Introduction to the concepts of QiGong

Hello and welcome to Qigong for Health, Vitality and Longevity, the 18 minute routine. My name is Geoffrey Chand. I'm a registered acupuncturist and I've been in practice since 2000. I was introduced to Qigong over 20 years ago and I had the great fortune to practice with some really high level teachers in Taiwan. Qigong is literally translated as being energy or breath work. The character on the left means qi, which is your energy, and the character on the right means gong, which is work. Qigong can be stretching, deep breathing, dynamic exercises, which is where you're moving the entire time, static exercises, which is when you just hold a position, and visualization, meditation, affirmations, which is where you're repeating a simple phrase over and over, and focus. Qigong can be used to strengthen and relax the body, increase flexibility, reduce pain, focus and calm the mind, reduce stress, gain clarity and perspective, and create the conditions for spiritual development. There's a picture of muddy water there because there's this image within traditional Chinese culture of having a glass of muddy water. And if you leave that glass alone long enough, all the mud will eventually settle to the bottom, and the water will be clear. And this is what Qigong will do with the mind. If you leave it alone long enough, eventually all the noise and the dirt and the debris settles to the bottom of the glass, and the mind and the water becomes clear. So why should we practice Qigong? Well first, and probably most importantly, is it will keep you healthy. And I think we're facing a global healthcare crisis. There are a lot of baby boomers that are heading towards the age where they're going to need a lot of medical attention. A lot of these illnesses and issues that they're coming up with could have been prevented had they had a very healthy lifestyle. And so they're not aging very well. And I don't know if the system that we have in place right now is going to be able to adequately support this aging population. So having a practice like Qigong will encourage a very, very healthy lifestyle, and thus reducing the need to depend on a medical system. Qigong can also really, really help others by helping yourself. The concept is that if you are feeling good, and if you're comfortable in your body, and if your mind is clear, your emotions are calm, then you can truly be there to help other people. And sometimes just your presence alone, being very healthy and full of vitality, will help other people. Qigong can create the conditions for peace, happiness, and fulfillment. And it can help us feel connected to ourselves and also the people around us. Qigong was brought to China by a monk named Bodhidharma in the 5th century. When he arrived at a Chinese temple, he saw that the monks were very weak and they were sick and they could not focus on their meditation practices. So he taught them these Qigong exercises, and within a short time they became strong and healthy and they could concentrate on their meditation. These monks developed into the Shaolin monks who eventually created Kung Fu. A lot of their movements were based on the observation of plants and animals and nature. Qigong has traditionally been guarded with great secrecy, but I think now as information has been moving, a lot of these secrets have been exposed to the world. And the greatest secret is, you just need to practice. There are several types of Qigong. There's hard, soft, medical, Buddhist or Taoist, and external healing. Hard Qigong is basically to prepare the body for martial arts. So this will make the body more resistant to attack or to injury. Soft Qigong is basically for healing and that's mostly what we're going to be focusing on. Then there's medical Qigong, which is a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Qigong practices. Buddhist and Taoist Qigong is Qigong with a focus on the spiritual development with the eventual goal of enlightenment. And then there's external healing. External healing is when you can build up enough Qi within your own body that you can share that with others and help heal. There has been some interesting research show up in the last few years with Qigong and its effect on the body. Qigong has been shown to improve type 2 diabetes and reduce the reliance on insulin. It's also been shown to be very effective at helping with osteoarthritis pain, especially in the knees. It can help to bring down the high blood pressure or raise blood pressure if it's too low. Qigong can also help balance hormones for both men and women. And yes, men do have hormone problems. It can also help prevent stroke and cardiovascular disease. And one of the best explanations of Qigong is that it reduces cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that's released in the body when there's danger or the perception of danger. When you have elevated cortisol in the body for a long period of time, it can lead to a lot of different health issues. Qigong can also help with the side effects of cancer treatment. Now, I'm not at all suggesting that it can heal cancer, but it can definitely support the body and help a person feel energized and keep their appetite up and keep their weight up and keep the immune system strong during a process like chemotherapy or radiation. The best translation for Qi is just simply energy. It can be spelled Q-I-C-H-I, or in Japan they spell it K-I as in Ki, or in India they refer to it as Prana. The belief is that anything that is alive has Qi inside it and around it. And without Qi, there is no life. So in the body there's Qi that's inside the body and also around it. There are four types of Qi. Air Qi, Fu Qi, Defensive Qi, and Jing. Air Qi is the energy that's in the air that we're breathing. So if we're around nature and trees and the ocean, then we're going to have more Qi than if we're in a building that has recycled air. Fu Qi comes from the food that we eat. So more nutritious, living foods will have more Qi. Defensive Qi is this layer of energy that's around the body that acts almost like our immune system and protecting us from pathogens and weather and sounds even. And Jing Qi is your root energy. And this is kind of like the savings account of the body where if you have excessive Qi, then you're going to store it as your Jing. And this is the area that we really want to try to preserve and not really spend this energy. So where is Qi? Qi is in the meridians, in the lungs, in the spleen, and in the kidneys. So Air Qi is in the lungs, Fu Qi is in the spleen, and Jing Qi is in the kidneys. Qi is also around the body and that's where your Defensive Qi is. Qi Gong is based on the concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, was a system that was unified by the Yellow Emperor and it's based on the careful observation of nature and a lot of experience observing patients and how they respond in their environment. It truly is holistic medicine and that means that it's incorporating the body, the mind, and the spirit, and how a person interacts with their environment. TCM also introduced the concept of Qi and meridians, Yin-Yang Theory, and the Five Elements. And all of these aspects are incorporated into traditional Qi Gong practice. Yin-Yang Theory is based on the dynamic balance in nature. So we have Yang Energy and Yin Energy. The idea is that we want to have it balanced in the body in a state of dynamic balance, so meaning that it's changing all the time. It's like balancing a ball on your hand. You don't just put it on your hand and keep it there, you need to keep adjusting as time goes on. Yang Energy is very hot, warm, moving, active, and bright, like the daytime, like the sun. Yin Energy is very calm, cool, quiet, damp, like the night time and the moon. There are many ideas and concepts within Yin-Yang Theory that's very very interesting, but just keep in mind that you want to keep a dynamic balance between your Yang Energy and Yin Energy. Five Element Theory is a very fascinating concept. It's the idea that there are five elements in nature, earth, metal, water, wood, and fire, and they all interact with each other. This concept can get very complicated, but it's very fascinating when you really get into it. It unifies the Meridian Theory and Yin-Yang Theory together. Qi Gong practice incorporates the Aura and the Chakras. The Aura, of course, is the energy that's around the body, and then the Chakras are the energy centers that are in the body. There are several different Chakras in the body, or energy centers. You don't need to know them all. The most important one is this first one here called Dan Tian. Dan Tian means lower heaven, and it's three inches below the navel in the center of the body. When you're doing Qi Gong practice, at first, you may be just learning how to do the movements, but over time, you will start to feel a warmth and a presence in that Dan Tian space. It may feel a little bit warm, or heavy, or glowing. The idea is that you should be breathing into the Dan Tian, making it stronger, and bigger, and more warm. Once that Dan Tian spot is strong, then you can work on the next Chakra, which is the Heart Center. That's called Shang Tian, which means middle heaven, and it's in the middle of the chest above the solar plexus. This is where, when you feel sympathy, or love, or a feeling of kindness, or connection, this Heart Center is going to be open. The last Chakra is Bai Hui, or the Crown Chakra, and that's on the top of the head, known as the Upper Heaven. The belief is that this is where all the yang energy that comes from the sky, or from the sun, comes into the body through the Bai Hui. Meridians are channels of Qi and blood that flow to and from internal organs. You have 12 regular meridians in the body, 8 extra meridians in the body, and some are yin and some are yang. Meridians go to and from the hands and the feet, and the head and the body. You don't need to know all the different meridians, but what's important to know is that in the first stage of Qi Gong, you're trying to get all these meridians to flow smoothly, all the Qi to flow smoothly within them. The two most important meridians are the Du and the Ren meridian. The Ren meridian is in the front, center of the body, and the Du meridian is in the center of the back of the body. These are the most essential meridians for Qi Gong practice. Now there are a few acupuncture points that are also important. I will just briefly mention these here, you don't have to focus on them. The first one is called Yang Chuan, which is kidney number one that's on the bottom of the foot. Now if you activate this point, you'll stay connected and grounded to the earth while you're practicing Qi Gong. The second one is called Lao Gong, or pericardium number nine, and it's in the center of the palm. The belief is that this is where the energy comes into the body, and when you get to the point where you can externally heal people, then this is where the energy will be leaving. Ming Men is on Du number four, the Du meridian number four, and it's directly opposite to Dan Tian, which is exactly the same point as the Dan Tian chakra, but Ming Men is on the back, Dan Tian is on the front. So here are the foundations and fundamentals of regular Qi Gong practice. The first is this idea of the umbrella holder. You know when you go into a store and it's raining outside and you have a really wet umbrella? Most stores will have a little holder where you can put your umbrella there when it's all wet, and then you can go and do your shopping, and when you leave, you can pick up your umbrella and take it out with you. Now the idea with Qi Gong is that when you go into a practice, you want to leave your wet umbrella at the door and then do your Qi Gong practice, and when you're finished, if you want to, you can pick it up again, but you can also just leave it there. So when you enter into a Qi Gong practice, try to clear your mind, leave all your worries at the door, leave all your troubles, your problems are going to be there later on if you really need them, but invite yourself into a space that you feel like you can be calm and relaxed and energized. Now technically, it's best to have no watches, cell phones, or jewelry on, particularly watches and cell phones, but jewelry generally is okay, but very traditional practices will suggest to take off all jewelry. Now when you're standing, you always want to make sure that your feet are flat on the ground. You always want to make sure your back is flat, that's your lower back is flat. And when you're standing, your chin should be tucked in, so you should feel like you're being suspended by a little string from the top of your head. All of your joints should be what's called soft, and they shouldn't be locked. You want to make sure you're breathing naturally and deeply, don't force your breath and don't force it to be too slow, just breathe naturally. Your tongue should be lightly touching the roof of your mouth. And when you're moving, try to make all your movements very full feeling, and have a lot of intention and a lot of awareness and mindfulness during every single movement. And try to keep your mind focused and present, and try to be aware of any chi or any of the energy flowing throughout your body. And try to stay grounded, try to keep your weight down grounded through that point on the bottom of your feet, and try to stay just very present. So these are just some of the basic ideas and concepts for Qigong practice. The main thing to remember is just to simply practice. Try to do it as regularly as you can, ideally every day. Try to do it in the same place, wear the same clothes at the same time of the day, and that way over a period of time, usually around 21 days or so, it'll become a new habit. And just try to focus on just showing up. You don't have to practice for an hour or two hours, you just need to practice even for five minutes at the beginning. And work yourself up to about 18 minutes.