197 Self-Care & Empowerment Through Qigong: Interview With Jennie Delich

Chris McDonald: Therapists, are you ready to unlock a powerful tool for self care and empowerment? Are you looking for a simple practice that is easy to learn, accessible anywhere, and comes with a multitude of physical and mental health benefits? In this episode of the Holistic Counseling Podcast, we're exploring the ancient practice of Qigong.

Discover how this blend of breath, gentle movement can help you and your clients reduce stress, boost your vitality, and step into your true power. You'll get to experience the power of Qigong in this episode as well and learn what the benefits are. So take a deep breath. Settle in and let's embark on this journey to self care and empowerment through Qigong.

This is Holistic Counseling, the podcast for mental health therapists who want to deepen their knowledge of holistic modalities and build their practice with confidence. I'm your host, Chris McDonald, licensed therapist. I am so glad you're here for the journey.

Do you have any ethical or legal concerns about blending holistic modalities with traditional therapy? Is this holding you back from integrating these? You are not alone. There are some things to consider to protect your license and practice before diving into holistic counseling strategies. This is why I created my one hour recorded training, The Ethical and Legal Considerations of Holistic Counseling.

In it, we will explore how to protect yourself against liability as a holistic therapist. You will learn more about scope of practice versus scope of competence and informed consent. Also addressed is how you can expand your therapy practice ethically into the holistic realms and where to draw the line.

I also address the ethics of research based interventions and how this works for holistic counseling practices. You get all this plus one continuing education contact hour. To learn more, go to hcpodcast. org forward slash ethics course. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash ethics course. Welcome to another episode of the Holistic Counseling Podcast, where I help therapists deepen their knowledge of holistic modalities and build their practice with confidence.

I'm your host, Chris McDonald, and here to guide you on this journey. Thanks for being here. For those who don't know, I am rebranding this podcast to a more yoga focused podcast very soon. So it's been a journey for me the past three, about three and a half years. Now I've been doing the holistic counseling podcast.

It's been a lot to keep up with. I've had a lot of Weekly, sometimes two episodes a week at times. So I did get a little burned out with it, but I'm re energized with this transition, little anxious, but some excitement. And of course, passion with this. Cause I love yoga. I feel like it's really where I'm aligned both personally and professionally.

And that's where I want to go with my business. How I moved towards this as well with moving more towards yoga, as I started a yoga basics course for therapists, because I heard from listeners, I had focus groups over the years. And that is the number one thing I've heard, even with messages from listeners that they want to learn how to integrate yoga.

into sessions. And that's kind of how I had this idea to kind of move it in that direction. But I want you to tune in next week as well for my pivot episode, where I talk about my reasons for Rebrain. I'm going to get a little more into that, a little in depth and what to expect. I have some really exciting and fun changes on the way I think you're going to love.

So stay tuned for that and the new podcast, Yoga in the Therapy Room. Drop September 18th with three episodes. So you can jump right in and binge those, and then we'll be back on track. And it's going to be in the same RSS feed. That means that you don't have to go search for it on your podcast platform.

So just, just get ready for that and don't be shocked when you see the new show art and the new name. So that is the new name, which I'm so happy with. Cause it really embodies everything that I want to bring to you. Back to today's episode. So we're diving into a powerful practice that has been used for centuries to help create balance, health, and inner strength.

That is Qigong. Oftentimes I know in this world, we find ourselves, especially as mental health therapists, pulled in multiple directions, and it can be exhausting. It can be overwhelming, but with Qigong, we can find these moments of peace and empowerment. It can be part of our self care practice. It can really help build emotional resilience.

And here to bring us more understanding of this topic is Jenny Delich. Jenny is a Qigong instructor and educator who finds joy in inviting others to explore mindful movement. She founded Qi Curious Qigong in the belief that Qigong is for everyone and sees the potential for this accessible practice to have profound impacts.

We'll explore also how Qigong can be a fantastic tool in your self care routine, helping you to release stress, boost vitality, and step into your power with greater clarity and confidence. So take this journey with me today into the wisdom of this practice and discover how you can use Qigong to nurture yourself you From the inside out.

Welcome to the holistic counseling podcast, Jenny. Hello. Hello. Thank you very much

Jennie Delich: for having me, Chris.

Chris McDonald: So great to have you here. So I thought we'd start with, I was wondering what inspired you to start practicing Qigong and how has it impacted your personal journey?

Jennie Delich: Indeed. Well, to be honest, I have one of my brothers and a good friend to thank.

We were sitting around the table one evening discussing different energy practices, different ways of working with the natural world. And they brought up this thing called Qigong. And I had been a belly dancer for many years. So through that belly dance, I had grown into a love of embodied movement, but I was also getting to a point in my life where the pressure to perform was getting It wasn't really resonating with me so much anymore.

So when they brought up Qigong, I actually popped on YouTube and looked up one of Mimi Kodimer's videos and started working with her forms and I was hooked. That was a very natural, easy transition for me to move from belly dance to Qigong, because Qigong really spoke to what I loved about the dance, but turned it into a personal practice.

I delighted in that. So that was my interest. in it and how it's built in my life. Well, it came at a very advantageous time for me. I was working a full time online corporate position and we were heading into the pandemic and things were a bit stressful in my head. So having Qigong as a tool in my toolkit, at first it was just a physical practice.

I've always enjoyed having that embodied physical practice, but as I kept with it, I started to realize that it was having pronounced benefits in my emotional state, in my mental state, and being able to negotiate that stressful work environment also ultimately helped me see that that stressful work environment wasn't necessarily where I wanted to be for the rest of my life.

So, I think in a nutshell, that's kind of. What my journey was

Chris McDonald: got to, so I used to belly dance as well, but I wonder, can you integrate belly dance and she gone?

Jennie Delich: That could be I mean the answer to that is yes. I may have done that a few times To be honest, you know, a lot of the isolations of belly dance, I think, speak to a lot of the underlying structures that make up Qigong forms.

So, uh, for example, we're in the earth phase right now, and we work from moving from center a lot with the earth phase. So it's my excuse to pull out a little bit of the, the pelvic and hip work of belly dance and get my students really thinking about their, their physical movement relationship with center.

before we get into the energetics of that area. So sure. Yeah. I think belly dance can inform Qigong in a lot of ways too. Yeah. I hear you.

Chris McDonald: I've thrown in some belly dance when I teach yoga and everybody giggles and laughs and they have a good time with it. So I think, and that's what I love about you is, is I know you talk about how it's like playful at times with Qigong and I think that can be so powerful.

Absolutely.

Jennie Delich: Absolutely. To me, it is It is a playful meditation, and for those of you who have seen my logo, I put creatures in it. My animals, and I needed a fifth animal, so I threw in an octopus, because I think the octopus is mind distributed in a nice metaphor. But I chose the animals for my logo because I think they represent that sense of play.

And I think that sense of play is really important in Qigong. And it's not something that necessarily comes naturally to everyone right away, you kind Thank you. want to play with the forms, work into them a little bit, and then you can develop a connection with kind of the natural metaphor behind the forms.

And I think that's when the play comes up. I also see it happening a lot in, especially in person classes, when there's a lot of students flowing together, they start to see that nobody's perfect and Qigong's not really about being perfect anyway. And then you get a few giggles, you get, you know, Ah, some sighs of relief and people start to really find their way into themselves as well as the shared space among them.

And I think that's when play arises kind of without thinking about it.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. Isn't that true that without thinking about it, we just got to let it flow, don't we? All about flow. It's all about flow. Exactly. So, well, let's back up for a moment. So for listeners who don't know what Qigong is, can you talk about what it is and where it originated from?

Jennie Delich: Absolutely. Yeah. So Qigong is a mindful movement practice to put it very simply. Uh, it originates out of China and it's basically a collection of ancient movement practices that spans different regions of China over different periods of time. One of my favorite trick questions is, is Qigong an ancient practice, or is it a modern practice?

It's a trick question because the term Qigong actually didn't come into popular use until the 1900s. It was coined in the 1800s basically to create an umbrella to codify these disparate energy practices and put them kind of together. And I think the first paper that was published using the term Qigong and in a medical sense was in, I think, 1930s.

So as a group of practices known as Qigong, it is fairly modern. However, they trace their roots back to a lot of ancient forms. These practices relate to martial arts. So people are often a lot more familiar with Tai Chi and Tai Chi actually is a form of Qigong. It can fit under that umbrella. It does tend to be more martial.

in its presentation. Whereas when I use the term Qigong and when a lot of contemporary teachers and practitioners use the term Qigong today, we're often talking about a little softer practice, a little more meditative practice. But Qigong can span martial, meditative, and medical styles. And it usually is kind of a mix of all of those.

So, I think that's, in a nutshell, what the origin of Qigong is. So it's ancient and modern. Ancient and modern, absolutely. And if we break down the term, there isn't a precise, beautiful translation in English, to be perfectly honest, and I have a history in linguistics, so I like to kind of make that clear, that qi itself, we often translate as energy, life force, energy, but it does not have rather a distinct connotation in the Chinese context, mostly in the verb you might put with it, where we think of energy as moving or as causing things.

Qi itself is usually more about resonance, resonating, things co occurring, things having the blueprints already in themselves and waiting to manifest. So, qi. We can simplify to life force energy, but I like to acknowledge that it's a bit more than that. And then gong, we can simplify to work, but it's a skillful work.

It's not the kind of work you get done in a morning. This is the kind of work that you dedicate a personal practice to over time and you grow with. So qigong, if we're simple with it, energy work, but bear in mind the deeper resonance as well. How does it differ from yoga? We could probably go through a laundry list of how it differs from yoga.

But, um, the thing that leaves to mind for me is kind of the shape, the shapes that you're using with yoga and, and as a belly dancer, I had a very consistent complimentary yoga practice and belly dance instructors were also yoga instructors in my personal history. So that kind of went hand in hand for a while in my life.

And there was a lot of. Expansive stretching. And I feel like even overstretching sometimes with yoga where you're, you're reaching to edges a lot and kind of lengthening things. Whereas with Qigong, the shapes you make are a lot more round, softer, less angular for want of a better term. So I think that's what my mind goes to when I compare the two.

However, they're also complimentary in that there is a shared path through history, similar influences informed both. So where you have the chakra system through yoga, you have the three dan tien and qi gong, and they do align with each other. And qi gong, you might practice a microcosmic orbit. meditation, and you'll find yourself working through different points in that orbit that speak to the chakra system.

So, you know, these mappings overlay, and a lot of that comes through again, that, that shared history through India, China related regions, Buddhism being an influence Taoism, I think, To me, Daoism is kind of the philosophic heart and soul of Qigong. You don't need to be a Buddhist to practice Qigong. You don't need to be anything to practice Qigong.

So it's not a religious practice? Not a religious practice, no. And I, you know, I would make that very clear to anyone who might be hesitating for that reason. It does not presuppose a belief system. It does utilize metaphors. That can often be traced to Taoist philosophy, but Taoism in and of itself, I see as a philosophy that philosophy has been mapped into various religions, but in and of itself at its heart, it's simply a way of looking at our relationship with the natural world.

Qigong being reflective of that relationship.

Chris McDonald: And I know from the Qigong that I've learned that it really ties into nature a lot. And they, it brings it into the forms. Can you share how that works? Absolutely.

Jennie Delich: Yeah, very much the power of metaphor and visual and embodied metaphor. I think the five element.

system is one of the areas where we see that metaphor coming forward a lot. And the five elements also, um, a nice anchor back to traditional Chinese medicine. So in that system, we work with different elements throughout different times of the year. We work with different elements to connect with different systems of the body.

And so for example, we find ourselves in the earth element right now with late summer harvest season. And so we'll be calling to mind a connection with the earth. And in that connection with the earth, we might do things like cleansing the system, removing any toxic thoughts. any emotions that aren't serving us and giving them to the earth.

So we've got kind of this visual physical metaphor of giving to the earth and the earth being naturally very good at composting. So things that don't serve us well could serve the earth. In the spring, if we look at the opposite side of the calendar, we have wood energy and we work a lot with the energy of trees.

So a lot of the forms that you employ in the spring will mimic the movement and motion of trees. So you might be drawing the sap up through your system, so to speak, drawing the chi up. Yeah, lots of lovely natural metaphor and also a suggestion to practice in nature. Whenever that's possible and available to you, you know, there've been a lot of studies about like the benefit of grounding going barefoot on the earth and whenever the season and the weather allows, that is a great way to practice is just step outside and put your feet in the grass.

do a little bit of Qigong. Not required though. One should never limit themselves because they don't have breath.

Chris McDonald: Yeah, but it is powerful because I know when I've done yoga classes outside there's something different about doing it outside and seeing the sky and the trees and the earth and something about that connection.

I could see with Qigong that would be powerful as well. Absolutely.

Jennie Delich: Yeah. And since we are using those metaphors, you know, you're bridging the earth below and the sky above, there's nothing stopping you from doing those flows inside your house. But when you do them outside, of course, there's a little more of that resonance with the natural world.

And, uh, you're encouraged to feel yourself as a part of that natural world in Qigong. Uh, there's the perspective of oneness that permeates, uh, both Taoist philosophy and Qigong practice. And so, you know, we'll do a lot of standing meditation. And for example, there is a form embracing the one pretty simple form.

You're just simple standing posture, palms float up and gently staring at the chest and You breathe with it. And in that posture of embracing the one, see yourself as the one, see yourself within the one. Take that where your mind and presence takes that. So it's very much seeing ourselves as Reflected in nature and a necessary part of nature.

Chris McDonald: Yeah. I noticed you were standing. So for listeners that can't see her, she had her arms in front, made up, you made like a circle, right? So it looks like fingertips pointing to each other around. So is it, you just stand like in mountain pose, like yoga standing post. Since you bring

Jennie Delich: it up, it is a little bit like Tadasana, a little bit like mountain pose.

Um, but the pose itself in Qigong is called Wuji. Wuji pose. Okay. Wuji posture. Yeah. And it's. Got some distinct differences if you want to break down the difference. Yeah. Yeah. So with Tadasana, you know, your feet are usually fairly close together with Wuji. They're rather purposely a little farther apart.

We often say about shoulder distance apart, shoulder distance apart with the feet aligned front to back and the weight distributed evenly across all quadrants of the foot. So you've got this notion in Qigong of stacking your bones, this idea that if your alignment Is well aligned between earth and sky kind of take the pressure off your muscles by having your bones support you.

So Wuji posture uses that stance. There's a nice neutral pelvis when you're in Wuji, or you might even tuck the pelvis a little bit forward or for the belly dancers present. That'll be an easy one for anyone else. You might want to work with it. Take a moment. Yeah. Yep. And then, yeah, um, spine open, skull open to the sky above and then arms are relaxed at the sides.

We usually say a breath between the arms and the body, just so long as you can keep your shoulders relaxed. So everything in Qigong is negotiable. And I think that's one of the brilliant things about Qigong. Flexibility,

Chris McDonald: yeah.

Jennie Delich: Yeah, a benefit if you are using it in a therapeutic context. I like to be very clear with my students, you know, this is your practice and it is intended to be your practice.

And what I mean by that is, You know, I'll share the baseline forms with you. We'll work on those together, but you know your body best. Even if you don't feel like you know it best yet, through the practice of Qigong, you'll get to know it more and more. And start, you start where you are, wherever that is, listening to your body and make subtle adjustments.

So I can describe that Wuji posture to you. But you know, if you know that you need a stance, that's a little closer together, then you do that. If you know that you've got tight shoulders, then you just work on relaxing those arms to the best of your ability. Yeah, modifications are always welcome. That great sense of body awareness.

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Check it out at hcpodcast. org forward slash workbook. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash workbook today. So I know that you talked about wanting to share about how it's good for self care. So a lot of therapists listening have trouble spending time on self care and putting themselves first, always putting others first.

So how could Qigong help with self care?

Jennie Delich: Right. Yeah, I might harken back to my own experience a little bit because, uh, when I found myself in that rather overwhelming corporate context where honestly, I just felt like I couldn't give enough at a certain point. Like it just, it wasn't in me to possibly live up to the standards I was being asked to live up to.

I know that was a perception I had at the time, but that's where my head was at at the time, working with my own counselor through. working through my Qigong and kind of combining the two, it really helped me to see past that perspective. And I think that's. Something that Qigong can be very complimentary for.

I think a lot of that comes through the embodiment. Once you get yourself in a state of somatic awareness, and you're really tapping in to the conversation between yourself, your body, your place in space and time. That's when the rumination on the past can drop away, the future projecting can drop away, and you do find yourself working in the present moment.

And, you know, that is beneficial in and of itself. So it can be really good medicine even when you are in a stressful situation. I would also encourage regularity and personal practice, whatever that means to each individual, you know, one Qigong session is great. Cool. That's fine. You'll love it, but coming up with a regular practice where you return to the Qigong again and again, whether that's every day, a couple of days a week.

even once a week. You'll start to build a conversation with yourself there that I do think is very therapeutic and it's the type of therapy you give to yourself. I think that's a brilliant reality of Qigong is it's self help.

Chris McDonald: Therapy you give to yourself. I want to put a highlight through that. Yes.

Jennie Delich: It helps to have a teacher.

It helps to have mentors and guides along the way, of course. And, and sometimes just on the physical maneuvers of the forms, but, but the simple is the profound with Qigong. And so you don't need to get wrapped up in super complex forms. You can find a few things that really resonate with you and repeat those on a regular basis.

And that can help you to find this sense of presence to settle into it. And the more often you return to that, the more readily it will be available to you. To me, that's part of the beauty. of self care. I can go into a few other thoughts on how I find it therapeutic, but I think that's the short and sweet version.

Chris McDonald: So what would it help clients with anxiety, depression, those kinds of concerns?

Jennie Delich: I think it could. I think it very much could. You know, I've worked with students who are going through usually life changes, major upheavals of one sort or another where they're Off kilter anxiety very much. We know that it's quite pervasive in the world in general right now, no matter what level that's at and acute depressive states where, you know, you're working through something and you don't quite have the tools to see past that I won't discount working with a counselor definitely should be on your toolkit list.

But I think Qigong is a compliment to that. It allows you to extend that therapy outside of the context of a coaching session and find a way to anchor yourself in the present at any given moment. The breath is a huge tool and. We all breathe, of course, but just understanding, you know, intentional breathing.

Exactly. It's a foundation of Qigong, but also it's probably your easiest, your easiest Qigong practice in any moment for shifting from one state to another. So if you find your sympathetic nervous system is getting over activated by anxiety, by an acute situation, you're getting triggered. Turning into the breath if you can.

is step one. And if you find a little intentional movement to contribute to that, that can take it up to the next level and really bring you into the present moment. All Qigong will help to shift the nervous system. There are specific associations in Qigong that can take it even deeper. We often associate the wood element with the nervous system.

So wood element practices. are particularly good for the nervous system. I didn't realize that. Yeah. It's part of, part of that traditional Chinese medicine connection with Qigong is each of the elements, you can go down a laundry list of these associations, different systems in the body that associate with each element.

And yeah, so for nervous system would, but then, you know, I just put out a couple complimentary practices for the nervous system that were a request from a friend. And she was describing someone in her life who is feeling their nervous system triggered regularly. And through this triggering of the nervous system, also it's leading to insomnia and trouble sleeping.

So with those things combined, um, I actually went into something called the triple burner with the practice that I first created for this individual. The triple burner is not something we often talk about in Western health practices because it is very specific to traditional Chinese medicine. Triple burner system is.

It's said to help to balance the three quadrants of the abdomen, the lower, the middle, the upper burner. It's also in doing this said to help us with kind of our, our interpersonal relationships and how we present ourselves. In the world, how we perceive ourselves in that presentation to so a balanced triple burner is said to, you know, help us not be to aloof, nor to forward.

So brings us into kind of state of balance. That also can be something we take over to the nervous system. So, in this particular case, you know, I combined attributes of the wood element with attributes of the triple burner system to work for. nervous system triggering that also combines with insomnia.

So a lot of different formulas and mixing and matching you can do if you decide to go down the rabbit hole of Qigong and, and these different connections.

Chris McDonald: Absolutely. So is there any physical benefits as well?

Jennie Delich: Well, I mean, the, the clear ones were, we're working with We're stretching. So there's some natural flexibility that comes into practice.

So building your flexibility, also gently building strength. There's a lot of Qigong that will help to strengthen your musculature, strengthen your connective tissues, but do it in a low impact way. Qigong goes very counter to how we see physical exercise and strength training in the Western world. Often we're not going to go.

Lift weights, but we will use the weight of our own body. Also that Wuji posture that I described earlier, it's a foundational posture through a lot of Qigong and doing a full practice and Wuji for new practitioners. Usually the comments I get is, Oh my goodness, I didn't realize how much strength that was going to take.

And. There are a few things to answer to that. Always feel free to sit down for a portion of practice early on. And there are different ways to modify stance because it will have the effect on the body of building up strength. These standing postures, like the one that we described earlier, embracing the one, the arms are floating out in front of you.

And your goal is to work with relaxation. Uh, but that is not something that necessarily. naturally to everyone in this form right away. So it's, it's a process of negotiating with your physical body and really feeling into where are my edges, where are my limits? Now, what might be counterintuitive to a lot of people in the West is that in Qigong were invited to.

Soften away from those. Don't push into them. Soften away. So this notion of two thirds effort, where I might be trying out this pose for the first time, I'm embracing the one, my arms are floating up in front of me, and you know, maybe the teacher's cuing a five minute practice, but to be perfectly honest, if this isn't something you've done before, one minute is going to be enough.

You're, you know, Very much going to be working on the strengthening and the strengthening with relaxation. It's hard to hold that relaxation for an extended period of time right away. So strength system, connective tissues, we're working with ligaments and joints, we're hydrating. Um, in those areas with a lot of these flowing forms, there are specific forms that really just target that hydration of the joints.

So Qigong being a practice that serves us as we age, you can see how this could be really beneficial for longevity as we move forward in life. And then the breath that we use with Qigong. hugely beneficial. The lymphatic system is a system that I often like to bring up through qigong practice because we talk a lot about our blood circulation, our circulatory system, blood pressure, etc, etc.

Qigong benefits this of course, but we don't often talk about our lymphatic system. Now the circulatory system has the heart. As a pump, that's great. The lymphatic system has you as a pump. So if you are not moving, your lymph isn't moving either, at least not as successfully as it could be if you were helping it along.

So there's a lot of movement in Qigong that helps the lymph. The breath itself helps the lymph. Learning to breathe into the abdomen, deep diaphragmatic breathing, not only is that soothing for the nervous system. but it helps to move the lymph through the system so that you have a better immune response.

Many, many physical benefits of Qigong.

Chris McDonald: And a lot of this is research based too, because I did look that up. Some of, there is research on this and the benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong. So I know therapists are always interested in looking at science too. And, and it's out there. I was surprised how much it has been out there.

I don't know if you can talk to that at all.

Jennie Delich: Yeah, there, there is a lot of research. And it's interesting kind of the flavors of research that you'll find around Qigong. Some of my favorites, you know, I've got my bookshelf over here. Like one of the classics that I think is really nice is The Web That Has No Weaver.

It's a great book, um, by Ted J. Kapchuk. And he does a really nice job of bridging the Western and Eastern perspectives in traditional Chinese medicine. Now that book itself is not focused on Qigong specifically, but kind of the traditional Chinese medicine perspective. But as you step out and look at some of the research, you're going to find a blend.

You'll find a lot of studies coming out of China that will speak to the benefits of Qigong, bear in mind, the research principles coming out of China are different. So, you know, there's, there's different things going on, different things that are being observed. So I just say, you know, as you dig into studies, you know, also dig into their origins, their perspectives, and, um, that will be more telling.

But yeah, even in the West, People are starting to look into, you know, what is really going on when we talk about qi? Because how do we measure qi? It really isn't a great answer to that yet. I'll point to another book, which is another one of the This is maybe the Qigong classic is The Way of Qigong by Kenneth S.

Cohn. This is a good one if you want to kind of look at studies that have been done to the as close as we can get to measuring qi. We can often measure kind of the side effects of purported chi manipulation. There's some studies pointed to in that book that talk about chi healing, which is kind of taking it to another level.

That's working with the interpersonal where a Qigong practitioner first, I think it takes a certain type of individual, but also has built up their chi practice to a point where they are very good at projecting healing chi toward others. And, you know, there are studies where put a healer in one room and You put a recipient in the other and they can measure things like brain waves and body heat and, you know, the things we're good at measuring.

And there's changes, but, um, but what does that say about chi? There's still kind of a big question mark as to, you know, Where is the chi? But we, so chi is something that, you know, it's there, we feel, but can that be proved? Let me know if you find proof in the definitive scientific sense.

Chris McDonald: I think that's difficult, but I think just the slowing down is what my experience is.

Teaching people to move slower really helps the turn on that parasympathetic nervous system. And this is my evidence from clients that I've worked with in mental health. Therapy sessions is they make tremendous progress, so I assign it as homework as well as doing some in session because I integrate with yoga and, you know, together, but clients, I'm just going to tell you, you know, people love yoga.

They love some my clients are just like. This is amazing. It's just like a, to me, it's like a soothing kind of practice and, and clients really that take it on, if they are able, like you said, to do a consistent practice, that they see the results with their mental health. And I'm seeing them less in session, which is great.

Cause they're making improvements. You know, the effectiveness is just shown. And, and what I've seen, I mean, this is. This is real. This is really helping people. I think to, like you said, developing awareness, connecting to self, that embodiment, you know, it's all tied in, isn't it? With self care.

Jennie Delich: I think so.

And I'm, I think it's brilliant that you're having that kind of success with your clients today. Yeah, absolutely. And it doesn't ask back to you. It doesn't need to be complicated, right? I'm sure the homework you're giving them is not, no, very simple, not a huge, you know, five element breakdown, but

Chris McDonald: I think you said it earlier, you said simple, but profound, right?

I think just taking that, even just. Yeah, just a few minutes for yourself. And that goes for therapists listening that, you know, this is a beneficial practice for you. And then if you learned some of these two to teach clients, then you have the dual benefit, right? Your client's benefiting and you're benefiting too.

It's just, it's a beautiful thing for sure.

Jennie Delich: I'd say like hint, hint, um, you need a self help moment in the middle of a session and your client also does. do some Qigong together because yes, I just taught class this morning and I love it. It's the exchange of Qi between myself and my students is, you know, I have a background in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

So in a different context, but teaching Qigong is just such a profound experience of recognizing where you're energy ends and where others begins and where you share that space and it can be so satisfying to share teaching. Absolutely.

Chris McDonald: So can you share a simple Qigong practice with listeners today?

Jennie Delich: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, when, when you first asked me about that, I was, I was thinking, you know, what have I found really therapeutic myself? And, you know, one of the most simple practices I learned was such a shift for me was a practice called hands to heart. I'll describe what happened for me and then share that practice with you.

The practice invites you to just bring your palms over your heart, tuck your chin. And this was early in my Qigong journey when I first had that introduction. And my first reaction was, oh goodness, that's just so cheesy. Should I do that? Am I allowed to do that? You know, we've got this societal.

conversation around us all the time that kind of puts on us, like, to be tender to yourself. Like, what is that? Are you, are you even allowed to do that? And so that was my initial reaction and just that physical motion. And yet I went through the motion. And I think this is where, like, there is a benefit to going through the motion, even if you don't feel yourself resonating with it yet.

Because as I went through that motion, I just felt the greatest release and such tender care toward my own heart that I really hadn't had permission to feel before. And I think that's huge gift you can give both to yourself and to someone else. So that practice, fold one palm over the other at the heart, gently tuck the chin and just take a few moments to connect with the breath.

Feel that breath deepening into the abdomen. Feel it filling up into the heart, and we'll transition with the exhale. So taking an inhale here and then exhaling, we'll allow those palms to gently float up off the heart. They're going to expand, arms opening to the side and your heart opening to the world around.

And then inhale, gathering back into the heart. And you can repeat as many rounds as you like, but let's just do three together. Exhaling, releasing as you open out into the world, letting your heart shine, sharing your heart. And then inhaling, bringing tenderness, joy, love into the heart. And once more, opening out.

And of course, doing this in your own time, follow your own breath. Let that heart shine out, and then take a moment to gather back in, resting one palm over the other at heart center. Allow the chin to tuck and just be with your own heart. Might even feel as if there's some radiance coming from your palms.

Glowing bright red at heart center, red like a ruby, red like a rose. And when you're ready to complete the form, I like to allow the palms just to brush down the center line of the body. Helps to soothe the nervous system. And they can rest. over the lower abdomen to complete the practice. I'm so relaxed now.

for sharing that. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah.

Chris McDonald: That's what I love is simple practices though, that are accessible to everyone.

Jennie Delich: Absolutely. Yeah. And that one, when I met it, I felt a little cynical and it transformed me almost instantly. And that may or may not be the case with anyone you share it with. But I think like I'm thinking of clients who may be having trouble connecting with the emotional center and, and they may also scoff at, you know, connect with my heart.

I don't know. Like that might not be something that's accessible to everyone right away. They might not be in that place. But if they're willing to simply go through the motion with you and wake up the physical body and even just do it as a physical practice or do it as a meditation in motion, allow the conversation between the person and their heart.

to rise naturally. And I think it will.

Chris McDonald: Yeah, I love that. So what's the takeaway you could share with therapists who may want to start a Qigong practice, but they're not sure where to, where to start? What's the best place to get going with it?

Jennie Delich: Right, right. I mean, shameless self plug. I'd say pop on over to QiCuriousQigong.

com and shoot me a comment. I'd be happy to work with you, but, but I'm not the only one. There are a lot of great places to kind of. dig in. And so, you know, I'll take an opportunity also to give a shout out to some of my teachers. Mimi Quodamur, I mentioned earlier, she's brilliant. She's got a few nice freebies out on YouTube, but she also does some really nice seasonal workshops that are available online.

So I'd check those out. Lee Holden is a go to name in Qigong. Again, a lot is available through Lee. He does a lot of random freebies if you want to get on his mailing list. And he's a, he's certainly a masterful practitioner at this point. His history of study is huge and expansive. So I think I'd give you those two names as really good starting points.

And I might also toss in Marissa Cranfill's Yochi. Library is a great place. If you're looking for kind of an inventory of practice. Uh, she has a pretty approachable subscription, but you know, feel free to shoot me a line if you want to chat a little more.

Chris McDonald: It's beautiful. We have all these options now too, that YouTube is there.

We can try it for free. See if we like it or not. Kind of go from there. So what's the best way for listeners to find out more about you?

Jennie Delich: Well, um, they can drop by. She curious. She gong. com. And feel free to send me a contact form. Hello. Uh, as well, I offer some online classes and if you happen to be kind of in the general Portland, Oregon area, I offer in person classes.

So lovely to connect in class, but I'm also open to different collaborations and educational opportunities. So. Got something in mind, let me know. I'm on Instagram and Facebook, so feel free to follow along there. All of that's under Chi Curious Chi Gong. And we'll have

Chris McDonald: that in the show notes, listeners, so you can check her out.

But thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Jenny. This was great. Thank you, Chris. It was a pleasure to share. I appreciate the time. And that brings us to the end of another episode. Be sure to tune in next Wednesday when another episode drops. And listeners, thanks for being a part of this today. And a question for you.

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Go to hcpodcast. org. forward slash workbook. That's hcpodcast. org forward slash workbook. And once again, this is Chris McDonald sending each one of you much light and love till next time. Take care. Thanks for listening. The information in this podcast is for general educational purposes only, and it is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are giving legal financial counseling or any other kind of professional advice.

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