Medical QiGong
An Exploration of Qi Manipulation In Chinese Energy Healing
By Cynthia McMullen, Certified Medical QiGong Therapist
“Do not try to cure a disease.
Find your center and you will be healed.”
~Taoist proverb
Chinese Medicine is a mind-body-spirit practice. This is not a “New Age” catch phrase, but a deeply rooted belief that the physical body, the emotional mind, and the greater spirit are always inter-related and completely inseparable. The body-mind-spirit is affected on all three levels during everything we can possibly experience.
There are 4 branches of Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture, Herbs, Massage, and the oldest branch – Medical QiGong (energy healing), which provides the energetic foundation for the other branches. All diseases are said to arise from an imbalance within the mind-body-spirit’s vital energy. Acupuncture, Herbs, Massage, and Medical QiGong are used alone or in combination to correct the imbalance and restore the body to its natural state of health and wholeness.
Medical QiGong is a form of energy healing that involves a trained therapist using techniques to stimulate acupuncture points, energetic meridian pathways, and energy centers like the seven chakras, in order to assist in removing blockages, filling deficiencies, and restoring proper movement in the energetic field and flow of the body. It is a safe, non-invasive, and effective way to rid the body of toxic pathogens and painful emotions that contribute to disease.
To the Medical QiGong Therapist, a person’s energy is often felt in one of the following ways, each of which means something specific: hot, cold, expanding, contracted, heavy, light, full, empty, sticky, armored, vibrating, tingling, noxious, and painful. Many people can naturally feel energy, and most can be taught to feel it. Medical QiGong training highly refines your sensations and perceptions of energy plus gives you a method of manipulating it for healing purposes.
Try this exercise to experience the sensation of energy:
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Sit quietly, close your eyes and feel yourself breathing softly. Remind yourself that you are a spiritual being, and intend to connect with this part of yourself. When you feel still and relaxed, continue.
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Clap your hands together once, then rub your palms several times.
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Hold your hands about one inch apart. Slowly expand and contract your hands. As you spend some time doing this, notice what you feel in your hands.
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Turn your hands very slowly around each other, like you are washing them but without touching. Again, notice what you feel.
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Now place your hands in front of your heart center (chest). Intend to feel the energy of your heart center. Place your focus in your heart center and imagine your breath is filling this area. It’s important to smile as you do this.
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Next, connect your breath and movement. Inhale and gently draw your hands out, expanding the energy of your heart center. Then exhale and push your hands gently back towards your chest, pressing the energy of your heart center. Do this slowly, several times up to several minutes.
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Place your hands on your lap, close your eyes, and consider the sensations you had. Did you have a feeling in your hands? Did you see a color in your mind? Did you have a memory of anything? Did you feel a specific area of your body unrelated to the heart center? The philosopher/poet, Rumi, once said “Some things are meant to experienced, not understood.” This is one of those things. Honor your experience.
For those drawn to and passionate about healing work, The Oriental Healing Arts School of Massage Therapy offers courses in all 4 branches of Chinese Medicine. Intro. To Medical Qigong is a required course in the 2120 hour Acupuncture Program. This introductory class also provides massage therapists with CEUs, and is open to the general public. For full training in Traditional Taoist Medical QiGong we offer a 3-year certification program.