Qigong Healing Center Michigan Gary W. Abersold

Often practitioners ask why they should spend more than just a little time on each new lesson in their Qigong Training. Why all the review and repetition? Hey, look! I'm done! I've got that one down already! What's my next lesson? An exuberant practitioner might shout out.

Well yes, you can imitate what you were shown. But you need more than imitation performed under best of perfectly encouraging circumstances to fully develop a skill you will need to rely on under the worst of circumstances.

Your path to success in Asian Medical Philosophy, Meditation for inner authenticity, or any form of personal development for that matter - is similar to the process of learning to walk.

When you were a baby first learning how to walk, you started with a few small steps aided by a sympathetic guide who cared about you, most likely your parent or grandparent. It was probably scary at first, part adventure and part hard struggle. You held tight to chairs, tables, and anything else in reach. You worked awkwardly at moving yourself forward. Of course you fell, but you got back up and tried again.You were learning to walk - one big challenge - but you were accomplishing that one task on several fronts of development.

You were learning the mechanical actions of how to walk. You were learning how to find and maintain balance from moment to moment as you constantly changed your position in space and time you were conditioning your muscles for the eventual strength and coordination needed to perform the work of holding yourself upright and moving yourself away from your current position.

You were teaching yourself the bigger process of how to learn and grow by way of working at it. It is also possible that you were learning an attitude about how effective you were as a learner, based on the responses of those around you who already knew how to walk Now re-read those steps again and this time think of your latest challenge in your personal training.

Add to the list, you were learning how to judge when that skill is just the right thing to put into action.

Wow. There is so much happening beneath the surface activity of attending class and learning the day's lesson. Building success in the study of these practices is like learning how to walk. It is something you work towards and it begins with one step followed by another. You accumulate skill over time. Another point I would like to make is that trying to Acquire it in a lesson, a weekend workshop or seminar certification program is not possible.. sorry but thats the truth don't lie to your self...do not let these marketing Qigong teachers steal from you the four biggies that you hold precious in learning; your spirit, time and of course money.

It all boils down to being patient with yourself. Believe in yourself, and your right to success. Believe in what you are doing, and its power to take you to success. Believe in the example set by those who offer to assist you, and the proof of your potential in their success. That?s how you keep progressing towards mastery. Building on lessons techniques over and over again who establish it as part of you and not something we just do here and there..

In our traditions of Qigong, Martial, Arts Training, energy balancing and Massage Traditions  we use many points on the body. The large number of useful points can seem overwhelming. To simplify, we generally classify points into categories. Understanding the functional properties of the points in a category helps the practitioner select which point is needed for a given situation. There is one group of points that I feel all should become familiar with. They are not strike points that will suddenly freeze an opponent or make him/her weak. They are however some of the best points for relieving pain, particularly acute pain in the hands, feet, knees and shoulders.

These points are called Xi Xue (shee shw eh), often referred to as Xi Cleft (shee kleft) points. The xi cleft points regulate and relieve ?excess? pain in its related channel. Lets say you smash your index finger in a strike, and the finger is tender to the touch. The Lung channel ends in the index finger. Rubbing the Lung channel xi cleft point can relieve this pain. These xi cleft points are not as helpful when it comes to old injuries, marked by dull aches. Excess pain is defined as a pain that gets worse with movement and pressure to the location, usually, this means recent trauma. I find that the best thing is to rub the appropriate point vigorously until the pain is dispersed, and repeat as needed. There are technically 16 xi cleft points, one for each of the main acupuncture channels including some of the extra channels.

On a practical level, it is unlikely for a martial artist who is in pain, to figure out which particular point is needed, and exactly where it is. There are two strategies for using these points effectively. If you know that you tend to injure a particular joint due to the type of training you do, it would be a good idea to figure out which are the most useful points for you, based on the types of injuries you regularly sustain. Simply check out an acupuncture chart and find the xi cleft point on the channel that goes to the area where you tend to have pain.

For everyone else, there is a quick trick to this. If you look at the forearm and lower leg, you can imagine the muscles forming a hill in the middle, with steep sides near the elbows and knees and long flat lands closer to the wrist and ankles. Many of the most useful xi cleft points are on the gradual slope between the flat lands and the high point of the hill. Many of the rest are on the flat area close to the wrists and ankles. For example, if you have an injury say to your big toe, stretch the foot out and the xi cleft point is in the area where the line of the big toe crosses the area from the ankle to the high point of the hill of the muscle. Rub that whole area along that line and you will invariably rub a helpful xi cleft point. When in doubt just rub the whole mid part of the limb from the start of the muscle near the wrist and ankles to the mid point of the muscles.

• Heart H6, (small finger, medial elbow) With hand palm up, the point is on the line formed by the small finger. The point is on the arm, ½ a thumb width from the wrist crease. Fig.1

• Pericardium P4, (palm of hand, middle finger) With palm up, the point is on a line down the center of the fore arm, one thumbs width closer to the wrist from the midpoint of the forearm. Fig.1

• Lung L6, (index finger, forearm) When the arm is laying palm up, the point is on a line from the edge of the wrist crease at the base of the thumb to the outer edge of the elbow crease, one thumb width closer to the elbow, from the midpoint of that line fig. 1

• Large Intestine LI 7, (thumb, lateral elbow) When the hand is set on edge, thumb up, the point is at the midpoint of a line connecting the space between the tendons at the base of the thumb and radius bone and the lateral end of the line of the elbow crease. Fig.2

• Triple Burner (San Jiao) TB7, (ring finger, upper arms) With palm down, draw a line down the center of the back of the forearm, the point is just off the line, to the small finger side of the arm, three thumb widths from the wrist line. Fig.2

• Small Intestine SI6, (small finger, point of elbow) With palm facing the chest, the point is between the radius and ulna bones of the arm, just above the ?bump? of the ulna on the back of the wrist. Fig.2

• Spleen Sp8, (big toe, medial knee) About a hands width below the crease line of the knee, directly above the medial ankle bone. ( 3 thumb widths below the medical condyle of the tibia). Fig.3

• Liver LV6, (big and second toe, anterior knee) On a line from the center of the medial anklebone, one thumbs width closer to the ankle, from the midpoint of the lower leg. Fig.3

• Yin wei-linking K9, (anterior foot, knee and leg) Five thumb widths above the point in the space between the medial ankle bone and the Achilles tendon. Fig.3

• Yin qiao heel K8 (flexion ability of the foot) Two thumb widths above the point in the space between the medial anklebone and the achilles tendon. Fig.3

• Kidney K5, (medial ankle, ball of foot) Located above the medial side of the heel, one thumb width below the center of the space between the medial ankle bone and Achilles tendon. (superior to the tuberosity of the navicular bone). Fig.3
  

                                      fig 3

• Gallbladder G36, (lateral ankle, lateral knee, blade of foot) On the line directly above the back edge of the lateral anklebone, one thumbs width closer to the ankle from the mid point of the lower leg. (Next to G35) Fig.4

• Yang wei-linking G35, (muscles of lower leg) Directly above the center of the lateral anklebone, one thumbs width closer to the ankle, from the midpoint of the lower leg. (Next to G36) Fig.4

• Yang qiao heel B59, (lateral ankle) Three thumbs width directly above the point between the center of the lateral ankle bone and the Achilles tendon. Fig.4

• Bladder B63, (heel, small toe, blade of foot) On the blade (small toe side of foot) in the notch directly below the front edge of the ankle bone.( depression on lateral aspect of the cuboid bone). Fig.4

                                       fig 4

                           Nutritional Guidelines for Optimal Performance

The following is a series of articles through this month I will be focusing on when we need focus on eating and fueling our body the most. I have trained in Martial Arts and Energy systems almost my whole adult life, & almost everyone talks about the practices on what to do but almost everyone forgoes or does not know about nutritional & dietary requirements for a serious student.

For starters the chemicals found in your body are almost like those found in food. Both consist of at least 18 elements and probably as many as 40. These are made up of combinations of atoms, such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus. Some compounds are necessary for building and repairing tissues, others protect the body from disease, and others provide energy and warmth.

A stream of nutrient chemicals formed from digested food flows continuously into our cells, providing the energy needed to train, work, play, make love, and even sit in a chair watching television. When the cells have used the amount of nutrients required for fuel each day, any excess is stored in the tissues. Your body can store a limited supply of carbohydrates and an almost unlimited amount of fat, but protein cannot be stored. It must be provided by your intake of food with the amount absorbed by the body being dependent on the quality of protein you eat.

PROTEIN: POWER BUILDING FOOD

Without protein, there would be no life since it forms the basic substance of our muscles, bones, brain, nerves, heart, and every other organ. Only protein contains nitrogen, an essential part of protoplasm. Without it, the cells would slowly wear away, unable to reproduce and form new cells. In our body red blood cells have a life of only 18 weeks and must constantly be replaced. Without a supply of dietary protein providing the amino acids essential for the reproduction of new cells, this would be impossible. The same holds true for cells lining the intestine, which are renewed every 112 days.

The synthesis of protein is also essential for anabolism, or the formation of new tissue, occurring at an even rate for the average person that is stepped up considerably with practitioners of Qigong, Martial Arts, Yoga & related energetic practices; since we are continuously training, breaking down tissue, and building muscle mass. Dietary protein is also essential to catabolism, a process through which the amino acids found only in protein are broken down, thereby liberating energy. Again, this would occur at an even rate for those not in intensive training but accelerates for Qigong & Martial Artist practitioners and other athletes due to their increased expenditure of energy.

Proteins also serve a regulatory role in forming enzymes that trigger all chemical reactions in the body. The body is protected from infectious diseases by antibodies composed of proteins. And hormones like insulin that regulate our daily processes are also derived from our daily intake of protein.

All protein foods are not equally efficient. Their value is based on the type of amino acids they contain, which combine with nitrogen and form thousands of different proteins necessary to build and repair cellular tissue. This takes place during digestion when hydrochloric acid and enzymes break down the intact protein molecule into amino acids so they can be absorbed through the intestinal wall. Of 22 known amino acids, 13 can be produced by the body, synthesized by glands like the liver. These-alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, cystine, glucine, glutamic acid, glutamine, hydroxyproline, proline, serine, and tyrosine-are called nonessential amino acids. They can safely be omitted when enough nitrogen and other nutrients are supplied. Essential amino acids, used for building tissue and other functions just discussed, cannot be made by the body but must be taken directly from our daily intake of food. They are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

Those who are vegetarians should be aware that one amino acid cannot replace another. When food contains the essential amino acids it is considered a complete protein. With the exception of soybeans, all complete proteins are derived from animal sources: meat, fish, eggs, poultry, cheese, and milk. Although most gelatin comes from an animal source, it does not fall into this category because it lacks the necessary amino acids. Protein foods derived from plants are considered incomplete since they lack the amino acids essential for building tissue and repairing the body. Certain plant foods, like rice, potatoes, nuts, breads, and grain cereals, contain the essential amino acids but in lesser quantities than animal foods.

Many cereals and rice are low in lysine, while dry beans, peanuts, and brewer's yeast are low in methionine. It would be necessary to eat a pound of potatoes to provide the necessary amino acids found in only an ounce of meat. Keep in mind that the amino acids of most animal proteins are absorbed efficiently, their rate ranging from 90 to 95 percent, while the digestibility of some plant proteins may be as low as 73 percent.

Vegetarians also run the risk of mis-combining vegetable proteins and thus failing to form complete proteins containing all the essential amino acids. The growth and reproduction of cells demand that all the essential amino acids be ingested at the same time in the same meal. A missing amino acid cannot be supplied several hours later and still find the essential ones waiting to be assembled into a complete protein before being digested. Eggs are a prime example of a complete protein, containing all of the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts to maintain life and support growth.

The digestion of protein begins in the stomach and is completed in the small intestine. Enzymes from the pancreas actually cause the breakdown of the protein you eat into amino acids. Following this, they are absorbed from the intestine and distributed to the body cells through the bloodstream. When more protein is eaten than needed for the functions mentioned at the beginning of this section, the excess is metabolized for energy.


If your training requirements contains insufficient carbohydrates needed for energy, your body will draw on the protein vital to building internal and external power. This is a mistake many continue making, particularly when they begin teaching and training at the same time.

Doing energy practices and meditations and forms are Major sections in ones training; but you must know how to properly fuel your body for maximum results. In Power Training practices in China it is taught secretly that many herb, foods & techniques supplement and guide the success or failure when one trains very serious. If you follow the suggestions contained within here you will without a doubt make your integrated practices more powerful, reach new levels & your body/mind at least 50% or better with little effort.


Another danger comes from depending on the ever popular protein powders, tablets, and liquids to supply major nutritional elements. Many practitioners are using these concentrates believe advertisements that promote them as highly concentrated food products. Remember, it takes very little effort to write an advertisement but a great deal to train serious & hard. Seeing 90 percent protein written on the label gives the impression that the stuff inside the can originates from a more valuable protein source than eggs, fish, poultry, or meat.

However, this does not necessarily mean that 90 percent of the powder is protein. For example, a can weighing two pounds may contain one pound of pure protein, 90 percent of which has a nutrient value. The remaining pound consists of other ingredients added to stabilize the protein and prevent it from spoiling. At present, the average protein content of most brands ranges between 40 and 70 percent; some higher-quality products might supply as much as 65-75 percent.



Even so, an important difference should be noted between protein from animal sources and protein in powdered concentrates, tablets, and fruit- and chocolate-flavored liquids. We define the first as live protein and the second as dead protein based on the condition of DNA molecules found in the cells. These molecules work as an information center, having the codes and blueprints necessary to assemble hundreds of different proteins needed by the body. Each day they send out thousands of messages on building and repairing tissue. The DNA in animal protein, even when the animal is slaughtered, remains alive and unbroken. In the case of protein powders from animal sources, however, the DNA is broken down during the manufacturing process, and its ability to build body tissue is impaired.

Also, the protein in concentrates is not absorbed into the bloodstream to the same extent as is dietary protein. This point is one of the chief considerations in the selection of high-quality protein in your training requirements. The fillers and waste products contained in the concentrates contain substances that inhibit enzyme action in the digestive tract, resulting in effective utilization of the protein. For example, in comparing 4 grams of protein from an egg yolk with an equal weight of powdered protein, you will absorb about 3 1/2 grams of protein from the egg, but less than 2 from the powder. Therefore, concentrates should never be considered substitutes for fresh food, most particularly from animal sources. Any dependency on them can only set you on the road downhill as a practitioner.

Those who are underweight may gain an advantage by taking the powders as a pick-me-up between meals, perhaps using them to spare protein needed for building muscles, but not to replace eggs, fish, meat, or poultry. Then it is best mixed with milk or water rather than fruit juice, since the high concentration of sugar does not combine well with protein and may putrefy in the colon without being digested.



As a serious practitioner, you must consider the net protein utilization (NPU) or rate of protein absorption into the bloodstream. For those who are trying to shed pounds this should be highlighted because some meat items are much higher in fat than others. For example, beef and chicken both have an absorption rate of 68 percent, yet chicken has the advantage of easier digestibility and contains almost half the calories of an equal weight of beef, pork, or lamb.

The protein utilization rate of some common foods follows:



FOOD
Eggs 88%
Fish 78%
Dairy products 76%
Meat 68%
Soybeans 48%
Natural brown rice 40%
Red beans 39%
Coconut 38%
Nuts 35%
White beans 33%
Maize 25%
Whole wheat bread 21%
White bread 20%


**% rate is the NPU or rate of protein absorption**

• Sit comfortably in a chair, with your feet flat on the floor and your spine upright. Take a couple of deep breaths, and with each exhalation release any unnecessary tension, especially in the head, neck and shoulders. Smile gently and simply relax.
  

• Now, place your awareness in the Snow Mountain/Golden Urn area, just in front of the coccyx/tailbone, and about a half-inch above the center of the pelvic floor (between the anus and the genitals). Just rest your attention, very gently and with a kind of curiosity, in this part of your body.

• In that space - deep in your belly - visualize a mountain of snow, with a very warm sun shining down from above - as though there were a sun in your lower belly, shining down on the Snow Mountain.
  

• Continue the visualization by seeing/feeling that the warmth of the sun is melting the snow. As the snow melts and turns to water, the water flows down the sides of the mountain to form a lake at its base, and ? at the same time - steam rises upward and nourishes your entire body.
• 
  
• Stay with this visualization - sun melting snow, water forming a lake at the base of the mountain, steam rising upward as nourishment for your body - for a couple minutes, or longer. Little by little, this visualization will create actual sensations within your body, which you can simply notice and enjoy.

• To end, dissolve the visualization, and relax for a minute or two before continuing with your day.

Tips:

• Remember to stay relaxed, and don't try too hard - a very gentle mental focus is all you really need for this practice.
• Different people have different ways of visualizing: for some the imagined "picture" is more kinesthetic than visual; for others it has an auditory component. So don't worry if your visualization doesn't seem precise, visually - You'll find the way that works best for you.
• As you become more comfortable with this practice, really try to *feel* what's happening inside of your body.

Dr. Zhi Zhen Kuo, an inspiring innovator and extraordinary Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, was  born in China in 1943. He began practicing medicine at age of 16. His first clinical case was a patient suffering from phlebitis, a kind of terminal illnesses. After successfully guiding the patient to recovery, Dr. Kuo became renowned in his hometown, and was named "little divine healer".

In 1984, Dr. Kuo founded the first Qi Gong healing clinic in Shijiazhuang. In 1986, he founded the first Qi Gong School in China, where he accepted patients and students from all across China. For this, the city of Shijiazhuang officially honored him as a pioneering educator. The year 1993 marked the establishment of Kuo Zhi Zhen Sanitarium (now rename as Zheng Ding Health Care Centre) in Zheng Ding Shijiazhuang City. 

Dr. Kuo and his personally trained staff have treated hundreds of thousands of patients at the sanitarium. Within a few years, more than 10,000 patients visited the sanitarium. Dr. Kuo's powerful  work was spotlighted in the PBS documentary.

In 1991, Dr. Kuo combined his clinical experience, cultivating and maintaining health experience and Shou Lian practice, to create the breakthrough medical system, Zhi Hui Neng Li System. With further research in the clinical practice, he then created a new practical medicine system Body Space Medicine, which issimpler and easier to grasp, and is based on concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy, Zhi Hui Neng Li Medicine and cytology of CWM.

Dr. Kuo did tremendous researches in heart and circulatory system disease (i.e. cardiovascular disease,  high blood pressure, phlebitis etc.), hemiplegia due to traffic accident, incretion disease, diabetes and  uremia, especially he make a breakthrough in various first and second stage cancer, and reduce the pain and prolong life for the last stage cancer.

Dr. Kuo has clinical experiences in internal medicine, gynecology, pedology, especially in herbal remedies. Based on the inheriting and developing the essence of TCM, he discovered the new uses of common herbs, which expand the range of illness treatment possibility.

1997: Honorary Doctor of American Academy of World Traditinal Medical Science

1997: Assistant Editor of Grand System of World Traditional Medicine Journal BeiJing, China

1998: Visiting Professor of Institute of World Traditional Medicine, California, U.S.A.

1998: Member of International Society of Licensed Chinese Doctors £¨ISLCD£©

2003: Credited with containing the SARS epidemic with Body Space Medicine

2006: Honorary Professor, Canadian Institute of CAM Research

2006: Press Reporter of Chinese Business Man Journal

Anishinabek Pictographs are the graphic symbols which communication vast meaning. A picture is worth a thousand words and pictograghs use symbols derived from rock paintings and sacred birch bark scrolls, for these are the words which form the language of the Anishinabek people. The meaning communicated in pictographs is the deep consciousness of a perception that penetrates the mere appearance of form to expose the vital forces active within a form.

To perceive the earth as living and breathing: to perceive animal forces in conflict within a human being: to perceive an island anthropomorphicized as a human form is to perceive with a shamanistic consciousness.

The pictographs, painted for hundreds of miles across the Canadian Shield and incised on sacred birchbark scrolls of the Great Medicine Society of the Anishinabek, are the repository of the religion, ethics and history of the Anishinabek People.

Within the Anishinabek culture, painting is the domain of shamans. Their talent is not to paint the appearance of form or the illusion of a third dimension as in western art.

Anishinabek art is a tradition of revealing the inner forces active within the living cosmos. This perception is not primitive: it rivals the findings of the most modern science by millennia. For example: Darwin created a revolution in intellectual thought with the theory that the human species is ..."not separated from, but a part of nature". (Roger Lewin, In The Age Of Mankind, Smithsonian Books 1988). His scientific basis for this idea is the close observation of the biological world. This observation defies the previous ideas of man as a unique creation in the universe or man as a rational being and therefore entirely seperate from animals.

The Anishinabek observation of the natural world reveals some animal forces within human beings and also some human forces within each animal. The observation has been distilled over centuries and communicated graphically within the pictographs. The psychological, physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions within a natural form whether animate or inanamate are exposed in a language of symbolism.

This symbolism appears archetypal or primative to western culture. But we must remember that western culture is a product of European ideas. Anishinabe pictographs reveal a profound insight into the natural world and human nature. Darwin's theory of man as a part of nature, which is closer to Anishinabe consciousness than the religious and philosophical beliefs in conflict with this theory, are a tremendous reversal in the belief system of western culture. Within Anishinabe culture, Darwin's theory does not go far enough or observe closely enough.

Freud has touched upon this animal force within human beings but Anishnabe perception indentifies the type of animal and visually reveals these forces in their most dynamic expression-which is in conflict, or creation, or both. Jung, a student of Freud, developed dream interpretation to reveal these forces but Anishinabe observation developed a visual, graphic communication of these forces as well as a symbol of language to interpret and express them.

The language, legends and art of Anishinabe culture are communicated in pictographs that reveal profound meaning. Science recognizes language as crucial to the development of consciousness and culture. Consciousness is introspection and allows us to now what we know. Culture is the evolution crucial to human civilization-each generation benefits, distills and builds upon previous generations: Language communicates knowledge.

Anishinabe legends contain the religion, history and ethics of the Anishinbe people. They are the imagination of a cultural evolution that constantly develops and expands. As in all cultures man has been curious about the world in which he lives. Anishinabe legends are not mythology: they are the science of a culture conveyed in the langauage of symbols. The anthropologist Mary E. Southscott writes: "A very rich and flexable Anishinabe language makes possible the wealth of human values expressed by the legends. The legends, in their turn provide an inexhaustible mine for new graphic form which carries a message of it's own. Language, legend and art of create a circle of communication." (p.158, The Sound of the Drum: Boston Mills Press, Erin, Ontario, 1984).

The language of Anishinabe pictographs is in the details. The details convey the elements of meaning in which vast areas of the knowledge within the legend are illustrated. To understand the meaning within the pictograph, symbolic details are placed within a graphic form. This form is contained withing a strong outline. Within this " form-line" of outward appearance, the dynamic hidden forces are illustrated in a style referred to as " X-Ray." Every detail of the X-ray communicates the story of a legend.

The legends contain the knowledge of a consciousness and culture that is beyond the familair culture of the Industrial west, but communicates resonantly within each human being. Pictographs may appear to be simple, but the meaning conveyed is profound and complex.

Because we are conditioned by culture to understand meaning in terms of our own culture, pictographs can be disregarded or dismissed. To do this is to ignore the knowledge that is vital to our understanding. Consider the insights of ancient wisdom again in terms of science.

Cosmology and physics has discovered that the balance of oxygen and carbon nuclei within the universe must be so finely and precisely balanced to support life that they wonder if life itself wasn't designed into the creation of the universe. It is hard to imagine that life evolved as a coincidence or accident.

Anishinabe creation legends, like all other civilizations, consider these questions of vastness and meaning. For example: Bristish physicist Paul Davies, asks this questions scientifically: " Could it be that living observers were written into the laws of physics, or is our presence in the world merely a higly improbable accident occasioned by a felicitous conjunction of numeral values adopted by the constants of nature? The answer, depends on one's philosophical, or even theological, turn of mind. (p.238, In The Age Of Mankind).

Anishinabe legends consider this question and tend to observe " living observers" and give them a name in the Anishinabe Language: "Manitou." The meaning in Manitou is no less complex or profound than the question posed by Davies. It is more simply stated by placing a small dot into the graphic form. The dot signifies: Manitou.

The meaning in Manitou takes many paragraphs to convey. First , the "dot" communicates that the creation of life , the earth, and the universe is not considered to be an accident. The " living observer " of Manitou is often translated as spirit, but this has confused Western culture into a mistaken assumpion of pan-theism or superstition.

To understand the meaning of one dot in a pictograph, we look again to modern science for it's findings. Quantum physics and the frontiers of artificial intelligence have discovered that it is the arrangement of molecules-not the properties of the molecules themselves - that creates life, intelligence, and consciousness. This knowledge prompts Princeton physicist: Freeman Dyson, to state: " It makes sense to imagine life detatched from flesh and blood and embodied in networks of superconducting circuitry." ( p. 243, In The Age Of Mankind ).

"Superconducting circuitary" is a much closer translation of Manitou and helps us to understand why Manitou is present in animate or inanimate form. Physicist Heinz Pagels, of Rockefeller University broadens our understanding of Manitou when he states: " The Universe it seems, has been finely tuned for our comfort, it's properties appears to be precisely conductive to intelligent life " (p.236, In the Age Of Mankind)."

Science defines Manitou as " Intelligent life" as closly as any one definition is able to come to so vast a meaning. The Anishinabe word "Gitchi" is translate into english as "Great". Gitchi Manitou is more closely understood in science than in western religion or philosophy. Scientist Author Roger Lewin writes: "The more scientists discern the physical laws that govern the state of the universe, the more these laws apppear to have been established with human life 'in mind.' " (p. 237, In The Age of Mankind ).

" In mind" is the intelligent mind behind the intelligent universe: Gitchi Manitou. The meaning expands to more than human life and includes the creation of all life forms, including a living earth and breathing universe. This meaning helps us to understand why the earth is considered sacred. It is why Anishinabe legends caution human behavior in relation to how we treat Mother Earth.

This profound meaning is represented inside the form of a pictograph by a single dot. Imagine the meaning in a circle which Southcott tells us: " denotes, perfection, completeness and continuity. ( p.40, The Sound Of The Drum). The pictographs which form the basis of Anishinabe art, communicate the vast meaning and knowledge of Anishinabe culture and consciousness through the language and symbols which are ancient. The language is fluently spoken and graphically illustrated to this day.

If the creation of the universe is no accident: if intelligence is inbedded in animate and inanimate natural forms: if the cosmos is sacred - What are the universal ethics of the human being? Anthropologist Margaret Conkey of the University of Califorina at Berkeley, addresses this survey of meaning of ancient pictographs: "You have to ask, what was the social context of the art that made it meaningful to the people who painted and used these images. What was in the lives of the artist that made these images meaningful? (p.150 In The Age Of Mankind). The question still applies to Anishinabe pictographs.

The Anishinabe pictographs are painted soley by shamans, which means contemporarily in Southcott's words: "They have a mandate from the Great Spirit to paint,... This spiritual motivation is unique. It is the strongest of all motivations" ( p.126. The Sound of the Drum). Because the ancient Anishinabe languge is still fluently spoken, the pictographs answer the question of meaning and the questions asked by anthropologists, "... if we could speak ( the language), we would then know the world that our ancestors knew 50 millennia ago. "( p. 186, In The Age Of Mankind).

Language is considered by anthropologisits to be essential to consciousness and culture. Plato's phrase "loom of Language" denotes language as necessary to the formation of culture. " So central is language to our humanity that a world without words is simply unimaginable. " (p.154, In The Age Of Mankind ).

Because the Anishinabe are one of the few Native North American tribes to have a written form of language that is fluently spoken, it is possible to reach what anthropolgy has given up on ever finding in Anishinabe pictographs: " An understanding of a psychological domain that is seperate from our own and yet clearly identifiable with it." ( p. 154, In The Age Of Mankind ).

Anthropology is able to define the importance of language but has given up on being able to find it..."because, before the advent of witing a mere six-thousand years ago, human discourse simply vanished. "( p.180, In The Age Of Mankind). Anishinabe pictographs cannot be carbon dated because the pigment has become chemically bonded with the rock, but the symbols which form the mnemonic devices of Anishinabe language have never vanished and the meaning of these symbols is still retained. Believing that it is impossible to know the meaning of ancient art, anthropoloy has turned to measuring hominid brains or studying the tools and guessing at the meaning of ancient art objects. They hope to find clues to brain structures and the earliest evolution of the vocal tract for determining the origin of language. Anthropology may be unprepared for James Simon Mishibinijima's statement: "The symbols came first."

Lewin writes: "Turning from hominid remains of the tools and art objects these living beings left behind, we invoke the old proverb, 'by their works we shall know them.' The question is, how intimately small we know them? ( p. 184-85, In The Age Of Mankind). Anishinabe pictographs allow us to receive ancient wisdom true to ancient meaning. Science provides a universal understanding of the profoundness of this meaning even when it's tools are too limited to be able to decipher it. The Mathematician Jacob Bronowski has stated: " In reality science is neither a villian debasing human dignity nor the sole source of human wisdom." (p. 236, In The Age Of Mankind).

Even science faces a culture blindness. The "scientific civilization" as Bronowski charactizes the highly Renaissance influenced culture of the west, has for historically conditioned reasons overlooked the ancient wisdom of nature consciousness. All consciousness, science agrees, is embedded and developed through language. Language, consciousness, and culture provides the stimulus for ideas. The scientist William McLaughlin, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Califorina, states: "The real motive force behind the advance of the world has always been provided by ideas." ( p. 243, In The Age Of Mankind). The assimilation of Native children has always prohibited the use of their language.

Anishinabe civilization can contribute knowledge to the scientific civilization which developed intellectually at the same time that it explored new navigation routes and accidently discovered civilizations it was unprepared to understand. Scientific technology is even younger, with the rapid development that is largely a product of the industrial era. Within five hundred years, science and technology have developed an unintentional crisis of global proportion by overlooking the natural world.

The fragmentation of scientific proofs and products has guided the scientific civilization without benefit of knowledge provided by ancient wisdom concerning the biologicial earth. Lewin states: " But there is one great curiousity- a potentially fatal flaw in the drive for knowledge... Our scientific sights... have overlooked something obvious and important to us: namely, the rest of the biological world.... if the search for knowledge is our destiny, then we clearly have fallen badly short of fullfilling it with our biological heritage ( p. 246, In The Age Of Man). The heritage of Anishinabe conciousness is oriented to the biological, as well as a cosmological heritage.

In this way, the meaning of Anishinabe pictographs contributes knowledge to scientific frontiers. Lewin, states the importance: "Surely, as Francis Bacon urged, humankind must be an adventurous explorer, striving for new horizons as yet beyond our sight. But at the same time we must be aware of what we are in danger of losing through ignorance in the world we already know." (p.217, In The Age Of Mankind).

From anthropology, in which Conkey questions the meaning encoded in ancient pictographs and the lives of the artists who painted them, to the state-of-the-art questions of artificial intelligence, to the words of philosopher Daniel Dennett, of Tufts University: "Here we begin to ponder one of the most exacting of frontiers: What is mind? What is meaning? What is reasoning and rationality? (p.240, In The Age Of Mankind). Anishinabe civilization contributes meaning.

Ancient wisdom has avoided certain pit-falls in the duality that fragments modern scientific research. The quantifying formulas of Aristole, formalized by Ptolemy and grounded in academic disciplines rooted in the European Middle Ages, has provided the basis of "progress" to the scientific civilization. As this civilization advances to from the Industrial Revolution to the " Information Revolution" as Mclaughlin names the period of change, the world is faced with an enviromental crisis and the psychological ignorance of ancient wisdom.

The contribution of ancient wisdom remains encoded within the symbols, language and meaning of Anishinabe pictographs. In the words of science itself to explain this, the words of Princeton physicist Freedman Dyson, are borrowed: "This unimagineably great and diverse universe, in which we occupy one fragile bubble of air, is not destined to remain forever silent.... the expansion of life, moving out from earth into it's inheritance, is an even greater theme than expansion of England across the Atlantic. Such is the power of mind."(p.245, In The Age Of Mankind). Dyson is speaking of the physical laws of the universe which is also the heart of the meaning contained within Anishinabe pictography. All we have to do to find their meaning- is to ask the artists who continue to paint them.

The dots represent points traditionally used for Qigong Massage.
In the 18-Step sequence the entire head and facial features are stimulated for added benefits.

• · Brings Sparkle to the Eyes and Reduces Overall Stress
• · Creates Fuller, Softer Lips and Reduces Facial Puffiness
• · Firms Neck and Jaw Line, Softly Contours Cheeks and Plumps Sunken Areas.
• · Increases Blood Circulation to Head, Face and Scalp & Restores Healthy Gland  Function
• · Promotes a Healthy Looking Complexion with a Softer, Tension-Free Appearance
• · Tightens & Brightens the Skin, Smoothes Fine Lines and Lessens Deeper Lines
• · Promotes Skin Elasticity & Formation of Natural Collagen

18 Step Qigong Massage Routine to Revitalize your Face

1. Warming the Portals
Rubbing thumbs across nose and cheeks to warm up sinuses.

Close your eyes and relax. Begin by rubbing the fleshy area at the base of your thumbs together to warm them. Place hands together in a prayer pose with base of thumbs at bridge of nose. As you rub down maintain light contact with the skin and allow your hands to spread outward and across the base of nose to the cheeks. As you return to the starting point maintain contact with the skin but lessen the contact pressure. Continue rubbing 36 times or until you feel the sinuses warm and comfortable.

2. Drawing the Bow
Strengthening nasal passages to bolster immunity and increase alertness.

Close your eyes and relax, then raise your right elbow to elevate arm with palm facing downward and thumb relaxed. Place index finger on skin above your upper lip and make light side-to-side sweeping movements. Continue this motion for 10-15 seconds paying attention to stimulate three important points, one on the side of each nostril
(LI 20) and the other in the center of the midpoint between the upper lip and the nose
(DU 26). The first two points help to open the nose and stimulate our first line of defense; the last point brings alertness to the mind.

3. Nosing Around
Circling the nose to energize the face and relax the heart.

Close your eyes. Make a loose fist and place the tip of your nose in the hole formed by the thumb and index finger. There should be enough space to loosely circle the tip of the nose. Move the arm and wrist as a unit as you begin to circle. Relax and circle until your nose tingles and becomes slightly numb as energy spreads into your face

4. Probing the Deep
Pressing into the orbit to brighten eyes and stimulate brain.

With the back of the first knuckle of your thumbs press into the upper and inner portion of the eye sockets just above the tear ducts (UB 1) resting backs of thumbs along the sides of your nose and cheeks. Make small up and down movements as you press in firmly to make contact with the bony structure of the socket. Besides bringing energy to the eyes, this movement stimulates the hypothalamus gland, the highest center of the autonomous nervous system, and the pituitary gland, which regulates growth and metabolism. Psychically it is a strong emotional release point. Do this for about 10 seconds and then move up to the next point at the inner eyebrow.

5. Opening the Axis
Pressing inner brow to energize body systems

With fingertips together, palms facing and slightly open press into inner brow point (UB2) with the first thumb knuckles, move hands up and down as pressure is applied. Stimulate point for another 10-15 seconds. This point stimulates the pituitary as well as the adrenal glands, our factories for steroid hormone production, adrenaline and the ?master? hormones that control how the body copes with stress. As a set, this point in conjunction with the previous one activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The hypothalamus in our brain, the pituitary gland below our brain, and the adrenal glands atop our kidneys form this trio. Together these bodies govern a multitude of hormonal activities in the body including key roles in memory and learning, mood regulation, musculo-skeletal health, immune system modulation and maintaining adequate ovarian and sex hormone levels among others.

6. Along the Ridge
Moving along the brow to release mental tension

With palms facing and thumb knuckles pressing into the inner brow, move hands up and down in small motions and inch along outward. Continue this movement past the brow line along the groove from the temple to where the ear attaches to the head. Do this movement along the brow lines 2 or 3 times to help release tension from worry and over-focusing. Working around the eyes, eyebrows, and temples in particular helps to soothe away stress, relieve headaches and clear the sinuses.

7. Diving for Pearls
Probing the jaw to release tightness and preserve the teeth (3 sections)

A) With pads of first two fingers probe into the muscles at the junction of upper and lower jaws (ST 7) with small circular motions. Explore this area a bit then move downward along the lower jaw with small circular motions while pressing into the juncture at the tooth and gum with finger pads. When hands meet at the chin press both forefingers up and down at the center point between lower lip and chin.

B) With mouth closed draw lips back against the teeth to tighten corners of mouth and with pads of middle fingers press into the tightened muscles with circular motions upwards and outwards from the mouth for a few seconds. Then move back to the chin and grasp it with forefingers from above and thumbs below. Draw sides of knuckles of forefinger down and across chin in small circular motions a few times. Continue with this circular motion as you move back up along the lower jaw to the TMJ muscle, pressing as you go this time with the sides of the knuckles of the index fingers. Be careful not to drag your fingers across your skin as you move upward.

C) Hook tips of thumbs up into upper jaw just in front of the left and right TMJ at the tooth and gum juncture and rest your head on them. Pull arms into body as your head relaxes onto the thumbs. After each complete breath move along this line one thumb width at a time until you reach the nostrils.

8. Welcoming Fragrance
Pressing into nostrils to open breath and sinuses. (3-point sequence)

Press into the indentation at the corners of the nose (LI 20) with pads of middle fingers. Rest index fingers on middle fingers and make small circular motions downward and outwards for 10-15 seconds. Then move up the side of the nose about an inch to the next point (Bitong) where the bony ridge of cheek meets the base of the nose. Continue making the small circular movements for another 10-15 seconds but this time moving upward and outward from the nose. Next move laterally to the dimple in the cheekbone directly below the pupils (Sibai) and while maintaining contact with middle fingers at the point press in firmly and make small up and down movements. Be careful not to slide fingers over the skin

9. Brightening Eyes
Rounding the orbit to strengthen vision (3-point sequence)

Place the index finger at the lateral corner of the eye socket and middle finger at the inner corner. Gently pressing onto the bony ridge massage in a small circular fashion keeping fingers in contact with the skin. As the fingers circle allow them to gently contact the eyeball through the lower lid, taking care not to overly stretch the skin. Do this for another 10-15 seconds and then with either the pads of the middle fingers or the first thumb knuckles massage the eye through closed lids pressing in with small back and forth motions. Press in gently but firmly and long enough to see radiating points of light appear like a mandala of stars. Afterwards swipe base of palms across eyes a few times from the inner to outer side. Rub palms together to warm and then cup the eyes with hands resting on face for a few seconds. Completely relax eyes. Eye movement exercises can be done at this time if you wish.

10. Warming the Ears
Rubbing the ears to energize body and mind.

Moving along the hairline comb the fingertips from front to back as you move down to the ears. Cupping thumbs behind the ears grasp both ears firmly with index fingers. Move hands in a circular manner away from the head as they slowly move down across the ears two or three times. End each pass down the ear by gently tugging on the earlobes a few times. The object is to warm up the ears with a fairly vigorous massaging action. Then with tips of forefingers massage and trace the crevices in the ear until you come to the ear canal. Press in and plug the canal as you move your hands up and down a few times, listening to the drum-like sound created deeply inside your head. This movement-sound directly stimulates the brain and sharpens hearing.

11. Patting in the Light
Patting light into the face to open the expression

Rub palms together to warm and bring energy to them. With palms towards face, fingers together, gently pat face with fingers moving from chin and mouth upwards over to cheeks and then outwards across cheeks to jaw and down again along jaw to chin. Spend a little extra time patting over the mouth each time to help release emotional tension that may be stored there. Make this circular pattern several times until you feel a tingling, expanding warmth in your cheeks and creating a rosy glow to your complexion.

12. Fountain of Joy
Lightly stroking the forehead to brighten our outlook

Let your arms swing loosely at your sides a few times in unison to relax your shoulders and then bring hands up to the forehead with palms towards face. Keeping fingers loosely together and with light upward strokes of the fingertips, move them in a radiating fan pattern from between the eyebrows to the temples and then back again, first to the left and then to the right. Continue alternating from left to right a few times as you feel the tension and worry lines washing away from your forehead. Lightly stroking the area between the brows in particular stimulates the third eye point enhancing one?s ?inner vision?, as well as stimulating the pineal gland?s production of melatonin, a powerful antioxidant and one of the body?s important hormones regulating our sleep and wake cycles.

13. Raindrops on the Rooftop
Tapping fingers on scalp to vitalize spirit

Raise hands to hairline and place backs of fingers together at the midline. Moving your hands up and down begin tapping your fingertips on your scalp and work down to the temples and back up again. Continue the tapping sequence as you move from the front of the head to the back. Try to sequence the tapping of fingertips so the small fingers strike first, then ring fingers, middle fingers and lastly the index fingers. Thumbs are relaxed and strike with sides on each tap during the sequence. Move back to the front of the head at the midline and repeat the tapping pattern but this time with hands forming a lose fist primarily use the flat part between knuckles to make the contact. This exercise directly stimulates the brain and nervous system.

14. Knocking on the Gate
Tapping along the neck to release tension and bolster the defenses.

As the knuckle tapping ends at the back of the head rotate hands outward so the fleshy side of the hand beneath the little fingers can chop down along the neck muscles. Continue chopping with a lose fist as you move from the base of the skull to the base of the neck and back again. When you reach the base of the skull again rotate hands back so the flat part of knuckles can tap along the base of the skull to the ears. Tap back to centerline at base of skull and then rotate hands to chop down the neck again. Do this sequence several times to release tension in the neck, promote blood circulation to the head, and to protect the area against drafts and cold. On cold or windy days you should also rub the side and back of your neck with the flat of your hand several times. Move hands up and down from beneath the ears to the midline of neck up and back in a diagonal fashion. Do this until the area is warm and comfortable.

15. Flapper wheel
Paddling neck to open voice, firm jowl and stimulate body

Let your arms swing loosely at your sides in unison a few times to relax your shoulders and then bring elbows up to shoulder level, palms facing downward, fingertips beneath the chin at the level of the collar bone. Begin to circle your hands and allow tops of fingers to strike your throat from the base up to the jaw line in one continuous contact motion. Wrists should be loose so that hands have floppiness to them. Continue this movement as you rotate your head from side to side with eyes level. Pay particular attention to stimulating the area around the Adam?s apple as this releases tension in our throat so we may more easily express ourselves. This action also stimulates the thyroid and parathyroid glands, which release key hormones for regulating body metabolism including uptake of calcium by the bones as well as toning neck to avoid sagging jowls.

16. Yawning Lion
Energizing and relaxing the face by opening eyes wide and thrusting out tongue.

Gather you energy for a moment and stand or sit comfortably erect. Form hands into a fist and bring them up to waist level by bending the elbow and keeping shoulders relaxed. Close fist tightly as you bring them towards navel. Let the head fall slightly forward as you scrunch up your face as tightly as you can. Next raise your hands upward and splay your fingers outward as you rock slightly forward and tilt your head and eyes upward. Continuing in one smooth movement to open your eyes as wide as possible, raise your cheeks high and wide, open your mouth wide and try to touch the tip of your tongue to your chin. Do this sequence 5 times.

17. Integrating Light
Standing still to feel energy spread from the center of head.

Standing with feet about shoulder width apart sink your weight slightly. Or you can sit comfortably with feet flat on floor as you extend your head upward from the crown as if a ?skyhook? has been attached and is gently pulling on it. The chin naturally falls towards the chest and the breath falls more easily into the lower abdomen. Lightly place the front of the tongue behind the upper teeth on the palate and relax the back of your tongue and throat. Relax and breathe into the lower abdomen, expanding it like an inflating balloon. After a few breaths put your attention back on your head and feel the energy flush from the center outward until it fills the your head, face and neck. Let this energy continue to expand until it fills your entire body. Enjoy the relaxing glow it brings for a few moments.

Since it is best used for staving off disease and treating chronic conditions or disabilities, Qigong may not be the most suitable treatment for acute illness or medical emergencies. It can be used as a compliment and supplement to conventional medical practices. If one decides to try Qigong during the course of treatment of an existing illness, it is advisable that do so under the guidance of a Qualified Trained Teacher. Professional supervision is strongly suggested for all students.

Preventing Disease

In addition to its curative potential, by preventing the onset of disease, Qigong can significantly reduce the amount of suffering and financial burden experienced by many patients due to long- term health care. Qigong increases physical strength, heightens resistance to infectious diseases and premature senility, and helps ensure a long life. Practicing this method can greatly reduce the likelihood of stroke. It can improve blood sugar levels for diabetics. Because it normalizes the level of sex hormones, it helps ward off sexual impotence and frigidity. In fact, Qigong?s stress relieving attributes may improve one's overall sex life -both quantity and quality. Practicing this discipline can hasten recovery from surgery, as well as from sports and other injuries by up to 50% (McGee w/Chow 1994:17-9). Qigong offers individuals a way to achieve a relaxed, harmonious state of dynamic equilibrium. It typically improves overall health, allowing them to maintain a pain-free life full of vigor and grace.

How does Qigong Work?

Breathing and meditation are an important part of Healing Qigong. In a Qigong meditative state, one is fully relaxed, yet not in a trance. One can increase qi and direct it to any area of distress. Anxiety and self-doubt are replaced with peace of mind and increased confidence. Gradually, all distractions, worries, and hints of depression begin to dissipate. Meditation fosters feelings of happiness, which, in turn, stimulate circulation of blood and qi. This therapy contributes to the healing of those who are already ill, as well as increasing the vitality of healthy individuals. People of all ages can develop and maintain internal vigour and good health through Qigong.

Practicing Qigong lowers blood pressure, pulse rates, metabolic rates, lactate production, and oxygen demand. It raises the endocrine system's capabilities. It also has a regulating effect on the substances cyclic adenosine monophosphate and cyclic guanosine monophosphate, which play important roles in proper respiratory function and the delivery of oxygen to the body's cells. The sense of serenity the exercise produces is the result of slightly elevated body temperature and an increased rate of oxygen absorption. Qigong activates qi, improves blood circulation, and balances yin and yang. It bolsters the immune system, and stimulates the conductivity of the meridians and channels through which qi flows.

In Chinese medical theory, many diseases come from adverse environmental conditions such as:

Heat, cold, wind, dryness and humidity; wrong diet; spoiled food; worms and microbes; poisoning and pollution; trauma and accidents. Internal conditions can arise from excess or deficient emotions of anger, joy, sympathy, grief or fear [and] inappropriate mental attitudes and beliefs. There are also maladies of the spirit that [sic] can cause serious problems. These factors can cause one's chi (qi) to become excessive, deficient, stuck, blocked, congested or stagnant, and thereby cause all manner of problems.

The goal of Qigong is to encourage the circulation of qi throughout the body. This helps the body resist or overcome imbalances or blockages, and the resulting disharmonies. It shares similar objectives with some other disciplines such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine.

A primary aim of Qigong is to maintain or restore balance and harmony of mind and body, while becoming aware of the human body's place within nature's oneness. As a Qigong practitioner becomes more conscious of the state of his or her body, he or she gains a greater resistance to the imbalances and blockages affecting qi. This sensitivity aids in the balance of the yin and yang, the two opposing forces of Universal Order. In the seventeenth century, Descartes? postulate, (which most Westerners still accept today) stated that the mind and body are separate entities. The Qigong student will contend that such a notion is a fallacy. It is in this context that we are able to understand the philosophy of Qigong, where qi is the force that integrates the relationship between body (matter, structure) and mind (process, function).

We practitioners gain more than improved health. We learn another way of viewing and experiencing the dynamic unity of life, an attitude far removed from the feelings of disenchantment and alienation common in Western civilization. Students of qigong learn to achieve their potential as highly successful members of our species.

In order to fully benefit from Qigong training, one must apply time, patience, commitment, determination and persistence. This art involves more than simple physical training. It requires retraining one's breathing and thought processes. Learning the basics can take from three months to a year . As with any other human endeavour, some people will prove more adept at the art than others, and so will progress more quickly. However, anyone with enough motivation can learn adequate skills to make a positive impact upon one's quality of life. While there are no shortcuts, there are also no limits to how far one may progress.

Some Caveats

Although Qigong has numerous invaluable benefits, there are a few pointers for the novice that will make every experience a positive one:

• Because Qigong thins the blood and increases circulation, pregnant and menstruating women, persons with internal bleeding, persons suffering from acute infectious diseases, and those recovering from oral surgery or trauma should avoid the practice until the condition disappears.

• Avoid exercising if you are prone to dizziness. See your teacher for adjustment.
  

•  Qigong is not for severely disturbed mental practioners.
  

• . Because of the elevation of energy levels, people may find the temptation to slight one?s nutritional needs while utilizing this program. Fasting (bigu) does have a place in the discipline; however, a genuine fast should only be performed under the strict supervision of a Master Teacher well versed in Root Tradition Qigong.
  

• People with anorexia should exercise caution.

• Do not eat or drink, especially alcohol, within an hour and a half before a session. Avoid sexual intercourse for at least one hour before and after a session as well. When exercising, face either North or South, in line with the earth's magnetic field. Exercise at the same time of day and the same days through the week.

For neophytes, it is exhilarating to take in energy from the universe. People often prematurely try to emit external qi like a Qigong Therapist through the eyes, fingertips or palms. Doing this can dangerously deplete one?s own vitality. One should not attempt to do so until after many years of practice, and only then under close supervision of a Trained Qigong Therapist

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