At the beginning of a recent Skype-based coaching session, the person I was working with complained that his brain wasn’t ready for the task he wanted to do. He clarified that this was fatigue, not brain fog. I mumbled something incoherent about not believing in what I was about to do. “What?”

“Um, even after all these years of QiGong, I still have a strong inner skeptic, so to satisfy her,  I have to tell you that I don’t believe in distance healing, but, ummm…., I can use QiGong to help you with this.”

“Yowza!!! That’s a bit intense!”

I made some adjustments, and continued. Then he was ready to focus on the task, but there were some anxiety issues. So I focused on acupoints and sections of meridians that help with that, and he completed the tasks he had set for himself. It turned out to be a very productive  session.

While I, um, don’t really believe in distance healing (Satisfied now, O Inner Skeptic?), I have actually been doing it for almost as long as I’ve been doing shiatsu. Receiving it, too, although I really don’t believe in this stuff. (O Inner Skeptic, please just let me write.) It just works; that’s all.

You see, sometimes things come up while I’m driving. When my kid feels nauseated, I need to hold her Pericardium 6 point, and it’s sometimes helpful to hold Gall Bladder 21 and Kidney 1 as well. If I’m driving and she suddenly feels nauseated I can’t hold them with my fingers, so I hold them with my mind. If something comes up for my husband while I’m driving, I hold points with my mind to help him. So does my daughter. And if my foot cramps up when I’m driving, my husband and daughter hold points with their minds to help me. Most often, we focus on acupoints, sometimes on meridians or sections of meridians, sometimes on regions of the body.

I also often use it as a teaching tool, to help my clients and students learn to activate points inside themselves. We do it together first, and then they’re able to do it themselves. I’ve also used it in my work with musicians; outgoing qigong, whether via distance or more direct, can help a musician gain greater control over the color of the music, and also make the sounds brighter.