The Practice of Qigong
By Jackie Christensen, BS, HHP, NC, MH
Faculty Member of GCNM
Qigong is an ancient Chinese system of exercise that incorporates breathwork and meditation techniques. It has been used to improve health, preventing illness, and strengthening the mind, body and spirit. The term "Qi" was coined by the Chinese to refer to the vital force behind all things in the universe. The term "gong" refers to the power to accomplish something through a steady and sustained practice. Qigong can be loosely translated as the "attainment of qi."
Qi gong has been an important part of Eastern history and culture and can be traced back to the dance of Yinkong, an early documented dance for arthritis prevention and healing. About 7,000 years ago those who practiced Yinkong intuitively knew that feeling bad was associated with a lack of movement. Through the dance of Yinkong people developed an understanding that feeling good and well being was connected to certain motions and those motions could be used to create energy or qi. The motions also helped to release blocked energies and emotional feelings in their bodies. Over time a deeper understanding developed regarding the actual flow of energy through the body and the Chinese mapped the channels through which energy flowed and discovered the laws and principles of how qi was moved.
With more than 10,000 styles of qigong and 200 million people practicing there are a variety of methods and reasons for practice. For health maintenance, the qigong practitioner does not have to be an expert. Almost anyone can learn to practice qigong to maintain and improve his or her own health. The objective of the exercises is to strengthen the qi in the body and remove obstructions that may have developed due to injury, emotional states, diet, disease or other factors which can lead to an imbalance. Medical qigong is now practiced in clinics and some hospitals that integrate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and conventional Western medicine.
Qigong’s gentle, rhythmic exercises mirror the movements of nature, especially the fluidity of water. Qigong routines can be simple or complex, short or long, and can be done at standing, walking, sitting and lying down. While some are quite vigorous and demanding, others can be practiced by people who are weak in order to regain strength and health. When setting up a regular qi gong practice choose the same time and the same location every day. The space should be open, preferably with fresh air, but no strong winds and relatively quiet so that you will not be easily disturbed or distracted. Make sure that when practicing qi gong you are well rested and your mind is free from needless distractions. Do not eat a heavy meal before practice; it will inhibit the vital chi energy from flowing. If you are hungry, eat a light meal or snack a half hour before practice, but if possible, abstain from eating. Wear loose comfortable clothing. Tight clothing restricts movement, blood circulation and the flow of vital chi energy. While practicing it is also important to calm the mind, relax the body, and visualize the tension easing out of your muscles.
Qi masters and consultants have been hired by companies like Sony, Sega, Honda and NEC to help their employees relax, focus, relieve stress, remain calm, concentrate better, and think positively. As qi gong gains popularity in the US more and more classes have become available. However, if qi gong has not yet made it to your area there are also many instructional books, videos, and websites available. Qi-gong practice usually changes the depth, frequency and rhythm of respiration in a conscious state. Breathing is a critical component in making the exercise effective and combining breathing with meditation helps reduce stress. The deepening of respiration expands lung capacity, promotes circulation of oxygen in the blood, massages the internal abdominal organs and helps the digestion and assimilation of food.
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Book Review
Invisible Acts of Power, Channeling Grace in Your Everyday Life
By Caroline Myss
Caroline Myss is a well known medical intuitive, a pioneer in the study of energy medicine, a lecturer and the author of several books, including Anatomy of the Spirit, Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, Sacred Contracts, and co-author of Creation of Health, with Norm Shealy, M.D., PhD. In addition, she created Energy Anatomy and Advanced Energy Anatomy study programs that are essential works for anyone intending to understand holistic healing. Caroline is my most loved author and mentor, providing amazingly detailed spiritual insight into the human energy system and how we manage our personal power. In her very unique style and with compassion for the human spirit she describes our archetypes and human behaviors, always with her well grounded perspective she teaches us to find understanding. Always speaking from the heart and with humor, she educates like no other in our time.
In Invisible Acts of Power she explains our role in channeling divine grace and becoming a conduit for miracles by our kind acts and generosity to others. Invisible acts of power are described by her as those everyday acts of kindness and compassion we engage in without a personal agenda, without thoughts of being recognized or rewarded. She takes us through a moving discussion of visible acts as simple as opening a door for another, giving another our help, or giving gifts of food, or shelter, and invisible acts such as offering prayers and healing, allowing God to act through us and enabling our journey to personal empowerment. She describes which chakras are involved at every level and shares many moving stories people have told her about their own experiences with either giving or receiving acts of grace, kindness, generosity and miracles from others, and the profound changes these brought to their lives.
Caroline describes our world as "Earth School" where we come to learn about managing our personal power, enhancing our personal growth and contributing to the evolution of those around us and to the entire world. Caroline was educated by Catholic nuns who she says were bilingual, speaking both English and Angel. Every day was full of miracles and the energies of Saint and Angels were called upon for assistance, allowing her to witness invisible acts of power by the non-physical beings that were part of her spiritual world, and always answered her prayers.
Grace is described as both a noun and a verb, is a state and an action, an energy that flows between two beings, a gift of unmerited divine assistance given to us to regenerate our spirits and our lives. It is a force greater than our own, a divine intervention that fills us with a luminous awareness, the organizing force behind coincidences and synchronicity. It illuminates your path as it moves through your intuition and influences the choices you make. To understand how intuition works Caroline explains that our intuition automatically reads the energy of everyone around us. Our energy field is both an information clearing center and a very sensitive perceptual system that sends and receives messages to and from people that are picked up by our intuition.
Our intuition recognizes this energetic language and interprets it by running it through our seven chakras. Each chakra has its own frequency and our intuition tunes in to these and alerts us through feelings when something is wrong or our mind, body and spirit are out of balance. The seven chakras symbolize the stages of our spiritual growth, moving upward from the base of the spine to the crown, forming the anatomy of the spirit. The first concerns the energy of the physical world and basic survival, the second, lessons on sexuality, work, creativity and self-protection, the third concerns issues related to the ego, personality and self-esteem, the fourth concerns issues of love, compassion and forgiveness, the fifth relates to the power of the will and self-expression, the sixth governs our mind, rational thought, insight and wisdom, the seventh is the seat of our spiritual connection to the universe.
As the spirit matures and moves upward from the root chakra, divine grace spirals down through the crown chakra from above, the two forming an energetic double helix. Grace continues to spiral downward merging with rational thought at the sixth charka, motivating our will at the fifth chakra, engaging the heart for an emotional response at the fourth chakra, personalizing the energy at the third chakra, where the second charka shapes the response into action then the energy that began as inspiration and grace becomes grounded by the first chakra, grounding the electrical energy of grace in us spiritually and physically.
The different visible and invisible acts of power correspond to our seven chakras. The first chakra corresponds to gifts of the earth such as food and shelter. The second chakra corresponds to the energy of self-protection, gifts of survival such as financial and creative support. The third charka corresponds to the energy of the ego, gifts of self-esteem, unconditional support, friendship and personal dignity. The fourth chakra corresponds to gifts of the heart, kindness, love, forgiveness and compassion. The fifth chakra corresponds to the energy of determination, gifts of will, courage and guidance. The sixth chakra corresponds to the energy of rational thought, gifts of the mind, wisdom and optimism. The seventh chakra corresponds to the center of the higher consciousness, gifts of the spirit, Angels in disguise and good Samaritans. Caroline realized that the 1200 letters she received seemed to sort themselves out into these seven categories and provides stories and examples of each, telling how individual’s lives were affected by these acts in profound ways.
In closing, I would like to share Caroline’s universal truths, as given at the end of Part I:
- "You are where you are supposed to be and in every moment there is an opportunity to serve another or receive support."
- There are no such things as coincidences or accidents. Look for the meaning in your synchronistic encounters.
- Any form of assistance you offer is an act of healing.
- Anything you do for others, as well as the support you receive in your own life, has healing consequences for the whole human community.
- You will always receive help within a second of a prayer. To recognize the help, you must see everything in your life from that second on as a part of the answer to your prayer
- Everything you do consciously is an invisible act of power.
Reviewed By Moira Khouri NC, MH, HHP, CCP
Faculty Member of GCNM
Exercise of the Month
Exercise Description: Two-Handed Overhead Triceps Extension
Target Muscle: Triceps
Instructions:
Begin the exercise by sitting down on a chair or bench. Make sure you are sitting up tall and straight. Raise your arms directly above your head and clasp hands together. Keeping hands together and elbows pointing forward, bend at the elbow and finish the movement by straightening at the elbow. **Remember to keep elbows pointing towards the front.
Motivational Article
8 Tips to Reduce Clutter By Prioritizing Daily Tasks
by: Marilyn Bohn
There are days when we just feel scattered and don’t know where to start with all the tasks and things we need to do. Do you ever think "the faster I go the further behind I get"? I think we all have days like this. Let’s put first things first which means let’s prioritize what we need to do and what we want to do. Prioritizing is all about making choices.
As a professional organizer I work with people helping them to reduce clutter in their lives. As we prioritize effectively it helps us reduce clutter in our homes, at work and in our daily lives.
To prioritize effectively we need to recognize what is important to us. High priority tasks are based on what we value and those that help us achieve goals and provide long term results that we want to achieve.
First things first; make a list of all the tasks that you want to accomplish. This can be a list of what you want to do today and another list can be those things you want to do in the future. By each one of the tasks assign a number. For example:
Priority #1: Must Do tasks and commitments that have to be done today, Priority #2: Important things to do that do not have to be done today, Priority #3: Least urgent tasks. Work in the order of the most important to the least important. If you don’t finish all of them in one day, move them to the next day or onto a To Do list that you can do on any given day.
Do not think of your priorities as just jobs that need to be done. As you do the most important tasks first, you will find yourself letting go of tasks that really didn’t need to be done at that time. For example, what’s more importanthelping your child with homework or weeding the flower bed?
Also take note that there is a difference between tasks that NEED to be done and those that you WANT to do. Deciding the order in which you prioritize tasks means you start with the needs first and move to the wants afterwards. Or sometimes do a few "needs to do" and thrown in a "want to do" before all the needs are done.
Know your limitations. It is a skill to learn to say no when you are asked to do something and you just don’t have the time. Think of your priorities and your needs. Can you give your best to everything all of the time? Saying no sometimes is a good thing for you and for the person asking for your time on another project.
Interruptions are going to happen. Learn how to deal with them in a positive way—put your phone on silent and let the answering machine take messages that you can return later. Screen calls using caller ID. Plan time with your children so they will let you have time to do what you need to do. Sometimes you may need to get up earlier than anyone else to accomplish tasks so there are fewer interruptions.
Delegating tasks to others frees up some of your time for the things that only you can do. Give your family responsibilities and hold them responsible. They will learn when you give them a task to do that you won’t come along and do it for them. You may have to learn that everything doesn’t have to be perfect, especially when someone is learning a new skill. For example allow your child to fold the laundry even if it isn’t perfect. They will get better with practice.
Prioritizing is a skill that can be learned and the benefits are amazing when it is done consistently. It makes your life easier; it runs smoother and helps you to reduce clutter in your home, at work and in your life.
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About The Author
Marilyn Bohn is a professional organizer who works with women and seniors in clearing clutter and providing organizing tips. Clearing clutter helps those she works with to have less stress in their lives and feel more joy in living. Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find organizing solutions. You will find fun stories and free organizing tips in her blogs, articles and videos.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com
Search online for values in the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.
