Why Do People Come to Qigong?
A lot of people come to Qigong because they want to feel better. They might be experiencing physical discomfort, feeling stressed or overwhelmed, struggling to switch off or simply feeling like something is a bit off.
Sometimes there’s a specific health concern. Sometimes it’s more difficult to put into words. Sometimes people come to Qigong with the idea that a particular practice for whatever it is they’re experiencing might hold the solution they’re looking for.
To Feel Better
While there are certainly practices that can be useful for particular symptoms or imbalances, Qigong isn’t really a modality where you find one exercise as the solution to one problem. It's much more holistic than that.
We're working with the whole being. The body, breath, mind, emotions and energy all influence one another. In Daoist traditions, these different aspects of our experience are understood through the Three Treasures of Jing, Qi and Shen, which give us a way of understanding the different layers of our energetic experience.
When we work with one aspect, the others are affected too. This is why even a short practice can sometimes shift how we feel. We might become more grounded, more settled and more present. Our breathing changes, our body feels different or there’s simply a little more space than there was before.
This is why even a short practice can sometimes shift how we feel. We might become more grounded, more settled and more present. Our breathing changes, our body feels different or there’s simply a little more space than there was before.
For many people, that's enough of a reason to keep going. They came because they wanted to feel better, and it’s working.
But somewhere along the way, they often start noticing something else.
When Qigong Becomes Something More
For some people, the reason they practise Qigong starts to change. They might have started because they wanted to feel better physically, sleep better, feel less stressed or simply have something that helped them feel more grounded.
As our relationship with practice develops, what we're looking for can change. They become more interested in what they're sensing. They begin to notice subtler qualities of energy. They become curious about their own patterns, their perception and their experience of Self.
Qigong can become a spiritual practice when our attention starts moving in this direction. For me, spirituality isn't about adopting a particular belief system or chasing extraordinary experiences. It's about becoming more familiar with the Self and developing our capacity to perceive and experience life more deeply.
This is where Shen Gong becomes part of the picture. Shen Gong is the cultivation of Self, with a particular emphasis on Shen, the astral field, consciousness and the development of discernment. For those who want to explore this aspect of practice more deeply, my Shen Gong training offers a pathway into this stream.
For some people, this is where Qigong starts to become much more than a practice for feeling better.
“Spiritual Qigong is not about meditating or pursuing a metaphysical or transcendental experience. Spiritual practice is how you live your life moment to moment. Spirituality is how we live our lives moment to moment, day to day. ”
When the Practice Becomes a Path
For me, there was a point where Qigong stopped being something I practised and became something much more integral to how I live. When I first found Qigong, I wasn't looking for a spiritual practice. I was going through a difficult period and trying to find my way back to myself.
I didn't really have the language for what was happening. I wasn't particularly interested in spirituality and I certainly wasn't looking for some kind of awakening. I just knew that when I practised Qigong, something in me settled. It felt like coming home to myself.
Looking back now, I can see that it was the beginning of something much deeper.
My reasons for practising have changed many times since then. There have been periods when the physical benefits were what mattered most. Other times I've been more interested in Qi, perception, the Self, consciousness or spirit.
I think that's true for a lot of people. We might come to Qigong for one thing and stay because we've discovered something we didn't know we were looking for.
I don't think we need to know at the beginning what Qigong is going to become for us.
We practise. We become familiar with it. We notice what changes.
Sometimes the practice takes us somewhere we weren't expecting to go.
If you're interested in exploring where Qigong can lead as your relationship with practice deepens, I share new writing and reflections by email.