According to Qigong, our energy system, the “energy body,” is most familiar through “Zhen Jou” otherwise known as “Acupuncture” Zhen Jou translates into Needle and Heat. Therefore, understanding how Acupuncture works with the Energy Channels helps paint a clear understanding of the self-care Energy Work Qigong practice provides.
Acupuncture has become mainstream in the Western World and is available almost everywhere. A Jesuit Priest invented the name “Acupuncture” in the 11th Century after witnessing a performance in China. Why has Acupuncture become so popular in the past 50 years? Because it works! It works with our Energy System, the blueprint, or control system for everything else.
Qigong works the same energy system as Acupuncture, except you do it to yourself. The practice of Qigong in self-care is becoming a similar revolution as Acupuncture in the West.
Meridians, Channels, or Pathways: the energy body
The Energy Meridians or Channels refer to the energy system or pathways. For example, the energy lines run through the body—the Chinese call these energy channels’ Mo, as in Du Mo, or Ren Mo.
The 20 Major Energy Channels: the energy body
These Major Energy Channels are related to specific internal organs or functions. There are 12 pathways.
The Internal Organs or Functions:
Here is a list of them:
- Governor
- Conception
- Heart
- Pericardium
- Lungs
- Colon
- Triple Heater
- Small Intestine
- Gall Bladder
- Bladder
- Kidneys
- Liver
- Spleen
- Stomach
The 14 Main Meridian Pathways: energy body
There are Eight Extraordinary Meridians- Or The Eight Extras, and only two have their own points, for the others crisscross and jump over the points on the other energy pathways.
- Governor/Du Mo
- Conception/Ren Mo
- Bridge/Yang Qiao Mo
- Bridge/Yin Qiao Mo
- Belt/Dai Mo
- Thrusting/Chong Mo
- Linking/Yang Wei Mo
- Linking/Yin Wei Mo
The Eight Extras are divided into a primary set and a secondary set. Operating within the torso are the four primaries.
- Governor Channel/Du Mo
- Conception Channel/ Ren Mo
- Belt channel/ Dai Mo
- Thrusting Channel/Chong Mo
The Secondary:
These four work as support or backup to the primary set. They run into the arms and legs.
- Yang Bridge/Yang Qiao Mo
- Yin Bridge/Yin Qiao Mo
- Yang Linking/Tang wei Mo
- Yin Linking/Tin Wei Mo
The Master and Coupled Points are where these Eight Extras can be accessed and controlled. Along with sub-branches and connecting channels or pathways, these 20 meridians constitute the total number of channels in the body familiar with Acupuncture; therefore, we all have the same.
The Three Tan Tien:
There is another critical set of energy centers. The Three Elixir Fields, the Three Tan Tien Energy Centers, runs along the Chong Mo pathway. Therefore, run along the core of the body. Locations reside in the lower abdomen, the chest’s center, and the head’s middle. Jing, Qi, and Shen are the three treasures contained in the three Tan Tien Centers. Translated as Essence, Energy, and Spirit, and considered the most important possessions a person has.
Qigong Works By Affecting These Channels and Energy Centers:
Qigong works by affecting and operating these channels and centers. So we are working to increase the volume to bring the high frequency to our energy and bring our energy under our conscious control.
The Three Treasures Union Jing, Qi, Shen: How Do They Work?
It is translated as the fundamental laws and rules of nature of the energy pathways work based upon the principles of The Dao.
Daoism is concerned with understanding how things work and the correct nature of events. The Chinese equivalent to the Western World is Science; therefore, Science is Western Dao.
The Daoism described here is a secular, non-religious aspect. Another aspect of Daoism is the religious version, and this information does not reference any religion or religious ideologies in any way.
The Dao operates according to specific laws, and there are many, with levels of subtleties. So yes, some Scholars deal with nothing else their whole life. However, here we are using the primary.
- Wuji
- Yin yang
- The Eight Principles
- The Five Elements
- The Table of Correspondences
- The Eight Trigrams
Wu Wei:
The Great Nothingness, therefore, is the ground of all beings. That which existed before anything else came into existence.
Ying Yang-
The two separate poles are referred to as positive and negative. Most recognized as the well-known symbol of Yin and Yang, which is prevalent everywhere today.
The Five Principles of Yin & Yang: energy body
- Everything has an aspect of Yin and Yang.
- Every Yin and Yang can be further divided.
- Yin and Yang create each other.
- Yin and Yang can control each other.
- Yin and Yang can bother to transform into each other.
The Eight Principles:
In Oriental Medicine, the Yin and Yang polarity forms the basis of what is known as the Eight Principles.
Here is a way to understand and describe the state and condition of the Qi according to the Eight Parameters.
- Yin/Yang
- Interior/Exterior
- Deficiency/Excess
- Cold/Hot
Example:
A person may have an internal energy condition, described as Yin, interior deficient and cold, or Yang, exterior, excessive and hot.
In a practical sense, this assessment allows for a way of thinking about a specific situation or condition. As a result, a decision on the course of action resolves the difference to bring the energies back into the correct balance.
The Five Elements:
- Wood
- Fire
- Earth
- Metal
- Water
According to their inherent qualities, this is a way of understanding and describing the nature of things in basic categories. There are many ways the Five Elements can interact together. These many differences form the basis for whole schools of thought in Daoism.
To bring an understanding of the Five Elements with ease is in relationship to the year’s seasons.
Each year’s season has a quality that reflects its character in nature, and each quality is described in terms of a phase or Element.
- Wood is the power or force that motivates spring growth.
- Fire is the activity and health that reaches its peak in summer.
- Earth is the ground, the foundation for everything, reaching the late summer center point (Indian Summer)
- Metal is the minerals that return to the ground in fall.
- Water is the ice and snow of winter.
The Corresponding Organs Related To Each of The Five Elements and Seasons in the Body:
- Spring/Wood is the Liver and Ball Bladder
- Summer/Fire is the Heat and Small Intestines. The Pericardium and Triple Heater.
- Late Summer/Earth is the Spleen, Pancreas, and Stomach
- Fall/Metal is the Lungs and Large Intestine
- Winter/Water is the Kidneys and Bladder
There are many more relationships between the Five Elements, which include Emotions.
The Table of Correspondences/Internal Ecology: energy body
The Chinese have a classical way of understanding holistic human nature and the relationship between all our different parts. The Table of Correspondence shows the relationship’s expansion into many other aspects of life. Therefore, it provides an essential foundation for this comprehensive way of looking at and experiencing the world. The Table of Correspondence and the Five Elements ties all of the different aspects into one integrated and interrelated whole.
Example:
The physical levels of organs:
- Senses
- Tissues
- Functions
The Emotional Level of our basic feelings:
- The mental level of our abilities of planning.
- Decision making
- Will power
- Differentiation
- Sorting
- Control ect.
Which also includes various dimensions and levels of the Spirit.
Therefore, dimensions or relationships of colors, sounds, orders, time of day, flavors, etc. The Table of Correspondence extends the understanding of the relationships of all our parts. The knowledge of internal Ecology is one of the original Holistic worldviews.
Our Internal Ecology: the energy body
Internal Ecology provides a foundation for a deeply integrated view. But, first, to understand who and what we are. In other words, knowledge of how we operate and function on the deepest level of our being.
What Are The Eight Trigrams:
In the Chinese language, the Eight Trigrams or Ba Gua’ consist of a system. Some consider it to be a diagram of the primary dynamics of reality. This system describes the fundamental nature of change, how it works, and how we can work with it in our own life.
There are Eights Sets of three lines in the Trigrams:
There are eight sets of three lies in the Trigrams. The bottom line represents the Earth. The line at the top represents Heaven. The middle line represents Humankind. The Yang lines are sold, unbroken. The Yin lines are broken. Heaven and Earth are the Two Primary Trigrams, Full Yang and Full Yin. These lines are interchangeable, and when any of them change into their opposite, the change can create six possible permutations.
- Thunder
- Water
- Mountain
- Wind-Fire
- Lake
The Trigrams can form an Eight sided figure (The Ba Gua) in relation to each other.
There is (Ho Tu) an Earlier Heaven and (Lo Shu) a later Heaven; this correlates to the pre-natal circulations of the energy and postnatal.
Wu Wei:
The Chinese use the term Wu Wei to describe our attitude toward The Dao and life. It’s how we see the world, what happens, and how we act appropriately in any situation. However, the term Uu Wei is translated as “doing nothing,” “non-action,” or “non-interference,” according to Jim Macritchie, author of “The Eight Extraordinary Meridians Qigong,” there is a misunderstanding in the translation. Wu Wei means being in harmony with the Dao; on its own, everything happens as it should.
What is Energy Health?
Energy Health is a state where our energy is functioning correctly and our energy body is working as intended. Our energy/control system or blueprint has Five Specific Characteristics. As a result, our energy has Free-Flow, Balanced, the Right Quality, Good Volume, and Correct Relationships.
When these Five are achieved, we have a strong foundation for health, and everything functions correctly.
An Energy Language for the Western World: Our Energy Body
There is no Energy Language in the Western World to discuss our experiences with Qigong. However, energy is life; therefore, we need an Energy Language to express and communicate the meaning of the sensations and experiences we encounter from practicing Qigong. Not only to convey to others but an energy language that is simple for understanding these experiences for ourselves.
We need to use an Energy Language to describe and understand how to work with our energy, develop it, and control it. Without an Energy Language, we cannot communicate or compare it with the experiences of others.
To learn how our energy feels, we need first to choose a particular practice. Next, we bring our awareness to the effects we feel, thereby receiving feedback; therefore, this builds an Energy Language Vocabulary by requiring a passive and receptive attitude of mind. Finally, we slowly create our internal library of memory of how our energy feels and affects us.
Based on Classical Chinese Principles of our energy anatomy and physiology, we can describe the meaning of felt sensations and feelings of our various energy states in standard Western terms.
Energy Language for the Energy Body: The Four Components
What are the Four Components?
- Yin Yang
- The Five elements
- The Percentage Scale
- Volume Control
Yin and Yang:
Yin and Yang are two fundamental polarities of everything. Comparing and contrasting is how someone mainly figures things out or knows something. Quality, movement, and position are the three significant categories describing its opposite, its Ying and Yang aspect.
Sensations of Qualities:
Yin- light, empty, weak, pull, murky, dark Yang- heavy, full, intense, tingling, clear, light.
Sensations of Movement:
Yin- still, sinking, falling, stuck, contracting.
Yang- moving, floating, rising, flowing, expanding.
Sensations of Position:
Yin- bottom, below, down, right, front
Yang- top, above, up, left, back
Center
The Language of the 5 Elements:
The Daoist view of the world is known as the 5 phases or “The Five Elements.” They are not compared to the opposite. Instead, it’s a way to understand the essence of something.
The Five Elements, Related Organs, Temperature, Color, and Direction:
Wood:
Organs: liver, gull bladder Temp: warm Color: green Direction: right
Fire:
Organs: heart, small intestine, and pericardium, triple heater Temp: Hot Color: Red Direction: Right
Earth:
Organs: spleen, stomach Temp: mild Color: yellow Direction: center
Metal:
Organs: lungs, large intestine Temp: cool Color: white Direction: left
Water:
Organs: kidneys, bladder Temp: cold Color: blue/black Direction: down
The Five Elements and the two components of Yin and Yang create a foundation to describe our sensations in a language easy to communicate to ourselves and others.
Example: A sensation can be felt as flowing, tingling, mild, smooth, and yellow on the left.
It is possible to feel a combination of these sensations and describe the experience in simple words. They can be remembered and recalled with ease when put into language.
The Internal Percentage Scale:
We can use our awareness, which is most important when assessing a feeling or sensation, using the intuitive internal “scale,” from 0% to 100%. We can distinguish the relative proportion of our energy as a percentage in the body. When we are experiencing certain sensations in our bodies, we know what is happening inside us.
Communicate how little or strong we feel and experience these sensations with others. We can read the percentage of energy or sensations in any given area with our minds. We can learn to divide the energy into portions and send it to other body areas. Therefore we can move 1/3 of our energy to our Three Tan Tien, dividing our awareness into equal thirds. We decide in Qigong on the level of awareness and Direction we move and experience our energy internally.
The Volume Control:
We can instantaneously decide the intensity at which we do something. It is in our natural ability, and we can learn how to change the volume and intensity of our energy. The power we put forth and our mind move the energy.
Example: We have the power and intensity to touch something with such gentleness it may be hard to discern if we touched it at all. We also can use force, such as slamming something down. We choose the intensity we use our energy.
When you first start practicing Qigong, it is essential to begin quietly and lightly. Having too much intensity or volume can bring undesired side effects. If this happens, we can decrease the intensity by backing off. Then in a short time, we can slowly, step by step, increase the energy within your comfort zone and capacity for you.
Therefore, combining The 5 Elements, Yin Yang, Our Internal Percentage Scale, and Our Volume Control provides a basis for the Energy Language simplified in Western World terms. We learn what internal sensations feel like and how we relate to them in straightforward, expressive words by practicing qigong practices.
Qigong Practice: The Complete Toolbox
Qigong is used for many diverse purposes with very different applications for each. Many are simply performed, and about anyone can practice them. At the same time, others are very complicated and need an experienced instructor in Qigong. Choosing the right tool and learning how to use it properly is imperative. Simple standing postures that require little instruction can be practiced. Very few are initiated into the Inner Alchemy’s higher levels in the monastic tradition’s spiritual cultivation.
The Wide Spectrum of Qigong Applications: energy body
- Fitness
- Sports
- Longevity
- Health and Healing
- Sex
- Extraordinary Human Abilities
- Spiritual Development
- Immortality
Fitness:
Qigong has been practiced for centuries and is an ancient Eastern practice that can improve mental balance focus, reduce stress levels, lower chronic disease risk by increasing blood circulation, and provide therapeutic relief to those suffering from various illnesses. Qigong includes many applications, such as self-care exercises used today at the gym or elsewhere to increase cardiovascular health via aerobic exercise. Practicing Qigong also helps reduce joint pain through gentle flow, moving joint movement, and strengthening of surrounding joint muscles.
Qigong has many different exercises that can get you in shape. Self-massage is a great place to start, with The Eight Pieces of Brocade (Ba Duan Jin), the Five Animal Frolics (Wu Qin Xi), Wild Goose Qigong, Flying Crane Qigong, and Swimming Dragon Qigong all having their purpose and benefits for your health.
Sports:
Athletes in modern times are subjected to rigorous training schedules and demands. For those who want their body at its best, one should consider the Yin Yang balance of physical conditioning as it is a critical part of being healthy for both athletes and non-athletes alike.
It is making a choice in the light of what is professional for athletes. Traditional Chinese medical theory insists that one of the critical signs of good physical condition is finding a balance between Yin and Yang, each with its unique characteristics. For example, Yang stands for the kinetic state, whereas Yin represents the static state. Still, they cannot exist independently, so it’s necessary to combine them into equilibrium, allowing you to be at your best as an athlete.
The state of outwardly strong but inwardly weak is common among athletes. It hinders their health conditions and prevents them from improving professionally. However, suppose an athlete wants to go beyond this stage and live healthier lives with more success in the sport they love. In that case, Qigong methods like ‘Neiyangong’ (the technique for recuperating inner organs) or ‘Qiangzhuangon’ (making things stronger) can help athletes do just that!
Longevity:
Example of an application for longevity:
Contemporary Qigong practitioners are utilizing the ancient art of Fuqi Bigu. Eating only Qi helps maintain their health and enjoy longevity by eating only Qi. More and more people are learning this technique to combat cancer and other chronic diseases. It’s common sense that humans survive on food to live, but can a person stay healthy and long-lived by eating only Qi?
The Mechanism of Fuqi Bigu
Where do we gain the energy source for life? All living beings on Earth can get their necessary supplies from food. We, humans, eat plants and animals grown on Earth-grown nutrients by an organic process called photosynthesis powered by sunlight. Plants take those nutrients from water (rain) and soil while breathing out oxygen as a product of metabolic processes.
The sun provides them with the carbon dioxide needed for growth. All this happens because life draws its momentum not only from itself but also from nature around it! It’s just like how our cells rely both on processed protein derived through digestion along with glucose extracted directly or indirectly from carbohydrates so they can perform daily functions.
The Applications of Fugi Bigu in Treating cancer and Chronic Diseases:
- Cleansing the digestive system effectively
- Eliminate toxins in the blood, cells, and internal organs
- Activate immunity immediately
- Cut off the nutrition supply of cancer cells immediately
- Stimulate Self-healing & regeneration power
- Improve the quality of Qigong practice
Health and Healing:
Qigong is a practice that combines meditation and exercise. It has been around for centuries, but it only became legitimate after the Chinese government recognized its benefits in recent decades. Many Qigong practitioners worldwide claim this ancient art can drastically improve health by lowering stress levels reducing depression symptoms and increasing focus. Many benefits you hear about from Qigong have improved mental and physical well-being. Qigong is perfect for seeking if anyone wants more energy, less stress or anxiety, better focus, and balance in their life.
Sex:
The most compelling and perplexing aspect of life is sex. In the Oriental system, one’s sexual energy is associated with Jing — a primary motivating force that stems from our biological animal nature—making up one’s Three Treasures: Jing, Qi (energy), and Shen (Spirit). Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice that can open up a new world of sexuality. There are two aspects to this “solo cultivation” and “dual cultivation.” Therefore, Jing’s retention and cultivation are referred to as essential to progress to higher levels of energy and Spirit.
Extraordinary Human Abilities: our energy body
To understand the mechanisms involved with extraordinary abilities, one must first know that they operate on a higher level than our everyday sensory perceptions and experience. There are only limited sensations and experiences we can typically perceive with our sense organs. Extraordinary human abilities involve perceiving at broader or more intense levels of those senses. They perceive on a higher frequency.
Spiritual Development:
Qigong is a spiritual practice that many cultures use to elevate their consciousness. One of these practices, “Inner Alchemy,” has been practiced for thousands of years and shares secrets with initiates only.
The power of knowledge is hidden and revealed by the Western world. Cultures used many means to protect this ancient art, but it has only recently become available in the West. Eastern teachers are now passing on their wisdom through selected students. Daoist monks refine and purify their bodies to cultivate one’s spirit body. This cleansing process raises them to a higher frequency with greater volume.
Immortality:
The pursuit of immortality is a basic theme of Qigong, traced back to the earliest shamanic tradition. It has continued onward through time in many different cultures across the globe. The actual procedure for attaining immortality involves condensing your energy body into a pearl and entering an Immortal Realm. This condensed essence is what we are; the purified stuff from the universe.
When a person is ready to leave the world for good, they are entirely over when that time comes. The Qigong point is called Bai Hui at the top of their head, as an exit and re-entry station where practitioners send Spirit or essence (which we call “life”) out through this point while simultaneously keeping the physical body in deep meditation. Once it’s finally time to depart forever, you have full reign of when your spirit leaves your body; once it’s gone, the body dies.
Source: James MacRitchie, Chi Kung – Energy For Life
The Five Elements: Qigonginstitute.org
J.R. Worsley, Traditional Chinese Acupuncture: Meridians and Points