Recently, there has been a lot of media coverage on Qigong (Chee Gung). Early in 2007 on Oprah Winfrey’s show and again even more recently on Good Morning America, Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared and discussed the physical & emotional health benefits of Qigong. In a prior Oprah show that had aired earlier in 2007, he made a declaration saying that the future of western medicine is “energy medicine” and brought in an acupuncturist and discussed other alternative healing methods. Later in 2008, Dr. Northrup, MD also discussed Qigong and its healing benefits. In trying to help an audience member with a specific problem she explained a very simple Qigong meditation technique and said: "So I want you to know that you can use your mind and your breath to energize” any part of your body. Even a recent episode of the medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” featured an energy healer on the show and the Today show did an entire series on alternative health practices in January 2008. Right now, the media is ripe with further examples of this strong trend. It’s nearly impossible not to see a commercial that doesn’t reference Yoga, Meditation, Tai Chi or other spiritual practices. Even Pine-Sol has an oriental man levitating during his meditation, which is interrupted by the fresh sent of their cleaning product. The Yellow Book ads use David Caridine and so on.

What is Qigong ?  Qigong is a highly respected internal system of exercise practice going back over 3,000 years. It is pronounced “Chee-Gung”, which literally means energy work or energy skill and is a unique method of combining the mind, breath and movement for the purpose of accumulating “life force” energy known as “Qi”. Qigong is used to improve health, reduce stress, calm the mind, improve balance, coordination and circulation, and improve awareness and much more. Qigong practice is intended to improve your health mentally, physically and spiritually as a complete mind, body, and spirit exercise. As you advance in your skill, you will be able to emit your Chi energy to examine and help others in the remission of their illnesses as well. Through regular Qigong practice, you will likely feel happier, relaxed and generally more at peace with the world.  It is the primary basis of all true Yoga systems and internal martial arts the most well known being Tai Chi. However, there's something very misleading in many Yoga schools across the country. You see.... Streching really isn't yoga nor is it stretching "with the breath," either. "Well then," you might ask, "what is real yoga?"

Both Yoga & Tai Chi are complete systems of self transformation. Both are a form of internal science that leads inexorably towards the experience of "yoga," which literally means "union" with the Absolute, the Universal, the One... Tai chi means Supreme Ultimate and refers to the same experience.  This experience of Union, which is also called samadhi ("absorption"), is the real Yoga. It’s sad to say, but most "yoga" teachers today have not experienced this state. Most "certified yoga teachers" believe that stretching and breathing techniques are yoga, when really they are only a means to an end. Without energy awareness, experience and skill, it is impossible to reach this end and thus perform true yoga.

Qigong is a combination of two ideas:

Understanding Qigong

The real purpose of Qigong practice is to improve human life on all levels, such as improving physical fitness, enhancing creativity, uplifting emotion and uncovering your hidden potentials. Qigong offers a path to liberate us from our own limitations and social conditioning allowing us to rediscover a higher state of freedom based on consciousness and wisdom. Through Qigong, we learn to cultivate chi in our daily practice to progressively synchronize the physical, mental and spiritual elements of our being.

The Basic Philosophy of Qigong

With each and every practice, I improve myself. When I improve myself, I aid in the improvement of all humanity. An improved humanity brings the infinite love of the universe to earth. I am in the universe and the universe is within me. Compassion is the main philosophy of Qigong.

Qigong is different from other exercises such as sports. In Qigong you direct your mind inwards while in most traditional exercises the mind is directed externally upon the task or competitors instead of the internal activity within the body. Qigong emphasizes cultivating virtue, refining consciousness, regulating the breath, and gently moving the body, while sports are mainly focused solely on performance and bodily movement. In moving the body, dynamic Qigong uses the mind to direct chi and then chi to direct the body, the movement of the body thus to serve the spirit, mind and chi, which allows the experience and mystery of the body in total relaxation. In sports, one is trained to focus on physical form while the mind is not directed internally, instead towards the movement of the body or tools. The mind becomes the servant to facilitate and synchronize a sequence of movements, moving muscles, tendons, etc. Here the mind and body are not relaxed.

In terms of regeneration within the body, sports promote the consumption of energy, which requires extra nutrition and sleep to recover from the expended energy. Ttraditional sports and exercise are designed to amplify the quantity of life energy that comes into and flows out of the body during the physical performance.  In contrast, Qigong training focuses on accumulating energy from the atmosphere while significantly reducing the body’s consumption of energy, slowing down the process or need for regeneration therefore significantly increasing your life force or “Chi” and vitality.

Understanding Medical Qigong & Chi Healing Treatments

Modern scientific studies in China recognize that Medical Qigong masters can emit energy from their hands, which benefits the person’s health and healing. It is believed that the emitted chi dissolves energetic blockages that have developed within the person’s meridian system and then also provides them with a surplus of fresh energy for the natural self-healing process. People who are ill or are under other forms of physical or emotional stress have much lower levels of chi, which can be elevated and/or restored by a healing Qigong treatment. Scientific experiments done in China have measured many types of frequencies such as: radio waves, sound, magnetic fields and infrared vibrations emanating from the hands or bodies of Medical Qigong practitioners.

In my healing classes or Medical Qigong, you can learn to transmit your Chi through mental intention, focusing on the body’s lower energy center or Dan Tien along with specific breathing. You learn how to direct your chi to the various internal organs, acupuncture points, bone marrow and energy meridians to significantly benefit healing, often with dramatic results. The healing treatment approach covers the entire body so that nothing is missed. Many times the symptoms are caused from parts of the body’s energy system that would seem totally unrelated to most western medicine principles. Medical Qigong often delivers miraculous and profound results for health and vitality. In Medical Qigong, the healer provides the energetic fuel for the body’s highly evolved process of natural self-healing.

Love, Joy & Gratitude,

Sifu Dan Ferrera

Michigan Institute of Qigong Healing & Wellness, LLC

http://www.worldclassima.com/qigong.htm

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