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Finding Joy in Movement

15/8/2022

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There is a theory in Chinese Medicine that the Qi flow in Meridians/ Channels are already in existence when we are born into the world as babies. However, only through nourishment - by way of (mother's) milk and care, life experience and movement, do these Channels get stronger as well as more distinct. As I have explained in a previous post, only when these conditions are fulfilled and with the time through childhood, can these Qi 'Rivers' fill up and the access points develop. Thus, the Acupuncture-Points also come to maturity sometime around puberty, if all the criteria of nourishment are fulfilled. 
 
With this in mind, we realize that Movement is a key ingredient in the growth and development of a human being. In childhood, we get to know the world and our bodies through Movement. The child touches its face and realizes for the first time that it has a face, when it feels it in its hand and the corresponding sense of its hand on its face. It swings its arms, kicks its legs and finds its center, to finally turn sideways; this is when it finds its true potential of its mobility. Then the process begins, to crawling, standing and walking; all this in the span of about 8 to 18 months. Children need to move with their bodies and in the environment throughout their childhood in order to develop muscles, fasciae, organs, bones, experience and understanding of self within space. When I say, "understanding," I am referring not just to the intellectual but also to the physical, emotional, spatial and energetic understanding. Due to fact that our mainstream "conventional" world very seldom speaks of energetics or the existence of an energetic world, many of us are energetic "toddlers." We may sense something of an energy as children, but we are seldom given impulses or feedback or much less schooling to develop ourselves from this perspective.
 
Many of us experience Movement through our childhood in the form of sport, especially for males, as our society frequently views Movement forms, such as dance often times ballet, mostly for females. Thus, Movement has become gender-defined. Look at our mainstream school system in Switzerland, the only Movement subject on the schedule is "sport." In many sports, one is often not focused on developing the internal environment of the being but more so learning the rules of the game, sport-specific skills such as eye-limb-ball coordination, maybe tactical strategy or team cohesion, most prominently competition and winning. Any other forms of Movement outside of the "sanctioned" sports are considered odd. Yoga or I must mention Yoga Asanas - the posture practice of Yoga, since Yoga encompasses far more than physical practice, has become more conventional but again more dominant in the female population. Some Yoga Asanas resemble acrobatics, which is also considered a sport; therefore, something that looks like sport is more acceptable to our society. I hear of so many "traumatized" by school sports; many at a young and tender age were forced to participate in Movement based on competition, failed to meet this standard and were scarred from being branded "uncoordinated" or even "failures". If we as a society concentrate on Movement for competition, then what we will reap is a small number of winners, since there is often only 1 winner in most sport forms, and a large population of casualties, broken from the battle. They, or we, are left to pick up the pieces of their broken beings. How can this be sustainable or even logical for the wellbeing of our society?
 
What drew me, and still draws me, to Tai Ji Quan, Qi Gong and Yoga is the internal focus to Movement; the internal environment of my being and the work I put into developing it can be manifested as/ in external Movements of my body. This is not to say that there are no Tai Ji Quan, Qi Gong or Yoga practitioners who are externally-focused; some are, that is where they place their intention and therefore they stay on the exterior. For me, it is about what is inside us that matters and not how good it looks in front of a mirror or on some social media platform. If the focus is only on the outside or in competition with others, then we become nothing more than a vacant shell, hollow and empty on the inside but having shiny adornments to cover up the emptiness inside. I was lucky, I found joy in Movement, even if just physical and external, early on in life. Then, even the distress of injury later could not extinguish my desire to find Movement. In fact, when my external body could not manifest Movement, I found internal Movement. For this I am grateful to my bodymind. This is what I am trying to share with others, the joy of connection to our own bodies, external and internal, the joy of Moving. Because Movement is life, so let's live!   
 
 
​
 
Photo by Amanda Napitu on Pixabay

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Wu Ji: The Great No-Thing-ness

7/1/2021

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We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.
 
We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.
 
We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.
 
We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.
                                                                                Dao De Jing, Chapter 11 by Lao Zi
 
In Chinese philosophy and Qi Gong there is a concept of Wu Ji, which can be translated as "The Great Nothingness" or "The Supreme Emptiness." You may often see a Chinese/Japanese calligraphy of a circle, like the one above, this is Wu Ji. This calligraphy hangs on our wall at ICM in the space where we practice Qi Gong/Tai Ji Quan/Yoga. On a few occasions, as I was practicing with students, I began explaining this concept of Wu Ji and only through my explaining this profound subject have I begun to see a fragment of the larger picture that the ancient philosophers were referring to. 
 
As we look at the image above, we see the black ink of the circle but what of the space inside of the circle? That is Wu Ji. It embodies that Great Emptiness. It is both space and time. One of the insights to Wu Ji came to me one day as I was attempting to explain it as I was teaching. I realized as I looked at the image that Wu Ji is "filled emptiness"; the circle may be empty but it is not deflated. 
 
I recall my teacher, Shi Fu Donald leading us in meditation many years ago. He led us to that moment/place before Yin and Yang, before the "I" becomes. It was a very profound moment for me; I was pondering what would be before Yin and Yang, a sense of wonder manifested in me. All through our training in Qi Gong/Tai Ji Quan, we first find Wu Ji and then begins movement, physical or energetic. It has come to me that Wu Ji is "before the beginning." It is even a specific position in sitting or standing, as well as a moment, space or state before we begin a practice. Shi Fu Donald also taught us a Qi Gong form called Wu Ji Qi Gong or Primordial Qi Gong. 
 
When we read the Chapter of the Dao De Jing (Pin-Yin for Tao Te Ching) above, this is what Lao Zi is trying to convey to us. He is trying to show us that the space in the middle of the wheel, the emptiness in the cup, the space in the house and non-being is what creates us as well as our reality. Lao Zi was a famous Chinese philosopher who lived around the 6th century BCE. He is said to have founded Daoism and wrote the Dao De Jing, which has 81 chapters written in verses like the one above, each barely filling a page. It is, after the bible, the second most translated text in the world. As with many things in life, "less is more."
 
Next time you look at your hand, look into the spaces between your fingers. Your hand exists because the spaces between your fingers exist. This time of winter invites us to look into the spaces in between. There are very few leaves on the trees but there is more space between the branches. Just as we can give ourselves more time and space in our lives between appointments or work to find Wu Ji in our everyday.
 
 
Reference
Lao-Tzu, translated by Stephen Mitchell (2011): Tao Te Ching - The Book of the Way. London: Kyle Books.
 
 
 
Image Wu Ji by Elaine 
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    Elaine Yap

    I am a Chinese Medicine practitioner at ICM, mother of 2 sons, living on my third continent. I love to share with you my perspectives on healing, TCM, gardening, social change and life.

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Institut für Chinesische Medizin ICM GmbH

Falknerstrasse 4 | 4001 Basel
Tel. 061 272 88 89 | Fax 061 271 42 64
info@icm-basel.ch ​
  • Acupuncture
  • TCM
    • History
    • Methods of Treatment
    • Diagnostics
  • Treatment Modalities
    • Acupuncture
    • Auricular Acupuncture
    • Electroacupuncture
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    • Wai Qi Liao Fa
  • Team
    • Elaine Yap
    • Ava Markwalder
    • Gabi Rahm
    • Frank Hediger
    • Noriko Matsumoto-Loosli
    • Olivier Schmidlin
    • Edmundo Belloni
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