Magnetism vs Chi – what do you think?

Magnetism vs Chi (what!?) …an appeal for further ideas!

I’m at struggling with a problem! Why are we so obsessed by Magnetism? What, if you pardon the terrible pun, is the attraction?
My son is a great example of this 21st century trend. His films and TV are 95% delivered as bits and bytes from the internet, he hates to be dictated to by TV schedules! His music choice is defined by a buzz on Myspace, and delivered again by the wonder of broadband. I think these choices actually define who he is as a person, amongst his peers. They are his version of self-expression. I dressed as a punk, he watches anarchic videos on youtube, and passes them around his friends demonstrating his ability to find the unique in the digital jungle, and, with the same stroke, his taste and style! All of his communications with the outside world are initiated via the web, or via text, all of his memories are digital. All the sports he plays require a disk and a memory card! Magnetic media, electro-magnetics and magnetic storage rule his life!
So what’s the therapy for this addiction? Well, put simply, taking part in the real world! Families seem happy to allow this addiction into their homes, as it really does have a soothing effect (for a little while) on a stressed and tired brain. Escape the continuous storm of reality, at the flick of a switch. (These days, even my beautiful son feels unwarranted pressure to perform, as a student, a boyfriend, a model son, and where’s his next xbox game coming from?? – Money of course is always a stress!)
I too have been attracted by the world of magnetism! Computers have been the mainstay of my income for years. I’m trying my hardest to beat the addiction, and have been running an escape plan for many years!
My studies started with Tai-chi then Yoga, and finally settled in a quiet and undiscovered backwater of Chinese energy medicine called Chi-gung or using the American style of translation Qigong. Undiscovered in the West that is, however hugely popular in the East (one of the schools claimed to have 100 million practitioners – not exactly a flash in the pan!)
So what is it, what does it do? The best place to start is with a brief discussion about CHI, this energy, named in the title of the exercise form is I believe, the antidote to Magnetism! I think that anything in the right amounts can be good for you, but as I described with my son, he overdoses daily! We have become more and more scientific as the years pass, but still have discovered very little about this mystical form of energy, hence the lack of interest shown in the West. If you can’t prove it exists, then it must NOT exist, is the Western approach. The Eastern model says, “We can’t measure it, but I can feel it in my hands, so let’s just accept it and not worry about measuring it, let’s just get on with using it! It makes me feel good!” It’s the energy that acupuncturists move around your body – come to one of my classes and I’ll get you to feel it in your hands, perhaps even smell it!
The first thing I would site as a benefit of this simple yet highly effective exercise form is the feeling of “grounding” that it gives one. I’m sure we all know that sensation of everything whistling past at a rate of knots, and not feeling that you are either not able to connect with it, or being blown along by it, out of control? How often do you get the feeling that you are swimming against the tide, or pushing a boulder up a hill? Chi-gung is an antidote to this too! It’s about getting yourself back in connection with the world, and aligning your energetic flow with the tide, not against it!
Chi-gung is like a cross between Yoga and Tai-chi. It actually is the root of all Chinese medicine, and is reputed to be 5000 years old! There are ancient scrolls of exercises that date back 3000 years, and written evidence from 2000 years ago! Tai-chi was developed from the understandings of Chi-gung, (as was acupuncture and herbal medicine.)
I teach a variety of different forms, but stick to a recent trend called “Medical Chi-gung” it is a refocusing of the older and more traditional styles. It draws from all the old forms, but organizes itself in a slightly more scientific way. The new form is all about giving the practitioner knowledge of how and why the exercises help. (I always found it very frustrating to have Chinese masters tell me “just do it this way, it’ll make you feel good!” – I always wanted to know why – now I do, and I aim to pass this knowledge along in my classes!) The exercises are simple, yet very effective, they build up callisthenic power in the muscles, strength in the bones, and extra energy and vitality in the demeanor! Everything benefits from your immune system to your daily energy. (In its purest form, I use this energy to encourage the body to heal many aliments too, in Medical Chi-gung therapy. In China it is used to lessen the effects of chemotherapy and cure Cancer, regularly! )
Trying to discover more about how energy interacts, I came across a theory by David Icke that suggested that all of “these things” I’m worry about server the state better than the people! (Hear me out!) He suggests that so much of our focus these days is on LEFT brain tasks, that’s how we are drilled at school, and how we go through our working lives. He suggests that if we can’t pass LEFT brain exams, then we are destined to be cast into the states rubbish bin! (Right Brain tasks are all creative.) He suggests that the system has been set up to “control” us through science and the left brain. Well, perhaps a little farfetched, but it does fit with my worry, that my son is VERY left brained!
I spoke at length to a wonderful life-coach from Hawaii, who is also a Doctor, Reverend and Chi-gung teacher! When I put this problem to him, he suggested that Electromagnetism vibration stimulates the base chakra. The base chakra is very much concerned with basic animal things including survival. I think that these games are programmed to appeal to the lowest vibration in us, and are very addictive from this perspective!
We, it’s a half formed theory, with lots to be added, but I thought I’d throw it to the floor for comment!
Thanks for your time, Jeremy