KEEPING THE MOUTH GENTLE OPEN AND WEARING SHOES
Keeping the mouth gently open and wearing shoes
Question
Why must we keep our mouth open during chi kung practice?
— Anne, England
Answer
During chi kung practice, energy flow in the body clears off a lot of toxic waste. This toxic waste is cleared off from the body through the mouth. If the mouth is not kept open, the toxic waste may float to the head causing blockage, dizziness and other unpleasant results.
Closing the mouth makes a person tensed. Keeping the mouth open helps him to be more relaxed. This can be readily verified.
The mouth is also a very important outlet to express emotions. When a person is sad, he cries or wails and lets out the negative emotion. When he is worried, he sighs. Good emotions are also expressed through the mouth. When a person is happy, he laughs or smiles. Closing the mouth will lock up the emotions.
Not many people realize that keeping the mouth open facilitates mental clarity. In other words, you think better when your mouth is open. You can try that out yourself. Think of a simple problem with your mouth close and with your mouth open. Find out which way you can think better.
Question
Can we be bare-footed when practicing chi kung?
Answer
It is better to wear shoes when practicing chi kung. Ground energy is not good for human, and if you don't wear shoes and practice on the floor or open ground, ground energy may seep into you and this can be harmful.
But if you practice above the ground, or with carpet covering the ground, you may practice bare-footed if you find it more comfortable.
This philosophy is different from New Age philosophy which recommends going about bare-footed so as to absorb earth energy. They call this being rooted.
In chi kung, being rooted is the reverse. It is energy flowing from a practitioner's body down into the ground. Energy flowing upward is floating.
It is unfortunate that many people in the West regard chi kung, or debased chi kung gymnastics, as New Age. Genuine chi kung is not New Age, it is very ancient.
Ground energy is not suitable for humans, who are built for cosmic energy. You feel pleasant when going up a mountain where cosmic energy is abundant. Going underground where ground energy is plentiful is unpleasant. Ground energy is suitable for other beings like ants, bats, snakes, ghosts and lower spirits.
In chi kung philosophy, ground energy is different from grain energy, which may be translated as earth energy in Western culture. We obtain grain energy from food. Plants change ground energy into grain energy which is good for us.
With good functioning of our heart and kidneys we use cosmic energy from heaven and grain energy from earth in the ration of 80-20 to make vital energy. In chi kung terminology, this process is described in an arcane manner as using fire and water, we transform heaven energy and earth energy into vital energy.
The above is taken from Questions 7 and 8 September 2014 Part 2 of the Selection of Questions and Answers.
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