Yi, the Power of Intention

意 yì - idea, meaning, thought, to think, wish, desire, intention, to expect, to anticipate  

When I first encountered Qigong I was fascinated by the phrase “Where the mind goes, qi follows.” It helped me bridge the gap between the exercises I was doing and the deeper value behind them. Considering the intention of a movement, I learned, super-charges it with energy.

The Chinese word for intention is yi. Dividing its pictograph into three parts, it includes the symbol for heart on the bottom, under the light of the sun (that’s the square-ish symbol in the center) with the character depicting “to take a stand” on top.  In essence, when we set an intention in Qigong, we use the illumination of our mind to “take a stand”, which helps direct the healing qi. We do this compassionately (heart), not with force.

I first encountered a version of this concept in graduate school where we were taught that imagining a movement causes the very same neurons to fire as doing that movement.  For instance, visualizing yourself performing a perfect tennis serve over and over will lead your muscles and nerves into better coordination and performance. In Qigong, we use the power of yi to focus our intention on “melting the ice” of tension or stagnation, turning that rigidity into healing, flowing energy. We do this compassionately, never with force or hurry. Many of us are discovering that applying patient, compassionate intention to our practice brings surprising benefits, and often much more quickly than we may have expected!