Qi cultivation and the Yin Yang philosophy in Tai Chi

Today I'm here to talk to you about qi cultivation. In the previous video I spoke about the three treasures so if you haven't seen it please look in the description below and I will leave you a link. Have a look at that one first and then come back to this one. Today we'll look more into how we cultivate qi. But first I just want to mention the similarity between the traditional Chinese medicine and Taoist medicine. As a Taoist medical practitioner we focus on learning and harnessing the power of qi. So that is also a part of traditional Chinese medicine but traditional Chinese medicine also looks at many many other frameworks to heal the body. As Taoist practitioners or Taoist practitioners as we call it in the West, we become our own healer. So it is very important to learn and understand your body. Qi cultivation comes through the practice of Tai Chi and Qi Gong. There is a connection between the movement and the breath, the tranquility of the breath. And so also I must mention to you right now that a very important philosophy in the Tai Chi practice is the yin and yang philosophy. It's about the balance of opposites or the balance of two different things. So when I say that qi cultivation is the balance between moving your body and your breath, you are also practicing the yin yang philosophy. There's the dynamic movement of the body connected with the soft tranquil breath. And so there you see the two parts to yin and yang and we can find that in many different aspects of our lives, yin and yang. For example when we breathe in and we breathe out there is a rhythmic yin yang. There's also when we're awake and when we're asleep. There are many ways that we can find this yin yang framework in our everyday lives. And so it's important that we can find them and recognize them and cultivate them. And through that cultivation you will cultivate more of your qi because you will be more in balance with your life. Have a look at the rhythms of your day. When you wake up what you do you probably start with breakfast. Maybe you start just with a cup of coffee. When do you integrate your tai chi practice? All of these are rhythms. So you'll have your moments where you're active. You'll have your moments where you're resting. I like to say to my students that I used to have a very good rhythm of practicing the eight poke qigong before bed. And then a friend of mine gave me access to his Netflix accounts. And since I've never really owned a television or ever had Netflix I have about 25-30 years worth of movies to catch up on. And sometimes I ask him if he would please change his password so that I can go back to my very positive rhythm of qigong before bed rather than movie before bed. But I do hope that it's just a phase. Just like my other video where I spoke to you about the cycles of boredom where you have to be prepared because at some point in your tai chi practice you might start to feel bored and you have to take care and be ready so that you won't just drop off and stop practicing. Well I'm hoping that this Netflix is just a phase and it's a cycle that I will eventually release myself from that cycle and find a more positive rhythm to my nighttime rituals. So while you're doing your qi cultivation and you're practicing tai chi and qigong there's another yin yang aspect to it which is the physical practice is going to unite with the spiritual practice. Because you're focusing on your breath and you're focusing on your movement and that brings you clarity in your mind and it allows you to develop your spirituality. So as a result of your qi practice there's the opportunity to also cultivate your spiritual practice. And as I mentioned in the previous email there are many opportunities to cultivate a spiritual practice throughout your day. There's every moment of the day is a moment to cultivate yourself spiritually while focusing on just being present and in that moment. Which is what we do when we practice tai chi. And while you are practicing tai chi and you are practicing qigong and you're cultivating your qi this will help you feel better as a person and as a human. You will have a better relationship with yourself, better relationship with others and a better relationship with the community and the world around you. So it will bring you much joy contentment and happiness.