Qigong Harnesses Power Of Heaven and Earth – Dr. Erlene Chiang Explains
My regular readers and listeners know me to be a health seeker. I’m someone who is constantly looking for natural, sustainable, non-invasive ways not just to become disease-free but to maintain good health overall. On my podcast series I have had on a number of experts who have developed and propagated healing modalities involving breathing, sound, light, the Feldenkrais method and more. This time around, I was fortunate enough to have on my show, the expert in traditional Chinese medicine, Dr. Erlene Chiang of the Wen Wu School. Along with Dr. Chiang joining the conversation is my own Qigong teacher David Zurun. Check out our fascinating conversation here.
What is Qigong?
I have recently started to delve into Qigong, the ancient Chinese practice that involves meditation, movement, sound and self-massage. It is basically a system of self-healing that can help resolve myriad health issues, says Dr. Chiang. It works by clearing blockages in the body. These blockages constrict the flow of energy or qi in the meridians of the body as envisaged in Chinese medicine. For me, this process has been amazing, and my instructor David Zurun has quickly been able to teach me 64 movements of Qigong. Each of these movements has a precise impact on precise points of the body, helping stimulate meridians and the flow of qi.
One of the questions I had to ask her was about the amazing heat that comes off her hands – you can feel the heat when her hands are a distance away from your skin! So, she says that it is actually how Qigong works – drawing energy from heaven and the earth to channel it within the body. She describes it as very gentle, very low impact but having the ability to generate so much heat in the body. And this heat is long lasting, so practitioners of Qigong will often find that when they start practicing it, they have warm hands and feet for the first time in years!
How Qigong works on the body.
David explains how the blocked qi in the body is responsible for so many problems, and that clearing these blockages can have a positive impact, no matter what the issue. Dr. Chiang and David have been helping people with chronic pain, stiffness, endocrine issues and much more. They explained to me the significance of the type of Qigong they practice, which is the Wild Goose Qigong developed by Buddhist monks. Because geese can run, swim, fly for thousands of miles, because they live in social groups and mate for life, they have a lot to teach us humans and are revered as such.
In the course of our conversation, we also discussed tai chi and how tai chi and Qigong are like two sides of the same coin. While tai chi is a martial art that involves kicking, punching, pushing and so on, it complements the practice of Qigong and vice versa.
I’m personally seeing how Qigong is working to help me feel better, and sleep better with just a short introduction to it. So, I definitely recommend listening to this episode where I chat with Dr. Erlene Chiang and David Zurun, and we take a deep dive into this natural, traditional method of self-healing.
