A couple of weeks ago I took time to have what turned out to be an amazing phone conversation with Paul Fraser, qi gong teacher, practitioner, healer. He doesn’t really know this (yet!) but it really helped me turn my week around.
It was one of those conversations that could so easily have been “let me go on and on about myself for that free promo of my course and work” and instead it was a deep and sweet reminder of the underlying connection between us all, and a couple of weeks ago I really need this reminder.
The idea was: I wanted to see if I could authentically, ethically recommend this fellow as he is teaching a full medical qi gong training here in Montreal for the 2nd time starting in February.
In brief: Take this course! This fellow is an amazing teacher. I can now say that if you are interested in qi gong, check out his free lecture on February 24. And even see if the weekend trainings are for you.
So what is gi gong? And even more juicy: Why might you want to practice it?
Gong: work, movement, act, cultivation, done with devotion over a long period of time.
Qi: energy, basically anything that promotes, protects, nurtures life.
In Paul’s words: (because I wanted him to tell me why it should even be in a blog about sustainable healing!)
“It’s probably one of the most sustainable systems of medicine there is: if it’s done properly there are no risks, no side effects, no waste and no equipment. The power source is Universal Energy (QI) and there is an unlimited supply. The practice of cultivating this Universal Energy brings the practitioner into a deep state of calm, with an expanded awareness of the inherent Life in all things.”
And here is the really juicy part: “This helps to foster a type of reverence for the Natural World, it’s inhabitants and their relationship to one another. Feeling the deep connection of all of us to one another, to our planet, and even beyond, tends to make us more cooperative and respectful. More than just an idea or theory, it gives us the experience that we are all in this together.”
This experience that we are part of something, or even just part of the whole, is one that we all seek, no matter what culture, creed, or healing art you practice.
As Paul so aptly puts it: “ Practices like these could well be our saving graces as human beings. Helping us to move past our primal fear towards the point of recognition that we are different manifestations for one divine organism.” We might have enough experiences of this we may begin to wonder: “what really is an inanimate object?” The lines begin to blur. yay!
A great practice for us urban dwellers where everything seems disconnected and concrete at times. or most of the time?
This is reassuring in itself, when I am reminded of the great qi gong/yoga divide in my city (and most likely everywhere?). We are all practicing the same thing here folks!
A sense of oneness, wholeness, samadhi, whatever you want to call it, and however you want to practice it: little glimpses of this are what we keep going back to these practices for, whether it is qi gong, meditation, yoga, asana, a run in the woods.
We gently and furiously swing from isolation to communion in our lives and the sense of connection we can tap into with a practice like qi gong keeps that pendulum going at a more even rate.
