Qi is the key to understanding the body's self-healing power. The Chinese written character for Qi includes two images that of steam above grain. Steaming grain the image of cooking represents the most common life transforming activity people perform. Observing the stages of a process differs from examining things and their parts. The study of process reveals functional activity and the interaction of parts within a whole.
Activity uses energy over a period of time.
Through study of the transforming nature of Qi energy, the practice of Oriental Medicine developed. When examining parts in ever increasing detail, a machine-like theory of life evolves. To understand the Asian concept of health and disease, Qi energy must be seen as a process rather than a part used in healing. To think of energy only as something that flows from the universe to you, through the body from practitioner to patient, or coming from patient to practitioner, limits the creative process to the activity of a technical repairman. The theory of Qi in Oriental Medicine proposes that the stages of disease and the stages of healing will lead to the knowledge of the process, and how to accelerate healing and establish glowing health.