You and Your Energy Body - an introduction to Chi Kung and Energy Work

MY ENERGY BODY? WHAT'S THAT?
We're familiar with our physical bodies in the Western/so-called-developed world but generally less familiar with our energy bodies. I'd like to de-mystify the whole thing as so many potential benefits come with an understanding and feeling of your own energy systems. It seems crazy not to look into it if you're an open-minded person. You don't have to study at an ashram for a hundred years, wear funny clothes or anything, it's generally easily accessible. It has to be said that women and children generally pick up energy work more easily than men but I think this is just part of a shift towards a greater importance of the feminine which men can be part of just as much as women.
CHI KUNG (OR QI GONG) - LIFE FORCE CULTIVATION
My introduction to energy work came when I was learning Tai Chi, we did some Chi Kung exercises as a kind of warm up at the start of the classes. Little did I realise what a big thing it would become for me...
During one of the classes I was doing one of the exercises when I noticed a strange tingling, static-electricity, magnetic kind of feeling in my hands. The more I focused my attention on it the stronger the feeling got. How had I not noticed this before?
Back then in 1997 I was sceptical about the human energy field, chakras and stuff, in spite of having read all the Carlos Casteneda books until they fell apart and also the brilliant "Supernature" by Lyall Watson. Now I work with our human energy, and other energies, every day in all sorts of ways.

Hand energy - it actually does feel this strong sometimes

What I felt in my hands back in 1997 was the two big energy centres, or chakras, centred right in my palms. Everyone has a network of these chakras along with many other levels of energy fields and pathways: the meridian system as used by acupuncturists, Upledger's "Vector" system, the channels used in Tummo and similar practices, the energy fields of each of your body's organs, each breath and each cell. Every feature of your physical body has a subtler and more intricate energy feature with a different importance to the physical altogether. Then there's the aura and all it's different levels, and are we separate from the Earth's energies, the energies of plants, animals and cosmic energies? It's a wonderful world that you could explore for many lifetimes and I do urge everyone to try it, however sceptical you might feel. The benefits come very early on in the journey.
WHY LEARN ABOUT THE HUMAN ENERGY FIELD?
The potential benefits for your health and happiness are tremendous. Through studying human energy you can come to an understanding not just of illness but of how we get ill and how we can often avoid it. We are exploring ways of seeing the roots of illness in the energy field before they ever manifest as disease in the physical body. This is just a part of Energy Medicine. How much better a use of time and energy than waiting until we are ill and supressing symptoms with drugs and operations. There is of course an important place for Western medicine but it would be all the richer for a partnership with Energy Medicine rather than being, at worst, the distribution wing of the pharmaceutical companies. In our Thursday Lightworkers Group sessions, up to twenty or thirty people can receive help with physical, emotional or spiritual concerns, with no equipment, no drugs and no travel. (See also: Towards Sustainable Healthcare.)
HOW TO FIND A TEACHER
I'm delighted to teach classes myself when asked and there many teachers about now. I lived in Brighton for a while where it's difficult not to bump into a Chi Kung or Tai Chi teacher most days. Go with the teacher that you feel drawn to rather than one with the impressive CV.
IS IT NECCESSARY TO TAKE ON ANY RELIGIOUS BELIEFS?
Absolutely not. Whereas religions ask you to believe all sorts of stuff on trust, these are phenomena that you can experience for yourself. As Jung put it, "Organised religion exists to keep people from a personal experience of the divine." To me, religion is about putting people into different boxes and keeping them apart. Energy work is ultimately about dismantling the boxes and bringing people together, helping them to find what they have in common. Don't we need more of that?