Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
The first of the 4 secrets of qigong is “eyes.” But what does this mean?
The simplest way to put it is that eyes direct the qi. Of course it isn’t only the eyes, there has to be some awareness and attention behind them as well.
We’ve all had this experience in one way or another. Think about times when you’ve been in a public place and turned, for no obvious reason, only to find someone looking at you. You were able to sense their gaze by its effect on your energy.
I once did an informal experiment to see how true this is. At the time I worked in an office space that faced a busy street with a decent amount of pedestrian traffic. My desk faced a window looking out onto the street.
As people walked by, I’d watch them. There was no specific intention on my part aside from noticing if they somehow would respond to my looking at them. During these experiments I was sitting in a dark room with blinds on the window slightly closed. There wasn’t any way someone outside could physically see me.
The curious thing was that at least half the people walking by would turn and look at the window where I was sitting. Some even stopped and tried to look in.
I know, this isn’t a controlled experiment, but it is interesting.
When practicing qigong movements, the way you apply this secret is this way: as you go through the movements, you keep a soft focus on your hands. This soft focus will amplify the flow of energy inherent in the exercise.
Here’s a quick exercise you can do for yourself to prove how this works:
Stand with your feet slightly apart. While standing, bring your hands up in front of your face with your arms extended in front of you, but with your elbows bent and shoulders relaxed. Your palms should be facing you and your fingertips should point towards one another.
Here’s a picture of your hand position (from your viewpoint):
The trick here is to focus your eyes (remember, soft focus) on one hand and then slowly move your focus to the other hand. If you are relaxed enough, you will feel a shift in the sensations from one hand to the other.
I won’t pretend to know exactly what you’ll feel. Some people feel a kind of pressure on the hand they’re focusing on. Others feel a tingling sensation or warmth. It could be almost anything, but there will be a distinct difference between the hand you’re focusing on and the one you’re not focusing on.
Go ahead, try it!
Next post… the second secret.
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
I know that’s an outrageous title, but this is the real deal.
I first learned this secret from my original teacher, Master Lew. In fact, he made it a point of presenting this information whenever he started teaching anyone qigong. He said, “The secret is always taught at the beginning.”
He learned this from his teachers in the Gee Lum Kuan monastery near Guangzhou. They, in turn, passed it along from their teachers. This is old knowledge.
Before I let you in on the secret, I’ll warn you that like most deep knowledge, it sounds almost too simple to carry much power. Please don’t let yourself be deceived by this. This knowledge truly underlies the power contained in any system of qigong, yoga or personal development.
Okay, ready?
The secret is…
Eyes, mind, movement and breath.
Yes, it looks simple on the outside, but I’m not exaggerating when I say it is very, very powerful. So powerful in fact, that I’m going to spend the next few posts elaborating on each of these qualities. I want you to begin to grasp the real importance of what these words convey.
Be sure to tune in over the next few days as we go over these concepts. I think it will be worthwhile for you.
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
If you’ve read the post from yesterday, you know some of the deeper meanings associated with the concept of qigong. Today I’d like to offer the bigger context within which these exercises fit.
Neigong (literally, “inner cultivation”) is a sub-category of what is referred to as the internal arts. The softer martial arts, such as taijiquan, xingyi and baguazhang are included within the general category of internal arts as well.
Within neigong are such disciplines as qigong, shengong and jinggong, each of which have their own specific sets of exercises.
A diagram may make it easier to understand:
From this diagram you can see that qigong is a subset of the larger category, neigong.
So what exactly is neigong anyway?
The characters for the word look like this:
You might recognize the second character from yesterday’s post as ‘gong’, meaning cultivation. The first character means “inner” and in this context means controlling mind and breath for specific purposes.
I originally learned this concept from my first teacher, Master Share K. Lew. He talked about the differences between qigong and neigong (which he spelled chi kung and nui kung) as being this:
Qigong is a category of exercises focused on cultivating personal energy, strengthening the body, improving circulation and increasing balance.
Neigong is a larger category that includes qigong as well as specific exercises for developing skills such as greater awareness, intuition, the ability to access larger energies of heaven and earth, etc.
These days most people don’t know about the distinctions between these ideas, and thus tend to speak of all Oriental internal exercises as “qigong.” Now you know the difference!
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
Qigong is a funny word to Western ears, and many people have a hard time pronouncing it, but within it are some profound concepts.
In the previous way of spelling Chinese words in English, the word was spelled as two words, “Chi Kung.” This is closer to the actual pronunciation as we usually think about saying words. Phonetically, it sounds like “Chee Gong” regardless of how you spell it.
To have a deeper understanding of this idea, lets look at the Chinese characters for the word:
You can immediately see that it’s not one, but two characters. The top character means “qi” and the bottom one, “gong” (not the kind you hit to make a sound). Lets break it down further…
Qi
The character for qi looks somewhat complicated to those who don’t read Chinese, but it’s really simple. Like many such characters, it is made up of symbols (called ‘radicals’) that express the meaning of the word. Breaking it down further, we have:
This radical refers to steam. Keep in mind that this character was used long before steam power was harnessed in the West. It implies the idea of breath (as in steamy breath) as well activity and movement. By extension, it also means energy.
Let’s look at the other part of the character, which is:
This is the radical for rice. Rice, as you likely know, is a core staple in Oriental diets. Because of this it also represents life, fertility and abundance.
So putting this all together, the symbol for qi expresses the idea of an abundance of life energy. The word I like best for this is vitality.
What about the other character?
This character is “gong”, meaning to cultivate. It also refers to the idea of reward given for work done. In an agrarian culture such as ancient China, the meaning seems very direct – when you cultivate the fields well, you are rewarded with an abundant crop.
Putting it all together
You could summarize all of the above by saying that qigong is the practice of cultivating vitality and energy. And, in fact, the exercises do increase a person’s vital energy in addition to improving overall balance and enjoyment of life.
Does the word make more sense now?
I welcome your thoughts and input on any of these posts. If you want to reach me, the best way is by clicking this link to send me an email.
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
Ever since Bruce Lee came on the scene, we in the West have had the opportunity to see a lot of martial arts movies and TV shows.
What does this have to do with qigong?
If you do a web search on the term qigong, you’ll run across tons of websites connecting it with martial arts. And it’s not surprising. After all, the ancient roots of the Oriental martial arts (kung fu, tai ji) and of qigong, reach deeply into the old temple system in China.
The monks living in these temples typically spent a great deal of time meditating and practicing exercises to increase their health and vitality. At the same time, the world they lived in was a dangerous place. They needed skills to insure they would survive when they went out into the world. Qigong helped them achieve an inner balance and martial arts helped insure their survival.
And since we were talking about stress in the last post, can you imagine a more stressful situation than one where you would need to call upon your martial arts skills? I can’t. It was (and still is) extremely useful to have mastery over your energy and inner state of mind in any sort of survival situation. Being able to direct your awareness, breathing, movement and focus under such circumstances gives you the maximum edge to survive.
And isn’t that what stress management is all about?
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
People who know about qigong most commonly understand it as a way to balance energy in the body to improve health and vitality.
Certainly it’s good for that, but there is another worthwhile effect of doing these movements that not everyone talks about, namely its powerful ability to reduce the effects of stress.
There are a number of ways that these exercises help reduce stress. Here is a short list of them:
- The act of gentle, easy movement helps relax your body. Not only do muscles get exercise, but they get stretched as well.
- Every form of qigong involves deep, abdominal breathing. This sort of breathing triggers what is referred to as the ‘relaxation response,’ helping your whole body release tension.
- Most often stress results from spending too much time worrying over a problem or issue. By doing an activity that requires you to place your mind in the immediate moment and focus on other things (movement, breathing, posture, etc.), you get your mind off of your problems. Getting your mind off the things stressing you helps allow your more creative, problem-solving mental processes work on resolving the issue, and they’ll do so much more effectively than you could consciously.
Because stress is such a big factor in modern life, having the ability to manage it easily every day is a huge advantage. There are many qigong exercises that give you this ability in just a few minutes a day.
In future posts I’ll talk about some of the forms of qigong that are particularly good for stress reduction and also share some lesser-known facts about it’s history and evolution.
Stay tuned!
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
How in the world can a set of movements combined with breathing and focus be like a piece of paper?
Here’s how I like to make the comparison. Each time you practice qigong, it’s like you’re adding a single piece of paper to a pile.
Obviously, by itself a single sheet of 20 pound bond weighs almost nothing. It won’t even fall straight down if you drop it! But pile up enough of them and you have an entire ream. A ream of paper will drop like a rock. And a whole case is too heavy for some people to lift.
Can you see now how after a while daily qigong practice carries substantial weight? Every day when you practice it’s like adding one more sheet to the pile. This way of practicing gives you maximum benefits not only for your physical health, but also for your mental and emotional well-being.
But hey, don’t take my word for it. Make the commitment to practice every day for 6 months and then decide. That would amount to about 180 times. At that point you’ll really know how qigong can help improve your life!
Be well,
Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
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Posted in Qigong by Dr. Bruce
Thanks for your interest in the Secrets of Qigong community.
The site is just starting out, so please pardon anything that may be lacking. As it develops you’ll have first access to new features, etc.
I welcome any comments or suggestions you may have to improve your experience, and particularly anything you might be especially interested in seeing here.
I’m glad you’re here.
Dr. Bruce
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