If you’re a beginner in Qigong, you should understand the background and guiding principles of this wonderful practice.
So before I invite you to a retreat that is a celebration of Qigong for beginners, here’s some fascinating theoretical information on the subject.
What does the name Qigong mean?
The term Qigong consists of two words: Qi, which means energy in Chinese, referring to the mysterious energy that creates life on Earth. This energy is influenced by internal processes of our body, mind, and spirit as human beings, as well as by the energies around us.
The meaning of the word Gong is creation or skill.
The combination of these two words means the skill of controlling life energy, and they indicate the practice and effort required to move life energy in our body and create balance and synchronization of body and mind.
In fact, the meaning of this energy work is performing exercises to increase the flow of Qi in our body.
The electrical energy of the universe
Did you know that we live inside a giant battery?
In our universe, the atmosphere has a positive charge and the earth has a negative charge.
Humans and all forms of life are nourished and operated by the electrical energy of the universe that mysteriously and wonderfully creates life on Earth.
So what does this have to do with Qigong?
Chinese sages knew thousands of years ago, long before electricity was discovered just over two hundred years ago, that life energy is electrical and synchronized with the complex interactions between Earth and celestial bodies: the sun, moon, and stars.
As the Earth revolves around the sun, the elliptical orbit of the sun’s rotation lasts 365 days, or a year, during which the changing distance between Earth and the sun creates the seasons.
The planets also affect the electrical energy of Earth. For example, Jupiter approaches and moves away from it according to the orbit in which it circles the sun and creates changes in its electrical energy.
How is this related to us, humans?
Energy channels – Meridians
All life in the universe was created and exists thanks to wonderful electrical energy. The human body also operates through this invisible energy. The heart is operated by electrical pulses that the body produces. In case of failure to produce these pulses, there is sometimes a need for an artificial pacemaker that produces electrical signals and operates the heart. The nervous system also works through electrical signals.
According to Chinese tradition, the electrical energy in our body flows through 6 main channels along the body called meridians. Each meridian has a male part and a female part, so in total there are 12 main meridians connected to the various organs of the body, supplying them with energy and removing excess energy from them.
Good energy flow depends on energies created in the body and mind. For example, even sadness or fear, which are seemingly intangible energies belonging to the spirit and soul, are translated in the body into a tangible state of matter. In terms of, the end of the deed is in the first thought, meaning our thoughts and feelings produce our actions. The intangible creates tangible (for example, fear that creates contraction and blockage in the shoulders) and in various situations, such as anger, when the energy is not channeled in a flowing manner in the body by releasing the anger, an energy blockage may be created in one or more meridians.
If the energy continues to be blocked and does not find a path in which it can flow, the energy blockage may create disturbances in the energy flow in the body after a period, disrupt the flow in other energy channels and even cause disease.
Complementary opposites, Yin and Yang, in Qigong
The Chinese tradition perceives the universe as a combination of two forces, the male and female which are opposite and yet complement each other. The symbol representing Yin and Yang is the famous circle divided into two organic parts intertwined with each other, whose original colors are red and black.
There are many complementary opposites such as heat – cold, night – day, sun – moon, matter – spirit.
The ultimate complementary opposite is between the two elements, heaven and earth. The heavens have Yang energy which is bright and full of power and vitality, Yang also represents non-material energy and Yang energy is originally represented in the symbol by the color red.
The earth has Yin energy which is dark, quiet and dense, the earth represents matter and is represented in the symbol by black. Heaven and earth are complementary opposites where one cannot exist without the other and each defines and emphasizes the element opposite to it. In the Yin and Yang symbol, Yin defines the boundaries of Yang and actually defines its shape and vice versa.
In Qigong practice too, the complementary opposites coexist. Inhalation is always accompanied by exhalation, every movement of stretching the body and straightening up which is usually performed while inhaling inward and bringing in energy, will be accompanied by a movement of gathering and exhaling outward that removes excess energy. The combination of the two creates an easy energy flow and sheds energy blockages from us, thus creating a balanced cyclical circle of activity that is almost effortless, enjoyable on one hand and meditative and calming on the other.
