What have I seen in Qigong classes? I’ve seen the wrinkled brows of the confused slowly smooth out with an internal experience of comprehension as though their mind’s eyes were seeing a code deciphered. I’ve seen shoulders slip off their invisible sandbags. One elder student had not played the violin for two years then reports one day that he is playing again, shoulder pain suddenly gone. I’ve seen the beginning of incipient self-knowlege, body knowledge grow not from the mechanistic movements of someone distressed and unenthusiastically following his PT’s instructions but accompanied with a sense of self-exploration that goes beyond determination. (more…)
September 4, 2009
Qigong Physicality
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August 27, 2009
What Happened to Chinese Medicine?
When I first began to study Chinese Medicine back in the 1980’s, it was in response to my fascination with Taoism and martial arts. Here was an ancient medicine based on principles of harmony and an understanding of our relationship to nature. It was radical in its premise that nature is self correcting, and that humans can heal naturally by tuning back in to the rhythm of natural cycles. The doctor’s job was to search out the cause of a patient’s disharmony and help them restore balance. We took the pulse; we listened to the voice; we observed movement, bearing, and skin tone; we asked questions about the patient’s life and their illness. Then we recommended changes in diet and lifestyle; we used needles, moxa, and herbs. We restored balance. Patients got better.
Somewhere along the line, things started to change. It’s been a subtle process, and therefore easy to miss. But Taoist medicine, in which skill is dependent on the refinement of the doctor’s sensitivity over a lifetime of practice, is getting gradually replaced by a westernized approach that emphasizes the constant acquisition of new treatment techniques and diagnostic tools.
I suspect this all started from the justifiable need for acupuncturists in this modern age of technological medicine to make a decent living and enjoy a modicum of respect among other health care professionals. Thus the emergence of what is now called “complementary” medicine (complementary to what I wonder?) and the blossoming of doctoral programs in Chinese medicine that teach us western medical skills so we can fit in better with the medical establishment.
All of this leaves me disheartened. These days, instead of instructing our patients in the art of meditation or qigong, reading their fate in the stars, and adjusting their home environment to correct imbalances, we are more likely to send them for lab tests and spend our time taking courses on which procedure codes to stack up on our insurance bills. Perhaps this is all necessary to survive as a healthcare provider in this strange antagonistic world.
But I long for a return to the Taoist roots of Chinese medicine, when a poem might be the prescription, and a life well lived, not a lab test, was the measure of success.
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August 17, 2009
How do You Define It?
Qi is the energy of life in all its forms.
Millions of people practice this ancient art: a way of life, of stress reduction, of finding contentment and of learning about yourself. Yet it’s all based on a word that most people can’t even define. Of course we shouldn’t let that bother us too much. We live our lives reacting to, chasing, pondering and hoping for all sorts of things we can’t define. You know that. Be honest. Can you really define the love you have for your mate or the hopes of a life that matches your aspirations? Defining things is nice and important but too many people have a superstitious—yes superstitious—belief in definitions. If they don’t have one they feel hollow or insecure.
For instance there is no acceptable definition of Qi as of yet. This does not mean it is “unscientific”. It means quite the opposite. The guy who rushes out and creates a definition with all the currently popular ideas and words such as “bioelectric energy” or “somatic auras”, “biological electrical field” and other guesses is indeed performing a sort of a service but only if the guess is a good one. On the other hand real honesty demands that when you don’t absolutely know something you admit it. The finest minds we have in physics admit that super-string theory, though possible, is not necessarily plausible.
Look, you know you are alive, right? The DNA of a dead person is the same as a living one but there’s a vital something missing. Possibly a soul, definitely life. You know that, and you feel it. Just as we cannot define love, humor, beauty, serenity, truth and a thousand other things that make our life worth living so we have a thing called Qi, the essence of our life energy. Looked at rationally it isn’t a thing at all. It is a combination of factors which were identified three thousand years ago by the Chinese sages. Unlike just about every other culture on the planet the Chinese never developed their own origin myth. They borrowed these from other cultures because, in the truest sense, the Chinese never saw a beginning or end to the universe.
But they recognized its energy, its pulsing life. As you practice Qigong, keep this in mind. A definition of the chemical components of your dinner would be interesting but what helps the most in the actual enjoyment of the food is to relax and experience it. Who knows? if you focus your intention you might develop into a gourmet of life.
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