Marisa Cranfill – the Heart of Qigong

New 7-Week Live Video Course Starts
Monday, October 21, 2024

Release and transform old wounds and negative emotions through effective heart-centered Qigong practices to manage stress, rebalance your nervous system, and cultivate emotional wellbeing by integrating the shen — the vital essence of spirit and mind in Traditional Chinese Medicine — into your daily life.

Your heart is the home of your spirit, called the shen in Chinese, says celebrated Qigong teacher Marisa Cranfill, creator of YOQI® (yoga + Qigong).

The shen, translated as “spirit,” is one of the three treasures in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It governs your mind, emotions, and spiritual awareness — and represents the highest parts of your mental and emotional being.

When your mind, body, and heart are not connected — and in our busy modern lives and turbulent world, they often are not — you may experience strained relationships, depression, chronic disease, isolation, and a sense of stagnating spiritual growth.

Thankfully, with a regular Qigong practice, you can cultivate your energy in more expansive ways, says Marisa. As you move with relaxed intention and take slow breaths during your Qigong practice, you cultivate the shen to regulate your nervous system.

When you cultivate the shen, you reduce stress and enhance mental clarity — fostering greater self-awareness, inner peace, spiritual transformation, and a deeper connection to your true self.

When you enhance your Qigong practice, you elevate every aspect of your life.

With repeated practice, this process not only repatterns your nervous system but also harmonizes your entire energy field. It gently guides your body from the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system into the calming, restorative parasympathetic state.

This shift facilitates profound healing, both physically and emotionally. On a deeper level, it nurtures the spiritual aspect of the shen. As your shen becomes more balanced, you experience a state of joyful equilibrium, where you feel deeply connected, whole, and at peace.

You’re invited to embark on a transformative journey to understand and harness the profound power of Qigong in Marisa’s new 7-week course.

She’ll guide you through ancient Qigong practices that nurture the shen, bringing balance and harmony to your nervous system and fostering a profound unity of spirit.

Marisa is a globally recognized expert with more than two decades of experience who seamlessly blends the ancient wisdom of Qigong with the transformative practices of yoga.

She has trained extensively in both Eastern and Western modalities, creating a unique approach that empowers individuals to achieve balance, vitality, and holistic wellbeing.

Her teachings are rooted in deep cultural understanding and practical application, making her a trusted leader in the fields of energy healing and mind-body integration.

During your seven weeks with Marisa, you’ll gain a deep understanding of the Daoist view of the spirit and how it plays a crucial role in our happiness, harmony, and spiritual awakening.

Marisa discovered Qigong more than 20 years ago as a student in China. She soon combined it with her yoga practice — and experienced more sensitivity to energy, deep self-healing, and access to nature’s unlimited potential.

She calls this integration YOQI® (yoga + Qigong).

Today her greatest joy is in sharing these tools to help others cultivate life force energy for self-healing, vitality, spiritual fulfillment, and a deeper connection to nature and self.

Marisa’s comprehensive curriculum combines theoretical knowledge with practical exercises, providing a more holistic approach to Qigong. You’ll explore Qigong postures, energy flow techniques, and meditative practices that unify body, mind, and spirit.

Qigong can empower you to access the untapped well of inner wisdom within your heart. Your focused, intentional practice can help you remember that everything you need for a balanced, joyful life full of love is already within you.

Module 1: The “Attune” Phase of Qi Flow — Cultivate a Sense of Connection, Joy & Self-Empowerment (October 21)

In Qigong, the shen (spirit) holds profound importance, representing the highest aspect of human consciousness and the ultimate state of spiritual development.

The YOQI® method’s six phases of Qi flow approach the shen in the natural way that energy transforms, according to traditional Qigong principles.

Begin with the attune phase by tuning into the shen and setting your intention for the course — such as improved emotional balance, mental clarity, sounder sleep, nervous system regulation, or spiritual transformation.

Discover the origins of your shen according to Daoist metaphysics and Traditional Chinese Medicine, deepening your knowledge of this profound topic.

In this module, you’ll explore:

The YOQI Method’s six phases of Qi flow to transform your energy
The Daoist view of health and enlightenment
The meaning of spirit and consciousness, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine
How the shen plays a role in your health, wellbeing, and spiritual transformation
The Inner Smile Meditation with Self Massage, designed to awaken awareness and connection to your shen spirit to promote a sense of inner peace and nourishment

Module 2: The “Purge” Phase of Qi Flow — Clear Stagnant & Pent-Up Energy to Accept, Forgive & Let Go (October 28)

The goal of a Qigong practice is to increase the quality and quantity of Qi in the body and promote a smooth flow of Qi and blood.

As Marisa will explain, when Qi and blood flow smoothly, you feel healthy and the shen (spirit) is happy. When the flow of Qi and blood is blocked, there is disease and suffering.

The energy in the heart shen is affected by emotions such as anxiety, anger, worry, fear, grief, and depression. In the purge phase, you’ll learn how to clear stagnant and pent-up energy through Qigong exercises, breathwork, and the principles of accept, forgive, and let go.

Purging excess heat and emotional energy from the heart and fire meridians helps improve mood, mental clarity, posture, confidence, communication skills, and sleep — and opens the heart to the blessings of the universe.

In this module, you’ll explore:

The power of the purge phase of Qi flow
Your fire meridians — the heart, small intestine, triple warmer, and pericardium
How to identify emotions as energy frequencies
Qigong techniques to clear stress, pent-up emotions, heat, anxiety, and depression and balance your energy
How to identify specific shen imbalances of excess and deficiency
Techniques to calm the heart and spirit for sound sleep
A guided Qigong heart purification practice

Module 3: The “Tonify” Phase of Qi Flow — Experience Inner Peace, Self-Healing & Deeper Intimacy in Relationships (November 4)

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the sign of a balanced and stable shen is a sense of calm.

The tonify phase of Qi flow nourishes the shen by cultivating energetic balance and tranquility. Marisa will guide you to focus on the pericardium meridian, also known as your heart protector.

It is the key meridian for inner peace, self-healing, and cultivating intimate relationships.

When this meridian is healthy, you feel calm, compassionate, and maintain healthy boundaries. Explore the simple yet profound energy that lies within calmness and how cultivating it through Qigong leads to expansion.

In this module, you’ll discover:

Why calmness is the prized emotion in Qigong
The hidden power within your Sea of Tranquility point (CV17)
Key acupressure points for anxiety and calmness
Qigong practices to clear heat and emotional tension from the pericardium and strengthen your heart protector.
How the pericardium supports hormone balance, self-love, happiness, and emotional tranquility
A guided Qigong practice, “The Heart Protector Flow”

Module 4: The Shen & The Nervous System — Tools to Manage Stress, Improve Your Health & Deepen Your Practice (November 11)

This combination of theoretical insights with practical exercises provides you with comprehensive tools to manage stress, improve your health, and deepen your Qigong practice.

Delve into the Qigong theory that explains the autonomic nervous system’s yin (parasympathetic) and yang (sympathetic) elements. Qi can also be seen as breathwork. The breath is vital in regulating the nervous system due to its connection to heart rate and Qi flow.

Through these tonification practices, you will learn how to strengthen your resilience to stress and tap into a coherent state between the heart and the brain through breath regulation and flow.

Explore the essential relationship between the heart, lungs, and kidneys in managing stress. By mastering these techniques, cultivate and expand your shen, achieving mental clarity, emotional resilience, and spiritual growth.

In this module, you’ll explore:

The Yin and Yang of the nervous system
The importance of balancing the heart, lungs, and kidneys for nervous system regulation
The traditional Daoist breathing method called dantian breathing and the 5 breath regulations
Daily energy exercises to reset your nervous system
Spinal cord Qigong
Breathwork techniques to manage stress and cultivate a resilient nervous system response
The Qigong principle of effortless effort (wei wu wei)
A guided Qigong practice, “Calming the Shen Qigong Flow with the Bell”

Module 5: The “Grow” Phase of Qi Flow — Multiply Your Love Energy to Uplift Your Mood for a Sense of Connection & Peace (November 18)

Explore the profound connection between the shen and self-love. Without an attitude of unconditional love for ourselves, we block the flow of the universe.

Taking time to love and care for ourselves is not selfish; it is essential. We cannot fully love others until we love ourselves. If our energy is depleted, our ability to give is limited. The more love we have for ourselves, the more we can share with others.

The shen, residing in the heart, is the essence of our spirit and consciousness. Cultivating self-love is essential for expanding and growing your heart energy. Self-love means respecting, honoring, and caring for ourselves in a healthy way. In Qigong, self-love is a holistic practice that nourishes the body, mind, and spirit.

In this grow phase of Qi flow, multiply your love energy and practice Qigong techniques designed to awaken love in your heart, including body massage to nurture your physical being, and flows to circulate and expand your heart fire. Positive affirmations reinforce a loving and compassionate mindset.

This practice is also wonderful for those healing from loneliness, depression, loss, or heartbreak. The gentle, loving energy cultivated through Qigong can help mend a broken heart. Learn powerful tools to support your emotional healing and personal transformation, allowing you to embrace a more fulfilled and joyful life.

In this module, you’ll explore:

How to grow love in your heart through the grow phase of Qi flow
Powerful tools to support emotional healing and personal transformation
The power of healing self-love through the Dao
The importance of nourishing your jing, Qi, and shen
Laughing Qigong to nourish the shen spirit
A guided Qigong flow for self-love

Module 6: The “Circulate” Phase of Qi Flow — Refine the Heart to Attain a Sense of Purpose, Meaning & Fulfillment (December 2)

Cultivating the shen is essential for spiritual growth and transformation — developing higher states of consciousness, deepening your self-awareness, and connecting with your true nature.

Marisa will address the spiritual aspect of the shen during the circulate phase, where energy flows smoothly and balances, leading to refinement. Explore the shen in its most expansive state—the energy of compassion.

Shamans in China, known as “stretchers,” could extend their consciousness to other dimensions of time and space. Your internal power emanates from the heart. Elevate your shen consciousness through the heart, allowing Dao to flow through you, illuminating your path and purpose.

Learn an internal alchemy practice to transform energy and raise the frequency of the shen. Cultivating your shen is the key to opening up and being able to hold more information and light. As you expand your shen through the heart, Dao can work through you, providing clear direction and joy in your life.

In this module, you’ll explore:

The 3 dantians, your 3 energetic treasures
The difference between the small shen and the large shen in Chinese energetic anatomy
Awaken your elixir field of compassion
How to transform and repattern your energy field to raise your vibration
A beautiful mantra — Guan Yin, the Chinese Bodhisattva of compassion
A guided practice of a warm-up followed by dantian elixir tapping and meditation

Module 7: The “Integrate” Phase of Qi Flow — Cultivating Your Shen for Empowerment & Eternal Happiness (December 9)

Synthesize and integrate all the knowledge and practices you’ve learned into your daily life in this phase. The ultimate goal of practice is to align your spirit with the universal spirit (yuan shen) and achieve unity with the Dao.

The empowerment of the shen brings eternal happiness that is not dependent on external conditions. True happiness comes from being at one with the cosmos, adapting to circumstances as they arise rather than trying to control or change them. This lifelong journey is a path of self-realization through selfless awareness.

A profound aspect of Qigong and neidan (internal alchemy) is the realization that you are not merely your physical body or form, but the energy within that form — you are spirit in matter.

We will examine the influence of seasons, hormone cycles, daily rhythms, diet, and lifestyle activities on maintaining a happy and healthy spirit.

In this module, you’ll explore:

Developing higher states of consciousness, deepening self-awareness, and connecting with your true nature
Understanding eternal happiness through the shen
How to integrate practices for the shen into your daily life
A Qigong Flow for Empowerment practice