What is Chi?

Simply put Chi is bio-magnetic energy that runs through all living things. Where there is chi there is life. When you are born you have an abundance of chi. The goal of Qigong is maintaining the abundance of chi and insuring its proper circulation throughout the body.  Within the human body, Chi is said to have many major functions: Chi protects the body from disease; supports and sustains all movements; enhances the body’s transformation; retains fundamental substance; and maintains normal body heat.

"That which animates life is called Qi. The concept of Qi is absolutely at the heart of Chinese Medicine. Life is defined by Qi even though it is impossible to grasp, measure, quantify, see or isolate. Immaterial yet essential, the material world is formed by it. An invisible force known only by its effects, Qi is recognized indirectly by what it fosters, generates and protects.

Matter is Qi taking shape. Mountains forming, forests growing, rivers streaming, and creatures proliferating are all manifestations of Qi. In the human being, all functions of the body and mind are manifestations of Qi: sensing, cogitating, feeling, digesting, stirring, and propagating. Qi begets movement and heat. It is the fundamental mystery and miracle."

Theories of traditional Chinese medicine assert that the body has natural patterns of chi that circulate in channels called meridians and vessels. Symptoms of various illnesses are often believed to be the result of disrupted, blocked, or unbalanced chi movement (interrupted flow) through the body's meridians and vessels, as well as deficiencies or imbalances of chi (homeostatic imbalance) in the various zang fu organs. Chi Kung often seeks to relieve these imbalances by adjusting the circulation of chi in the body using a variety of Chi Kung therapeutic techniques.