Within the complexity of human consciousness, emotions reign as powerful forces, shaping our perceptions, decisions, and ultimately, our lives. Yet, what if I told you that not all emotions are created equal? What if some of the feelings we hold dear are mere illusions crafted by our minds? Brace yourself, because we're about to embark on a journey to explore why your mind-made emotions aren't as real as they seem.
The festive season brings with it a mixture of sentiments, from the joyous anticipation of gift exchanges to the stress of holiday preparations. However, for many, it’s not just a time of merriment but also a season marked by the challenges of life.
Being bombarded with messages of ‘joy’ and ‘togetherness’ can amplify feelings of sadness, loneliness or anger for anyone going through the heartache of divorce or a breakup, grieving the absence or loss of a loved one, or facing strained or even abusive family relationships.
This is where Qigong can help, by connecting you to your inner strength and restoring your emotional balance.
In the stillness of my first Qigong session, there I stood, grounded yet reaching for the heavens, moving in harmony with an unseen force. My hands tracing invisible arcs in the air.
This practice, rooted in centuries of wisdom, spoke to me in a language beyond words. It whispered of a world within, a world rich with untapped potential and boundless possibilities.
Urbanization, with its concrete jungles and digital cocoons, has created an ironic separation between humanity and the natural world we belong to.
The rustling of leaves and the murmur of rivers are often drowned out by the cacophony of city life, leading to a disconnection from the Earth on which we depend for our survival.
What many fail to see is that the Earth beneath our feet is more than just dirt and soil; it’s alive and brimming with energy and ancient wisdom.
A fundamental aspect of emotional resilience is the understanding that it's not about suppressing your emotions or pretending to be fine when you're hurting. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Emotional resilience begins with acknowledging your emotions, understanding them deeply, and then finding healthy and constructive ways to navigate through them.
Fear has a way of taking over our lives. We might suddenly have a great idea or intuitive urge to do something, then along comes ‘fear’ and the tiny flicker of inspiration that lit us up for a moment, is snuffed out forever, never to be pursued.
We often think of spiritual energy as coming from above us, not always recognising that it is present within every cell of our body and all around us in every direction, including beneath our feet.
If we think of our seven embodied chakras as being a ladder of consciousness, our crown chakra holds a most sacred position at the very top of our head, becoming our bridge to the Cosmos.
It is my belief that, no matter who we are and how we live our life, we are all seeking the fulfilment that comes from inner peace. This is the quality of energy available to us through our crown chakra.
According to Eastern spiritual traditions, it is through the opening of the ‘third eye’ that we can connect in a conscious way to our Higher Self. But what is our Higher Self and how do we go about making that connection?
Expressing who we are is not only about the words we speak. It’s about being so honest with ourselves that all of our thoughts, feelings, choices and actions become energetically aligned.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that losing weight and keeping it off requires depriving ourselves with strict diets and punishing ourselves with grueling exercise regimes. But Qi Gong takes a radically different view - one of treating ourselves with love, kindness and compassion and appreciating everything our body does for us.
Here are 6 ways Qi Gong helps you find and maintain your “happy weight” in a way that is effortless, natural, and stress-free:
We all have healing to do and, like it or not, each of us is responsible for our own healing work.
Although we can benefit greatly from the guidance and support of others to help facilitate our way toward a greater sense of wholeness, nobody can do our healing for us.
If there is one thing life, and especially my Qi Gong practice, has taught me, it is that ‘power’, in the true sense of the word, comes from within. It is never forced, but comes naturally to us when we remember who we really are – magnificent creatures of Nature, exquisite expressions of life-force energy, divine intelligence made manifest.
While ‘enlightenment’ has always been about accessing states of consciousness beyond the boundary of the physical body, the focus of many spiritual seekers today is on ‘embodiment’ – how we ‘feel’ in our body, how we ‘relate’ to others, and how we ‘do’ things in the world.
There has been a move toward spiritual practices that help us become more present within our bodies, more connected to humanity, and more grounded upon the Earth. It’s a shift that can help us heal our personal and collective trauma, at a time when many are struggling to resolve painful family or childhood issues, and stress and fear are rife in our society.
When I was 28 and taking my first tentative steps along the spiritual path, I made a vow to myself that I would make it my life’s mission to ‘evolve in consciousness’, without quite knowing what those words even meant.
I had a somewhat vague and romantic notion that, with enough yoga and meditation, I would one day ‘reach enlightenment’, which I thought was some kind of mystical reward bestowed on only the most spiritually-devoted.
Flash forward more than 20 years, and I have a very different view of what ‘evolving consciousness’ really means
