QiGong – StormJewel's Gifts Spirit Blog

Qigong Secrets Home Study Course – Review

Qigong Secrets Home Study Course – Week 6 – My review

So a while ago I told you that I had signed up to an online Qigong course called the Qigong Secrets Home study course, it’s been a few weeks in now, so how’s it going I hear you ask? Here is my review of my experiences, but first, just a little about how and why I found this course.

I regularly meditate, but find it very difficult at times (in fact a lot of the time!) to clear the mind. Active meditations (which can be anything from walking to something you always do) are ideal if you feel a bit restless when you meditate, and something like Qigong, Tai Chi or Yoga are excellent forms of doing this.

I was always intrigued by Qigong, but became interested when a friend taught me some of the moves. I was struck by the seeming simplicity, the joy I felt in doing it, and the powerful feelings of energy coursing through me. I scoured the newspaper and other local magazines for a Qigong course but there was none as it is not as well known as Tai Chi and Yoga.

When I found Marcus’s course I was very pleased and so got started straight away. I am now on week 6 of the course. Unfortunately I got very ill for a few months and was unable to do the exercises so that is why it has actually been a good bit longer than six weeks since my last post.

Qigong Secrets Home Study Course – The Review So Far

Marcus’s Qigong teaching style

As soon as I bought the course I was impressed by Marcus’ friendly, clear and encouraging teaching style. In the first few lessons he explains some of the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, showing us how in this holistic conception of health, disease (dis-ease) is the result of energy blockages in the body, and Qigong is one way of removing these blockages, thus restoring or maintaining good health.

Each week he prepares an interesting handout with all the info on it, complete with diagrams and pictures. Whilst all this info has already been given to you on that week’s video, its nice to have a quick way to recap what you have learned.

As well as the theory, lessons on the patterns of Qigong (the forms) begin straight away which is great as you feel you are getting stuck in to the practical side, and getting a feel for the martial art. Marcus encourages you to practice every day, but structures the homework so that it only takes a few minutes at first.

Getting the most from your practice and how long it takes

He gradually teaches you more preparation tools so that you get the most out of your practice, but even now it only takes me about 5-10 minutes a day to do everything that he recommends. Some days I feel lazy and don’t want to do it, but I try and make myself because I feel so much better afterwards.

As well as showing you how to relax your body, one of the most valuable preparation methods he reveals is how to relax your inner self through a simple technique called ‘Smile from the Heart’. I particularly value this technique as it draws on much that I have learnt from many traditions (from Reiki to Hypnosis) about making yourself happy and healthy.

How QiGong helps me and how it can help you

So far I’ve learnt two forms through the Qigong secrets home study course – Butterfly dancing in front of flowers and Lifting the Sky. These seemingly simple movements fill me with great joy to do, and after doing qigong I almost always feel lighter and happier, so something must be working.

Marcus gives you a progress tracker to chart your mood and general health, which I have been very naughty about and not done, (but I’m going to start from today, honest Marcus!) but even without that I can see that I feel better after doing Qi Gung and generally in better health and mood.

Physically I enjoy the (gentle) stretching and movements, particularly at night times where during the day I have been cramped in front of the computer.

Ultimately this course comes at a time where I feel I am changing and (hopefully!) growing as a person. I’ve been feeling a desire to improve my self and my life by becoming calmer, being able to put things in perspective more and generally be more happy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not generally a depressive stress head, but like anyone can suffer from sadness and worry under pressure, but I see that this does not help me much, and this Qigong secrets course is really helping me to be that person and it could do the same for you as well as keep you healthy!

So that’s all of my QiGong secrets home study course review for now, if you have any questions please do comment or get in touch.

Thinking of trying the course but still not sure?

Marcus is offering the first two weeks of the Qigong Secrets home study course for just $4.95 and there’s also a free video explaining more about him and the course, so do take a look, you’ve got nothing to lose and lots to learn even if you don’t take it further than these two weeks!

~~send2BL~~

Healing – How does it work? My Thoughts

Crystals for Healing

As I write this I am recovering from a seriously nasty virus, so have been thinking a lot about healing (well I was thinking about it before but have had even more time now!) and what it is that makes it work, be it reiki, acupuncture, crystal healing, qi gung, self hypnosis or any one of the many other types of alternative and holistic healing.

First off I’d just like to point out that I’m by no means a healing expert or guru, but have a small amount of experience in that I have taken the first level of reiki training, have received different types of healing, and have been working with meditation and energy work for many years.

The first thing that all these types of practices have in common is the use of energy (or Qi, or Chi or life force, or vital energy or whatever you prefer to call it/think of it as.

Practices such as reflexology and acupuncture work (as my basic understanding of it goes) by realigning the energy pathways, or meridians that flow through your body. In common with so many alternative healing practices, these systems believe that many things (including physical and emotional events) can cause blockages in your energy lines, leading to illness and disease.

I once spent some time listening to a Paul Mckenna self-hypnosis CD which aimed to help you keep your immune system strong and healthy by learning to give yourself an endorphine boost. He sescribes how the place where endorphines are released can be different for different people, but for me it was the heart chakra, the same place as the reiki energy fills up first before going on to heal the rest of me, interesting I thought….

The plot thickened the other day when I read that certain people believe that acupuncture works by stimulating your endorphins.

Things continued to get more confusing when I practiced a relaxation meditation that involves following the path of energy around your body, common in things like mindfulness, yoga, and also in Robert Bruce’s New Energy Ways. I felt the energy course around my body, particularly in my hands and feet – very similar to what I have felt when practicing the tarot, but also when trying out QiGong.

Reiki, unlike say reflexology or acupuncture, is a passive form of healing in that the healer is merely a channel for a an energy source that exists outside (but also inside!) of our bodies. My reiki healer would often say how much she liked giving reiki treatments since it was also a treatment for her. Yet I began to wonder, since the feelings of energy, the burst of pleasure associated with endorphins, was pretty much the same as what I had experienced from all these other metaphysical practices. Was reiki just a self delusion? Tricking yourself that there is something greater when it’s all within you?

But then I realised the (perhaps obvious) answer – This energy, this Qi, Life Force, Love, Divine Light, Mother Nature, God even if you are religious, whatever you call it, is not only within us, but also powers the universe. It is the thing that I think I have always believed makes the world go round so to speak. And importantly, it’s all the same thing! Whatever you call it, however you manipulate it – drawing it in from the world or redistributing it in your body, it’s the same, all is one!

The feeling of endorphins being triggered is a sign of us connecting to that universal force. love, whatever, and is a very healing thing. Even before I connected all this I began to intuitively feel that whenever I triggered that feeling, I was getting some strong healing.

We love to be in love as that triggers that feeling, but a relationship can also bring negatives, but if, as someone once suggested to me, we can hang on to that feeling of love, regardless of there being a single object of it, we can be happy and healthy.

You probably know the way that when you start thinking of something it keeps coming up in new ways, (some people call this synchronicity) and having just started QiGong, the first exercise I am learning is called ‘Butterfly Dancing in Front of Flowers’ and is all about opening your heart to the universal energy – what a great time and place to start this journey!

What are your thoughts on this? Was this obvious to you all along or has it made you think? Do you have other ideas on the way healing (and energy) works? Get involved below!!

Qi Gong – What is it and why do it?

A while ago a friend showed me some QiGong (aka Chi Kung) and manipulation of energy and I was very impressed and excited by what I had seen, particularly as I have been looking to add an active meditation to my range of meditations. Qi Gong has been a very powerful influence in his life, helping him to beat a downward spiral of drug addiction, and also helping him to attain new levels of spiritual understanding and awareness. Unfortunately there are no Qi Gong teachers local to me, so when I found an online course by a well respected QiGong teacher I decided to give it a go!

It’s 22 week online course that I’m very enthusiastic about, so I thought I’d write a little blog post about it and keep you updated as the course progresses!

So what is QiGong?

QiGong is an ancient Chinese form of active meditation. It is very similar to practices such as Tai Chi (although much easier to learn!). It is part of Chinese medicine, other aspects including Chinese herbs and Acupuncture.

Literally translated:

Qi = Energy (and you may know this by the name Chi, but also Mana, Aura or many words depending on what part of the world you are familiar with)

Gong = Work

So put that together and you have Energy Work. What does that achieve? Well I’ll go into more detail shortly, but first, why practice something like QiGong?

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am very keen on meditation and energy practices for a range of reasons, here are some of the main ones:

Relieves stress and anxiety
Deepens spiritual awareness
Improves psychic & healing ability
Keeps you both mentally and physically healthy

QiGong brings extra benefits, as explained by Marcus, my online teacher for the next 22 weeks – a sincere seeming guy who has been taught by masters in China and practicing for over 10 years.

So what are the extra and specific benefits of practicing Qi Gong?

To improve your health and vitality
To increase your longevity, in other words to help you live a longer and happier life
To increase your internal force – this will help provide you with amazing stamina and endurance and can also assist you in practices that require energy manipulation such as healing and psychic ability
To expand your mind – like with any good meditation practice, it can help improve your memory, creativity, intelligence, awareness and your ability to articulate your thoughts.
To take you further on your spiritual journey – meaning to help get you in touch with your inner self, but also with the universe, other people, and understanding and enjoying your place within that.

Energy Work and Health

Chinese and Japanese medicine and in fact most alternative forms of medicine believe that we have energy lines or meridians flowing through our bodies. If these flows of energy become blocked, many unfortunate things can result, from emotional conditions such as depression, to physical illnesses and dis-eases. Energy work keeps us healthy and happy and is the key to almost all alternative forms of medicine I have come across, including Reiki, a form of healing I am passionate about.

Ok well that’s enough for now, so far I’m really impressed by the info and explanations that Marcus has provided about Qi Gung (there’s written material and videos for each week) and I’m off to practice the first form of the course which is called, most poetically ‘Butterfly dancing in front of Flowers’. This form is all about opening your heart and body.

Do you or have you practiced QiGong? Is is it something you are thinking about? Why not join me on my journey and we can learn together! If you are keen to learn more about the course Marcus is offering, you can try a two week trial of QiGong and see what you think!