I have just completed a four day intensive training in a powerful healing modality called Qi Gong. Something about it was so familiar. Many years earlier, while studying Massage Therapy at the Swedish Institute in New York City, I had received some Qi Gong training sessions. Looking back on that earlier introduction to Qigong, all I could remember was how utterly tedious and boring these slow, meticulous movements had seemed. But he knew that he had studied something similar before this current training.
It’s amazing how selective our memory can be. Many years ago, in the early 1990s, I suffered a serious back injury. In fact, I was lying on the floor, unable to move due to unspeakably painful contractions, for over 4 hours. Very, very, very slowly, I was finally able to maneuver my body so that my back was facing a nearby heater as I used one hand to stimulate the reflexology points on the other hand that corresponded to the spine. When I was finally able to sit up and then stand up, I headed straight to a local ER. As much as I have studied healing modalities and spiritual awareness, I have never been happier to receive medication in pill form to relax my muscles and relieve pain.
After several weeks of painful physical therapy exercises, the intense back pain had subsided. At that time, I began taking private Pilates lessons on the machines that helped me restore my core strength and move more easily using only the muscles most needed for the particular movements. As I got stronger, I added Pilates floor exercise classes and Bikram (heated) yoga classes.
Looking back on my back injury and the subsequent healing process, I have always attributed my healing to those wonderful Pilates lessons and my knowledge and use of Pilates and yoga exercises. I had completely forgotten about a weird and wonderful training program that I had attended for almost a full year: a powerful healing modality that revitalized my body and immune system beyond curing my back problem.
During the weeks and months of slow recovery from my back injury while living in Stratford, Connecticut, I still felt tension, pain, and stiffness in my back. One day I passed a healing center called Chun Do Sun Bup. Curious to learn more about this, I entered a different world. I was greeted by a friendly Australian lady, the supervisor, and a few male and female instructors dressed in white karate-like outfits. This center was opened to introduce this powerful Korean Qi healing method in America.
Chun Do Sun Bup, which literally means “the heavenly way to restore body, mind, and spirit,” is based on a 6,000-year-old Taoist system of martial arts training that was passed down in secret for many generations. Dr. Haeng-Yong Mo and his wife, Gui-Dai Park, revitalized this ancient tradition after studying “The Way of the Taoist Immortals” and achieving extraordinary healing abilities. Today there are more than 200 non-profit International Chun Do Sun Bup Ki Energy Centers operated by Korean and Western Masters, located in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, South Korea and America.
Chun Do Sun Bup treats the mind, body and spirit, using the vital energy that surrounds us, called Ki in Korea, the deeply spiritual belief in connection with our ancestors, Ki Energy Training and Ki Energy Healing (Chunsoo or “Heavenly Hands”). “). The overriding concept is that we are all born with a healing power that can only be accessed when our mind and body are in balance and aligned with the energetic frequency of nature. Realigning our minds and harmonizing our bodies with nature is a long and slow healing process. Nature heals slowly and cannot be rushed, but nature heals better and more thoroughly.
Chun Do Sun Bup Ki training consists of a series of 100-hour classes in small groups. The lessons are divided into 12 steps. Each class consists of chanting and breathing exercises to purify the mind and revitalize energy, ki movements to strengthen the body, improve circulation and increase ki energy, and silent meditation to still the mind and enhance spiritual awareness. Students learn to receive, increase, circulate, and retain ki energy.
Ki Energy Training and Healing is believed to be a natural, long-lasting solution to many common health problems. The Ki or vital energy, circulating freely, eliminates blockages and impurities in our body and mind. Once the blockages are cleared, our immune system can take over and complete any healing that is needed.
An additional component of this powerful healing system is the Ancestor and Family Ki Healing ceremonies. Eastern philosophy attributes some of our current physical, emotional, and spiritual problems to energy blockages inherited from our ancestors. These highly ritualized ceremonies of prepared food, movement, meditation, and prayer are designed to heal our ancient blockages and restore the health and well-being of our families and ourselves.
