Qi (Chi) means energy, life and vitality. Gong (Kung) translates as effort, work or developing vitality. ‘Energy work’ or working with energy equates to ‘cultivating life’, this includes all processes in the wheel of life, from sprout to seed.
Qigong (Chi Kung) is the cultivation of life energy based primarily on the Meridian System of Asian medicine. The anatomy and physiology of the ‘energy-body’ includes the Meridian System, as well as other pieces of the energy-body that might be more familiar from other cultural models, such as western Aura Fields known as Wei Chi, or the Indian Chakra System known as Caldrons in Chinese Medicine. Unique to this model are the three treasures or energy elixir fields known as Jing - the physical body or food body, Chi – the mind/soul, meridians and emotions, and Shen - spirit, chakras, fields, and consciousness.
Qigong is any process that affects the energy-body directly. Qigong is a new name for old practices with many different names. Many of these practices are rooted in Taoism but some are even more ancient coming from the cradle of civilization, the Mesopotamia area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system.
The purpose of energy cultivation is to cleanse, circulate, transform, refine, accumulate, and store more vitality in the body. Clearing foreign energy, dissolving obstructions and discharging any energy that doesn’t belong are other powerful pieces of Qigong Healing. People come to the practice for a wide variety of reasons, such as treating or curing illness, prevention of disease, strengthening the constitution, to avoid premature aging, or to prolong life and enhance spiritual development.
Our somatic inquiry in Qigong might begin with working to sense and feel the movement of energy within ourselves and ponder, ‘Who am I in relationship to the Earth below and the Heavens above?’
Qigong Movement
We develop Qi (Chi) through personal practice. These are simple and direct energetic practices, which can be general or specific, with an emphasis on Chi cultivation, developing energy. These movement meditation practices are divided into 2 categories, Internal and External Qigong. Internal practice is meditative with eyes closed, feet stationary, and the body fairly static. External practice has eyes open with feet and other parts moving for a more physically dynamic practice.
Clinical Qigong
Qigong also has a modern clinical practice with primitive roots, often called Qigong Healing and occasionally Medical Qigong. Clinical practice is direct energetic treatment with emphasis on qi emission from practitioner to patient. Qi emission can be made through light contact on the body and utilizes many off the body techniques, working in the client’s chi field. This simple holistic approach assesses the state of health of the whole energy-body and considers lifestyle, constitution, relationships and life’s purpose in treatment. Specific qigong practices can be used for a specific effect. This type of treatment has been deeply researched, studied and is widely practiced in the most prominent hospitals and medical facilities throughout all of China.
“In this age of over specialization, with emphasis on chemistry, bacteriology, and mechanical and surgical research, we have lost sight of the over-all picture of man as a living being with lines of force working in fields of finer energies. These lines of force constitute his real being, and operate in and through the body in a continual exchange of new energy, replacing depleted energy fields and used materials as well as worn out tissues.
Research in atomic energy and the corresponding viewpoint on matter prompts a re-orientation of the healing arts, in conformity with these modern discoveries. In this WIRELESS ENERGY FIELD, ancient and modern science can meet. The present can be enriched by the experiences and understanding of the past, even as civilizations are built on previous civilizations.”
~Dr. Randolph Stone, DC, DO