WOW

A review on a Qigong workshop that I attended just last weekend. Remember, I’m just an entry-level taoist here.

As a student of TCM, you tend to meet some interesting people in school, one of which is my classmate who does Medical Qigong. When I saw him work on another classmate’s sprained knee (without even physically touching it) and saw the results, I was beside myself. From then on, I knew I wanted to learn this. And when he told me that his Master was holding a workshop relatively nearby in Indiana on 5/22-24, I jumped at the opportunity, despite having to miss class.

Before I attended the workshop I took the liberty of buying his book and DVD to get a good glimpse of what I may be learning, but I didn’t go into it too deeply, I wanted to go in with an empty cup. I didn’t really know what to expect when I got there, but when I first met Michael Lomax and shook his hand, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with that kind of presence – and despite being in an arm sling due to a ruptured tendon in his arm, his presence was very powerful, yet you can feel the compassion and benevolence and healing in him.

On the first day, we had a good introduction to Qigong, as well as his background. During the lecture, he was talking about relaxation and living in the moment as if you were “stopping the world.” Right then, he did SOMETHING… and I felt this rush of energy penetrate through my body, yet simultaneously experiencing this feeling of tranquility and calmness. My buddy and I, both new to this stuff, looked at each other wide-eyed like “WOW.” We definitely made the right choice to ditch school to be there, I’ll tell ya that much.

So we proceeded to learn his movement techniques called “Gift of the Tao.” It’s a series of movements made to (from my novice perspective) to playfully gather Qi. People who have Taijiquan or other internal martial arts backgrounds may find these movements a bit odd and may take issue with it (if they’re purists), but bear in mind, this isn’t martial arts, this is Qi cultivation (and yes, I have some experience in Taijiquan), so these movements were made specifically to gather Qi (especially for Medical Qigong purposes). And when you do these moves with pure INTENT (not intention), you can really feel them. And by “intent,” I mean that instead of envisioning or trying something, you just do. You just feel it. Like what Bruce Lee said, “Don’t think! Feeeeel!” And after a few minutes, instead of thinking about the Qi, I felt the Qi. I felt submerged in a gigantic tank of Qi, and every photon of light or neutrino penetrating through my body.

So after the Gift of the Tao movements, we proceeded in the Stillness-Movement technique, which is quiet sitting. What makes this similar to Zazen is that you are quietly sitting/forgetting, but at the same time you’re focused on your dantien and you’re actually letting yourself move naturally, but without conscious effort. This is so Qi can circulate and relieve stagnation, as opposed to if you were to sit rigidly. We did this for an hour and it was amazing, especially when Michael started projecting Qi to all of us. And afterwards, I felt myself vibrating, like I was living in a higher frequency.

As I said earlier, his arm was in a sling due to a torn tendon and he seemed like he was in a lot of pain, and had very little range of motion. So to demonstrate Medical Qigong, he had four of his senior students work on his arm by projecting Qi. Honestly, I’m too new to really explain what happened there, but they all took turns projecting Qi onto his arm (so to not deplete themselves), each with a different technique. And I knew I was in the right place when he took off his sling with clearly a much larger range of motion and a lot less pain. By the last day of the workshop, he was without the arm sling altogether (or at least wore it a lot less).

So throughout the 3-day workshop, we worked on the Gift of the Tao movements, both sitting and standing Stillness-Movement techniques, exchanging Qi from trees and gathering while walking. You know, I never thought I could ever feel Qi from trees or plants, but after that day I could. We also worked on his Taoist Medicine technique, which I’m not necessarily qualified to comment on since it’s so new to me, but he does mention it in another thread.

So overall, it was an amazing experience for me. I’ve been to a Qigong seminar before (by some other group), and it was a bit cult-like and creepy. I’ve read a myriad of books and watched a thousand more DVD’s on Qigong… but Michael Lomax’s Stillness-Movement Medical Qigong Workshop was, at least for me, both life-confirming and life-changing. Since then I’ve been nothing short of inspired. A lot of amazing things happened to me in that workshop in little ol’ Terra Haute, Indiana, and I’m forever grateful.

Thanks for introducing me to this wonderful art.