Relax and Rejuvenate with Simple Qi~ssage
Master Chunyi Lin
Imagine an office worker sitting at her desk at work, furiously typing away to get a major project done before the deadline. She has not moved from the same position for several hours and you can see her shoulders are hunched forward as she absentmindedly starts to rub the muscles between her neck and shoulder area.
You are settled into your seat on an airplane and across the aisle is a young mother, holding her crying baby, trying to calm her. The more the baby cries, you can see and feel the frustration and maybe even a little fear, as this mother feels a bit helpless—all she wants to do is calm down her baby and in turn, calm down herself.
Or perhaps it is spring or summer where you live, and the trees, grasses and shrubs are bursting forth with new growth. It is so beautiful, but your sinuses are overreacting to the pollen and your nose is either stuffed up, making it difficult to breathe, or it is running overtime and constantly dripping from the drainage. Your head hurts, your sinuses are painful to the touch, and you are frustrated because you have been waiting for the sunshine and warm days of this time of year to come so you can enjoy the pleasant weather outdoors.
All of these scenarios involve some type of physical and emotional challenge that these people are dealing with. The office worker is feeling stressed and her neck and shoulder muscles are crying out for attention. The young mother is a bit fearful and her child is most likely reacting to discomfort from the change in cabin pressure. Having seasonal allergies is not only physically disruptive— frustration commonly accompanies it because we all want to feel good and be able to get outside in the sunshine and enjoy our beautiful earth—right?
In Qigong, we learn that energy blockages can occur from a multitude of reasons— emotional stress, our environment, seasonal changes, and physical injury, to name a few. So how can we find quick relief from the physical challenges and address the emotions that may be creating blockages in our energy systems?
The answer is easy: Use simple Spring Forest Qigong Qi~ssage to help relax and rejuvenate both your physical and emotional needs, by combining the energy principles of Qigong with techniques that involve the power of touch and physical stimulation of the body’s energy points.
Qi~ssage is a wonderful way to stimulate key energy points in our body, help you direct the transformation of your body’s energy for the better, and help undo any blockages that you may be experiencing.
The power of touch has been heavily researched. In an article in Psychology Today (March 2013), we learn that we “begin reviewing tactile signals before birth, as the vibrations of our mother’s heartbeat is amplified by amniotic fluid”. The power of touch literally begins the day we are conceived. We were created with a beautiful wisdom that resides within each of us. Our cellular make up was constructed in such a way as to make great use of the wisdom involving the benefit of touch. Our skin actually responds physiologically to touch by lowering Cortisol (the stress hormone) and by lowering our heart rate when we stimulate certain pressure receptors. Using a warm touch can stimulate the hormone oxytocin, enhancing our feelings of well-being (Touch Research Institute).
Combining the use of touch with the knowledge of Qigong and stimulating the key energy points within the body not only benefits the specific parts of the body where the energy points are located, but also helps stimulate the flow of energy throughout the body.
How might Qi~ssage positively impact the challenges the people were facing in the scenarios described at the beginning of this article?
For the office worker who is so tense, physically and emotionally, doing some Qi~ssage on her shoulder points can help her relax the neck, shoulder and chest. It relieves stress and tension, not only in her shoulders and neck area, but throughout her body. It radiates energy to her heart and lungs. Qi~ssaging her arms and hands can relieve stress and tension from her hands and arms, and also strengthen the energy of her intestines, releasing pent-up emotions. Simple Qi~ssage to her shoulders and to her arms and hands can help the muscle tightness and discomfort from sitting at the computer for hours and help her release the emotion of over-thinking and stress from meeting her deadline on her project.
For the young mother, she could perform gentle Qi~ssaging on her baby’s forehead and head points, allowing the baby’s head to relax and open up all of her energy channels in her head, which can relieve the blockages that occurred from the change in air pressure. Qi~ssaging the “Bubbling Spring” point on the bottom of the baby’s feet can help release fears and enhances the baby’s kidney energy, which is her life force energy.
The beautiful thing about performing Qi~ssage on another person, like the young mother is doing for her child, is that the young mother is also helping herself. It is the Law of Attraction—what we give to another, comes back to us. The more healing we share with other people, the more healing energy we draw back into ourselves. As this young mother releases the fear in the baby, her own fears can be released, resulting in a relaxed and enjoyable flight for all!
Now let’s see how Qi~ssage can help minimize the challenge of seasonal allergies:
• Stimulating the prescribed head points learned in Spring Forest Qigong Qi~ssage helps to relax the head and opens up all of its energy channels.
• It relieves headaches, which is a common complaint with seasonal allergy sufferers.
• Using Qi~ssage techniques on the head can also relieve sinus issues and emotional stress, helping one to feel fantastic!
Finally, while all of these techniques are very helpful, Master Chunyi Lin wisely shares with us, “nothing is more beneficial to you than the unconditional love in your heart. Unconditional love is the most powerful healing energy in the universe. That is the key point to keep in mind in Qi~ssage, in Qigong, and in life”.
