Health

In our pursuit of health (the state of being free from illness or injury) we discovered the magic of meditation, the wonderful benefits of fasting, and the infusion of mind, body, and spirit in prayer.  In this pursuit, we have come across various writings, videos, and artistic presentations which can further these efforts.  To be of additional service to you, we have compiled an assortment of these works which you may find helpful.   Please enjoy as we have.


 

Eye Health and Qigong


Fix Your Eyesight With These 8 Qigong Techniques

Published on May 3, 2016 by Sifu Anthony Korahais


[Update June 2017: I created a simple online course to teach all 8 of these exercises. Click here for details.]

I’ve got good news and bad news.

The good news is that it’s entirely possible to start healing your eyes — without surgery — so that you no longer need glasses.

Now here’s the bad news:  It takes work. A lot of work.

If you aren’t committed, if you can’t dedicate 10-15 minutes every morning to do these exercises, then don’t bother reading any further.   This method isn’t for you.

If you think you might have what it takes, then read on and learn a series of special qigong techniques that can dramatically improve your eyesight, whether you are nearsighted, farsighted, or have an astigmatism.

(If you’re new to qigong, you can read more about it here.)

Ideally, these exercises should be done in conjunction with my 5-Phase Qigong Routine. If you don’t know this routine, I strongly recommend that you learn it, even if you’ve learned other qigong styles. Not all qigong is the same, and I can only vouch for the effectiveness of the method that I teach.

If you have any questions as you practice these techniques, then please post them in the comments section below.  And post your successes too, even minor ones!

Let’s dive in:

Exercise #1 – The Closing Sequence

Go outside between dawn and about 10:00am.  The earlier, the better.  Don’t skip this step.   It’s critical to do all of the techniques outside, in the morning light.  There is something about the early morning light that stimulates healing in the eyes.

Once you’re outside, go through the Closing Sequence that we normally do at the end of the 5 Phase Routine.

Take a little longer than usual with the sequence, especially while holding the palms over the eyes.  (You can hold there for as long as five minutes.)

You’re going to continue doing the Closing Sequence throughout all of the stages, so make sure you know it well.

Exercise #2 – Counting Leaves

Stand a comfortable distance from a tree, plant, or bush with green leaves.  Using only your eyes (not your fingers), count the leaves.  Start with roughly 50 leaves, and gradually work up to 300.

If you run out of leaves, it’s fine to recount leaves that you’ve already counted.  In wintertime, you’ll need to find a suitable evergreen tree, or a bush.  If this isn’t possible for some reason, then bring your own leafy plant outside with you.  (Don’t forget to bring it back inside after!)

After Counting Leaves, finish with the Closing Sequence.

Exercise  #3 – Rolling Stars

With the eyes open, roll both eyeballs in big circles — ten times in one direction, and then ten times the other direction.  Make the circles as big as possible, and try not to move the head.

Then circle one eye clockwise, and the other one counterclockwise.  Just kidding!

Finish with Counting Leaves and the Closing Sequence.

Exercise #4 – Angry Eyes

Open both eyes as wide as possible and hold for about 2 seconds, and then shut both eyes as tightly as possible, holding for 2 seconds.  Repeat about 10 times.

Continue with Rolling Stars, Counting Leaves, and the Closing Sequence.

Exercise  #5 – Far and Near

Stare for a few seconds at a distant object like a cloud, or a tree, or a faraway object.  Then stare for a few seconds at a nearby object, like the tip of your nose, some grass at your feet, or the hairs on the back of your arm.   Repeat back and forth about 10 times.

Continue with Angry Eyes, Rolling Stars, Counting Leaves, and the Closing Sequence.  Practice this stage for 2 weeks before moving on.

Exercise #6 – Focusing on One

Stare gently at an object roughly 5-10 feet in front of you.  Keep the eyes steady and do not blink.  Hold for as long as you can, which may be a few seconds, or a few minutes.  At first, your eyes will get tired, and it will probably be uncomfortable.  Tears may roll down your eyes.  This is part of the healing process.  Don’t torture yourself, but don’t be a baby either.

Don’t get attached to the amount of time spent on this one.  Some days, you’ll last longer, while other days, you’ll get tired very quickly.

Continue with Angry Eyes, Far and Near, Rolling Stars, Counting Leaves, and the Closing Sequence.  Practice this stage for 2 weeks before moving on.

Exercise #7 – Nourishing Eyes

For this stage, start with the other exercises.  So begin with Focusing One, Far and Near, Angry Eyes, Rolling Stars, and Counting Leaves.  Then stand upright, relax, and close the eyes gently.  Let your Qi nourish your eyes.  At first, the eyes may feel itchy or tired.  This is a good sign, and it indicates that the Qi is working on the problem.

Over time, you’ll find that your eyes get more and more comfortable, and that your mind is clearer.

Finish the session with the Closing Sequence.

Exercise  #8 – Throwing Away Your Crutches

This stage is the hardest.  When you are confident that your eyes are improving, then it’s time to throw away your glasses or contact lenses. If you continue to use your glasses, then your eyes will never fully heal.  Remember — glasses and contacts make your eyes lazy.

As a temporary solution to help you build up confidence, try doing the eye exercises without your glasses.  Some of the stages won’t work, but some will.  Just do your best.

When you’re ready, resolve to take your glasses off for 1 hour every day.  (Obviously, don’t take them off during dangerous activities like driving.)  At first, it will be uncomfortable.  You’ll want to reach for your crutches.  But you can manage for 1 hour without them!

Gradually work up to 2 hours every day.  Then 3 hours.  Eventually, you’ll only need your glasses at night time, and you’ll be doing more and more of the morning exercises without glasses.  At this point, you can confidently get rid of your glasses completely.

Tips for Success

  1. Cheat.  If you don’t have time for all of the stages, then cheat.  Always do Exercise #1, but you can pair it with one or two of the other exercises as well.
  2. Eat lots of liver.  I know this sounds strange, but according to Chinese medical theory, eating liver will strengthen your Liver Channel, which in turn will strengthen your eyes.  If you are serious about healing your eyes, then eat liver at least once per week.  I recommend that you only buy organic liver.  My favorite recipe is chicken livers wrapped in bacon.  Yum!
  3. Rest.  If you aren’t sleeping enough at night, then your progress will be slower.   Rest your eyes, and your body, every night.
  4. Track your progress.  You can use my progress chart, or you can use your own method.  But please do something.  If you don’t measure your progress, then you won’t notice it, and you’ll quickly lose motivation.
  5. Don’t strain. Throughout your day, become aware of the tension that you hold in your eyes.  If you are constantly straining your eyes at work or at home, then you’re going to have to work even harder to heal them.
  6. Don’t rush.  Although many people start seeing results (see what I did there?) within a week, it will probably take anywhere from 3-12 months to fully heal your eyesight if you’ve been wearing glasses for years.  But isn’t that worth it? Take your time and enjoy the journey.
  7. Drink less.  If you drink a lot of alcohol, it will put an additional strain on your Liver Energy.  Cut down or quit for a while to strengthen your Liver Energy, which in turn will help heal your eyes.
  8. Renew your prescription.  If your eyes are improving and you haven’t yet thrown out your glasses, then go get a new prescription.  Yes, I know that it’s expensive, but it’s also concrete proof that your eyes are healing!  If you continue down that road, then pretty soon you won’t need to spend any more money on your eyes!
  9. Go outside.  In case you missed this advice earlier, it’s critical that you do the exercises outside.  Morning light has a quality that is very nourishing to the eyes.  Don’t skip this step.
  10. Comment.  If you’re having trouble, then come back to this article and post your questions and comments.  I’ll do my best to help, and you may get some advice from others as well!
  11. Get acupuncture.  If you want a big boost, then go see someone like my wife.  She’s a miracle worker, and she has also done a ton of post-graduate work on healing the eyes using acupuncture and alternative medicine. But any good acupuncturist should be able to help.

Note: This article was original published in 2012, but was completely revised and updated in May, 2016.  

From the heart,
Sifu Anthony

Related

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History of Qigong: The 5 Categories of Qi Cultivation

About the Author:

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I’m Anthony Korahais, and I used qigong (pronounced “chee gung”) to heal from clinical depression, low back pain, anxiety, and chronic fatigue. Today, I’m the director of Flowing Zen, an international organization with students in 48 countries. I’ve been teaching qigong since 2005, I’ve served on the board for the National Qigong Association, and I’ve helped thousands of people to use qigong for their own stubborn health challenges. If you’re ready to get started with qigong, there’s no better way than my best selling book, which comes with free videos and meditations. The sooner you read my book, the sooner you can start healing! Click here to look inside my book.

Forgiveness Through Fasting

For most Catholics, fasting is a foreign concept.  The closest most of us get to practicing it is during the Lenten season.  We give up chocolate or something similar and believe we are doing a great job.  It can be hard for us to take fasting seriously.

The purpose of fasting

I believe that fasting can relate to forgiveness and miracles, which are important themes in my ministry, Spirit Filled Hearts.  In my experience, it is only through the grace of God that we can be successful with fasting.  If you are like me, you would call any success with fasting a miracle.  However, in order to take our spirituality seriously, we need that miracle.

Indeed, the discipline of fasting releases favor from the Lord and blessings in our life.  Our ministries are set on fire when we fast.

Acts 13:2-3 – While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”  Then completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off.

What is fasting?  While there are many types of fasting, primarily, for our purposes, fasting is giving up food for a spiritual purpose.  When we fast, we get closer to God and develop greater intimacy with Him.  It is fasting that opens the door to many miracles.  It is fasting that gives us strength to endure trials.  It is fasting that will lead to the miracle of forgiveness.

A spiritual discipline

Prayer and fasting are important keys to spiritual breakthrough.  Much of this is protection against evil spirits who attack us, which includes a spirit of unforgiveness. We see this in the story of the healing of a boy with a demon.

Matthew 17:14-20 – Jesus rebuked [the boy] and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.  Then the disciples approached him in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”  He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Do you ever notice that when you are under spiritual attack, you either want to eat more or do something against the commandments?  It takes a great of discipline to be holy.  We are under assault by the enemy who wants to defeat us.  This often happens when someone does something of which we disapprove.  Our ability to get angry or not forgive goes up dramatically.

Fasting regimens

When we look at Scripture, we see different lengths of fasting.  Joshua had a forty day fast, Daniel twenty-one days, Paul had up to fourteen days, Peter three days and, of course, Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert.  This, some believe, implies an absolute fast, normal fast and the partial fast.

An absolute fast (no food or water for a short period of time) is extreme and should only be done with supreme caution and prayer.  We need to be sure that the Lord is calling us to this type of fast.  However, when we consider the degree of animosity and lack of forgiveness we have in some relationships, this type of fast may be necessary.  Consult your physician before doing this.

In this case, as with all fasts, there should be ongoing and persistent prayer.  I would call this the beginning of fervent prayer, which is intense prayer from the heart that leads us into a much closer relationship with God.  If there is a demonic spirit attacking us and giving us feelings of hatred or a lack of forgiveness, this type of fast can be effective.

A normal fast is what people can do to improve personal spirituality.  This is going without food for a certain period of time or number of days.  Drinking water is necessary and many times clear liquids, such as broth or fruit juices, accompany this fast. Again, consult your physician to make sure this is something that fits with your current health status.

A partial fast is what many of us are familiar with because of what we do during Lent.  This is giving up particular foods or liquids for period of time.  It is important that, through prayer, we determine what types of food or drink we fast from and for what length of time.  During our prayer, we need to focus on what area we need to be healed in respect to our challenges with forgiveness.

Fasting as spiritual warfare

When we are under attack and experience spiritual warfare, this type of fast is important. We see this in the Book of Daniel when he and his companions did not eat meats and sweets from the king’s table but only had vegetables and water. This was for ten days followed by another fast that included no rich food, meat or wine for three weeks. This entire time Daniel focused on prayer. This led to God’s miracles and his prayer being answered by an angel.

Often challenges with forgiveness are generational and rooted deep in our unconscious. We need drastic changes in our prayer and the type of fasting that will lead to miracles. We see this in the Book of Jonah and the story of Nineveh. You may remember that Jonah was not thrilled about going to Nineveh to tell them of their wickedness (Jonah 3).  All too often the Lord tells us to do something and we say, “No way.”

Fasting for a forgiving heart

How many times has the Lord told you to forgive someone and you have refused?  Some people I know have held grudges for so many years it doesn’t seem possible.  Brother against brother, cousin against cousin, daughters against fathers and mothers, sons the same.  Friends that drink the poison of not forgiving longtime friends due to behavior that they felt inappropriate.

Have we learned our lesson yet? Jonah’s aversion to doing God’s will was to show us that in spite of our rebellious and sinful behavior we can repent and turn back to the Lord. This can lead to great miracles and dramatic changes in our lives.

The story of Jonah is a critical one for us.  It teaches that we can run away from the Lord but we can’t hide. How long will we hold onto our bitterness? If we do, we will not follow what the Lord is asking us to do. Forgive without reservation. Forgive in the same way that God has forgiven us. When we finally forgive, miracles and blessings will flow into our lives. It is a guarantee. God is a good God who wants to bless us and give us incredible blessings.

Fasting to conquer sexual sin

One of the major areas polluting our spirits and our lives is sexual sin. This includes the epidemic of pornography. There are many people who have caught their spouses or those close to them in pornography or sexual sin. They feel they can’t forgive them. Or perhaps you can’t forgive yourself of your inability to get past sexual sin.

There is a story in the Book of Judges about a time of great sexual sin (Judges 19).  In the land of Gibeah, which belonged to the Benjamites, people were engaging in lewd homosexual acts. These men surrounded the house of a Levite to sexually abuse him. They ended up brutally raping and murdering a concubine. All the tribes of Israel rose up to punish the land of Benjamin. At first they were being defeated. God sent the prophet Phinehas with a message to both fast and pray. All the men fasted for 24 hours and broke the power of the sin and defeated their enemies.

There are evil spirits behind sexual sin and pornography. There are evil spirits behind adultery, which is often due to sins of lack of forgiveness.  All of these can and will be broken through prayer and fasting.  It is critical that strongholds are broken.  Prayer is critical but often fasting is also needed to break through sexual additions such as pornography, homosexuality, adultery and fornication.

When we have challenges and feel we don’t know what to do, we can look at the Book of Joel, fast and expect miracles.

Joel 1:14 – Proclaim a holy fast! / Call an assembly! / Gather the elders, / all who dwell in the land, / to the house of the Lord, your God, / and cry out to the Lord!

In Joel 3:1 we learn what God can do when we fast:

It shall come to pass / I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh./ Your sons and daughters will prophesy, / your old men will dream dreams, / and your young men will see visions.

When we add fasting to our pursuit of holiness we are using a huge spiritual weapon. It’s the reason why Jesus fasted before He faced the devil in the desert. Fasting gives us strength against the enemy and guides us. The Holy Spirit comes upon us when we fast. When we fast we act in the way the Lord has taught us. It is this level of holiness that will transform us into people of forgiveness and peace.