By Charly SHELTON

The ancient Chinese practice of qigong, a system of well-being and self healing, is over 3,000 years old. By drawing positive energy in and expelling negative energy, it is believed by some that a person can heal the body, elevate the mind and deepen the spirit. But it does take work, and someone to demonstrate how to do it. It is with this in mind that local qigong healer and Wing Chun master Alan Lamb will hold a workshop at the end of the month to teach attendees how to fight negative energy by focusing on positive energy.

“The whole idea of me getting back into metaphysical [teaching] is to try and help people,” Lamb said. “Because wherever I turn, it seems like there’s a lot of despair in the air. You know the law of attraction – what you focus on, you manifest. So what I’m trying to do is put the positive vibe out there as a little help to negate some of the negativity going around, because people seem pretty stressed right now. And learning about the emotions helps to de-stress the body, too, because you’re dealing with emotions [that] can cause stress in different organs, and it helps you cleanse.”

Lamb will be focusing on the Five Elements theory and emotional health in the upcoming class, scheduled for Aug. 27 at 10:30 a.m. at Guiding Spirit in La Crescenta. Many of the aspects of emotional, spiritual and physical health are intertwined and one can only exist in harmony if everything is balanced, Lamb said.

“The Chinese believe that everything comes from nothingness, from the Yin. And they say that thoughts are things, so negative emotions start to have a negative effect on thoughts and consciousness. That can manifest itself in the body. Particular thoughts get drawn to particular organs, and if your body is not in alignment you can have different organs that are weak links in the chain,” Lamb said. “The main cause of all disease is stress and if you [experience] these [negative] emotions on a regular basis, it can start impacting those organs and causing physical disease – everything from the liver and gallbladder with gallstones to cancer. It’s pretty heavy stuff and the good thing is that by knowing the opposite, the positive emotion, you can actually meditate on that and help to cleanse the organs as well.”

The class aims to teach attendees the opposite emotions to focus on and the practices to implement them in daily life. For example, anger is associated with the liver and disorders of the organ are linked to over-indulgence in anger, Lamb said. By focusing on the opposite of anger, namely kindness, people can heal their liver by replacing the negative anger energy with positive energy brought in through acts and thoughts of kindness.

In addition to the emotional balancing, Lamb will be working in a bit of past life therapy, if the situation arises, for an attendee who is suffering from past life trauma that is carried through to this incarnation, as well as another ancient Chinese practice – face reading.

“What the Chinese believe is that different energies – for example if you have something going on with the liver – will show on your face and change the structure of your face. So people who have liver problems, they belong to the wood element, which affects the liver and gallbladder,” Lamb said. “They tend to be wood-like in appearance, they tend to be on the slim side, a rectangular kind of a face. They tend to be pseudo-intellectuals, they make good research people, good teachers, good politicians. So that is also a heads up in terms of people who have the question, ‘What should I do with my life?’ Depending on what your face type is, it can give you some good indications.”

The workshop, titled “Who Do You Think You Are?” is limited to 10 to 15 attendees, so to make a reservation for the class, call Guiding Spirit at (818) 275-3920. The cost is $20 and spaces will fill up quickly.

Guiding Spirit is located at 3608 Foothill Blvd. in La Crescenta.

  Charly Shelton