Belch! Fart! Cough! Now that I have your attention, I’d like to talk about some of the, uh, less glamorous things that might happen while in self-manifested Qi flow. I still remember when a young man who had started learning qigong out of Grandmaster Wong’s books started posting on the Shaolin Wahnam discussion forum asking questions. He was a nice young man, perhaps 15 years old, who had dutifully followed all of the instructions in the book, and was experiencing great results with his practice. This is quite remarkable in and of itself, simply because he was able to get these results from training out of a book alone, something that really speaks to the high level of Cosmos Qigong.
Self-manifested Qi flow is an amazing skill which brings about a great number of experiences, all things that have a cleansing effect on the body and spirit which work to remove blockages and restore health and vitality. In this young man’s case, he quite bashfully asked about his urge to pass gas while in Qi flow and asked if that was normal. I burst out laughing upon reading this, since he was asking so shyly about what is in fact, the experience of many others. I responded to his post and assured him that this was quite normal, that he was training well, and to carry on and not worry about it.
So we can feel our hearts expand, we can feel old aches and pains disappear, and in some cases, experience the undifferentiated unity of cosmic reality. That’s pretty beautiful. But we can also break wind or let out mighty burps, and that’s part of the process too! From a Chinese medicine standpoint, each of our organ systems are endowed with their own Qi, which naturally moves in a specific direction, and also directs bad energy out through the easiest pathways. So you get a burp, a fart, a cough, and then eventually from that things like allergies, seasonal and food, constipation, and indigestion can potentially resolve themselves. It’s simply a matter of getting the body’s energy to start moving as it’s supposed to.
Probably some of you have already experienced this in your training. As Grandmaster Wong would say, “very good, carry on.” If these are things you’re experiencing, don’t try to avoid them, simply let them pass (pun intended!), then let your training space air out afterwards. Our plants benefit from the negative energy our bodies let go of. It’s part of the cycle and harmony of Yin and Yang. Would you like to learn about how qigong and self-manifested Qi flow can benefit your life? Classes start next month!