04/27/2022
Hello, my dear friends,
In Qigong, we are studying and working with energy: how it works in the world and in the body, and how we can use that understanding to benefit ourselves and the world.
In SFQ Level 1, we learn that "anything and everything in the world contains all the information of the universe."
And those who practice the Five Element Healing Movements learn that simply by understanding the nature and relationship of the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, we can "understand the formation of energy in the body and in the universe."
The people who developed Qigong thousands of years ago realized certain emotions relate to certain organ systems.
So, if there’s too much of that emotion, that tells you its corresponding energy-system has problems, and when you indulge in that emotion too much or too strongly, it harms that energy-system.
Here, we’re not talking about “good” or “bad,” “right” or “wrong,” but simply the observations Qigong Masters have made for thousands of years about how the body works, and how the mind and emotions relate to that.
These Masters wanted to know how these things worked so they could enjoy perfect health for a long life.
They noticed long ago that as spring comes, many people get liver problems.
As summer comes, many people get heart problems.
As fall comes, many people get lung problems.
And as winter comes, many people get kidney problems. Winter is the season of residing in the root, and in Qigong, the kidneys are like the root of the body.
We are born in the world and we live in it; we are in the world, and the world is in us;
In Chinese Five Element Theory, the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are used to describe many things and the way they interact with each other, including the seasons and the organ systems of the body.
If you can imagine how one Element transforms into the next in that cycle, you can understand a lot about our world.
Imagine –
When you have Wood, it feeds Fire.
Fire’s burning generates ash, to nourish Earth.
Earth condenses to generate Metal. If you imagine
Metal as concentrated Earth, condensing more and more, out of that condensation arises Water.
Water nourishes Wood to continue the cycle.
You can see this easily in the seasons.
Spring is Wood, summer Fire, late summer Earth, fall Metal, and winter Water.
But you can see this in the body, too!
In Spring Forest Qigong, we explain this in terms of emotions (like in the Five Element Qigong Healing Movements course). That course not only teaches healing movements, but fuses them with specific positive emotions to amplify their healing power.
When we feel happy, it’s usually about something. When we have so much happiness (liver energy system), we can express joy – happiness for no reason at all.
When there is so much joy (heart energy system ), it is like the explosion of fireworks or the blossoming of thousands of flowers.
In the wake and after the echoes of that joy, peace (spleen/stomach energy system)follows.
In the fullness of deep peace, we feel satisfaction, contentment (lung energy system)
Knowing contentment, we are moved to express gratitude (kidney energy system)
These are the Five Elements at work in the body and in our world.
Many Blessings,
Chunyi Lin
