YOGA TAICHI 91
Harmonious alliance of Yoga, Taichichuan, Qigong and Meditation
24 energies Qigong
"Qi" is generally translated as "energy", "vital energy", "vital breaths" ... "Gong" (the same character as in "Gong fu") means "work" in the sense of any kind of work or study requiring a lot of time, application, regularity, perseverance and assiduity for its learning, improvement and mastery.
The regular practice of the exercises of Qi-Gong involves the improvement and the maintenance of health in a total way: with a revitalizing action on the physical, organic, muscular body... It increases our vitality and our resistance, develops our physical force, eliminates the tensions, unwinds our articulations, improves the postural statics, the coordination in our gestures and also a relaxing and alleviating action on the mental, on the spirit, which remains active and concentrated.
Finally, learning and practising Qi-Gong exercises regularly helps us to rediscover the unity of body and mind. For Qi is the life force, the flow of primordial energy that circulates and takes shape in all living things, from the infinitely small to the infinitely large.
The term "Qi-Gong", closely related to medicine from its earliest beginnings, has its roots in ancient China and can be traced back to ancient Taoist and Buddhist traditions. In traditional medicine, Qi-Gong is used for therapeutic purposes, with patients practising specific exercises or the doctor using his or her own energy to heal (Fa Gong = energy emission). In martial arts, Qi-Gong is part of the daily training to nourish the internal Qi, then to control its circulation to use it for defensive or offensive purposes.
Qi-Gong is different from other types of physical exercises because its practice is based on a balanced combination of three essential elements
- the regulation of the mind (Tiao Xin),
- the regulation of the breath (Tiao Xi),
- the regulation of the body (Tiao Xing) and movements.
The effectiveness in the practice of any exercise of Qi-Gong lies in the synchronization, the correct adjustment of these three elements. Natural relaxation and calming, concentration, intention and visualisation, unification of energy, perseverance and patience are necessary for the practitioner to adjust his thought, posture and breathing in order to act on the whole organism.
This year, we are starting to learn the "24 Energies" Qi-Gong.