What is Qi?

This can be a daunting question for many practitioners to answer as the response to 'what qi is' in our minds is very expansive in scope, but I'm here to make it simple for you to grasp so that you can begin to see and incorporate its understanding into your life and understand how/why it's been utilized for over 4,000 years in Chinese medicine.

The simple answer is that Qi is everything.

Let's begin broadly and from there we will finish with explaining how you relate to qi.
Qi is the fluctuation seen within our entire universe.  It is the movement of the planets, day into night and season to season.  Look closer and ask yourself what does propel day into night?  This does not require you to abandon religious thought if you hold one; qi is not an explanation used in religion- it is a tool that is used to understand the mechanics of our macrocosm which provides answers and insights to our inner microcosm.

Let's take the changing of the seasons.  Beginning with spring, we say the qi is yang within yin, meaning that the yang is bursting through the yin- the sprout is bursting from the seed.  Spring holds that strength to propel growth.  This type of energy must be abundant at that time for these actions or else there would be no impetus for change- buds would never open on trees, baby birds would not have the energy to break free from their shells.  This is what we as practitioners talk about when we say 'Living in harmony with nature'.  Spring time is a good time to move, to change, to begin new growth.  Spring is related to the Liver as the Qi of the Liver is said to 'shoot up' within the body.  This is how we explain a person who is angry all the time having a red face, hypertension, dry eyes and dizziness- their Liver qi is TOO strong and shoot up too much.  Summer is the center and a time for harmony; we are nourishing ourselves and everything around is flourishing.  Summer is yang within yang- the height of energy just like noontime.  Fall is yin within yang- the yin is now beginning to come up and cool the yang.  It becomes a time to start collecting the fruits of your labor from the summer, to begin sifting through what you have experienced and parting with which you won't be needing.  Finally, winter is yin within yin.  This is the time for reflection, repair and preparation for spring- the tree sap goes deep within the tree at that time and the bear goes into hibernation.  Winter is quiet like the falling of snow.  This is one reason I believe the holidays are a stressful time for us because rather than staying inside and quieting our minds and bodies after a productive year, we are full yang!  We see everyone at parties, we cook huge meals, we shop endlessly and stay out late- there is no quiet time to recollect oneself and reflect on the year in preparation for spring and growth.  It's like we live in a perpetual summer when our environment does not reflect this.  This and diet are why so many people get sick in the winter.

I've given here a very broad answer as to how qi is understood in Chinese philosophy and daily life.  I will next focus on how we relate to qi, but if you start now, you can begin to glean those answers from what's been covered because the universe is within us.

I am a student at Southwest Acupuncture College in Albuquerque, New Mexico and welcome any and all questions.  Thank you- Collin