Most Chinese words consist of two characters, therefore there are always two meanings contained in one word. For example the word illness is “ji bing.” The character “ji” implies an arrow shooting at us from the outside, such as coldness, dampness or viruses and bacteria. The character “bing” implies heart fire, which explains why an arrow from the outside could stay within us, and turn into chronic illnesses. Our heart fire could be caused by an imbalance in our emotions such as excessive worries, unexpressed anger, hidden fears, prolonged grief, over fatigue, unprocessed and repeated shocks, long term stress, or even on going adrenoline rushes. These emotions create weakness in our body that invites external enemies to stay. This is why in the ancient medical books, they say all illnesses arise from the heart and can be healed from the heart.

In the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic, it states obsessive thinking knots our vital energy, anger raises our energy up (into the chest and head), fear brings our energy down, shock makes the energy irratic, happiness slows down energy, grief decipates energy.” Normally energy would naturally flow throughout the body, making our blood flow and the organs function. If we chronically suppress qi flow or habitually make it move a certain way, soon we invite unwellness. For example when people chronically suppress their anger, they tend to have hot heads, maybe pain and dizziness, also heart burns and chestache. People who are chronically fearful may experience heaviness in their legs, even water retention in the leg and feet. When qi always go into one area, it would at first create excessive pressure and pain in that area, which turns into internal “fire” (i.e. energy fighting with the blockage trying to get through). If fighting goes on for long enough, qi and blood slow down and stagnate in that area, becoming cool and congealed. Blood in that area would come out dark and unhealthy. The area would easily be painful and bruised. In this case we would need to wake this area up physically and energetically, and help release the initial pent up emotions to complete the healing.

One of my client once said, “I thought I was being kind to my legs and feet by not touching them because they hurt so much. My mind was trying to avoid paying attention to the painful areas. But the evidence shows differently, doesn’t it?” Long term avoidance turns pain into numbness, and thus chronic stagnation that slowly clogs up the organs energetically, physically and emotionally. Another student told me after attending two consecutive weekend workshops that she was amazed, by simply pressing into a chronically painful spot, breathing into it and paying deep attention, the pain decipates. Two weeks after the workshops she was still off of her pain medication and doing well.

In our daily lives, if we can let our qi flow smoothly, expressing our emotions in healthy ways in a timely manner, illnesses may only pass through us and never stay. When our energy has become strong through qigong practice and natural eating habits, the arrows would not even be able to go through anymore. (To be continued…)