A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Josie at The Art Of Living Retreat Centre, Boone, North Carolina, USA with a suggestion that I might like to share some of their articles to do with Qigong and health. As most of you already know, I love sharing knowledge so how could I resist? Here’s the first article from them, written by Dr Roger Janke about Qigong for the heart and mind……
At the Nine Clouds Mountain Qigong Sanatorium near the Six Harmonies Pagoda in Hangzhou, Zhu Hui, a medical doctor and master teacher of Qigong from Tian Tai Mountain, told this Three Treasures story one morning during a tea break. Master Zhu had been practicing Chinese medicine for nearly 50 years, and his teaching was always a rich mix of medical, Daoist and Buddhist influences.
The Road To Unity
A young monk felt he was prepared to deepen his cultivation practice and his master gave the assignment to cultivate inner quiet and discover the secret of the source of life and its application to the preservation of health and vitality. He gave the suggestion to focus on the Earth Elixir Field (Di Dan Tian). After some months of practice, the young monk reported to the master that he felt sure that the most practical answer regarding the secret was nourishment, rest and the conservation of Qi and inner resources. The master encouraged the young monk, “You have found the secret to preserve the Jing and sustain the body, but you have not found the source of life.” The master teacher asked the young monk if he was still interested in pursuing the deeper secret. The monk nodded and the elder gave him the suggestion to focus on the Heart-Mind Elixir Field (Xin Dan Tian).
This time it was considerably longer before the monk visited the elder. When he returned, now older, he responded that the secret of the source of life and its preservation were associated with accepting what naturally arises and bringing love and compassion into the world. The master agreed and encouraged the monk to continue his good work of compassionate service. The monk said to the master, “I know that I have penetrated to the secret of highly refined interactions of the Qi and the opening of the Heart-Mind. It has inspired me to be of service to my fellow humans. It is clear that this sustains life, my own and others. But I have not determined the secret of the source of life.” The master suggested, “Focus on the Celestial Elixir Field (Ling Dan Tian), the entry place of Heaven in the living human being.”
Some years passed. When the younger monk returned he was older. The elder monk said, “Tell me in one word”. The younger monk said, “Unity”. They both smiled quietly, knowing their was nothing more to say. They parted, both knowing that even though they would not meet again, they were always together at the Source.
The Power Of Qi
When people turn to Qi cultivation, like the young monk, the focus is usually on health and the preservation of the body. When people discover the magnitude of the power of the Qi (after all it is the energy that runs the entire universe), body health and longevity frequently become secondary benefits of attaining peace of mind and heart.
In the tradition of Qigong, it is believed that once you taste or experience one of the treasures that you are destined to pursue the cultivation of that treasure. As you begin to deeply understand and experience your Body Essence (Jing), your Heart-Mind (Xin) or your Spirit (Shen), you will likely be inspired to cultivate them because the promise is so great. When we cultivate Body Essence it leads to vitality and physical healing. When we purposefully access the Heart-Mind and cultivate the treasure of Heart-Mind Elixir it nourishes peace of mind and emotional healing. It is a rare person who does not become attracted to having peace of mind once they have begun to experience it.
What If You Were Already Whole?
The Spirit does not require healing; Shen is inherently and supremely well. Shen resides with in the Heart-Mind longing to be revealed, expressed, and radiated. When the Heart-Mind is cleared of its typical restraints including fear, judgement and all sorts of trauma, Shen expresses as radiance. The cultivation of the treasure of Spirit can trigger the release of miracles.
The Heart-Mind is the secret gate through which thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitudes are cleansed and purified. The sincere deepening of Qi cultivation practice requires that intention and will become major focus areas in practice and in life. In ancient traditions, retiring to a cave in the mountains or going to the desert, to disassociate from the material world were primary ways to pass through this secret gate. That is why it is often called the “Mysterious Pass”. It was also called the “dark feminine” in many translations because the Heart-Mind gate operates more on surrender communication and collaboration than on conquest or control. The legendary Bodhidarmha, who many revere for having brought Buddhism to China and who was legendary founder of the Shaolin Temple, faced the wall of a cave in deep meditation for nine years. The intensity of his Heart-Mind purification burned his image into the cave wall.
Clearing The Heart-Mind
In modern times, however, most people find it difficult to clear the Heart-Mind, even with years of meditation practice. The intensity of the busy and confused world constantly challenges and activates the nervous system, the heart and the mind. If distraction, busy-ness, constant list making or worry and judgment (of self and others) challenge your Qi cultivation, consider integrating holistic mind/body medicine and group support or counseling along with Qigong and Tai Chi, as complementary tools for helping to clear the Heart-Mind.
In other words the fire of intent that is required to change Heart-Mind integrity (behavior) is so dynamic that it radiates a profound heat. This suggests that changing the habits of the personality (Heart-Mind) will require rigor and discipline – Heart-Mind fire.
Purifying The Heart-Mind Qi
Intentful mind leads the Qi. You can combine Qigong practice with meditation, purposeful declaration, and visualization into powerful imagery and focus that can be used in either stillness or movement. In the relaxed state, mind (intent) with directed visualization or inner affirmation combined with the body movement and purposeful breath practice purify the Heart-Mind Qi.
When you make the choice to “let go” of a grudge or forgive someone who has been unfair, you are removing a factor that may have been depleting or stagnating your Qi — inner resources. The grudge or withheld forgiveness is not hurting the begrudged or the unforgiven one. Instead, the damage is done to the one who holds the grudge or withholds forgiveness. Holding these kinds of feelings constrains the Heart-Mind, exhausts the Qi and overshadows the incredible but buried splendor of the radiant Shen spirit.
Click here for the full article on The Art Of Living Retreat Center’s website from Dr Roger Janke.
Happy New Year! This is traditionally the time of year when everyone wants to get fit and healthy. We want to get rid of the indulgences and excesses of the holiday period. This is what I’ll be showing you in this post. I have a special treat which is how to use Qigong for cleansing.
This exercise is in the paid programme of Space To Relax online video lessons. It’s very quick and easy to perform and will take you around 2 minutes once you become familiar with the sequence of movements. Watch the video and follow along. You need to be in a standing position. Note how you feel before and after the exercise. I think you’ll agree that this is a great way to use Qigong for cleansing your body and mind.
Janice Tucker is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong, and the founder of the Space To Relax online programme of Qigong video lessons.
Please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button so you don’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to benefit your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
Method For Discharging Waste Qi With External Movement
1. Rub hands together until they feel hot.
2. Touch hands with palms together.
3. Think of fingertips and energy in palms.
4. Rub face – should feel temperature in hands and tingling/electricity. Massage face up and down 9x, not only on surface but into deep layers. Do it well and it will have cosmetic effects as it has same frequency as your body – you can’t buy this!
5. Comb forehead and then flatten hands around the back of neck.
6. Rub chest and abdomen up and down to adjust Qi in 3 upper, middle and lower areas of body. 9x
7. Rub chest horizontally. If upset with stuffy chest breathe out after this to discharge all emotion. 9x.
8. Rub abdomen horizontally 9x.
9. Rub kidneys with back of hands in circular movement. Start with large circle decreasing to small and then small circle increasing to large. Then press very hard and deep – release once uncomfortable. 9x in and 9x out.
10. Relax shoulders and shake off arms 9x.
11. Relax waist and hip joint. Bend knees. Men move to left first and women to right. Move waist and spine. The spine is a very important pathway in body. Turning neck here also helps to turn the whole spine to make it move and open up. 9x (once left and right = 1x). Turn as far as is comfortable but to cause a bit of stretching. As you turn look at back of heel.
12. Relax knees. Bend knees, at the same time bend elbows, lifting hands towards shoulders in a relaxed way. As you do this exhale. Repeat for 9x.
13. Relax ankles. Men circle left first and women right. 9x each ankle.
What Do I Do Next?
Learn the sequence of movements and practice this daily because this is the best way in which to maximise Qigong for cleansing the body, especially at the end of the day or anytime you feel tired.
Similarly, there is another way to use Qigong for cleansing (especially after alcohol consumption) in one of my previous blogs so you might want to take a look at that too. It’s called “Combatting Excess With the Ba Duan Jin“.
If you loved this exercise and want to take your Qigong practice to a whole other level of experience then head over to the website and take a look at the information on becoming a Space To Relax member.
Alternatively, if you are undecided about joining Space To Relax you can sign up on the homepage to receive three free video lessons which will be delivered to you by e-mail over the course of a few days. Also for a free audio meditation “Calm Your Busy Mind In 8 Minutes” scroll to the bottom of the Space To Relax homepage to sign up for that.
Also, please don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button so you don’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips and furthermore give this video a “Like” if you learned much more about utilising Qigong for cleansing.
In addition, you can head over to my free group on Facebook, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular postings of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Finally, please leave a comment in the comments box next to this video if you now have a clearer direction in which to go to use Qigong for cleansing and detoxification! I’d love to hear your tips as to what you do to feel better after overindulging in food and drink. If we all share our ideas then we can all help each other to regain the balance that’s needed in order to feel healthy and supercharged with energy! 🙂
An explanation of how you can transform health with Qigong and what it means to truly fulfil your health potential. This is something worthy of consideration as many of us do not consider what is discussed in this video and how it can have such a profound impact on our health.
The essence of Qigong is all about fulfilling your health potential.
My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong. I’m also the founder of the online programme of Qigong video lessons called Space To Relax.
What do I mean when I talk about fulfilling your health potential?
It simply means being as healthy as you possibly can be.
There are a number of different ways in which you can do this:
1. Qigong Exercises. You can transform health with Qigong because it works by promoting the smooth flow of Qi (energy) around your body, getting rid of any sick or waste Qi to allow your body to be as clean, clear and energised as possible.
2. Eating healthy food.
3. Taking regular exercise.
4. Adjusting our lifestyle to minimise stress
On a more spiritual level you can also fulfil your health potential by examining your life’s purpose.
What is your purpose? What are you doing with your life at the moment?
I know that I’m fulfilling my life’s purpose and potential because I love to help people by educating them about their health. I love Chinese medicine and Qigong so I get a real kick out of what I do. I feel a real sense of purpose by being able to help people.
How do we find our purpose?
Look inside and identify those things in your life which excite, fascinate and interest you. Find things in your life that elicit those feelings inside you, if you are not doing them already. Do things that you enjoy.
It’s very difficult to fulfil your health potential if you’re doing something you don’t enjoy. Sometimes this may seem idealistic. It may not always be possible to be in a job that you are crazy about and really interested in.
Even if you have a job that you don’t enjoy, look for the things in your life that you do enjoy. Those are the things to focus on. Focus on the things that make you feel positive. When you start to feel good on the inside, you start to become healthier. You will then be able to fulfil your potential health to the best of your ability.
If you’d like to watch more on why I do what I do in terms of Qigong and Chinese Medicine, and also learn more about how to transform health with Qigong then check out the “About” page on my website. There you will find a video, not just talking about me, but also talking about how you can use Qigong methods to fulfil your health potential. This will help you think more about your life purpose by looking inside yourself.
Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel to have access to my video tips and give this video a “Like” if the content of this video is something that resonates with you! 🙂
What fulfils you? What do you enjoy that gives you a sense of purpose? Share your comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Hi and welcome to the first of a series of regular videos in which I hope to be able to show you how you can relax your mind, improve your health and general wellbeing, also to gain some peaceful sleep and a bit more energy. I’ll be giving you some handy tips according to Chinese Medicine principles and Qigong breathing and relaxation exercises.
My name is Janice Tucker and I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Medical Qigong. I work in the south-west of Ireland teaching people Qigong through workshops. I also treat clients one to one through my Chinese Medicine and acupuncture clinics.
More recently I’ve launched an online programme of Qigong breathing and relaxation exercises. Here people can learn to restore their health, relax their minds and really give everything a boost and a supercharge by learning Qigong healing methods from the comfort of their own home and in their own time.
The reason I love to do this, and I’ve been doing this for the last 15 years, is that I get a real kick out of being able to help people. When people clients and Qigong students say to me, “Thank you so much, I feel so much better, that was just amazing”, I feel so good inside myself so I get lots out of this too. I love helping people to get better, to improve their health and to educate them about how they can use tools for themselves. Then they can take them away once they have left me and be able to work themselves with regard to improving their health.
With the Space to Relax online Qigong programme I guide you every step of the way through a series of video teachings. You can learn Qigong methods step by step, with my guidance from the comfort of your own home.
This is the introduction. If this is something you would be interested in – if you want to relieve anxiety, if you want to relieve the stress and overwhelm of our modern day chaotic lives the check out more at www.spacetorelaxcom. Also hit the “Subscribe” button under the video to sign up to my channel on YouTube.
Look out for the next instalment of juicy Qigong information very soon!
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