Hold the Ball: Qi for Pain, Cravings and the Heart

Recorded from the back porch along the banks of the Ping River here in northern Thailand, I'm joined by Tucker our Temple Cat and a cacophony of singing birds for this episode of the Sober Shaman Podcast. We get into Qi, and not by talking about it, but by having an experience of it.The focus is one simple, powerful Qigong exercise: holding the ball. In 13 years inside addiction treatment centers, this is the exercise that lit people up. I could see the light bulbs going off when someone felt the Qi between their palms for the first time.We'll explore Qi follows Yi. Energy flows where attention goes. Which means we can direct it, move it, use it. Starting with the basics, jaw, shoulders, belly, we work through three lines of relaxation, build the Qi ball between the palms, and then take that ball of love and light to wherever it's needed: a headache, a knee, gastric upset, anxiety, cravings, heartbreak. No place to put it? Bring it straight into the Heart.This is a practice that can deliver palpable relief, not a cure-all, but an absolute component of healing that puts you back in participation with your own recovery.Want to run through it step by step? Lesson 23 is waiting at thesobershaman.com.Links referenced in this episode:thesobershaman.com