Lower Back Pain? Try Self-Massage

Lower back pain is a problem for many.  There are some acupuncture points that can work to help relieve the pain in the lower back.  You can do self-massage of certain acupuncture points to help stimulate the qi (chee) and get the blood flowing.  This stimulation helps take away the stagnation (which is what is causing the pain) and it also helps bring in the good energy and nutrients to get your back to heal.  In other words, it is what will help relieve the back pain.

The areas marked with a red dot in the body image above, are the areas that correspond to an acupuncture point in the body that would help lower back pain.

For example, the top red dot on the image is UB20 (Urinary Bladder point 20) and located laterally about 1.5 inches from the spine and at the 11th thoracic rib.  To stimulate that acupuncture point, press and knead that area with your knuckles.  That rubbing will help trigger messages to get the Qi and the blood moving to the lower back and clear out the stagnation and pain.

On point UB23, the next lower red dot on the image, is another point in the lumbar area of your back you can knead, rub, and even scrub.  In fact, you can massage and scrub around the entire lower area of the back and this will help send energy to that area.

Behind your knees is another point that can be used to help back pain.  This point, known as urinary bladder 40 (or UB40) is point you can knead and press.  That action will also help stimulate the blood and qi to flow and help your back pain.

There is also an area between your achilles heel at your ankle (nestled between the achilles and your bones), also known as Kidney-3 (KI 3) and UB 60.  You can pull and press this area and this, too, will help your lower back pain and help work on that pain.

There are things you can do to help relieve your back pain.  You can massage and stimulate the key acupuncture points in your body that are associated with your lower back.

(Special thanks to Dr. Suzanne Friedman for beng the source of this information).

Lower Back Pain? Try Self-Massage

What I Learned While Becoming Certified as a Qi-Gong Practitioner

I have learned many things about Qi-gong treatments over the last few months while being on a path to become certified in Medical Qi-gong.  I have learned how to improve my assessments and determine where energy is blocked.  I have learned how to get energy to flow, and how to direct it where it is needed.  I have also learned why there are times when I sense more about this patient and not with others.   

Here is a recap of what I have learned on this Qi-gong certification journey. 

ASSESSMENT 

During the assessment portion of the Qi-gong treatment session, I have learned there are different alerts to let me know what is going on with the patient.

I usually begin by doing a flat palm assessment over the patient while they lay on a Qi-gong (or massage) table.  The patient is face up, and me as the practitioner moves my right hand through the patient’s energy field to feel what is going on with the patients energy.  

Based on my experience, the person’s energy field is usually about 12 inches surrounding their body, so that is where I move my hand; above their body.  It is during this assessment I first pay attention to changes in temperature as I move my hand.

Most often, when I do this assessment, I can feel heat over some of the person’s organs when their Qi is stagnant in that part of their body. Occasionally, if the person’s energy is really stagnant, I feel a cluster of blocked energy and it feels like a “bump” as I move my hand over that space above their body.  

Sometimes I will feel a cold spot in a certain location and that alerts me the patient NEEDS energy to that area.  Often I feel this in joints, but I have felt it also in organs, like the spleen or the kidney.  

At times, I can feel the amount of energy in a certain area and based on where I feel this, I know I need to purge in that area, or need to add more energy.

TREATMENT

After I do the assessment, I put together a plan and then begin doing the patients treatment.  The treatment includes purging the areas with blocked energy, and nourishing the areas of the body that need energy.  It also includes getting the Qi and energy to flow so the patient becomes more balanced.  

But recently, after doing the assessment and feeling the areas that are blocked and stagnant, I at times have started to get additional alerts to let me know when a certain treatment is completed.  For example, I have started to occasionally hear sounds when I'm doing treatments.  

For example, in one person, I could hear a buzzing sound when I was directing energy into his kidneys.  In Chinese Medicine, fear is the emotion associated with the Kidneys, so I concluded buzzing sound I was hearing when I was nourishing his kidneys was to alert me to his need of sending even more energy to his kidneys.  When the buzzing stopped, I knew he had the energy he needed. 

In another treatment, I could hear a clicking sound each time my hand went through this patients energy field above her chest.  I ended up directing and giving her a lot of energy into her heart and I believe the clicking sound was my alert to focus much of my attention on her heart.

WHEN I SENSE MORE THAN JUST ENERGY

I have given many Qi-gong treatments and in some of patients, I have been able to sense more than just their Qi and energy.   I have wondered why I can do this with some patients, but not others.  

I then recalled one of my very first treatments I gave to a fellow student.  During this treatment, I started the treatment as I normally do, and then suddenly it was as if I was falling into her energy field.  After that feeling of falling into her space, I started to see what seemed like a movie of her life.  I could see her as the "Kool-aid mom" of her neighborhood and interacting with lots of children in the neighborhood, including her own children.  I knew this student, and she is a young woman with no children.  I made the assumption what I was seeing at that moment was her future. It startled me and definitely made an impression on me.

After the treatment I told her what happened and she said, “there was a point in the treatment I told myself I was going to allow you into my space and to be completely open to you.”  

It must have been at that moment when I fell into her energy field and started to see and sense things I usually don’t see.

Since that first experience, I've had a variety of different experiences with different patients and volunteer patients.  Many of the treatments have been routine where all I sensed was heat, cold, and where to direct Qi.  The treatment was helpful and absolutely normal and non-eventful.   

But there have been some incidences where I sensed more of the patient, beyond just where energy was blocked and where energy was needed.  I have come to the conclusion that when that happens, it is based on how much the patient allows me, the practitioner, into their personal energy space. It is like that very first treatment I gave and my fellow student opened up and allowed me access. After all, Qi is energy.  Energy is power.  Allowing someone to come into your personal space of power can be rather personal and perhaps disturbing.  The gatekeeper clearly rests with the patient.  So when I see more than just their energy, it is because the patient is allowing me into their energy space.

CONCLUSION

I think the journey to become a Qi-gong practitioner has been rather amazing and totally unexpected.  It is like being able to see what is going on with a patient by going through their personal back door.  It is through their back door, the practitioner can get a totally new and different perspective of what is actually going on with the patient. 

Before being exposed to Qi-gong, I didn't even know there was a back door into the patient.  Now, I can see this door should really be the primary venue practitioners initially use to keep people healthy.   It will be through this door where many health problems will first be presented, long before they show up through the front door (e.g. a medical scan or lab test).   

Just think, by being able to keep your energy and Qi moving and flowing and be more balanced, you may be able to prevent developing many of the chronic problems that are rampant in today's world.  

Qi-gong is totally amazing!

What I Learned While Becoming Certified as a Qi-Gong Practitioner

Vibrations Marked the Spot in this Patient's Treatment

During a recent Qi-gong treatment, my patient reported feeling an ache in her chest, and during her treatment, as she lay face up on the massage table with her eyes closed and a warm blanket covering everything but her head, I waved my open palm of my right hand over her body to begin her assessment.   While waving my open palm over her chest, I could feel a vibration in the center of my palm as I waved my open palm over her heart.  My hand was about 10 inches above her chest without any touching at all,  but I clearly felt a vibration in the center of my palm that was coming from her heart.  

“Hmm, " I thought, “this is different.”

So I repeated moving my flat palm over her chest and once again, felt vibrations in that one specific spot on her chest.

"Hmmm," I repeated.

This time I stopped and held my hand over her chest and yes, the vibrations were a steady and constant stream of energy now hitting the palm of my hand.  It was almost as if I was sensing and feeling a laser of vibrational energy in this one exact and specific spot. 

If I moved my hand ever so slightly in a different position, I wouldn't feel the vibrations.  But right exactly here, I could feel a "humming" and sort of tactical "buzzing" coming off her body.  

I decided this was a new type of “alert” for me, some kind of message I had never experienced before.  The message was saying “this is the spot to treat!”, anyway, that is how I interpreted the information.   So this was where I started to direct Qi into her body. 

  

I stood by her side for many, many minutes with my flat palm over her heart, with my thoughts directing vibrant red energy Qi into her heart.  I was starting to get tired but still felt that vibration and buzz, so with my feet, I pulled a chair over to my side and sat down while still holding my hand over that vibration spot, and still focusing on directing energy into her heart.  

Eventually the vibrations stopped and I knew she had received exactly what she needed. 

At the end of the treatment I asked her how she felt and she said, “my heart feels full!  That pain I had felt in my chest is now gone and I now feel REALLY good.”

So in this treatment, and with this patient, I learned I had a new way of assessing where energy is needed; through a vibrational alert!  This allowed me to pinpoint my focus to the exact location to where energy was needed.  

I am still amazed how giving Qi-gong treatments are different with each and every patient.  I like the adventure of learning what works with different people and how I am becoming more directed and guided in what the patient needs.  It is still quite the mystery to me.

Vibrations Marked the Spot in this Patient's Treatment

Hearing a Buzzing Sound During a Qigong Treatment

During a Qigong medical assessment, the practitioner usually does what is called a "flat palm assessment" where the practitioner tunes into the energy field around and in the patient's body.  During this assessment phase, you can sense areas of heat, which typically means the patient's energy is stagnant in that location of the body.  Sometimes you can even feel "bumps" where your hand literally feels like it hit a rock.  These bumpy areas are where energy is VERY stagnant.  

During one of my medical assessments with a patient, the patient felt as if energy was literally missing from his body.  I had never experienced this sensation before. It was as if nothing was there.  The right side of his head actually felt “concave”.   

My first thought was, "He is missing part of his right brain!  I feel absolutely nothing here!"

When I started to give him his Qigong medical treatment and when I started to treat his head, I brushed the stale and stagnant energy away from his head in a raking manner.  Each time I placed my hands over his head to move the stagnant energy from his mind, I could hear a buzzzzzz.  

I again moved my hand to his head to again rake the energy and again I heard "BZZZZZZ."

I stopped and looked around me to see what was creating that buzzing noise.  There was no electrical equipment around me.  

I went back to his head to again rake more of the stagnant energy away from his mind and as I raked, I again heard, "BZZZZZZZ."

I turned again and nothing was there.  

I swiped again and there again was that buzz sound.  I then thought he must have a hearing aide in or some type of metal device around his head.    

He didn’t.  

I again kept swiped his head and again heard that buzz.  

I decided this was one of my "mentally hearing something" that is not physically present kind of moments and was alerting me to the fact that his brain was not firing correctly or his mental wiring was not quite right.

I then swiped and raked the energy a few more times and then the buzzing noise finally stopped and I continued his treatment.

   

The patient later shared how he had his "head bashed in" decades ago.

The Qigong treatment helped somewhat with that clearing of some of the stagnant energy in his brain, but there is some permanent damage there where no energy seems to be going. 

Hearing a Buzzing Sound During a Qigong Treatment

Balancing the Mind

One of the desired outcomes of Qigong is to balance the body, mind, and spirit.  You use energy to help you achieve this balance.

When your body is balanced, you usually feel pretty good.  You usually are free from pain and discomfort and you feel well, or as well as you can be.

When you spirit is in balance, you have a sense of joy, contentment, and a sense of being whole.

When your mind is balanced, your "ticker take of running thoughts" are not running wild.  Those thoughts are NOT filled with fear and problems.  You mind and thoughts are calm.  You are calm.  You are not creating and causing more stress.

One day my ticker tape of thoughts were filled with fear.  I thought about work.  I thought about what I didn't like.  I thought about being too old to get another job.  I thought about how long I need to hold onto this job. I then thought of how I needed to work.  I then thought of starting a new career and starting my own business. I then started to think of perhaps of what would happen if I stopped liking this stuff and then got into the same situation as where I am now.  I then started to think about how much money I would need and all the obligations I have.  I then started thinking......

You get the idea.  My ticker tape of thoughts was running amok.  These thoughts were being consumed with fear.  This was an example of my mind not being in balance.

I paused and thought, "Hey, this would be a good exercise to see how Qigong can balance my mind."

I sat down and did the Qigong meditation called "Microcosmic Orbit."  I did this for a couple of cycles through and then I when I could see and feel the energy cycling on it's own and without my focused attention, that is when things started to change.

My thoughts were now addressing each one of those ticker-tape fears one by one.  It was as if there was a rational and gentle voice in my mind calming each one of those fears that had popped in my mind.

The fire of fear was being extinguished one by one while this energy continued to flow through my "microcosmic orbit."

When the last fear was addressed, the automatic cycling process of the microcosmic energy stopped cycling.

I realized this was a personal lesson on how the mind could become balanced during a Qigong exercise.  It showed me not only that Qigong does help balance the mind, this example showed me how it can do that.

Qigong exercises and meditations really do help restore the body, MIND, and soul into a balanced state.

It is pretty darn cool!

Balancing the Mind

The Microcosmic Orbit Qigong Meditation – To Nourish Life

There is a Qigong meditation called “The Micro-Cosmic Orbit”.  This Qigong meditation is designed to bring energy to your spiritual self and through this process, you nourish life.

This is an ancient meditation. The history of the Microcosmic orbit dates back to prehistoric times in China approximately five thousand years ago and can be found in the I-Ching.  

This meditation has you focus your efforts on guiding the Qi up or down the Governing Channel (along your back) and Conception Channel (along your front).  It is also designed to nourish certain acupuncture points along this path that are major points associated with the major organs in the body.  Because you are connecting to certain places that are acupuncture points that connect to your major organs, and you are focusing your thoughts to nourish those points, you also end up nourishing your vital organs with Qi.

PREPARATION 

• You can sit or stand in this meditation.
• You can have your eyes open or closed.
• Your hands may be relaxed at your side.

GROUND AND CONNECT WITH THE EARTH
You begin with grounding and connecting yourself to the earth.
After you feel the connection with the earth, take a deep breath so your abdomen rises.

DEEP BREATH
You can take several of these breaths to signal your mind you are beginning your meditation.

VISUALIZE MOVING OF ENERGY AROUND THE ORBIT OF YOUR BODY
Visualize energy coming from the earth into you’re the middle of your perineum (between where you pee and poop).  This is where yin convergence occurs. This point calms the spirit. (Ren 1)

Visualize this energy of the earth moving up from your perineum to right before your belly button. Pause and feel the energy nourishing your body (Ren 6).  This location helps the energy for physical and mental exhaustion, including depression.  Nourish the energy at this point and feel the energy nourishing your body, mind, and soul.

Now visualize the energy moving to your chest, pausing a moment to nourish the point between your nipples (Ren 17).  This point benefits the chest, breasts, and heart. This point helps asthma.

When you feel ready, visualize the energy now moving up to your neck, known as the “window of the sky,” your spiritual center (Ren 22)

Visualize the energy going to below your lower lip.  Pause, and visualize this energy nourishing this point (Ren 24).  Visualize the nourishing of your stomach and intestines, along with relieving pain and helping with your ability to communicate.

Next, visualize the energy going to your forehead, between your eyes (Yin Tang).  This area quiets and nourishes your spirit and your mind, as well as helps with insomnia.  

Next, visualize the energy moving up to the top of your head (Du20).  Visualize energy nourishing this area and it helping your mind, your spirit, your heart.

Visualize the energy moving to where the back of the head and neck meet (Du 15).  Visualize energy nourishing this point.  This point helps the joints and vessels and clears the spirit.

When ready, move down to the middle of the shoulders, along the spine (Du 14) and focus on sending the energy to this area of the body.  This point will help energize the heart, lungs, and the whole body. It will also help to quiet and calm, as well as nourish, the spirit.

Next, move down to the narrow of the back and nourish the area here (Du 4).  Allow the energy to nourish this point.  It will nourish the blood, channels, and also regulate qi.

Now, move down to the area between your tailbone and your anus (Du 1).  Visualize the energy balancing the energies within your body, mind, and spirit.

You have now completed one orbit around the body, nourishing the main acupuncture points that can nourish all parts of your body, mind, and spirit.

You can repeat the process for another orbit if you choose.  You can speed or slow down your visualization based on what you sense you need.

ENERGY FROM THE HEAVENS
Another option is to visualize the energy coming from the heavens into your head rather than up from the base of your body.  In this meditation, visualize the energy coming from the heavens and nourishing each of those same points but with the energy from the heavens.

REVERSE CYCLE
You can also visualize the energy in a reverse fashion from the earth or the heavens.  Notice the different results and sensations you have when you go in a different direction.

SUMMARY
This is a great meditation to use each day, especially if you have a chronic illness, including cancer.  This is also a great meditation to help you clear your mind and help you focus on resolving a problem that is troubling you.  You can often get the answer you are looking for in the meditation, or shortly after the meditation.  In addition, this meditation helps nourish your spiritual energy reserves.  So if you are looking to have spiritual experiences, this meditation is for you.

The Microcosmic Orbit Qigong Meditation – To Nourish Life