Learn to Feel the Qi

Notice how a world class musician plays an instrument. The whole body is involved. Yoyo Ma is part of his cello, and Itzhak Perlman moves from the center of his body as he plays the violin. They have learned to tap into a flow. Little babies naturally move with strength, their arms and legs spiraling out from their center.
Ultra-fast and stressed life styles can move us off of our center and our flow. You can think of the qi network throughout your body like an energetic nervous system. Your nerves communicate along channels using an electrical current. Qi also moves along specific energetic channels (meridians) using what some have called bioelectricity.

Blood Flow and Qi
Each beat of the human heart is stimulated by electrical currents. Blood is circulated throughout your body and brings nutrients and qi energy with it. In the same way when we move the body and open the channels of qi it moves throughout the body and blood flow increases with it. It is said that blood follows qi and qi follows the blood. This has been called microcirculation.
When the parasympathetic nervous system is activated (opposite of stress and fight or flight) and you relax in the slow-moving mind-body meditation of qigong or Tai chi, vasodilation occurs so the veins and arteries widen. You can often feel warmth in your hands or on the surface of your skin during or after a qigong session proving out the connection between blood flow and qi.

Bone and Joint Alignments and Qi
Misalignments of bones can cause blockages for qi or your nerves. This can create points where energy may leak out of your body and where nerve communication is slowed or turned to pain. You are likely to first notice this improper functioning in and around your joints.
Qigong teaches you how to align your spine and joints in a way that assures a free flow of neurons and qi along the necessary pathways. A student is also trained in the awareness to be able to feel when something is out of place or when there is a drain in energy.

Connecting with a Higher Power
Another factor taught in qigong is how to sponsor a good flow of energy from the heavens down through the body into the earth. You may feel small and insignificant, a mere human in charge of the plants in your backyard, but all things are possible when there is a relationship with a higher power. We need to be open to the heavens and draw this power into our bodies and our lives. We also live on the earth and need to understand our connection with it so we can live in balance and harmony with terra firma.
We live in a soup of energy and we need to understand how we are affected positively and negatively and how to clean ourselves off. This knowledge can help us create overall well-being in our bodies.
Health and well being comes from movement and balance. Is this missing in your life? Qigong and Tai Chi can help!