The chi/qi purification process is an important part of healing in the Zhineng Qigong framework. It's like when we wake up in the morning after being relatively stagnant for 8 hours. When we move around it shakes things up and unblocks what was stagnant before. Toxins, emotions, and old feelings become free for us to witness and flow. Qi purifications signify that our body's energy system is reorganizing and releasing stagnant or disharmonious qi, toxins, patterns, and emotions. Common manifestations of the qi purification process include: Physical sensations: trembling, temperature changes, spontaneous movements Emotional releases: sudden feelings, old memories surfacing Mental shifts: clarity alternating with confusion Temporary intensification of existing conditions Headaches or other aches and pains These happen because: Enhanced qi flow encounters blocked areas Old patterns surface to be transformed The body-mind system rebalances to higher organization How to address qi purifications: Keep practicing Zhineng Qigong methods! Keep awareness clear and expanded Allow reactions to process naturally without suppression Rest more when needed Stay hydrated Most importantly, it's important to view qi purifications with a "Haola" frame of mind. All is well and getting better. If you are having trouble processing a qi purification, it can be hepful to have a qigong buddy or teacher hold the space for you. You can also always contact me for a free introductory consultation: https://www.intothehumm.com/offerings

“WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer.” I've been noticing all of the ways we "curse" ourselves to follow fates out of alignment with our hopes and dreams. When we believe that we "know" about a potential danger the "knowing" itself can actually increase the effects of that danger on us. This is sometimes called the placebo effect, but today I am finding the framing of "curse" more useful. Examples of curses I have witnessed include diagnoses (medical or otherwise), cancer warnings (they're everywhere in California thanks to proposition 65), pretty much all diet and sex advice, most of today's news, and so much of the well meaning but limiting comments and advice from friends. These little curses are everywhere and insidious when we don't recognize them for what they are and address them with our full consciousness. In the book God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet MD , the author talks about her time working in the alzheimers/dementia ward of the Laguna Honda alms house. Many of these patients had serious diagnoses (cancer, diabetes, heart problems) in addition to their memory loss; however, on this ward these secondary diseases didn't progress. The author speculated this was likely because the patients didn't have the capacity to fixate and identify with their diagnoses. Without the ability to attach to their diagnoses, the patients were free to believe that there was nothing wrong with them, and that just maybe they were unconditionally perfect in every moment. This brings me to how I've been handling these curses recently: with the power of "Haola". In Chinese haola means "all is well and getting better" or just "everything is good". In Zhineng Qigong, we often greet each other with a haola or repeat the word haola as a mantra to remind us of the True goodness that we are. This is not self deception but the skillful ability to hold paradox: yes, we may have a health situation that needs medical attention, and at the same time, this does not take away from our intrinsic and unconditional wholeness. I have found in my practice that the concept of "haola" is wonderful for breaking these little everyday "curses". At the gas station yesterday, I saw a Prop 65 cancer warning. I quickly did 3 haolas to the sign. When I hear negative self talk inside my head, I send it some haolas. I microwaved my lunch today; rather than indulging in unnecessary guilt, I sent my food some haolas. When the dentist told my daughter she had a cavity, I sent both of us some haolas (just in case a "I have bad teeth" or "I'm a bad mom" curse wanted to stick) before scheduling her an appointment to have it fixed. This simple word can help us tend what needs to be tended in the physical realm without attaching any of it to who we see ourselves as being. It clears the air to allow space for all of the infinite beauty and possibilities to come through. Today my qigong group did a simple "open, close" practice where we expanded and contracted an imaginary qi ball between our palms. We chanted "hao" as our hands went out and "la" as our hands came back in. In this way, we became aligned with the act of creation and destruction, the expansion and contraction of the universe. I was reminded of symbols for the divine union of masculine and feminine, the V for the receptive feminine and the upside-down V as the penetrating masculine. Stacked together they form a diamond, or positioned another way, the Star of David. When information counter to our highest self comes in, it can fix us into an identity and cause this free open/close movement to cease. It is as if all the possibilities become frozen into one possibility, and in the case of a cancer warning, that's probably not a possibility one would choose to fix to. Our job as mature and whole human beings is to oscillate between both: yin and yang, good and bad, right and wrong, black and white, sick and healthy. Haola.

Unconditional love is the most radical and taboo thing in the universe... Why? Because unconditional love is freely given, no matter what. You are nice to me, I love you. You hurt me...I still love you. Unconditional love goes against many of the frameworks in our society that say we have to earn love, that love will be taken away from us and we'll be thrown out of society if we really mess up. That type of love is conditional love...and it's a challenging place to operate from. In unconditional love, we are loved and love no matter what, always and forever, just because we exist. Jesus said "love they neighbor" and "love thy enemy"...he was talking about this state of unconditional love. Jesus belief and practice in unconditional love is why he wasn't super popular with the leaders of his time. It's hard to keep people bound and silent when they are living as if they are loved unconditionally. Unconditional love is a topic I talk about a lot because the "mingjue" or pure consciousness state we work with in Zhineng Qigong practice is often described as unconditional love. I believe we've really confused the concept of love in our society. I didn't realize this until I started going deeper into pure consciousness practices and experiencing true unconditional love myself. Unconditional love is unattached and outside of duality. It doesn't concern itself with judging whether someone is worthy. It just gives...and receives. When we are concerned with judging other peoples worthiness, we are also judging our own worthiness. If we don't have the capacity to give it, we also don't have the capacity to receive it. Unconditional love is something we can learn to give to everybody, it is freely given. The paradox with unconditional love is, though it is unattached, it is also fully connected in a way that is impossible to do when there are conditions. By contrast, in conditional love one is attached to the duality of the situation. One's love for the other is conditional on them being or acting in a certain way or meeting certain expectations. It's really sticky. It's also requires a lot of energy from everyone involved. One ends up spending a lot of energy judging the other so they can decide whether they want to love them not. It leads to whipsaw situations where one feels "I love you" and then "I hate you". It is exhausting and not true connection. In Zhineng Qigong we learn how to step into the paradigm of unconditional love. This will completely change your relationships with your family, all of your friends, and even with the people you hate! Want to learn more about unconditonal love? Sign up for my free Mini-Course on Healing Relationships : www.IntoTheHumm.com/healrelationships Free 12-Week Awakening Consciousness Class: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9RylFIA9TQkTTx0ElQ1etYreFMAutfWv&si=pEafPXwUhgIwUyJt

I wa nt to discuss a practice in Zhineng Qigong called seeding "good information." This is a powerful practice. Where your attention goes, qi (energy) flows. Why put energy into what's going wrong when you could break the habit and energize what you want to experience more of. The "good informaton" practice involves training ourselves to concentrate on the positive aspects of our lives. Regardless of the circumstanc es, there is always something positive to focus on. Although this practice may appear simple, it is quite challenging because many of us have developed habits that prevent us from focusing on positive information. These habits stem from fear-based patterns. When we are in a state of fear, it feels like an emergency. Even when there is no actual emergency, we fall into patterns that mimic life-or-death situations. Most of life is not an emergency, yet we behave as if it is. In an emergency, you must focus on everything negative happening. Within a fear-based structure, positive things are often overlooked because they seem stable and don't require attention. In fear-inducing situations, you focus on potential dangers. This leads to a habit of concentrating on negative information and events you wish to avoid. The issue is that we become trapped in this fear-based pattern, living our lives by only noticing negative things. When we only perceive negativity and fear, this becomes our reality, both internally and externally. We can change our patterns! For more practical information, check out the video below.

Anyone in opera or theater knows it's true: we all have a personal theme song. These songs accompany us as we play out the regular patterns of the day. As we grow and learn and transform, these songs do too. Sometimes we experience a step change in our life and our songs undergo a metamorphosis and are re-formed with an entirely new tempo, tune, and key. An example of this comes from the original Mary Poppins movie with Julie Andrews. In the beginning of the movie, the theme songs for the characters are presented. Mrs. Banks with her "Sister Suffragette" song and Mr. Banks with his ironic "How Perfect is the Life I Lead" song. One can tell that these are old songs that the characters have been singing for a long time. They are fine songs; however, they are adding to the disconnected separation in the household. It is time for the songs to be changed. In comes Mary Poppins with a whole carpet bag full of songs. Her "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is a wonderful healing ear-worm that fills the household with an infectious joy. Mr. Banks, who embodies the main transformations in the story, does not catch on right away and is initially upset by the perceived disorder that the new song brings. He resists the change until a life challenge forces him to crack open and experience the "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" happiness for himself. After this transformation, Mr. Banks comes home a transformed man, singing his new song...which becomes the entire family's new song "Let's Go Fly a Kite". If we pay attention we can sometimes notice our songs humming in the background as we go about our day: the tempo speeding up and slowing down, the melodies and harmonies coming and going with the wind. This is the music of our bodies reflecting the music of the universe. The songs often have no words. Some have been carried for a very long time. Some tunes can be catching. What tunes are humming in your subconscious? Simple practices of toning and humming can often allow the music we carry to open up, harmonize, transform, and heal. If a tune comes to you "out of nowhere" play around with it throughout your day. Hum it while you do your dishes, play with adding a beat or harmony. Move your body to it in the livingroom. Imagine the tune flowing throughout your entire body. You may be able to see how the music transforms for you over the hours and days. In my experience, playing with music in this fun and personal way can be incredibly regulating for the nervous system. It can also help us be more resilient and nimble as we encounter and flow past challenges. Our songs don't need to be stagnant, they can shape-shift to help us meet each moment. Our personal songs are like sails that can catch the wind when our energy reserves feel drained and propel us through new pathways forward. Let's go fly kite.

Renouncing your life and heading to the mountains...no longer required. I am a married mother of 2 (teenagers!) and live in a modern town in California. Energetically, I am also a mystic living in a cave. These days, I am not unusual. The classic student of cosmic wisdom gives up their old live to move to the wild and study with a guru. In shedding off the layers of society, the student can more easily tune to the ways of the universe and learn to see true. With new technological tools (thanks zoom) a new archetypal map has emerged that is both more responsive to the actual needs of the collective and incidentally, more inclusive to people with soul contracts that preclude them from ditching their lives and moving to caves (e.g. people with families and children). Through virtual connection spaces, we are now able to study high level wisdom traditions from the comfort of our homes. We can receive transmissions from wisdom keepers from around the world and ground powerful energies of love and peace they transmit in our homes and with our families. Because there really is no concrete time and space in consciousness work, we can even have these experiences asynchronously through recordings! There is truly an endless fractal of possibilities. Technology is a neutral energy...for all the disharmony it has created in the world it can create at least that much healing (and potentially more.) This new possibility is wonderful for the spiritual development of the students themselves. Yes, retreating to a simpler life might make it easier to detach from non-harmonious Reference Frameworks , however, it also shields a person from many of the true tests of humanity. In most traditions of consciousness and energy work including qigong, challenges are seen as training grounds that can teach one to flow and transmute higher levels of energy states. The goal of our practice in qigong is not to learn how to avoid pain or suffering but to learn how to walk with uncomfortable sensations, allow them, and alchemize them back into pure energy and personal power. A mom who can keep internal peace while connecting with her self destructive teenager is the embodiment of the highest level of spiritual mastery that I doubt many gurus in caves could handle. At this time of history it is good thing that students of wisdom no longer have to choose whether to be a mystic or have a family. We need more people operating within society with an expanded consciousness. We need more fully mature humans who can hold paradox and walk with impeccability through challenging and nuanced situations where the rational mind sees no good options. In our time of great change, we also need people who have the capacity to access an eagle's perspective to guide us through our society's evolution in the most loving and peaceful ways. We need people who have the capacity to create a bridge between ancient esoteric spiritual wisdom and modern technology and challenges. These people...are YOU.

"Good Information" & Harmonious Reference Frameworks Reference Framework Definition: " A structure of concepts, values, customs, views, etc., by means of which an individual or group perceives or evaluates data, communicates ideas, and regulates behavior." Also known as a Frame of Reference or Reference Frame. There are facts...and then there are the stories we make up with the facts. These stories come together and form bodies of overall impressions and conclusions. When our stories begin to support similar lines of thinking, the new stories we create all start to have similar themes and plot lines. The beliefs we form around these themes become our Reference Framework. Reference Frameworks are very contagious and are easily passed around. They often reside entirely in our subconscious. They are invisible but they have a strong hand in ruling our lives. All healing and all magic involves a change in Reference Framework. In Zhineng Qigong communities, we often practice sharing "good information". This is a strategy that puts emphasis into Reference Frameworks that support free energy flow and harmonious possibilities in our lives. Sharing "good information" does not mean that we gloss over or bypass our pain or struggles. It does not mean that we are not able to give voice to trauma or suffering. It is a practice of choosing empowering narratives and not giving into Reference Frameworks where there are "good and bad guys" or where we are victoms. We acknowledge the facts ("my daughter has a severe illness") and give voice to our innate strength, compassion, and gifts ("I connected to our mutual love today and was able to feel bliss while holding her through a difficult procedure"). This helps us to live through our strengths as our best most radiant selves rather than living through our weaknesses. It does not help others going through sufforing to suffer with them. We must have the capacity to hold each other up through difficult situations. When, as a community, we support each other in sharing "good information", we are able to create and stabilize new Reference Frameworks that can, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, literally recreate our entire physical bodies and structure of our lives. The importance of "good information" is exemplified in the Story of the Two Wolves : An old Cherokee Indian chief was teaching his grandson about life. He said, "A fight is going on inside me," he told the young boy, "a fight between two wolves. The Dark one is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The Light Wolf is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.” The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, "Grandfather, w hich wolf will win? " The old Cherokee smiled and simply said, " The one you feed ".

Tea bag wisdom in the age of apocalypse. I often feel angry about the ways of modern society. Do you too? This sometimes leads me to a frame of mind where I just want everything to blow up. The angry logic is... if it all crumbles, then at least it won't continue to be so oppressive and harmful. I caught myself down this logic path this week. I was feeling tempted to vote for a ballot referendum because I knew it would hurt an industry that I have a beef with. Rationally, I knew the legislature was flawed and that the unintended consequences would not be worth the gain, but for a moment, I didn't care. I imagined it feeling good to send a shock wave through to my enemies. In the book "Good Omens," a work of fiction about the apocalypse, this is exactly the logic of the young Antichrist. The Antichrist (aka Adam Young) is a talented, charismatic, and loving kid who has an enlightenment experience learning about mainstream spiritual topics with a witchy neighbor. He learns that modern aliens only bring messages of "unconditional love and world peace," that there once was a hidden magical city of Atlantis, and that humans are killing the earth. He loves the aliens and lost cities, but is so angry at what humanity has done to the earth (in particular killing whales and using nuclear weapons) that he decides humanity needs to be brought down and crumbled. Unlike the rest of us who sometimes share this fantasy, he is the son of Satan and able to actually manifest this plan to usher in the end times. How can our love of something be so strong that it leads to total destruction? Aren't we harming both what we love and what we hate when we act this way? If we're wishing destruction on the outside, we are also doing the same within ourselves. It's not necessarily bad to break things down, but in order to stay in harmony it needs to be done in a kind, loving, and respectful way. Enter gratitude. Gratitude is the antidote. Gratitude is the medicine that can help us move through these places of hatred, avoid the Antichrist within, and move into a more nuanced state of patience and acceptance. Look around you, what do you see? A protective house, loving family and friends, a beautiful bird singing on your path? What about the clouds or the fog or the fall sunrise? Can you be grateful for the feeling of running your fingers through a bag of rice? What about the smell of the sidewalk after rain? A warm steaming cup of tea? There is always something to be thankful for, always miracles that bring meaning and hope to our very, very imperfect human lives. Yes, humanity is far from perfect. Yes, humans have and are constantly doing harmful things to innocents. Yes, the pain of knowing all of this is incredibly hard to bear. Neither being afraid of things changing nor blowing everything up is going to solve the situation. Instead of cutting off parts we don't like, a more skillful response is to find the vibration of mercy and compassion in our hearts. An intentional practice of gratitude can help us more skillfully hold both sides of ourselves and humanity; both the kind and the cruel, both the healing and the hurtful. In this way, we can learn to walk forward to meet what comes with equanimity and peace. "Gratitude is not about what is received; it's about how you receive what is there."

I used to spend a lot of time trying to improve my life. I read numerous "self-help" books in an attempt to alleviate the pain I was experiencing. By society's standards, I seemed to be doing everything correctly. I attended yoga classes multiple times per week at the gym, exercised regularly, and maintained a diet of only healthy foods. Although it may have appeared that I was excelling in life, internally I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. I faced significant challenges in my family relationships and often found myself exploding in anger. As a parent, I felt like I was falling short, and my career failed to provide the fulfillment I sought. I now understand that my wellness routines were merely helping me cope with my chaotic lifestyle without addressing the underlying cause of my suffering. Despite outward appearances, very little of what I was doing aligned with my true needs and natural rhythms. I expended a tremendous amount of energy forcing actions and concealing the uncomfortable aspects of my emotions, which ultimately proved futile. When these suppressed feelings finally surfaced, those around me suffered as a result. It took a significant life event to disrupt this pattern. As everything crumbled around me, I finally summoned the courage to break free from my complacency and confront the truths buried in my subconscious mind. This journey is not one to be undertaken alone. I sought out a community of like-minded individuals on similar paths towards genuine healing that resonated at the core of my being. My exploration led me to study the universal principles of energy, consciousness, and nature to align my life and uncover my authentic self. I am now a certified Zhineng Qigong healer and teacher, as well as a somatic dreamwork coach. I now provide a space for others to navigate their own sense of unease and transition into the world they are meant to inhabit. Living in harmony with the laws of the universe, following the path of the dao, necessitates continual change. Nothing within us is meant to be permanently "fixed" or stagnant. We are designed to evolve continuously, with the essence of our growth often concealed within our most challenging and unattractive aspects. Engaging in a practice that encourages us to confront and wholly accept these parts allows them to integrate and evolve into effortless beauty and grace.

Bringing equality to the masculine and feminine principles in our bodies and reference frameworks seeds harmony and peace. Our society has been working toward equality of the sexes for several generations. Much has occurred that demonstrates in the physical and measurable realms that progress has been made: people in women's bodies have equal legal rights, they are able to work the same jobs as men, and they make nearly the same amount of money. This all has improved the ability for most women on earth to have voice and agency in their lives. What has this work done, however, to bring equality to the feminine principle? Masculine and feminine principles or yang and yin are concepts that help us describe the basic forces of the universe that join to form a complete whole. The yin/yang symbol (light and dark forming a circle) or the Star of David (interlocking triangles pointing up and pointing down) help us visualize what happens when we bring masculine and feminine together. In talking of these principles we are not describing men and women in particular. It is important for everyone, regardless of the gender identification, to have the freedom to draw from both types of energies and operating frameworks. In fact, in our very masculine-based world, it might be even more important for men to pay attention to re-integrating the feminine back into their lives. The natural power, super-abilities, and health that come when we integrate our feminine and masculine wholeness are nothing short of miracles. The chart below can help us tune into the different energies that the feminine and masculine bring into our lives. A balanced person, regardless of physical gender or gender identification, will move through the world with equal access to masculine and feminine energies and strategies. A balanced person lives in a reference framework in which masculine and feminine tools are valued equally in the core of their being. If you are reading this post you likely have an awakened capacity for feeling and listening to the invisible wisdom of your heart. Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if your powers of intuition, emotion, and direct knowing were valued and trusted equally to your powers of logic, calculation, and rational deduction? Imagine a world where everywhere in your life (at work, with family, with friends, at the grocery store), it was just as accepted to share information from feminine principle channels as it was to share information from sources of the masculine principle. Feminine Masculine Moon Sun Circular Linear Infinite Finite Intuition    Deduction Subconscious Conscious Abstract Concrete Fractal Discrete Invisible Visible Wisdom Intellect Amorphous Structure Body Spirit Emotional Cognitive Sustaining/nourishing Active Changing Standardized Super-Rational Rational Intuitive Logical Inner Outer Reflective Light Inestimable Measurable/Judgement Equality Hierarchy Infinite Finite Lateral/creative thinking Linear thinking Ebb and Flow Schedule Constant Linear Schedule When I imagine a world where my feelings or direct knowings about a situation are valued just as much as my logical deductions my whole body relaxes and feels at peace. This is because true harmony within ourselves and on the earth can only come when we value these principles equally. There are a lot of reasons why it appears to be more practical to place more value on things that can be physically measured or "proven" using logical thinking. For starters, it makes organizing societies of millions of people more manageable. The problem is, we have created a subconscious bias in our society's reference framework that favors everything masculine. As a result, the aspects within ourselves that need to be expressed through the feminine are devalued and suppressed. By definition, this is literally half of who we are. This means that most of us are walking around with half portions of our true power. It is true that we don't have a lot of examples of balanced energies, balanced strategies, or balanced people in our society. We do, however, have infinite examples of what balanced energies, strategies, and beings look like in nature. In our Nature Healing Practice , we harmonize with various aspects of nature to integrate a more whole picture of who we are and our true strengths and gifts. We can tune to the cycles of nature and our bodies in addition to the schedules in our datebooks. We can rejoice in our abilities to do linear calculations and in our abilities to receive direct knowings from the universe. We can believe in both the visible and the invisible energy realms. Eventually, we will have the courage and strength to show and stand up for our powers of both the masculine and feminine principles in every aspect of our lives (personal, family, professional, and community.) We will no longer feel the need to explain ourselves or downplay our gifts when presenting deductions gleaned from our feminine powers. We can follow the ebb and flow of non-linear work habits to follow inspiration even if this clashes with the expectations of others. If we are ridiculed for bringing in emotion or intuition to places of science or commerce, we will have the strength to stand in our personal sovereignty and emanate the truth of feminine and masculine equality from the central core of our being. Haola , may it be so.