SILVER LININGS 2005
EDSA Shangri-La, Ortigas
September 25, 2005
TOPIC : QI GONG
MODERATOR :
SPEAKERS : MICHELLE MAGSAYSAY, QI GONG TEACHER
Good morning everybody. Our next session is, well, I hope it will wake everybody up.
Qi Gong practitioners believe that this age-old Chinese exercise promotes health of the body, the mind, and the spirit. It is similar to Yoga, but Qi Gong, in particular, is believed to be a life-enhancing system of healing and energy medicine through “moving meditation.” It is the art and science of using breathing techniques, gentle movements, and meditation to cleanse, strengthen, and circulate the life energy or what we call “qi,” which of course, leads to better health and vitality, and a tranquil state of mind.
So, to tell us more about the benefits of Qi Gong, we have an expert in our midst, who is kind enough to show us some basic exercises. Michelle Magsaysay has been practicing Qi Gong for 10 years and she is a certified teacher of Qi Gong at the International Shen Zhen Society. Michelle will be teaching us a few Qi Gong exercises today to help us enhance our vitality and energy. Again, to wake us up and give us the strength to go through the entire day's activities, so let us please give a warm welcome to Ms. Michelle Magsaysay.
MICHELLE MAGSAYSAY (MM): Good morning everybody.
AUDIENCE (A): Good morning!
MM: I will not be using the microphone because we are going to be doing movements. Can everybody hear me?
A: Yes!
MM: Okay. First, let's stretch your arms and make sure that you are not hitting your neighbor. You can move your chairs. Adjust your chairs so that you'll have enough space to move. Maybe some of you can move a little bit forward. Does everybody have chairs to sit on?
A: No
MM: Okay. Perhaps some of you can sit on the couch, for those who don't have chairs.
A: Kulang, kulang.
MM: Never mind. You can do it standing up. We are going to start today's session with energizing movements. You can do these movements in the morning when you get up and before you have your meal. These movements are very good as they energize the body. They calm the mind and it is a good way to center yourself. So you can also do these movements in the middle of the day when you feel that your energy level is low. You can also do these movements at the end of the day, after work, and before you sleep to give you a restful sleep.
So what we're going to do today is called Shen Zhen Healing Qi Gong. This is Healing Qi Gong because we harness energy from nature, which is abundant; and by harnessing energy from nature we are able to bring the energy from nature into our bodies to release the tension, to calm the mind, so that we can be energized for the rest of the day.
So let's all…if it's okay with you, let's remove our shoes; or for those who would want to keep their shoes on, you can keep your shoes on.
Okay, I'm going to sit down. I hope those in the back can see me. Can you all see me?
A: Yes, standing.
MM: Standing. Okay I'm going to stand for you. Why don't we start first with standing movement? Just stand beside your chairs or in front of your chairs. We're going to do “Gathering Qi.”
So let's all stand, feet shoulder width apart. Your feet are facing forward, not sideward but forward. Widen your stance and the width. What we are going to do is that we are going to stretch the arms out. Bring your arms up. Bring your hands downs, and then start to turn your palms out. Open the chest. Bring the arms up and bring the palms down. One more time. Stretch the arms out. Bring the hands down. Okay. This time we are going to do it with breathing. Inhale, stretch the arms up. And exhale, bring the arms down. Again, inhale, stretch the arms up. And exhale, bring the hands down. Okay, let's stop for a while.
Now that you know the movement. What we're going to do now is to use imagery. So I want you to close your eyes just for a few moments and think of a very happy thought. Something pleasant that has happened to you. Maybe when you were young or something that makes you feel really joyful inside. It can be seeing a friend that you haven't seen for a long time, or it can be seeing your spouse or a family member that you haven't seen for a long time; but whatever happy memory you have, I want you to just hold on to that and we are going to keep that feeling as we do the movements.
Okay, has everybody thought of something?
A: Yes.
MM: Now for those of you who can't think of anything at the moment, you can think of spring or think of beautiful weather, and the abundance of nature, what nature has, the blessings of nature. So when you stretch the arms out, imagine that you're pouring Qi or energy from nature and bringing it into the body. Because this way, when we use imagery, you're actually healing your body with happy thoughts. It's a very simple thing. Just by thinking of something that is happy, you're actually healing your body. You're calming your mind and the rest of your body.
So let's try that this time, okay?
Everybody now, ready? Begin. Inhale, pour the Qi into the body and exhale. Okay? Stretch out and inhale. Imagine that you're pouring happy thoughts into the body. Exhale. Continue. Inhale, stretch out. It's like a rain shower of blessings entering the body. So every cell of the body is happy. Once again, inhale, and exhale. Continue. Stretch far. Inhale, and exhale. It's like you're pouring sunshine into the body. Inhale and exhale. Two more times, inhale and exhale. Last time, inhale and exhale.
Okay? Now, let's sit down. How does everybody feel?
A: Good.
MM: See, it was just a few minutes. Not even 1 minute and see how the body feels. It's affected by thoughts. So, just by changing the way you think, think happy thoughts. It's very simple. It sounds very simple but it works. Then the body, the chemicals in the body, gets affected. So, when you start to feel low or you feel your energy is depleted, what you do is just go back to that, go back to happy thoughts and start to do energizing movements.
Now, remember that we actually bring in energy through the center of the palms of the hands, and through the center of the soles of the feet, as well as the crown of the head. So when you are doing the movements, as you bring your arms up, really imagine that you're gathering the vital force of energy from nature and it is actually coming into the body through the palms of the hands, the crown of the head, and the soles of the feet.
Okay, now we are going to be doing more movements, this time sitting. I want you to follow me. These are 10 movements. So do what you can. I don't expect that you'll remember all the movements, but I want you to see how it feels to do the “Healing Qi Gong.”
Okay. So let's all sit towards the front of the chair. Your feet are shoulder width apart, and you can open your legs a little bit. So we bring our hands together. This is actually what we do as we begin the movement. When we do this movement, it is like we are asking nature for blessings. So, bring your palms together, blow into the palms of your hands, bring your right hand down, and your left hand up, and then slide your left hand down and rest your left hand on your right palm, touch your thumbs together.
Okay, let's try that once again. So bring your hands together, gently blow into the palms of your hands; bring your right hand down, left hand up, and bring your left hand down to rest on your right palm, thumbs touching.
Now, in Qi Gong, you might be wondering what “Qi” is, “Qi” is the life force that is in nature, that is in our bodies. It is the life force that makes the planets move. The same energy that makes the blood move, that makes the heart beat, that makes the mind think. So it's very important that we're always thinking happy thoughts because that affects the body. So when we do Qi Gong we're not only doing exercise, we're actually bringing the mind into a space where the body is allowed to relax, where the mind is also allowed to relax. So if you have a lot of stress as you do Qi Gong, never mind the stress. Forget the stress, I'm here right now and just be present as you do Qi Gong. So you can actually receive the full benefit of the practice.
So right now we are going to start by bringing our hands one on top of the other. Try to sit in front, towards the front of your chair. Now, we are going to repeat Qi Gong part 1.
Ready? Just follow me. Begin. Bring your arms up, open the arms and come forward, now freeze. Everybody just relax your elbows, inhale, open the chest, exhale, hands forward. Again, inhale, open the chest, exhale, hands forward. Inhale, open the chest, exhale, hands forward. Inhale and exhale. Inhale, expand the chest, and exhale, relax your shoulders. Two more times. Inhale and exhale. One more time. Inhale and exhale.
Okay, now for the second movement. Ready? Begin. Bring the arms up, bring the hands to the head, and lean back, and push. Open the chest, then bring the hands to the head, and lean back, and open the chest. Stretch the arms. Again. Come forward, hands to the head, lean back and stretch. Two more times. Come forward, hands on the head, and stretch far. One last time. Come forward, hands to the head and stretch.
Okay. Now relax for a moment. This movement is not very easy. So, it can be tiring on the shoulders. Now do you notice anything in the body that feels like it's been stretched?
A: Yes!
MM: Which part?
A: The shoulder. Chest!
MM: Yes. The chest, the back, the arms, the shoulders, that's why it's very good to do this. This particular Qi Gong is good. It opens the heart. I'm not only talking about the physical heart. I'm talking about the inner heart. This opens the heart to receiving blessings from nature. This is what Qi Gong is about. So when you open the chest, imagine yourself receiving blessings from nature. You're not only opening the chest and the arms but you're saying “yes, welcome the blessings, I welcome it into my body.”
Okay, so we do more exercises with that and we just remember as we open our arms, we imagine ourselves receiving blessings from nature. Okay, now this movement we're going to do in a while is to release stress. So this is what you do. Bring your hands to touch, bring your hands down, then bring your hands up, flip it over, turn the hands, turn the hands again, then bring the hands up, flip it over then bring the hands down, like a wheel. Again. Bring the hands up, flip it over, and bring the hands down. This time with breathing. Inhale up, and exhale release. Again. Inhale up, and release.
Before we continue, let us stop a moment; make sure that your hands do not separate. You keep the hands together so that when you do the movement, it is like a wheel in front of you. It doesn't stop moving. The flow of the energy or the Qi continues moving. When you feel that you're very tight, that your body is tight due to stress, this is a good way of releasing stress in the body, through the breath. So let's bring the hands together and inhale. Open the chest, release the breath, inhale, open the chest. Continue. Let us do it faster. And release, I want to hear you breathing, inhale deeply, and release. Inhale, and release. Inhale, and release. Two more times, inhale, and release. Last time, inhale and release, bring your hands down. How do you feel?
A: Good. Relaxed.
MM: You can do this at home, or if you're waiting for somebody and you're sitting in a chair. Never mind what people think of you. This is for you; it's not for them. So when you're feeling like everything is tight in your body and when you are feeling that your energy is low, this is what you can do. If you are angry, this is good. So use you're breathe. Open your chest to take in the air and then exhale. Let's do one more round. Faster, and this time I want you to really release all the tensions in the body as you drop your shoulders, drop the hands, and drop the head, okay? Ready?
Bring the hands together and inhale, expand the chest, and release. Drop the head forward, inhale, and release. Continue. Inhale, faster, release. Inhale and release. Last time, inhale, big release. Okay, good. Now I hope everybody feels lighter.
Now we're going to do another movement. We're going to sway from side to side. It's a happy movement, so sway from side to side, let the arms just follow the body. Relax your neck and smile. Remember when you're smiling, your body knows you're smiling, you yourselves, your body, every organ in the body knows you're smiling so as you are moving, imagine that you're dancing. So imagine that your arms are like wings of a bird. So it's like the stretching part. Now, the movements become smaller and let's stop here first. You have energy to do more?
A: Yes!
MM: Good. So we're going to do this movement. The next movement is like the movement of the waves and the ocean. I'm going to show it to you first and as you do the movement imagine you are like on a surfboard riding the waves, and just allow the body to release as it moves forward and backwards. So watch me first. This is how it looks.
Okay, start. Ready. Everybody bring their hands to the sides, begin, inhale, arms up, exhale, arms down. Okay, come forward, and bring the hands down, and come forward, and bring the arms down. You make the torso move forward. Let the arms glide up, and let the arms sink down. Move forward and come down. Move forward and come down. Now close your eyes for a moment. I will not count. Just follow the rhythm of your breath. Just imagine your body moving like the waves in the ocean, like water, and you're riding the waves in the ocean. The movement is very fluid. Seamless. It's a very calming movement. Two more times, and last time. Lay your hands down to the sides.
Now that felt very different, right? So now we're going to move into the next movement. We're going to bring our arms up, inhale, another release. Come forward and release the breath. Come down, roll up, stretch up. Come forward and release. This is good for the spine. Roll up, stretch up, and come forward. You can just do what you can; you don't have to bend forward too much. Stretch up and release the breath. Release the neck, the head. Two more times. Stretch up, arms, and release forward, and last time. Stretch up and release, bring arms up, keep your hands up. We're going to move into the next movement. Slowly bring the hands down, lift the heels, and exhale, and squeeze. Inhale like a balloon, exhale, slowly exhale, squeeze. Inhale, expand like a balloon, exhale, squeeze. Inhale, expand, exhale, squeeze. Last time, inhale up, and exhale, squeeze.
I can hear everybody breathing heavily now but this is good for you. You know, if you cannot move certain parts of the body because it feels tiring, use your mind, because again there is the “Qi.” The life force is in the mind so even if you imagine in your head that you're stretching up the body will recognize the movement. You don't have to physically do the whole thing.
Now we're going to do a fun movement. This movement is to release more stress through the fingertips, so when you do this movement imagine you're like a child. It's a carefree movement and it's a fun movement. So what we're going to do is stretch your arms out. Start to wriggle the fingers. Release the stress through the fingers. Now imagine as you're moving your fingers it's like your cells are dancing. It's happy. Healing energy enters the cells and then starts to move to the shoulders, to the neck. It is starting to release your neck, and then tap your feet. Tap your feet. Now close your eyes if you're ashamed. Close your eyes, don't worry, I'm the only one who can see you all. Close your eyes, and let go, let go, let go. Have fun. So imagine you're playing. Your cells are dancing, and you're spreading the happy Qi to all the cells of the body. Faster, slow down, and stop. Okay, keep your hands up. Do you feel anything? If you feel tingling, that's actually the energy that you stimulated in the body.
Okay, now bring your hands down. So you see what these movements can do. It can actually help make you feel better. It helps release stress and it helps to relax the mind.
So we're going to move towards the end of this whole series. We're going to do the second to the last movement. We're going to trace a heart with your hands. Inhale, lean back, and then exhale, exhale, exhale, squeeze. We'll do that again. Ready, and draw a heart, inhale, lean back and exhale. Release the hand slowly, and squeeze.
One last movement we're going to do is we're going to bring the hands up. One, and (claps). Okay, let's just try the hands this time. Just the hands. One big circle, half-circle. Ready and one, two, one, two. one, two. Open the chest. One, two, one, two. Last time, one, two. Good. Now the feet. All you have to do is lean back, bring it down. Lean back, bring it down, and let the body move forward. Parang rocking. It is like a rocking motion. Okay, let's try it with hands and feet together. Are you ready? Are you all ready?
A: Yes!
MM: Okay, let's go! One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. Last time. One, two. Okay, very good. You can do some more if you want. Okay, so let's bring our hands down.
I want you to close your eyes for a moment. Relax the body. Now that you've moved the body and you've stimulated the energy in the body, the Qi, the life force, and you've gathered Qi from nature, you want to stay with the energy by bringing your awareness to the breath. Let the breath relax. Watch the breath, flowing in and flowing out. It's the Qi that moves the breath. So, whenever you watch the breath, you're watching the life force within you. You have to store the energy that you've gathered in your body. Bring your awareness to the area below the navel, a few inches below the navel, and imagine that place is like a very calm lake. Pristine and transparent. The waters are very pristine. This is where you find your center and your connection with nature, and with your surroundings. You feel that everything in that center is calm and peaceful. This is your sacred space. Nobody can enter this place except you. So when you feel that you are agitated, that you are stressed, just bring yourself to this place of silence, connect with nature, the life force in nature, and within you. Now take a deep breath. Just a breath. One last time. Take a deep breath. As you release the breath, slowly open your eyes.
Now, we're going to do three movements, and these movements are like body prayer. It's just three movements. It is called Jesus Sitting. So just follow me. Bring your arms out; bring your hands together in front of your chest. Relax your shoulders. Just practice the movement.
First movement, bring your hands above your head. Open the chest, release the chest, bring your arms down to the sides, relax your shoulders, release your arms down to the sides, relax your shoulders. Now you don't have to bring your shoulders all the way back. You can bring it forward so it's not so tiring. Some of you can also bring your hands down if you're tired but imagine in your mind that your hands are wide and long.
Now, the second movement. Bring your hands up, and glide your hands down in front of your chest like a triangle. So these arms are like the side of the triangle and the bottom is the base, and your chin is like the top of the triangle. Now you want to make sure that this is a straight line, it's not bent, to make the energy flow. Check that your arms are in the right position.
The last movement. Bring your hands down, then bring your hands up above your head, then bring your palms together in prayer, closing movement, bring your hands up then down. Now, we are going to do it this time with imagery.
Ready? Begin. Bring your arms up, hands together in prayer pose in front of the chest. Close your eyes just for a moment and listen to your heart beating against your chest. Relax your shoulders. Your face is soft. Tune in to the space of peace within your heartbeat. This is where you find harmony within yourself and your surroundings.
Now, first movement. Ready, begin. Bring your arms up, open your chest as you welcome the Qi as you spread your arms out to the sides. Now bring your arms slightly forward, relax your shoulders. Close your eyes and imagine that there is this rain shower of Qi entering every pore of your skin. This is called “Love Descends on You.” So the Qi that's entering your body is love from nature, blessing from nature. So imagine that you are standing under a waterfall of Qi or a rain shower of light, which is entering every cell of the body. You're bathing in the light of the Qi, the “Light of love.” Stay there for a moment.
Next movement, second movement. Bring your arms up, then bring your hands down in front of the chest, your hands are relaxed, shoulders relaxed. Now bring your awareness to the space between the palms of the hands, the heart space. Qi from the heart expands the chest. It is like that you're holding a ball of light between the palms of the hands, so as you breath in and you breath out, just become aware of the heart space between the palms of the hands.
I hope you learned a few things. You can bring home some of the exercises. So as we end, let us give thanks to nature for the blessings of Qi we received today by bringing our palms together, blow into the palms of your hands, bring your right hand down, and left hand up; bring your left hand down, and touch your palms together. Thank you.