When asked what Qigong means to her, Elizabeth Estrada’s answer is, it is a way of life. Let’s explore how Qigong supported her health, her life and career choices, and transformed information when confronted with the most devastating news. My name is Torsten Lueddecke, and this is the Wisdom Qigong podcast. Maybe, Elizabeth, you want to start by just sharing a little bit, you know, how did you get to know
Zhineng Qigong? Yes. First of all, thank you very much, Torsten, for inviting me, for having me on your podcast. I am happy to share with our friends my experience about Zhineng Qigong and talking about how I started, you know, I started practicing Zhineng Qigong in 2012, and it was a kind of coincidence, but at the same time, I know that it wasn’t a coincidence because two different friends
from different groups in the same week spoke to me about Zhineng Qigong, you know, so that caught my attention. So I decided to sign up for the next course. No, there is a Mexican teacher, but today there are more teachers. But at that time, there was only one Mexican teacher, and I decided to sign up for his course. And, you know, I didn’t have any expectations at that
moment. Rather, I was curious, very curious about it. And I took the course in one weekend and the next day, the next Monday, I really felt like I had changed, how to say, I changed internally, you know, changed my emotional state, I could say, because I… I have to tell you that at that time, I worked in the corporate world. No, I worked for a pharmaceutical laboratory. And
it was good for me, but not so much, you know, because I felt that I needed something else. I didn’t feel enthusiasm to continue with that work. And of course, that had an impact on my emotions. But as I told you, as soon as I finished the first level of Zhineng Qigong course, I changed. I’m sorry, I felt a complete change. You know, I perceived that I was
full of enthusiasm, happy, and I thought, I think that this is something that is going to help me. And that’s why I started practicing on a regular basis Zhineng Qigong, you know, because I felt that something moved inside myself. Now, that is a. That is a very interesting experience because for those listeners who are not so familiar with Zhineng Qigong, it’s not quite that unusual. A lot of
people, when they get introduced to Zhineng Qigong, have and kind of an overwhelming experience now that could go either way. I mean, you were very enthusiastic, obviously, and you were brightening up and all these positive feelings. But there are also people that, you know, that’s just having an incredible healing experience at that moment, or where an old injury, you know, suddenly, you know, comes back to be healed
completely, or they just feel the Qi, the power of the Qi, and in whatever way. But it’s great that you share with us because it is actually something that we hear quite often from people that are new to Zhineng Qigong. And then they wonder, wow, what is this? What happened here to me? Right, yes, right. You know, and definitely it was powerful because, you know, the outside didn’t
change, so it was my inside that changed. And that seems, how to say, genuine and very, very powerful No, very powerful to me. Yes. Yeah. So you continued practicing, obviously, because you had this great experience and you felt, wow, this is something that is more to me than just a weekend training. Yeah, take us a little further on your journey. Yes. You know, so that’s why from the
beginning, I started practicing with great enthusiasm. And I could see over, over time how Zhineng Qigong practice helped me to solve some health situations. Yes. I share with you that before practicing Qigong, I practiced yoga for many years. In fact, I love to practice yoga, but one day I was injured in a class and I strained a ligament in my lower back. You know, so the orthopedist, the
doctor told me that the only way to heal was to swim every day. His recommendation was to swim. No. And in the meantime, he told me, you cannot practice yoga anymore. No. So, okay, I did what the doctor told me. And almost a year after the injury, according to the doctor, I healed completely. You know, he told me, okay, now everything is fine. But, you know, I felt
that my body didn’t heal in a complete way. I don’t know. So I felt that my physical capacity wasn’t the same, you know, before the injury. So, in that time, after the injury, I couldn’t walk, you know, more than three blocks without having to sit down due to the fatigue or a little pain in the lower back. And the doctor told me that this was normal. This would
be the way I continue with my life. No, so anyway, I continued, you know, doing my things and with the practice of Zhineng Qigong, one day I realized that I was able to walk longer distances without any discomfort, you know, so, and I said something changed, you know, again in my body. And then I walked more and more, and I realized that my practice had helped me to
completely heal that injury. My name is Leila Cupido, and I’m the project manager of the Students Hub. Our team is constantly adding events, teachers, videos, and other resources to take your practice to the next level, improving the quality of your life and the life of the people around you. We do this work for you, so please use it. Did you do a specific exercise for that? Or did
you basically just do our regular exercises, like “Lift Qi Up, Put Qi Down,” so that the Qi could do the work? Because some people think they have to do a specific exercise for a specific body part. But, you know, from what we know, this is not true, right? Yes, that’s a very good question. You know, at that time I just practiced Lift Qi Up – Pour Qi Down,
Three Centers Merge, La Qi, you know? Yes, and yes, that’s all. But, of course, I practiced on a regular basis. Every day I practiced, you know. And yes, one day I realized that everything was good, no? So I recovered. I could say 100% from that injury, you know. And yes, also I can share with you another, let’s say, benefit of my practice. When I was 25 years old,
I had asthma. Asthma. So a couple of times I was in the hospital for asthma attacks. But finally, the doctors told me that everything was fine. However, in this situation, I also realized, and the doctors reinforced this thought, that my lung capacity was poor, right? So for many years I suffered respiratory infections. And again with the practice of Zhineng Qigong, I realized how I was getting less sick.
And there came a time when I no longer got respiratory illnesses. Today, I can tell you that I am completely healthy now in that area. Yes, it’s a great example of that. Zhineng Qigong basically sends the Qi to wherever the body needs it. So you did the same exercises and it healed two completely different illnesses. I mean, they can’t be much more different than what you just described.
But the Qi really does the work. It’s life force energy that helped you to fully recover. And it’s also a good example of where Western medicine, that we all benefit from greatly in many areas of our life. But sometimes they just don’t have an answer and they tell you as the patient, I’m sorry, you will have to live with that or nothing we can do, which is not
true because they should really say there’s nothing we can do with our knowledge. While in fact there are other methods out there. And I’m going to not just limit this to Qin Qigong because we know there are other great natural health and Wellbeing methods as well that can actually help you with these ailments. So, yes, definitely. I know. I also suffer from different, for example, gastrointestinal diseases, colitis,
gastritis. In fact, I also have issues with my eyesight, I use lenses. This is amazing for me as well because, you know, the doctor many years ago diagnosed me with myopia, and a little later, I also began to develop astigmatism. Yes, the doctor told me that this is going to increase with time. And it’s been completely different with time; the myopia and astigmatism are going down. Wow. Now,
that is really unheard of because normally people, when they get this, it is actually gradually getting worse. But for you to have it gradually getting better… yeah, that is, that’s wonderful to hear. Yes. A couple of years ago, I went to check up on my eyesight. And yes, let’s say that I continued with the same level of myopia. Yes. So everything is… it’s incredible how it helps us
in many ways, you know. But I would say that, yeah, it’s not with time, I realized that it’s not just the physical aspect, you know. We heal in all the aspects, you know, because for me, health is not only a physical disease. No. It’s also a balance of our emotions and having a calm mind, you know. So with time, I realized that if we keep this balance… No.
And we recover this balance, of course we want to heal any physical disease. So are you saying that if we have this imbalance and we use Zhineng Qigong, or we practice Zhineng Qigong, we don’t really use it because we just practice it? We’re using it not as a tool where we have to do certain things, etc. We’re just practicing Zhineng Qigong, and that will fix the imbalances. As
a consequence, all the physical symptoms will disappear, and the body will get back into a healthy state. Is that basically what you were saying here? Yes, yes, that’s the point. Great. And you call it, you call it Zhineng Qigong as a way of living. That’s… Yeah. What you told me before we started recording. So maybe you can explore, you know, what that means to you. Exactly. And how
that shows up in your daily life. Yes, yes. For me, it’s a way of living. Let me share with you another experience that explains this. Without a doubt, let’s say the examples in terms of physical health are important. But for me, in 2016, something very big happened. That time I stopped working in the corporate world. I worked this way for around 25 years. So more than half of
my career, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, you know. And at that time, that made sense for my life. I felt when I started working in the pharmaceutical industry, I felt like I found my mission, you know, in my life. Helping people by promoting something to improve their health, you know. But as I started practicing Zhineng Qigong more and more, I felt that my work no longer had
meaning, you know. And I dreamt of helping people in a more complete way. And for me, Zhineng Qigong, no, this is why Zhineng Qigong does so. In that time, I took the decision to leave behind that kind of life and I. Let’s say I did a jump into uncertainty and I stopped working in this way. And of course, at the beginning, it was a mixture of satisfaction and
fear at the same time for not knowing in that moment how to continue. But deep inside myself, I knew that it was the right decision, you know. And I think that I couldn’t take this decision if I wouldn’t practice Zhineng Qigong. Right. You know, that’s why I think that is a knowledge, not only practices, knowledge that help us to rearrange, reorient our life. Yes. In the way we
want. Yes. Now, often we find ourselves at a point in our life where we know it’s not 100% aligned with who we really are. So there is this desire, you know, maybe we want to change something, but at the same time, you know, we have a strong need for security. And leaving the known behind and going into completely unknown territory is obviously something that, you know, needs a
lot of trust. Trust in, you know, in life in general. And you’re explaining that, you know, through the practice of Zhineng Qigong, you had this trust and you had this power to do this, you know, major step for yourself. You lived a life that was probably very comfortable because you got a good salary, you had a good position, everything was kind of sorted. You did something because you
knew inside, okay, the direction you are going right now is no longer true for you. And interesting enough, I mean your mission in life to do something that supports people in their health hadn’t changed. Only that in the past you thought it was the pharmaceutical industry. And then you discovered there’s something far more gentle and more powerful at the same time, like Zhineng Qigong. You knew that you
can continue your life mission, but it would have meant drastic impacts on your life. And I know what it’s like. You have an environment. You probably have, you know, family, parents, friends, and they say, “Are you crazy? You leave your corporate job behind and want to teach Zhineng Qigong?” So, that’s where you need a lot of power and strength in order to make this move and to be
able to sleep at night with all these new risks and ventures that you’re taking. Yes, yes, definitely. You know, for me, it’s a foundation, you know, it is a support to really move in the way we want to move. No, and in this case, to follow my life intention, which is to help people, not to heal. Now, why do you think Zhineng Qigong supports you in your daily
life in such a way? What’s the theory behind it? Now I understand that Qi flows through the body and it does the healing work it needs to do. But how come Zhineng Qigong support you mentally and emotionally? How does it help you make life-changing decisions like that? Yes. You know, after taking the Hong Kong therapy program, I have more information. I think I’ve solved the puzzle. For me,
this program was key. It’s key because I understood that Zhineng Qigong is a series of theories that Dr. Pang shared with us. These theories explain to us how life functions. When we understand how life functions, it’s easier to take all this knowledge to our daily activities. For example, I now think I understand more about what Qi is. It’s not just energy. We know that Qi is information, substance,
energy, and matter. And it’s how they interact, always. I see this in my daily life. I know, for example, how important our thoughts are. Thoughts are information and substance. It’s important to transform negative thoughts into positive ones. And when we have positive thoughts, we should reinforce them. This, I believe, is the way to maintain a balanced life. It’s not just about practicing, though that is very important. We
can notice the benefits in many ways. But understanding the theories, or how life works, you know, it is a way to really take all this knowledge into our daily life activity. I see, I see. So what you’re saying is that the actual exercises, they do their work no matter what, but understanding the deeper theories behind it, which is actually understanding life, will give you a lot of trust
and confidence in whatever you’re doing because you understand the principles. And that’s something that you learned particularly in the Hunyuan Qi Therapy program, is that right? Yeah, yeah. And I… Are you practicing as a Hunyuan Qi therapist these days, or are you focusing on teaching people, you know, the Zhineng Qigong side of things, the exercises? Nowadays I combine practice methods and Hunyuan Qi Therapy, and I think that
the best way to share with people, you know, all this knowledge, because I really feel and am convinced that we need to practice, let’s say, in our daily life, you know? Right. And I mean that we need to observe our mind. We need to transform the thoughts or emotions that are not helping us to keep that balance, no? And that’s why I think that we need, as Hunyuan
Qi therapists, to communicate all this beautiful knowledge that Dr. Pang Ming has shared with us. So Zhineng Qigong is not just half an hour of Lift Qi Up or Pour Qi Down method in the morning. It’s a 24-hour way of being, 24 hours of being aware of what my thought patterns are, of what my emotions are, and then, you know, transforming where necessary so that you get to
a healthy state, a wholesome, healthy state, not just a healthy physical state, huh? Yes, that’s right. That’s right. And in this way, I can share with you another experience that I had. This was in 2022. And this experience helped me to reinforce all this knowledge, and now to be certain, you know, I am sharing. And in that time, you know, I was diagnosed with cancer, cancer in the
lymphatic system. You know, it was in the second part of the year 2022. And after many years of not visiting my doctor due to my good health, I had to do it because two balls appeared in my neck, one on each side. And when the doctor checked my neck and at some point, I saw her face, a face of concern and surprise while she was reviewing my neck.
In that moment, I perceived a kind of stream of negative information. If you see the doctor with a worried face, it has an impact. In a few seconds, I felt all that information, and after examining me, he sat down and started writing the prescription. No, he didn’t tell me anything in words. However, I can tell you, he has been my doctor for the last 20 years, and I
know him. He always jokes with me, but in that moment, he stopped making jokes as soon as he checked my neck. When he gave me the prescription, he told me that if the enlarged nodes didn’t disappear in one and a half to two months, I would have to have an MRI. No. And in the last words, I understood his concern and his fear. So during the consultation with
the doctor, I began to realize, or understand more how important my training as a Hunyuan Qi therapist was. The fact of perceiving the information in the moment someone else is sending you is very, very important. And it was very clear to me. And in that moment, I began to work on transforming that information as soon as I receive it. No, I said. I remember that. I said in
my mind, this information is not mine, you know, it doesn’t belong to me. And I began to visualize my healthy neck. Yes. But when he told me that I would need an MRI if this wasn’t resolved in two months, in other words, for me, he was talking to me about a possible cancer. So in that moment, I really felt how negative information can start to damage. No, our
balance. But at the same time, I understand that it is a challenge to deal with this because I know my doctor for many years. He’s an authority in his field. And that made me start to be a little bit afraid. Yes, you know, and… but on the other hand, many, many thoughts in that moment. I had many thoughts in that moment. But on the other side, I said,
but it’s not a confirmed diagnosis. This is… it is my mind which is producing this scenario, this terrible scenario. But it’s not real, right? And when I got home, I organized my Hunyuan Qi health field, and then I sat down to review the experience. I remember something that I share with my clients, and I said to myself, I definitely trust and respect my doctor. No, he does his
best to help me here. I know that with his knowledge, his Western knowledge. However, he doesn’t know what I can do through the knowledge of Zhineng Qigong and Hunyuan Qi therapy. For me, it was a very important thought, very important information that I frequently remember, because I really trust in… In Zhineng Qigong, I trust in my ability to heal myself through Qi, which is an ability that we
all have. I also realized that the negative thoughts that were arising were not real. As I told you, they were not real. I said to myself, I don’t have any proof of this diagnosis, but I am certain that I can transform this information. So for me, this period was a great opportunity to put into practice much of the knowledge that I received during my training as a therapist.
I can share with you some insights. Please go ahead. First of all, I realized how important it is to focus the mind on our life intention. It really is a great engine to overcome obstacles. On the other side, or in addition, I designed my own plan to heal with methods, of course, therapy treatments, but also, as I told you, it was important to sustain my practice in my
daily life. For me, it was a key point to really transform all negative information that appeared at that time into positive. This led me to a broader vision of my life, and I brought in that moment all the theories I learned during my training. I reflected on, okay, what are these? As I told you, for me, it’s just an imbalance of some aspects that make us human, whether
physical, emotional, mental, or a mixture. Some of them. So on a regular basis or permanently, I observe my thoughts, I observe my emotions. Let’s say that I enter into a deep observation of myself. The observation is obviously necessary in order to know that there is something going on that’s not helpful. I think this is a key skill. If you’re not aware that this is happening within you, then
there’s nothing you can do about it. But I’d like to touch on a few points here. First, you said you realized how important it is to connect to your life intention. What you’re saying there is basically that if you know why you are on this planet and what your purpose is, if you have a clear purpose, it’s far more powerful to do any healing because you’ve got a
reason. It’s not just, “Oh, I want to continue to live.” You’ve got a reason, right? Yes, that’s right. That life intention is a strong reason to live. Not to wake up every morning and focus on the things that we love to do, and because of this, I think that because we focus on the things we love to do, we know, or for me, love is the most powerful
energy in the universe. It is Qi. At the end of the day, unconditional love is Qi. So if we focus on this, let’s say positive Qi, of course, is going to help to eliminate the information that is not useful for us. That’s why I think that a really powerful life intention is something very powerful to help us to heal. And then you said something because you are an
experienced. Since 2022. You’ve been a very experienced Zhineng Qigong teacher already, and still, life happens. And you said, yeah, we are human, so there are imbalances that might come up no matter what. And that is also something, it’s important to know. Yes, life happens and we are human. And there must have been some kind of imbalance. You probably know why, or you don’t know. It doesn’t really matter
because at the end of the day, you just take it as it is. Okay, now I’ve got a challenge here. And you transform it and you do what you need to do, right? Because those people will ask, yeah, we’ve got Qigong masters and they also get ill, get sick, so how come? But, yeah, we are humans, right? So there we are. And the important thing then is just
as you described, to transform the information. And I think you used some beautiful words there when you were with the doctor. I think it was very good to say, this information is not mine. I like that a lot, because it’s one way to say, okay, transform the information. But the question is also, how am I doing it? And you also did it in a way that wasn’t disrespectful
towards the doctor, because the doctor has helped you many times and you had a trustful relationship with him. And you didn’t just say, oh, this man is stupid, he knows nothing. No. You said, I respect him for what he’s doing and I appreciate that. And he knows what he knows, but it’s not within the realm of what’s happening, because I know something else. Right. And can you tell
us a little bit more about how you transform the information now? Because most of the listeners know the basic exercises of Zhineng Qigong, but this thought of how do you transform it, maybe you can explore this a little bit for us to get a taste of what you did there? Yes, that’s a good and deep question. I think, as I told you, for me, okay, is transform the
information. But this means to, let’s say, review our old patterns. As I experienced, if we haven’t solved those limiting patterns, those will continue showing up in our daily life. So, we always have the opportunity to solve or dissolve those patterns. So, in that time, I put more attention to catch that old patterns that were affecting me, and this was the way I did to really put attention in
those thoughts, which are old patterns that were generating obstacles to live in harmony. And by observing those old patterns, I think that we have the opportunity to change the interpretation of them with the knowledge that today we have. Because, in those times, when those patterns arose or were created, we didn’t have this present knowledge. Or this new knowledge. Yes. So, when we have the opportunity to review those
patterns, but using our current or new knowledge, we can reinterpret the situation. And I think that this is the way we heal. Right. As simple or complicated as everyone wants to see it. But if we really want to heal, I think we need to do this job. That is an important point because it is these patterns. If we’re not aware of them and we don’t change them, that’s
also the cause of diseases reappearing for many people. Right. Because you might have, with all your knowledge as a therapist and all the exercises you do, you might have healed it. But if the pattern, the underlying pattern hasn’t changed, then there is a high chance that things might just pop up again. Right. And so that is an important aspect of the practice, to not just limit it to,
oh, now I feel this thing. I’m finished. No, the work continues. Constantly being aware of what my thoughts are, what my patterns are, what my emotional patterns are, etc. Now we are also, I’m sure, our listeners are curious to hear how the story developed after you came back from the doctor and started doing your work. So maybe we should. Yeah, yes. Let them know, don’t leave them in
the dark. Yes, yes, sure. I also decided to take the treatment that the doctor prescribed because I thought that the thing at that moment was to use all the resources available to heal. So, about two months after the first appointment with the doctor, it was very visible that the size of the nodules had decreased. And of course, not only the treatment from the doctor, but my main, let’s
say, treatment was my therapy sessions and my practice in Zhineng Qigong. And as I told you, to maintain this observation 24/7, I would say no. And yes, after two months, these nodules decreased, but they had not disappeared completely. So, I asked the doctor for his recommendation. And well, he confirmed that the best thing would be to do the MRI as soon as possible. He told me, “You need
to do this as soon as possible.” No. And he told me to continue with the treatment he had given with his recommendation. Was once again, I evaluated the situation. Although the medications he prescribed helped me, I’m sure they helped me, I was convinced that it was my Qigong and Hunyuan Qi therapy, not treatments, the holistic approach to cope with these imbalances that helped me more. And in that
moment, I decided not to do the MRI and to continue with my program. Because in that moment, I also had a thought arise. And I said, who said that after two months, this has to disappear? I think that we all are different. In my case, I was using different tools, not only Western medicine. So I said to myself, I don’t think that I enter into the statistics of
cancer, that if you don’t do this in this moment, everything is going to fail. I said, we all are unique. And for me, I think that I need more time. As I told you, I decided to continue with my own treatments. So, I did. In that moment, I decided to continue for two more months with my Qigong treatments. I don’t know what is going to happen, but what
I know now is that I am doing my best. No, I will continue with this approach, this holistic approach. In that moment, I believed that, and now, I still believe that this is the right way. If we really want to heal, we need to approach the disease in a holistic way. I didn’t realize when, but before those two months, the nodules completely disappeared. You know, one day I
looked in the mirror and said “I think there are no more nodules in my neck.” But I said, “Okay.” And you know, another important thing is that during this entire process, I felt good. It was just a manifestation of those nodules, but I really felt good. And after the nodules disappeared, I decided to. To make another appointment with my doctor, just to close this experience. And again, he
checked my neck. I could say several times, I think he tried to find something, but no. And once again, I saw his face of surprise. He told me, “You are okay.” And this time, I was perfectly happy to accept this information. So there was no need to transform it. You said, “Well, it’s his information, and it’s also mine.” Right? Exactly. Yes. Everything I knew before, now visiting the
doctor, was that everything was okay, but he confirmed that everything was okay. He seemed like he couldn’t believe it. He told me, “Okay, you don’t need the MRI.” But then he said, “Please, I’m going to recommend a study. So please make a note of this study.” And it wasn’t a study to check the thyroid. Yes, you know, to check this gland. I did the study, and all the
parameters came out fine, within the normal range. I sent the information to the doctor, and he told me, “Well, you are fine. You are indeed fine.” But in that moment, I thought, “Yes, I already knew it. I knew that. Okay, I already knew it.” Thank you, thank you very much, Elizabeth, for sharing that story and for sharing all your wisdom and knowledge about what you’ve learned on your
journey with Zhineng Qigong. And I think it’s become very obvious to our audience here that you are a very advanced teacher and therapist. So my final question is, are you working with people only in your native language, Spanish, or is it also fine for people who don’t speak Spanish but speak English to work with you? Is that an option, or how are you usually doing your trainings? Yes,
thank you for the question. Yes, I work with people who speak Spanish and English. In fact, I’ve been doing so in the last years. So I am happy to help people, you know, to, let’s say, recover, you know, their health. So, yeah, okay. Very, very nice. So not speaking Spanish is not in the way of working with you and, you know, benefiting from all your knowledge and your.
The woman you are, your personality, and everything you bring to the table to help people, wherever they might be. So I will, of course, put your details in the show notes. So, anybody who’s interested, please check the show notes. And now we are already running quite a bit over time compared to the usual podcast, but that’s perfectly fine. I’m very happy about having the opportunity to talk to
you today, Elizabeth. Thank you so much for joining us today, and I hope to speak to you very soon. Thank you very much, Torsten. Very, very happy for this invitation. I’m very happy to share from my heart the things that I’ve learned in my life. 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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