Zheneng Qigong Introduction
BMC introduces the new spring class of Qigong on Thursdays at 10.30 AM (start date to be confirmed). In this 10 minutes video, Dr Shelley Ochs talks about Qi, the practice and how it works.
Video text:
Hi, I'm Shelly Ochs. I'm the translator and one of the coordinators for the Zheneng Qigong classes at the Beijing Mindfulness Center. And I'd like to talk a little bit today about what Qi Gong actually is, and what I myself have gained from the practice and from the understanding that informs the practice, and also comes from the practice. We have this two-way relationship between theory and practice, practice and theory. And that's one of the core ideas of this form.
Qi Gong itself, a lot of people feel is similar on the outside to Tai Chi or other forms of martial arts. And they're curious about what the difference is. Qi Gong, as a term actually came about in the 20th century, the 50s or 60s, perhaps. You can find scattered references before that, but really, Qi Gong is a way of talking about qi practices that are mostly removed from their original religious roots, or roots in other more traditional forms of Qigong.
The founder, Pang He Ming, studied with 19 different masters. That's a lot, although it's traditional to study with different masters throughout your life, because you learn things from different teachers. And also, once you have a certain level, it's more likely that another master will take you.
He studied with many different masters, he also was a Western medical doctor. And through all of this serious exploration, he discovered what he thinks and what now millions of people also agree, are really the core practices and core ideas from all of these different traditions.
All of the Qi Gongs in the 20th century, like ours, are scientific in the sense that they're empirical. They're based on experience. You learn it, you do it, you prove it to yourself. And they don't involve any complex vows, or guru yoga, that sort of thing.
Their practices that are created for modern people who don't want to join a religion, and also don't necessarily want to do all of the things that would be required to be part of a traditional lineage.
Zheneng Qigong, really, if I had to say it in one distinct feature, and this is not just something that I'm expressing in my own words, these are the words of Dr. Pang and the other primary teachers, is based on the theory of Hunyuan Zhengti Lilun, which means that: basically there is one Qi that is the universe and is the human body and is all the movements of life.
Now, this Qi includes substance, energy, and information. Using information more in the sense like they use it in quantum physics. But because the human body, and all of the fields around us are at their core, composed of the same Qi as the universe, that is possible to use human consciousness, your individual human consciousness to gather, manipulate, send Qi, to various localities, and perhaps even know things that don't seem to fulfill our normal ideas of time and space.
Basically, things that are non-local (in the language of physics) or knowing things from past and future that weren't available to you before the practices, all these things can happen. And they're not viewed as mystical abilities, they're not viewed as things we should necessarily attach to actually, but just as natural outcomes of learning how to really harness, learning how to understand and experience and cultivate the primordial Qi of the universe, in our own bodies, and between us as we practice in a field.
There's a set of practices. We move from the external to the internal to the central. So the first practice is, and this is really the unique feature of Zheneng Qi Gong. They use this reality of the unity of Qi to take the external primordial Qi and through specific visualizations and movements to bring it into the body. And the first level is as it comes into the body, it opens all of the fascial tissue, all the connective tissue.
In terms of the body, when we break it down this way, it's really freeing the skin level, what's below the skin, all the connective tissue. And then ultimately, as we go further in the practice, in the internal practices, then we're opening up the acupuncture channels and the internal organs. And then after this stage, we move to what's called the central channel, which is a channel that literally we can only perceive or is only developed in the body as we practice, or cultivate to higher levels.
But it's a channel that many other traditions, particularly in the Himalayas, have talked about. Tantric traditions, whether they're Indian or Tibetan, Buddhist, also talk about it quite extensively and have very extensive practices. So as the channel between, Baihui on the top of your head, and at Huiyin or Mula Bandha, at perineum.
But the goal of all of these practices is, first of all, health, health and longevity, and well being. Because as we learn these practices, and do them daily, and also expand our understanding of them, then we learn to distinguish between what's external, and what's internal. So even though we just talked about how everything is one, usually, our emotional disturbances and our illnesses come from an inability to take in, transform, and positively hold or release information from the outside world.
And so this practice, allows us to do that. And I'd like to say that my present, my greatest reward, and what I've learned, and what I benefited most from, from this practice is really, that I feel more joy in my life. I feel that I am definitely more responsive, less reactive, I have increased sensitivities, in terms of senses, and sensory perceptions, and certain other things. But at the same time, I feel that whenever those things inevitably happen in life, that throw me off, that's for all of us off, that I'm able to come back to centre more quickly. And I just feel a greater acceptance of what is.
At the same time, I feel very much that I can influence the health of my body and my mind, through my practice, I feel a really growing confidence in that. Because I've seen minor ailments and also minor, mental or emotional fixations or things that I was worried about, thoughts that I had a hard time letting go of, I've been able to really get beyond those to go through that gate, as they say, to really overcome those things and move on to other challenges, but also to move on to really having a greater state of health and wellness. And I'm really grateful for that.
So the practice that we offer at the Beijing Mindfulness Center, starts from the beginning. Sometimes it starts from the middle when we have an intermediate class. But these are really practices that are based on core insights. And so no matter how much detail we might add through our readings, and how much detail we learn through our teachers, it's really about continuing over and over to realize the core truths.
And in the beginning, if you don't see them as truths, that's normal. That's okay, we practice and we prove things to ourselves. So in the beginning, you might think of some of the theories as hypotheses, as concepts about the body, and you want to explore that. And that's what we do together as a group. It's a very safe, warm, comfortable, practice. Most of the movements are simple.
Some of them get a little more challenging as we go along. But it's all about creating a Qi field, which is a community in the room when we practice together for healing. So together, we can draw more of this primordial Qi into the group into ourselves into our consciousness and store it there than we can on our own. So please join us for our practice, thank you.
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