Người nước ngoài đi học Khí công Dưỡng sinh

“IT’S ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY AS IT ALREADY IS AND HOW IT REACTS TO YOUR FOCUS” DENNIS HANEY

Ginny Becker learns about the 4,000-year-old healing art of qigong and how receiving energy can improve health and well-being. Photo by Fred Wissink.

When HCM City resident Nongluck Noomprasith, who goes by the nickname Yui, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October 2009, she followed her doctor’s advice and underwent chemotherapy and stomach removal surgery. She also turned to an herbalist, who prescribed Thai remedies. But as the cancer progressed, Yui became desperate for relief from the constant pain and exhaustion.

Friends suggested Yui try Mahamudra qigong, an ancient Buddhist system of energy medicine that relies on breathing techniques, movement and meditation to cleanse, strengthen, circulate and eventually receive the body’s life energy, or qi. The following week, Yui and her husband, Eckhart Dutz, attended a two-week qigong course affiliated with the Phu Nhuan District Association of Traditional Medicine, taught by Tran Nguyen Ha, a head trainer of Mahamudra qigong.

Since then, they have been amazed at what has transpired.

Eckhart recalls a morning when Yui was especially weak, but nonetheless attempted to practice qigong. As Yui progressed through the movements, she began executing yoga poses that Eckhart is convinced she wouldn’t have had the strength to perform had she not taken up qigong. “They weren’t done as elegantly as someone who practices regularly, but her body was somehow forming the poses. It was amazing.”

More About Qigong

To better understand the couple’s experience, it is important to clear up a common misconception. Qigong is not synonymous with the popular healing art of tai chi, which is also said to circulate energy.

“Tai chi is a collection of fixed poses that are taught,” explains Nguyen Quyet Thang of the Phu Nhuan District Association

of Traditional Medicine. “After five or 10 years of practice, the student will finally reach the same energy level as the teacher. But in qigong, that same energy is transmitted anywhere between three and 10 days of practicing for one hour per day. It’s a major shortcut to receiving the energy.” 

Thang says that when a person receives qi, they know it. “The energy in your body is like electricity, just like when you turn on a lamp, you receive light,” he says. Qi awakens the body, explains Thang, often causing people to feel hot and see light through closed eyes. Some even smell perfumes, although most typically, qi is experienced as a physical force that moves through the hands. 

The effects of qigong haven’t gone unnoticed in the research world. According to the U.S. based Qigong Research and Practice Center, thousands of qigong studies have been conducted in China and more recently in the West. Research has reported positive effects on the cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, circulatory and immune systems, as well as improvement in mental health and lessening of chronic pain.

Go With The Flow

To many who practice qigong, Yui’s apparently mysterious ability to execute yoga poses is not actually a mystery, but an

example of the power of qi to direct the body. 

Fellow HCM City practitioner Dennis Haney says he too has experienced positive results since taking up qigong in a bid to alleviate chronic back pain. “It’s about learning how to listen to your own body as it already is and how it reacts to your focus,” he says. In Haney’s experience, you don’t tell your muscles to move when you receive qi. Instead, the muscles move on their own. 

That said, don’t expect that time spent learning this art will make you a yoga master. Thang points out that a person’s health and energy level, physical disposition and mood, as well as the outward environment are what elicit movements and poses. 

To facilitate this process, instructors teach students to open themselves to a stimulation process that promotes relaxation, concentration and visualization, all independent from verbal communication. For this reason, the student does not need to share a language with the teacher. Eckhart says that even though their first classes were conducted in Vietnamese, he and Yui both felt they received energy simply by focusing and following the instructor’s movements. He compares the relationship between student and teacher to that of a magnet and  iron, with the magnet attracting the iron.

“It’s amazing that in a group of 100 people practicing  igong together, most are able to follow, and if you look at the people who attend, some have serious diseases,” Eckhart says. “I’ve found qigong to be an amazing way that everyone can improve physically, mentally and spiritually.” 

While qigong hasn’t improved Yui’s overall condition, she reports having more energy and feeling peaceful during and after her sessions. For that, Eckhart is thankful. 

For more information on qigong and upcoming public classes, call Thang on 012 8535 2288 or email Eckhart Dutz at eckartdutz@mac.com.