Qigong, creativity and art

Author: Dupuis Christine//Garcia Gaspar
Affiliation: Spanish Qigong Association
Conference/Journal: 4th World Conf Acad Exch Med Qigong
Date published: 1998
Other: Pages: 220-222 , Word Count: 656


Through this medical congress, Doctor Gaspar Garcia and myself would like to tell you about the welfare of Qigong on the creativity and the impact it can have on our own creations. How to develop the creativity that remains deep inside of us? Why is it so important to do so? We must learn how to develop inside of us our creativity not only as a welfare for, ourselves but also for the universe.

Creativity does not come from the outside but come from the inside.
We must bring it out through Qigong and learn how to breath, relax,
concentrate and also how to teach the endless world what we all own.Macrocosm has it's twin in microcosm.

I'm teaching an 'expression mean' course in a Belgian architecture school. For several years, I've been organizing workshops in nature for my students aged from 23 to 24. The purpose is to realize natural constructions while developing our own senses. But I've always found that something was lacking to be at the best of our creative strength. That something was the training.

Qigong turned out to be an happy encounter. I asked Doctor Garcia to take part in our adventure. As a result, the student found the experience highly opening out. To give you a more precise idea of exactly what happened during these two days at the Belgian seaside
(in the little village of Den Haan) find enclosed the video of the
workshop, and its program. The workshop lasted for two days, from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon. Participating 33 students (fourth year of architecture), Doctor Garcia, Yves Magnier (architect), and myself.

We started on Saturday from 9.30 am until 12.30 p.m. with some breathing and concentration exercises directed by Doctor Garcia. A sentence by SU-TANG-PO introduced the program 'To Paint a Tree, Make it Firstly Grow Inside of You'. The theme of the workshop was given the deep-rooting. The students were well prepared, calm and ready to develop their creativity. We asked them to plant flags in the sand from the flag's roots, they had to create signs, writings, tracks (while keeping in mind Kandinski's masterpiece 'Point, line on ground). Well prepared and relaxed by the Qigong technique, they (and we all did), reached the best of ourselves and created with an inside strength. Things were coming from themselves.

At 4 p.m., sitting in the sand, we tried to re-draw what we had done before (what had been withdrawn by the tide). We used the flags again. We made tracks in the sand, then on the paper by dipping the stick into ink. Qigong takes a very important place in the drawings. Thanks to the correct breathing, the wrist seems more nimble. The movements are easier and smoother.

At 9 p.m., Doctor Gaspar invites anyone who wants it, to meditate.
The students understood very quickly the importance and the relation that exist in between Qigong and the creation. Thanks to Qigong, their concentration, interiorisation and their responsibility reached a higher level. It's pointless to start a new project straight away. We need time to prepare it and to prepare ourselves.

On Sunday at 9 am, a new day begins with a Qigong session. At around 11 am, we decide to form a huge square with the forty student's flag. In the middle of it, the teachers build a mountain of sand that represents their home their roots. From this starting point, each student has to build its own home from its flag to the center of the square or the sandy mountain. The group works together, the energy becomes huge and the nearness of the sea gives aI1 work its strength.

The tide will again destroy what it feels like, but what remains is the most important. The workshop ends at about 5 p.m. with an improvisation and observation session based on the word 'end'. We say good-bye to each other, we go for a drink or a walk. Everybody walks slowly.