Chapter one: Introduction:
Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese method of using simple stances and, or, movement combined with specific breathing techniques to help the body to regain a natural internal balance. Modern medicine now recognises the need for this internal balance in such things as our immune system and the balance between internal organs. However, the Chinese took the idea of internal balance to far greater areas of healing by discovering that each organ in the body had to either have a negative or positive polarity with reference to each other. They also discovered that certain pairs of organs were inextricably linked in what they called yin and yang pairs. So if for instance the Heart was affected, they would look for an imbalance between the Heart and the Small Intestine as that is a balanced pair. When the balance between those two organs was restored, the patient was well on the way to recovery. They didn’t stop there however; they would then diagnose what other parts of the body were out of balance and also restore that area.
Losing Weight and keeping fit:
In order for the physical body to also be in perfect balance and thereby maintaining an ideal weight for each body type, internal balance is essential. The mind, spirit and body are inextricably linked. So what one does, has a direct effect upon the other. People who are obese are also out of balance in mind and the levels of yin and yang Qi (energy) in the body. So when we get the mind into balance so too does the body wish to be balanced. In this way losing weight comes naturally. All of the correct hormones are produced in harmony and balance to cause the body to lose weight (or gain weight if necessary). The essential hormone HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is produced in a greater quantity naturally, which is one of the best weight loss hormones in the body. And you do not have to take unnatural synthetic HGH which can have a deleterious effect upon the body and mind!
15 minutes every morning and evening will help you to lose weight and get fit and most importantly, healthy. There is a difference between being fit and being healthy. It is much better to be fit and healthy though. Even supreme athletes can die of heart attacks because they were fit but not healthy. So this is also a very important part of Chinese Qigong. It causes your body and mind to be fit AND healthy.
The main area of losing weight is what your mind is doing. So if your mind is out of balance so too will your body be out of balance. The first area that Qigong attacks in weight loss (balance), is to balance out the mind and the hormones that affect the mind. In this way you have a much better chance of losing weight and keeping it off as your mind is not continually fooling you into believing that you are hungry, or that you have to eat for comfort or emotional reasons.
Emotional:
This is another big area where Qigong is able to help. Ever organ in the body controls a different emotion. When I was a child my Mother would always say that I had a ‘shitty’ liver if I was ever angry etc. But she did not know how correct she was. The liver/Gallbladder is the balanced pair of organs that controls depressed/anger while the Kidneys control fear. The Lungs with its balanced pair, the Colon, control grief/anguish while the balanced pair of Spleen/Stomach control worry and sympathy. The balanced pair of Heart/Spleen control the emotion of joy.
Excessive joy is a disease of an unbalanced Heart. Depression is a disease of the unbalanced Liver. Obsession is a disease of an unbalanced Spleen. Anguish is a disease of an unbalanced Lungs while ‘fear’ is a disease of an unbalanced Kidneys. See Chart below.
So many patients have come to our clinic with one of these emotional problems. They cannot see that their problem is emotional because their mind is out of balance. However, once we begin them on a regime of Qigong and diet, they begin to see things clearer and do not know why they did not see it before! Once the mind is healed, it is always easy to heal the body and to keep it healthy.
Qigong comes in many different ways of exercise with breathing methods. Each is designed to either have an over-all effect upon one’s mental and physical state or to attack a specific organ or group of organs. Once diagnosed, the treatment is simple. Qigong exercises along with a simple diet.
However, it is also possible to treat oneself using Qigong methods. For this we have the more general Qigong exercises, ones that do not require any great physical ability or intervention by a ‘Qigong Doctor’. It is these Qigong methods that I will be presenting in this book.
