articles

Silence, sitting, forgetting. In the Zuo Wang tradition, it’s about subtraction – less stimulation, less knowing, less self. And the Master reminds us that only four things truly matter in life: birth, death, love, and the weather. Everything else may fade or shift. These four remain – simple, deep, undeniable.

Within the context of Qi Gong we do breathwork in the attempt to come closer to stillness. In this way we use it as a little trick. Most people wouldn't know what to expect. They might be especially surprised if they have done breathwork before.

The practice of Qi Gong can be challenging. You will be asked to stand in difficult positions, you will be asked to hold them for a really long time. And at times you will feel wasted and done. However, it has nothing to do with the muscles. It does have a little bit to do with the nervous system, in a way that you have to calm the nerves. Because if you freak out at that point, that's not good.

Qi Gong is not about the physical. It's not about physical motion either. Then it wouldn't be called Qi Gong: where ‘Qi’ is the energy and ‘Gong’, the practice. We work with energy: in order to move the energy, you move something, you do something. But it is about what you do with the energy, not what you do with your arm.

Taking on different postures and practicing this way forms your energy field, all in relation to the center. At the same time it also shows your potential, that you are open and able to do these postures. You can take on all these forms. This is quite wondrous as, if you think about it, out there there is nothing. Mostly just space.

What happens when you sink into the Yin? Does it swallow you? This is the fear of the feminine and the quality of water. What does the water do? It holds you while you float. It carries you. This is a big thing and it has to be achieved. Because the water won't carry you, it won't hold you, if you don't sink into it, if you don't give into it. Most of us never reach that point. You need to let go, so that the Yin can take over and carry you.

When we practise, what do we do here? It is always the same: we centre and connect Heaven, Earth, and Human. Down you connect to the Earth, up you connect to the Heavens. This way you already do the job, you already do Gong.

There is always the same request when we practice, at some point people ask me: ‘I understand I have to relax but how do I relax?’. If you hadn’t forgotten how to relax you would just do it, it wouldn't be a problem. I could just tell you: relax. But you forgot how to relax, you even forgot that you were tense in the first place. So you need to start by becoming aware of the tension. The thing is we don't want to do that because it feels so terrible and we don't want to feel it. However, this is how it starts.

There is a saying that has long been a part of the western tradition: Search and you will find. Searching, for us, means practice. In our school our practice is research, and your practice should be research, no matter what you do. Whatever you practise, whenever you practise, you have to ask yourself what you are looking for.

While trying to establish a regular practice alone at home, please keep in mind: in case of Qi Gong a practice ‘routine’ might not be the best approach. The aim lies in getting things done - not in doing exercises. There is a big difference.

When we talk about healing it is never just us. The Daoists have understood long before that it will be very difficult to heal if you just think about yourself. To be clear, I don't mean being altruistic, it is not a matter of saying: 'I don't care for myself, I don't want to heal myself, I want to heal the whole world, I just want everybody else to get better'- no. You can be very egoistic, which is okay, you can say: 'I just want to heal myself'. You cannot attempt to heal yourself without bringing awareness to the healing of the collective.

The Chinese New Year has already arrived, bringing the power of the Year of the Wood Dragon. It is a time full of symbolism, tradition, and deep philosophy that soothes our souls, leads our thoughts to new horizons, and invokes the spirit of renewal and the possibility of transformation.

There is a Chinese saying, amongst people doing Qi Gong and the Arts: “Health comes from the legs”. Circle walking, the practice of Bagua, is medicine and is sacred. It not only heals the body, the physical, but also the mind and the spirit. By the practice of walking we try to awaken the power of the legs, as legs are naturally strong and the power of the legs gives you stamina.

In class, you often hear me say: “Don’t do Yoga, don’t do sport!”. Yoga is a very popular practice in the West, coming from the East - so whenever people want to do Qi Gong, they might have done Yoga before and then they come to my class and expect to do Qi Gong the way they have done Yoga. As for sport, people know it from physical education classes and the gym and when they come to Qi Gong they have no other background. They have only one idea of how to exercise. How can you do something differently if you have never done it another way?

We talk about a very ancient practice, present around the globe throughout different cultures and across different religious beliefs. It’s been practiced knowingly and consciously, as well as unknowingly and unconsciously. It seems to be something that is within the human realm, natural to being human and human beings. Practice can connect us with our being. This is why it plays a crucial role in our school...