Releasing Stress at its Roots with Qigong

Spring Forest Qigong

There is so much talk in today’s world about the effects of stress on our mental, physical, and emotional health. Headaches, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, stomach disturbances, and sleep problems are just a few of the symptoms linked to stress. Some studies have shown stress to be a significant factor in the development of heart disease, and even cancer.

Stress can have a physical source (like holding the same poor posture for long periods of time), a mental source (thinking too much), or an emotional source (such as constant or excessive anger, frustration, anxiety, sadness, or depression). In the U.S., post-traumatic stress-disorder (P.T.S.D.) has now become a common diagnosis — it is no longer considered just a military-related condition.

There are also thousands of books, magazines, DVDs, prescriptions, diets, exercises, physicians, therapists, and wellness professionals available to us now, all promising to help us manage the stresses in our lives more effectively.

Clearly, stress is a major concern in our world. But to really understand the connection between stress and our health, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of energy and the role it plays in our bodies – from the Qigong perspective.

We have twelve major energy channels in our body, which connect to our internal organs; of these channels, six start or end in the hands and six start or end in the feet.

These energy channels work together to move Qi throughout the body. Qi simply means “energy,” but it is more than simple energy — it is vitality, it is intelligence, and it is powerful! Not only does the body’s health depend on Qi moving freely through all the channels, but when a channel is blocked, Qi can be directed to remove the blockages.

If Qi cannot move freely to some part of the body, the energy there becomes depleted, which in turn leads to physical or emotional imbalance. Of course, it can take time for blockages to manifest as illness, but it is the blocked channel that is considered the root cause of any illness or imbalance that manifests. So in qigong, the focus is not on the external symptoms, but on the fundamental energy blockages that produce them. For instance, someone might have been diagnosed with arthritis of the finger joints, whereas the fundamental energy blockage is really in the stomach system. When the blockage in the stomach system is removed and the energy is balanced again, suddenly the arthritic damage to the joints begins to heal.

Understanding the root cause of the energy blockage is the key to healing.

Look at it this way. Have you ever brought home a beautiful, vibrant potted plant, only to find that over time, the leaves started to turn yellow or brown, the soil would not keep moist, and the stems started to droop? If you removed the plant from its pot, you may have noticed its roots had become thickly entangled, with no room to grow. What happened? The plant’s life-system had become blocked. The yellow and brown leaves were only the symptoms — the blocked roots were the real issue. With the roots blocked, no matter how much water and nutrients you poured into the soil, none of it was absorbed — it merely ran off, never absorbing and nourishing the roots. This, in turn, affected the strength of the stems and leaves.

When we re-pot our plants, we remove the plant and soil from their container and we gently release the compacted dirt from the roots. We then place the plant into a bigger container, to give the roots room to grow. We add in fresh soil and then provide water and nutrients to nurture the plant back to health. At first, the plant may still seem a bit droopy and “in shock,” but in no time, new growth appears and our plant is back to being beautiful and vibrant again!

But if we just focused on plucking the dying leaves or just added plant food, the plant would continue to deteriorate and eventually die, because we would not be addressing the real issue of the bound and entangled roots.

Just like our plants, we also can become energetically “rootbound.” If our Qi is unable to circulate freely throughout our body, our energy stagnates — just like with the roots of the plant. Our life-system becomes blocked… and then we begin to experience significant health issues. At that point, if we do not take positive action to get the Qi moving again, the consequences can be very serious.

That is why, in Spring Forest Qigong, we use Healing Movements to help awaken and move the Qi, clearing the physical and emotional stresses that are blocking the energy flow in the body. Qi is our life-wisdom, the blueprint of our healthiest self. When we are able to move our Qi throughout our body, we can “re-set” the energy system and open up those tightly bound energy “roots.”

Then, when Qi is flowing freely again, the body can absorb more energy where there may not be enough, release energy where there is too much, and repair damaged cells. You can even think of Qi as the MiracleGro energetic “food and fertilizer” for your body!

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