Ji Juju

September 29, 2020 / No Comments

Dayan Qi Gong Warm Up (on hold…please fill out the very brief survey indicating level of interest and which days and times you are able to commit to practicing together.)
Days/time: TBD per above mentioned survey results
Venue: temporarily on Meet while we harmonize the COVID-19 situation.
Please contact me to receive the video room link.
A donation is requested to enable someone else to participate (pay it forward).
$30/month welcomes you to unlimited attendance to practice of Ji Juju and Beyond Asana;
$10 for drop-in;
In-kind hour-per-hour support very welcome. 
Your support is greatly appreciated and fully tax deductible.
Please fill this liability waiver form prior to joining a class. Thanks! 

If the flow of currency is tight, I welcome your in-kind support of the mission of Beyond Holistic. Please join the team. All gestures of support are greatly appreciated and fully tax deductible.

Dayan Wild Goose Qi Gong Warm Up

I will be leading a Dayan Wild Goose Qi Gong warm up for us as taught by Wen Wu School teachers under the direction of Professor Hui Liu in El Cerrito, CA. 

Photo Credit: Richard Bartz

The movements of this 1800 year old form allude to the movements of the wild bar-headed geese. These extraordinary birds are one of the highest flying geese in the world and are extremely efficient at breathing and the uptake of oxygen. They have been heard flying over Mount Makalu and possibly even sighted over Mount Everest. 

The form was developed some time during the Qing Dynasty (265–420 C.E.) by Taoist monks in the Kunlun Mountains. The 27th Grandmaster Yang Meijun (d. 23 July 2002, aged 106) began studying Dayan Qi Gong at the age of 13, and in keeping with the tradition, began teaching at the age of 70. You can read a more detailed account of the history Dayan Qi Gong form here. 

The practice is designed in alignment with the principles of wu-wei, which means non-doing, and tuo-yi, which means minimizing effort. Ultimately this means that the hardest part of the practice is showing up!

What is Ki, Qi, Chi, or Ji? 

(I just made up the last version because I love the letter J. I will refer to it as Ji here, just to be different.) 

Ji is pronounced /tʃi/  ( tʃ is like ch, as in Chander, and the i is like y, as in happy) 

Ji (ki, qi, or chi) refers to energy. In the most simplest terms, the energy that is produced by combining air and carbohydrate. It also refers to any energy that exists in the universe.

In Sanskrit/Hindi and all derivative languages, ji is an honorific term of respect, usually a suffix. 

Photo Credit: J.M.Garg

Juju comes from the French joujou, literally meaning plaything or toy. I have always thought juju simply referred to “vibe”,  the feeling of something, which can express itself in many ways. In more concrete terms, the “vibe” of anything stems from the fact that everything manifest in the universe is a product of vibration and energy fields. It turns out the scientists and the hippies actually agree that “it’s all about vibrations, man!”

Ji Juju, therefore, means cultivating a respect for our vibration, and lightheartedly attending to our vibration. It refers to the practice of qi gong.

In the Chinese language gong means to work with or experience something. So qi gong is a practice of working and playing with or experiencing the energy within and around you. 

On further exploration I discover that the word juju carries connotations of mystery and magic. While I love mystery and magic, I want to be clear I am not suggesting there is anything mysterious or magical about attending to our vibration; qi gong is a practical practice. 

In keeping with Ohm’s law, the potency of the energy we experience is influenced by the current and the resistance. The current flows through our body, through the skeletal structure, blood stream, nerves, lymphatic system, and the meridian system outlined in the traditional Asian and Indian healing sciences. The resistance within these systems and channels is determined by the tension or relaxation within them. We can influence the potential energy and the flow of energy within our bodies by moving in ways that impact the tension and relaxation and add fuel to the energy through breathing exercises. 

The development of ji occurs in the practices of qi gong, tai chi, yoga, and other practices. I invite you to practice with us and experience the cultivation of your own energy. 

Here is a simple short video explaining Ji created by Qi Gong for Vitality.