Practitioners of Chinese medicine can directly play a role in wellness based clinical energetics. During clinical practice, practitioners can adjust mind focus (Xin—HeartMind), adjust breath, adjust the body and posture, adjust language, purposefully direct Qi and intent (Yi), and actually teach Qigong while patients are in consultation and treatment.
Chinese medicine is, essentially, a wellness based medical system. And yet, typically, practitioners behave more in accord with the Western medical system, which is a disease intervention system. Fortunately, it costs little in time and resources to transform a Chinese medicine practice into a more holistic, wellness-oriented practice. Also fortunate, is that when supporting patients from the wellness focus, the practitioner is also reminding her or himself about how to sustain personal energy and wellbeing.
Key strategies:
Focus Mind, Intent and Qi:
Turn the attention of mind to the process of Qi exchange in the clinic Direct Qi and intent
Breath adjustment:
Use breath to move Qi in treatment
Teach breath practice in teaching Qigong, relaxation, and mindfulness
Body alignment:
Use body alignment, Teach body alignment
Language – power of the word:
How to speak of Qi and health cultivation as general consultative concepts speaking of Qi in teaching specific practices
The ideals of the traditional medical systems of Asia:
First, honor the Spirit—destiny, potential and rights of the health seeker.
Teach people to sustain their health and heal themselves through personal practices and lifestyle adjustments.
When using any sort of treatment, do so in a context where it is understood that healing treatment activates the client’s inner resources—the healer within.
Support your community in creating health promotion activities for individuals of all ages, from children to elders—teach Qigong.
When these ideals are followed in the context of Chinese Mind-Body Energetics, the client who receives the benefit from your clinical practice will always be empowered to engage in his or her own practice as the basis of their healing process. A classic rule in Chinese Medicine says: Treat a lot of people a few times rather than a few people a lot of times! The great heroes of society inform, inspire, and empower!
Personal Qi or Universal Qi
Some traditions hold forth the idea that healing energy comes from the reserves of healer or physician. A second perspective suggests that the Qi for healing actually comes from the universe and is triggered or directed by the intention of the healer or physician. Both are true.
One of the most fascinating and disappointing experiences of my eight trips to China was when a Qigong healer was to demonstrate his skill by making a fluorescent light bulb light up without connecting it to an electrical source—just by holding it. A group of American physicians and scientists had come a long way to see the demonstration. To our dismay, it was announced that the healer had treated too many patients and had depleted his Qi and would not do the demonstration.
Healing that is mediated through personal Qi can be injurious to the practitioner and is not recommended without specialized training. This is a different sort of mastery than we are exploring. When you mediate the healing effect by cultivating your connection to the shared field of universal Qi—called Shen Qi, Heavenly Qi or Cosmic Qi—there is no risk of depletion because the Qi that is transmitted is not personal; it is universal and boundless.
Mind-Body Energetics operate along one or more of the following pathways:
Universal Qi passes through you as a channel to another person or persons.
The Qi of others is balanced and organized due to your harmonizing influence.
Healing Qi from the universe pours directly into the field of one or several other persons due to your intent.
Results Happen Over Time
The first step to Qi-Empowered Patients is getting the practice into your own life, as personal practice is the best teacher. If you want to increase your vitality, reduce your stress, and have greater energy, mental clarity, and inner peace, then make it your intention to practice daily. Encourage your clients to begin and maintain a daily practice, and lead by your example.
It is kind of a law of destiny or physics—when you do something good for yourself, you get something good. There is an unknown however—when will the good arise? We are fairly addicted to immediate results. “If I do Qigong and Tai Chi for a few days I will heal my every disease.” This is a classic expectation. In reality though, there can be an array of possible time frames between doing something good and getting something good.
Will one get the preferred result in a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a few weeks, a few months, a few years or in a few lifetimes? What is the distance between doing the good and getting the good?
In most cases, the wellness practice that we sow typically reaps its promise of good results within a few weeks or months. The typical result of sincere and continuous practice of the self-care methods of Mind-Body Energetics (Qigong, Tai Chi, Yoga, meditation and other psycho-somatic systems) is the enhancement of psychological and physical wellbeing. When you do something good for yourself, you get something good. It is a rule.
The challenge is that you just cannot say when that will occur!
Remind your clients, that it is impossible to know when the natural results will arise and that patience and perseverance, in cultivation of wellbeing, is the recognized best practice for catalyzing the intended good result. Finally, suggest that participants eat nutritious food, drink lots of water, rest, pursue fun and laughter and sustain a regular practice of self-care methods. Not only will your client become healthier but also your reputation as a doctor or practitioner will spread.
The above is an original article by Dr Roger Jahnke, OMD.
