The Creation Spiral in Qigong - Olivier Rijcken

The Zhineng Qigong practice is more than just movement, it goes beyond the physical aspect and has the intention of mindful creation. In today's Qigong podcast, Oliver Rijcken discusses how visualisation plays a critical role in manifesting our inner desires.

Manifestation is a natural consequence of our intentions being aligned with the Qi Field. In Qigong the Qi field is the foundation whereby information is fed. This information could be about health and wellbeing or about dreams and goals. It's important when practicing Qigong is to use visualization techniques. This will set an intention and an outcome of your inner hopes.

Once you reach a particular goal, it's important to acknowledge and celebrate your achievements. However big or small, Olivier says they are all significant. Adopting a mindset of gratitude in Qigong is also very important. Being grateful for the achievement and for help you might've received along the way. It's not a moment to inflate ego, as ego is quite the opposite mindset in Qigong, but more to have a positive feedback loop between intention and outcome - similarly to that of the "opening" and "closing" metaphor in the La Qi method. Thankfulness extends to Qigong practitioners, Qigong and fellow Qigong students (sometimes even our true selves) acknowledging the collective vital life force energy that fuels progress within Qigong or in many cases the Qi field.

Along with celebrating the wins in Qigong, stillness is also important. It's a moment to reflect on what has been achieved and what new creative ideas can emerge. It's also a moment to rest as it seems like life today is always about the chase and "the next big thing". In Qigong it's a reminder that personal development is a marathon not a sprint, it fosters a balance between thing that have been achieved and things to come - oneness: a key aspect of Zhineng Qigong.

Mindful moments:

• Qigong combines physical movement with mindful visualization for transformation
• The Qi Field acts as a conduit for channeling health and wellness intentions
• Zhineng Qigong uses visualization to connect intentions with outcomes
• Practitioners balance celebrating success with maintaining humility
• The practice uses "opening" and "closing" to represent intention and outcome, like La Qi.
• Gratitude extends to both personal growth and collective practitioner energy
• Personal development in qigong is viewed as a gradual, balanced journey
• Zhineng Qigong emphasizes oneness and interconnected achievement
• Qigong develops understanding of Qi energy for personal growth

Links & Resources:

📧 Email Olivier: hello@olivierrijcken.nl

🎬 Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/br2dRkBN3OM
🎨 Olivier's Illustration Website: https://www.iktekenvoorverandering.nu/
🌐 Website: https://olivierrijcken.nl/

🎮 Discover Qigong Game: https://www.zhineng-qigong-students-hub.com/discover-qigong/

🎙️🌟Explore more podcasts, events, and resources visit:
https://www.zhineng-qigong-students-hub.com/

📘📚 Get your FREE E-book on the "Eight verses meditation" by Dr Pang:
https://www.zhineng-qigong-students-hub.com/exploration-of-the-eight-verses-of-zhineng-qigong-meditation-e-book

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Transcript

Qigong is more than just a physical practice. And even the physical practice itself goes beyond the movements. So Olivier Rijcken asked himself, what do I actually use my practice for? With the help of the creation spiral, he turns his vision into creation and goes further by adding what we often forget, to celebrate.

Let us learn from his experience. My name is Torsten Lueddecke and this is the Wisdom Qigong Podcast.

So, hello everyone. Welcome to our podcast episode today. I've got Olivier Rijcken with me and all the Dutch listeners, please excuse my lousy Dutch pronunciation. I, Olivier contacted me some time ago because he's an illustrator and he contacted me and said, look, I've done some illustrations, which actually showcases all the positions and the movements of the Lift Qi Up.

And I'm working on more exercises and I thought, wow, this is interesting. And, maybe you show us just quickly, the latest you're working on. So people get an idea what we are doing here and apologies to the podcast listeners who are not on YouTube. you will just have to meditate for a second while we show you guys.

The picture here, so this is kind of what to expect. And, I think what you've produced so far is the lift qi up and you're now working on the three centers merge, right?

Yeah, that was a three centimeter, which I show, which was just in sketch form. And, the lift job is, it's like a whole A3 thing, which you can print out.

Great. And we are, you know, I'm mentioning it because we are putting your link in the show notes. So anyone who's interested to get this, this drawing, he can get in touch through the link. And, you know, I think you charge a little bit of money. It's like, how much, how much are you charging for that?

Yeah. So there's two options, but we can, it's, it's six euros. And if you go through the gum road, then comes American, vat. VAT comes on top of that another one, one euro 30 or something like this.

So it's not breaking the bank, it's, but it's something fun to have and something very helpful because we all know that visualization helps and not just when it comes to doing the exercise correctly, but, you know, in other aspects as well, when it comes to genetics, you go, because we do visualize our health and we do visualize our goals.

And that takes me to something, you know, that we are going to. start off the conversation today. Now, you mentioned that in your training, you often focus on something which you call the spiral of creation, right?

Yeah, we, we, we sometimes do this. It's, it's, it's something which I, I, it's a book which I read a long time ago and it's called the creation spiral and it's written by the Dutch. he was a physician, I think, or a physics person, how you call it. yeah, he wrote this. in the eighties or something.

And, I've been using it in different times of my life. basically for you to wish for something and how can you make it come true? And he describes the process where, how it usually goes from a wish into, into it becoming reality, and he uses this process also to, to help you to maybe realize your own wishes or to be at least to be aware of them.

These steps. Yeah. 

And how does it feed into zhineng qi gong? How do you use it in your trainings and in, when you give workshops?

yeah, so we, we did this, in our Beyond Practice, workshop, with, John Miller and Anke . We did it. and at that time it was very much also, yeah, it's, it's, it's. Basically this awareness and, and we use it, in such a way that, that's why it's also called beyond practice. We were saying like, it's, it's more than practice.

You also be, what does your practice you, what do you use your practice for? And, so you can also have the idea of something you really want and how can you get there. it could also be like your health. Or it could also be feeling independent or, you know, like there could be like personal development wishes.

so I always have in my practice, I have the short term wishes or the short term vision, but also the long term vision. So like, I might be working on, developing myself for the next five years. And then I have a vision of what I What I could achieve and, then you visualize yourself already in this, in this situation that you've already got there and you try and feel how this, what this does for you when you're ready to, Hey, I'm already there.

How does it feel? What is it? And this information you take in, like you make it your good information, which goes to all yourselves. together with the qi. So, so the qi is, is, is like your boat and you pack things to it, to make it, to give it extra information, which you want, which you want for your body, for your life.

Yeah.

Now, this is something that we, that we know from zhineng qigong with a level of information, in order to, you know, feed the Qi field with the right information of health, of wellbeing, of, you know, organs are working normal and all of that. So, is there anything in the, in this creation spiral that is adding to it, or are you basically using the same ideas, the same mechanism there, or did your, you know, I forgot his name now, Did he discover something to add to it?

Well, there is one mistake which we tend to make, and, for some people it's maybe very obvious, but, and, maybe it's actually for us. All very obvious but we don't do it and this is when we achieve our situation when we actually get there we get our results and we We then forget to celebrate.

We already, we are already in our next wish or we're in our, the other project, which is going or no, but this is the, the, the celebration, you know, the, the full acceptance and enjoyment of that, you've got what you, what you are wishing for. This is a part we forget and we forget the part. That we then go into relaxation, so like we do nothing for a while, and just let it become quiet again, and then maybe, when you're in the shower, sometime, the next wish might come.

But so, we are, we tend to rush, and I think this is the West, and also the pressure which is on people, and we're always moving, and if things go down slow, we get a little bit nervous maybe, and we forget to enjoy that. Yeah, this, this, this, so they, they, they call this basically the last quarter of your circle and we, skip it, 

which is a shame.

So that's really, that's really something which we could do more.

I think it's not only a shame, I think it also, you know, might sabotage your efforts eventually. and I'd like to take both steps here. You know, when you talk about celebration, celebration as such is wonderful, but for me that includes also acknowledgement, so that I acknowledge actually what I have done here has worked.

I've visualized something, I've put the right information into the qi Field and I do get the result. Now, if I don't acknowledge that, it means I'm taking away my power, for the next time I'm doing the same thing. Now, I've got many people in, in, in zhineng Qigong world that had, you know, incredible successes.

You know, they healed this, they healed that, and they, and then when there's something serious comes up, they kind of tend to forget. They forget that it has already worked for them in the, in the, in the past. And they're looking at the new challenge and they, for whatever reason, they think, oh, well Qigong can't help.

and then you look at them and say, but you, but you know, for yourself, you have your own experience of how the qi field has worked before you, you have your own, results that you have created. So how come you now stop practicing? How, how come you now? Don't implement what you already know.

So I think for me, the celebration has the celebration aspect, but it also has a reminder for me to say, yes, it worked. And let me remember that for all of my life, because when the next challenge comes up or the next goal comes up, I can use it again. And I know it works. How do I know it? Because it's worked for me in the past.

So, I think this is an important thing because it's, it's actually crazy and maybe many of our listeners have people in their environment or it's themselves that when they look back at their Qigong history, they have many examples where it has worked perfectly well and now they might face a challenge and they don't, they don't, draw the right conclusion and say, well, if it has worked, then it should work now as well.

So, I think this is, this, this is why for me, this is so important to acknowledge. When it works and to remember it and store it in your in your in your mind.

Yeah. And, and, and part of this celebration is of course, also thanking, thanking the people who supported you, thanking yourself. yeah, maybe is your thankfulness is maybe the, the idea that you, Yeah, this was an interesting point. I once discussed with somebody, one of the Chinese teachers. I said, why do you not think after your practice?

And he said, well, I don't need to think something what I am when I'm connected, I'm so much part of everything. I don't need to say, thinking is, is like, showing that you're not part of something

Right.

you're still, it's like another part. But if you are all connected, it's basically one. So you can't think, yeah, it's like, there's no transfer because you're all one.

but, also this awareness can still be, can still be good to have. Yeah.

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Yes. The, the, the mindset of gratitude here, I think it's important because, even though we are one, we, we know that in everyday life, we don't go through life with that mindset. So I think that there are many people that have contributed to that success. Your teachers, fellow students, your family, so, and yourself.

So I think the, the appreciation is, makes total sense. And it doesn't necessarily mean we are discarding the idea of oneness. I get what your teacher was telling you there, but then again, you know, we are also living as three dimensional beings here on this earth, trying to make our way, and being grateful is part of that humanity.

So I think it's perfectly fine. To go into that, into that gratefulness as well.

Yeah. And it's also something which we, speaking personally, I find it a difficult theme, thankfulness. It's being grateful or so it, because it's, many things you take for granted. And, and for me, like it also feels like if, if 10 people have already thanked somebody for something, then why should I also make this effort once more, you know, like it's, it doesn't really, it doesn't really kick in properly or something.

so I find this sometimes, but still it's, I'm, I'm very much aware that it's important. And, find a way to, to go about this is part of the, of the cycle or of life, whatever. Yeah.

Thanking can happen internally. I also know these WhatsApp group when you're 50 students, somebody says something intelligent and 49 sent another message to thank them. That's not what I mean. I mean, yeah, you can be grateful and thankful internally and express it internally without necessarily having to type another, another message and a smiley.

So, yeah, it's more the mindset that you're bringing. not so much the, the action that follows, on, you know, on a tool like WhatsApp, for

Yeah. Yeah. And then, and then you come back to the teacher again also says, yeah, okay. You can be thankful from your, from your inside. Yeah.

Now, the other aspect you brought in next to when I asked you, what does this creation spiral basically add to our way of thinking and doing Zhineng Qigong? You know, you said, celebration is one aspect and the other one you brought up is to take a break and to just, you know, go. Go back and take yourself back a little bit and enjoy what you have achieved without necessarily going straight into the next vision, straight into the next goal.

And, I think this is something also very important because, we tend to forget that the whole idea of, of zhineng Qigong is the concept of opening closing. So it's not just one movement. So, and if I, if I take this literally, if I do one vision after another, I'm basically opening, opening, opening, and I'm never taking the time to sit back and to close.

So the flow of energy, you know, can't work properly. If I'll, if once I have achieved one thing, I'm automatically going to the next one. So the time of, of resting and of enjoying and, of just staying still and, And acknowledging what I have achieved now, before I move into the next vision, I think makes total sense in terms of Qin and Qigong.

Now your author might express that a little different, but I think it's a basic concept of what we're doing here.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Nice. It's also.

If you look at the creation, you know, like sometimes you will are forced to make up something and get new ideas or something, and you find that they are not really very good or something. And then, you know, you may, notice also that when you are quiet again, or when you, try not to think or then.

Maybe the best ideas come. you can also say it's an essential step for the beginning of a new creation. Like if you're running all the time, it's going to be more difficult to get a good idea.

Absolutely. I, I get that. And only in the stillness, there is an opportunity for new things to develop. If I'm, if I'm loud and busy and running, as you say, the chances that I come up with something, of value, obviously very low, right?

Yeah. Or you have to be in a real flow and then things just go one into the other. but that usually doesn't also last forever. 

how, how you approach Zhineng, Qi Gong, so I can see you put quite a bit of emphasis on the visualizations. And, at the same time, you know, you're making an effort to make all these drawings and, which are the physical movements and the physical postures. So, how would you, you know, best describe how, how do these two things come together?

And, how would you, you know, describe your, your style of training then?

yeah, that's quite a hard one because, like if I would say, yeah, well, the posture is everything. That's not true. And if you say the visualization is everything, then you'd sort of, yeah, not respect the precise movement so much. the people who train with me or. Yeah, the way I train them is, is more like first, get the feeling of, of relaxation and, being able to come along.

We do the lift qi up straight away, after warming up and, qi field, of course, but, we do the lift qi up and then we notice. That the first time it's hard because they are looking at me and they're trying to see, trying to see what's happening, but actually the second time they do it, they're already, they're already having this experience of being connected or, or being in a sort of flow.

And this is the, the, the first experience that I share also, of course, la qi, or, la qi, but, but so to give them these first experiences and then furthermore, we can, we then go into trying to get the more out of the movement. Yeah. But for some people, it's just not, not so relevant if you practice one time in the week to, to get the movement correct, because they, they, they use it as a, relaxation practice one time in the week.

and it works for them. So they go, they go chilled out. They go, they leave the room. of course you can, we always. trying to give a little bit of faith. There's a bit more than that. There's a bit more than that. Try this, try this or try a daily practice. And some people might do it for two years, just doing one day, one, one practice a week.

And then all of a sudden they say, okay, but now I need to make. My next step. I'm ready for my next step. For some people, it can be, they can go straight away into, Oh, I want to learn the Lift Qi Up, by heart. Let's do 10 days. In 10 days, I can learn Lift Qi up, by heart. I don't need your poster anymore.

But it could be nice, you know? So that's, that's my, the first sort of little, a sort of discrepancy or how you call it, like, like there's a bit of tension between the one, like, it's not just visualization and it's not just, movement.

Yeah. And the other aspect of visualization, which I find sometimes difficult. Is, that you see that if you give too much, like I call it color, like if you make the visualizations too descriptive or you are talking all the time or something, I find it myself very difficult to take part in such a session because I'm forced to go along into somebody else's visualization and, doesn't work for me.

Because I say, Oh, what should, what, what, what, how, how, what should I do? Or, and then I'm busy. Am I doing it correct? Instead of focusing on myself. So I find the visualization is more like a suggestion. And sometimes the suggestions are very powerful. like I, I really love the, the, the, you are, you know, you like, One water drop in an ocean, you know, like you merge and this is, and at the right is when you say it in the, at the right moment when people are relaxed, I think it can really help them to. Okay. Wow. That's, well, that's nice. but also these. examples for myself, they would also maybe lose their intensity if I use them every week, then it wouldn't work anymore.

for myself, not, and I think for my students also not. So this, these visualizations, you're always looking for, okay, what comes up sometimes somebody comes up from yourself. And, and this way I find that the, the verbalization of what you are experiencing yourself as a suggestion to others to help them.

Maybe this works for you as well. So it's like always an invitation to, to see, Oh, just, this is, but if you have to work, you have to always say, you could maybe do this or you could maybe do that. Yeah. Then that's also too tedious. So, yeah, but, but in, in need, it's always an invitation to go along. Some people might just say, okay, I'm doing my own thing.

That I have my own visualizations and, they worked for me. And yeah. That's also fine.

Yeah, from my experience, a good meditation is basically taking me into a particular state. And from there on, I might just listen to what is being said kind of in the background, but I'm on my own journey while I'm doing it. And, I think that is kind of what you're suggesting because, you know, one metaphor might work perfectly well for one person.

and not so well for another. And if I have to start with my mind kicking on, kicking in, trying to visualize a certain situation, then the purpose of the whole visualization is already, it's already gone. So, I like that. And I think we need to encourage the practitioners when they do these visualizations and these meditations to give themselves complete freedom, because it's, it, whatever comes up for them is what is important.

And it's not so much, you know, the ideas or the, the, the script of the, of the teacher or whoever reads the, reads the,

Yeah, but it comes, but it's like, I can say to you, okay, imagine your, your favorite landscape. I can say that, done a lot, but you can also say, what do you need right now to relax? What landscape do you need? It's, it's a different, it's a different, it's the same, more or less the same words, but it's like, it's, it's, first of all, it's in a question and you, they ask you straight away and then you say, okay, I'd really love now to have this.

And it's, and buff, you're straight, you're there straight away. So I find this fascinating and I'm not saying that I, have, control or, but I find it fascinating and I, I don't, I'm not always using the right words, but I know it's important. Yeah. Yeah. So the suggestions to help you into the visualization.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yes. And if you're asking questions like this, it obviously now opens up very different doors for, for every person and whatever door they open up, is fine and works, works well. Right.

Yeah.

So if I summarize the creation spiral, because that's where we started, it is these three aspects. You've got the visualization where you put yourself into the situation as if you were already there.

And you do this with all your senses and in the most relaxed state. And then once you have achieved it, you go to the celebration and after the celebration, you go into the, pause, or I don't know what the word is, the correct word is there.

yeah. The, the, the, the pause or the relaxation. Yeah. Yeah. But it's, it's there's 12 steps altogether. So we did, we just focused on the last three because that's where it often goes wrong. and the other steps are, you know, like, it's like, you have a wish, you let it.

Strengthen with you, like it recurs and comes back all the time. Then at one stage you start, you start talking about it to people and people might offset you because they're saying, well, that can't be done. You know, that's ridiculous or something. So then you're talking to the right, not talking to the right people.

Some, or sometimes you are talking to the right people because it can sharpen your idea. But if it kills the idea straight away, that would be a shame. So you're always looking for the right moment to come out with your idea and to be encouraged. And sometimes instead of being discouraged, it should sharpen your idea further.

Yeah, well, and then at one stage you, you start really researching. So, okay. People find it good. I get some good feedback, but now I need to get very. Selective feedback or, yeah, and networking. And then at one stage you decide, okay, go, no, go. And then comes the active part where you, or the Qigong part would be maybe, okay, I have to practice this daily, daily.

Keep at it. And there's very nice, crossovers, like, you know, like you believe in your idea and, the persistence needed to carry it out, you know, like they'll, they'll be opposite. And so there's many opposites, which are very strong. so yeah, it's, it's well thought through, basically. Yeah. We could also maybe put a link in, if I can, I can, I can find an English, session or yeah.

Yeah.

Yes. Yes, please. I think that would, that would be helpful, because it's nice to, you know, to read up on it after our conversation for those that feel, okay, that could be something for me. And I think it's great how you, you know, how you integrate that, because everything you're, you're saying here works perfectly with Injin and Qigong.

And it's, it's another angle that people can take because one of the things that I've learned over the years is that each of us has their very own angle, how to get. Access to, the wisdom of zhineng Qigong. And, there's just so many ways to get, you know, in German, we had Germany, we have an expression says when the caution failed, so which means something like the moment you get it.

Right. you want me to totally get something and that might be a different path for everyone. So I think it's a, it's a, it's a great way with how you're, how you're introducing this concept into your training and, yeah, and, I'm, I'm glad we had this conversation and I'm also very happy to put the link in the show notes and, and, and I think that once makes, brings me to the end where I would like to thank you for your time here.

And let me just try it with my pronunciation one more time, Olivier. and, getting better and, and a good luck with the drawings. I think it looks beautiful what you've done there for the lift qi up and working on, for the three centers merge and, yeah, hopefully it will help many people, to understand the movements, to understand the postures.

And if nothing else, it's a beautiful piece of art that, you know, would fit beautifully in your bedroom so that you can be constantly reminded of how beautiful the practice is. And that maybe now it's time to do another lift you up today. And so thank you very much for your time, Olivia. And yeah, I hope to chat again very soon.

Yeah. Thank you so much.

We trust you enjoyed this conversation and we invite you to subscribe to our podcast so we can stay in touch and notify you. We will end today's episode with the eight verses meditation performed by Zhineng Qigong teacher Katrien Hendrickx. Enjoy.

To get your free e book on the Eight Verses Meditation, please check the show notes below.