Be like a cat

Back in the aughts, when I lived in Chicago, I studied Qigong with Dr. Paul Hannah.  In Chinese, Qi means “air” or “breath” but in a metaphysical sense it is “vital energy.”  Gong means cultivation.   Qigong is the cultivation of that vital energy, as a non-martial art.  

Dr. Hannah had grown up in the inner city projects in Chicago, and learned Tai Chi – the Chinese martial art – in order to defend himself, and thus avoid joining a gang; his ability to defeat the gang members in combat was his protection and way out of the projects.  He became a board-certified psychiatrist, as well as a Tai Chi Master, with additional studies in acupuncture, Qigong and energy healing.  https://www.hannahsholistichealing.com/

During my sessions he would have me stand in a half-crouched position, arms outstretched at shoulder-height in a circle, my finger tips almost touching, for an unbearably long time.  He would leave the room, and later return with hot herbal tea.  I believe he was training me to empty my mind and become aware of something else.  

On the wall of the studio was a poster of a black panther, gazing forward, directly into the camera.  He explained the concept of observing without becoming engaged, of being present with neither future nor past, neither time nor space. Dr. Hannah told me that poster had gotten him through college.  

I did not then know the idea of mindfulness, but would now understand his instructions as my introduction.  Thich Nhat Hanh has written, “When I eat an orange, I can eat the orange as an act of meditation.  Holding the orange in the palm of my hand, I look at it mindfully.  I take a long time to look at the orange with mindfulness.  Breathing in, there is an orange in my hand.  Breathing out, I smile at the orange.”

During that same period, I practiced Qigong with a practitioner of Chinese medicine, including acupuncture.  During one session at his office, he introduced me to a colleague from China, who was considered a Master of Qigong.  I was told this man had not eaten solid food for many years; he drank liquids, but metastasized the inner chi for his sustenance.  Such a concept is beyond both my comprehension and experience, however, I was and remain willing to suspend disbelief.  Perhaps such is possible, and I should not cut myself off from such a possibility.  We have entered the realm of the suprarational.  

Here in South Portland, Ryan Nitz is an acupuncturist with a community clinic.  He treats many patients onsite at his clinic and, quite interestingly, has begun treating patients via remote.  I do not mean by a tele-health zoom session, but rather, from his office in South Portland, Maine he treats patients in, say, Kansas or California.  He does not use needles, but instead the “subtle energies” to manifest healing in the patient.  https://www.mainecenterforacupuncture.com/

Essentially this is a form of Reiki, the Japanese form of energy healing; “rei” means universal and “ki” means life energy.  Clearly now, we are beyond the bounds of western allopathic medicine.  As Dr. Paul Hannah taught me,  “be like a cat,” suspend disbelief and calm the mind while focusing on the energy present.  

At the vanguard of energy, one meets some mighty cool cats!