Chi Gung is the meditative foundation of the Chinese healing and martial arts; its role is to teach people how to interact with and cultivate the basic energy of life.
By Ryko Kalinko, Hayman Island’s Wellness Therapist
There is so much to chi gung! It is about posture, stance, coordinating the body with handling ever-denser energies, connecting with the energy of the earth and the stars, storing the energy of the cosmos internally, and learning how to control and direct this force. Masters of the art can do incredible, stupendous feats that defy expectation wherein normal physical limitations are surpassed. There is much testimonial and video evidence for this.
The essence of chi gung is the idea that there is a vitality principle in nature that we can attract to ourselves and grow within ourselves. I know this to be true because I have felt it within myself.
This energy is the basic foundation of our bodies and of the whole of the created world, binding it all together – and so growing this power within ourselves is like tapping into nature’s “source code”. It is said that we have 72,000 subtle channels of energy in the body; mastery of these confers great strength and ability, vitality and longevity.
Beginners training starts with the development of abdominal breathing, and the cultivation of an important energy focal point in the centre of the body, at the level just below the navel called the ‘lower tan tien’. ‘Tan tien’ literally means “cinnabar field”; cinnabar is a red mercury crystal that was fabled in ancient Chinese lore to have associations with achieving immortality.
By entitling that area of the body with such a connotation, the ancient sages were telling us that there is something special energetically associated with that area of the body. It’s the centre of gravity in the physical body, has a great affinity for attracting energy, can store vast reserves of energy and is a major control centre for the body’s internal energy channels.
Cultivating this centre is done through a series of exercises designed to sensitise the mind to ch’i.
There are hundreds of different schools that, though operating from a basic essential philosophy, select various different exercises from the Taoist Canon (a massive collection of manuscripts of old Taoist Masters and their commentators), so any one teacher/school will always only be providing a small selection of what’s available. Each school sees themselves as the holders of the original version.
There are two basic ways to approach chi gung: the one way (favoured in modern China) is the ‘outside in’ approach – to start the student on the physical movements, teaching them various forms which are basically simple dances which have the effect of training the mind to work with energy.
The second way is to start meditatively (this method was favoured in ancient China), from the inside out, directing the student to guide energy with their minds before moving onto how the energy moves through the physical forms.
I have always had an affinity for the latter approach, and believe that it is most appropriate for the Western rational mind, which requires instruction to proceed from foundation to complexity.
As an instructor with the Universal Healing Tao Academy, the chi gung I teach starts with the “inner smile” (this is the entry level meditation that trains one to develop inner sensitivity).
This is followed by:
- Abdominal breathing (sending oxygen into the lower abdomen);
- Reverse breathing (this is where the diaphragm is held up during breathing; this way of breathing has a peculiar ability to attract ch’i);
- Gathering earth energy (developing an ever solider relationship with the earth);
- Gathering star energy (becoming sensitised to the cosmic energies of our total environment);
- Storing that energy in the tan tien, spinning it and condensing it;
- Circulating the light (the microcosmic orbit); and
- Healing applications of ch’i flow (using directed breath targeting it into and resolving pain).
These are the basics. Once the basics have been mastered, you’ll be able to feel ch’i within your body, be able to grow, move, and store it at will, and use it for healing, vitality and strength.
As one progresses with the art, one moves on to ever more complex meditations culminating in a total mastery of energy, one’s body, and nature as a whole.
Ryko Kalinko is the resident wellness therapist at Hayman Island.
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