19. Qigong
气功
气 (qi4) is life force energy
功 (gong1) is work
Qigong is something groups of retired Chinese aunties and uncles practice in the park together on weekday mornings. Given this narrow-minded image, it never occurred to me to incorporate the slow, gentle movements of Qigong alongside my yoga, pilates, boxing, and HIIT workouts.
Still, I’m a curious person, so I attended a Qigong class in January. It was a thoroughly relaxing, grounding, and enjoyable experience. At the time, the class was a one-off, but Qigong has recently circled back into my life.
A combination of mind, body, and spirit, Qigong aligns with all the other work I’ve been doing of late. And with the recent COVID-19 emphasis on health and immunity, practicing 10 to 20 minutes of Qigong each day has been wonderfully centering and revitalizing.
There are plenty of videos online spanning the many lineages, forms, and styles of Qigong. So far, I’ve mostly followed these morning routine and evening routine videos by instructor Lee Holden. I’m also in a 6-week online class on the Nine Phases Transformation with Suzannah Stason (the teacher of the class I mentioned earlier), which is based around The Healing Promise of Qi by Roger Jahnke. The class is about cultivating Qi through these nine phases for spiritual inner transformation. Here is a video of the full Nine Phases form.
However, I feel compelled to note that these Qigong teachers—Holden, Stason, and Jahnke—are all white Americans. I experience some discomfort around learning a traditional Chinese practice from markedly non-Chinese people. Though I’m also questioning that discomfort. After all, I grew up immersed in Chinese language and culture with a Chinese-Malaysian dad, but many people wouldn’t see me as “authentically” Chinese. This is all an ongoing internal conversation.
Nevertheless, cultivating my energy flow through Qigong has been a fantastic complement to my life. And I invite you to give it a go. There’s a practice for everyone, regardless of age or able-bodiedness.