Searches for information about qigong on the Web often lead to sites with descriptions of some mystical techniques for controlling qi energy … How does qigong actually begin, what does adequate practice of this technique look like, and what is the possible result of practice? Anna Vladimirova, a specialist in Chinese medicine, tells.
I do not argue that eastern practices, in particular, qigong, are a technology for working with the body, which opens up almost limitless possibilities of “self-cultivation”. If you are ready to retire to the mountains, live in a monastery, practice 10-12 hours a day under the guidance of a master, there is a chance to achieve results that are commonly called supernatural.
However, we live in the city, go to work, start a family, and pay attention to self-development classes can… an hour a day? More often — 3-4 hours a week. So I propose not to wait for miracles, but to consider any oriental practices as a way of healing. In this respect, they are perfect for city dwellers!
Qigong steps
Despite all the lyricism and imagery, qigong practices have a clear structure and hierarchy. Each set of exercises is an accurate and understandable technology for working with the body, consciousness and body forces.
1. Work with the body
If you decide to take up qigong, it is too early to think about complex breathing exercises from the first steps. The first step is aimed at building the structure. As in yoga, you begin to work with muscles, ligaments, bone structures — to build such a posture, inside which you will be comfortable mastering other exercises.
I teach a branch of Qigong called Xinseng. As part of it, we restore the normal tone of the muscles of the whole body: overstrained, spasmodic muscles relax, and unused ones acquire tone. The body becomes more flexible, relaxed and strong at the same time. And, what is especially important, the normal blood supply to all organs and tissues is restored (and this is a fundamental factor of health).
Qigong exercises are a technology that has been verified over the centuries, and the better you understand what you are doing with the body, the more productive the exercises.
When choosing qigong directions, make sure that all the exercises of the gymnastics you have chosen are clear and “transparent” to you. Feel free to ask questions: why is the movement performed this way and not otherwise? What area of the body are we working on with this exercise? What is the benefit of each movement?
Qigong exercises are time-honored technology, not mysticism, and the better you understand what you are doing with your body, the more productive your exercises will be.
As a result of classes, you get a beautiful posture against the backdrop of relaxation. This means that in order to maintain a straight back and a proud neck position, you do not need to tighten your muscles — on the contrary, you need to relax so that the whole body opens up, becomes free.
2. Working with the state (meditation)
This is the second stage of development in qigong, which can be practiced after the body structure is built. In fact, this is a search for inner silence, stopping the inner monologue.
I am sure you know perfectly well what inner silence is: we experience this feeling, for example, when we contemplate a sunset over the sea or a mountain landscape.
As part of meditation, we learn to enter this state of our own accord and increase the duration of stay in it (to extend it even for a few seconds is already an interesting task!).
When choosing meditation practices, also give preference to the most understandable. In qigong practices, there is a set of techniques that teach the brain to work in the mode we need. And as a teacher with more than a decade of experience, I can say that explanations like “feel”, “close your eyes and understand” have no right to exist.
Meditation is a skill of concentration and control of the mind that helps in social fulfillment.
Look for someone who will explain to you step by step how to «feel» the feeling of silence, fix and develop the result. And you will be amazed at how quickly these «mystical» states become understandable and applicable in everyday life.
Yes, and please note: meditation is not a way to escape from society. Run from teachers who teach meditation techniques as a way to escape into an alternate reality.
Meditation is a skill of concentration and control of the mind, which helps in social realization: in work, in communication with loved ones, in creativity. A person who knows how to meditate becomes more active, purposeful and productive.
3. Work with energy
What many consider to be qigong only begins at the third stage of acquaintance with it. To master breathing techniques that allow you to accumulate energy, you need a good body structure and the skill of entering silence.
It would seem that it is time to move on to mysticism and riddles, but I will upset you: at this stage there is nothing that a Western person with his rational mind could not understand. Qi energy is the amount of power that we have. We get strength from sleep, food and breathing. Sleep renews us, food provides materials to build tissues, and oxygen nourishes tissues to help them renew themselves.
As part of the qigong of the third stage, we are engaged in breathing techniques that rejuvenate the body, help increase the energy resource and nourish us with additional strength for the planned accomplishments.
And again I repeat: when choosing this or that breathing practice, give preference to the most transparent and understandable. It is not for nothing that these techniques have been honed over the centuries: each breathing exercise has its own meaning, rules of execution and know-how, using which you accelerate your development in practice.
Against the background of energy practices, it is not “mystical” energy that arrives, but quite real power — if earlier there was only enough energy to get from work to home and fall, now after work I want to communicate with family and friends, go for walks, play sports.