This home page is presented by Kenichi kuroki & Ichiro Nakagawa

Becoming a Master of Qi. The "Psychology of Qi" practice Goals of this program are to learn the psychology of Qi and to learn External Qigong. It is programmed so that as you practice by yourself everyday, you will understand Qi and be able to use it. This program progresses stepwise. It will be revised monthly and scheduled to be completed within one year. As you progress each step, you will understand the Eastern Psychology based on Qi, increase the power of your Qi, and surely become useful to yourself and others around you. Let`s progress at your own pace.

How to learn.

• Prepare a notebook for "Becoming a Master of Qi"
  
• Make a copy of the contents from the homepage screen.
• File the copy or paste it onto your notebook.
• With regard to the exercises of External Qigong, make sure to keep a record including your feedback after each practice.Please make sure to do this in order to check the degree of your progress.

Psychology of Qi

Step 1 - What is the Psychology of Qi?

1) Beginning of Asian Psychology

Currently, the field of Clinical Psychology in Japan is predominated by Western Psychology such as Psychoanalysis, Analytic Psychology, Humanistic Psychology, etc.
Although there are Japanese psychotherapeutic methods such as Morita Therapy and Naikan Therapy, there aren`t too many therapists who use them in psychotherapy. However, within the last 10 years, there are more and more foreigners becoming interested in Japanese psychotherapy methods.
Also, some therapeutic approaches combining Eastern methods are appearing. For example, there are: "Clinical Movement Method " which emphasizes our bodies; "Image Method of Pots " which is uniquely Japanese; "Therapeutic Method using Japanese Poetry (Haiku and Renku)" which is very cultural; "Therapy of Life Meaning " which is based on Morita Therapy; "Japanese Language Clinical Approach " which emphasizes language; and "Psychology of Qi" which I have been advocating.
I myself learned Western Psychology, and received Jungian and Transpersonal psychoanalysis.
However, as I practice psychotherapy in Japan, I*ve felt for a long time that "there was something missing in it." And, it was the modern Western concept which inherently considers the mind and body separately.
Although they come to psychotherapy for their psychological problems, clients always complain their bodily symptoms Because Western Psychology most often considers the mind and the body separately, its approach to human existence becomes partial. In the East, there has been a fundamental perspective that the mind and body are one, which emphasizes the wholeness including the nature.
Based on this insight, I felt that there might be some hints in External Qigong and thus participated and practiced Qigong at workshops that I happened to find out from rumors. In this process, I have come across to Eastern Medicine. Since then, I have been exploring Asian Psychology based on Qi.

2) Differences Between the East and the West

In the East, human beings are included in the world of nature. Humans are in the nature, and the nature is in humans. The next diagram (figure) indicates this concept.
When we see humans, they are considered as an organic entity existing without divisions between mind, body and spirit."Life" located in the center of the circle is inter-changeably considered as Qi.

Let`s use a diagram to see the differences between the Psychology of the West and East.

3) What is Qi?

We Japanese often use the word "Qi" in our daily life.
There are so many (Japanese) phrases such as "Sickness comes from our Qi," "Qi is our mind," Qi is depressed," and " Qi is harmonized."Although we would have hard time explaining what Qi is if someone asked us, we somehow feel its presence.
�iTAO �j Since a long ago in China, something that has a shape has been called "Container " and something beyond a shape has been called "Tao."The Tao is thought to be the expression of the dynamic changes of the Qi of Yin and Yang, and the Container the expression of the work of the Tao. However, a physical body (internal organ) as the Container does not establish a Physical Self (Body + Mind), and it only becomes a life-form when there is Qi in work.
Qi is "Life Energy" which exists in the vast universe and flows with the nature. Furthermore, there are two extreme opposites in the nature called Yin and Yang, such as Earth and Heaven, Sun and Moon, day and night, males and females, etc. And, the Yin and Yang continuously change, maintaining a balance as they exist together and separately at the same time.
Because humans are also animals which live in the nature, it has been considered that humans live according to the laws of Yin and Yang, and Qi flows harmoniously in the human body.

There are Intrinsic Qi, which humans are born with and Extrinsic Qi, which occurs later. The intrinsic Qi is available when we attain life as a fetus, and it is the foundation for our growth toward adults and the fundamental power for our life activities.
The quality and quantity of Intrinsic Qi is thought to be individually different at birth.The Extrinsic Qi includes the Qi of Heaven (Yang) which goes into the lungs through breathing and the Qi of Earth (Yin) which is obtained in the form of foods, and these two types of Qi mix in the body and help human growth.
The Extrinsic Qi is the type of Qi which can be recovered and skillfully used to reduce the consumption of the Internal Qi.
The condition where Qi is lacking is called "Qi Kyo" (Qi Deficit ), and the condition where Qi is stagnated is called "Qi Tai" (Qi Stagnation ). When Qi is lacking,there will be some physical symptoms such as exhaustion, tiredness, negative facial expression, short of breath, lack of appetite and also emotional symptoms such as lack of motivation.
When Qi is stagnated (Qi Stagnation), the physical symptoms include pains, heaviness, and tensions, and the emotional symptoms include irritability, short-tempered, and sleeplessness. These abnormal conditions of Qi are reflected in the Physical Self (Shin) as the physical abnormality of five viscera and six entrails and as the emotional abnormality of consciousness.
When we fell heavy, there is more Qi of Yin, and when we feel light, there is more Qi of Yang.
The balance of Yin and Yan will be lost when either one of them becomes too much.The Qi at that time reflects the conditions of our minds. We will be stuck with certain things, continue to be preoccupied with them, and feel frustrated, depressed, and anxious.
��This is the depth of our thoughts, which can be also considered the Qi of "Information." ��

4)Psychology of Qi

In the Psychology of Qi, a key point is to understand and approach the flow of Qi in clients.Then, we guide clients to live more harmoniously with the nature. When the Qi of the clients` mind and body becomes harmonious, they will have better exchange of Qi with others, have more harmony with the Qi of the nature, and becomes clear with the flow of the Qi of their own life ("Tao").
Let me explain the dynamics of Qi with the use of a diagram from a clinical psychological perspective.

In this diagram, Qi is located in the center, and when it works, our body as a Container functions, and then its substance appears. When there is something happens to our Physical Self (Shin), our Qi becomes disorganized and reflected in our mind and body (Horizontal axis).
This is indicating that when this happens, it affects our breathing and our mind*s images (horizontal axis).
For example, when something shocking happens, our breath becomes irregular and the rhythm of our Qi flow changes. At the same time, the conditions of our consciousness get subtly altered, and our internal images change. When this type of events happen frequently, there will be gradual establishment of the physical tendencies related to our breathing and muscle movements and the emotional tendencies related to how we feel, see and think.

In this process, the flow of Qi as both energy and information begins to have its unique lawful tendencies, and they will become more established as the times passes.
In this sense, Qi may be expressed as the physical stagnation in a certain part of our body or the personality imbalance in us.
In order for the stagnated or blocked Qi to be released, breathing and images become important.
What our breathing can do is magical. Through our breathing as the movement of our mind and body, we make unconscious adjustments of the mind and body with sigh and yawning.
When we do this, our breath is always abdominal breathing.
Breathing is thought to adjust autonomic nerves. The autonomic nerves include Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nerves, and the first one supports activities and the latter one supports relaxation.
It is said that the in-breath affects Sympathetic Nerves, and the out-breath affects Parasympathetic Nerves.Many clients breath shallow because their Qi is stagnated. By harmonizing our breathing, we can regain the balance of our mind and body.
Breathing can be considered as "the work of life" which connects the mind and body and also as the breath of healing mechanisms.
How about mental images as the movements of our mind? According to Prof. Tajima at the University of Kyushu, the images "are often thought as images that conjure up in our mind, but they are pure sensational experiences which also include our five senses and our own experiences of imagining."He says that what is the matter then is how we experience them. At that time, there is a flow of Qi which include the physical experiences of pure sensations and the emotional experiences.There are two major categories of images - the creative images and the spontaneous images. The first category is the images which are intentionally visualized, and the latter one is the images which are experienced spontaneously and move autonomously. Also, the subtle movements of these creative and spontaneous images are essential in the Qi as a medium for communication.
In Qigong, we often use the term, "E Nen." "E" means to think or intend, and "Nen" means to continue thinking or intending with words or images.

When we image something more consciously, there will be creative images on our mind screen, and when we image more unconsciously, there will be spontaneous images.When the spontaneous images move autonomously, more information will appear.In this sense, positive thoughts will be communicated as positive images, and negative thoughts will be communicated as negative images.
Images are the reality of our mind, which in turn create the reality of our daily life. In other word, when our internal images change, our external reality will begin to change.

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External Qigong Exercise

Step 1 - Sensing Qi

This is the exercise for you to be able to feel and see Qi by yourself

1. Standing in a natural stance Stand with your feet a shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent Release tensions from your body as you sway your body gently Cease movements and gently close your eyes and breath gently bent Focus your attention to your five senses and experience yourself in the nature
2. Qi Sensations in Hands Hold your hands together for a while Slowly move your hands - further and closer(Practice until you can sense Qi with your hands a shoulder-width apart (We`ll use this in Step 6)) Create a ball by moving your hands like kneading The sizes of balls are about a golf ball, a baseball and a basketball.(Let`s be able to make the ball of different sizes (We`ll use in Step 4))
3 Qi Sensations in Fingers Use your index and middle finger (called "Kenshi" - Sword Fingers) to touch other hand*s palm (Only your middle finger touches here). Separate slightly and feel Qi. As your fingers slightly separate from your palm, move your sword fingers - right and left and circle, and feel the movements of Qi. Same as above Practice your thumb and index finger (called "Washi" - Ring Fingers) and all five fingers. Please practice until you learn how to use these three fingers and sense the movement of Qi (We*ll use in Step 6, 7, 8, and 9)
4.Sensations of Qi in different body parts Sensing Qi inside and outside of your arms as you separate the arms a few centimeters apart. From your chest to your belly From your belly to your buttocks The outside and inside of your legs. Your face and both eyes The sides of your head and ears Practice until you can sense the different sensations of Qi from certain body parts experiencing exhaustion or pain and other body parts that are normal.
5. Seeing (sensing) Qi Rub both of your hands until they become slightly warm Separate the hands slowly See the tips of your fingers and hands with an unfocused gaze(You will be able to see something slightly whitish at the tips of the fingers and around the fingers) Seeing other`s Qi When you become able to see your own Qi, let`s practice seeing other`s Qi around their fingers and hands. Once you accomplish this, ask a person to sit by a wall and practice seeing his or her body`s Qi. A key is to see this person`s Qi with an unfocused gaze.

This month`s goals are:

1. To be able to feel Qi with your hands a shoulder-length apart.
2. To be able to make a ball of Qi.
3. To be able to feel the sensations of Qi in good and bad parts of your body