Within Chinese medicine and Medical Qigong the concept of song (pronounced more like “soong”) is important for health and vitality. Song is often translated as relax or relaxed, and while this is literally what the word can mean, it doesn’t carry the same connotation or feeling as song. To understand what song means, we can look at the character and its traditional etymology.

There are two parts to this character, the top half and the bottom half. The top part of the character is an image of long hair being let down. This is actually one of the proper movements for the springtime - letting the hair down and taking large steps in the courtyard - that are described in the Suwen. The idea essentially being to relax the mind and loosen the tendons and ligaments. So this top half of the character encompasses the ideas of relaxing and loosening the body and mind.

The bottom half of the character is the word for a pine tree. Within classical Chinese thought the pine was seen as a very special tree that had so much internal vitality that it could maintain its greenery (the color of life) all year long, even when all the other trees had lost their leaves. We can think of this combination of characters that form song then as not just meaning to relax, but also as something like "to enter into a state like a pine tree."

Like a pine tree we can cultivate strength and stability that is deeply rooted and resilient. The uprightness of the tree illustrates a type of strength that is flexible and adaptable, never becoming rigid. The roots of the tree are stable while the upper branches are light and clear, illustrating a perfect balance between heaven and earth.

Whenever you are facing challenges or are becoming stressed you can put this image in your mind. Let your shoulders sink down, press your weight into the soles of the feet and take a slow, smooth breath, like silk flowing around the body. As you exhale silently say song to yourself and relax into a state like a pine tree: strong, resilient and clear.

click here to see previous newsletters

We had our Foundations of Medical Qigong workshop last weekend and it looks like we will have the continuation of the workshop, Linking the Channels, in early June. The Linking workshop emphasizes increasing comfort, ease and skill with the core exercises, as well as introducing the Second Moving Qigong exercises. I'll have more information and specifics as we get closer to June.

In the meantime, the Wednesday evening class is ongoing. You can click the link below for more information on all of the Medical Qigong classes.

click here to go to our Medical Qigong class page