The Six Healing Sounds Qigong (Liuzijue) is also known as Six-Syllable Secret and Six Basic Soundless Sounds for Health. This ancient Taoist, Chinese breathing technique/exercise is used to improve health and healing, to balance and harmonize the body, and to achieve longevity. According to the Healing Art Community, the Six Healing Sounds help the whole body!
Credit for the Sounds is attributed to a well known Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor, Tao Hongjing, who was born in 456 AD and lived until 536 AD. Tao Hongjing was also a Taoist, an astrologer, and an alchemist. As you would expect over the centuries, the Six Healing Sounds were further developed and modified by TCM doctors, Taoists, monks, ascetics, and the founder of the Tian Tai School of Buddhism. Because there was such confusion about how to pronounce some of the words, the Chinese Administration of Sport of China gathered, compared, and studied the data. They were assisted by Chinese linguistics experts and, in 2003, a new and revised version was released and promoted as a “health promoting Qigong”. However, many variations of the Six Healing Sounds exist today.
There are five major Yin organs in TCM: the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. Each organ relates to an element and has an associated sound. When Qi energy becomes excessive, or gets blocked or stagnates, illness occurs. The Sounds remove bad, surplus, blocked, or stagnant Qi. They clear blocks and remove excesses, which releases negative emotions. When you focus on your breath and the different Sound vibrations, you relax and release stress. At that time, negative emotions are transformed into “positive” emotions.
According to Grandmaster Mantak Chia, the body stores negative emotions in its organs which in turn, erodes the health of the organs and affects the person’s disposition. The Six Healing Sounds transform the negative emotions that are stored in the body’s organs and turns them into healing energy which circulates through the body via the Microcosmic Orbit.
Each Sound can be associated with a different gesture, posture, visualization, organ, color, season, and/or a set of emotions depending on the practitioner and technique. Some techniques use a particular set of movements instead of a gesture. You can practice the Sounds by siting on the edge of a chair, standing, or you can lie on a bed or on the floor. Whether you are going to practice all Six Healing Sounds or just one or more, always breathe in slowly through your nose and and exhale slowly and evenly from your mouth. It is important to do the movements and Sounds slowly. Stay focused and don’t rush.
By now, you may be wondering how and why the Six Healing Sounds work!
The Sounds help move the congested, excess, or blocked Qi by creating different internal vibrations and pressures within different body parts by exhaling and inhaling. Kind of like an internal, orally created organ massage! Some techniques suggest repeating each Sound six times, three times a day. Other recommendations differ.
Some examples of the Sounds include: sssss, woooo, shhhh, haaaa, hoooo, heeee. Other techniques may use the exhalations sounds (syllables) of: hsü, her, hoo, sss, chway, shee. You can probably find many more variations of the Six Healing Sounds.
The order of the Sounds depends on whether you are doing them for health maintenance or healing. You can also practice them according to the season in order to help your body acclimate to climate changes. For example, the Heart Sound releases body heat in the summer and the Kidney Sound releases the cold of winter from the body.
It is best to say each Sound out loud, particularly if you are a beginner. In this way, you will learn the correct pronunciation. This will also prevent you from holding your breath and stopping the flow of Qi and vibrations. At a later time, when you understand how the Sound is produced, you have the option to produce little to no audible sound.
The Six Healing Sounds are an effective and easy to learn technique. My purpose with this blog is to introduce you to the Six Healing Sounds Qigong. I do not provide instruction nor audible sounds. There are, however, many very good (and some not-so-good) examples on YouTube. Check them out!
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