Classically based Qi Gong can be an invaluable aid in breaking down habitual restrictions and mitigating other tensions without directly confronting them or finding out where they came from. The freeing up of the body calms one deeply enough for subconscious mental habits to loosen.
Also, the meditative aspect of movement can help you understand the idea of non-striving and letting things be in their natural self-state, warts and all, accepting your own story, and relaxing into your body. Of course, there are schools of thought that encourage one to look for and find the root cause of one’s psycho-emotional problems. There is no problem looking, but you may find the obstacles you encounter resistant to observation.
For example, to ease stress and anxiety levels and aid in dissolving all manner of tensions, moving mindfully and rhythmically using smooth and circular motion provides a patterning that is very helpful in regulating the nervous system so that a felt sense can arise outside of one’s habitual sense of self.
The experiential grounding aspect of Qi Gong is a critical part of the practice that cannot be glossed over.
Your purpose for practising is essential. For example, the purpose (to want to relax ) is a critical component in Qi Gong, and this thought filters into your movement and will impact the results you experience. Working with your body and developing your ability to let go in action is a fundamental skill; you do not have to confront your demons head-on; instead, you work to establish a new pattern.
Underlying tensions are present in all of us and must be experienced for what they are without judgment to allow for change to occur.
If you are practising, you will, at some point, go through a deepening of relaxation that will act as a catalyst to allow suppressed and even repressed tensions to appear in your conscious mind. Having allowed your body to let go, you have moved in a way that brings out the pain without the ego’s capacity to censor what is coming into conscious awareness.
Various movement methods are the mechanism by which classical Qi Gong can help alleviate suffering by bypassing your egocentric bodyguard. The Ego Body ( Character Armouring ) maintains familiar patterns of tension that are so entrenched and habitual that we unconsciously resign ourselves to a sense of permanence that cannot accept change.
Qi Gong practice, therefore, is not some random movement performed passively, which would be another distraction leading you away from the potential to touch stillness. It is a method to unblock any inner tension restricting bodily function and frees up energy that powers life and rational thinking.
The central point is that all exercise, no matter how it is presented and advertised, is often a distraction from health and not a contributor to it.
(c) Copyright Chris Ray Chappell Jan 2024
