intention

[Guest guest]

A good question, Ray.

 

Unschuld often translates qi4 as 'influences', or a force that

affects events or courses of action. The 'vapor emitted by cooking

rice' one of the translations of qi4, gives a nice image of something

that can be felt as warm mist or an odor that can be smelled, or a

sound that can be heard, but the vapor cannot necessarily be seen.

We know it is there, but we cannot completely quantify or measure

it. Qi is not measurable in liters, pounds, shillings or pence, but

it influences our life, health, and day to day activities and

functions. The Chinese always qualify qi4 with other descriptive

terms, such as yuan qi/source qi, jing/channel qi, jing qi/essence

qi, and so on, because of its relatively abstract nature. Despite

its very flexible nature, it remains, and should remain, the central

concept of Chinese medicine because it describes relationships of

parts to a whole system effectively.

 

 

On Jun 6, 2005, at 7:09 AM, ray ford wrote:

 

> Hey Zev,

> Could you write more about qi within the context of .

> What do you think about Unschuld's translation of the character as

> " vapour from food " for example? Do any of the other scholars on this

> list have other interpretations or ideas.

> Regards Ray Ford

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

In terms of discussing what Qi is, that is how do we explain

something that exists, without being able to see it, but being able

to feel it?

 

One viewpoint (it may have been Unschuld, not sure tho)

described Qi as a Phenomenon, a way of explaining how the

workings of the body do just that - work. The sages of old were

probably sitting there contemplating the ways of life and asking

such questions as " why do i breathe? " , " what makes my Blood

move? " , " what makes my Heart beat? " , " what makes the trees

sway? " etc etc, and most likely not in those terms. The

explanation was through viewing the natural forces and

happenings of nature, in this instance the cooking and vapour

theory.

 

Qi is merely that, the reason behind the movement of Blood

through the vessels, the force behind a punch or push, and the

substance that is not a substance that allows life to live.

 

We, as Chinese medical scholars and physicians, know it in

many forms, how to tonify it, remove it, Influence it. We as entities

of Qi, through our Qi, can influence an influence - Qi.

 

I'm lost. please tell me if i have made any sense at all!!!!

 

David White

Clinical Director / Practitioner

Macquarie St. Clinic of Acupuncture &

Founder: SydneyTCM

Lvl 5 229 Macquarie St.

Sydney, NSW, 2000

Australia

Ph: (02) 9221 0699

Fax: (02) 9221 0135

Mob: 0412 131 590

Email: sydneytcm

Web: www.sydneytcm.com

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

Next you will find an articule I thought would be interesting reading " Intention

and Mindfulness in Healing Work " . Unfortunatelly I don´t have the name of the

person who wrote it.

 

Greetings,

Ricardo Lorenzi

 

There are perennial themes in energy healing, as with any endeavor. If you scan

back over the themes I have taken up in the book Energy Healing and in this

newsletter, you will see a recurrence of the themes of beliefs, grounding,

centering, expression, control, balance, and expansion of consciousness. Let's

add " mindfulness " to the list. As I practice and teach in this area, I am

continually pulled back to this subject; it is a bona fide perennial theme in

energy-work.

 

In circles where energy-work and healing are central themes, the word

" mindfulness " is used a lot. The Zen Buddhists and Vipassana mediators are

specialists in mindfulness, and wherever we find a confluence of these

meditation traditions and subtle or energetic healing, we have a context where

consciousness practice, often partaking of these ancient traditions, meets

therapy.

 

The word " mindfulness " is used to express awareness and presence which doesn't

have an agenda attached to it. Another way to express this would be to say when

we do something - like sit in meditation or place our hands on a client in a

healing session - we are not trying to make anything happen, nor are we trying

to prevent anything from happening.

 

This is a disturbing kind of instruction for students of energy healing. After

all, they have paid good money to learn how to " do " energy-work, and then they

find themselves learning " instead " how to sit still and listen. They arrive,

itching to help others and themselves and tool up with all kinds of groovy

energetic techniques, and instead they end up meditating at seven o'clock in the

morning, which is like the Bataan Death March for students who are " not morning

people. "

 

What they are doing is learning to be interested in life the way it is, things

the way they are. This is invaluable when it comes to connecting with a client

in a healing session. It comes in the art of listening and in the art of asking

questions. I am reminded of the title of a new book by " Fresh Air " host Teri

Gross, widely known as a great interviewer whose gift is eliciting interesting,

natural responses from her guests. Her book's title is All I Did Was Ask, and

this seems to say it in a nutshell. When you hear her talk, what comes across is

a genuine interest, an unfaked, unmorbid curiosity about her guest. Who wouldn't

open up and reveal themselves?

 

The same thing happens in our own personal inner work and in subtle bodywork.

Though a word might never be spoken out loud, there is something about making a

truly mindful connection with another individual which is not trying to get

anyone to be different than they are and yet opens the door for healing and

transformation. Indeed, mindfulness and true interest, even curiosity helps the

other person to be more of who they are. One implication is that there is a

process there and we are watching it, listening to it, with interest, as it

unfolds, trusting it, though we really don't know the outcome. The " trick " is to

be connected, interested and mindful. Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the

Art of Motorcycle Maintenance had this to say on the subject of what comes to

our attention when we meditate or inquire into something, and we may as well

apply the spirit of what he is saying to our own inner work and when we set our

hands on another person in healing work:

 

 

 

" Just live with it for a while. Watch it the way you watch a line when fishing

and before long, as sure as you live, you'll get a little nibble, a little fact

asking in a timid, humble way if you're interested in it. That's the way the

world keeps on happening. Be interested in it.

 

 

 

 

 

" At first try to understand this new fact not so much in terms of your big

problem as for its own sake. That problem may not be a big as you think it is.

And that fact may not be as small as you think it is. It may not be the fact you

want but at least you should be very sure of that before you send the fact away.

Often before you send it away you will discover it has friends who are right

next to it and are watching to see what your response is. Among the friends may

be the exact fact you are looking for. "

 

 

 

In energy healing, we aren't out fixing people, but rather meeting them at the

deepest available level of our beings. It is out of that deep, intimate meeting

that all else arises. If we are going to split hairs, of course, there is

something of an agenda, even in energetic healing work, but it is a very wide

open agenda. We are not trying to determine specific outcomes or take away a

symptom or make the other person " better " according to some external standard or

norm, but rather to connect compassionately, yes, mindfully, with that process

and let it unfold as it unfolds. My experience has shown me that, when given the

opening and spaciousness and a bit of support, human consciousness heads all by

itself toward balance, healing and wholeness. Our job, as I see it, is to stay

connected and trust the horse to know the way back to the barn. We are there to

be facilitators, which, as the word says, means to " make easier " the process.

 

What this is really about in therapeutic work, regardless of what style or

modality you practice, is getting the subconscious cooperation of the person we

are working with. If you don't have that, the whole undertaking suffers. Indeed,

it never gets to first base if that cooperation is not there.

 

In my experience, the need for compassionate, mindful non-agendized meeting is

nowhere so important than when working with trauma. Quite often, the energy of

significant shocks to a person's system tends to get compressed into the

smallest possible area of the body, so as not to compromise the person's overall

function. This process creates " energy cysts " or " areas of condensed

experience. " Energy-active bodywork has a way of calling these " archaic wounds "

out into the open. Some come rushing to the surface in order to release their

energetic and emotional loads. Others, being more deeply embedded, need a

longer, more elaborate process. Though there are techniques which can be used,

they all fall clearly into the category of facilitation, and again, that has to

do with supporting the process and making it easier, not with creating the

process.

 

Again and again, this requires, first and foremost, the creation of a mindful,

compassionate interface with our clients. Skilled touch is frequently that

interface; it is in your touch that your client will sense, wordlessly and at a

deep level, whether you are trustworthy, and if you're not, they won't let you

in very far. Simple as that. Going into a guarded place in the body is also

going into a guarded place in the psyche. There are layers of the body and the

psyche. Where one layer might be yielding, there can be a sub-stratum that is

wary and alert. People who are used to being a certain way on the outside can be

completely different on the inside, just a few layers in. There is no should or

shouldn't about this, and to imagine that people ought somehow to be congruent

and consistent straight through their layers-completely transparent-is to be

naïve about how humans grow and develop and take care of themselves internally.

And to plow in, believing you can somehow force the issue is counterproductive,

even damaging.

 

If you are working to be gentle, non-invasive, and all that . . . and this

doesn't truly extend to the attitude you carry, if there is trauma, the guarded

psyche in your client will pick up on this. Often, it gets back to your deeply

held beliefs about what you are doing, and if there is a hint of the kind of

" we'll whip you into shape " fixing attitude, even though you might have no

active agenda about it, even the basic attitude or belief structure will be

detected and reacted to. This can cause a shutdown of the process, at least

temporarily. The other side of the coin, however, is equally available. When we

offer a deep listening presence, our simplest therapeutic activities can have

beautiful results. Our skilled touch becomes an arena in which the work is

done-not by the therapist and not by the surface consciousness of the client,

but by forces much closer to the Creative Source residing within each of us.

 

 

 

Exercise: Mindfulness + Energetically-Balanced Breathing + Four Gates = ?

 

 

 

Here is a way to practice mindfulness in your own body and energetic system. Of

course, any time you connect consciously with an energy-active position on your

body, you will, if you allow it to happen, be drawn into the movement of etheric

energy around and in your body. This, in turn, will draw your awareness to areas

that need attention and healing. If you have followed this newsletter and have

doe the exercises, you already have some experience with this. The basic recipe

for connecting consciously to an energy-active position on your body, whether it

is a chakra, a point or stream of energy movement, is this:

 

 

 

ü Place your awareness on the physical landmark,

 

ü Relax and loosen your awareness-that is, don't concentrate your focus.

This allows your awareness to be drawn into the energy movement,

 

ü Allow the energy contact to deepen. Give this a couple of minutes,

 

ü Allow what comes into your consciousness to do so, without trying to

analyze it. There is plenty of time for that afterward, if you like, but don't

try to figure out what comes up in you while it's happening. To do so will bring

you out of your experience.

 

 

 

Okay . . . so far so good? The above is something you will want to practice

until you can do it easily. Once you have got a good idea of how to locate the

position you want to work with (my book and these newsletter are bursting with

exercise which employ this simple skill), you will want to learn a few

additional ways to deepen your contact. One of the simple ones I have made use

of in these pages has been what I call " energetically-balanced breathing. " An

easy way to do this is to use a twelve-breath cycle which consists of.

 

 

 

ü Three breaths in through your NOSE and out through your NOSE

 

ü Three breaths in through your NOSE and out through your MOUTH

 

ü Three breaths in through your MOUTH and out through your NOSE

 

ü Three breaths in through your MOUTH and out through your NOSE

 

 

 

 

 

And now . . . let's try a kind of energy-active position we haven't worked with

yet together, namely a set of acupuncture points known as the " Four Gates. "

These four points are frequently used in acupuncture to treat injury and stress.

Here, instead of needles, we will use our awareness and energetically-balanced

breathing.

 

These are Liver 3, found in the webbing between your big toe and second toe,

just anterior to where your first and second metatarsal meet on the top of your

foot; and Large Intestine 4, which you will find on the back of your hand at the

highest point in the webbing between your thumb and index finger.

 

 

 

This makes a total four points (Four Gates).

 

 

 

The exercise is this:

 

 

 

1.. BRING YOUR AWARENESS FIRST TO EACH OF THE FOUR GATES IN ANY ORDER;

2.. BRING YOUR AWARENESS TO ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME.

3.. ALLOW THIS CONTACT TO DEEPEN FOR TWO MINUTES.

4.. WITH YOUR AWARENESS IN ALL OF THE FOUR GATES AT ONCE, START YOUR 12-BREATH

CYCLE OF ENERGETICALLY-BALANCED BREATHING.

 

 

Remember the pattern:

 

 

 

ü NOSE<>NOSE

 

ü NOSE<>MOUTH

 

ü MOUTH<>NOSE

 

ü MOUTH<>MOUTH

 

 

 

5.. CONTINUE BREATHING NORMALLY and simply sit with this deepened contact.

6.. TAKE ABOUT TEN MINUTES FOR A RELEASE PERIOD, in which you allow whatever

wants to surface in your awareness to do so.

7.. END THE EXERCISE.

 

 

-

sydneytcm

Chinese Medicine

Wednesday, June 08, 2005 7:10 AM

Re: Intention

 

 

Hi all,

 

In terms of discussing what Qi is, that is how do we explain

something that exists, without being able to see it, but being able

to feel it?

 

One viewpoint (it may have been Unschuld, not sure tho)

described Qi as a Phenomenon, a way of explaining how the

workings of the body do just that - work. The sages of old were

probably sitting there contemplating the ways of life and asking

such questions as " why do i breathe? " , " what makes my Blood

move? " , " what makes my Heart beat? " , " what makes the trees

sway? " etc etc, and most likely not in those terms. The

explanation was through viewing the natural forces and

happenings of nature, in this instance the cooking and vapour

theory.

 

Qi is merely that, the reason behind the movement of Blood

through the vessels, the force behind a punch or push, and the

substance that is not a substance that allows life to live.

 

We, as Chinese medical scholars and physicians, know it in

many forms, how to tonify it, remove it, Influence it. We as entities

of Qi, through our Qi, can influence an influence - Qi.

 

I'm lost. please tell me if i have made any sense at all!!!!

 

David White

Clinical Director / Practitioner

Macquarie St. Clinic of Acupuncture &

Founder: SydneyTCM

Lvl 5 229 Macquarie St.

Sydney, NSW, 2000

Australia

Ph: (02) 9221 0699

Fax: (02) 9221 0135

Mob: 0412 131 590

Email: sydneytcm

Web: www.sydneytcm.com

 

 

 

 

http://babel.altavista.com/

 

and adjust

accordingly.

 

 

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