Qi Gong & Meditation Retreats - Hands of Light

What is Qi Gong?

Qi Gong, is a holistic system of coordinated body posture, movement, breathing, and meditation used for health, spirituality, and martial arts training. Rooted in traditional Chinese medicine and philosophy, Qi Gong focuses on cultivating and balancing the body's vital energy, known as Qi (pronounced "chee"). The practice encompasses a variety of techniques, including static postures, dynamic movements, and breathing exercises designed to enhance physical and mental well-being. Qi Gong routines can range from gentle, meditative practices suitable for all ages to more vigorous exercises intended to build strength and vitality.

Hands of Light - Qi Gong & Meditation Retreats

This year, we held our first ever Qi Gong and meditation retreat at Brinkburn in beautiful North Northumberland. I couldn’t tell you how I discovered Brinkburn but I have two instructors nearby in Felton and Swarland so it must have been during one of my visits there.

Between 2000 and 2008 I lived in Kelso and my wife and I ran regular retreats at Whitmuir Hall near Selkirk. In 2005 retreats at Whitmuir came to an end as we began our regular training trips to China, more about these another time. Our last China trip was in 2011 just before my wife became ill so retreats of any sort were now out of the question. My wife passed away in 2014 and it wasn’t until this year that I felt inclined to restart the retreat program and what a place to restart.

It all began as an excuse to get away with a few friends during the anniversary of my wife’s passing but soon got out of control. So popular was the idea that all 19 places were filled by word of mouth within 2 days.

The 27th came around very quickly and on my arrival I was greeted by the lovely Harriet. What can I say about Harriet except that she went above and beyond the call of duty. I had planned to treat my guests to a home made Chinese buffet cooked in front of everyone whilst they all enjoyed the odd glass or two… of wine. The menu:

Sweet & sour pork, vegetarian lemon chicken, stir fried vegetables, broccoli with garlic, kung-po cauliflower, pineapple rice, noodles... 23 different options all prepared by myself – pat on the back required here.

Whilst I was cooking Harriet helped my mother prepare the table, arrange all the dishes as they were cooked and she even went as far as brewing our special Chinese tea.

A fantastic start to what was going to prove to be a wonderful week of meditation and qi gong, 2 hours training each morning from 8 to 10am and another 2 hours each evening from 7 to 9pm. So what did we do from 10am to 7pm? Well, there is so much around and about that everyone headed off on their own to explore. For me it was the DCI Ryan trail. I can see you all now looking confused.

I discovered the DCI Ryan books written by local author LJ Ross in 2022 on one of my trips down to Northumberland and was immediately hooked. Each story is set in a local historical site, the first on Holy Island but others more local to Brinkburn - Cragside House and Lady’s Well.

Training each day followed a traditional Daoist approach. Meditation, seated in the mornings and standing in the evenings involved learning the microcosmic orbit and using Neidan (internal alchemy) techniques to move the Qi (energy) around these channels. Qi Gong for this retreat focused on exercises for stress prevention in the morning and for stress relief in the evenings. More detail on these in the future.

For now we can have a look at the microcosmic orbit; two channels which join in the mouth and circulate around the centre line of the body. The REN and DU channels both start in the Dan Tian and rise up towards the head. The REN channel rises up the front of the body to the mouth whilst the DU channel passes down to the perineum and then rises up the back, over the top of the head to the roof of the mouth. Thus, the energy rises to the head and refreshes the brain. However, if you place the tip of the tongue into the upper palate just behind but not touching the teeth the flow in the REN channel changes and sinks from the mouth back into the Dan Tian.

This connection in the mouth is called the Magpie Bridge and the change of direction creates a circuit which then nourishes each of the 12 organ channels. Without utilising this connection correctly qi gong and taiji are simply gentle exercise programmes, add this technique in to your practice and it becomes so much more.

So that’s the background to our Brinkburn retreats but how did I arrive at this point? Check in next time and find out.

- Iain Naylor, Founder and Principal Instructor Hands of Light School of Taiji and Qi Gong