Why Modern Yoga and Qigong Have Lost Their Center

Yesterday I was listening to a lecture by my Qigong teacher, Damo Mitchell. He was speaking about the difference between traditional internal cultivation of the system compared to modern external forms, and I thought it was very interesting. He pointed out some things I've intuitively sensed myself but haven't been able to really put words to.

He was speaking about the fact that a lot of modern modalities—yoga, qigong, all these different practices that have been systematized—have actually lost their connection to the essence of what these modalities are trying to get to, which is the internal development of our energy system so that the energy gets activated from the inside and then starts radiating outward the more we connect with it. From that, the external forms manifest in a way that's spontaneous.

He spoke about all the different aspects of this: mudras formed by the hands, the arms, the body, postures like the yoga asanas. According to what he was saying, we sort of have it backwards nowadays. We've taken these expressions of that internal mechanism and created systems out of them, and we're trying to convince ourselves that if we do those postures, if we do those exercises, if we do those movements, then it will lead us to that same place. But that's not really the case.

I remember having a conversation about this years ago with my Tantra teacher at the time. We talked about these spontaneous movements that sometimes emerge while being in a certain state. She referred to it as 'Latihan'. Which isn't really a practice, but a surrendering to what arises from within. Without any expectation. She mentioned that she believed all Yoga originated from this state.

It's actually supposed to be generated spontaneously on our journey deeper into ourselves and deeper into the center of our being. And what I found really interesting is that this corresponds to the same principle as biogeometry, which is all about centering, whether that's a physical body or a space.

The concept behind biogeometry is that there's a divine center in every living system, in every energy system. There's a center that connects that system to that place beyond space and time.

It's through the center that life force enters into the physical plane, animates the physical dimension, and brings life into the physical dimension. It happens through the center, and from the center it pulsates outward to the periphery and back to the center—and that pulsation happens many times. Each living system also has a different pulse, a different rhythm. All of that is very individual.

So ultimately, in the deeper sense, all of those classical traditions—if they're still connected to the actual authentic expression of these practices—are about settling into that center. From there, the energetic divine blueprint of that system can be activated and start to expand and fill out that entire system. In that process of filling out and expansion of energy, it will balance that whole system. It will harmonize it, and gradually push out any impurities from that system—whether that's toxins that need to be expelled, or emotions that need to be released within the human system, or environmental disturbances in a space, for instance.

If you look at the system of BioGeometry, everything's focused on activating that divine center in a space, like a home, so that all the disturbances, the energetic disturbances in that space, are actually harmonized in that process—and they turn into sources of beneficial energy once that center is properly activated.

This is exactly the same thing with practices like Qi Gong, where we try to connect deeper to that center within ourselves. First we need to find it, then we need to connect with it, and from that connection, and going deeper into that center, it starts to create a field that radiates outward. Well, it's actually a gravitational field—a different type of energy. It's not a Yang type of energy, where there's a lot of movement and activation, which I think a lot of people also don't really understand properly.

I know this from my own experience, because when I started my journey, I thought it was all about stimulation and activation. I was convinced that was going to bring more energy and more vitality. But I've come to see that that's not a sustainable way to develop your energy system. In fact, it seems to me like that's actually a detrimental way of developing your energy system, because it depletes the system, it depletes the kidneys, and it depletes our vitality.

So this idea of being connected to the center—it seems to me like this was the true, authentic direction that most ancient traditions were trying to direct people towards. In modern times, we've gone so far in other directions, and we're so far removed from those principles and that understanding, that you see all these externalized forms of these systems, and rituals and dogmas. All of it is form without substance—it's no longer infused with the actual impulse that gave rise to those things in the first place.

So we've lost that connection to our center, and I think it's important to find that back. It's probably not relevant for everyone, but for myself, personally, that's the thing I'm most driven towards—to understand this science and art.

It's a science in the sense that there are steps to take. There are methods to practice and work with, but there's also an art to it, in the sense that it's not rigid and it's not binary. It's very alive, and it requires discernment and the ability to truly be humble as well, and to always want to go deeper, to always want to understand a deeper layer and the next step, and never to come to any rigid conclusions and believe that we know how it actually works.