The Quadrant and 3 Phases

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.

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, with a southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast sector.  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 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.

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 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; and they cultivate the positive emotional virtues associated with the five elements of TCM, filling 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.

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 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.