitivity training. Through this training, we begin to focus and sense how energetic our organ systems are at any given time. As our consciousness deepens, we become aware of the field of energy each organ projects as part of an energetic bio-field that surrounds our whole body. The body’s bio-field is the sum total of the energy from all the organs.

Emotional Responses

Having studied brain waveforms since 1992, I was excited when the new field of Neuroscience emerged, which focuses on brain research and has become a program at universities and medical facilities. Recent studies are exploring the effect our emotions have on the heart and brain interaction, and the impact this relationship has on overall well-being. Currently, a new field of study is evolving referred to as Neurocardiology, which focuses on the interplay between the brain, the nervous system and the heart.

An interactive communication system exists between the heart-to-the-brain, and the brain-back-to-the-heart, and also to vital organs in the body. The type of messaging in these communications influences how we think, how we feel, and how we function. The heart sends positive and negative messaging to the brain from emotional responses to life circumstances. The messaging passes through the Sympathetic or Parasympathetic branches of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). Negative emotions reach the brain through the Sympathetic branch of the ANS.

As a key part of the Parasympathetic branch, the vagus nerve assists in sending positive messaging to the brain. The brain interprets the messaging and returns positive messaging back to the heart and to the internal organs where the messaging influences the function of these vital organs. When unwanted, negative thoughts cease, clear thinking occurs, awakening the mind to messaging that guides us through our everyday lives. This is the positive messaging that enables us to create the reality we want tolive in.

Transformative Process

Using interoceptive inner vision with diaphragmatic breath work takes you into the heart’s intuitive space. Understanding ourselves as energetic, inter-dimensional beings existing in an energetic field between the earth and universe, helps us to benefit from both the earth and the universe. Knowing that we are interconnected in this universal energetic field brings us back into alignment and coherence, which enables us to return to peace and calmness. Qigong helps us develop the capability to switch into this awareness automatically when we are thrown off balance.

Practicing Qigong trains us to transform negative feelings of stress, anxiety, fear and grief into positive forces that bring strength to the body and rejuvenate the overall energetic life force. Rejuvenating the strength of the life force stimulates innate human capabilities, which activates self-healing in the body and facilitates self-regulation of our personal wellbeing.