Chinese Healing Exercises (35 page)

Ershiduanjin

See
Baduanjin, Ershiduanjin
.

Five Element/Five Phase

Over the millennia, many philosophical systems evolved through which Chinese medicine and related healing, martial, and spiritual arts have been viewed and practiced. One of the oldest, and possibly the most purely Daoist, is the Five Element or Five Phase approach.

The Chinese five elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—represent unique energetic qualities and derive from observations of the natural transitions in energetic states over time, from the hours of the day to the seasons of the year, through the twelve-year cycle of the Chinese zodiacal/astrological calendar. In the most comprehensive reckonings, each element has nearly forty attributes assigned to it.

The number twelve fits into the Five Element configuration when we take into account that Fire has a subdivision, Supplemental Fire, giving a sort of “sixth element,” and each element has a yin and yang aspect, yielding twelve distinct energetic parts. Within the body, each part has an associated organ with its accompanying meridian, accounting for the twelve regular meridians. Every day, each organ/meridian system has a two hour period of ascendancy, when its qi is most abundant within the twenty-four-hour-hour daily cycle.

There are also associated Five Element directions: North (Water), South (Fire), East (Wood), and West (Metal), and they have related energetic qualities. The Earth element occupies either the center position, or a small transitional slice between each of the cardinal points, depending on the chosen Five Element application. This reflects the understanding that Earth Element practices are either centering and grounding, or harmonizing and unifying, often doing both simultaneously.

In classic Five Element acupuncture, sixty points are selected for primary use from among the 360 or so commonly used in other systems, with five points, one associated with each element, on each of the twelve regular meridians. Those points are located between the elbow and fingertips, and between the knee and tips of the toes. This is because in certain periods of Chinese history, it was considered improper for a noblewoman to expose any more of her body than that, even to a physician, so an effective acupuncture system had to be developed for use within those strictures. There are other points in the forearms and lower leg available to Five Element (and other) acupuncturists, and contemporary Five Element acupuncturists will sometimes use more than those points too, but those sixty have a special prominence within that system.

As elegant as the Five Element system is, its complexities are beyond what's needed for you to benefit from these exercises. In this book, the classic Five Element points are used in a variety of exercises, and their characteristics and functions will be described within the context of each exercise. Their names, from fingertips to elbow and from toe tips to knees, are Jing Well, Ying Spring, Shu Stream, Jing River, and He Sea. Just as water increases in volume and power from Well to Sea, the qi in your body similarly grows, from the extremities to the knees and elbows.

Focused Breathing

Focused Breathing is an introductory stage of the breathing practices found in qigong, meditation, and some styles of yoga. It can be used as a stand-alone approach to improve health, longevity, and self-awareness. One translation of
qi
is “breath.” This indicates that the movement, quality, and acquisition of qi is associated with breath, so there is an energetic aspect to Focused Breathing even in the introductory stages.

Focused Breathing as it is used here means putting some of your attention on your breathing, for a few different purposes. You may use your attention to direct the energy of your breath to a particular body part, including the internal organs, to get that body part to release held tension, relax, and become more open. You can use your attention to increase the volume and slow the rate of your overall breath, in order to help calm your nervous system. Finally, you can focus on the rate, rhythm, and quality of your breath to quiet your mind and enter into a light meditative state. In all aspects of Focused Breathing, your emotions are affected and will become more balanced and even.

Kwa

See
Energetic Anatomy
.

Laogong

See
Energetic Anatomy
.

Meridian, Channel, and Muscle-Tendon (M-T) Meridian

Meridians or Channels are the primary energy pathways through which qi circulates, similar to the way blood vessels are the primary pathways for circulating blood. The words
meridian
and
channel
are used interchangeably.

The twelve main meridians connect with and directly influence the functions of all the internal organs. There are discrete points along those meridians, which are the points an acupuncturist will needle to influence qi flow and restore the body to a harmonious, balanced state of health. Pressure or other stimulation applied to those points will similarly influence qi flow and health, and are used in some of the exercises found here.

Overlaying the regular meridians are the muscle-tendon (M-T) meridians. They follow the same basic pathway as the regular meridians, but are broader and more superficial. As their name implies, they most affect the health of the muscles and tendons. Any focused stretch will directly influence the M-T meridians, and by extension, the underlying regular meridians. While it is most common to treat the regular meridians, the M-T meridians are frequently palpated diagnostically (especially to find
ahshi
points, or points of painful obstruction) and treated directly in sports and orthopedic acupuncture. All of the stretches in this book influence the M-T meridians.

Neigong

See
Qigong, Neigong
.

Paidagong and Vibration Practices

The main purpose of paidagong and other vibration-style techniques is to break up small and large regions of qi stagnation and obstruction in both body tissues and energy pathways. That frees up bound energy so that the usable portion may be made accessible and diverted back into healthful purposes, while the unusable pathogenic qi can be released out of the body. In that way, pain is reduced, functionality is improved, and a person will feel energized by having access to more usable qi. When combined with other practices such as daoyin, the obstructed qi that was broken up can be quickly moved out of that location, greatly minimizing the possibility that the pocket of stagnation will simply re-form.

While not a hard and fast rule in practice, the main distinction between paidagong and other vibrational practices is that paidagong—tapping and patting on various body parts—can have a narrower focus, creating vibrational energy through a smaller, targeted body part; other vibrational practices are broader, creating vibrational waves through one or more limbs simultaneously or through the entire body all at once. Otherwise, their underlying principles, purposes, and outcomes are nearly identical. Light and sound are other types of vibrational energies able to be used therapeutically, but their applications are outside of the scope of this book.

Vibration is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Chen style taiji, perhaps the oldest, original form of that martial art. Vibration is integral to the way qi is moved and directed in that form. In contrast, most other forms of taiji, including the popular Yang style, utilize smooth, flowing, and continuous movements exclusively.

As a side note, some alternative Western medical practices recognize qi stagnation and obstruction as the root cause of many diseases, even if their terminology is somewhat different. In Zero Balancing (ZB), created by acupuncturist and osteopath Fritz Smith, MD, “standing wave forms” may be identified and released to restore healthful balance in a patient, while in Craniosacral therapy (CST), created by osteopath John Upledger, DO, OMM, “energy cysts” are similarly identified and treated. (Some of these are related to the “ah shi” points introduced with M-T meridians above, since both can be found on or off of acupuncture meridians. Ah shi points are always painful when pressure is applied to them, though, while standing wave forms and energy cysts may or may not be obviously painful.) While neither ZB nor CST use paidagong, each has its own methods of inducing energetic movement to break up those regions of qi stagnation and obstruction.

Energy can become obstructed from numerous causes, including prolonged emotional states, environmental factors, poor diet, and as side effects of many medications and recreational drugs. Perhaps the most common way, and easiest for most Westerners to understand, is from traumatic injury. The energy of the trauma may cleanly pass through the person entirely, but damage some physical tissue along the way, breaking bones or causing bruising. Almost any physical injury will cause Blood Stasis, a reduction or cessation of blood flow either within a blood vessel or when extravasated, pooling outside a blood vessel, with either accompanying overt visible bruising or microtrauma with no observable bruise. There is always qi stagnation where there is Blood Stasis. Conversely, some or most of that traumatic energy may lodge in the body and cause progressively worsening health.

In the point-strike martial art of dim mak, one method the martial artist learns is to strike in such a way that the energy of the strike does not pass through the opponent, as is more common in most martial arts, but rather lodges within the opponent's body, creating pockets of qi stagnation. This can be particularly incapacitating when striking a targeted acupuncture point or sensitive internal organ. The internal damage from such a strike increases over time, often very rapidly. Among the many rumors surrounding Bruce Lee's death, is the speculation that this was truly responsible for killing the famous martial artist, who died at age 32, just weeks after receiving such a strike from an angry martial artist. Even in a person who never practices a martial art, the energy from any traumatic injury or other causes cited in the previous paragraph may similarly lodge in their body and cause lingering pain and increasing debility, unless properly treated.

Qi

The word
qi
(pronounced “chee”) was formerly, and is sometimes still, seen transliterated into English as
ch'i
or
chi
. With or without the apostrophe, they are two different words, with different meanings, that have occasionally been incorrectly used to mean the same thing. The spelling “qi” eliminates that confusion. It is most simply translated as “energy,” but has many more, broader, implications.

Qi is both the most fundamental
substance
and the motivational
force
underlying everything in existence. This is very similar to the Western physics understanding of a photon, which exists as both a particle (substance) and a wave (a state of energy). The Chinese use the word in many contexts. For example, it may be used to refer to an attribute of changing weather patterns (weather qi), emotional states (emotion qi), and when referring to air itself, as in “pumping qi into a tire.”

For the purposes of health and functionality, regarding qi within the body we'll use the understandings of it as “vitality,” “life energy,” or “life force,” as qi is what animates us, gives us drive, will, awareness, and intellect. In this book, “qi” and “energy” are frequently used interchangeably.

“Breath” is another possible translation for
qi
, which is why the word “qigong” is sometimes interpreted as “breathing exercises.” Since breath involves the inhalation of air, and is necessary for life, we can see the associations of life and air with that interpretation. So, while ordinary breath is only a partial aspect of qi, and breathing is only one component of qigong, some attention to breath is necessary in any health-building practice. Focused Breathing is included in this book for just that reason, as a means to facilitate and increase the benefits of any exercise in which it is used.

Within the body, qi may stagnate or become obstructed, run counter to its normal trajectory, become deficient or excessive, and exhibit other deviations that will cause specific pathological symptoms.

Qigong, Neigong

The word
qigong
is made from combining two separate Chinese words,
qi
and
gong
. Qi has been described above.
Gong
is commonly translated as “practice,” more fully understood to mean “effort put into any discipline over a period of time to achieve a desired result.” This understanding of practice is similar to the way we might use the word to mean practicing a musical instrument, or setting up a medical practice. Both require investing a substantial amount of time in order to gain the necessary skill to achieve some degree of accomplishment. So qigong may be defined as “putting effort into working with your life energy over a period of time, in order to acquire more of it, keep it moving freely, and direct it at will to where it's most needed to ensure health and vitality.”

The word
nei
means “inner” or “internal.” Neigong works with physical and energetic structures deep within the body, which are capable of greatly amplifying qi flow. Along the continuum of qi practices, most neigong is more advanced than practices that are identified as qigong.

There are no true qigong or neigong practices taught in this book, but they are referred to at times as supplementary information for people who already have such training and practice, and to introduce a clear understanding of those things for people unfamiliar with them. Some of these exercises, when performed slowly with attention to even more careful and specific body movements, and with more focus on breathing, keeping a quiet mind, and sensing and moving qi, either are or can be practiced as a qigong. For example, done in such a way, the Shoulder/Arm Windmill exercise found in chapter 5 is used to bring Yin qi from the earth up the center of the body, and Yang qi from the sky down the sides of the body, and vice versa. Qigong is not simply a matter of performing the movement itself. In this book, only the easiest version of a practice is taught, so that everyone may benefit equally in the manner described for each exercise.