Catchy title? Good. I am hoping with this article to address some common misconceptions about qigong, and in so doing offer some perspectives that may lead to a deeper and richer understanding and practice of this art.

To begin with people often focus on what they can see on the surface of an art, or practice, which is completely natural of course, but unless they delve further this can sometimes lead them to miss the depths and true meaning and benefit of it. In the case of qigong, it is common for people to see the slow graceful movements, and assume that the practice is all about those movements. For those who have gone deeper into their practice, they know that this barely scratches the surface of what qigong is or can be, and really isn’t the focus or the art at all.

What is the essence of qigong?

I well remember being non-plussed when I was approached by a young fire dancer at a festival where I had been teaching some qigong workshops. He wanted me to show him some qigong ‘moves’ that he could put into his fire dancing. Now of course, qigong principles can certainly be applied to fire dancing, as they can be applied to any activity, but they are not simply a catalogue of different cool looking moves. It pays to remember what qigong is at its essence. ‘Qi’ means energy, and ‘Gong’ means work or skill. So the focus of the practice is on working with energy and developing skill with it. Movement can be used as one way of working with the energy, and with the right focus, any movement can become a kind of qigong (we explore this in the Enter The Flow qigong course). But conversely, even a movement that is famously used in many qigong exercises, would not truly be qigong if it is not done with an awareness and focus on its effect on the energy. The essence of qigong is not simply in its movements, but what they do to your energy.

I think that you can come to qigong at many different levels, and if someone just views it as gentle moving exercise, and practices it that way, I think that’s great! They will get a lot of benefit from their gentle exercise, and hopefully if they practice consistently, following correct principles, at some point they will get at least a tiny glimpse of their ‘qi’ or vital energy, which may lead them to explore more deeply into how they can work with their energy and develop skill with it – and truly start to practice qigong as they do their gentle exercise.

Because in our daily life, we may not have put a lot of focus onto our vital energy, actually practicing ‘qigong’ opens up a whole new world of experience and understanding. It is most helpful to have someone to guide you as you begin your exploration, to help you know what to look for, and how to work more effectively with your energy. For this reason, while there is no harm in trying different qigong practices by simply following videos on a DVD or Youtube, there is great benefit in learning from a skilled teacher, or through a systematic course that will lead you through the different aspects of the practice and how they work with your energy. Long White Cloud Qigong offers many such courses which will help you to grasp the true essence of your qigong practice and help you to gain the most understanding and benefit from what you do.

Three Main Tools in Qigong – Mind, Body, and Breath

As you come to understand more about qigong, you will realise that there are three main tools that are used in qigong practice to work with our energy. The mind, the body, and the breath. Many practices use all three of these in combination, but some focus mainly on just one or two of them. So… while many qigong practices will use movement of the body as a way to work with the energy, there are some they use primarily just the mind in meditative practice, or just the breath to stimulate the energy in different ways. These are just as much a kind of qigong as the moving exercises – again, the focus of the practice is its effect on directing the energy rather than on the movement.

Some Of The Most Powerful Qigong Practices Do Not Involve Movement

Even in practices that use the body as the primary tool to work with the energy, not all of them actually use movement. In fact some of the most powerful qigong practices derive their effectiveness from stillness. This type of practice, called Zhan Zhuang is explored in the Movement In Stillness course. It is quite subtle, and not so easy for a complete beginner to tune into and gain the full benefit from these practices. Using movement is usually an easier and more gentle way to start the process of working with the energy, but when the practitioner is ready these still postures develop the strength of energy like not other type of practice. I have even heard some people say that they consider all the moving forms of qigong to just be a warmup, and the true qigong begins only in the still postures. This is an overstatement, because the moving exercises certainly are effective at working with and developing skill with the energy, but there is some truth in terms of the strength of stimulation of the energy found in Zhan Zhuang practice. If your focus is truly on qigong – working with the energy, this is definitely something you want to work towards.

Getting a True Understanding of Qigong

If you are at the stage of just trying following along and learning different types of qigong movements – that’s awesome! There are many many different movements you can explore and find what feels good to you. If you are at the stage of wanting to go deeper and develop a true understanding of working with your energy and developing skill with it, then I would highly recommend looking into the Long White Cloud Qigong courses. The courses in the Level One Qigong Instructor Certification provide a good introduction to the different aspects of qigong practice, including of course a wide variety of movements, but also use of your breath and mind, interaction with the energy around you, and applying energy awareness to your activities.

Specifically:

Qigong Foundation Practices teaches the fundamentals of breath, posture, energy awareness and mediation, and a set of exercises for moving the energy through the twelve organ meridians. These exercises provide valuable insights into the relationship between your posture, emotions, and organ health.

Between Heaven and Earth teaches moving exercises for the eight extraordinary meridians, and still postures for connecting to the environmental energy around you, and developing awareness of your energy field and strengthening it.

Enter The Flow develops skill with movement and the ability to bring awareness of energy to all of your daily activities, allowing the energy to flow freely and making qigong principles something that you can bring into every aspect of your life.

Qigong Meditation develops a strong connection between the mind and body, and the ability to use your mind to direct and change the quality of energy within you.

Together these give a great, well rounded understanding of qigong principles and practice. You can study these online, or if you would like an immersive experience, we are currently planning a 21 day, 200 hour, intensive Qigong Instructor Certification course in Thailand in May next year. This will be an opportunity to go deep into experiencing and understanding your energy, as well as preparing you to share this beautiful gift with others. Details of the course in Thailand will appear here when they are ready. You can also send us an email to info@longwhitecloudqigong.com to let us know if your are interested in this, and you can make sure you are signed up to our email newsletter below to receive updates as they become available!!