Ongoing Classes Available in Qigong - N Texas
Classes are available in:
External Qi Healing - Waiqi Liaofa, Taiji Ruler System, Lin Kong Jing, Zhan Zhuang, Shaolin Neijing YiZhiChan, and Yin Yang Diagram Healing Qigong.
Contact Rich Mooney @ qimaster@hotmail.com
or call 940-322-8898 for more info:)
enjoy this file:
EXTERNAL QI HEALING - A PRIMER
What follows is an introduction of External Qi Healing, or Waiqi Liaofa.
The basis of Chinese medicine exists due to the belief that all living things have Qi.
Without Qi there is no life. As an
acupuncturist you are taught to feel for the arrival of Qi (De Qi), and
from knowing that, you are able to treat with high
confidence any number of ailments and maladies that may come your way.
One of the adjuncts to Traditional Chinese Medicine
is the practice of External Qi Healing, or Waiqi Liaofa. This method of
healing is known to exist in many different cultures,
under a wide variety of names, and has been practiced far back into
antiquity. The practice of this method is no less valid
today, than it was many millennia ago.
The theory of External Qi Healing follows the same theory of
acupuncture: Reduce what is excessive, and stimulate what is
deficient. In acupuncture this is accomplished through the techniques of
stimulation and reduction, with the needle either being
twirled in a certain direction, or being inserted and retracted to a
certain depth. The use of moxa and herbs, as part of the
acupuncturists arsenal against illness and injury are also included to
promote the raising or lowering of the yin or yang, to
either cool or heat the qi to achieve a specific result; that being to
heal the patient, or to act as a prophylaxis against future
illnesses.
By training in any number of qi building exercises, called qigong, the
acupuncturist is able to call up within themselves a rich
field of energy that can be applied during the treatment phase, when
using needles, or in the preparation of herbal formulae to be
used by and for the client in the healing process. As we all know, if
you are to put out energy, it is only logical to build it
up as well. This will keep the acupuncturist in good health, and also
improve their clarity of thought and help them to maintain
vigor throughout their life.
I see the practice and use of acupuncture much as a worker on highway
would see work being done on a roadway. When there is a
condition in the roadway that needs attending to, the road worker places
up detour signs as appropriate, so that traffic may
continue while that area of road is being attended to. When the needles
of acupuncture are applied, I feel that they act as a
detour sign or a street light would work in the controlling of the flow
of energy in the clients body. By gaining skill and
experience in the practice of qigong, the therapist will be more
sensitive to the flow of energy in the client during a treatment.
The application of Qi to the needles during treatment can facilitate a
quicker response time in the client, and speed up recovery
time during the treatment of an illness or injury.
Furthermore, the practice of Qigong and the use of External Qi in
healing can be most valuable when the client is fearful of
needles; like for a young child, or for minor aches and pains, like
headaches, toothaches, sprains, joint pains, recovery from
surgeries, etc..
What follows is a primer on the basic training to become proficient in
Waiqi Liaofa, or External Qi Healing
Aspect of the breath. Since this is QIGONG, special attention must be
placed on your breathing, and is one of the major
requirements of successful qigong practice. Your breath will be of the
Buddhist variety. This means that upon the inhale, the
lower abdomen will fill from the bottom up. If your breathing is
incorrect you will get tired very quickly, and also get
headaches as well.
The tip of the tongue will remain on the roof of the mouth to join the
ren and du channels. Eyes will be either closed, or only
opened part way. This is to make sure you are not disturbed by external
influences.
Aspect of the Mind: You will gently focus your attention on your hands. You may also focus your attention on your whole body.
Do not restrict your thoughts to any specific acupuncture points because
this may cause the energy to get bogged down in that area
and lead to uncomfortable side effects. Side effects include
irritability, sleeplessness, and trouble digesting food.
Do not eat within a half hour before or after practice. Being hungry
will detract from your concentration, and being too full
will only divert the needed energy to your digestive processes, and deny
you a complete sessions worth of energy.
The postures
After warming up with a few rounds of taiji quan, or any other low
impact exercise, you will train in the following postures for
6 minutes each.
First posture: The feet are placed at shoulder width, the knees are
bent to such a depth that you only see the tips of your big
toes as you look over your knees. The lower back will be kept straight.
This is done through the pelvic tilt. It is essential
that your posture be as comfortable as possible. A kink in the back will
cause the energy flow to stagnate, and thus cause muscle
cramps and lower back pain.
Your arms will extend forward, palms down. The upper arms will form a
45 degree angle relative to the front of the body. The
upper arms will also from a 45 degree angle relative to the sides of the
body as well. The image will appear as if you are
resting your arms flat on a table, which is at the height of your
sternum.
Second posture: Rotate the palms so that they face the sky. the same
requirements for body posture are held throughout the
training.
Third Posture: Rotate the palms inwards so that they face each other.
Fourth Posture: Roll the arms so that the left palm is on top, facing
down, and the right arm rolls down, and the palm winds up
facing the left palm. The left palm will be at mid chest height, and the
right palm will be at the level of the navel. The palms
will be about 3 inches away from the body in this posture.
Fifth Posture: Roll the arms in the opposite directions, so that now
the right is on top, palm facing down, and the left palm is
on the bottom, facing upwards.
Train these postures for 6 months, every day, and follow up with silent
seated meditation for 45 minutes within 6 hours of doing
the standing meditation set. This is because if you are building energy,
you must store it. After 6 months you add these extra
exercises to strengthen the qi you have built up previously.
Extra exercise #1:
From Posture Three, that is the palms facing each other at chest height,
slowly and gently exhale, (not harshly like when you do
a tension exercise), and bring the palms close to each other, but not
allowing them to touch. On the inhale, let the hands expand
away from each other for the duration of the inhale, or until they are
spread about 2 feet away from each other.
do this exercise in place of the plain standing exercise #1 as you have
done previously.
Extra exercise #2:
From posture Four, slowly compress your hands towards each other from
the top and the bottom, at the same time. Essentially you
are doing extra #1, but from a different angle. Do this series of
expanding and contracting movements as you do your standing
meditation set.
Extra Exercise #3:
From Posture #5, do the same movements as outlined above, but the hands
are reversed.
BASIC HEALING
After 9 months of training , your energy is strong enough to begin doing
small healings. You can work on joint pains, headaches,
toothaches, and sprains . For large areas, you should use a flat palm.
To disperse the pain in a large area, direct the qi in
your hand to flood the area that is painful to the other person. then
when the client feels the qi, you will describe ever
widening, out wards going, counterclockwise circles to disperse and
sedate the area of its painful influences.
For smaller areas, the sword fingers are very useful.
Make sure that you do not treat too many people in one day, as this will
tire you out too easily. also make sure that if the
client starts getting dizzy during the treatment, that you should hold
off until they have recovered.
What follows is a more detailed description of the techniques and
methods of External Qi Healing.
1. A discussion of pain.
When a person is in pain, this is a physiological manifestation and a
message to the body, that certain structural limits have
been exceeded, as in a sprain, or dislocation. Energetically speaking
the area of pain has either too much energy, and it knows
not where to go,or there is too little energy in the area to maintain
functional requirements.
An analogy to this can be seen in the example of a car and bus crash.
When a car hits a bus, the bus is stopped from its normal
condition, and the passengers within will be thrown into a state of
panic. The Bus, in this case is the human body. The
passengers are the various limbs and energetic pathways of that body.
The car is the catalyst that creates the pain. When you
get hurt, the normal energy flow in your body is disrupted, and this will
manifest as pain.
After the bus has crashed, the police and ambulances will be notified
and sent to the location to restore order and to insure
that all injured parties are taken care of. In energetic terms, this
means that the person who is in pain will seek out a
qualified medical professional, or an alternative health care specialist.
In our case, that would be the waiqi healer. The
healer will direct his/her energy to the area where the pain is, and
either cause the energy in that area to be sedated, or
stimulated, depending on the condition. This will bring order out of the
chaos, and restore normal energetic flow to the afflicted
area.
2. l Discussion of Excess and Deficiency
Excessive conditions may manifest physically as overly hot, and/or
swollen areas, such as is seen in bruises.
Physiologically this is due to trauma to the soft tissues, burst
capillaries, and the presence of white blood cells which are
removing the damaged tissues.
Deficient conditions may manifest physically as cold spots, and/or
overly stiff areas, as is seen in some joint injuries like
frozen shoulder syndrome. Physiologically this can be attributed to a
decrease in blood flow to the area. Energetically this is
due to a restriction of the flow of Qi to that area. The area will be
weak, and the affected limb may not be able to engage in
any strenuous physical activity.
3. Treatment of Excessive and Deficient Conditions
Excessive conditions are treated through the reducing technique. This
means that the practitioner will direct their flow of qi
to the painful area and spread the pain out to such a point that it loses
its cohesion, and is absorbed by the surrounding
tissues. This technique is done by starting at the center of the pained
area, and describing ever widening, outward going,
counterclockwise circles. Areas of large pain are best treated using the
flat palm method, that is with the palm held about 2 or
so inches from the area, and doing the method as described. The circles
will be drawn slowly, until they reach a range of 3 or so
inches from the origin of the painful site, and repeated for at least 5
minutes, or until the client indicates that their pain has
diminished significantly. The client will sometimes feel a brief increase
of the pain as the chaotic energy is being made to move
from it stuck position.
Treatment of deficient conditions is done through the strengthening
technique, in which energy from the surrounding areas is
drawn in to the painful site, and used to "jump-start" the afflicted
area. This is done with the flat palm method also. Begin at
an area about 3 or so inches away from the origin of the pain, and
describe ever tighter circles, until they arrive at the center
of the pained area. Repeat the process for about 5 minutes, or until the
client indicates that the pain is decreased.
For large painful areas, the flat palm is a preferred method. For small
areas, the index and middle finger held together and
extended, with the other fingers bent and held close to the palm. An
easier way to describe this is the "peace sign", except the
fingers are together, and not separated.
Another method used is the "Drawing Down" technique. In this you will
place your hands to each side of the painful site, and
draw the disordered energy down the limb, thereby over extending the area
at which the pain may have an effect. For example:
A person comes to me with a rotator cuff injury sustained from heavy
weight lifting. I gather my qi to my palms, and then draw
my hands from the shoulder down to their fingers. I exhale as I draw
down, and inhale as I reach back up to the shoulder. Hold
your hands about 2 inches from the arm as you draw down the limb. As you
inhale and return to the top of the arm, make sure you
are not in the path of the arm. The goal is to draw the pain out and
down the arm, not to push it back up as you repeat the
process. For leg injuries, travel down the leg. For mid to low back
pain, also travel down the leg. For upper back pains, lead
the energy up the back and out the arm on the side where the pain is.
For neck and head pains, lead the energy down the arm on
the afflicted side.
4. Involvement of the client in the healing process
The input of the client is of paramount importance. They will be the
ones who can best describe what they are feeling as your
work on their pains and injuries. They should be encouraged to give you
a running report as to what they are feeling as you do
your healing upon them. It is easier to treat an injury when it is fresh,
than if it has been allowed to sit for a while before
they seek treatment. In cases like this your first treatment will only
partially alleviate their pain.They will have to come back
for a few treatments, and will notice that the depth and intensity of the
pain becomes less and less after each treatment, until
the pain is gone.
Effects the client may feel:
1. an overall relaxation of the body, and deepening of the breath. If
the client is on a massage table, they may even fall
asleep. This is perfectly O.K..
2. tingling of the area as you work on it. This is O.K. too.
3. A heating up of the limb as the energy is projected to it. This is
O.K..
4. They may feel the pain get smaller and smaller until it is no longer
palpable, or they may feel the pain expand and
disintegrate into nothingness. this is O.K. as well.
5. The client will also feel the pain as it travels down the limb, but
this is nothing to worry about as long as all the pain is
dispersed or at least greatly reduced by the end of the treatment
session. If too much pain is left, then it will be as if you
cut a weed from the lawn, but left the root. It will come back. This is
also seen, physically, with warts, such as plantars
warts. If the whole wart in not extracted, it tends to grow back again.
ADVERSE EFFECTS
Some clients may have a low tolerance for the energy and they will
display the following symptoms:
1. Confusion
2. Nausea
3. Dizziness, heart palpitations
4. Light headedness
5. They may suddenly pass out.
If 1-4 happen, stop the treatment immediately, and let them recoup and
start again. If #5 happens, you may use the GB 20 points
on either side of the back of the head, the DU 26 point or the K1 point.
to help revive them. Get a book on acupressure to see
where these points are located.
Some clients have a high energy metabolism, and treating them will take
a bit longer. Each treatment session may last anywhere
from a few minutes to a half hour or more. Be sensible, and don't
overextend your capacities. To do so would cause the quality
of your healing energy to decrease, and would not benefit the client.
After a treatment, make sure to wash your hands. Washing your hands
after the treatment breaks the flow of energy, due to its
cooling qualities.
Benefits of treatment for the practitioner
In doing External Qi Healing, the practitioner gains the benefit of
doing qigong, and after a healing session, the practitioner
should feel the same as if they had just done a set of standing
meditation exercises; a sense of calm alertness, euphoria, and
all-around good feelings that can last for quite a few hours after the
session is done.
If the practitioner of acupuncture does not wish to do the healing work
with the hands, it is still a good idea to refresh
themselves after treating a client by doing about 10 minutes of standing
meditation, as in posture one. This will recharge them
energetically for the next client with whom they have an appointment.
The adverse conditions outlined for the client also hold true for the
practitioner. If they feel bogged down, overly tired,
nauseous or faint-feeling after a treatment, it is advisable not to do
anymore hand healing treatments until they have relaxed
for a period of time. It is vital not to over extend yourself when
transferring energy to your clients, and would be detrimental
to your health, and deny the client the benefit of a full treatment.
Make sure to keep a log of all treatment and methods used. this will
give you an indication of where your special talent may be.
Be practical in your applications of treatment, and always make sure that
if the client is taking medications, that they continue
to do so. External Qi Healing is a great tool to complement conventional
western/allopathic treatments, and they can work well
together.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Richard M. Mooney, of Wichita Falls Texas, U.S.A., has been actively involved in Chinese Martial Arts since 1970, and has been involved in Qigong and Qigong Healing for over 13 years. He has used his ability gained through the practice of qigong to help over 750 people relieve painful conditions and afflictions, ranging from simple headaches and toothaches, to post surgical pain from carpal tunnel syndrome and renal cancer surgery. He is available for seminars and may be reached by writing to him at: 2013 Taft St., Wichita Falls, TX, 76309.
importance of sitting, availability for seminars etc.
standing meditation builds the energy, sitting stores the energy. if you build without storing
its like going shopping and eating all the food on the way home. that means that your practice will sustain your day to day needs, but will not set much aside for doing much with it later on.
regards seminars in B.C., if you sponsor it, I will come:) eheheh. the learning of the energy healing qigong is not all that difficult. most great qigong methods are easy to learn... the problem is in being able to do a thing over and over again, every day, without let up and without fail. as I have written in the article, the ability to do basic healing is gained after 9 months. thats just for bare bones, basic healing ability. as you train more, and longer, the ability strengthens.
feel free to contact me at:
qimaster@hotmail.com for further queries:)
best wishes;
rm
