The Journey and the Quest
Anyone who has ever prepared for a trip knows what travel is like. Making the plan and the commitment to take time away from the ordinary to engage in a new experience. Assembling required documents, packing clothing, gathering necessary personal items, medicines, and toiletries. Eliminating the non-essential, reducing the burden to a load we are able to shoulder up and down streets and stairs.
Cambridge On-line Dictionary (Cambridge University Press 2019) defines journey as “a trip, esp. over a long period or a great distance.” Although this trip was a journey over a long period of time (3 weeks) and a great distance (21, 816 miles total: 2931 miles from my home in Jay, VT to Los Angeles, 7233 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, 660 miles from Hong Kong to Hangzhou, 708 miles from Hangzhou to Wudang Mountains, 262 miles from Wudang Mountains to Hua Shan, 642 miles from Hua Shan to Beijing, and 9380 miles from Beijing back through Los Angeles and to Jay Vermont), it was much more than a trip or travel - it was more of a journey or a quest.
This quest “a long search for something that is difficult to find, or an attempt to achieve something difficult” (Cambridge On-line Dictionary, Cambridge University Press 2019) was in the name of Qi.
What is qi? Qi is often defined as our vital life force or energy, but this definition falls short of the magnitude of qi. According to Classical Chinese Philosophy, “qi is the force that makes up and binds together all things in the universe. It is paradoxically, both everything and nothing.” Acupuncture & Massage College, How do you find that????
Thus, the quest.
(To be continued. In the meantime, enjoy these photos and this practice which will help you discover qi.)
PRACTICE: Discovering Qi through Hand Massage
Anyone who has ever prepared for a trip knows what travel is like. Making the plan and the commitment to take time away from the ordinary to engage in a new experience. Assembling required documents, packing clothing, gathering necessary personal items, medicines, and toiletries. Eliminating the non-essential, reducing the burden to a load we are able to shoulder up and down streets and stairs.
Cambridge On-line Dictionary (Cambridge University Press 2019) defines journey as “a trip, esp. over a long period or a great distance.” Although this trip was a journey over a long period of time (3 weeks) and a great distance (21, 816 miles total: 2931 miles from my home in Jay, VT to Los Angeles, 7233 from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, 660 miles from Hong Kong to Hangzhou, 708 miles from Hangzhou to Wudang Mountains, 262 miles from Wudang Mountains to Hua Shan, 642 miles from Hua Shan to Beijing, and 9380 miles from Beijing back through Los Angeles and to Jay Vermont), it was much more than a trip or travel - it was more of a journey or a quest.
This quest “a long search for something that is difficult to find, or an attempt to achieve something difficult” (Cambridge On-line Dictionary, Cambridge University Press 2019) was in the name of Qi.
What is qi? Qi is often defined as our vital life force or energy, but this definition falls short of the magnitude of qi. According to Classical Chinese Philosophy, “qi is the force that makes up and binds together all things in the universe. It is paradoxically, both everything and nothing.” Acupuncture & Massage College, How do you find that????
Thus, the quest.
(To be continued. In the meantime, enjoy these photos and this practice which will help you discover qi.)
PRACTICE: Discovering Qi through Hand Massage
- Sit or stand in a comfortable position.
- Rub your palms together as if to generate heat.
- Wring your hands, as a damsel in distress would, in her anxiety. You are actually giving yourself a full body massage, as there are acupoints in your hands that correlate to the organs in your body.
- Placing your thumb in your palm and your fingers on the back of your hand, massage away! Rub every bit including your “thumb drumstick.”
- Massage your thumb from base to tip, pinching when you get to the top. Massage the space between your thumb and the index finger. Repeat for all fingers.
- Repeat on the other hand.
- Hold your hands in front of you as if holding a small ball, and notice what you are feeling in your hands, around your hands and between your hands. You have discovered qi!