Qigong For Nourishing the Kidney Water and Balancing the Heart Fire
Jan 8 to Mar 11, 2024 Mondays, 7:15-8amET The "Water and Fire Theory" of traditional Chinese medicine use the characteristics of water and fire in nature as an analogy to illustrate the human body's life activities and pathological phenomena, and to guide clinical syndrome differentiation and treatment. In nature, water and fire are the source of life, but they can also bring about natural disasters such as floods and fires. In the human body, water and fire also have physiological and pathological differences. Water and fire elements have very different characteristics. Water is calm, cold in nature, and moisturizing. Water in Chinese medicine, the main character is Cang, means "store" and "hidden". Fire, on the other hand, is active, warm in nature, and the characteristic is Fa, means develop, expand and spread. As "Shang Shu" mentioned" "Water and fire are essential in our everyday life." Both element exist in the human body. In nature, water and fire are the source of life, but they can also bring about natural disasters such as floods and fires. In the human body, water element associates with Kidney(Yin organ) and Bladder(Yang organ) and fire element associates with Heart (Yin organ) and Small Intestine (Yang organ), they all have physiological and pathological differences. Physiological water is an important material basis for the human body, which is represented by the body's body fluids, yin essence, blood, etc.; physiological fire is the yang energy that maintains the normal life activities of the human body. It warms and promotes the functions of the human body's internal organs and maintains life activities. Become the driving force behind human life activities. Under the physiological state, water and fire maintain mutual unity and balance, and "silently" promote life activities. This is the state of "water and fire are both balanced" and "water and fire are in balance" often said in traditional Chinese medicine. The saying "water and fire are incompatible" emphasizes the mutual opposition between water and fire. Once the "water-fire balance" relationship is destroyed, "water and fire are not in harmony" will appear. Clinically, mouth and tongue sores, sore throat, and carbuncles can be seen. Symptoms of "strong heart fire" such as swelling, sores and boils may also occur, and "overflow of water and dampness" such as edema due to yang deficiency may occur. The five internal organs are water and fire. Each of the five internal organs has water and fire, but the most common water-fire balance or water-fire imbalance often refers to the water-fire relationship between the heart and kidneys. The heart governs the yang of the body, located at the top, and its nature is fire; the kidney governs the yin of the body, located at the bottom, and its nature is water. This relationship between water and water under fire and the intersection of water and fire is called "the combination of water and fire" and "the intersection of heart and kidney". If the heart yang is weak, the cold water will not melt, which will lead to the syndrome of "water qi overpowering the heart"; if the kidney water is insufficient, the syndrome of "excessive heart yang alone" will occur, both of which belong to "water-fire imbalance" and "heart-kidney disharmony". In this 10 week course, we will be cultivate both Water and Fire elements in our body, and harmonize the Yin and Yang aspects of water and fire. We will be using variety of Qigong tools and exercises to support both flow and stillness, , internal and external Qi fields. Through our cultivation, we will gain fluidity in the body, allow the vital life nourishing our water to balance the fire. Fee: $146 for the entire 10 sessions (Currently registered students) $174 for the entire 10 sessions (Others) $20 Single Photo by Jeff Holcombe |
