The art of Qi Gong: Healing and miracle making
By Nicole Astralananda
The winds of change are blowing. Many of you know, we are entering a period of accelerated growth and awareness, and the practice of Qi Gong supports this transformation. It is a self-healing practice, similar to yoga, that Westerners are beginning to embrace. Words of its miraculous effects, due to its impact on one’s physiology, are being passed from ear to ear. Today Qi Gong is a way of life for many; people in China gather daily as the sun rises for their exercise, to bring balance to their body, mind, and emotions, while connecting to a source larger than themselves.
I was introduced to Qi Gong at my first massage school. Not all students learning to heal others are firmly rooted in taking care of themselves, yet Qi Gong was our morning practice that fed us nutrients to laugh and learn through our marathon days. That school has since dissolved, and I proceeded to embark on a four-year journey at IPSB massage school. It was at IPSB where I learned Tui-Na (Chinese medical massage), through which I discovered how fun it was to play with pain. Not only did we dig our elbows into others’ most sensitive acupressure points, we practiced an hour of Qi Gong where our arms were burning from being stationed above the shoulders and our thighs trembled from our deep and low “horse stances.”
Since then, as a practicing massage therapist for seven years now, I have found more balance and have rested from my need to search for the tension, and seek out the pain. I no longer feel such a burn within. Instead, I breathe, relax into my movements, and flow through treatments with feeling and ease. Not to say my bodywork is not deep, but I encourage the client to find and focus on the pleasure, the ease, and the release. Qi Gong practice takes similar dedication to feeling the sacredness of each movement and finding pleasure in creating an expanded sense of self and interconnection with all that is and has ever been.
When practicing Qi Gong, the circulatory system is stimulated, where blood and lymph flow push through the blockages that create pain, dis-ease, and dysfunction of internal and structural systems. Energy flow is not inherently negative, but it can cause negative reactions in the body when it stagnates, creating heat, coldness, dampness, or excess dryness. When balanced it is known to eliminate things such as arthritis and irritable bowl syndrome. Sounds simple and feels good, yet it takes dedication as well as eating and thinking right too!
The Qi Gong method I teach is considered cardiovascular activity, yet it is also strengthening. If you are an athlete of an impacting sport you may balk at the ease of this activity, but your joints will thank you with longevity and your doctor will be proud of you too. I use a Shamanic approach, focusing on connecting with the Sacred Parents, utilizing my Priestess passions for ease and grace.
Join me in Qi Gong evenings where we will spend 45 minutes involved with the Qi Gong moving energy form, then guided in a “Five Element” healing meditation, and finish with the very powerful “Nine Breath” prayer circle.
Nicole is a holistic health practitioner and certified Qi Gong instructor, and will be offering Qi Gong classes at The Village Witch later this year. For more information on Nichole click here.