I’m writing this at the time of the COVID-19 virus while on lock-down in the U.K.
I have seen an influx of people on Youtube and social media helping and giving advice on certain Qigong exercises that they believe you should START doing for building up ones immunity. These teachers are genuinely trying to help others which in itself is fantastic. Actively doing something is very positive which will have a positive influence on the mind but would have limiting effects regarding the body’s immunity.
I want to make myself very clear, I do not want people to stop practising these exercises as they all have other benefits, but regarding actually building up your immunity I just want people to understand the actual process of achieving it, rather than have a false sense of immortality, putting themselves in harms way.
Although most of the exercises being shown would benefit a seasoned Qigong practitioner, the same affects on a newbie would be extremely limiting. This is not well understood within the western Qigong community.
Qigong is something that builds up over time and with practice. We need to look at it like we would a marathon runner trying to achieve a personal best after only completing two weeks of training, its just not going to happen. The marathon runner has to condition his or her body over years of daily training to be able to perform that one life time best.
Qigong is the same because of the way it works. When performed properly Qigong tonifies and harmonies the body, mind and energy as a WHOLE, this is very important to realise as the body, mind and energy are all connected either directly or indirectly.
It is this connectivity that makes it quite complex to understand. Simply put, if we have a shoulder condition the shoulder might not be the original source of the problem, it may well of originated from the knee. Now include your thoughts, emotions, hormones, nervous, cardiovascular, lymph systems, the organ inter-relationships and many more. If any one of these bodily functions start to become inefficient and does not function correctly it will have a knock on affect to every other system that operates within you, no matter how minor. This is why Qigong and Chinese Medicine among other healing systems concentrate on the whole body connections. This is very different to the western medical approach.
To really have a significant and noticeable difference in your immunity, a minimum of 2-5 years of daily or bi daily practice would be necessary. For some people, depending on their frequency of practice it might be decades. This is why I always say in class that you are here to learn the skill sets but the real work must be done at home. That's not saying you won’t get improvements, I'm just saying they would be minimum.
In the past, Eastern teachers especially in the Doaist arts, Tai Chi, Qigong, Kung Fu and Zen made sure their prospective students proved their determination and commitment towards the teacher and their arts. Although this is increasing less common as payment becomes a more dominant force in these modern times.
This is not because of their arrogance but simply because they know the level of commitment required to make any real progress, and as one’s energy gives us life, why waste it on someone who is not prepared to give it their all.
Saying that, we all have to start somewhere. Something is always better than nothing and remember I am focusing here specificity on immunity. Like with anything in life, you only get out of it what you put in. The alchemical and physical development will be reflected in the amount of time or more importantly practice that you commit to.
Moving forward, just be true to yourself and have realistic idea’s about the benefits you may achieve. However, ultimately it is the individual journey and your own progression that is important, so don’t let this put you off from starting, whatever your age.
Qigong regarding immunity:
The strength of your ‘Wei Qi’ is what we are looking at. Wei Qi is vital for good immunity. We can look at it from the point of Qi (Chi) or energy within the body but it also refers to the efficiency and the potential of the body’s processes to be able to protect itself. This is especially important for external threats and conditions like viruses.
Qigong exercise creates tiny refinements within the body every time it is preformed correctly, and as the whole of the body, mind and energy is interconnected to everything else, Qigong exercises are generally not prescribed for a present moment immunity issue.
If we want to protect ourselves from external bodily invaders, we need a strong Wei Qi, which will help prevent us from falling ill in the first place. Prevention is always better than cure.
Your ability to fight off illness is developed over time. Building up the body’s Qi, improving the efficiency of the body’s functioning and consolidating the Jing etc will all increase your overall vitality, which in turn dictates the strength of your Wei Qi. This is why waiting for an illness to occur before you start training has very limiting affects.
When we learn any new Qigong exercise we can’t preform it very well at the start, especially when we have to do something with our body, our mind and our breath. It could take around 6 – 8 weeks before you can start to get to grips with it and benefit from it’s functions. We need to look at Qigong like a set of instructions for the inner quality of your body.
The Wei Qi has 3 key organs, the lungs, spleen and kidneys.
The lungs distribute the Wei Qi around the body.
The spleen processes the energy from our food in the digestive process. If the spleen is weak we cannot get the full extent of the nutrients that is stored within our food and as food is one of the main sources of our Qi this will really have significant consequences on our immunity. The spleen is one of the most important organs for the creation and generation of the Wei Qi (immunity).
The kidneys provide the fuel and substance for all of the body’s functions. The kidneys or the essence of the kidneys are always required to make sure the processes of the body are taking place.
Wei Qi is said to be primarily constructed from post natal Qi (energy from the spleen) and pre natal Qi (quality and health of our kidneys).
To increase our immunity we should concentrate on improving the spleens efficiency, roughly located around the solar plexus (ren 12). If we can tonify this general area the spleen will gain more nutrition from our food, potentiality producing more Wei Qi.
This will also help the lungs which do not actually increase the Wei Qi but helps to move the Wei Qi around the body.
Certain breathing will anchor the Qi of the lungs and make the lungs more efficient. If the lungs are strong and we unfortunately do get pathogens into them, the lungs will be in a far better position to clear themselves and potentially return you to health.
One of the most practical sides of building immunity is….. wait for it…… REST obviously, yet some people struggle to do this. If you do not have enough rest then your body will not be able to function at a very high level which is what's needed to fight dis-ease.
There are basically two types of rest – physical, related more to the spleen and mental, related mainly to the kidneys.
Rest for the spleen can be as simple as sleep, having a good night sleep is vital. Some people believe they only need 4-5 hours of sleep, but the majority of these people are only fooling themselves, you only have to look at the quality of their health to see this is untrue. These people will suddenly burn out very quickly and age well before their time. There are certain people who 4-5 hours is enough because of their natural energy levels and balances, but they are very much in the minority. The average person to function probably needs around 7-9 hours.
Also, of extreme importance regarding our spleen is our diet. If we want to strengthen our immunity we need to cut out as much SUGAR as possible, especially white cane sugar.
Sugar blocks the ability of the spleen to extract nutrients from your food which your body needs to function at it best. This is why people with diabetes are dying due to the Covid-19 as their body’s ability to defend itself is greatly reduced.
Kidney rest is generally mental rest, so the ability to de-stress is essential. People often find this one the harder of the two, especially if they are living in the western culture and life style. If you're not grafting hard for 8-12 hour days you're regarded as lazy by society, which is driven culturally by big business. By the time they are retired they are often so burnt out, with underlying health conditions that all that financial security they worked so hard to build for their retirement is wasted.
Stress also affects the liver, but it is the kidneys which we are most interested in due to the fight or flight response and the secretion of adrenalin. If we are in a state of stress, angst, or fear we are constantly draining the adrenal glands, putting tremendous stress on our immunity. The kidneys no longer have the ability to function properly and provide the required level of fuel needed for its role within the body.
For immunity, the Qigong exercises we want to be considering is anything that is not strenuous and something which helps you to relax more. Some light fluid movements designed to relax the muscular tension, which in turn will open up the joints and increase the many energetic and fluid pathways of the body. Exercises that purposely create SUNG (release) will be extremely beneficial.
In Chinese medicine it is said that the kidneys grasp the lung Qi which brings it down into the lower Dantein. If the lungs are not anchored by the kidneys it means you are probably breathing high, shallow and relatively quickly in your chest which is certainly not ideal for your health. This also replicates the fight or flight breathing response, and as mentioned early, this will have a knock on affect of the stress hormonal system we are trying to get away from.
If the kidneys get hold of the lungs then we will naturally be breathing low into the abdomen. The diaphragm would be more yielding and less ridged, allowing for a slower deeper breath. This will generate more air which can then be transported around the body in the most efficient way.
However, just doing some lung expansion exercises will not benefit you in anchoring the lungs down. We need to draw the breath and mind awareness low into the Dantein on a regular daily basis. If we do this continually it will become a more natural state of breathing, strengthening the lungs, spleen and the kidneys (Wei Qi).
The relationship between the lower Dantein and the kidneys is bigger than most people realise. The more you can develop this area and increase the Qi the faster the lungs will be anchored, increasing kidney function.
In the short video clip https://youtu.be/FwrlViRgdJk with me demonstrating how to do the above. It is the quickest and most effective way I know to help someone build up their immunity through Qigong. Although, understanding the processes can be a bit baffling the actual exercise in itself is quite simple. We just need consistency in our practice to reap the rewards in full.
On the video near the end I demonstrate and explain how to do reverse breathing, but please only move onto this exercise if you are completely comfortable with the standard breathing. When we have the ability to focus our awareness on our breath, without to much mind wondering for around 20minutes. If your not ready, your not ready so please take your time, and build up your concentrated awareness first.
Please do not underestimate the power of the breath. After all breath is life.
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