At the famous medicine-less hospital, the Lift Qi Up exercise took center stage, facilitating healing and transformation for tens of thousands of patients. Our guest today, Britta Stalling, explains the main principles of the exercise and how to apply it in daily life. My name is Torsten Lueddecke, and this is the Wisdom Qigong Podcast. Our guest today, Britta Stalling, will host the upcoming online course, Life Changer presents, Ancient Wisdom
Zhineng Qigong Level One. If this is of interest to you, please find the link in the show notes. Today, we have Britta Stalling on the show. Britta is very well known in the community because, I think, 12 years ago, she co-founded the Hunyuan Qi Therapy program, together with Master Yuantong Liu, where they teach therapists in the West how to apply the techniques of the first medicine-less hospital, the
famous Huaxia Center. But today, Britta, we have a slightly different topic. We thought we’d start with talking about what is commonly known as Level One of Zhineng Qigong. Now, what is this mysterious Level One?Yeah. Thank you very much, Torsten, first of all, for inviting me to have this talk today, which I believe will be very meaningful for our listeners to explore and maybe new opportunities for their health
and well-being. And those who are practicing already, I hope I can inspire them to keep up the practice and get some new motivation based on the information we’re going to share. Some of the listeners might already know about the medicine-less hospital in China, which was established and developed by Dr. Pang Ming. Others might hear it for the first time. So, as a foundation to understand why Level One
is so important and really a groundbreaking method for all of us to practice, in this medicine-less hospital, which Dr. Pang Ming founded this, it was like the foundation practice. Each person who came there, no matter what kind of health challenge, would first of all be a student. So they stopped calling people patients. Although Dr. Pang Ming was a doctor, or is a doctor trained in Western and Chinese
medicine himself, and he had a doctor’s team on site, people became students, and they were learning the Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down. For us in the West, if we learn it, we can practice it within 30 minutes. It’s a fundamental, basic method based on meditative movements, combining visualizations and, let’s say, having a powerful health intention as the first step. Then the practice itself is very soft, even
gentle, with soft movements, which would activate the self-healing abilities of the body quite substantially. People in this medicine-less hospital had high chances of regaining their health, as much as we do now in the West. Since it’s been over 20 years now, we also have the possibility to actually learn it, practice it, and benefit from it. So when we talk about Level One, we are talking about the Lift
Qi Up, Pour Qi Down method. Are we talking about anything else, or is it just this method? That’s a very good question because, with Zhineng Qigong Level One, we also mean the La Qi practice. La Qi practice is a more basic, very simple practice. The Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down method actually embraces La Qi and follows La Qi throughout this 20- to 30-minute method. If you practice
for a shorter time, you can also practice for one hour, no problem. We have the Qi squats as part of the Level One practice, and then we have the Three Centers Merge, which bridges the different levels of Zhineng Qigong science. Level One, Level Two, Level Three—always, if you want to move forward or develop yourself further, you can practice the Three Centers Merge as a great method as well.
Having said that, to clarify for the listeners who are new to Zhineng Qigong, Level One, Level Two, and Level Three are not meant in a hierarchical order but are meant to point to different purposes of the practice. So an experienced Zhineng Qigong practitioner would continue to practice Level One, even while already practicing Level Two or Level Three, which are available in the West. The Zhineng Qigong masters, who
have even more levels they practice with, still practice Level One. Now, why do you think Dr. Pang emphasizes Level One in the medicine-less hospital? Why does he work with that level and not with the exercises? What makes these exercises so powerful? Again, a great question. I’ve been thinking about that myself quite a lot, and I think, being a Zhineng Qigong practitioner for a while now, based on my
experience and observation, Dr. Pang Ming, and also the teaching I received from different Zhineng Qigong masters, it seems like Dr. Pang Ming, being trained in Western and Chinese medicine, having his own doctor’s practice in Beijing, but also trained as a Qigong practitioner since childhood, was trained by over 30 different Qigong masters and grandmasters because they discovered his potential very early in his life. So, he was always supported
in developing his own consciousness. But now, he worked as a doctor in Beijing with his doctor’s practice, and he got… yeah, and the rest we would maybe say frustrated. He probably didn’t get frustrated, but he saw the limitations of Western and Chinese medicine, and people coming to him seeking help for their health, he could not really help everybody. At that time, Qigong was passed on very traditionally. So,
actually, selected students would be able to learn it. Or if you had the calling to learn it, you really needed to apply and maybe be a student of a master for three years, not learning anything but, let’s say, cleaning the garden or the house. These are the stories you might have all heard. Dr. Pang Ming, at that time, really thought about breaking these old traditions and making Qigong
more available because he saw the healing potential. On the other hand, a lot of traditional methods were a bit more complicated, and you needed, let’s say, the master also to practice with you or teach you deeply. So, the progress would also be slower. So, what can we do now? If somebody has a strong health issue, a health challenge, what can be done if that person doesn’t have a
lot of time? Apparently, I heard that it took him two years to develop the Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down method, and brought in all his Western medicine knowledge, Eastern medicine, traditional Chinese medicine knowledge, his knowledge about different Qigong philosophies, his knowledge about Taoism, Buddhism, and really found a method which, his intention was to create a method that can be easy to practice but highly effective, which can
be practiced, you learn it, then you practice by yourself, and it would still be highly effective. It should be, let’s say, enjoyable because it’s easy. You experience transformation very fast, actually. So, you’re more motivated to continue your practice. It can help people who are not, you know, trained over years or really studied the whole, let’s say, Qigong science behind it because literally, people can heal from it without
ever reading a book about Zhineng Qigong science, but still benefit profoundly. So, I think this was his motivation, and that he mastered the skill to then develop this practice. Literally, if you only practice Level One, Zhineng Qigong Level One, you can reach a high state of awareness, a high state of living, all your potential, really following a life you love, plus either regaining your health or, if you’re
healthy, that was my motivation to start with Zhineng Qigong. I wanted to prevent illness based on a family experience as a young girl. And so, also preventing illness and really, yeah, being in a good state of health and well-being, no matter the life circumstances. And he fulfilled this intention. Now, you mentioned the word transformation. You said the exercise can transform your life or your state of health. What
do you mean by this exactly? And how would that work? So, transformation, first of all, is really a powerful journey. Human beings can follow through fulfillment and also living their full potential. Because if we are allowing change and adapting, being flexible to what’s happening in our life, and really embracing it, coming from a state of acceptance, then we can really foster a journey of growth, living more of
our potential, evolving into, let’s say, an authentic being, and really living our full potential. It’s a little bit like full potential. It’s obviously a word which we need to put meaning to. You know, what does it mean to each individual, living my full potential? But transformation, the Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down method, when I started to learn and practice it, I was not aware of what this
20- to 30-minute practice actually would offer me. The transformation takes place because Dr. Pang Ming has worked on Level One practices as a practice, exchanging our own life force. In general, we would say energy. Obviously, as Qigong practitioners, we talk about Qi, our own life force. Qi is exchanging with the Qi of nature and the universe. And especially, Level One really focuses on this exchange. So, literally, we
could maybe compare it to if we have a very demanding lifestyle. So now we notice, you know, we are having less energy. It’s the same as if you have a car, and you go on a nice journey, and then you use the gasoline. So, you need to find a place to tank the gasoline again into your car. So, the same with us. We are on a life journey.
We are undertaking, hopefully, great adventures, sometimes also challenges. So then, our life force literally starts to get less, obviously also because of age, because of stress, because of maybe some illness, or we need to just be aware of that. And then, just as we would tank the car, we can now tank our own body and fill our body again with Qi because of that exchange. Because we literally
say in the Qi, in the universe and nature is abundant. Nature and the universe always have the ability to refresh and rejuvenate, regrow, re-evolve, and regenerate. If nature, the universe has that principle of life, then human beings actually have it as well. But we lost that awareness. And that’s why the Zhineng Qigong Level One really has the power of transformation by practice, but then obviously also getting the
awareness, so that we are better equipped to adapt to changes, you know, regrow, renew ourselves, regenerate ourselves, living authentically, transforming ourselves. And by transforming ourselves, we can then also transform, via transformation, let’s say, a lighthouse for others. So that has the ripple effect. So, yeah, embracing transformation and change, for some people, they really like to have everything like it is, but that is not the law of nature.
That’s not the law of the universe. The law of the universe is always evolving, regenerating, growing, co-creating. So, when we as human beings are resistant to change, then we are also in resistance to our own health, well-being, and living our full potential. We have a way you can discover Qigong. So, at the Zhineng Qigong Students Hub, we know that understanding Qigong is very important and also that Zhineng
Qigong in itself has various nuances that people can’t easily comprehend. So we’ve approached it in the style of a video game. On this page, discover Qigong, you can select your character. So, you can either be a beginner, a practitioner, or a holistic healer or self-healer. And you click on your character, and it takes you to these different sections. In these sections, you can explore the nuances. And when
you click on a card, all of the resources pop up, and we’ve made it really fun, and not many people know about it. So, if you are interested, have a look and discover Qigong. Okay, that’s all very interesting, everything. So, what you’re saying is that the core idea of Level One is to exchange your own life force energy, or Qi, or however you would like to call that,
with nature in order to kind of refill your life force energy. Is that fair to say? That’s fair to say. So, there’s a Qi exchange. So, on different levels, maybe for those who are new to Qi, maybe they also would like to understand what it actually is, because in the West, we often talk about energy. So, what are we exchanging? Actually, if we follow the definition of Qi,
as Dr. Pang Ming has offered it, we can say that we can define Qi in two ways. One way is that we can look at the source of Qi, and the source of Qi we already talked about. So, the source of Qi is the life force of any living being—human beings, animals, plants. So, every living being has, next to physical form, also energy substance and information substance, as
let’s say the forms of Qi, which I will define in a moment. And nature has the same, the universe has. This is another source for Qi. So, we have the definition by source, and we also have the definition by form. So, Dr. Pang Ming says Qi, if we only translate it into energy, that’s falling short of two very important substances. And so, we say that there are three
substances which are integrating, harmonizing into one element, which we call Hunyuan Qi, the Universal Qi. And this is the information substance, the energy substance, and the physical matter. And now, physical matter, information, and energy substance also transform. They have actually in Zhineng Qigong, a motion law of Qi and a transformation law of Qi. And the motion law of Qi, this is something we use in Zhineng Qigong. We
actually use both, let’s say, principles in the Lift Qi Up – Pour Qi Down or Zhineng Qigong Level One practices. And the motion of Qi just describes the, as it says, the motion. So, we are expanding, we are moving out our life force. Qi has this ability on all these three levels to really expand and merge, harmonize with nature, with the plants, with the ocean, with the mountains,
with the forest, with another object. So, in that way, we are always like exchanging into each other, balancing each other, transforming each other. And the Transformation law describes the changes of, if you now have physical matter and you are expanding, moving out, then the physical matter transforms into energy. If then further expansion takes place, it transforms into information. If information is collected, gathered, and densified, it forms energy.
If energy is then further collected and densified, it forms physical matter. So, this transformation law actually takes place whether we are aware of it or not. If we practice Zhineng Qigong Level One and we say, “I don’t care about these universal laws,” you will still benefit a lot from it. Let’s say 20 years ago, when I started with Zhineng Qigong, we did not have access to this philosophy,
to the science behind Zhineng Qigong. We actually, literally, most of us only had a CD. There were not even books about it. Still, we would benefit, and we would then explore through our own benefits, growth, and evolving the evidence of Zhineng Qigong. That’s why Dr. Pang always says, “The theories are the methods, the methods are the theories.” You can only practice Level One and not read any theory,
and you would still be able to explore the theory because you would be able to, you know, underline the theories through your own practice. If you study the theories, you can also actually understand the practice. So that’s pretty powerful. That’s why I think more and more people are also opening up to exploring Zhineng Qigong as a way of living their life in a higher quality and in a
better way. So, let me just go back to the Transformation Law here because you mentioned earlier that it’s obvious for everyone: if we look out in nature, things are constantly transforming. They are never just staying the same. There’s always a transformation happening. And so, Level One is based on this idea that we can transform our bodies, our health, our mental state, our environment. We can do that. So,
what we are adding, or what Dr. Pang has added is the level of consciousness here. So, in a way, one could say our consciousness helps us to direct the transformation into a certain direction, which could be that of health. And, for example, when you spoke about material transforming, so if I had an issue, a bodily issue, say a tumor or something like that, which is often used as
an example, this tumor can transform because transformation is happening all the time. But by consciousness is the force that decides which way the transformation is taking. Is that, in essence, how the Level One works and why it’s so successful and why so many healing stories that we hear on this channel or in our everyday life? When we meet Zhineng Qigong practitioners, they’re usually based on Level One exercises.
So, you don’t have to be the most evolved practitioner with Level Two, Three, Four, Five, or whatever. This Level One exercise in itself is enough to achieve this transformation and get yourself into a state of health and well-being. Is that right? Yes. So, what I observed, like let’s say 20 years ago, when we did not have so much information about the power of consciousness, that’s actually more now,
in the last couple of years, there are books that have been translated by Dr. Pang into English. So, we are more exposed to the, let’s say, theoretical background. But having said that, people who have a powerful intention, where is this intention coming from? This intention is developed through our true self-awareness, through our, let’s say, core of our consciousness. And based on that first new intention, then thoughts, and
thoughts behind that intention actually guide us then into taking actions. So, but first of all, we need to have a powerful intention and really keep it up and hold it in our heart and really embrace it. And actually, the Chinese word Yi Shi is describing this really beautifully. Yi Shi is the name of consciousness in Chinese, and it has different characters. And the first character Yi is relating
to holding up your pure heart intention in the current moment. And that is already where maybe some people go like, yes, of course. And others go like, really? You know, can I really through this, to my own practice, you know, regain my health or find my balance or be more in harmony, or you know, fulfill my life’s intentions or really follow my dreams, really just by the practice?
And then, if you don’t have that intention, then it’s wobbling, then, you know, you will not really achieve a lot. But if you, if you, as a first step, have this powerful intention, then what we say, the Qi follows the mind’s awareness and mind’s attention and intention, where the mind goes, the Qi follows to flow. That’s a very fundamental idea. And we also have some experiments, actually, who
create the evidence that the mind has the power and then actually the energy of your body would follow. But I would maybe give the listeners just one very simple example of both the self-healing potential of our body and how you can actually use your consciousness to maybe speed up the process or make it complete. One is that if you would cut your finger and you have now a
small wound, you would put a plaster on it, don’t think about it, and two, three hours later, you take the plaster off and it’s healed. You look at your skin and you go like, okay, great, it grew together. Nobody is actually questioning this with a little wound; no mom would be worried if her child would come with a little wound. No worries. You would trust that this process
is happening. So how come we don’t trust our body that it can also heal maybe more substantial issues, like a tumor or maybe a bone which is broken? And this maybe we can, I will tap on it in a moment. But another example where you can find an idea how you use your consciousness to master the body’s abilities and skills is like you imagine you are on a
journey on a highway and then you didn’t take a break for a while and you find out, oof, the bladder is now mentioning itself and says, look, “I would need a break, I need to empty the bladder.” But you do not have a bathroom around the corner. You know, maybe you need to drive another 20, 30, 40 kilometers. So what’s happening? All of us have the experience. We
talk with our body and we say, dear bladder, please wait, you can do it, and the consciousness now really gives instructions and the body follows. Nobody of us is peeing while we are driving. We wait until we have found the next bathroom, and then it’s fine. And we all have, if we reflect on it, we all have experiences where we use our consciousness consciously to, let’s say, manage
our body in a certain way. So now we use our consciousness to practice in a way that we really trust and have faith that our body can heal itself and use the tools of Zhineng Qigong consistently, persistently, diligently. That is really the key. If people really seek for healing, then Dr. Pang Ming, all the Zhineng Qigong masters say three to four hours diligent training each day is needed.
Without a powerful intention, you do not need to practice. But if you really trust, you are having this intention, maybe even behind the intention. Your intention is an even stronger one. You really reflect on that and then you practice with joy, ease, relaxed, day by day by day. Nobody knows the time, but I’ve witnessed a lot of people who have regained their health through this diligent practice. What
I would like to know, Britta, is because you said earlier that quite a few of us are actually in resistance to change and therefore in resistance to transformation. Now how does one embrace a transformation so that it becomes a joy and a source of life, joy, so to speak, for people? That’s also a great question. So I think first step is, as always with anything you’d like to,
let’s say, overcome, is to be aware of it. So really increase your awareness. And the Zhineng Qigong Level One practices are a great tool to increase the awareness. Now that we talk about it, I, when I remember, go back to my first years of practice, you know, the awareness for my own body, for my own emotions, for my own patterns where I would limit myself. And then being
more playful, opening up, you know, to new pathways or to new experiences, also be more confident, be more trusting. All these kinds of states would evolve based on the practice, and I became more aware of it. So once you’re more aware of it, then if you are in a state where you say, where you feel, “I don’t like change, I really am so resisting it, and the world
is in chaos, and my life is in chaos, and my job, always they want to introduce new things, and always new, new, new, new.” And people just longing for, let’s say, how can you say that? Stillness. Stillness is also a good longing to go inside, right? But embracing then transformation has to do with acceptance. Accept your state of resistance. But then ask yourself whether this is really the
way you like to live your life or if you are limiting yourself. So one important step of embracing transformation and really some practical steps, you know, for growth and renewal would be to foster self-reflection. So really reflect on, okay, the practice now, you know, helps me to understand better who I am, what kind of habits do I have, what kind of beliefs, what kind of intentions or goals
do they serve me? Are they limiting me? Do I really live relationships the way I want to live them, or do I want to have them more harmonious? And where am I in my way to have harmonious relationships? For example, am I in a profession which really brings me joy, or am I in my own way to create, like, a profession or a job which is more fulfilling?
So it has to do with self-reflection. So when you embrace transformation, you would be also open to start self-reflection. And another one is that we shift our mindset and see challenges, events as an opportunity to grow, as an opportunity to learn. And this is really what I’ve learned from the Zhineng Qigong masters I am so blessed to work with. Of course, Master Yuantong Liu, who I have worked
with since 2011. But also other masters who have really been a role model of a situation is a situation. We bring in our own, let’s say, personality to judge it in a way. But things happening in life and things happening also in the lives of highly developed Zhineng Qigong masters. But they have learned to not see it as a challenge, but see it as a neutral event happening,
drawing then conclusions on how to react best to create the best experiences for everybody involved. This is a very high-level, evolved human way of being. And this is actually something I’m also driven to continue to evolve into. Actually, because I noticed when you are in that state, you are not depleting your own life force. It’s the contrary. You are really still a lighthouse for others, giving energy to
others. And obviously, we would like to have that lifestyle where we have 100% batteries filled up, you know, and we are not depleting our own life Qi. And then to have an event happening, needing more of our life Qi, we are not depleting our own life Qi. We are really in a good state. So, practices, mindful practices are then really helpful. Zhineng Qigong is one. But if you
say, oh, I’m great in nature, you love walking, hiking in nature, or sailing, or skiing, or whatever, and you really embrace nature, be one with nature and be one with that movement, or be in a mindful state, that also obviously helps embracing transformation and change. And last but not least, seek support. Because often when we are in the resistance state, then we might think we are not really
in—often not really in a state where we say easily, oh, I should actually maybe, you know, hire a coach or book a program online or go to a workshop face to face. You know, often people have, let’s say, limiting beliefs that hinder this seeking support. But if you are opening up your heart and mind and really seek for people who are maybe in a similar situation and you
start a discussion, then suddenly you feel already, ah, okay. You feel like your heart is opening, and you feel more relaxed. Oh, I’m not the only one. There are other people facing similar challenges, and then you support each other in your growth. That’s actually brilliant. And obviously now the offerings are tremendous, offerings online. You know, you can, if you want and are inspired to practice Zhineng Qigong now,
there are so many great teachers worldwide. From our Hunyuan Qi Therapy program, we have certified Hunyuan Qitherapists who are super well trained by Master Yuantong Liu because he really follows Dr. Pang Ming’s teaching, and he has put all the essence of Dr. Pang Ming’s teachings in the two years education, which we offer. So no matter where you are on this planet, you’re actually not alone. That would be
my recommendation. Maybe I finish off with one example of a Zhineng Qigong practitioner, who is in my network, which could be very inspiring. He was actually, half a year ago, exposed to a huge accident. He was approaching the traffic light. He had a green light, and from the left, another car crashed into him because that person overlooked the traffic light and crashed into him completely. The car was,
how do you say, totally crashed. It was useless; he couldn’t drive it anymore, and then the airbags. In that moment when this event was happening, because he is a Zhineng Qigong practitioner, he is a trainer of mindfulness and resilience, he really, for the last decades, has put a lot of effort into mastering the skill. And now, this event happening, he knew in that moment he had to be
very alert, let’s say true self, the true self telling him, now it’s a moment to practice what you teach. And he literally brought his body into a very relaxed state, accepting that crash, accepting whatever would be the consequences of this crash. And he was unhurt. He did not have one single injury. Unbelievable, actually, because his car was completely crashed. So he then, for a moment, you know, observed
what was happening, then got out of the car and took care of the person who caused the car crash. In that moment, another truck came to pick up his car already. Because that truck, I don’t know the English word, would coincidentally just pass that scene. The police were there within 3 to 5 minutes, and he had a new car within a month. So everything was like taken care
of. So that is also the beauty of— that’s maybe a good example—the beauty of when we are in the situation of accepting, we can then open our heart and mind to receiving support from unexpected sources, which we could never have thought would be happening. Obviously, this is not like a research example here now, because then maybe listeners could question, “Yeah, what if he would have been more in
resistance?” Doesn’t mean he would not have been hurt, but I would like to build on life examples that are positive and really just invite maybe listeners to look into their own lives and compare. Maybe when they’ve been in a state of resistance, and then reflect on the consequences of life in that state. On the other hand, when they have been in a situation of or state of acceptance,
opening up their heart and mind to new opportunities, growth, and learning from the situation—then observe the consequences of their own life decisions and the actions that followed. I think all of us can actually, in this self-reflection, find that resistance often leads to consequences that are not so nourishing, positive, or helpful. Whereas in a situation of acceptance, even if it is a very, very challenging situation, life often supports
us in a more positive, upright way. We actually call this having healthy thoughts versus unhealthy thoughts. So. When we allow ourselves to be in a state of healthy thoughts, regardless of the circumstances, we align our energy and intention in a way that supports us. The energy follows our mind—where the mind goes, the Qi flows. By cultivating upright, healthy thoughts, we bring that energy into the situation, allowing us
to overcome challenges and live in a way that’s more beautiful, loving, kind, and fulfilling. This mindset transforms how we approach life and enables us to respond to everything with a sense of balance and purpose. Thank you very much, Britta. And I think we’ve come a long way shedding a light into Level One, the idea of transformation, how it works exactly, and how to encourage transformation, how to embrace
it. I don’t want to close before saying that you and Master Yuantong Liu offer one program per year which is focusing on Level One and it’s coming up right now. So for any listeners who would like to join. It’s also available as a self-paced training, so people can study it by themselves at home if they prefer that. But just thought I should mention that because, you know, it
is an important exercise, the Level One, and you don’t just explain the exercise there. You also go very deep into understanding what’s actually happening. So even for people that know the Lift Qi Up very well, this can be very enlightening because the more I understand, obviously, the better I can use the tool as well. Yes, that’s really right. We are sharing a lot of details about the practice,
also practicing Three Centers Merge, Qi Squats, and La Qi. There are training videos available on our e-learning platform, which can be accessed then. So if you miss a session, no problem, you can go to the training video, and it’s also available after the course, so you can practice with it. Yeah, all right. Thank you very much, Britta, and I look forward to another episode where we will focus
on Hunyuan Qi Therapy, because obviously that is a field where you’re a total expert in. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for this opportunity and all the best. Bye bye and see you soon. Bye bye. See you. We trust you enjoyed this conversation, and we invite you to subscribe to our podcast so we can stay in touch and notify you of future episodes. We will end
today’s episode with the eight Verses Meditation performed by Zhineng Qigong teacher Katrien Hendrickx. Enjoy. To get your free eBook on the Eight Verses Meditation, please check the show notes below.
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