What is being in the flow?

A: Historically, Qigong has been around for over six thousand years (some historians argue even seven thousand years). It is much older than any organized religion or philosophical school of thought. The only known tradition of self-cultivation older than this is Shamanism that does not have strictly organized rules or dogmas. The old sages living thousands of years ago did not learn Qigong from books or videotapes! The only source of knowledge they had was their own personal experience and some anecdotal stories about the miraculous powers of other Shamans. They had to empirically find their own unique methods of feeling the flow of Qi and experiment with it. Such an experiential approach created many great masters whose children learned mostly through observation, rather than formal classes. Playing with each other as well as different animals in nature was the testing ground for their skills and powers.

This experiential and playful approach gradually got mostly replaced by more institutionalized education due to lack of imagination and creativity exhibited by the generations of students who preferred to learn from masters rather from nature. This is why so many artificial methods and techniques of the cultivation and manipulation of Qi came to existence. Instead of paying attention to the essence of the master?s practices, most students could pay their attention only to the forms of moment or breathing. Thus the proliferation of sectarian forms of energy work and wellness systems based on their respective limited ideas about which form is ?right? or ?correct.?

Qi Dao, unlike any of the above, teaches to feel the flow of Qi and go with the flow free from any dogmas and preconceived ideas about what your experiences are supposed to. It offers you an opportunity to become natural and spontaneous, just like a child, free to play and frolic while learning and practicing your unique way of being in the flow. Eventually, this sense of freedom and creativity will spill out into various spheres of your life enriching each and every one of them, making your whole life more fulfilling. Being in the flow will allow you to find your authentic ways to express your inner nature, your true essence we call Dream-being.