Tuesday, June 09, 2009
It’s sad to say, but also very true that the majority of Qigong and Yoga classes available in America are void of their real intended purpose. The same can be said about most Tai Chi as well since this is a moving form of Qigong. Unfortunately this trend is likely to worsen due to the gaining popularity of these internal systems of exercise and spiritual development. In most cases, its not the teachers fault as they simply learned empty movements, postures or asanas from someone who didn’t have a clue as to what real Yoga or Qigong are all about. It’s just like anything else, “garbage in = garbage out.” Qigong and Yoga are not about stretching and breathing or in some cases meditating. Many teachers instruct you to use special breathing that is supposed to accumulate prana or chi also known as vital life force energy. However, the majority of these exact same teachers have absolutely no clue as to what real prana or chi feels like because the teacher they learned from didn’t either. A word of caution, special breathing techniques don’t accumulate Chi or Prana unless you learn how to both connect to and feel this universal energy with your mind and body. "Well then," you might ask, "what is real Yoga or Qigong all about?"
Qigong and Yoga are both complete sciences of self-transformation that have histories going back many thousands of years. They are real mind, body spirit sciences that lead inexorably towards the experience of "yoga," which literally means "union" with the Absolute, the Divine, the Universe, The Tao, Spirit, the One....etc. The first and most crucial step in this process is to connect with and literally FEEL the living energy (chi, prana, Ki, etc.) that is both within us and everywhere all around us. It is this omnipresent energy that we must learn to physically experience through the practice of real Qigong and/or Yoga that guides us on the path to transcendence and absorption in the infinite ALL.
There are of course real Qigong masters and Yogis in the United States and this article is meant to honor them for teaching the real deal as opposed to many of these small studios, books and videos that are teaching empty exercises with no universal connection to the energy that sustains us. For most eager students, it is like ordering a deluxe pizza and getting a plain cheese pizza and not knowing the difference. How are you supposed to know if your teacher doesn’t? Remember garbage in = garbage out. If you don’t have a significant and tangible energetic experience after 3-months of training with your Yoga or Qigong instructor, then you are probably just getting the plain cheese pizza. Most masters will also project energy into their students while teaching them to connect to the universal source of energy and will have them fairly proficient at the beginning stages of energy work within this relatively short period of time. The plain cheese pizza in terms of Yoga and Qigong teaching is still good for your health, emotional stress, physical balance, coordination and opening energy channels and so forth, but it is lacking the deluxe toppings or energy work that was the entire reason for preserving these scientific systems for so many millennia.