A friend of mine comes to Stanford once a year to give a lecture on cancer, so when she comes, I give her a Qigong treatment. She has some personal health problems, including a bilateral radical mastectomy, but this time, during her Qigong assessment, I was pleasantly surprised the only real problem I sensed was in her arthritic joints! THIS, was a huge improvement and change from all the other times I have given her a medical Qigong treatment.

So after this Qigong treatment, we chatted about what had changed since last year. At first, she could not think of any change, but then she shared how she had been using different essential oils, and then massaging them into different places on her body. She was doing this twice day, first thing in the morning and right before bed.

She now has a daily routine of self massage. She takes a different oil and massages it into a specific location in her body, then uses the next oil on her list and massages this into a different body location. She has about 4-5 different oils, and each one will get massaged into a different point in her body.

She then showed me the places where she massages these different oils. And you know what? They are each at a specific acupoint area we often use in Chinese Medicine to treat those same conditions listed as the name on each of those different oils!

I thought this was a rather brilliant business strategy of this company. By labeling the name of the health condition, and then instructing where to place the oil, and how to massage it into the skin, the company found a way to help people with their self healing!

After all, in Chinese Medicine, we use different tools, all aimed at getting Qi to move, or be restored, or become balanced, and this is yet another tool - a tool to help a person stay or get healthy on their own! How great is that?

Essentially, my friend is massaging specific acupoints on a regular basis, for a specific purpose, and it is helping her Qi flow to be and stay in a balanced state. It really is helping to improve her health.

I had not considered recommending my patients use essential oils on certain acupoints until I witnessed this change in my friend's health. But I am now.

I liked how it was easy to understand what the oil was for (detox, balance, sleep, zen/anxiety, etc) and this helped her remember what the oil was used for. I liked how she easily knew which oil went to which acupoint, and this helped her know what to do. I also liked how she created a routine with her activities of daily living, such as "right after I brush my teeth" I do this. This helped make it a habit, and because it was done every day, it created wonderful long-term results for her to have improved health. 

There is value in doing daily massage of certain acupoints to help relieve certain ailments and conditions. I don't know if the essential oil is required or not, but by using an essential oil that can help you remember WHERE to massage and WHY, does add value. That alone, to me, would be worth the cost and effort!

I have done many Qigong medical treatments, but recently I had an experience that was new. Near the end of this man's Qigong treatment, I could feel little pricks of fire coming up from this man's body on my open flat palms. I could not see anything - it was just a sensation I was feeling on my hands. It wasn't as if it was burning me, it was more like a pinprick of fire that was not dangerous.  

I moved my hand to a different location above his body, and still felt those little pricks of fire on my palm. I continued moving my hand to different areas of his body, almost as if I was doing a flat palm assessment, and STILL felt little pricks everywhere my hand went. I decided to wrap up the treatment and find out what this meant and what was going on.

I then did an iChing, asking what this sensation was during this man's treatment. The answer came back, "Great Brightness!" Since I didn't sense any fire at the start of the treatment, but only near the end, I decided this treatment was now showing and validating the change in his energy - his internal being was allowed to now freely shine after having his Qi cleared and flowing. It was a way for me to know his Qigong treatment was correct and effective for this man.

Sometimes programmers put in what is called a "back door" in a computer program as a way to gain access into the system that only they know how to access. This is what Qi-gong is like for me.  It is like discovering there is a back door into the human body and being able to go in and not only assess what is happening, but treat from within.

I have been a nurse and been involved in western medicine for many, many years, and western medicine is what I now call, the front door.  When I started to learn about Chinese Medicine in Acupuncture school, it was there I learned about the existence of other access points into the human body that was an alternative to the front door approach.  But when I learned about Qi-gong, it was as if I was now given the very key that opened into the entire human body, mind, and spirit itself.  I now had the key to open and go into that back door!

When I learned to open that door, it was as if I was now able to see, feel, and hear what is actually going on inside a person's body, mind, and spirit as if I was in the middle of the action.  It is that amazing of an experience.

This is how it works for me.  When I first start a Qi-gong session, I visually ground myself and then visually ground the patient. I usually begin with an assessment of their entire energy field, and after that, I start to focus on one organ, such as the liver. It is usually at this point that I am allowed into the person's energy field and now start to see, feel, and sense their different organs and systems. This is when I have the awareness I have been allowed into this person's back door and my senses are receiving information about what is going on inside this persons body.

Once I am in and have that awareness I am getting information about their organs and body, I begin to assess things one by one.  I may see or feel something in a certain part of the body or with a certain organ.  For example,

• "Oh, those lungs look swollen and some areas in the lungs seem very constricted. They are not elastic like they should be. His asthma is worse than he is letting on."  
  
• "Yikes, those bones are rubbing against each other and there is no cushion in the joints at all. I will direct energy to those joints to lessen her pain."
  
• "Her kidneys are dry, dry, dry. No wonder she has back pain. I'm going to fill her kidneys with Qi until I sense they are plump and pink."
  
• "Her heart is broken and can feel her sadness in her heart and lungs. She needs to have that stagnant energy purged and then needs new vibrant energy directed to her heart and lungs. It will help her to not feel overwhelmed with grief." 
  
• "Energy is blocked and not flowing in her left eye. I will need to purge the blockage there and get things to flow in her head and in her eye. I can see how this is causing her eye to not heal."
  
• "This person's left side of his head is cold and even feels concave. He is not getting enough energy flowing to that side of his brain. It is no wonder he is having headaches and feeling stressed and uptight."
  
• "Her liver sparkles. There is no problem in her liver."
  
• "I can tell she is burning the candle on both ends of the day because when I look at her kidneys, they are gray.  They should be pink.  She needs more energy directed to her kidneys or she is going to start having health problems."
  
• "Her Spiritual Guide is in the room and wants me to direct energy up the bottom of her feet to help her ground and connect with the earth."
  

Those are the types of things I see (and hear) when I go through that Qi-gong back door during a  treatment session.

Qi-gong can be, for some practitioners, a way to access the patients energy field and be allowed in through that back door to see (or sense) what is really going on inside the person's body.  With that type of access, a practitioner can help direct energy to identify what is going on, or can help direct energy to help the body heal and/or get in balance.  This process of back door access allows a different way to treat and heal.  It is like being able to go in the back door and treat from the inside out.

It is remarkable.  It really is.

During my Qigong training, we always did a medical treatment in silence. However, recently I've been verbally sharing what I'm doing during the treatment and I've noticed this has allowed my clients to follow along in the treatment. In many incidences, it has helped them validate what they are sensing. 

Recently I was treating a client and told him what I was doing and then he started to share some of his feelings while I was directing new vibrant Qi into his body. I then started to notice his Qi was starting to bind up and get tied into knots. I could now see first hand how his thoughts and feelings of anger were binding his Qi.  Since thoughts lead where and how Qi flows, allowing him to share what was going on his life during the middle of a treatment was now inadvertently leading his Qi around in circles. 


I needed to take back control of this Qi flow, so started to talk nonstop, telling him exactly what I was doing in the treatment, each and every step. The only thing he could now was to become a passive bystander and listen. This allowed me to take back control of the Qi flow, keep his thoughts occupied so they didn't go into a negative swirl that could redirect his Qi flow.

I also needed to unbind those new knots of Qi in his body. But I also needed to help prevent the Qi from rebinding up AFTER the treatment was over, too. I was then impressed to pull in SILVER Qi from the heavens which would continue to linger  in his body and would act as type of buffer and help keep his Qi from re-knotting.

Because my client was lying face up on a massage table, I sat at the top of his head and cradled his head in hands.rested each of my fingers on a different acupuncture point on his head. I then visualized pulling in SILVER Qi from the heavens, into MY DU20 (top of my head) and then into, and out of my fingers into his head. 

I then directed this silver Qi to help me locate knots of Qi in his head, unwind and relax the knot, and then directed the knot the rope of stagnant Qi to puff and disappear. I then directed any unwanted leftovers from this puff of disappearing stagnant Qi to get filtered and flushed in the kidneys and out the bladder.

I then moved to the heart and repeated this same process, locating the knots, relaxing and unwinding the knot, and directing any unwanted Qi to move to the kidneys for processing. I continued this to each yin organ until his body was free from knots and Qi was flowing where and how it should be.

At the end of the treatment, I could sense the knots of Qi were gone and things his Qi felt perfect. He opened his eyes and reported he felt much better, but he needed to pee.

The treatment was a good reminder that some communication may be fine in a Qigong treatment, but it needs to be limited and controlled.You can't have the client's thoughts and feelings become negative and overpowering so it redirects the newly vibrant Qi to move in ways that are not beneficial. 

I don't know how other Qigong healers do their remote Qigong healing treatments, but for me, this is what I have found that works for a remote healing treatment.

1. I first go into a deep meditation. 
   
2. I then have to connect my mind to the client. This requires either mentally visualizing the client lying on MY Qigong table, OR I visualize me being at THEIR location (home or hospital). I also visualize them laying on a bed or couch. 
   
3. I then visualize going through the same processes I do in any Qigong treatment. 
   
4. I do an assessment.  I connect to the client's energetic body and organs. 
   
5. I then ground the client and connect them to Source (either the earth or the Tao or both). I then put on the energy of protection for myself.
   
6. I determine a plan and an approach for the treatment.
   
7. I visualize doing the Qigong treatment and do each and every step mentally, as if the client was right there. It seems to go a bit quicker in a remote treatment. I think this is because I am able to mentally move energy faster in a meditation with my eyes shut and totally focused.
   
8. At the end of the Qigong treatment, I then visualize creating an energy bubble of healing energy around my client and infuse this bubble with the energy of love. This will not only serve to protect, but also provide a continual source of healing, until the energy is consumed.
   
9. I end the remote Qigong treatment
   
10. I end my meditation.

I then give the client my feedback on the assessment, the treatment, and what I experienced. I also solicit feedback from the client on their experience.  

During some Qigong medical treatments, I will ask the client to focus and direct their thoughts to one of their internal organs, such as the heart, kidney, ovaries - an organ that seems to be failing them or in need. I will then meet them at that same organ with my own focused thoughts. 

Once our thoughts are connected, I will ask the client to send thoughts of love and appreciation to that organ. I do this to not only augment the loving healing energy to that organ in the treatment, but also as a way to show the client how to use this technique with their own inner healing.

If you have never used this technique in one of your Qigong medical healings, it may surprise you how you really can feel the connection with your client's thoughts. It is almost as if you feel a gentle bump within yourself. For me, I get a sudden message which says, "ahhh, there you are!"

For the client, he/she will often feel an inner change when they use this technique. If they have felt anger, hurt, or disappointment with their organ, they will often experience a feeling of peace and well being. Having the client internalize and change their inner energy to one of inner love and appreciation can even kick-start the healing process and speed it up. If healing has been stalled, this technique may be what is needed to overcome an obstacle in the healing process and get them back on track. It can be just the extra umph to what is needed.

I was giving a Qigong medical treatment to a client when all of a sudden I felt as if I was falling into her energetic space. It caught me off guard and I reacted by catching myself by touching her arm and with that physical connection, a flash of a type of movie played in my mind. I could see my client as an older woman, but surrounded by children. It was as if she was the "kool-aid mom" of the neighborhood where her children and the neighborhood kids would gather around her in games and activities. I found myself pausing during the treatment to observe this mental movie and I then realized I was seeing something in her future. My client was young, single, in school, and focused on career and the images being shared with me from her energy field were that of a woman interested in her community.
After her Qigong treatment we sat and chatted. I told her about this little movie flash that came near the beginning of her treatment. She smiled and said that just after I started the Qigong treatment, she decided she would let down her guard and fully allow me into her energy field.  It was at this moment where I fell into her space and completely connected with her energy. 
This experience taught me that a client has control over the depth at which a Qigong medical practitioner is allowed to work in. It also taught me that a practitioner can read and interpret energetic messages beyond just the physical body.

During one of my medical qigong treatments, I was energizing my client's organs. I started nourishing her liver, and next I was going to nourish her gallbladder. I pulled in subtle Qi energy into my clients feet and started moving this blue-green subtle energy up her leg towards her abdomen. But when I got to her gallbladder, I could not sense the presence of her gallbladder. This had never happened to me in this type of treatment, so I asked her, "did you, by chance, have your gallbladder removed?"  She responded, "why, yes I did!"
I always find it fascinating to discover the depth of information & images shared with me during a Qigong Medical treatment. The detail of subtle information conveyed is often based on the openness of the client's energetic body to share information, the amount of trust the client has in the Qigong process, as well as the skills of the Qigong practitioner to tune in and understand the subtle messages being shared.
In THIS treatment, my client 's energetic body freely communicated many images and information throughout her entire treatment. As a result, I was able to see and discover things going on within her body she had not verbally shared with me, and in some cases, was not even aware of. This type of openness from the client really does improve a Qigong medical treatment and the outcomes that can be achieved. The client's ability to relax their guard and allow their energetic self to share images and messages as to what is going on in the body can deepen and enrich the Qigong treatment experience.

Qigong has 3 branches - martial arts qigong, medical qigong, & spiritual qigong. The I-Ching casting is part of spiritual qigong. The I-Ching is a tool which can be consulted for guidance & can point us toward the path of wisdom based on the qi at that moment. It works on the concept of synchronicity, which holds that coincidences are linked with the unconscious mind and the answers are known to the subconscious. So when we cast the I-Ching, it is fusing the known and the unknown.

The I-Ching uses hexagrams which are engraved in the collective unconscious of the human race. The process one uses with the I-Ching is to toss a tool of chance, such as coins, or an 8 sided dice, or long & short sticks. Before you cast those tools of chance, you need to first connect with that collective unconsciousness.  You then use the tool of chance, and then map the results to the appropriate hexagram in the I-Ching.  The specific hexagram then can link the unconscious mind with the conscious mind, validating what path you are on and then informing you on the direction things are moving. 

In our Qi Cultivation class, we tried the I-Ching as an additional subtle energy communication tool technique. For me, I was most surprised to see and feel the visual "collective consciousness" as I pondered a students questions before throwing the tool of chance (dice). In this process of using the I-Ching, I could actually see and feel a type of collective subtle energy. The image in my mind reminded me of Nasa image from space of circular rings of bright white light and I mentally reached out to connect to that energy to answer the question I was pondering in my mind. 

I then felt an energetic connection from this "source" to my hands which were rubbing three dice. I then cast the dice and felt the energy was moving the dice to the appropriate numbers which would be associated with the appropriate hexagram.

After translating the hexagram and sharing it with the students, some of theme shared how it totally answered their question or really helped them clarify their course of action.  

For me, it was fun to try out another tool of subtle communication. After all, we use subtle message communication in many different ways - promptings, gut reactions, in-coming thoughts, mental images, dreams, prayers, etc.  The I-Ching is just another tool we can use to help us get the clarity and guidance we desire and seek.

I often reach out and ask for help from the Universe (or nonphysical Beings) before I give a Qigong medical treatment.I allow myself to be open so that what I provide a client is what they really need. But recently, one of these promptings was something I had not experienced before.  I was directed to infuse Qi into the treatment table itself, prior to the treatment.
A few weeks earlier I had taught a Qigong class and we had infused water with Qi, so now, I think was more accepting of this unusual request.
So prior to my client coming, I went to each corner of the Qigong table and directed healing Qi energy into the table. I also directed Qi into the table top, as well as the table bottom. 
When my client arrived, I had her lay on the Qigong table, face up, and then started the Qigong medical treatment. 
At the end of this Qigong medical treatment, I asked her if she experienced anything unusual. She reported that as soon as she lay down on the treatment table, she felt a buzz and vibration encircle her body. Her energy vibration had been raised. This had allows those unseen Beings I called for, to assist with her treatment.