Long before Lee Holden became a beloved Qi Gong teacher, his concept of Qi was little more than an intriguing sensation he encountered as a child. Even though he wasn’t able to fully make sense of his experiences, he could tell that there was a mysterious energy that lived within him.
In one of our previous articles, we discussed Lee’s lifelong journey of discovering and cultivating the practice of Qi Gong. In this blog, we zoom in on the earliest chapter of that journey—Lee’s childhood experiences of Qi.
Before diving into Lee’s specific childhood experiences of Qi, it’s important to understand the environment in which he was raised. After all, the people and environment in a child’s life play a significant role in their development.
Lee was blessed to have two loving parents who encouraged him to embrace the beauty of life and cultivate his inner experiences of himself. In fact, his mother, Karen Holden, was a true visionary (and still is) when it comes to mastering and sharing practices for harnessing life-force energy. His father, Lee Holden Senior, is also a seasoned practitioner who occasionally co-teaches Qi Gong lessons with his son. Together, Lee’s parents provided him with tremendous support and guidance as he explored himself and his surroundings.
As a child, Lee’s parents often guided him through visualization and hypnosis practices before going to bed. His experiences of the practices varied, but sometimes he felt an energetic awakening at night. It was as though electricity was pulsing through his body.
At first, these experiences were a bit uncomfortable for him, but they were also very intriguing. As a child, he asked himself, “What is this mysterious energy moving through me?” This was before he realized that he had the ability to actively influence how energy moves. Once he was awakening to the feeling of Qi, it continued to grow.
As a child, Lee took martial arts classes. Strangely enough, some of the martial arts exercises he learned evoked the same feeling that came over him during visualization and hypnosis. Just like guided visualization, martial arts made him feel like a buzzing electricity was moving throughout his body. Who would have thought meditation, hypnosis, and martial arts had something in common? Young Lee could only wonder what that mysterious energy was that he felt.
Another important aspect of martial arts was the philosophy he learned. One of his teachers told him that energetic power was more important than muscular power. Additionally, his teacher taught him that the power he cultivated should always be used to cultivate health and joy, not to harm other people. This was another unexpected lesson for young Lee since he thought that martial arts was about fighting. Not only was he being told that the energy he felt was real, but that it could be used to feel better inside.
Lee’s third encounter with Qi happened when he was about fifteen years old. He was learning a breathing exercise when he felt buzzing electricity come alive in his body once again. He continued doing practice while the feeling intensified. With each breath, he could feel the electric current grow stronger in his arms, legs, and back. It reached the point where his full body vibrated intensely with the energy within him.
After that breathwork experience, Lee tried to recreate this feeling through other breathing exercises. Sometimes, he was able to reconnect with the feeling of Qi buzzing in his body. At other times, he found it difficult to reawaken the feeling. For the next several years, he continued to tap into Qi from time to time, but it remained a mysterious and elusive force until he was a young adult.
If you’re interested in experiencing the feeling of Qi for yourself, be sure to check out our free two-week Qi Gong trial.
In the two-week trial, Lee teaches Qi Gong exercises designed to activate Qi within your body, allowing you to feel the same buzzing electricity that Lee discovered through visualization, martial arts, and breathwork. In addition, Lee teaches you how to circulate this energy, bringing a feeling of nourishment to your entire being.
Most students experience reduced stress and more energy after just a couple of Qi Gong classes. Click on the banner below to learn more and discover Qi for yourself.