Qi Gong with Lindsay
Sarah: [00:00:00] So welcome back to exploring ways to wellness. I've got Lindsay with me today. Thank you so much for joining us, Lindsay. I met Lindsay on an energy course a few years ago, and she mentioned that she has been doing a practice called Qigong, which I was very intrigued about at the time. So I've contacted Lindsay to share with listeners today her experiences.
So thank you very much for being with us today, Lindsay.
Lindsay: You're very welcome. It's really nice to see you again.
Sarah: Yeah, it's lovely to catch up. I mentioned in the intro there about Qigong, or, or when I saw it written, I thought it was Qigong, but I believe it's Qigong. Where did you come across this?
Lindsay: Yeah, so the huge caveat, I am not an expert and in fact when I came across it, it was through someone else who I'd been on a [00:01:00] course with who was actually a teacher in Qigong and Pilates and all sorts of lovely things, very knowledgeable, and the way that she spoke about it and explained it.
To me and to others who were, in our group was, I just found really inspiring about the kind of benefits that, um, you know, you might feel by doing a Qigong practice and Qi, and again, I'm no expert, but the Qi is the Qi as in the energy. So it's all about kind of moving your energy. So I just found what she was saying really inspiring and, she did a lot of in person work, before COVID because she then as part of the, kind of the whole COVID experience started offering lessons online, which is where I had the opportunity to just, try it out.
Sarah: Oh, fantastic.
So it's like Tai Chi, am I right?
Lindsay: So it's, I think there are similarities because it's about the moving of, of energy. And I also understand that there were different types of Qi Gong. So, um, I believe that the Qi Gong that we were doing was the [00:02:00] Qi Gong for health, I think it was.
But there's a
Sarah: Okay.
Lindsay: There are different types of Qi Gong and different practitioners may specialise in those different types. If you think about Tai Chi and then you look at someone doing Qi Gong, it probably looks very similar in terms of the moving of the arms and moving of the body.
Sarah: Okay. And then you were able to join classes online. And follow the movements online. That sounds cool.
Lindsay: Yes, it was. It was, it was a real highlight of my week actually. Yes, it was once a week, online. It was a lot easier to do actually, online than, than, than I thought because again, coming to it as someone who'd never really done, Tai Chi before.
And so, you know, I was a real, beginner in that respect. But actually it was a really accessible way of, of doing it. And also. possibly because I didn't really know very much about it because I was doing it in the comfort of my house, you know, without anybody around me looking at me. I suppose it might have been easier for me to kind of feel like I could just give it a go.
But yeah, I mean, this is one of the beauties of doing anything online nowadays, you know, you [00:03:00] can often dip in at your own, um, in your own time.
Sarah: Yeah, I love that. There's so many barriers to doing things, aren't they? And if you haven't got a class, locally or, you know, you haven't got somebody to go with or, you don't feel like you want to, to join something new, then,
yes,
Lindsay: exactly. It felt a very safe way of doing it for all those reasons, I could kind of get things wrong without feeling a bit too embarrassed. I could put, whatever I wanted on, without feeling a bit, you know, self conscious. I love it. Yeah, it was a really accessible way of doing it.
Sarah: And so are there certain movements that you have to do? Is it like Pilates in that, you know, you need to be very careful that you're doing the movements in the right way? Or is it easy for someone to explain to a complete beginner what to do?
Lindsay: Yeah, so my, my understanding of it and certainly the, the type of Qigong that we were doing, there are, there are different movements and they're kind of like movement sequences.
And they are related. I'm just trying to [00:04:00] think now. There were things probably not surprisingly called one was called waterfall. So there was a movement that kind of almost emulated kind of a waterfall. And then there were things that were which probably played into the the type of qigong that we were doing, which was, it was really kind of good for certain parts of your body.
So you do a movement that was, apparently supposed to be very good at kind of stimulating the liver and all that sort of stuff. There was something that we did which was a movement which was about bringing in energy to your heart. And obviously that was very much about kind of love and compassion and that sort of thing.
So the teacher would as any teacher would, would stand in front of us on the Zoom call and would do the movements in front of us. But because, I mean, again, if you think about it, if you're more familiar with Tai Chi, it's quite a smooth, slow movement. you know, it wasn't something that you had to kind of hurry or learn now like a dance routine.
It was a very kind of gentle process and, and, you know, inevitably you're going to get it wrong. And it wasn't a problem, you know, it was just part of the [00:05:00] routine. You know, having said that once you've done it for a few weeks and then you then become used to the routine, it does become a lot, a lot easier.
Sarah: Yeah, that sounds lovely. I remember when there was a music festival that we go to, um, not far from here, and a couple of times we went up to the Tai Chi classes and they were up on a hill above the festival and it was just incredible to have this moment of peace, and this, these beautiful, gentle movements up above all this absolute chaos and noise and children screaming and all sorts of, all this and you were just kind of there above it.
Just doing the gentle movements, and I had no idea what I was doing, but No. It was beautiful. I know I really enjoyed it, so I think that's what made me latch on when you'd mentioned that you'd done the, um, Qigong. That's right. Ooh, is it, that sounds like something that might be nice. And I have to admit, I've never followed it [00:06:00] up, but now talking to you now, I, I would really love to.. .
have another look at some online classes because that sounds really accessible and easy to kind of build in as a weekly practice.
Lindsay: It was and what I felt, I mean, you know, our teacher really encouraged us to do the same thing and to kind of get outside and do it outside because, you know, connected with the energy of the earth was a really important part of that.
So, you know, sometimes particularly in the summer, you know, I'd go out in my back garden again where I couldn't be seen. And, uh, and again, once I actually learn and felt more comfortable with some of the routines, um, you know, you can just go out and even just do 5 10 minutes, in your back garden or wherever, and, and, um, I found that, that probably I would say about half a dozen of the moves kind of really stuck with me, so I would tend to sort of use.
Those moves and, um, oh yeah, it really, really does kind of calm you down. And what I also found, and a lot of people in our class said the same thing, is that the day that we did our Qigong class, I [00:07:00] mean, we slept really, really well that evening. It was really amazing. So it certainly did something, whether it was just a placebo effect, but, but without fail, that, I think it was a Tuesday that we did it.
The Tuesday evening would, would be probably the best night's sleep that I would have during the week.
Sarah: Oh, I love that. That's, I mean, we can all do with more sleep, can't we? Or more quality sleep.
Lindsay: Yes, exactly.
Sarah: What's
Lindsay: interesting, actually, is I haven't done it for a while, but I have started, I go to yoga classes once a day.
once or twice a week and again I'm coming at yoga and tai chi as a sort of a middle aged woman with not very much experience in either of those two things but you know I want to I want to sort of invest in my well being, you know, particularly, well, maybe not particularly at my age, but I feel that at the moment my bones are starting to get a little bit creakier.
And, you know, I find that doing things like that. Really helps my mobility and my sense of well being. So I started to do yoga, which I again, really, [00:08:00] really enjoy doing yoga. And I do that in person actually, but if I do anything at home, what I've noticed is that even if I do sort of 10 minutes in the morning, just to sort of loosen up a little bit, I'm tending to sort of mix up a couple of yoga moves Qi Gong
moves that, that I used to use a lot. So my, um, sort of what I would call my yoga practice is actually probably a mixture of the two and the kind of the movements that I really like to kind of loosen my body up in the morning and stretch it and that sort of thing and just to get a sense of well being particularly with the, the qigong.
Sarah: That's really interesting, so they clearly complement each other.
Lindsay: I find that, yeah, yeah, definitely.
Sarah: I guess with anything your body knows what it needs. Yes,
Lindsay: that's what I feel.
Sarah: Yeah. So if you can identify which of the two practices your body is asking for at the time, then they're the ones that will feel good.
Lindsay: Yes, exactly. Well, what I find fascinating about yoga is, in the West, we sort of, we tend to look at yoga as being [00:09:00] just the kind of the movement part of it, the stretching part of it. But in fact, yoga is, I think there's eight limbs to yoga, and a lot of it is about kind of the mental side of it as well as the physical side of yoga.
And, and I think that really plays into the kind of the whole Qigong thing as well. You know, it's, it's, it's about movement, but it's about the movement of energy and, and kind of the well being of your entire being. And actually that's what yoga is supposed to be. It's not just about kind of doing the splits or standing on your head.
It's the holistic part of yoga, or the kind of the Eastern. And again, Massive caveat, I am coming to this as someone who is still learning, you know, everything, um, and doing it as a, as a bit of a starter, but, I think that's what I've really kind of connected with is that actually it's not just, you don't have to be the best at standing on your head.
It's about this whole body and whole energetic, kind of a relationship with either the overachieving or that sort of practice.
Sarah: Yeah, that's beautiful, because you can see these pictures on the internet, can't you, of these people in these crazy yoga poses on the [00:10:00] rock, in the middle of nowhere, and think, well, that's not me, I can't do that.
I won't
Lindsay: be doing that.
Sarah: Well, you never know. I'll keep watching on Facebook and see.
Lindsay: Yeah, you might be waiting a long time. No, but you know, it does, it does help. I think consistency is helpful to me, and actually not putting too many expectations on yourself either because I, you know, I'm joking aside, I am not going to be the person stood on a rock in Ibiza, you know, standing on my head.
And I'm not going to be the best at yoga or qigong, but they're not, that's not what they're about. It's just about finding something that suits your body and suits What you feel you need. And interestingly, both my, Qigong teacher and my yoga teacher are very into that philosophy as teachers of their craft that, you know, we, we come to it with kind of open hearts and, and just literally do, what we can do.
There's no right or [00:11:00] wrong way to it. It's just about being, in the right place at the right time for your body and your, your mental wellbeing. for listening.
Sarah: Yeah, yeah, perfect. And I'm, I write in thinking that your mum joined in a couple of times with Qigong as well.
Lindsay: No, no, my mum, no, my mum didn't.
Sarah: It does sound like it's a very accessible thing. It, no matter what age you are.
Lindsay: I think that's right. There's no pressure on you as an individual and no pressure on your body. I think, you know, that's, that's the thing.
I don't know, just feel a real sense of kind of well being, I think, when I, when I've done it. And that could be even after sort of five minutes, or it could certainly be after an hour, you know. And what I really liked is, is actually, with both my Qigong and with my yoga, we always end up having some sort of meditative practice at the end of it, which again, just really kind of brings you down, and kind of just sorts you out, and it's a really lovely way to finish a session like that, and just kind of get very calm and
Sarah: Yeah, that sounds lovely.
Actually, it [00:12:00] combines a lot of different practices. You know, exactly there's some breath work involved as well. Yeah,
Lindsay: yeah, exactly. It's a lovely thing to do, you know. I'm sure that lots of 20 somethings do these sort of things, and as you say, can kind of stand on their head and put their leg behind their neck, but I'm never going to be that person.
But it doesn't mean it's not accessible to people like me, you know. It's just, uh, just, just be realistic. And actually, it does help. You know, you can get a bit more bendy and a bit more stretchy the more that you do it, if that's what you want to do, but it's, it's up to you, really.
Sarah: Yeah, and that feeling of well being, it doesn't matter what age you are that, you know, exactly getting that out of it.
Brilliant. Yeah, exactly. Are there any other wellness practices that you use on a daily or a weekly basis?
Lindsay: I have dipped into breathwork, which is actually something that you and I did as part of our course, if you remember, and actually I really connected with breathwork as well. And like you've just said, actually, also feeds into, you know, complements other
holistic practices, [00:13:00] particularly yoga. Um, there's, there's, yeah, breathing is a very important part of the yoga practice, I really, enjoyed, breath work as well. You know, and all these things which, if you said to me 10 years ago, are you going to, you know, do you see yourself doing x, y, and z?
I thought, no, I don't think so, no, I've never heard of it, but I don't know, I don't know, maybe, maybe it is my age, or, or maybe, you know, it's just about kind of exploring, new things.
Sarah: Interesting, isn't it? I think we can kind of attach this either woo or alternative or these words to, to things that actually, when you delve into them, they make sense, you know?
Yes. Even the word breathwork, well, it's a form of breathing, a consciousness about your breathing and that, but by attaching breathwork to it, it sounds like some kind of mystical thing that's easy to write off as
Lindsay: yeah, exactly. And I think I come to it, with a little bit of a sceptical, sceptical head on.
And it's, for me, I need to kind of know a little bit about the kind of science [00:14:00] behind how these things work. In fact, I've got a really interesting book called, um, is it called Why Woo Works or something like that? I've got that one as well! Yeah, you've got it! That, that's my That is probably my philosophy in all these things.
I kind of quite like to know why they might work and, and which, , if you're fully embracing these things, you just sort of do it. But, , it's just the way I am. But actually it's really interesting, you know, because it's got things in there like breathwork and it's got, Reiki, we were talking about Reiki earlier and about how Reiki may, main work scientifically on the body, you know, that sort of thing.
So, yeah, that's, that's kind of where I, I come at these things from. So when, you know, particularly when I started doing, um, Qigong, I was like, yeah, I'm sure it's all very nice and relaxing, but actually, you know, and, and, and didn't really sort of think about, um, how it might affect me other than it just being a, A little bit of a kind of a relaxation session, but but I don't know.
I just found it kind of felt like it went a lot deeper than that, you know, a lot deeper than that [00:15:00] and really, um, did have energetically made a difference. to me. So I'm, you know, for various reasons I've become a lot more interested in things like kind of energy work and that sort of thing. So, and maybe it is because of the sort of experience of doing a practice like that as part of it.
But that's why I do like reading things like why woo works because I just, it kind of helps me understand on a rational basis why they might, um, you know, be helping me.
Sarah: Yeah, I'm completely with you. I mean, we have a similar background in that. Yeah. Is it just placebo effect or what's going on?
Exactly. Is there something behind it? And then you find out there's, you know, various scientific studies. I need to understand what is it doing to me, what scientifically, is going on. Exactly. Some of that can be explained through science, some of that, you're like, well, I know it's having an effect, but I'm not quite sure why or how, and [00:16:00] does it matter?
You know, it's this kind of
Lindsay: argument
Sarah: going on in your head, isn't there? It's like, well, I want to do it because it feels good, but at the same time, am I being fooled by somebody? Exactly,
Lindsay: exactly. I don't know, all I can say is when I switch off my rational head and just enjoy it, it just, it still seems to work.
Sarah: Yes. Well, this is the thing, isn't it? If we see that it works, then do we actually need to fully understand it? And I, I do truly believe there's probably a lot out there that we don't understand about our bodies and the way that energy works at the moment, that maybe we'll be looking back on some of this in 20 years time with a different, you know, hat and saying, Oh, well, actually.
That's why that worked. Or, if we just opened ourselves up to trying these things a little bit more often, and putting some funding behind, how [00:17:00] these alternative practices or complementary practices, they're clearly having an effect on people. You know, could there be more opportunities for them if we, if we open them into the more mainstream.
Lindsay: Yes, I completely agree.
Sarah: I was also wondering the other day if. Maybe people quite like the fact they're a bit different. And maybe that's what makes them attractive. Yes, I know what you mean. They have this kind of.
mystical vibe around them. So I don't know whether that's, that's something that also works for people. But, that's been really, really interesting to hear about your experience. Have you done some, physical classes as well as online, or you find the online just works for you?
Lindsay: Not yet for Qigong, although I've noticed there are some classes that are local to me, so I may give those [00:18:00] a try as well, just because I found, I just found it. It probably, it surprised me how much I felt I was benefiting from it, you know, we were talking earlier about kind of, you know, kind of how energy work and Reiki, you know, can make you feel like you've had a massage in a way, um, which is, again, the rational part of me is like, why, why?
Because, no, but actually, you know, it does, and for me, that was the same sort of experience of a practice like qigong, to the observer, it just looks like you're moving your arms around in a slightly odd way. But I suppose because They are quite deliberate moves and now moves that are structured to achieve something, whether that's to help your body, work in a healthier, or more functional way or to, you know, shift energy away from something and to something else, you know, it was more, it was much more.
Intentional, I suppose is the word and then I thought it it [00:19:00] would be, I feel like I'm missing the benefits from from doing it because I haven't done it for a wee bit. And so I'm really interested to see that some things actually started up locally. So I'm going to see if I can do that as well as my yoga, because I think that's the two of them that the two things that I feel that I've benefited from most, um, you know, at this stage of my in my life.
Sarah: Yeah, fantastic. Is there anything, as we wrap up here, is there anything that you would like to recommend to people if they are looking to try any of these practices for the first time? What to or not to look out for?
Lindsay: I think it's the same with anything, I suppose, is just maybe have a look at how other people are experiencing it and whether it's something that, has been recommended and that sort of thing.
But I think also just don't, don't, don't feel embarrassed, you know, just if it's something that you are interested in, um, want to give something a try. Don't let something [00:20:00] like the fact that you don't like yourself, the way you look in leggings, for instance, which I don't, hold you back because actually I just found that the benefits just so far outweigh, you know, what's going on in your, in your head.
Just, just. take that first step and just give it a go, you know, one, one step in front of the other. The only other thing I would recommend is, and, and again, this is something that which is often talked about in terms of kind of holistic therapies is, a lot of Qigong teachers, and yoga teachers are, Our taught to professional standards so maybe just have a look at what qualifications they've got and they have to do so many hours of teaching for instance.
So, um, you know, it's it's maybe something with worth looking at if you are interested in going down that route and trying out those kind of classes is. what kind of experience and how many hours that they've been teaching and what type of Qigong in this instance that they are teaching. Um, see if it resonates with you.
Sarah: Yeah. Fantastic. That's really important, isn't it? Because, um, a lot of people can be starting up and [00:21:00] claiming to, to be or do, um, whatever they like, but if you've got some recommendations there or you know that they've got a certain level of qualification, then you can feel a bit more safe in their hands and they.
They say that they should be doing. So that was a really interesting chat, Lindsay. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. And you're very welcome. And I'm sure you've inspired a lot of people, me being one of them. So have a look online and find out a bit more. And, uh, I'll be digging out my book as well, Why Woo Works, and, uh Yeah,
Lindsay: me too.
I'm just about to have a look.
Sarah: Yeah, fantastic. Thank you very much, and, I hope to see you again soon.