What benefits does qi provide and how does it accomplish healing?

Say you’re a battery, and the qi is the life force that keeps the battery going. When the juice inside is used up, the battery is lifeless. Qi is related to your lifespan. If people squander energy on arguing and negative pattern behavior, then how can anyone increase energy? Qigong understands where people lose their energy and how to get it back. Yet, qi has profoundly physical effects that unlock our potential. Five thousand years ago, Chinese medicine said, “Qi moves the blood.”

Standing still relaxed in a Qigong posture, a person can circulate as much blood as they could running for three miles. Jogging releases a flood of cortisol and negative stress hormones that close off small capillaries, but Qigong does not. There is no stress response from Qigong (it actually reduces cortisol in studies) and the level of full body circulation is even greater. Qigong noticeably improves blood circulation, digestion, etc. A pleasant heat builds in the navel center, bringing a quiet confidence and power within.

Is this life force, or qi, different in each person?

The qi is one unified force. Some people have more than others. On an extreme example, say a person has enough energy that they don’t need to sleep anymore. This is a very high level of Qigong. Most people need six hours of sleep, thus indicating our limited energy situation. Qi can be replenished by using breathing techniques, meditation, fasting, prayer, sunbathing, etc. It is the same spirit, or qi, that moves through each person. Unity and oneness movements will take place all over the world and they will be based around qi. It is all the same force, in different amounts.

Can a person have too much qi in their body?

Qigong theory states the “ocean of qi” in the navel can never be filled. It has a vast reservoir, allowing a lifetime of qi to be stored. Only if it is blocked can there be too much energy. When the spine and nervous system are out of alignment, it is important to open meridians and do stretching routines. One cannot have too much qi, but it can be blocked and qigong exercises will help to open up the channels.

People with abundant qi have a grace and power about them that attracts people. New students frequently find their skin clears up and their eyes whiten. Blood circulates better, helping more toxins leave the system. The benefits to having more qi are the same as having better blood circulation. The pulse of your heartbeat is the foundation of life, but Chinese medicine has a dozen different pulses that Western medicine has not yet discovered. When people do Qigong for the first time, they are often surprised to see their fingers pulsate and fill up with blood. The warmth people feel in the navel is also from the increased blood flow.

You speak about euphoric highs that can be attained from breathing techniques. What is the value of this in practical, real-world terms?

Everyone wants to feel good. Alcohol transforms our mental state, but also destroys the liver. Qi has no side effect, except making you feel full of vitality. Its highs are beyond words. Sometimes the qi will vibrate throughout our body in such a blissful way as to feel we are being touched by God, all without chemicals or manmade products that cost money. The qi being free, abundant, right under our nose makes it the ultimate ally to rise above life’s obstacles.

Once you get the hang of the breathing techniques, there comes the ability to have a natural high anytime. Sometimes euphoria is so profound that it can erase negative emotional patterns presently going on. The ability to drop bad qi quickly trains the student to be without heavy emotional vibrations.

Can you give a brief overview of the Qi Revolution seminar?

People generate energy in graceful Qigong routines. The entire audience feels a profound electromagnetic qi energy in their hands. In addition to movements, spine-tingling breathing techniques are employed, yoga, food-healing principles from naturopathic medicine and an extraordinary healing-breath-prayer circle. The seminar gives the ultimate “activation” to one’s internal energy. Once the candle has been lit (a metaphor for overflowing the Dan Tien), it is easy to maintain its radiance. Simply practice Qigong. All ages and fitness levels can participate.

Michelene Bell is the publisher of In Light Times magazine, in which this article first appeared. Jeff Primack is a Qigong teacher who has studied with many Qigong masters from all over the world and taught more than 40,000 people in live seminars.

Qi Revolution comes to the Philadelphia Convention Center in TD Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA on September 14-17. Primack and 25 certified instructors teach four days of Qigong training for only $129. For tickets and information, call 800-298-8970 or visit QiRevolution.com.