Energy healer responds to common questions about Qigong.

Energy healer explains Qigong to a novice

http://www.fleshandstone.net/wellness/whatisqigong.html

Back in 1984, Minnesota medical device and technology companies,
health plans and insurance companies, hospitals and consultants of all
kinds, formed a trade association, named it Medical Alley, and planned
to create an ambiance about the technology rich region that would
capture the imagination of people around the world. They dubbed the
state: "Health Care's Silicon Valley."

Today Minnesota seems to be a growing hub for a new kind of medicine:
Qigong. Master Chunyi Lin's Spring Forest Qigong school and clinic
based in Eden Prairie draws people from around the country. The
National Qigong Association is headquartered here, there are many
private practitioners, courses for credit at Normandale and Anoka-
Ramsey Community Colleges, and you can find Qigong offered at
alternative health clinics. The University of Minnesota Center for
Spirituality and Healing's web site features Qigong and other mind-
body therapies. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester have found
Qigong effective for patients with depression, arthritis and other
illnesses. I asked David Nelson, a Qigong energy healer and wellness
coach, to explain what it means.

What is Qigong?

Qigong, a form of traditional Chinese medicine, was founded about
7,000 years ago. Qi, pronounced 'chee,' refers to the energy that
flows through all things in the universe. Gong, pronounced 'gung,'
means skill or steady practice. Qigong combines physical exercise,
meditation and energy to remove energy blockages within the body and
to help the body's energy flow. Helping energy move in a natural
fashion allows the body to heal itself and increase one's energy. Ten
thousand years ago, of course, there were no modern Western medical
devices or techniques. This is how people adapted and lived and, in
combination with herbs, healed injuries, recovered from disease and
increased their vitality.

That sounds like free universal health care. How did you come to
practice it and use it to help others?

For 20 years after college I was a banker, left-brained, intellectual.
I didn't understand, didn't want to understand, and viewed somewhat
suspiciously, the types of things that I'm now doing. But I started to
explore what my purpose is on earth. One of the things I was exposed
to was Reiki, which is a Japanese energy or healing art. I was taught
Reiki by Catholic nuns at a university in Cleveland. Quite to my
surprise, I found that I could feel this energy that could not be seen
or measured or tested in any other way, and I could also move this
energy. It was quite a wonderful experience and also a little
disconcerting.

Shortly after that, I realized it was time to leave banking. I went
through a period of reintegration and letting go of who I was before,
and accepting who I am now. I spent a two-year mentorship with a man
who does healing "earth work," by the name of Warren Grossman, who's
written a beautiful book called "To Be Healed by the Earth."

Back in Cleveland I had learned there was a master Qigong teacher
here, and a number of different people I met either took one of his
classes or had a healing session with him and spoke quite highly of
it. It sounded intriguing so after we moved back to Minnesota I signed
up to a attend a class at Spring Forest Qigong, which is the name of
Master Chunyi Lin's school in Eden Prairie, a Twin Cities suburb, and
he offers courses through Normandale Community College.

I found Qigong fit very seamlessly for me between Reiki and earthwork.
Qigong helped fill the middle even stronger. Earthwork, which is also
my daily practice, helps me ground, get centered and connect to the
energy. Qigong, even more than Reiki, allows me to integrate stronger
with higher vibrational energies -- the universe's energy --and bring
it present when I do an energy session with someone. Master Lin's
Qigong technique incorporates the wisdom of a number of different
masters he had in China. But in China Qigong is a very ritualistic,
master-student relationship that lasts for 20 or even 40 years.
Master Lin's inspiration was to synthesize the wisdom of these
different Masters and simplify the techniques to make them obtainable
for everyone. His vision is that everyone can do this, that everyone
is a healer and has the capacity to heal themselves or help others.

How long did you train, or how long have you been practicing? Better
yet, what do you consider it, training or practicing or both?

Both. I've completed all four levels of Spring Forest Qigong. The
higher levels tend to be for people who want to incorporate this into
their practice or what they're doing as far as trying to help others.

Can anyone do it?

Absolutely. One of the things I like about Spring Forest Qigong is
anyone can learn this; it's available to all of us. With some
awareness, attention, and focus, we can actually become quite good at
this. For example, I worked with a fourth grade school class on just
some basic Qigong techniques, and things they can do when they have an
injury in their arm to help make their arm feel better. And these kids
immediately picked up on the technique and felt the difference in
their own body. So even children have the availability -- maybe more
so -- because their minds are more open to quickly pick this up.
Master Lin repeatedly says about Qigong: "All we ever needed to know
we learned in Level One." So the other levels are to deepen the
experiences, pay attention to them, and go more into them. This is
very accessible and easy to understand if you come with an open mind
and are willing to experience it for yourself. And there are CDs, DVDs
and books available, by the way, for people who want to learn but
can't attend the class.

You've lived in far-flung places like Cleveland and New Zealand. Do
you think it's more popular here than other places?

There are many Qigong teachers here in the area, but if they're not
directly related to Master Lin, typically their focus is less on the
energetic or healing aspects of Qigong and more into the practice as
exercise, like Tai Chi. Spring Forest Qigong is unique. It just
happens to be based here in the Twin Cities, but it's really his
creation from information he's received from a lot of different
sources, and he makes it very approachable and understandable for us
Westerners.

If someone just heard about Qigong and wanted to pursue it, how would
you recommend getting started?

First, I would recommend they experience a Qigong session. They could
go to Spring Forest Qigong or come to someone like me who's trained in
Spring Forest Qigong. They could attend courses and gain some hands-on
experience in actually doing it, and also practice exercises found in
textbooks and CDs. You can and take this and apply it to your life.
Master Lin is very good at saying, "Feel free to adapt this, take
this, fit it into what you're already doing," and "find the parts that
work for you." He doesn't believe that you have to do it just his way,
but he shows what he has found powerful and effective for him.
Typically, my wife, Pam, who is a life coach, and I do workshops and
retreats. The idea is to give people exposure to these areas that are
not traditionally shared or taught in Western society, especially in
America, even though all this wisdom has come from Japan, China and
India. These cultures have thousands of years of experience of having
awareness of energy flows, their bodies, and the earth. Much of the
vocabulary and techniques come from these cultures because Westerners
don't even have a word for it. Going to a workshop or a retreat gives
you an opportunity to become aware of the energy, try it on, and see
how it works for you. The same rules should apply: adapt it, change
it, or don't use it, whatever feels right for you, but at least
there's a sense of awareness and that's very empowering. We like to
focus on self-awareness and self-empowerment that allows people to
increase and tap into their own wisdom to help themselves and those
around them.

As far as health benefits, what are some of the things people
typically want help with?

Energy healing works on the spiritual, physical and emotional and
mental levels. It is very unlike seeing a medical doctor, because this
is not a medical treatment, and it's unlike seeing a counselor or a
psychiatrist. It's quite an amazing thing, it's sort of a mystery to
us all. Yet it's really quite beautiful and the bottom line is people
benefit from this. Some people with cancer who are going through
chemotherapy or radiation find getting a Qigong or Reiki session helps
support them while they're getting their medical treatments. Energy
work helps their body feel stronger and more vital and helps achieve
more balance. Like Tai Chi exercise or meditation, Qigong helps us
stay more centered and grounded and have some balance in our lives.
When we get out of balance and especially when we're in a state of
fear from pain or illness or a big life change, we really need some
support. My sense is this energetic support is pretty crucial, and is
very clean, and so it's not like there has to be a long-term
relationship or there's anything you have to take or anything you have
to buy, you just need to show up, be present, and allow yourself to
experience whatever you need to experience. For people who are
looking to complement and support what else they're doing, this ends
up being a very positive and empowering experience. In my experience,
when people come in during a time of need or a crisis, more often than
not some thought or emotion seems to have some tie-in to their
physical issues. If my knee hurts it may be that my body is trying to
get my attention. If I get some support with it I can help keep that
knee functioning. That's the deeper aspect of this and where I think
it differs from Western medicine which is much more dealing with
symptoms and physical causes and cause and effect, whereas this is
much more of an art than a science where there's a level of mystery
and beauty, and divinity, for lack of a better word, occurring.

My sense of healing is not as a curing of physical symptoms, but more
a sense of well-being, wholeness and empowerment. Our bodies seem to
be great mirrors and maybe even canaries in the coal mine to let us
know when things are a little out of whack somewhere. We need to be
aware that our thoughts and emotions contribute to that as much as
slipping on ice, or car accidents and things. My basic understanding
is that healing is a more complex relationship than I was led to
believe when I was growing up.

There's a lot of discussion about the mind-body connection, and there
are still many mysteries about the brain. We don't understand how some
things work and it's been called "the last frontier" of science.

This is the cutting edge area. The tough part for Western scientific
minds when talking about energy work is that it's very hard for any
instrument to measure it. We are getting some techniques, some
research that does measure blood pressure, temperature changes,
changes in brain activity. But this is a very subtle energy and
difficult to measure using traditional instruments. Dr. Bruce Lipton,
a biologist and Stanford researcher, authored a book called "The
Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Conciousness, Matter and
Miracles" that I recommend to everyone. Lipton has come to understand
cells and genes from a perspective that is very different from
traditional scientific belief. His research found that genes can be
turned off and on by environmental signals, including thoughts,
feelings and emotions. We're starting to realize that humans are a
whole being. We are affected by our environment and by what we eat, by
exercising, by stress, and by thoughts and emotions. We need to look
at ourselves on all those levels. If there's a behavior we want to
change, energy work can support that exploration and wisdom and also
supply some energy to take the place of the behavior we want to
change. It's really quite beautiful and exciting and complex, and
there's more to come. And science is, in some ways, starting to
explore and catch up with what people in the East have known for
centuries. It's neat to see this synergy occurring.

How does Qigong differ from Reiki, healing touch, or any of the other
energy modalities?

I've been trained in three different energy modalities and I've had
exposure to probably five others. My sense is that they all get you to
the same place. It's really no different than one person enjoying the
Salsa and one person enjoying the Waltz, it's still dancing, and it's
what moves and works for you. I encourage people who are looking to
explore this to try a couple different ways and see which ones speaks
to them, and they're most comfortable doing. Do some reading, ask some
questions, and ask friends who maybe have done it. The provider of
these services makes a big difference also. You know, we all try to
stay very clean and just allow the energy to flow through us to
benefit the person but there is a perfume or a sweetness or an essence
that is also transmitted in the relationship. You need to be one with
somebody that you trust and connect with, and that gives you results.
When you're done the session with them, you feel more peaceful,
enlivened and aware.

How do people locate Qigong practitioners?
http://www.fleshandstone.net/wellness/whatisqigong.html
.