Transmit!

"Transmitting Qi, I tap the potential of the universe to serve the healing and empowerment of others." –Roger Jahnke, Mind-focus Affirmation 10, from the Healing Promise of Qi.

Phase 10, the final Qi cultivation phase introduced, explored, and illuminated by Roger Jahnke in his powerful book, is, like all of Qigong practice, potentially "way out there" and at the same time "right here." The "way out" part, to me, is his discussion and practice of remote healing, where "transmitting Qi" can take place over great distances. Even the practice of Reiki, where Qi is transmitted from person-to-person, is a bit too "woo-woo" for some.

But Qi at its essence is energy. As is everything else. So, like an Ax Reader shared, music is a way of transmitting Qi from one soul to another. And if Qi is everywhere, then we can tap into its potential anywhere. I felt this recently with the creation, video-recording, and sharing of a new song. The whole process, from start to finish–and especially the finish–was cathartic for me, and from the response so far, the result can be healing for others as well. Listeners and creators connect through the energy of song. The songwriters and the performers are all tapping into the potential energy of the universe.

Roselind Torres shared in a TED Talk that "Leaders don't look down; they look around the corner and see what's ahead." But I believe leaders do look down, and up, and in, and ahead. I still remember a discussion I had with my son Skylar when he was 10 years old, just after he was appointed Captain of his Little League baseball team. I asked him how it felt, after over 5 years as a player, being promoted to Captain. He said, "For 5 years I have been looking only up at the Captain. But now I need to look..." and he started to look down, then stopped himself, spread his arms wide, and said, eyes moving with and matching his words, "...now I need to look at the whole team, at everything." He didn't mention around the corner, and I'm not sure how leaders can look around the corner unless they have a great set of mirrors.

(That role was not a fun one for Sky, by the way, and he experienced it both as the younger team Captain at 10 and again for the older kids at 12. In Japan, the Captain shoulders responsibility for everything that happens on the field. Any mistake, by any player, whether an error of commission or omission, and the coach would yell at the captain. That's yakkyu, very different from the baseball I grew up with.)

This 10th Phase, "Transmitting Qi," is all about the practitioner flowing with Qi in order to influence others positively; hence the direct connection of this phase to leadership. For in its essence, leadership is influence. Everyone can practice leadership. It has nothing to do with title or position. And everyone, on the energetic level, is influencing everyone else.

Going through all 10 phases, or at least learning about them, has helped me develop a sense of connection to myself through Qi, the energy that flows through me. Now I readily admit that I rarely practice this 10th Phase as described by Jahnke; like I said, I am using it in a more "down to Earth" (though still mysterious) way, in the influence I may have in the classroom, with clients or performing music. But this phase does remind us of the bigger purpose, to use Qi cultivation for "the empowerment of others."

And that is exactly where, again, this phase, and all of Qigong, coincides with the best leadership practices. Whether they be expressed by Simon Sinek in "Leaders Eat Last" or Torres' "looking around the corner," positive leadership requires a creative, growth mindset that we can develop through this process, the 10 Phases of Qi cultivation and mastery: Discovering, Gathering, Circulating, Purifying, Directing, Conserving, Storing, Transforming, Dissolving into, and Transmitting Qi.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the 10 Phases of Qigong, next time, we'll start looking at some "creativity hacks," specific tools that can help spark and take your creativity to the next level...higher!