If you’re familiar with any of my work you’ll know that I do go on a bit about how brilliant Qigong Healing is. I’m certain I could easily write a book explaining why Qigong is so brilliant. But today I just want to share one particular aspect that you might not be familiar with.
In a nutshell it’s that Qigong healing works on the ROOT and not the symptoms or the Branch. But what does this really mean?
When I say the Root I mean this is the main problem or cause and when I say Branch I mean the symptom or the result of the main problem.
Here’s an example. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) viewpoint on obesity is that it is caused by hormonal imbalance. Obesity is the symptom, or result of the main problem – hormonal imbalance.
We can go a level deeper here, because from the Qigong perspective the Root is always a problem of energy or a malfunction of harmonious energy flow due to blockages in the meridians of the body.
Now the really brilliant part of practicing Qigong exercises is that we do not need to know where these blockages are. We generate energy/qi flow and then let go and LET the Qi flow to the area of low energy = where the blockage is.
I’ve placed emphasis on the word ‘LET‘ because too many students try to be smarter than their own Qi/energy! Here’s an example:
I have pain in my knees, so when I generate Qi flow, instead of letting go and doing nothing, I try to be smarter. I focus on my knees (the symptom) – Qi/energy flows where attention goes, so your Qi travels to your knees.
3 months later your knees are even more painful! What’s going on you may ask yourself. Well the answer is simple. Knee pain, is usually a symptom of a malfunction of energy with or to the Kidneys. i.e. knee pain is the Branch but the Kidneys are the Root.
Instead of LETTING your Qi travel to the Root, you have been moving it to the Branch! No wonder your knees haven’t got better.
This is why I advise all my students to ‘Let go and enjoy their Qi flow’. It’s not a suggestion, it’s a vitally important instruction.
Whilst were on this subject, this brief exploration of Root and Branch raises another interesting reason why Qigong is so brilliant.
The Grand-daddy of all Root causes is a malfunction of energy or Yin/Yang disharmony, which can manifest as a million and 1 different Branches or symptoms.
If you practice Qigong correctly, i.e. you have the skill of Energy/Qi flow and you can let go and do nothing during energy flow – then it doesn’t matter which of the 1000’s of different Qigong Exercises available you practice. As long as you have energy flow – that’s what is important for healing.
So why are there so many different Qigong Exercises? Well, let’s say you wanted to go to London, you could walk, you could ride a bike, you could drive a car, you could travel by plane. You would choose the best mode of transport based on your needs.
And so it is with Qigong Exercises, if you know that there is a problem with the Kidneys then it is more ‘cost effective’ to practice Reverse Hands Bend Waist (a.k.a Nourishing Kidneys) than Second Son Carrying Mountains. Yes Carrying Mountains will still ‘solve’ the cause, but probably not as quickly as Nourishing Kidneys.
Whether you have diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, or any other ‘symptom’, the Root is Yin/Yang disharmony (a malfunction of energy). Energy flow helps to restore harmony and if harmony can be restored fully then good health is the result.
But I must go on record here as stating that Qigong is not capable of curing all illness. If an illness has been left treated for too long, or if the blockage is too severe, it may not be possible to fully restore Yin/Yang harmony or harmonious energy flow.
A Qigong healer will usually seek to treat the Root, but if the Branch is serious or life threatening then it may be necessary to treat the Branch first.
Bye for now
Marcus James Santer