The Roots of External Qi Gong - XingQiShu
The Roots of Qi Gong & XingQiShu?
It is generally accepted that our sub-consciousness holds the key to resolving issues. To find in our sub-conscious the blockages that create problems in our lives and transform them into a means of growth and development is the holy grail of both therapist and practitioner.
Germanic New Medicine has come a long way in helping us to understand what ancient shamanic and other healing traditions have known since before recorded history: your thoughts and feelings affect your physical body to the extent that many problems within the body can be healed when a trauma is released, or when a psychological resolution is made…
What if you could train yourself to heal these sub-conscious mental and physical blockages? One of my main Shifus (“Master” or teacher) has been studying and practicing a methodology for more than twenty-five years doing exactly this…
I have known Shifu Dr YK Yeung PhD (AKA Shi De Lon – Lay Warrior Shaolin Monk and Professor of Human Energy Research) since 1997 when ShiFu was running the packed Shaolin Temple UK. The great Buddha (about 15ft high) was blessed by the Shaolin Temple Abbot in 2000. The martial arts school was in Essex Road, Islington and the energy, dedication and enthusiasm for martial arts was shared by both teacher and practitioner.
In the underground halls of the school we practiced a more unusual from of Qi Gong or “Energy Work”. Many believe this form of therapeutic exercise helps us to transcend our conditioned consciousness to help us reach our body and minds own innate healing capability – naturally.
Since the dawn of time man has had consciousness, but at what level did we develop from purely sub-conscious to self-awareness? Were we just sub-conscious beings for hundreds of thousands of years?
There is evidence to suggest that neanderthal man was able to speak (scientific research regarding this can be found here)…
The concept is essentially that in the distant past when we were simply conscious with less of a “conditioned consciousness” we would spontaneously heal ourselves by simply responding to the physical triggers that are not repressed by a conditioned self-conscious being.
In today’s, heavily conditioned society, where most of us simply satisfy our sense and material needs and follow what we are told in the media and those around us. Does our conditioned consciousness prevent us from healing? Does our reliance on synthetic medicine actually heal the body and psychic issue that may have created the problem or simply cure the symptom? Would it be better to initially, depending on the condition, to try a natural healing process* where your body heals itself?
Our sub-conscious is where many the issues may exist, the hang ups that we would heal, the cause of addictions, anger, and other supressed feelings such as traumatic experiences that we could not face at the time they happened.
In this case, how do we train our subconscious to heal? How do we reach our subconscious mind to transcend these issues and re-build a new positive imprint? There are many methods, and as we know all rivers go to the same sea. However, pander to me if you will while I share what ShiFu postulates:
Deep relaxation or hypnotic states where we access our subconscious are like being in a void, a deep dark state where we feel warm and safe – “Wu” in Chinese could be described as this.
Earliest man would dance round the fire and worship the sun – possibly understanding instinctively how it gave us life.
On a deeper level the sun can trigger hormones from our pineal gland (pineal gland is responsible for releasing melatonin, our awake-sleep patterns and the “master gland” that could help trigger the healing from other hormones) …
Was ancient man sun-gazing to trigger healing and hormones release? Chinese Qi Gong called it the “Jade liquid” – is this the healing hormones released from the pineal gland?
WaiDan
Essentially part of what we are talking about is WaiDan – getting healing from the “energy” of the universe; “external healing” and external Qi Gong. This could be breathing techniques – improving vitality by gas exchange and increasing lung capacity, grounding – earthing in a natural environment and being more connected to nature, literally, or getting essential benefits from the sun’s rays.
[Sun-gazing should only be done under the supervision of a qualified Daoist practitioner. Do not do this unless you are trained. It is only to be done in the last few minutes of sunrise or sunset under the supervision of a qualified practitioner].
Once I was sungazing and my tongue started spontaneously waggling. It was like an uncontrollable twitch in my tongue. Apparently, the tongue is associated with the heart in Daoist medicine – my heart was healing through its opening, the tongue.
[This is often the case with healing – our body tries to heal through the various openings; ears – kidneys, eyes - liver, nose - (and sinus) lung, tongue - heart, the mouth - stomach and spleen. (there is also complex cross over in these areas, for example gums can be involved with circulation, teeth to do with structure and the jaw joint can help the spleen. Depending on the other indications, you could say on occasions, that if you suffer from grinding your teeth, or clenching your teeth this could be associated with worry which, in Chinese medicine, is associated with the spleen].
Our pineal glands respond to light, part of what we know about the pineal gland is that it helps run our body clocks – when to release melatonin to start the sleeping process. But what if staring at a fire also releases hormones? The feel-good factor of looking into a fire that feels SO natural and nourishing…
ShiFu’s theory is that if we can connect and cultivate the Earth’s and Heavens natural forces – air; (oxygen gas exchange), the sun – triggering pineal gland and other healing capabilities (if done correctly), the earth, crystals, grounding by walking bare feet on the earth, mineral mud, and water; (how healing is naturally mineralised water?) – we can trigger our own innate body intelligence to heal itself naturally.
Basic natural forces give us SO much if only we learn connect and feel them!
Also, if the body is relaxed and open and in a meditative “void” state where the subconscious starts to merge more with normal consciousness, and we charge ourselves up through these natural healing phenomena (or by the “zapping” or facilitation of your Daoist Teacher) – the body starts to move!
It is called spontaneous dance or the five-animal frolic.
This type of Qi Gong, The Five Animals Spontaneous Dance, has been developed over thousands of years. The first recorded existence of this practice is attributed to Hua Tuo a famous Daoist medicine practitioner from nearly 2,000 years ago.
The theory behind the practice is that when you start to move – experienced practitioners can do this themselves without any external stimuli – the Qi or Chi (Prana or life force) circulates to the area that most needs the healing. If you are relaxed enough the body will start to move - spontaneously. Daoist practitioners found over several millennia that specific movements are associated with specific organs and can be described or associated with different animals – hence “The Five Animal Frolics” name. According to many practitioners, the tendency for one organ to start the movement first is the organ that requires healing first. This does not mean to say that that is the organ that requires the most healing long term. The organs heal in complex manner in cycles, often associated with the seasons and many other factors pertinent to each individuals’ time and space.
Many who experience this healing modality find they experience a big emotional release, visualisations while they are “in spontaneous”, i.e.: moving spontaneously. The practitioners might shout, scream, laugh, cry, sigh, or simply go noticeably quiet and nearly go to sleep. These are all associated with specific healing processes.
On a more beginner level, one can get the benefit from natural healing Qi. Whether it is the feeling of being in nature, deep breathing around trees where the air quality is good or sunbathing for long enough to get the benefit without causing damage, one can enjoy the environment with more awareness. You can develop more sensitivity to cultivating the healing forces of nature by practicing Qi Gong in the woods, or “Forest Gong” as I like to call it.
Even hugging a tree has been shown, incredibly, to release oxytocin! *2
I teach beginners Qi Gong and Forest Gong - connecting with nature, deep breathing to increase vitality and warmup exercises to help relax the body and mind.
Further information about current outdoor one-on-one personal training sessions click here.
References:
*1: Always consult with a qualified medical practitioner before undertaking any exercise or practice, especially is you have a pre-existing medical condition. This article is purely entertainment purposes and is not meant to give any health advise.
*2: Tree Hugging Better Than Hugging No one!