Insights from Master Zhen Qingchuan and The Psychology of Inner Perception.

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Follow your heart. Have a change of heart. You broke my heart…

Both in English and in Chinese we refer to the heart when we are expressing our emotions. For thousands of years, the mental “heart” and physical heart have been linked in Chinese medicine and Western culture. However, the healing potential of the heart, in terms of our emotional, mental and physical health, has only just begun to be explored by mainstream society.

Master Zhen Qingchuan describes this, the psychology of inner perceptions, as the future of psychology. He is one of the leaders in this new understanding of the true causes of illness, and is now devoted to sharing this knowledge and experience to students who come to him seeking recovery, as well as training new teachers.

Early Revelations

Master Zhen began his Qigong journey in the 1980s, he was still attending school. His passion was sparked by Dr Pang Ming’s work with Zhineng Qigong; when he read Dr Pang’s book, he realised that Dr Pang’s theories were “the future of science”, and describes Qigong theory as “nutrition for the spirit”.

During his first four years as a Qigong practitioner, Master Zhen worked in the recovery section of the Huaxia centre, the “medicine-less hospital”. He saw students with a wide range of health problems, including cancer, diabetes, blood issues, and gall and kidney stones, and recounts that almost 40% of them totally recovered in 50 days!

However, he also realised that while some patients recovered very fast, even with serious problems, such as disabilities suffered due to stroke, others with the same health condition and level of severity would recover very slowly. Even some students who had many one-on-one healing sessions, who practiced very hard, still had very little improvement. The question was – why?

Master Zhen (right side of Doctor Pang) in group photo while he was a teacher in Huaxia Zhineng Qigong Recovery Centre.

Why Some People Heal, and Others Don’t

In 2001, Master Zhen (right) travelled to Malaysia to teach Qigong, which had begun to increase in popularity around the world by this time. For ten years, he lived in Penang and ran a centre as a teacher. It was during this time that he truly started to piece together the knowledge needed to answer this question.

Master Zhen says during his teacher training, Dr Pang taught that the more you practice the more sensitive you will become to Qi. “We thought that someone who is more sensitive to the Qi field, recovers faster than other people and that those who don’t are less sensitive,” he explains.

But during his teachings, he found that it is not about how much you practise but rather about how you practise. Master Zhen realized that, for beginners, Qi is mostly experienced on a physical level. In order to completely resolve all blockages, we must go further, to the level of the mind.

The main obstacle before recovery in many students was unresolved mental and emotional blockages. Qi cannot flow correctly if there are psychological blockages in the way, preventing healing. Although Dr Pang Ming often discussed mental and emotional health in the 1990s, most other practitioners did not, and there was commonly a low level of awareness surrounding the link between thoughts, emotions and physical health.

Psychology of Inner Perceptions

As he developed his theory, Master Zhen set out to write his own book. He teamed up with his wife Doctor Liu Lilly, who then became co-author of their book The Psychology of Inner Perceptions.

Doctor Lilly (right) has a PHD in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and trained along with Master Zhen at Huaxia center to become a qualified Zhineng Qigong teacher. Together they make the perfect team – Master Zhen as the theorist and Doctor Lilly as the researcher. Doctor Lilly found all the supporting evidence to substantiate Master Zhen’s theories by researching Chinese medical classics.

In the book they combine the theory of TCM and Qigong. They explore the relationship between 3 essential aspects that are prominent in both disciplines: Qi, the physical body and Shen (the mind). The book focuses on the relationship between the heart and the Shen and how they influence our body. It advises how to use these two fundamental parts of ourselves to discover and release any mental blockages that might be causing us injury, illness and distress. Their intention with the book is to share the knowledge of how to tap into our own healing capabilities.

Understanding the Concept

Master Zhen uses an example that simplifies the idea behind the psychology of inner perception quite logically. He uses the example of someone with a kidney problem. In Chinese medicine, there is the idea that kidneys are linked to fear. If we do not know why, then we might think it is something crazy, or superstitious, explains Master Zhen.

The kidneys produce urine. And fear is an emotion. So, what is the link? But this is actually easy to understand, says Master Zhen. The reason is that on top of the kidneys we have adrenal glands. When we have fear this gland produces adrenalin and this goes into our blood so that our muscles have more energy. So, when we experience fear or stress, it is connected to our kidneys. In this way we have a physical and mental connection. Therefore, we can heal the kidneys by resolving the blockage caused by stress in the heart.

(Right) An illustration from The Psychology of Inner Perceptions. The writing in Chinese means ‘pursue your dreams as firmly and powerfully as a horse’.

How Do You Know If You Have a Blockage?

Master Zhen explains that some heart blockages may be caused from very long ago, even when you were a child. Certain events or relationships cause negative emotions to be held in the physical heart. Over time, as we learn to cope with these emotions, we might avoid them and instead they hide in our heart unresolved.

Master Zhen says, directly we can feel the heart. Some people feel an uncomfortable feeling in their physical heart. A few sense deeper unease in their mental heart. In his classes he asks his students to check in with their emotions. He asks them to think about what they are feeling – some students are experiencing stress, or discontentment with a family member or with life.

He says that some practitioners might even experience a Qi reaction that is caused by emotion. A heart blockage can be located once we go in with the intention of finding it. After finding a deeper connection between our heart and Shen, we can pin point the heart blockage and its cause.

Before Master Zhen’s class an infrared picture is taken of each student. Another picture is taken after the class. This way students can see where Qi has improved in their body.

How Do You Remove These Blockages?

Normally, Master Zhen teaches his students sense– to feel or sense the blockage in the heart. In Zhineng Qigong practice we are taught to reach with our mind (Shen), then the Qi will be there. Once the Qi reaches the illness it will be gone. Master Zhen says issues concerning the heart is the same. We simply need to bring our awareness to it, allowing the Qi to flow to the heart and then we can heal.

Success Stories Show the Way

Master Zhen has seen many success stories using the knowledge he has recorded in The Psychology of Inner Perceptions. In 2013, he visited his home town and met a woman who, at 53, had heart problems for most of her life. Neither Chinese nor Western doctors were able to help her.

When Master Zhen performed an energetic healing on her, he noticed a strong blockage. Repeated impartations of energy, for two to three minutes at a time, produced no change. Eventually upon questioning, she recollected that her father passed away when she was 17, and he fell sick two and a half years beforehand. They realized that this was also when her heart problems started to develop. According to Master Zhen, once the trauma was identified, the blockage cleared! When he saw her again, 6 months later, she had fully recovered. This is when he realised that most physical problems have a psychological component behind them.

Another success story he recalls is that of a 30-year-old woman in Malaysia, who had been experiencing severe depression after relationship difficulties. Initially she frequently cried before his treatment. After two months her friends, studying in his centre, explained she had become “totally well”, and was talking and laughing as normal. “That’s not her”, they said of her previous state. In fact, Master Zhen has had many successful cases of healing from depression, and even some from more serious mental illness.

Master Zhen and participants at his Inner Perceptions class at a psychology college in Argentina.

Is This the Future of Psychology?

Master Zhen says that although previous psychology delved into the concepts of our mental psyche, it followed a more logical route because it stems from philosophy. Their book, however uses a more perceptual way – directly feel, sense, realize mental issues. They believe that in some ways their way of looking at psychology is much simpler. It is intuitive.

However, Master Zehn also says that this book is a basic foundation of the idea (healing through inner perception). This is just the start and there is room for more in depth studying and research in the future.

Master Zhen Qingchuan now teaches around the world, travelling to locations including Europe, Australia and South America. As for his future plans, he is seeking partnerships with professors and researchers to do research on the mental and physical health effects of Qigong.

The Psychology of Inner Perceptions, can be purchased here on Amazon.

If you are interested in contacting Master Zhen for research or speaking engagements, click here.