Qigong is a method of healing used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In translation, “Qi” means “energy” and refers to the vital force of the body. This energy is not a mystical or metaphysical energy. Instead, most Chinese masters believe it can be explained using western scientific terms such as physics and biology. “Gong” translates “work” or “effort” so, as a whole, “Qigong” translates as energy work.

Mind intent is a huge component of Qigong work. Some would even go so far as to say it is the most important part of energy healing. In Chinese thought there are many terms to describe different kinds of mind intent. One of these types of mind intent is called Yi. (Sometimes ‘Yi’ is transliterated ‘I.’) Yi means intellectual mind intent.

Imagine that you are relaxing and sipping a cup of tea. You might pick up the cup of tea, take time to examine it looking at the way the cup is held in your hand or the angle of the cup, put the cup to your lips and take a small sip, and then gently place the cup back on the table. While doing all of this, you would not experience much emotion at all. Instead, you would have a feeling of contented calmness.

Yi can be very deeply focused. For a skilled mechanic who is determined to fix something and who has a strong Yi mind intent, setbacks would not disturb his or her calmness and would only make the mechanic more focused and set on solving the problem. As you might guess, there are many different situations in which having a strong Yi mind intent. It is specifically trained for in certain martial arts.

In healing Qigong, using Yi mind intent begins with finding the general state of the body. Much as a piano tuner finds middle C then tunes the rest of the piano relative that note, a Qigong practitioner will find a state of general health and then will smooth and balance the energy in the rest of the body.

The practitioner will look for blockages, places that are inappropriately hotter or colder than the rest of the body, places of incorrect tension, weak areas, etc. Next, the practitioner will balance these areas with the rest of the body. This might involve smoothing energy over, removing negative energy, or even holding energy over weakened areas until the body fills them with positive energy so that they can be healthy as well.

Beginning practitioners must use some sort of physical medium to perform these kinds of healing activities. If you watched them, you would see beginning Qigong practitioners using their hands to scan the body. However, skilled practitioners do not need to use their hands to do this kind of work. Because they have stronger Yi mind intent then less experienced practitioners, they can perform this kind of healing using only their Yi mind intent. If their mind intent is increased still further, practitioners can even perform this kind of healing at great distances.

Author Bio: Sigung Richard Clear has over 30 years of continuous study in Tai Chi and Qigong both in the U.S. and China. Read more on his website at: http://www.clearstaichi.com

Category: Self Help
Keywords: Qigong, Qi Gong, Chi Gong, Chi Gung, Yi