Tien Dao Shen Ming Qigong- In Alignment with Nature
One of the qigong forms we practice is entitled Tien Dao Shen Ming. We can understand the meaning of this and the effect of the exercises by looking at the meaning of each word itself.
Tien 天 means Heaven, sky; natural world, natural order, supreme power. For the ancient people the heavens were above the human beings and all the creatures standing on the earth looking up into the sky. The morning sunrise, the color of the clouds, the pending weather on the horizon. And further up as the sun, moon, planets and stars in the night sky. These all encompass heaven. There is a roundness to this space above our heads. It takes the form of a celestial dome or sphere. Later angels, mythic beings (Perseus, Cassiopeia, Orion) and spirits were naturally attributed to the heavens. But lets not go there quite yet. For now it is the sky and all those environmental elements around and above our bodies.
Dao 道 is about as mysterious and vast as it comes. Whole classics have been written about it like the Dao De Jing. But in a simple way it means “Natural Pattern”. Everything has a natural pattern. Like morning, noon evening and night phases of the day. This would be the dao of a day. Or the seasons of the year Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The dao of a year. Perhaps phases of our natural life adolescent, young adult, adult, elder. And even birth, life and death which are natural patterns where ever we look. This is the dao or a natural pattern for a human being. For our purposes here lets use the definition of dao as the patterns inherent in nature.
Shen 神 Spirit; deity, divinity; soul; wonderful, marvelous, awe-inspiring. We have a physical body and we have our breath. Also circulating within us is our spirit. We are alive and feel fully alive when we have spirit. When the spirit is strong we are healthy, inspired, bright and happy.
Ming 明 Light, shed light on, clear, enlightened, clear-seeing, discernment. Ming is the brightness of the stars, our sun or a powerful fire. An internal fire or external one. It is illumination.
Tien Dao Shen Ming Qigong therefore means a series of physical movements and breath (qigong) that follows the patterns of heaven and nature (tien dao) to brighten and illuminate consciousness and spirit (shen ming). This is a wonderful form and it will make us feel really connected and centered within our bodies as we stand grounded, open and awake between heaven and earth.
The importance of learning and practicing this form at this time:
Given our new reality of viruses and pandemic it is now more important than ever to strengthen the immune function of the body. We can do this through balanced diet and nutrition, exercise, fresh air and walks in nature to name a few. But what is also critically important in our immunity is the strength and brightness of our spirit. The human spirit or shen. You will notice when you are feeling energetic and healthy that there is a certain subtle glow or radiance emanating from the body. It is subtle but this can be seen particularly in the face and eyes if you look closely with attention. When we are sick or depressed you will notice a grayness or slight dampening of this light. The normal 100 watt bulb is only shining at 80 watts or perhaps 40. Human spirit and the management of it is considered quite closely in Classical Chinese Medicine when the doctor’s are treating the patient. If your spirit is strong it will boost your immunity and the strength and immunity of those around you because it extends beyond your body and even beyond time and space. This is a major reason why humans are by biology and evolution a communal species. We have always found support, strength and protection in our gatherings whether family, clan, tribe, or nation. With social distancing I am feeling the loss of this connection and energetic support from family and friends. This is why I am teaching Tien Dao Shen Ming at this time because it is particularly good at strengthening and connecting us to our spirit. In times of uncertainty, fear and anxiety our spirits tend to scatter and actually leave the body. This form gathers the spirit and embodies it in a very beautiful way. I hope that you can join us for our classes and learn the subtleties of this form. Subtle- the spirit is subtle. Ties- we need to tie ourselves to our spirit. These are the subtle-ties!