“This is primarily a breathing exercise” – this opinion about qigong is very common. But what happens if you start the practice with breathing? Spoiler: nothing good.
Almost all qigong exercises related to breathing are techniques for accumulating additional energy, the so-called energy practices. What kind of activity is this, in fact, how is it useful and dangerous?
Forces from the air
According to qigong postulates, we get energy from three main sources: sleep, food and air. To maintain the required amount of vitality, you need to get enough sleep, eat right and, no doubt, breathe.
And how to increase the amount of vitality in the body? It is impossible to sleep in reserve, or to eat more strength for the future. But it is possible and necessary to master the specific breathing that replenishes our resource (according to Chinese qigong masters).
According to the same mythology and practice, energy is stored in our body in the abdomen – in a reservoir with the beautiful name Dan Tien. And special breathing with the stomach replenishes this reservoir, accumulating additional vitality.
Steps of qigong: do not skip!
Qigong has stages of development. First you need to build the correct body structure, after that you can move on to the practices of silence (spiritual practices), and only after that you can engage in energy practices.
Why in that order? If we imagine that our body works on some kind of energy (life forces), then it becomes obvious: there is a technology for distributing this energy throughout the body. In Chinese medicine, this distribution is due to channels: vital energy circulates through them, supplying organs and systems. And since there are channels, then there is the possibility of destroying them. If the channels are not built, if they have defects, then an increase in vitality due to specific breathing techniques can have a devastating effect on the organs.
For example, the characteristic “injuries” of serious practitioners involved in energy exercises are diseases of the heart and kidneys. With zealous, uncontrolled daily practice, this can lead to very serious consequences. Therefore, before starting breathing exercises, it is necessary to work out the structure of the body: build the correct posture, increase flexibility, increase joint mobility.
Spiritual or not?
The next step is the practice of silence (they are also called meditation or spiritual practices). Why are these skills needed? A good study of the body is necessary for the safety of the practitioner himself, and the presence of spiritual practices behind him is for the safety of others.
Previously, energy practices formed the basis of martial arts. The more strength a person has, the faster and more agile he is, and the more dangerous such a warrior is for others. And it is very important that the “superpower” falls into the hands of a person who can calm the mind, look at things clearly.
Now the practices of replenishing breathing are less and less used for martial arts, but they help to increase social activity, go faster towards the goal, build up charisma. A person gets the opportunity to build a career more efficiently, can become more successful, develop his business. And this “superpower”, according to Chinese masters, should go to wise people with a loving heart. In addition, the practice of silence helps to accelerate the accumulation of energy: these two areas of practice effectively complement each other.
I’ve got the power!
What do energy practices give? What will happen if you regularly perform special breathing exercises for an hour a day, observing all the rules and improving in “related” disciplines?
Legends say that masters of energy practices can levitate, bring energy out and literally “shoot” with lightning. There are videos on YouTube of how a Qigong practitioner sets fire to paper by simply bringing his hand to it.
The veracity of these statements can be argued, so I will give just one example. One of my master energy practitioners used to coach a major Chinese swimming team. However, he was not an athlete – he was a qigong master. It seems that the leaders of modern sports teams see some advantages in the fact that athletes master ancient energy practices.