Breath is closely related to the state of your Qi, and therefore also considered Yin or Yang. When you exhale you expel air from your Lungs, your mind moves outward, and the Qi around the body expands. In the Chinese martial arts, the exhale is generally used to expand the Qi to energize the muscles during an attack. Therefore, you can see that the exhale is Yang—it is expanding, offensive, and strong. Naturally, based on the same theory, the inhale is considered Yin.
Your breathing is closely related to your emotions. When you lose your temper, your breathing is short and fast, i.e. Yang. When you are sad, your body is more Yin, and you inhale more than you exhale in order to absorb the Qi from the air to balance the body’s Yin to bring the body back into balance. When you are excited and happy, your body is Yang. You exhale longer than you inhale in order to get rid of the excess Yang which is caused by the excitement.
As mentioned before, your mind is also closely related to your Qi. Therefore, when your Qi is Yang, your mind is usually also Yang (excited) and vice versa. In addition, as we discussed in the previous section, the mind can also be classified according to the Qi that generates it. The mind (Yi) that is generated from the calm and peaceful Qi obtained from Original Essence is considered Yin. The mind (Xin) that originates with the food and air Essence is emotional, scattered, and excited, and it is considered Yang. Finally, the Shen, which is related to the Qi, can also be classified as Yang or Yin based on its origin.
Do not confuse Yin Qi and Yang Qi with Fire Qi and Water Qi. When the Yin and Yang of Qi are mentioned, it refers to the level of Qi according to some reference point. However, when Water Qi and Fire Qi are mentioned, it refers to the quality of the Qi. This will be discussed in the next section.
The Quality of Human Qi
Some people think that Qi is of good quality when it is neither too Yin nor too Yang. However, they are wrong. When Qi is neither too Yin nor too Yang, this means that the level of the Qi is right. It is a quantitative statement rather than a qualitative one. The quality of Qi refers to its purity, as well as its contents. This quality depends on where and how the Qi originated. Usually, the quality of the Qi determines how it behaves and how it affects the body’s Yin and Yang when it is circulating in your body.
Within the human body, Qigong practitioners have generally categorized Qi into “Fire Qi” and “Water Qi” to express the qualitative purity of the Qi. The terms “Fire” and “Water” indicate the effects that the Qi has on our body. For example, when Qi that is impure or of poor quality circulates in the human body, it may cause heat in the body and organs, and make the body too Yang. It is therefore called “Fire Qi.” If, however, the Qi is pure, clean, and circulating smoothly, it will enable the body to remain calm, keep the mind clear and steady, and allow the body to function properly. This Qi is called “Water Qi” because it is the Qi which enables the body to remain calm and cool, like water.
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In the thousands of years that Qigong has been studied, practitioners have found that the Qi that comes from “Original Jing” (and is therefore called Original Qi) is “Water Qi.” It is pure and smooth, like sunshine in the winter, like crystal-pure water flowing smoothly in a stream, very comfortable and natural. This Qi makes it possible for the wisdom mind (Yi) to remain calm and grow stronger. When this Qi is circulating in the human body, it is smooth and will keep the physical body functioning in a steady, calm, and Yin state.
Conversely, the Qi which comes from food and air is not of as high a quality as Original Qi. Because the body cannot discriminate between good and bad raw materials, many undesirable ingredients in the food and air are also converted into Qi. The quality of this Qi is dirty, and nonuniform, like water that has been polluted. When this Qi goes to your brain, it can excite your emotions and upset your emotional balance. When this Qi is circulating in your body, the undesirable ingredients can change the body into Yang and cause problems. For example, the Qi which was converted from fat can convert back into fat, and plug up the Qi paths. Plugged up Qi channels can have undesirable effects, such as high blood pressure, which speeds up the degeneration of the internal organs. For this the reason, diet is a part of Qigong practice. Generally speaking, the Qi generated from food which comes from animal sources has more contaminants than the Qi generated from food obtained from plants.
You can see from this discussion that it is very important to distinguish both the level of Qi and its quality. The level of Qi (Yin or Yang) depends on the circumstances, and must have a reference point. The quality of Qi depends upon the Essence from which it comes.
4-2. Qi and Bioelectromagnetic Energy
In ancient China, people had very little knowledge of electricity. They only knew from acupuncture that when a needle was inserted into the acupuncture cavities, some kind of energy other than heat was produced which often caused a shock or a tickling sensation. It was not until the last few decades, when the Chinese people were more acquainted with electromagnetic science, that they began to recognize that this energy circulating in the body, which they called Qi, might be the same thing as what today’s science calls “bioelectricity.”
It is understood now that the human body is constructed of many different electrically conductive materials, and it forms a living electromagnetic field and circuit. Electromagnetic energy is continuously being generated in the human body through the biochemical reaction of food and air, and circulated by the electromotive (or electromagnetic) forces (EMF) generated within the body by, for example, thinking or movement.
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In addition, you are also constantly being affected by external electromagnetic fields such as that of the earth, or the electrical fields generated by clouds. When you practice Chinese medicine or Qigong, you need to be aware of these outside factors and take them into account.
Countless experiments have been conducted in China, Japan, and other countries to study how external magnetic or electrical fields can affect and adjust the body’s Qi field. Many acupuncturists use magnets and electricity in their treatments. They attach a magnet to the skin over a cavity and leave it there for a period of time. The magnetic field gradually affects the Qi circulation in that channel. Alternatively, they insert needles into cavities and then run an electric current through the needle to reach the Qi channels directly. Although many experimenters have claimed a degree of success in their experiments, none has been able to publish any detailed and convincing proof of his results, or give a good explanation of the theory behind his experiment. As with many other attempts to explain the How and Why of acupuncture, conclusive proof is elusive, and many unanswered questions remain. Of course, this theory is quite new, and it will probably take a lot more study and research before it is verified and completely understood. At present, there are many conservative acupuncturists who are skeptical.
To untie this knot, we must look at what modern Western science has discovered about bioelectromagnetic energy. Many bioelectric related reports have been published, and frequently the results are closely related to what is experienced in Chinese Qigong training and medical science. For example, during the electrophysiological research of the 1960’s, several investigators discovered that bones are piezoelectric; that is, when they are stressed, mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy in the form of electric current.1 This might explain one of the practices of Marrow Washing Qigong in which the stress on the bones and muscles is increased in certain ways to increase the Qi circulation (electric circulation).
Dr. Robert O. Becker has done important work in this field. His book The Body Electric reports on much of the research concerning the body’s electric field.2 It is presently believed that food and air are the fuel which generates the electricity in the body through biochemical reaction. This electricity, which is circulated throughout the entire body through electrically conductive tissue, is one of the main energy sources which keep the cells of the physical body alive.
Whenever you have an injury or are sick, your body’s electrical circulation is affected. If this circulation of electricity stops, you die. But bioelectric energy not only maintains