Earlier this month, 30 of us experienced an in-person Qigong Master Class with my teacher, Sifu Gardner. He laid the foundation in many ways for us to expand our meaning of qigong. He reminded us in different ways that qigong is more than a moving meditation, connecting with our breath, and slow flowing movements.

Sifu related qigong to a farmer growing crops. The farmer tells us he does not grow anything, instead he prepares the field, so the crops can grow. Qigong is the preparation of preparing our internal field, so that which we already possess can grow. 

What do we already have?
Yin and Yang— we have the yin qi [chi] from our mother, the yang qi from our father. The qi we have received is finite, and we will not receive any more. Now what do we do? We can learn to cultivate our qi, purify it, refine it to it’s essence of transcendence. And hopefully be a good human being, in balance between heaven and earth. Be filled with kindness and compassion, not only for ourselves, but for the benefit of others.

Being a vessel of change.
We see many people do Tai Chi, but not many people study Tai Chi. Studying is opening yourself up to the ultimate supreme … change. Therefore you have aligned yourself between heaven and earth in harmony, but as we all know, we are in disharmony.

We do not go to the places we fear, we go to the places we feel safe. And, we only go so far, we don’t even take the time to breathe into those spaces. When our thoughts and concepts are challenged, we become offended and we runaway … not changing.

We are out of balance, because we do not want balance. Because in order for us to be balanced we have to go off balance, and that is out of our comfort zone. Instead, we always want to be right, not wrong, and on the right side, with the right group, etc.

What if qigong is not about being centered, but learning how to come back to our center? Because being at center is fluid, we pass through the center axis every time we get off balance. But, we must first go to those places we fear [off-balance] and come back to center to feel balance. As Abraham Hicks reminds us, we learn through contrast and we learn through direct experience, not words.

What can we change? and When will we change?
To change, we must enter into the unknown. Qigong is the life-force of consciousness to elevate one’s change. If you practice Tai Chi long enough, then you must change, your movement must change, and your speaking must change.

Qigong is to live in our soul and be present. It is work that brings us into the present moment, by which we can be grounded, centered, with placement and alignment with the various forces of the universe. Qigong is to live in harmony with each other with loving kindness and compassion.

Isn’t that the qigong we all want to practice? I know I do. 

I invite you to leave a comment if you were there that auspicious Friday evening, and share what you discovered. Or, please leave a comment if something resonated with you from this article.