The Quadrant and 3 Phases: Qigong, Meditation and Journaling for Self-Mastery

By Adam Holtey

If you are searching for ways to be more vibrant and energetic; if you're curious about qi (energy), and want to feel it, and utilize it for physical, emotional and mental growth; and if you're trying to discover who you are, and what you want in your life - in your relationships, career, health, and spirituality - this book has the tools you need!

The Quadrant and 3 Phases teaches Qigong exercises that use the innate mechanisms of our being - breathing, movement and mindfulness - to vitalize the body, open the heart and awaken the mind. It provides meditation practices that cultivate sensitivity to qi, and shows how to use this life-force to develop greater mastery over the mind and body. The innovative journaling techniques in this book distill all of your dreams and aspirations - across all areas of your life - into clear visions, and provide you the means of creating the most effective plans for achieving them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781982203269

Adam Holtey

ADAM HOLTEY has been teaching qigong and meditation for more than 15 years. He is the author of The Five Elements - Affirmations and Qigong, and his writing has appeared in Qi, The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness. He owns and operates an acupuncture and qigong studio, and lives in Southern Oregon with his wife and two children. Visit www.adamholtey.com.

Book preview

The Quadrant

and 3 Phases

Qigong, Meditation

and Journaling for

Self-Mastery

Adam Holtey

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Copyright © 2018 Adam Holtey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0324-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0325-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-0326-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018905208

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/02/2018

Contents

INTRODUCTION

The Quadrant

The 3 Phases

MY STORY

Finding a Practice

PHASE 1

Releasing, Relaxing and Opening

Phase 1 Qigong: The Bowing Exercise and the Eight Brocades

The Bowing Exercise

The Eight Pieces Of The Brocade

Meditation

Sitting And Standing Meditation Postures

The Supine Posture And True Relaxation

Body Scanning Meditation

Phase 1 Energy Meditation

What Is Energy?

The Energy Meditation Octagon

Meditation 1: Palm Chakra Meditation

Meditation 2: Meridian Tracing

The 5 Elements

5 Element Meditation 1: Releasing Negative Emotion

Releasing Negative Emotion Worksheets

Phase 1 Journaling: To the Spiritual Body

Quadrant Journaling

Processing Negative Information

Processing Positive Information

A Walk Through The Quadrant

Digging Deeper

PHASE 2

Centering, Accumulating and Fortifying

Phase 2 Qigong: Integrative Breathing

Integrative Breathing

Phase 2 Energy Meditation

Central Channel Energy Meditation

Dan-Tien Accumulation Meditation

Cultivating Positive Emotion Meditation

Prescriptive Affirmations

Phase 2 Journaling

The Northeast Sector

Vision Questions For The 5 Life Areas

Crafting Your Vision Statement

Resolving Your Undetermined Statements

The Northwest Sector

Action Steps

Creating A Schedule

More Work In The Northwest Sector

The What Ifs?

PHASE 3

Circulating, Optimizing and Harmonizing

Phase 3 Qigong: Smart Moves

Smart Moves Footwork #1

Smart Moves Footwork #2

Smart Moves For Your Upper Body: The Vortex Exercise

The Double Vortex

Phase 3 Energy Meditation

Individual Chakra Healing Meditation

Concluding Your Meditation

Meditative Dance

Utilizing Your Energy Sphere

Phase 3 Journaling

The Vision Star And The 5 Life Area Pyramids

Daily Record

Vision Calendar

CONCLUSION

A Note from the Author

INTRODUCTION

The Quadrant and 3 Phases employs three disciplines for achieving self-mastery: qigong, meditation and journaling. Qigong (energy cultivation) is utilized primarily to heal the body and enhance physical vitality. Meditation is utilized to release negative emotions and cultivate positive emotions; and to improve concentration, intuition and creativity. Journaling organizes the vast amount of information contained in your being. It helps you discover and ratify the core principles you live by, clarify the dreams you seek to fulfill across all areas of your life, and develop effective plans for achieving your goals. Simply put, qigong is the primary practice utilized for cultivating physical mastership; meditation for energetic and emotional mastership; and journaling for mental and spiritual mastership.

Self-mastery is, essentially, using all of the gifts you have as a human being – including your physical body, energy, emotion, thought, and your mental and spiritual faculties – to live a life that fulfills your greatest potential, in harmony with the elements that make up your own being, society, and the universe as a whole.

The Quadrant

The Quadrant is a device used for self-inquiry in journaling and meditative exercises, and an effective tool for illustrating many of the most fundamental principles of qigong. It functions like a multi-dimensional mirror, or like a portal you can jump through to view all aspects of your being: weak and strong; young and old; good and bad; past, present and future.

In order to master yourself you must know yourself. You cannot disregard the past or ignore the future, because they are inextricably tied to your experience in the present. You must acknowledge the good and the bad – your hopes and your fears – in order to see reality as it is and to gauge your potential for influencing the future outcomes you desire. The Quadrant enables you to view yourself piece by piece in a manageable way, so that you can, over time, come to know yourself as a harmonious and comprehensible whole.

The structure of the Quadrant is very simple. It is like a compass: one vertical line divides east and west, and one horizontal line divides north and south. The two lines result in the creation of the Quadrant (as seen in figure 1), with a southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast sector.

Image1.jpg

Figure 1, The Quadrant

The southern half of the Quadrant represents the past, and the northern half represents the future. The east side of the Quadrant represents positive, and the west side represents negative. More specifically, the southeast sector represents the positive aspects of your past; the southwest sector represents the negative aspects of your past; the northwest sector represents the negative aspects of your future; and the northeast represents the positive aspects of your future.

The Southeast

In the southeast you utilize the positive experiences from your past to create a solid foundation of self-identity, security, and confidence. These experiences can help you clarify the design by which you would like to form your future life, and provide insight as to how to be in alignment with your truest self in every present moment.

The Southwest

In the southwest you utilize negative experiences from your past as a source of learning, allowing you to examine and release negative ideas and emotions that no longer serve you, and prevent you from reaching your greatest potential. You cannot change events in your past, but it is possible to alter how you think and feel about them, so that these experiences serve as stepping stones on your path instead of road-blocks to self-development.

The Northwest

In the northwest you work with possible negative outcomes in your future; even such things as death – that are inevitable – but that you are served well in preparing for. In this region you can secure a sense of being in the present by knowing that you have planned ahead to mitigate physical, emotional or spiritual hazards you may encounter.

The Northeast

In the northeast you engage with your ideas, inspirations, and visions about your ideal future. What are the greatest dreams you have for yourself – for your health, your relationships, your career and your spirituality?

These are just previews of each sector, and each one offers a multitude of experiences, emotions, and information to explore. You will be amazed at the depth of memory, vision and insight that you discover on your journey through the Quadrant – the journey through yourself!

The Quadrant Workbook

This book is meant to be used in conjunction with The Quadrant Workbook, which is available to order from www.adamholtey.com. The workbook provides all of the materials referenced in this book, and you can order additional copies of the individual worksheets when you need them. The format of the workbook allows the most flexibility in arranging your journal in whatever fashion works best, and it is easily integrated with other journals, planners and organizers you may be using.

The 3 Phases

The practice of self-mastery is broken down into 3 phases, with each one progressing naturally to the next. These phases are apparent both in the microcosm of your daily practice, and in the macrocosm of your practice over your lifetime.

Within the 3 Phases you utilize the 3 disciplines of the Quadrant referred to previously: qigong for physical mastery, meditation for emotional and energetic mastery, and journaling for informational and spiritual mastery. These three disciplines modify their form to fulfill the specific intentions of each phase.

Phase 1: Connecting, Releasing, Relaxing

The qigong exercises in Phase 1 activate the connection between your mind and body, release physical tension and stress, and relax your mind into a peaceful and alert state of awareness. Meditation practices cultivate your sensitivity to energy and emotion, release negative emotion, and provide an understanding of the 5 major negative emotions and their relationship to the five elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

The qigong and meditative practices of Phase 1 are designed with the specific intention of opening the heart. Physically speaking, this means releasing tension around the chest, upper-back, neck and shoulders. Energetically speaking, it is releasing the stagnant energy that prevents you from feeling emotionally calm and peaceful; and entering into a state of rest and digest, instead of fight or flight. You will learn to tangibly feel your heart open through Phase 1 qigong and meditative practices, which is a necessary step in achieving union of your mind and body.

Phase 1 journaling organizes your spiritual body, which is all of the information – the ideas, beliefs, and memories – that inhabit your being. You begin by categorizing your spiritual body into 5 life areas that include: health, relationships, recreation, money and mission. You explore the thoughts and ideas that lie at the surface of your consciousness across these 5 life areas, and use techniques to determine whether these ideas are true or false. This process initiates an awareness of (and interaction with) your spiritual body, that is the necessary first step in identifying and releasing information that no longer serves you.

Phase 1 journaling also uncovers the informational roots of your most common negative emotions and uses the Quadrant to determine whether these are caused by memories and experiences from your past; or by what you think and believe about your future.

Phase 2: Centering, Accumulating, Fortifying

Qigong exercises in Phase 2 center the mind, accumulate energy in the core, and fortify the foundational meridians of the energy body. You learn to focus your mind deep within the body, breathe fully and naturally into the lower abdomen, and practice simple postures and movements that restore vitality, flexibility and resilience to the spinal column. Meditation practices in Phase 2 enhance sensitivity to energy so that you feel it in the various energy centers and meridians of the body. Meditation techniques in Phase 2 cultivate the positive emotional virtues associated with the five elements of TCM, and fill your reserves of positive emotional energy. Phase 2 journaling starts you on the path of creating the ideal visions you wish to achieve in all the major areas of your life. The Quadrant provides the framework for contemplating ideal outcomes in your future, and for developing effective plans to achieve them. Journaling in Phase 2 helps you process your doubts, fears and anxieties (the Big 3) about your future, and to discover the source of lasting happiness in life.

Phase 3: Circulating, Optimizing, Harmonizing

In Phase 3, qigong exercises circulate accumulated energy from the core to all regions of the body, with beautiful forms that optimize the flow of energy through the meridians. These movements improve your physical mastery by harmonizing the dualities of tension and relaxation, power and grace, purposefulness and spontaneity. Meditation practices in Phase 3 expand your energy sensation to encompass the aura that surrounds you, and connects you to the earth, all living things, and to the universe in its entirety. Phase 3 meditation provides tools for maintaining your center, even as your energy and consciousness expand to ever broader spheres. Phase 3 journaling activities achieve the same ends for your spiritual body as qigong and meditation achieve for your physical and energetic/emotional bodies; you learn to fortify the principles at your informational core and enhance your ability to perceive the interconnectedness of all the different arenas of your life: health, relationships, recreation, money, and mission. The journaling activities of Phase 3 provide you with the tools you need to utilize your time and energy to create a happy and fulfilling life.

We begin the path of self-mastery – a journey of body, heart and mind – with the physical exercises of Phase 1 qigong, because all of the principles of the universe are demonstrable in the miracle that is your physical being. But first, I want to tell you a little of my own story, and why I began pursuing the disciplines I write about in The Quadrant and 3 Phases.

MY STORY

Finding a Practice

My first introduction to the