Qigong - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living - with John Munro | Epi.33 | Active Action Podcast

In this episode of the Active Action Podcast, host Dr. Nazif welcomes John Munro, founder of Long White Cloud Qigong, to discuss the profound impact of Qigong on modern life. John shares fascinating insights into the origins, historical applications, and contemporary benefits of this ancient Chinese practice. Listeners will learn about Qigong's ability to improve physical and mental health, boost performance, and promote inner peace. John also delves into practical advice on how to get started with Qigong, detailing the resources available through his organization. This episode is a treasure trove of information for anyone interested in personal and professional development through ancient practices.

What You’ll Learn:

What Qigong is and how it combines energy (Qi) with skillful practice (Gong)
The history of Qigong and its traditional applications in health, martial arts, and spirituality
How early villagers used movement and dance to prevent illness and boost energy
The difference between Qigong and Tai Chi, and how they are often confused
Why slow, intentional movements are key to building awareness and internal energy
How Qigong is used today to support everything from stress reduction to cancer recovery
The role of Qigong in improving digestion, immune strength, mental clarity, and more
Inspiring real-life stories from John’s book Life-Changing Qigong, featuring people who’ve transformed their health and lives
Practical tips on how to get started with Qigong using free online resources and beginner-friendly courses

Be sure to check the webpage of John at the Active Action Podcast Website to learn more about his work, and ways to connect with him.

Read a blog on this episode.

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:03 Qigong offers us many, many simple and variable
00:00:03 --> 00:00:07 tools that we can use to help us to clear our
00:00:07 --> 00:00:11 mind and to find harmony with what's going on
00:00:11 --> 00:00:14 around us. Qigong has been life changing for
00:00:14 --> 00:00:17 me. Fascinating insights into our health and
00:00:17 --> 00:00:19 wellbeing, fascinating insights on how we can
00:00:19 --> 00:00:24 optimize our performance and then broader philosophical.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 insights to help us understand our place in the
00:00:27 --> 00:00:30 world and how we interact with the world around
00:00:30 --> 00:00:34 us. What these people found was that if they
00:00:34 --> 00:00:39 came back from their day of working and done
00:00:39 --> 00:00:44 before then resting and going to sleep, that
00:00:44 --> 00:00:48 they had less illness, less aches and pain than
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 if they just came back from their day of working
00:00:50 --> 00:00:53 and just rested straight away. We live in a time
00:00:53 --> 00:00:57 where threats, and the way it impacts our mental
00:00:57 --> 00:00:59 health is different from any period of history.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:13 tuned into the active action podcast step into
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16 a world of engaging conversations with leading
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19 experts where every episode is your chance to
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00:01:25 --> 00:01:28 strategy guides on personal and professional
00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 development and enjoy lots of other exclusive
00:01:30 --> 00:01:34 features Visit our website activeaction .fm for
00:01:34 --> 00:01:37 more information and to explore all episodes.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 Don't forget to check our merchandise for exciting
00:01:40 --> 00:01:44 goodies at activeaction .shop. Now sit back,
00:01:44 --> 00:01:50 relax, and enjoy this episode. Hello, welcome
00:01:50 --> 00:01:52 back to another episode of the Active Action
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 Podcast. It's your host, Dr. Nazif. And today
00:01:55 --> 00:02:00 we have another amazing guest for you. As always,
00:02:00 --> 00:02:03 just wanted to let you know, we really appreciate
00:02:03 --> 00:02:05 dear listeners for sticking up to our podcast
00:02:05 --> 00:02:08 and keeping listening to us on a regular basis.
00:02:09 --> 00:02:12 We did start our premium supporters program.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 So if you become a premium supporter of the podcast,
00:02:14 --> 00:02:19 you'll get access to strategy guides and expert
00:02:19 --> 00:02:21 articles on personal and professional development.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:26 To do that, you can visit www .activeaction .fm.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 supporter and you can get started for free. Apart
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 from that, we did start our own merchandise.
00:02:34 --> 00:02:37 So if you're looking into some good clothing
00:02:37 --> 00:02:40 lines or other quality goodies, feel free to
00:02:40 --> 00:02:44 visit www .activeaction .shop. Without further
00:02:44 --> 00:02:48 ado, let's introduce to you. Today we have our
00:02:48 --> 00:02:53 dear guest John Monroe and we are going to talk
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 about a very interesting topic, Qigong. Before
00:02:56 --> 00:02:59 getting into the topic, I wanted to let you guys
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 know about our esteemed guest, John, a little
00:03:02 --> 00:03:07 bit. So John Monroe is the founder of Long White
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 Cloud Shigong, an international Shigong school
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 with over 400 instructors worldwide. John also
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 recently published a book titled Life -Changing
00:03:18 --> 00:03:22 Shigong, in which over 100 people shared their
00:03:22 --> 00:03:25 stories of how Shigong has been life -changing
00:03:25 --> 00:03:29 for them. Qigong is an ancient Chinese art of
00:03:29 --> 00:03:33 working with our living energy. It uses mind,
00:03:33 --> 00:03:36 body, and breath together to tune into our energy
00:03:36 --> 00:03:41 and fine -tune its flow. Historically, Qigong
00:03:41 --> 00:03:44 was applied to the areas of health and well -being,
00:03:44 --> 00:03:47 high performance, and martial arts and spirituality.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:51 Today, more and more people are discovering Qigong
00:03:51 --> 00:03:54 and turning to it. as a tool for maintaining
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 or regaining their physical and mental health.
00:03:57 --> 00:04:00 A very interesting topic today. But before all
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 of that, how are you doing, John? And welcome
00:04:03 --> 00:04:06 to you to the podcast. Yeah, thank you. Yes,
00:04:06 --> 00:04:08 I'm doing very well. It's a pleasure to be here
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 talking with you. Thank you, John. Do you want
00:04:12 --> 00:04:15 to introduce yourself to our guest a little bit
00:04:15 --> 00:04:19 apart from what I just said? Sure, yeah. I can
00:04:19 --> 00:04:21 tell a little bit more about myself. I won't
00:04:21 --> 00:04:25 go too much into my full story of how I got introduced
00:04:25 --> 00:04:29 to Qigong, but my first exposure to Qigong was
00:04:29 --> 00:04:32 when I was quite young. When I was about 10 years
00:04:32 --> 00:04:35 old, I was a child. I had a very small exposure
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 to Qigong and it fascinated me. And then as a
00:04:39 --> 00:04:43 young adult, I had an opportunity to learn more.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 And so I studied traditional Chinese medicine
00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 and Qigong together. And since then, it has been.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 the main focus of my adult life, practically
00:04:52 --> 00:04:56 ever since then. So over the last few decades,
00:04:57 --> 00:04:59 it has been the main thing that I've focused
00:04:59 --> 00:05:02 on and I find it so interesting. It provides
00:05:02 --> 00:05:05 fascinating insight into all the areas that we
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 mentioned as the historical application of Qigong.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:12 Fascinating insights into our health and wellbeing,
00:05:13 --> 00:05:16 fascinating insights on how we can optimize our
00:05:16 --> 00:05:20 performance and then broader philosophical insights
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 to help us understand our place in the world
00:05:23 --> 00:05:25 and how we interact with the world around us.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 Thank you for that wonderful introduction, John.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:32 So, dear listeners, as you already know, the
00:05:32 --> 00:05:35 topic for today's podcast is Qigong and ancient
00:05:35 --> 00:05:39 wisdom for modern living. So, can I begin with
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 this question, dear John? What is Qigong? Can
00:05:41 --> 00:05:44 you kindly explain that for our audience? Sure,
00:05:44 --> 00:05:49 in very simple terms. Qi Gong, it's one word,
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 but it's made up out of two words. So the word
00:05:53 --> 00:05:57 Qi is a word that Westerners have become quite
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 familiar with lately. I think a lot of people
00:05:59 --> 00:06:03 know that Qi means energy. That's the first part.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:07 Gong, the second part, means, people aren't so
00:06:07 --> 00:06:09 familiar with that part, I don't think, and that
00:06:09 --> 00:06:14 means work or skill. So Qi Gong. Quite simply
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 is working with our energy or developing skill
00:06:17 --> 00:06:20 with our energy. And there's lots of different
00:06:20 --> 00:06:23 ways that we can do that. The most common practices
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 involve using our mind, our body, and our breath
00:06:27 --> 00:06:30 together to be able to tune into their energy
00:06:30 --> 00:06:34 and start to work with it. Okay. Thank you for
00:06:34 --> 00:06:38 explaining that. So Qigong, we know that this
00:06:38 --> 00:06:42 is ancient form and ancient wisdom from modern
00:06:42 --> 00:06:45 living. originating from chinese if i remember
00:06:45 --> 00:06:47 correctly so can i ask you a bit more detail
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 on that like where did qigong actually come from
00:06:50 --> 00:06:56 yeah so it's so ancient that people we don't
00:06:56 --> 00:07:00 really have a clear understanding of exactly
00:07:00 --> 00:07:04 where or when it originated other than the archaeological
00:07:04 --> 00:07:08 evidence goes back to between 5 and 8 years
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 ago as sort of the first archaeological evidence
00:07:11 --> 00:07:15 of people doing Qigong or Qigong -like practices.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:18 There's written evidence that goes back, I think
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 the earliest references are something like 4
00:07:20 --> 00:07:24 years. So it's very, very ancient. But there
00:07:24 --> 00:07:28 are stories that tell us about its likely origin.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 So again, there's not one person who came up
00:07:30 --> 00:07:34 with Qigong or anything like that. But how this
00:07:34 --> 00:07:38 awareness and then these practices develop. And
00:07:38 --> 00:07:42 so some of these stories talk about the experience
00:07:42 --> 00:07:46 of the early villages. So way back in the Neolithic
00:07:46 --> 00:07:49 era. So when people are using very simple tools
00:07:49 --> 00:07:52 and things like that. And the workers would go
00:07:52 --> 00:07:55 out and they would work hard all day in the field,
00:07:55 --> 00:08:00 growing crops, chaining food. And in China, that
00:08:00 --> 00:08:04 meant working in rice paddies. right? And so
00:08:04 --> 00:08:06 they would work hard all day and they would get
00:08:06 --> 00:08:09 very tired and of course they would get wet.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:14 And so being physically exhausted and also wet
00:08:14 --> 00:08:19 is a great combination to get sick. And so it
00:08:19 --> 00:08:21 was quite common at that time that they would
00:08:21 --> 00:08:24 get a variety of different illnesses and in particular
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 they'd get aches and pains in their joints and
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 things like that. And what these people found
00:08:29 --> 00:08:34 was that If they came back from their day of
00:08:34 --> 00:08:40 working and done before then resting and going
00:08:40 --> 00:08:44 to sleep, that they had less illness, less aches
00:08:44 --> 00:08:47 and pain than if they just came back from their
00:08:47 --> 00:08:49 day of working and just rested straight away.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:52 And so they started to realize there was benefit
00:08:52 --> 00:08:55 to them and that it actually helped me to be
00:08:55 --> 00:08:59 healthy. And then little by little, they continued
00:08:59 --> 00:09:02 to observe and When they danced in different
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 ways, it had different effects. It helps them
00:09:05 --> 00:09:09 with different things. And so their understanding
00:09:09 --> 00:09:11 developed little by little. Oh, if I move this
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 way, it helps with something affecting my back.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:16 And if I move this way, it helps with something
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 affecting my arms. If I dance this way, it helps
00:09:20 --> 00:09:23 with my digestion. And so little by little, their
00:09:23 --> 00:09:25 understanding developed. And it became more and
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 more applied, more and more nuanced. Until from
00:09:28 --> 00:09:31 that, we gained an understanding of how energy
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 flows through different parts of our body, how
00:09:34 --> 00:09:36 it affects our different organs, how it affects
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 our emotions and so on. And then a lot of aspects
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 of Chinese medicine developed from this, but
00:09:42 --> 00:09:45 then also the practices of Qigong developed as
00:09:45 --> 00:09:50 well. Now, a lot of what we see in Qigong today
00:09:50 --> 00:09:54 still comes back from those very early origin,
00:09:54 --> 00:09:58 those effectively shamanistic type. type of dances
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 that they did back at that time when they would
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 do things like copy the movements of different
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 animals. So when they were dancing, they were
00:10:04 --> 00:10:06 dancing like a bird or they were dancing like
00:10:06 --> 00:10:09 a tiger or they were dancing like all these different
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 animals or other things in nature. And that carries
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 right through into today where many different
00:10:14 --> 00:10:18 Qigong practices copying animals or copying different
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 things in nature. But doing those movements,
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 copying those animals because of the way they
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 affect us, because of the way they affect our
00:10:26 --> 00:10:30 air. Thank you so much, dear John, for that wonderful
00:10:30 --> 00:10:34 history about Qigong. Can I ask you for a bit
00:10:34 --> 00:10:37 more clarification? So during this modern time
00:10:37 --> 00:10:41 or at this time, what does Qigong usually look
00:10:41 --> 00:10:44 like? So what does people actually do when they
00:10:44 --> 00:10:48 practice Qigong? Yeah, I try to always be careful
00:10:48 --> 00:10:51 when I describe Qigong to help people to understand
00:10:51 --> 00:10:57 that Qigong is a very broad term. So there are
00:10:57 --> 00:11:00 many different variations of the practices within
00:11:00 --> 00:11:01 it because there's many different ways we can
00:11:01 --> 00:11:04 work with our energy and different purposes that
00:11:04 --> 00:11:07 we might have from there. So having said that,
00:11:07 --> 00:11:09 it can involve many, many different things that
00:11:09 --> 00:11:11 can look very different on different practices.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:15 The most common types of qigong that people will
00:11:15 --> 00:11:19 see. The most commonly done standing. Again,
00:11:19 --> 00:11:23 standing. And most commonly, they involve slow,
00:11:24 --> 00:11:28 flowing movement. With awareness of the breath.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:31 And then sometimes with awareness of some imagery
00:11:31 --> 00:11:34 or symbolism within the movement. So that then
00:11:34 --> 00:11:38 guides the mind in some ways while you're doing
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 flow flying. So the movements are often done
00:11:41 --> 00:11:45 slowly for a couple of reasons. One being when
00:11:45 --> 00:11:50 we do things slowly, it allows us to have a great
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 awareness of what we're doing. So it really helps
00:11:52 --> 00:11:55 us to connect our mind to what we're doing. and
00:11:55 --> 00:11:58 we can observe the little detail of what's going
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 on and that is really necessary if we want to
00:12:01 --> 00:12:03 start to be aware of our energy because this
00:12:03 --> 00:12:06 can be quite subtle something and so that's one
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 of the reasons why it's done slowly another reason
00:12:09 --> 00:12:12 why qigong is often done slowly is because of
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 the physiological effect it has on us when we
00:12:15 --> 00:12:19 move very slowly using maybe large flying movements
00:12:19 --> 00:12:23 our nervous system becomes very active But something
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 that would not is quite simple if we just did
00:12:25 --> 00:12:27 it fast without thinking about it, it wouldn't
00:12:27 --> 00:12:29 require a lot of neurological activity. And we
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 go slowly with great control, the nervous system
00:12:32 --> 00:12:34 becomes very active. So this actually builds
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 energy within our body with the nervous system
00:12:36 --> 00:12:39 as well. So those are a couple of reasons why
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 it's done slowly. And we really feel the energy
00:12:41 --> 00:12:45 build up. We start to feel the energy move within
00:12:45 --> 00:12:47 our body. And because we're doing it slowly,
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 we have that awareness that can develop as well.
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 Now again. It's not all done slowly. Some of
00:12:52 --> 00:12:54 it's done fast as well, but other regions too.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:57 But those are the most common types of practice
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 people will see. Something that people are often
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 more familiar in terms of terminology is Tai
00:13:04 --> 00:13:07 Chi. So they may not have heard of Qi Gong, but
00:13:07 --> 00:13:11 they've heard of Tai Chi. Tai Chi, when people
00:13:11 --> 00:13:14 say Tai Chi, normally what they mean is Tai Chi
00:13:14 --> 00:13:17 Chuan. Because Tai Chi is a philosophical concept.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:21 Tai Chi Chuan. is actually a martial art. And
00:13:21 --> 00:13:24 a lot of people don't realize that. They've seen
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 people doing flow, glowing movement, which is
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 a martial art, but it's also a type of Qigong.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:36 So many Qigong practices may look a bit like
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 Tai Chi, even though their focus may not be a
00:13:38 --> 00:13:43 martial art. Oh, wonderful. Thank you so much
00:13:43 --> 00:13:47 for describing that, John. So you did talk about
00:13:48 --> 00:13:52 uh what qigong actually is and how people are
00:13:52 --> 00:13:56 currently practicing it but before that we also
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 speak and spoken about like the ancient history
00:13:58 --> 00:14:02 of qigong so can you kindly let let our audiences
00:14:02 --> 00:14:06 know during that ancient time like how was qigong
00:14:06 --> 00:14:12 like used historically yeah so and as as you
00:14:12 --> 00:14:15 well as you mentioned briefly before there were
00:14:15 --> 00:14:18 three main areas that it was applied to so one
00:14:18 --> 00:14:21 being health the another one being specifically
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 martial art and then another one that was applied
00:14:24 --> 00:14:27 within spirituality or religion so i can talk
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 a little bit more about each of those specifically
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 how they apply those so in terms of health there
00:14:35 --> 00:14:40 were two sides to this really so one being doing
00:14:40 --> 00:14:44 the practices to keep yourself well or to help
00:14:44 --> 00:14:48 yourself recover from illness and practicing
00:14:48 --> 00:14:52 Qigong as a general practice will generally help
00:14:52 --> 00:14:55 to maintain health, but there can also be very
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 specific exercises and practices or specific
00:14:58 --> 00:15:00 issues that one might experience. That's one
00:15:00 --> 00:15:04 side of it. The other side of it is that as you
00:15:04 --> 00:15:08 develop skill with your energy, once you've reached
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 a sufficient level of skill, you can actually
00:15:10 --> 00:15:13 use their energy in a very direct way to help
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 other people. to regain their health as a as
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 a type of healing modality so chinese medicine
00:15:21 --> 00:15:25 doctors going back a long time ago generally
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 had spill in both of these areas they would use
00:15:28 --> 00:15:32 a variety of ways of treating people using her
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 using famous chinese therapies such as hunker
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 and things like that and as a way to help their
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 their patient but they would they could also
00:15:41 --> 00:15:44 recommend specific exercise to them that they
00:15:44 --> 00:15:47 could do to improve their health. And when needed,
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 they could also use their own energy as a form
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 of treatment to help their patient recover as
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 well. So that's the health side of it. In terms
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 of the martial arts side, again, different parts
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 to that in terms of how it could be applied to
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 martial arts. One part of it, again, was building
00:16:05 --> 00:16:08 yourself up. So making yourself, training yourself
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 so that you could use your body and energy more
00:16:11 --> 00:16:14 effectively so you could be faster. stronger
00:16:14 --> 00:16:18 and quicker reach, better balance and all of
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 these sorts of things. And then the other side
00:16:20 --> 00:16:24 of that was, again, if you've developed enough
00:16:24 --> 00:16:26 skill with your energy to understand how to,
00:16:26 --> 00:16:29 rather than help someone to become healthier
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 and recover from illness, actually understand
00:16:32 --> 00:16:36 how to disrupt someone else's energy in the context
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 of whiting. And so, you know, there were two
00:16:39 --> 00:16:44 sides to that as well. Then in terms of spirituality,
00:16:44 --> 00:16:47 yeah, this is an interesting area of application
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 because sometimes people get the wrong idea about
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 Qigong in a couple of ways. They actually get
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 the wrong idea about it in connection with martial
00:16:54 --> 00:16:57 arts as well. Sometimes people think that Qigong
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 is a martial art and it's not a martial art.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:03 It's a skill that can be applied to martial art.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 We can apply it to all sorts of areas in our
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 life. It doesn't, it's not a martial art in itself.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:13 And again, in relationship to spirituality, because
00:17:13 --> 00:17:16 Qigong was applied within a variety of different
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 spiritual traditions and different religions.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:23 And so sometimes that leads some people to think
00:17:23 --> 00:17:27 that, oh, maybe Qigong is a religion. No, Qigong
00:17:27 --> 00:17:28 is not a religion. It's the same way it's not
00:17:28 --> 00:17:32 a martial art. But it's a set of tools that many
00:17:32 --> 00:17:35 different religious or spiritual groups have
00:17:35 --> 00:17:38 found useful within their practices. Because
00:17:38 --> 00:17:42 of the way we have to, again, in order to tune
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 into our energy and become aware of it, we have
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 to tune into some of the finer details of what's
00:17:47 --> 00:17:52 going on within us and around us. And so through
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 its practice, we develop a lot of self -awareness,
00:17:55 --> 00:17:58 a lot of self -knowledge, and also a lot of understanding
00:17:58 --> 00:18:01 of the world around us and appreciation of it.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 And so many different spiritual groups and religions
00:18:04 --> 00:18:08 have actually found that this supports them in
00:18:08 --> 00:18:10 their religious or spiritual practice. Not that
00:18:10 --> 00:18:13 the Qigong is the religion, but it's something
00:18:13 --> 00:18:16 that draws them closer to their spiritual aim.
00:18:17 --> 00:18:21 So those are the historical application. And
00:18:21 --> 00:18:24 all of these, I think, we can think of them in
00:18:24 --> 00:18:27 an ancient context. You think of an ancient Chinese
00:18:27 --> 00:18:30 medicine doctor, maybe at a village somewhere,
00:18:30 --> 00:18:33 and you can think of a monk either training martial
00:18:33 --> 00:18:36 arts in the mountains or maybe a different monk.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 and sitting on a mountain meditating, and they
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 can seem a bit exotic and ancient and all that
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 sort of thing. But if you dig to the root of
00:18:44 --> 00:18:48 those purposes, they're all very applicable still
00:18:48 --> 00:18:50 today. You know, still today, we want, we want
00:18:50 --> 00:18:56 to be healthy, don't we? And we may not want
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 to do martial arts. We may not want to train
00:18:59 --> 00:19:03 in being able to fight people, but maybe we want
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 to be more than just healthy. We want to be really
00:19:05 --> 00:19:08 at a peak level of performance. Qigong can help
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 us with that. We might not want to follow a particular
00:19:11 --> 00:19:15 spiritual tradition or religion. It's really
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 valuable to understand ourselves better and understand
00:19:18 --> 00:19:20 our connection with the world around us better.
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 And so those are all still applicable today as
00:19:23 --> 00:19:26 they were ancient. Thank you so much, John, for
00:19:26 --> 00:19:29 that very wonderful history, but also like how
00:19:29 --> 00:19:32 anciently Qigong was used. And one thing I really
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 like when you mentioned that we don't have that.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 for the spirituality, but we also can remember
00:19:37 --> 00:19:40 that practicing Qigong can also, you know, at
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 that ancient time, we're used to have a technique
00:19:43 --> 00:19:47 to bring inner peace. So that's something which
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 is still applicable today. And I'm so mesmerized
00:19:50 --> 00:19:53 to learn about the holistic application of the
00:19:53 --> 00:19:57 Qigong that was done. But how can some of those
00:19:57 --> 00:19:59 techniques or some of those things can be applied
00:19:59 --> 00:20:03 now at this time for Qigong? So my next question
00:20:03 --> 00:20:07 to you is, How do you think Qigong can help us
00:20:07 --> 00:20:12 in the modern day present time? Sure. Well, yeah,
00:20:12 --> 00:20:15 I guess I've already started into that a little
00:20:15 --> 00:20:18 bit in terms of, you know, those same, you know,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 applications from histories are still very valuable
00:20:21 --> 00:20:24 today. Maybe to make that, you know, a little
00:20:24 --> 00:20:27 bit more simple and practical specific ways that
00:20:27 --> 00:20:30 might apply to people. In terms of health, for
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 example. It can apply to everything from, you
00:20:33 --> 00:20:36 know, people who have serious illnesses and diseases.
00:20:37 --> 00:20:40 Qigong might be something that they knew as part
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 of helping them to cope with or even overcome
00:20:42 --> 00:20:46 those illnesses. Now that doesn't mean that they
00:20:46 --> 00:20:50 wouldn't also get other medical or health advice
00:20:50 --> 00:20:53 and treatment as well, but it can certainly be
00:20:53 --> 00:20:56 something they use alongside those as a way to
00:20:56 --> 00:20:58 help them. It's interesting actually just yesterday.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 I met up with, I'm currently in Vietnam, by the
00:21:03 --> 00:21:08 way. And I meet up with a medical doctor from
00:21:08 --> 00:21:12 Malaysia who happens to be training here. And
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 he has his own practice. And we were talking
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 about what he's doing and he's working specifically
00:21:16 --> 00:21:22 with cancer patients. And his practice is basically
00:21:22 --> 00:21:27 focused on giving patients alternative options
00:21:27 --> 00:21:30 for treatments. other than necessarily just what's
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 standardly available. And in fact, a lot of what
00:21:33 --> 00:21:37 they offer to their patients is similar to Qigong
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 or Qigong -related, working with the mind, working
00:21:40 --> 00:21:42 with the body as a way to help people and help
00:21:42 --> 00:21:45 them to extend their lives and help them to deal
00:21:45 --> 00:21:47 with their cancer. And so that's one area. It
00:21:47 --> 00:21:51 can apply to any type of illness. But also, it
00:21:51 --> 00:21:54 doesn't have to be anything that severe. It can
00:21:54 --> 00:21:57 be very simple things, like maybe improving your
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 digestion. There are great practices that can
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 help us with that. Or just simply helping us
00:22:03 --> 00:22:07 to not get colds as often. Just simply maintaining
00:22:07 --> 00:22:10 our health today's age where we have a lot of
00:22:10 --> 00:22:15 stress. We live in a time where stress and the
00:22:15 --> 00:22:17 way it impacts our mental health is different
00:22:17 --> 00:22:20 from any period of history earlier. Certainly
00:22:20 --> 00:22:24 at earlier stages of history, there was stress.
00:22:24 --> 00:22:26 People had all sorts of things that were stressful.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:30 They had different kinds of stress. They had
00:22:30 --> 00:22:32 strengths about things that impacted them very
00:22:32 --> 00:22:35 physically and with very immediate tangible result.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:39 And so they could, they often had different ways
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 of dealing with it where they could actually,
00:22:40 --> 00:22:43 they could do something about what would stretch
00:22:43 --> 00:22:47 them very directly. Whereas a lot of the stress
00:22:47 --> 00:22:50 that we have today, what we do in our own life,
00:22:50 --> 00:22:53 we can control. Stressed about things going on
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 around us. We can't, we often, there's not much
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 we can do about it. And so it just sits in the
00:22:57 --> 00:23:00 background as something that's residual. And
00:23:00 --> 00:23:03 so what we need to do is learn how to, to deal
00:23:03 --> 00:23:07 with our response to those things. And Qigong
00:23:07 --> 00:23:10 offers us many, many simple and variable tools
00:23:10 --> 00:23:14 that we can use to help us to clear our mind
00:23:14 --> 00:23:18 and to find harmony with what's going on around
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 us. And these can rain from simple breathing
00:23:20 --> 00:23:23 practices. to again the type of moving practices
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 that and i've described that can help us to let
00:23:26 --> 00:23:29 go of tension that we're holding in our body
00:23:29 --> 00:23:31 and to bring us into a state of mind where we
00:23:31 --> 00:23:35 have more peace more we're able to focus more
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 clearly and do what we can in our lives without
00:23:37 --> 00:23:41 being too caught up in the things going on around
00:23:41 --> 00:23:45 so wonderful and like you mentioned the holistic
00:23:45 --> 00:23:50 application of qigong and broad spectrum probability
00:23:50 --> 00:23:53 and the broad spectrum positivity it can bring
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 on to someone, an individual person, is really
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 intriguing. And I'm sure our listeners would
00:23:59 --> 00:24:01 be very interested to know more about Qigong,
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 to learn more and to practice that into their
00:24:04 --> 00:24:07 own lifestyle as well. From your experience,
00:24:07 --> 00:24:11 John, I know that you are connected a lot to
00:24:11 --> 00:24:14 the practice of Qigong. Do you have any stories
00:24:14 --> 00:24:19 of how Qigong actually has helped people? Yes,
00:24:19 --> 00:24:23 yes, of course. As I mentioned in the introduction,
00:24:23 --> 00:24:27 I recently published a book called Life Changing
00:24:27 --> 00:24:30 to God. And the inspiration for that book actually
00:24:30 --> 00:24:34 came from, as I was traveling last year, I traveled
00:24:34 --> 00:24:38 to teach some workshops. I met up with quite
00:24:38 --> 00:24:41 a few people who I had had interaction with online
00:24:41 --> 00:24:45 over several years, but I hadn't met in person.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:49 And so as we first met in person, They would
00:24:49 --> 00:24:51 talk to me about their experience with Qigong.
00:24:52 --> 00:24:55 As they talk, I kept hearing the same word again
00:24:55 --> 00:24:58 and again. Each time someone came in our first
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 conversation, they would come and they would
00:24:59 --> 00:25:03 talk to me and they'd say, John, Qigong has been
00:25:03 --> 00:25:07 life -changing for me. And then I'd talk to someone
00:25:07 --> 00:25:09 else and they would say the exact same words.
00:25:09 --> 00:25:13 They'd say, Qigong has been life -changing. And
00:25:13 --> 00:25:16 then someone else, life -changing, life -changing.
00:25:16 --> 00:25:18 And then they would share their stories with
00:25:18 --> 00:25:22 me about how Qigong had been like for them. And
00:25:22 --> 00:25:24 as I heard these stories, I thought, this is
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 wonderful. It's really nice to hear how what
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 I've spent most of my life on has been having
00:25:30 --> 00:25:33 a positive effect on people. That's a beautiful
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 thing. And that was really nice to me to hear.
00:25:35 --> 00:25:38 But also that I heard that story, I thought,
00:25:38 --> 00:25:44 hmm, I'm probably not the most valuable person
00:25:44 --> 00:25:46 to hear these stories. Because I already know
00:25:46 --> 00:25:50 how much benefit there is in Qigong. And so I
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 thought it would be really, a really excellent
00:25:52 --> 00:25:56 thing to share this story with other people and
00:25:56 --> 00:25:59 let them hear how Qigong has been life changing
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 for people. And so that's where the idea for
00:26:01 --> 00:26:04 the book came from. And so we, we, we tend to
00:26:04 --> 00:26:07 message out and say, hey, if you have a story
00:26:07 --> 00:26:09 about Qigong, you'd like to share it, maybe send
00:26:09 --> 00:26:11 it in and we compiled it and we put all those
00:26:11 --> 00:26:14 into one book. And, and the, the different than
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 all very different stories that people have ranging,
00:26:17 --> 00:26:21 uh, from simply as we talked about being more,
00:26:21 --> 00:26:25 um, simple things like that. People found that
00:26:25 --> 00:26:28 it helps to build up their self -esteem, which
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 is an interesting thing that you might not think
00:26:29 --> 00:26:32 of in a practice like that. Things like overcoming
00:26:32 --> 00:26:34 injuries, overcoming different all the truth,
00:26:35 --> 00:26:39 even coping with and overcoming addiction. So
00:26:39 --> 00:26:42 a really wide range of different experiences
00:26:42 --> 00:26:45 that people had and how Qigong helped them in
00:26:45 --> 00:26:49 their life. Thank you so much. That was very
00:26:49 --> 00:26:52 inspiring and wonderful, John. And I really encourage
00:26:52 --> 00:26:54 my dear audiences to check out John Monroe's
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58 book, Life -Changing Qigong, in which more than
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 100 people John mentioned shared their story
00:27:01 --> 00:27:04 of how... Qigong has been life -changing for
00:27:04 --> 00:27:07 them, and I'm sure that would have a similar
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 impact in your life as well. Out from my curiosity,
00:27:10 --> 00:27:14 dear John, at this time, if someone wants to
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 get started with Qigong, how can they do that?
00:27:18 --> 00:27:22 Sure, there's lots of resources available to
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 do Qigong now. When I first started some decades
00:27:25 --> 00:27:29 ago, It's very hard to find Qigong teachers or
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 even good resources for learning Qigong. There
00:27:31 --> 00:27:35 are lots now. One good place to start, I think,
00:27:35 --> 00:27:37 is, of course, I may be a little bit biased,
00:27:37 --> 00:27:40 but I think we teach quite well. So you might
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 want to check that out. So longwhitecloudqigong
00:27:43 --> 00:27:45 .com. Look, brought it up there on screen. That's
00:27:45 --> 00:27:48 great. And we have a lot of resources here. If
00:27:48 --> 00:27:51 you go up to the courses part. there and if you
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 were to click on that you see you've got short
00:27:52 --> 00:27:55 courses you've got certification courses we've
00:27:55 --> 00:27:58 got live streaming sections and we've got a range
00:27:58 --> 00:28:02 of free Qigong videos as well so again under
00:28:02 --> 00:28:05 that course menu you'll see if you go to free
00:28:05 --> 00:28:08 Qigong videos there's a bunch of videos you can
00:28:08 --> 00:28:11 just follow along with them and try them and
00:28:11 --> 00:28:14 that's that's a good place to start if you also
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17 we also have a couple of free introductory Qigong
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 courses as well. So again, I think if you go
00:28:19 --> 00:28:23 to the courses there and go, yeah, if you look
00:28:23 --> 00:28:26 at short, no, short courses, if you go to the
00:28:26 --> 00:28:29 short courses and you scroll down, scroll down
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 there. Yeah. So these first couple ones are free,
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 the ones at the top. So introduction to Qigong
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36 theory and practice and the complete natural
00:28:36 --> 00:28:39 breath. And that's a great place within those
00:28:39 --> 00:28:42 courses. They don't just teach you the practices.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45 They teach you all the principles behind the
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47 practices. So that can give you a really good
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 start to really understand what Qigong is and
00:28:50 --> 00:28:53 how it works and how you can get benefit from
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 it. And even if you decide that you would like
00:28:56 --> 00:28:58 to do some Qigong through a different school,
00:28:58 --> 00:29:01 which is, you know, that's why there's so much
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 wonderful Qigong out there. You'll find that
00:29:03 --> 00:29:05 this gives you a good base of understanding to
00:29:05 --> 00:29:09 really get the most out of it. Thank you so much,
00:29:09 --> 00:29:12 John, for letting our audience know. about from
00:29:12 --> 00:29:14 where they can learn more about qigong and i
00:29:14 --> 00:29:17 really encourage the audiences if you are looking
00:29:17 --> 00:29:20 to understand the positive impact of qigong or
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 you're interested to learn more about that how
00:29:22 --> 00:29:27 you can adopt it into your own lifestyle definitely
00:29:27 --> 00:29:33 i encourage you to visit the website www .longwhitecloudqigong
00:29:33 --> 00:29:36 .com and i'll spell that out for our audiences
00:29:36 --> 00:29:42 that is www .longwhitecloudqigong .com C -L -O
00:29:42 --> 00:29:46 -U -D -Q -I -G -O -N -G dot com. Apart from that,
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 if you have questions about Qigong or if you
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 want to know more about John and his work, I
00:29:52 --> 00:29:56 do encourage to visit John's personal web page
00:29:56 --> 00:30:00 on our Active Action website. That is www .activeaction
00:30:00 --> 00:30:05 .fm slash person slash John Monroe. So in that
00:30:05 --> 00:30:07 web page, there is the bio of John, but also.
00:30:07 --> 00:30:10 links to his website and his other socials. So
00:30:10 --> 00:30:13 if you want to get in touch with John, I think
00:30:13 --> 00:30:17 that is a good way to do that. Thank you so much,
00:30:17 --> 00:30:20 dear John, for sharing with us today about Qigong
00:30:20 --> 00:30:25 and also about your own personal journey with
00:30:25 --> 00:30:29 Qigong, your book, and also about your organization,
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 the Long White Cloud Qigong. I really appreciate
00:30:32 --> 00:30:35 your words of wisdom and I'm sure our audiences.
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 would be interested to learn more about that.
00:30:38 --> 00:30:42 I'm really appreciating your openness to support
00:30:42 --> 00:30:45 them or openness to answer any questions that
00:30:45 --> 00:30:47 they might have. That is always very helpful.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:51 Great. Thank you, Dr. Mazid. Yes, always open
00:30:51 --> 00:30:54 to helping people and pointing them towards good
00:30:54 --> 00:30:57 information, good results. Thank you, John. And
00:30:57 --> 00:31:00 I wish you the best of luck with all your future
00:31:00 --> 00:31:03 endeavors. Thank you so much again for joining
00:31:03 --> 00:31:05 today's podcast and sharing your words of wisdom.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 with our beautiful audiences. Great. It's been
00:31:08 --> 00:31:11 a pleasure being here. Thank you so much, John.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:17 Dear audiences, thank you so much for listening
00:31:17 --> 00:31:19 to this episode. If you find this valuable, please
00:31:19 --> 00:31:22 feel free to share this with your friends and
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00:31:25 --> 00:31:34 you in the next episode. Thank you for joining
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00:31:36 --> 00:31:40 .fm. We hope today's episode gave you some entertainment,
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Qigong - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living - with John Munro | Epi.33

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