Qigong and My Three Favorite Sayings
In my Qigong classes, I often invoke three favorite sayings that I have found useful.1. Awareness is power.
I invariably start a Qigong session by loosening up, bringing my attention to my body, and relaxing. Many of us go around all day long in a state of tension. We don't even notice that our shoulders are tight, or a muscle is tense from sitting or standing in an unbalanced way. But awareness is power -- as we do our warm up movements, we notice the tension, and then we can do something about it. Keeping our bodies more relaxed allows energy flow, and avoids further complications from tension.I used to get my fair share of head colds, but I don't anymore -- my energy work helps keep me healthy. In addition, I am so alert to and aware of any change that would signal the beginnings of a head cold -- soreness in the throat, or an odd ache in the ear or eye -- that I take care of myself before a head cold can set in -- I use some energy techniques, I get enough sleep, I eat well (you can e-mail me to ask for my chicken stock recipe), perhaps I take some echinacea or Vitamin C (those remedies work for me, you need to learn what works for you.)Developing your awareness is a great feature of Qigong that leads to many benefits. 2. Intention is everything.
Healers and motivational speakers talk about this all the time: our thoughts, feelings and intentions matter. A big part of my personal practice is checking in on my own thoughts and feelings: releasing negativity, setting goals and intentions. I find my life moves forward more smoothly when I do this practice.There are two Qigong movements that I teach -- one, called The Waterfall, is for lowering blood pressure, and the other, called The Fountain, can raise blood pressure. My first teacher told the story of how one of her students determined to lower her blood pressure using Qigong. This woman returned to class weeks later and triumphantly announced that she had practiced regularly, and her doctor had reduced the amount of medication she was taking. Then this student demonstrated the exercise she had practiced, and it turned out she had been doing The Fountain, which is supposed to raise blood pressure! Since "Intention is everything", her intention to lower her blood pressure was manifested. Indeed, in teaching Qigong and other healing methods, I emphasize to students that particular physical movements and actions and rituals are not as important as clear intentions and directed thoughts.The caution behind this is that so often our inner thoughts are muddled by old, negative beliefs (such as "I'm not good at this.") This is why a regular practice of developing awareness about our thoughts and feelings is so vital. Sometimes we have to work at clearing ourselves of unconscious beliefs that hold us back.3. You know the laws of your own body.
This is such an empowering saying! I do believe that all of us are powerful and knowing, but we haven't been trained to believe this. Here is how I came to learn this saying. I was taking a class from a Chinese doctor, who was visiting from Beijing. Everyone in the class was knowledgeable about Chinese medicine, and we asked questions about what was happening as we practiced various Qigong movements. ("Does this work on the heart meridian?", e.g.) Our teacher would laugh, and say "I've been a Doctor of Chinese Medicine for 30 years, but you know the laws of your own body." With these words he empowered us to listen, and to become more aware of energy flow within ourselves.Indeed, the energy - the Qi - is intelligent, and through Qigong practice, the Qi will flow better and become unblocked. But each of us may have energy blocked or stagnant in different places. So in a class, the same exercise may trigger different kinds of healing or release for each student. For me, one of the many benefits of Qigong is that we each learn the laws of our own body. We develop our intuitive ability to understand what our body is telling us, and then we can make better choices on how to regain or maintain our well-being.* * *
Take some time to ponder these favorite sayings of mine, and see how you can make use of them to bring yourself back into balance. Perhaps a Qigong class or a private consultation would be of value.Facilitating healing and wellness in central N.J.
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