You may be asking, “What is a Qigong Master?”

(Scroll to bottom of this post to enjoy a brief but beautiful video of “Shaolin Qi Gong Practice with Master Yan Xin.”)

In very simple terms, Qigong means energy skill. I often describe Qigong as Chinese Yoga, because although there are many forms of Yoga (union of body, mind, spirit), it is a ubiquitous term that is somewhat easy to understand. The specific disciplines vary, but the goal is the same, achieving balance and harmony in body, mind, spirit.

Being a Qigong master does not mean that you do not experience pain or suffering, it simply means that you have cultivated the energy skills to more effectively manage the experience.

Meditation is a key component to achieving this skill of heightened awareness.

Be like water, enjoy the flow of life.

To live fully in the present moment is to experience life as it comes, enjoying the moments without expectations or preconceived ideas of how it should be. This leads to a genuine appreciation of the beauty and purpose of all things. It is an awakened state of awareness. In this awakened state, we find that many of the situations that cause suffering can be dismissed, or released, allowing us to experience peace and joy in balance and harmony. 

Maybe you didn’t realize it, but the simple practice of mindfulness — living in the present moment in awareness — is meditation! So, if you are struggling with the concept of how to begin practicing meditation, just pause for a second and see how many tasks you are juggling simultaneously. Then, consider how many of those tasks you are actually doing with awareness vs. a mechanical automation, just going through the motions without thinking. 

More and more the lifestyle culture has convinced us that we must be multitasking to be effective or successful. We know the universe is speeding up and we seem to be in a perpetual race to accomplish something, but linear time is a strong challenger!

Perhaps your experience is different, but I always run out of day before I run out of work and I have often struggled with a sense of urgency to be everything for everyone, everywhere, every time! 

To say that I have overcome the struggle may be stretching the truth a bit, but I did learn to pay attention to my own physical limitations and needs and clear a lot of blocked energy from guilt-related stress. I learned that I must acknowledge and honor my own body temple if I am to be of any service to anyone or anything, and this is true for everyone. 

So, even though you may feel the pressure of urgency to be prolific in one way or another, it is important to remember that quality is superior to quantity.

Live a quality life, be a Qigong Master!