Why Is Childhood An Ideal Time To Start Practicing Qigong?
In today's world, to succeed in anything, one has to start early. Seventeen to eighteen - not bad! Twelve to thirteen - much better!! Four to five - excellent!!! How many top tennis players do you know that started playing in their late twenties, or gymnasts in their late teens? It's the same with sport, music, film and the arts. Life is very short and, in most fields, the creative years are limited to only a few, so if you wish to succeed, you better be prepared well in advance.
the price of success
Qigong is not any different but with one great advantage, unmatched by any of the above disciplines. While starting early, playing piano or dancing ballet, might lead you to a successful career and world fame, it doesn't really prepare you for life itself and in many ways takes a lot out of it. There are only so many world champions (more precisely one at a time), primadonas or number one musicians. Imagine if everybody got an Oscar for being the best actor/actress, director or producer. It would be wonderful but also meaningless.
The competition in every field is so strong that one, it seems, has more chances of winning a lottery than reaching the top. Not to mention that so many careers are ruined by simple injuries like shoulder for a tennis player or knee for a soccer player or ballet dancer. And so, all those poor wanna-be's who never made it, when they reach their twenties, ie. the age when they should enjoy their life most, instead, are quite confused, disorientated and burned out. They missed out on childhood and the little pleasures in life such as just being carefree. Or playing with toys instead of having daily strict routines, being able to have a pizza and ice cream when they felt like and so on. When other, "normal", kids used to envy them, they used to envy the normal kids. And now, they feel, the normal kids are the true winners.
Once it's all over and suddenly they have all the time in the world, they often find themselves unprepared and behind all the others. It's not a pleasant feeling being below average after being among the best. Of course, if they stick to what they are best at, say become coaches, teachers or involved in the profession in other ways, they still might be in the spotlight for some time but most choose not to, simply because they already had enough of it and see it as prolonging the agony. There's no less competition among sports coaches, music teachers and B grade actors/actresses. This is not the rule but quite often the case. And the fact that there is a lot of back stabbing, dirty games and politics going on among the "players", on top of all those who "play" them from the outside (eg all sorts of agents, managers, directors and producers they come across), does not make it any more appealing.
so, what's different about Qigong?
Starting Qigong early has its many advantages and when you realize all its benefits, you'll probably regret that it wasn't around when you were younger. However, do not despair, it's never too late to practice it either. Just read the Qigong Chinese Health magazine, issue 7, page 7 (or click here) in which we featured Why Every Senior Citizen Should Do Qigong and you'll see that even 70 or 80 year old people can still benefit tremendously from Qigong. But what is it exactly that makes childhood the best age to start practicing Qigong and what separates it from all other disciplines?
Qigong is a skill that deals directly with life energy (qi or chi), something that all living things possess and something we should all be very familiar with. Unfortunately, that is not the case and that is one of the major reasons why so many people suffer in life - in small as well as big ways. Being able to harness chi energy can enable one to not only treat their own illnesses, but to prevent them, be more relaxed, alert, have better concentration, memory and even develop many psychic powers. In other words, practicing life energy (ie doing Qigong) is so important that, if there are parallels to be drawn between the materialistic and spiritual world, doing Qigong would be equal to learning to read and write or to use computers.
What can an illiterate person do in today's world? Yet there are millions of Qigong illiterate people in the world, but it doesn't seem to bother anyone. That's because they don't even know what they are missing out on. Twenty or so years ago when computers were not so wide spread, one would think "who needs them anyway". Today though, they are irreplaceable in almost every aspect of life. Of course, you may argue, we can still live without them. But if you are prepared to do everything fifty, one hundred or ten thousand times slower, less accurately and less efficiently, then you are right. Oh, by the way, forget about the internet, mobile phones, digital cameras, modern transport means and a whole lot of other things that all depend on computers. In other words, in a materialistic world, literacy and computers enable us to do everything better, quicker and easier.
On the other hand, Qigong enables one to do exactly that from a different perspective. And same for those who started using computers in the early stages of life, it is ideal to start practicing Qigong before the age of ten. All great masters of Qigong, past and present, started practicing the skill as children, some as young as three or four. That's because some levels of Qigong are simply impossible to reach unless one starts early.
Fragrant Qigong Grand Master Tian Rui Sheng was literally dying at the age of twelve when, only by sheer luck (if there is such a thing), he came across the Fragrant Qigong Grand Master of that time who saved his life. After practicing it for almost fifty years he accumulated so much positive energy that he cured millions of people and saved many lives. Among those helped, many suffered from so called "terminal illnesses". If he did not start practicing early he would probably never have reached that kind of level.
Another great living master of Qigong that we often write about, Master Yan Xin, started when he was about four. His unique, at times unbelievable, but almost always very favourable healing abilities made him the most famous Qigong master of the seventies. He was only in his thirties at the time. Both masters' abilities are far beyond treating diseases only. Examples of unbelievable power developed by Qigong practitioners who started early in life are far too many for the limited space of this website.
But apart from reaching the highest levels of Qigong, what other benefits are to be expected from the regular practice of Qigong in early childhood? Let's compare the two groups and see what chances non-practitioners have in life compared to practitioners: Most studies from China suggest that among children who practice Qigong there are hardly any sick, obese, depressed, withdrawn, arrogant, stingy or in any way disadvantaged children. They are very good students, friendly, compassionate, alert, flexible and have plenty of self esteem.
The average non-practitioner group is pretty much a mixture of all the opposites of the above. Not to mention that there are hardly any naturally born psychics among them, while many Qigong kids have developed quite amazing powers - from diagnosing and treating all kinds of diseases through to teleporting and telekinesis to remote sight, x-ray vision and foreseeing the future. There was a teenage girl who developed x-ray combined with microscopic vision so she could clearly see (as if magnified many times) fine tiny tubes within the stems and leaves of plants, and when she was sixteen years old, she was offered a highly paid position in a big company from Hong Kong to help them look for underground water. Many Chinese papers of the early eighties ran stories on her.
A girl with a rheumatic heart started practicing Fragrant Qigong when she was seven and after only a couple of months completely got rid of her condition. But what amazed both her parents and her teacher, was that within such a short period of time, she became the top student in her class from originally being a below average one, which is not something that happens everyday.
Again, these sorts of examples are too many to list so, instead, let's stop and analyse the two. The former, a young Qigong enthusiast who developed supernatural sight, barely sixteen, has gotten herself a much better paying position than many staff who spent years studying, working hard and patiently ‘climbing the ladder'. Not bad, you must admit, for a pastime activity that created a great career for her, at the time her peers were still playing with dolls or kicking stones. The latter is even more typical. A sick child started practicing Qigong to help her condition and in the end not only defeated it completely, but benefited intellectually as well. Now all those who know a bit more about rheumatism, or are unfortunate enough to experience it personally, are aware that it can be very debilitating and is incurable in the west (or, at least, by the official western medicine). It often flares up and can attack heart, kidneys and joints, in many cases leading to serious conditions such as heart failure and the need for heart valve replacement or heart transplant; kidney failure and the need for dialysis or kidney transplant; severe rheumatoid arthritis or the need for single/multiple joint replacement operations and so on.
In many cases, the western invasive, symptomatic medical treatment, due to their unavoidable negative side effects can lead to all sorts of other complications and ultimately make the condition worse. Just think how much trouble Qigong most probably spared this little girl from. It may have even saved her life. And that's without even taking into account that it gave her more energy, more intellect or, which is probably closer to the truth, awakened the one she already had.
Now let's look at a few major reasons and briefly explain why childhood is the best time to start practicing Qigong:
- Children learn much quicker
- Children are much more responsive to energy. Some Qigong masters guarantee that if a child begins practicing their style under the age of fourteen, their third eye will definitely open within a certain period of time. It doesn't mean that older children will not have the ability, but it becomes much harder.
- Children's chi energy is purer. In Chinese medicine, they are often referred to as "chun yang" or pure yang, meaning that they are unspoilt, innocent, natural, less materialistic, less prone to stress caused by daily living, they are more intuitive and their reactions are quicker.
- There bodies are in better condition too, all their systems and organs function better, their joints bear less weight therefore are not overused and damaged, they are much more flexible (which some styles require), their liver and stomach are unharmed by alcohol, lungs by cigarettes, hearts and arteries unclogged.
- In Qigong terms, sexual activity reduces both chi (energy) and jing (matter, essence or source). And even in that regard they are in a much better position than adults. Not only are they unharmed by sex directly, but they are free from all the other byproducts of sexuality and relationships (popularly known as ‘baggage'), for example STDs, unwanted pregnancy and fear of, all kinds of stress caused by being in a relationship, stress caused by not being in a relationship. In other words, they don't have a wife/husband and they do not have the need to have one. It is a win/win situation.
But the best is yet to come. Not only that childhood, thanks to all the above listed advantages, is the best time to practice Qigong but, because of the possibility of achieving the so called "Tong Zi Gong" or youth Qigong base (a term that describes the solid foundation of Qigong) before the turbulent adult age, one can effortlessly build his/her chi energy furthermore and enter adulthood well prepared and protected. Who wouldn't want to have a healthy child of eighteen, who is happy, stress free, intelligent, not interested in drugs and alcohol, have no tendency to argue and constantly prove being right, who knows what he or she wants in life, realize their full potential, choose to do what they love most and fully concentrate on it, making themselves and everyone around them happier, on top of being a top level psychic and a healer.
And finally, coming back to the beginning of the article, where we discussed how succeeding in anything in life, one needs to start early, we cannot stress enough how beneficial Qigong practice can there be too. Unlike many other disciplines keen parents involve their daughters and sons in, Qigong can take up as little as twenty minutes a day (styles like Fragrant Qigong), leaving plenty of time for other things. Yet, it can greatly assist achieving higher levels of other chosen activities, be it sport, music, art. So many kids would be great athletes, but due to illness, they never had a chance to compete. Qigong could give them that chance. Thousands of cases from China demonstrate that, on the other hand, many of those who were not sick and who did compete, after practicing Qigong performed much better, improved their coordination, made less mistakes or showed a tendency not to worry about them when they make them (very important in sports), could concentrate better and so on. Or those, who are into the arts, experienced a surge of inspiration and their creativity improved ten fold. Some find they can express themselves easier, say more by saying less and enjoy the whole process of creating.
There are many more benefits that children can get through regular practice of Qigong, but the ones mentioned are the most common ones. The bottom line and something that unarguably puts it even above literacy, computer skills and everything else, is the fact that it can prevent and treat many illnesses, including the life threatening ones. Forget about all the amazing benefits of school education, computers and the internet, if one is constantly sick or worse, dies as a result. But even if nothing like that happens, so many illnesses that manifest themselves in the later stages of life stem from conditions that develop during childhood. Children are our future and Qigong can keep them healthier and happier. If there is as little as one less sick or angry person in the world, it would be a better place. Qigong so far has helped millions, so to be the ten million and first, please contact us NOW!
How Qigong Helped My Son
When my son was little, he would get sick quite often. He would usually have a temperature, blocked nose, sneeze and eventually it would turn into a sore throat and cough, which would sometimes last for weeks. It was nothing severe, but it seemed to me that each year it would get worse, leaving some kind of residual dry cough for some time, even though all the other symptoms would disappear.
By the time he started school, it would last throughout the whole of winter. I also noticed that if he ate sweets, ice cream or have fizzy drinks, it would get worse. Or after shouting and jumping around, especially when he would sweat a lot. So we tried our best to slow him down (not an easy job though and not rewarding either) and gradually stopped giving him ice cream, coke and the like. Sometimes, we felt guilty because we'd have some of these things and he wasn't allowed. At times, he would be invited to his friends' birthday parties and of course they would do and have all of what he was not supposed to at all - eat and drink wrong things plus scream and jump around. The day after the party it would be the same old story that would often last for a month.
We did not want to be too strict because, after all, he was a little boy and that's what boys do but, on the other hand, we also knew that, for his own sake, it wasn't good. Initially, we took him to a doctor a couple of times, but it did not do anything. And the risk associated with the negative side effects of their drugs, made us look for help elsewhere. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs seemed a better option, but he was fond of neither. One hurts and the other one tasted bad plus for permanent results, we were told, they both needed to be applied continuously for several months. By the age of seven, he would have this weird dry cough right throughout the year. Sometimes worse and sometimes better, but on average every couple of minutes, he would make this thunderous barking "Ugh!" noise. Which was both very disconcerting and annoying. We were desperate, not only because it could turn into a more severe condition, but also because it was quite annoying to some people. His teacher suggested several times we take him to the doctor but none of the doctors seemed to be able to fix it.
And just as we thought there was no place to turn to, I came across Fragrant Qigong. It is a great style, not only easy to practice, but it seemed to be able to treat all sorts of conditions, from flu to cancer (I personally witnessed quite a few). I took him to a Qigong centre where we joined a group of practitioners and started learning together. I made sure that he did not miss a day. And a miracle happened. From the day he started practicing Fragrant Qigong, his cough dramatically reduced and within a month completely disappeared, never to return. Since we did not do anything different during that period, we quite confidently put it to Qigong. Not only that. From the moment his cough stopped, we cautiously started testing the results - first we bought him an ice cream and after he devoured it, he was ok. The next day we bought him a soft drink - no reaction. The third day, an ice cream and a soft drink. We were so relieved and happy.
Since he was totally cured, within a couple of months, he had more ice cream, chocolate and soft drinks than in the previous eight years of his life. Not that we were buying it for him all the time, but it just happened that around that time of year, there were all these birthdays and celebrations happening, including the Sydney Easter Show (and I'm sure you know what I mean by that). But that's not where the story ends. All of a sudden, my son's math started improving dramatically. From an average student in his class, in less than three months, he became the top student in the whole year. His teacher was very excited and happy about that and kept repeating to me every time we'd meet. I did hear about things like that when I was learning Fragrant Qigong, but they were studies done in China. This time it was my own son that just confirmed it! I myself felt great as well but the results my son got through practicing Fragrant Qigong were so quick and overwhelming that I was convinced it was the best thing I came across in years. And there's more. A minor detail that I almost totally forgot about. Only one week after my son embarked on Fragrant Qigong, his teacher gave him a pen licence. Very proudly, he told me he was the first in the class to earn it. Good on ya, I said.
Jake, NSW