What is... Qi (Chi)?

"Qi" (sometimes spelled 'chi' and pronounced 'chee') is a Mandarin Chinese word that can be translated into "energy"... but in fact, there is no single word in the English language that adequately describes it. This points to a fundamental difference in the Eastern and Western philosophical views on healing and existence in general.

Qi is thought of as 'life-force energy', bio-vitality, or that which keeps living things healthy. The Hindu culture refers to this as 'prana', the Japanese culture uses the character 'ki', the Hawaiian culture calls it 'mana'... virtually every culture has some name for this energy... yet somewhere after 500 BC with the demise of the Greek cultural - who seemed to still hold the view that man was more than just a physical being - European-based cultures no longer maintained a word that contained the concept of Qi.

The Chinese character for Qi looks like this:

This beautiful character is the 'written' representation of 'Qi' in the Chinese language. It is composed of two 'radicals' or calligraphy elements representing a meaning by themselves. The first (the three 'dashes' on top and the shape that looks like the number 7) is the radical for 'vapor' or 'steam'. The second (the part that looks like a 'plus' sign with four little marks around it) is the radical depicting 'uncooked rice'. Together these combine to create the concept of "Qi." This ancient wisdom was that uncooked rice (representing the 'yin' (feminine) aspect of life) was useless unless it was 'steamed' (representing the 'yang' (masculine) aspect of life. Cooked rice is useful, and only then it can be eaten to create energy for the body. This is symbolic of the conjoining of yin and yang. Thus Qi is 'energy' by itself, yet at once a dynamic process that needs to be cultivated within us...

It is thought that Qi exists all around us... and within every cell in our body. We can cultivate and enhance the quality of our Qi through the food we eat, the air we breathe and even the thoughts we think. The ancient Chinese believe that the better Qi flowed through the body, the better health we would enjoy, and thus, all pain and disease came from blocked or stagnant Qi.

Learn more about Qigong.

We hope that our Kahuna Valley Retreat workshops will inspire you to good health and a more joyful life through learning about Qi and applying it to your life! Peace.

Copyright © 2003 - 2005 Francesco Garri Garripoli