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Qi Gong — exercising from the inside out
by Pam Woolway - The Garden Island
Qi gong, a 5,000-year-old Chinese health care system, offers an alternate approach to garnering flexibility and strength.
If sore muscles and a rising heart rate define exercise for you, then qi gong will deliver half ... the sore half. Many of the postures build muscle strength in the thighs by maintaining a low, wide stance or from the pushing action of the arms. All of the postures can be refined for your level of fitness.
Don’t be deterred by the exotic name, qi gong movements ring with familiarity — simple lunges, leg and arm lifts, one-legged postures and gentle joint rotations.
“It’s not stretching,” said the Qi Center’s director Lynn Muramoto. “It is opening up the major power points in the body.”
What Muramoto is referring to is how the body is described in Chinese terms — by meridians or qi channels. Qi is defined as breath or the life energy that enters the body through the air to flow through the channels in the body. “Gong” means work — in essence, qi gong translates as breath work.
According to literature by the center’s founder, Grandmaster Hong Liu, “Meridians behave much like rivers. Due to factors such as nutrition, stress, genetics and environment, a blockage can occur in them, like rivers being dammed.”
“Qi gong opens up these rivers of energy,” said Muramoto. “This is just unkinking a blockage.”
In a recent lecture Liu said, “Using qi gong to undo energy knots in the body, one is to stretch and compress the body ... and use strength, breath and presence of mind in doing this ... will flush out the kinks with the increased energy flow.”
These rivers of energy are closely linked to the functioning of the organs. Each waist turn, stretch, arc of the spine — even the direction of the gaze, correspond to one of the twelve meridians or “rivers” in the body.
“The movement of the torso massages the organs,” Lynn Muramoto said. “There is an inner joy and beauty from the internal organs balancing.”
“These are medical exercises that tune up the body,” added Gerald Muramoto, instructor of qi gong for the Qi Center in Lihu‘e. “These exercises work from the inside out — qi gong is maintenance.”
While qi gong does appear to be a gentle art, its greatest attribute is in its subtlety. The work directs the practitioner toward his or her own process of self-exploration, growth and transformation, which ultimately connects them more deeply to themselves and to the world around them.
“You balance yourself and then balance the family, then your community and ultimately the world — but it starts inside you,” Lynn Muramoto said.
“It really is about opening the heart,” she continued. “When the heart is open it clears the mind and then there’s balance and harmony.”
In the introductory class on the basic eight exercises — forming next week — students receive insight on the physiology of what Master Hong refers to as medical qi gong, but comprehension of Chinese medicine is not required to reap the benefits of this ancient form of self-care.
Simple, easy and gentle are words Lynn Muramoto uses to describe the exercises.
“And they are easy to remember because there’s repetition of motion,” she said. “With qi gong you start by bringing the body to balance.”
The exercises strengthen muscles, improve balance and open the joints.
“Qi gong energizes you,” she said. “The movement of the spine opens up the nervous system.”
“Master Hong always says, ‘Simple is the most powerful,’” she added.
Each movement practiced is specific to a meridian and in turn to the organs and muscles governed by that river of energy.
“With consistent practice even the skin tone changes,” she said. “Qi gong brings a beautiful state of being.”
Muramoto testifies to the slight smile that warms the face of diligent students.
“The root cause of stress is blocked meridians,” she said. “When these energies flow free you have greater health.”
With consistent practice, she said, the kidneys and liver start to smile and that smile radiates from within.
“When people start moving the body, they have more energy and their health radiates,” she said. “Then they naturally want to give back to the community from that heart-centered energy.”
To register for classes call 639-4300 or 245-7002.
Qi gong classes
• Free introduction to qi gong: 7 p.m. Wednesday
• Beginning basic eight qi gong: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday — includes two months of free classes
• Grandmaster Hong’s rejuvenation qi gong for beginners: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., April 26 and 27
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
If sore muscles and a rising heart rate define exercise for you, then qi gong will deliver half ... the sore half. Many of the postures build muscle strength in the thighs by maintaining a low, wide stance or from the pushing action of the arms. All of the postures can be refined for your level of fitness.
Don’t be deterred by the exotic name, qi gong movements ring with familiarity — simple lunges, leg and arm lifts, one-legged postures and gentle joint rotations.
“It’s not stretching,” said the Qi Center’s director Lynn Muramoto. “It is opening up the major power points in the body.”
What Muramoto is referring to is how the body is described in Chinese terms — by meridians or qi channels. Qi is defined as breath or the life energy that enters the body through the air to flow through the channels in the body. “Gong” means work — in essence, qi gong translates as breath work.
According to literature by the center’s founder, Grandmaster Hong Liu, “Meridians behave much like rivers. Due to factors such as nutrition, stress, genetics and environment, a blockage can occur in them, like rivers being dammed.”
“Qi gong opens up these rivers of energy,” said Muramoto. “This is just unkinking a blockage.”
In a recent lecture Liu said, “Using qi gong to undo energy knots in the body, one is to stretch and compress the body ... and use strength, breath and presence of mind in doing this ... will flush out the kinks with the increased energy flow.”
These rivers of energy are closely linked to the functioning of the organs. Each waist turn, stretch, arc of the spine — even the direction of the gaze, correspond to one of the twelve meridians or “rivers” in the body.
“The movement of the torso massages the organs,” Lynn Muramoto said. “There is an inner joy and beauty from the internal organs balancing.”
“These are medical exercises that tune up the body,” added Gerald Muramoto, instructor of qi gong for the Qi Center in Lihu‘e. “These exercises work from the inside out — qi gong is maintenance.”
While qi gong does appear to be a gentle art, its greatest attribute is in its subtlety. The work directs the practitioner toward his or her own process of self-exploration, growth and transformation, which ultimately connects them more deeply to themselves and to the world around them.
“You balance yourself and then balance the family, then your community and ultimately the world — but it starts inside you,” Lynn Muramoto said.
“It really is about opening the heart,” she continued. “When the heart is open it clears the mind and then there’s balance and harmony.”
In the introductory class on the basic eight exercises — forming next week — students receive insight on the physiology of what Master Hong refers to as medical qi gong, but comprehension of Chinese medicine is not required to reap the benefits of this ancient form of self-care.
Simple, easy and gentle are words Lynn Muramoto uses to describe the exercises.
“And they are easy to remember because there’s repetition of motion,” she said. “With qi gong you start by bringing the body to balance.”
The exercises strengthen muscles, improve balance and open the joints.
“Qi gong energizes you,” she said. “The movement of the spine opens up the nervous system.”
“Master Hong always says, ‘Simple is the most powerful,’” she added.
Each movement practiced is specific to a meridian and in turn to the organs and muscles governed by that river of energy.
“With consistent practice even the skin tone changes,” she said. “Qi gong brings a beautiful state of being.”
Muramoto testifies to the slight smile that warms the face of diligent students.
“The root cause of stress is blocked meridians,” she said. “When these energies flow free you have greater health.”
With consistent practice, she said, the kidneys and liver start to smile and that smile radiates from within.
“When people start moving the body, they have more energy and their health radiates,” she said. “Then they naturally want to give back to the community from that heart-centered energy.”
To register for classes call 639-4300 or 245-7002.
Qi gong classes
• Free introduction to qi gong: 7 p.m. Wednesday
• Beginning basic eight qi gong: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday — includes two months of free classes
• Grandmaster Hong’s rejuvenation qi gong for beginners: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., April 26 and 27
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
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candyrosh wrote on Jun 10, 2009 10:21 PM:
" “The burial treatment plan is very flawed,” Huff said. “It is a clear violation of our rights as indigenous people.”
“We will be staying until further notice and until the state of Hawai�i acknowledges the property was fraudulently sold to Brescia,” Huff said.
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candyrosh
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camper trailer--camper trailer "
“We will be staying until further notice and until the state of Hawai�i acknowledges the property was fraudulently sold to Brescia,” Huff said.
------------------------
candyrosh
--------------------
camper trailer--camper trailer "
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