2-0

Welcome back! Did I tell you I love comments? Very few people write... Be original :)

 

 

I stumbled on Chi Kung (Qi Gong) purely by accident.

When I was a college student in B&A at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business, I was on the lookout for anything to make a bit of extra change.

Ah, the student life.

One of the opportunities I came accross was a translation job offered by a startup esoteric publishing company. They had acquired publishing rights in French to The Tao and the Tree of Life by Steven Yudelove.

Basically, a book about Chi Kung, and related exercises.

Translating a 300 page book (granted, with plentiful  illustrations) for a few hundred dollars (actually, 4000 francs) wasn’t appealing to many in the rather restricted bilingual circle of students, so I got the job.

That student life money was far from being the only benefit from this job. The knowledge gained in this field, even if only “academic”, or learned in a book, was a benefit I still carry to this day.

 

Three Levels of Training

 

Chi (life force or vital energy) Kung (skill developped through steady practice) is the process of harnessing energy for personal development and healing.

The first level of practice consists in enhancing your physical condition. This is why I consider chi kung to be a good addition to practices mentioned earlier – using the free weight loss plan to understand weight management and apply its principles to get fit, and enrolling in a martial art class (with a slight preference for shotokan karate, although I remain open-minded and would understand if you prefered another :)).

Having taken these steps should get you past the first level of chi kung training quickly, and allow you to experience the second one easily.

The second level of practice consists in regulating the flow of energy through visualization.

This is where things get very interesting. At this stage anyone can experience the benefits (feel them). I will describe a simple exercise that literally feels like a back massage when used on a tense day. Keep in mind that I am a typically western practicionner (read beginner) and yet have been able to reach concrete results through a little practice.

The third level of practice connects mind and soul to energy through trances. This is beyond me, and in all honesty will probably always be. But it doesn’t matter. My goal isn’t to be able to rival with taoist experts or to develop healing powers worthy of a science-fiction character. I am very pleased with the results I have accomplished and would be content to just maintain them.

Anyone can do the same!

 

Core Principles

 

The Existence of Energy in All Things

 

The existence of Chi in all things, each square inch throughout the world and universe is the underlying principle that makes chi kung possible.

The incredible news is that the believing in the existence of a pervading energy is no longer a pure act of faith, or something that can only be sensed intuitively. Quantum physics, a field which started with Einstein’s proposition of the existence of Zero Point Energy , and which has since evolved towards practical nanotechnological applications, have demonstrated the existence of energy in all things and places to be a fact. Zero point energy refers to the lowest possible amount of energy (not being zero, even in a vacuum).

Pertaining to medicine, the implications of energy in cellular determination, growth and function are being considered since the demonstration of the existence of biophotons  in the 1950’s, although applications are yet to have been scientifically recognized.

It has moreover been established that DNA acts as an energy “superconductor”.

This gives credit at least to the existence of energy that was intuitively sensed by chinese medicine practitionners for the past 5000 years. Knowing this allows even the most skeptical to open their minds to the first stages of practice whereas rejection of “such nonsense” would have typically led to not experiencing anything at all.

 

The Possibility of Harnessing Energy Through Visualization.

 

The final necessary step to accept giving the practice of Chi Kung at least the benefit of the doubt is to be able to accept that energy can respond to visualization. This is where the demonstrated existence of biophotons can help. If each of the body’s cells and DNA emit such radiations, then admitting to the possibility that this energy, inherent to our bodies, can respond to thought becomes a smaller leap of faith.

Experiencing your first “back massage” through visualization should do the rest.

 

The 8 Meridians.

 

Meridians  can be described as energy canals. They are energy pathways between two points, through which it can more easily navigate than between two points where there are none.

The first of the two most important, called Du Mai, runs from the perineum, over the head and down to the upper lip. The second, called Ren, runs down the front of the body from the lower lip back to the perineum.

The two associate to become a loop. A healthy body is said to have no obstruction in the circulation of energy through this loop, as all other meridians connect to it at some point or other.

The first goal once the second stage of practice is reached is to visualize, and thus cause, free circulation of energy in this loop.

 

Energy Storage.

 

Just above the perineum, in the lower midsection is where the Tan Tien , or energy storage is located.

The association of the two major meridians with the Tan Tien, as well as being open to the existence of chi, and your power to guide it through visualization are enough to give your first, and most important chi kung exercise a try.

 

Your First Chi Kung exercise.

 

Again, this uses visualization. This makes it a “second level” exercise that requires minimal physical fitness.

The good news is if fitness or weight is a problem you will find increasing resources in the strength section to meet your goals in that field!

 

First, Visualize Energy in the Tan Tien, or Storage Well.

 

We’ve seen that energy is stored in the belly, just above the perineum. You can “activate” it by closing your eyes, regulating your breathing and visualizing something in the likes of a whirlpool in that area.

Continue to control your breathing and feel yourself relaxing as you do this.

 

Then Give Form to Energy that Will Travel Through the Two Major Meridians.

 

Visualize a spot of red light taking form within the whirlpool. See it grow in intensity as it gathers energy that surrounds it.

Now visualize it moving down to the perineum, then up the spine to the top of your head, then down to the upper lip. Visualizing the energy there should make you salivate a little.

Visualize your saliva radiating with the energy and swallow. Visualize the energy travelling back down to the Tan Tien.

Repeat this process no more than three times and pay attention to how you are feeling. Personally, I am especially sensitive to the energy travelling up my spine. This is when I get the sensation I mentioned that is comparable to a back massage when I am tense.

If I don’t feel it much, then I know I am not too tense. But when I am, the feeling of relaxation is amazing!

 

Further Applications of Energy.

 

Chi Kung isn’t the only application derived from the existence of pervading energy and your thoughts’ ability to control it through visualization. Such other applications include “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles. This book (now public domain) describes how the same underlying principles as the ones supporting the practice of Chi Kung allow you to create your own reality and attract wealth and abundance.

Marelisa Fábrega wrote a detailed account on this book that spans over four articles. This links to the fourth one, which in turn links to the first three. This should make it easy for you to access them (darn those blogs and their clueless navigation ).

You will see that even western civilization has intuitively sensed the existence of “Chi”, which from one culture to the next has been referred to using different names and concepts (Ki in Japan, magnetism…).