by Alisa Joaquin
A personal account of the Tai Chi, Qi Gung, & Taoist Meditation Workshop held at the Omega Institute with David Carradine from October 6-8, 2000
This was a very special session. Normally, there would not be an evening session. There would be entertainment in the Main Hall, but David Carradine and his instructors decided to have an evening session and included a section of qi gong that was covered in his Qi Gong tape that he did with Arnold Tayam. That part was on healing sounds. Before we began, Arnold referred to the food that was served in the cafeteria, though Helen and I ate in the cafe. We tried the food in the cafeteria last time and we were disappointed. Though breakfast was all right, lunch and dinner were not as appetizing. Arnold then mentioned that sometimes when you get a little full, a very easy Qi Gong movement to do is just this stomach rubbing exercise. He said, "It's funny because a lot of Qi Gong movements you already know. Everyone knows the one after Thanksgiving Dinner, right? They also say what's very beneficial is to walk, about a hundred paces after each meal. So, for longevity, that's one of the things you use to help your digestion."
Arnold then passed out a sheet on Qi Gong. The sheet has a quick overview of what Qi Gong entails. I was surprised to learn that Qi Gong went back over 5,000 years, which makes it even older than Kung Fu. But what surprised me even more was just how much Qi Gong can make a different in ones health. A study was done at the Kuangan Men's Hospital in Beijing, China. Two groups of malignant cancer patients were chosen for the study. One group was treated with a combination of Qi Gong and drugs and the other with drugs alone. The results were quite amazing.
In the Qi Gong group, 93 patients were examined. 81% gained strength. 63% had improved appetite, and 33% their diarrhea ceased.
Comparing that with the control group, only 30 patients showed a 10% increase in strength; 10% had improved appetite; and those showing a ceasing of diarrhea, only 6%.
It is obvious to me that drugs, though they can be effective, are not enough. The ancients knew what worked and it's high time we relearn that fact. On the bottom of the sheet were references and websites. I've added them here.
Arnold then went on and stated what we would be doing was along the lines of what we began earlier with talking about emotions. He stated in Qi Gong there are different exercises that relate to the Five Elements. More specifically, there are different sounds that can be done with different positions of the body in order to bring about a release and the associated emotions. He drew a diagram illustrating the Five Elements with the associated sounds. He started with the Element of Water. Water relates with the kidneys. Kidneys and bladder are actually a pair. They are called the Yin and Yang components. Each of the five elements have Yin and Yang components.
Arnold stated, "So the kidneys relate to water and these different correspondences that the ancient Taoists found was that nature itself, as they looked out in the Macrocosm has all these different interconnections. The elements were a way of mapping the Universe; not only looking inside, but also looking outside so they could better understand the process of the changes and transformation of the chi. So, with water relating to kidneys, water creates another element. What element comes out of water? Rain comes down and what does it feed? Wood. So we have the trees. You also think about the seasons. That also kind of comes into play. So, if you think of wood, you think of springtime, vegetation. The liver is what relates to wood. Then from wood, wood creates another element, which one do you think it is. Fire. And fire relates to heart. The from fire, I don't have the right color pen, but fire actually burns down into ash and it goes into, what element do you think. Earth. And earth relates to spleen. Then from the earth, we actually have the atmosphere that rises up off the Earth or sometimes they say metal. Metal or air is the same element. And actually what it is metal ore can be taken out of the Earth and also you have the atmosphere, air that rises up off the Earth. So, we have metal which is usually colored white or off white. So I'm just going to say metal-air and that relates to, which organs do you think. Lungs."
The diagram looks something like this:
Arnold then stated, "So these five elemental processes that take place inside our body and also throughout the Universe is part of this interconnectedness of finding out how the microcosm reflected the macrocosm. And again, by connecting with these inner processes we can start to work with the chi in different ways. Usually what happens is that when we have different imbalances in our body in Chinese Medicine, it manifests as an excess or a deficiency. And what it is, generally speaking, is that you would prelate the excesses, you would tonify the deficiencies to regulate balance. So many of the video tapes that we've done actually have to do more with regulation for the most part, or gentle tonification or gentle cleansing just because it's not so much of a one-on-one clinical situation. So they are very suitable and safe for people who are just beginning their practice. So these sounds, these cleansing sounds that I will be showing you tonight actually are traditional. Lots of people have their own sounds. This is the set of sounds that we use. Actually, you can find this in the Qi Gong video tape as well as the Qi Gong book (Video tape: David Carradine's Chi Kung Beginner's Workout (1997) and Book: David Carradine's Introduction to Chi Kung-The Beginner's Program for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-being, if you're interested in finding out more deeply."
End of Day 2 - Evening Session - Part 1
Alisa Joaquin Copyright@2001.
This personal account cannot be reprinted or sold in any other form without strict
permission from the author. It is being distributed here solely for your enjoyment.
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