I took part in the Big Chi gathering in August 2009. I mention it here because I consider my gi gong practice important to my practice as a therapist and the way I am with clients. It was a weekend retreat focussed on Tai Chi and Gi Gong. Gi Gong is the quieter more contemplative and more therpeutic practice with rewards for the mind and the body. I started gi gong about 3 years ago. I had done other spiritual practices before but with this teacher and my needs of the time, it took root and has become very much part of my daily life.
I started with 10 individual lessons with Barry of www.taichilife.com having seen him teaching tai chi and gi gong on Hampstead Heath when walking my dog. As my individual lessons progressed, I started attending classes. My practice has been the most consistent of any in my life and contributes significantly to my self care as a therapist.
Gi gong, like mediation, is spiritual practice in a this worldly sense. (It is not like prayer and devotion to a deity or God which would be an other worldly practice) Both I believe, if practiced well, achieve the same results of balance and flow. Gi gong starts with the body where as mediations starts with the mind. Mind and body not being seperate, as in western thinking but different aspects of the same thing, our being, i.e. different sides of the same coin. It helps us to foregroud to awareness any tensions that have built up so they can be released and replaced for balance and flow. As someone who, for various reasons experiences pain and fatigue, I find it absolutely essential to living well.