Tai Chi and Qigong – Three Keys to Psycho-Spiritual Chi Development

As I mentioned in a previous post on psycho-spiritual training (click here), Chi Development, focused in three key areas, can lead you to happiness, spiritual fulfillment, and emotional freedom. Each of these areas covers a lot of ground, but for now let’s take a brief look at them and talk about a few general ideas, so we have a good feel for these three areas.

 

PERSONAL INTENTION

PERSONAL INTENTION is the first key area. Here, we are referring specifically to developing an “intentional” approach not just to Tai Chi and Qigong, but to your whole life. You specifically work on identifying the purposes that guide your actions – how and why you make the choices you make in your life.

While there can be numerous, complex intentions, in Tai Chi and Qigong, we’ve identified four intentions we consider the most important. We’ve mapped these intentions onto the Four Chi-Elements – Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, plus the fifth “non-element” of Spirit/Void. While we teach these chi-elements as a way to learn intention in Tai Chi and Qigong, they offer more than that. They can be seen, heard, and felt as the actual “components” or “entities” found in the well-balanced, happy, spiritually-healthy person.

Unfortunately, most of us are “out of balance”. That is, as we make choices in our daily lives, we generally rely on just one element or possibly two elements, and we make all our choices within these elements. This lopsided approach to dealing with life often creates stress, frustration, fear, and unhappiness. But with training that includes all Four Elements, you can begin to develop skills in your “weaker” elements. Developing your weaker elements will lead to greater choices in your thoughts, words, and actions for a more balanced, fulfilling, rewarding life.

 

SENSORY ACUITY

SENSORY ACUITY is the second key area of Chi Development that can lead to happiness and personal growth. In this area, we are specifically talking about how we use our nervous system and brain to perceive and organize the information we receive. In this area, we are looking to increase both the accuracy and efficiency of our perceptions, so that we have access to more and more information with less effort.

Misperceiving things about ourselves, others, and our environment generates a significant portion of unhappiness and stress in our lives. Instead of perceiving problems ahead of time – whether the problem is with ourselves, with others, or with our surroundings – we fail to see, hear, and feel the difficulties until they are immediate and pressing. Often times, a change in perception allows us to avoid the problem altogether, or at least deal more effectively with it before it becomes critical.

But by training our sensory acuity, we can prevent many types of problems and misunderstandings, decreasing stress and fear, and increasing happiness. But more importantly, by working on sensory acuity, we can directly “see”, “hear”, and “feel” the elusive “spiritual” elements that are missing from our lives. While many people think of the “spiritual” as being non-physical (and some even think of it as “anti-physical”), sensory acuity helps you “look, listen, and touch” the spiritual through widened perception. As a side note, I know that what I’m saying here may sound mystical, but I’m actually speaking of something immensely practical that can be learned directly from Chi Development in Tai Chi and Qigong.

 

PERCEPTUAL FLEXIBILITY

PERCEPTUAL FLEXIBILITY is the third and final key area. Here, we are specifically referring to learning how you form your concepts, ideas, thoughts, and beliefs about yourself, about others, and about life in general. Tied in with both Personal Intention and Sensory Acuity, this thought-formation process goes beyond these areas to look at how we apply “meaning” to the information we receive from inside and outside of ourselves.

More often than not, the “meanings” we apply to the information we receive fit into “maps” or “models” that we pre-created before the information is received. Most contemporary scientists and researchers believe that these maps and models come from a number of sources: genetic, childhood patterns, cultural conditioning, and conscious selection. Generally, the happier, more fully realized, and more spiritually accomplished person can apply these processes creatively, making new maps and models from the old, much as imaginative children can create stories and songs from the simplest ideas.

Perceptual flexibility underlies much of the creative process. However, many people feel they aren’t “creative”, or that creativity is reserved only for the “talented” or the “gifted” or the “uninhibited”. But this creative process is actually our birthright. Young children often have it, and we can have it too. And we can “get back” this creativity directly from our Chi Development practices.

 

I know I’ve gone over the three areas of Personal Intention, Sensory Acuity, and Perceptual Flexibility rather quickly. If you would like to hear more about the practical aspects of this Chi Development training, please leave me a comment below. I may do future blog posts on them, as long as there is interest in these topics.

Tagged as: motivation, qigong, Tai Chi, tai chi philosphy, Tai Chi practice