Unlocking True Freedom (Heal Trauma and Transform Your Life)

Have you ever felt trapped by stress, trauma, or unresolved emotions that keep you stuck in cycles of pain and disconnection?

In this transformative episode, I’m joined by my dear friend and world-renowned Qi Gong Master, Mingtong Gu, founder of The Chi Center. 

Together, we unpack how Qi Gong – an ancient, powerful practice – is changing lives by reconnecting us to our true selves, healing deep trauma, and unlocking profound freedom.

Mingtong shares incredible insights from his 30+ years of practice, revealing how simple yet profound Qi Gong techniques empower high performers, CEOs, and even those facing incurable diseases to shift from mere survival to thriving.

If you're longing for true inner peace, vibrant health, and emotional freedom, this is your gateway.

KEY INSIGHTS & TAKEAWAYS:

Why Qi Gong is Your Missing Link
Discover how simple, gentle movements and meditative practices reconnect your mind, body, and spirit, reversing years—even generations—of trauma.

Healing Trauma, Creating Freedom
Mingtong shares astonishing case studies, including how Qi Gong reversed seemingly incurable illnesses and transformed broken marriages and lives stuck in despair.

Releasing Multi-Generational Patterns
Learn how hidden emotional patterns passed through generations are held in your body—and how Qi Gong gently releases this trapped energy.

Transforming Relationships with Qi Gong
Find out why couples who practice Qi Gong together experience profound reconnection, healing, and deeper intimacy beyond the honeymoon phase.

Ai,  Technology, and Embodied Awareness
Understand the urgent importance of reconnecting with your physical body and emotions in the age of AI—and why this embodied connection is key to preserving our humanity.

From Surviving to Thriving
Hear how Qi Gong empowers you to reclaim your health, emotional vitality, mental clarity, and spiritual purpose, giving you lasting internal freedom.

TIME STAMPS:

• [00:00:00] Introduction: Trauma, Stress & Qi Gong
  
  
• [00:03:32] Meet Master Mingtong Gu
  
  
• [00:04:25] Biggest Mistake in Health & Life
  
  
• [00:07:26] What Exactly is Qi Gong?
  
  
• [00:11:47] Qi Gong vs. Meditation & Yoga
  
  
• [00:16:05] Mingtong’s Journey from Trauma to Healing
  
  
• [00:21:41] The Qi Gong Healing Miracle
  
  
• [00:23:12] Mike’s Personal Trauma & Language Patterns
  
  
• [00:30:20] Multi-Generational Trauma Release
  
  
• [00:39:29] Qi Gong’s Power to Release Disease
  
  
• [00:44:36] What Happens at a Qi Gong Retreat?
  
  
• [00:49:06] Healing Marriages Through Qi Gong
  
  
• [00:54:30] Why Embodied Awareness is Essential in the Age of AI
  
  
• [01:02:53] True Freedom is Embodied

If you’ve ever felt stuck or held back by deep emotional wounds, unresolved stress, or just a lack of true inner freedom, this episode will open doors you didn’t know existed.

To your freedom,
– Mike

PS – When you’re ready, here’s how I can help: 

1. Want to discover your next big opportunity? Meet me for a Cup of Coffee at my Digital Cafe (this is where we can meet): www.MikeKoenigs.com/1kCoffeeCA
   
   
2. Ready to reinvent yourself, your business, and your brand, and experiencing a massive personal and professional breakthrough? Watch this.

Creators and Guests

Host

Mike Koenigs

Mike Koenigs helps business owners and entrepreneurs get paid for BEING, instead of DOING by becoming Transformational Business Influencers, authorities and thought-leaders to create impact, income and a great lifestyle.

What is Capability Amplifier?

Join the eternally curious, interested, and interesting hosts, Mike Koenigs of the SuperPower Accelerator and Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach®, to amplify your capabilities, value, status, and authority on the Capability Amplifier podcast. Ever episode focuses on a new mindset, shortcut or deep thinking exercise that will improve your performance and lifespan. Learn more at: https://www.CapabilityAmplifier.com

Mingtong Gu [00:00:00]:
But what is really happening? The body is carrying all the stress, all the memory, all the tensions, all the unresolved emotion in yourself. But if you're not aware, then you don't know how to take care of them. And that's the mistake you have to embracing what is true inside you without label, good and bad. And that's one of the secret to open the doorway for compassion, for love, for deep forgiveness. When healing from trauma, it's not like you get rid of the trauma. It's about making peace with yourself.

Mike Koenigs [00:00:39]:
I was telling you how I experienced total hell and true visions of being murderous and suicidal simultaneously, like I was a menace and a danger to myself and other people. It was very harsh, something I never want to feel again. But you corrected my language pattern. And you told me, because I kept on saying my.

Mingtong Gu [00:00:59]:
My hallucination is just being together, sharing the space, sharing the experience. That is more than a honeymoon, more than animal. So if that survives this experience, not only praying could be, you know, broken marriage, but deeper connection in a way you cannot put into words. Otherwise, beyond everyday life. And that is a tremendous gift.

Mike Koenigs [00:01:40]:
Welcome to Capability Amplifier. I'm Mike Koenigs. This is my friend, Mingtongu. Say hi. And you're wondering what is this all about? Well, if you feel trapped in your business and what you want is freedom, we all do. Your company's built, the exits are done, the money's in the bank, or more likely, you'd love to have that, but you might be feeling completely stuck in a cycle, feeling more pressure, more emptiness and disconnection. Now, I've been there. I had cancer throughout my business journey, suffered from anxiety on levels I'd never talked about before, and always feeling stuck in some kind of transition that left me wondering what.

Mike Koenigs [00:02:18]:
What my next act would be. Now, my guest today knows the feeling of being trapped better than anyone. Because Mington Gu grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and discovered qigong as a path to healing, and then went on to become one of the world's leading masters of what he calls embodied awakening. You'll learn what that means in a moment. Now he's helped tens of thousands, including high performers, CEOs and people facing incurable diagnoses and diseases, and helping them shift from survival mode into thriving and freedom. And what makes Ming Tong's work so powerful is not about meditation apps or quick fixes. It's about upgrading the hidden operating system inside your body and mind that determines how you lead, how you make decisions. When people's livelihoods are at Stake and millions are on the line and how you show up for your family, your team, and your freedom.

Mike Koenigs [00:03:14]:
So this episode is about turning your deepest challenges into transformational fuel. And you'll want to lean in all the way for this conversation with Ming Tong. He's the founder of the Chi center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. So thank you for being here, my friend. It's been so much fun spending the day with you.

Mingtong Gu [00:03:32]:
Oh, my God. That's way beyond Mike.

Mike Koenigs [00:03:36]:
And for anyone who doesn't know our history, the short version is I met you in Santa Fe at your center, because I actually rented the center with some friends, and we had one of the most remarkable times of our life.

Mingtong Gu [00:03:50]:
Magical time. Truly.

Mike Koenigs [00:03:52]:
Totally. So I think the way to begin this conversation today is, first of all, you've been practicing qigong for 30 years. Over 30 years, you've witnessed tens of thousands of people transform, both online and in person. So what's the biggest mistake that you've seen people make over and over, either when they try taking up the practice, or they don't even know what it is. So we'll have to go back to the what it is in a moment. For those who don't know what Qi Gun is, let's start there and then go to the what's the biggest mistake?

Mingtong Gu [00:04:25]:
Yeah, you know, so many. How much time do we have? Right. The biggest mistake is not necessary mistake. It's more like a shock when they suddenly feel like something goes wrong, Whether it's a diagnosis of chronic disease, incurable disease, suddenly, you know, marriage, falling apart, suddenly lose a sense of purpose, as if, like something surprised them. But the deeper cause of this surprise is that really nothing happens overnight. Yeah, nothing happens overnight. So everything is the result, accumulative result of all history or past. And as everybody recognizing, oh, my God, we have stress, but where the stress goes, you may feel it mentally, occasionally feel emotionally.

Mingtong Gu [00:05:21]:
We suppress it. We suppress it. But what is really happening? The body is carrying all the stress, all the memory, all the tensions, all the unresolved emotion in yourself. But if you're not aware, then you don't know how to take care of them. And that's the mistake. There's unawareness of it, and you push it slow life, you know, especially for us. Ambitious. Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:05:48]:
You have wonderful goal. Big goal. Another big goal, another big ball. So you push it slow, rushing everything, you know, accumulatively trying to reach the goal. Yeah. What's the next dream? What is next? Freedom, so on. But then the body is like drag around, drag around. Every day.

Mingtong Gu [00:06:07]:
Yeah. And you do exercise trying to overpowering that you do whatever mental exercise trying to, you know, overriding whatever the body is feeling. So. So it's not knowing what's going on in your body, the truth of your body, so to speak, that is the biggest mistake.

Mike Koenigs [00:06:27]:
Okay.

Mingtong Gu [00:06:27]:
And came from that is also relating. Is that not only ignorance of your body, but you're not really having intention of connecting with your body. Like you don't know what's going on in your body.

Mike Koenigs [00:06:41]:
That's basically mind bomb unawareness, cumulative unawareness over a long period of time, not being able to listen to or hear these things. So that leads us to what is qigong and how does it enable us to experience these things and become aware of them? Because I was introduced to qigong more than 30 years ago, which is longer than a lot of westerners for sure. I worked for a company, they were a client and we marketed and promoted qigong when it was a brand new idea and I started practicing it. And I noticed there are two things that made a huge difference in my life. One of them was qigong at the time. The other one was going to Tony Robbins events. So it was very much east.

Mingtong Gu [00:07:26]:
Great combination. Yes.

Mike Koenigs [00:07:28]:
But for those who don't know what qigong is, what exactly is it and why is it such a powerful tool?

Mingtong Gu [00:07:35]:
Yeah. So first of all, qigong allow you to connect, empower you. You have to connect with this body and discovering what is this body? And beyond our assumption, you know, thinking about this body, use analogy like a machine, you know, rental vehicles, empty house, temporarily you know, a problem to solve, whatever. You know, all these metaphor. But these are a mistake. Basically our relationship with this body is true mistake. So what do you do? Slow qigong is really asking the deep question, slow experience, what is this body? Then you're realizing this body is beyond everything you know. Not your story, not.

Mingtong Gu [00:08:27]:
Is your diagnosis. Not from the medical book. It's a deeper experience as human being. So first of all, you're recognizing without this body, you do not exist. Without this body, I do not exist as human being. Think about that. Allow. I'd like to invite everybody feel this truth right now, this moment.

Mingtong Gu [00:08:52]:
Without this body, I do not exist as a human being. That is the truth of existence, the truth of own presence. And secondly, without this body, I cannot experience life as human. I cannot experience life as human. The experiential truth. And you can go further. Without this body, my soul cannot evolve in this lifetime. Whatever you want to accomplish, you're accomplishing with this Body.

Mingtong Gu [00:09:35]:
So the deeper question now is, what is the body? Who am I as human being? What is life? And this the mystery for us to discover, then that is a different journey than going out finding a solution. So as we searching everything as human being, most important thing is common. We're searching for love, searching for joy, searching for connection, searching for creativity, fulfillment. And often we're searching outside of us. Yeah, with someone else, with something else, which is, okay, that's life, but we're forgetting what's inside of us. The source of happiness, the source of joy, the source of creativity. It's already inside of you. Not as a concept, right here in this body, within your skin, around you.

Mingtong Gu [00:10:38]:
So we call the energy body visible, invisible. Yeah. Beyond just physical skin boundary. So you're discovering this energy as power, energy as a source of healing, source of vitality, source of creativity, even source of joy, source of human experience. And that is the journey, that is the discovery, that's the realization.

Mike Koenigs [00:11:05]:
Okay, so that lends me to. For someone who might know, not know or have heard of qigong before, first of all, it's not a religion or a belief system. It is not like yoga. There are. There are movements, there are. It's not exactly meditation either. So what is it that makes qigong unique or different or special? And also just resolve this question about, well, sounds like a religion to me for someone who's just like, hasn't been exposed to it. Because when I got exposed to qigong, I learned it by going to an event.

Mike Koenigs [00:11:47]:
I met a qigong master, and then I listened to cassette tapes and I just worked with them. And it was a combination of breathing and exercise and movement. But I. I started noticing, I just. My awareness, my consciousness. I had people suddenly going like, what are you doing? You feel so different.

Mingtong Gu [00:12:08]:
Yeah.

Mike Koenigs [00:12:09]:
So something profound started to happen and there wasn't any one thing that pointed to it. So other than people noticed it when I started practicing it. So what do you say to the person who's confused? Just so we get past that? Because again, I'm just looking at. Yeah. What's the point of resistance here?

Mingtong Gu [00:12:27]:
Right.

Mike Koenigs [00:12:28]:
How is it different from yoga, meditation and everything?

Mingtong Gu [00:12:30]:
Yeah, I think you have all of these good questions there, common questions. Well, first of all, qigong is experiential. So you can feel right away, even as you said, people, your friends, your co workers, you can feel the difference whether you feel more calm, more present, more joyful, more relaxed, more open, more available for other people. But deeply, it's about this internal connection. Internal connection. So I'm speaking of energy, connecting with energy. So this practice you do is basically like, simple. Everybody can do it.

Mingtong Gu [00:13:10]:
Basically, it's a movement, but it's very gentle movement. It's a meditative movement. And you can also do the sound using your own voice. Like you don't have to use a crystal ball or music instrument. And you make the sound. As we speak right now, the way we're talking, we're activating a lot of energy. So when I'm connecting with my body, I feel the energy is moving, vibrating, and we go deeper into the five organs. For example, connecting with the energy of your five organs, associating with the emotion, then the vibration, the sound, the vibration, activating the energy so deeply is all about awakening the energy, opening the energy, allow the energy to flow again.

Mingtong Gu [00:13:57]:
And so when the energy is flowing through the entire body, you feel health, you feel vitality. And the same time, when the energy of your 5 organ, particularly the energy of your heart, awakening, opening, flowing, then you naturally feel joy. It's called. Yeah. Feel happiness for no reason. You tap into the source of happiness and that energy of your heart and you experiencing similarly love come out of that natural feeling. So it's like. Does not depends on the circumstances, the reason or history, or worry about past.

Mingtong Gu [00:14:34]:
So this energy you're experiencing become the foundation we experience. Then you go deeper, further. Meditation is very different. In this case, meditation is about connecting the body. So basically your mind, body is like creating a different relationship. You know, often our mind doing our own thing. Right, Whatever. Busy thing, stressful thing, exciting thing, creative thing, problem solving thing.

Mingtong Gu [00:14:59]:
Right. It's busy, stressful, but can be exciting too. Right. But then the body is kind of leave behind. Yeah. Trying to catch up. So in this case, it's. It's opposite.

Mingtong Gu [00:15:12]:
It's like you slow down your mind. For example, when you do slow movement, pay attention, your mind slow down, feel your body movement, feel the sensation, experience inside the body. Then you discover the energy so deeply about mind, body connection coming together. Instead of mind over the body, over the body, over the mind. So this collaboration can happen. Ultimately, it's a union. It's kind of mystical experience. Basically.

Mingtong Gu [00:15:45]:
I call this as a modern mystic. Yeah.

Mike Koenigs [00:15:48]:
Yep. Very good. All right, so that leads me then to. I gotta ask you a little backstory. Because you grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution, it turns out that when you were sponsored, you actually spent time here in San Diego, where we're shooting today.

Mingtong Gu [00:16:05]:
But.

Mike Koenigs [00:16:07]:
How. Just talk briefly about your conditioning in China, how you got exposed to Qigong and then when you really connected with the spiritual center that qigong enabled you to do, and then you started bringing that to the States, what was that experience like? I know that was a jumbled up question, but I'm just curious about the background, the belief system, how that you brought this merger at really a perfect time to the US as well, where a lot more people are interested and aware of this.

Mingtong Gu [00:16:45]:
Yeah, yeah. I think, you know, we reflecting our life, our history, noticing one thing leads to another. It's more like, oh, almost like a renewal. But the deeply is what we're seeking is leading to what is the next step of life. So often is the pain, the trauma, the discomfort, the lack of fulfillment. In this case, I grown up as a boy, you know, adopted many times, you know, get lost and in sense of rejecting and exile in terms of leaving home, then leaving the country. But not necessarily anyone forced me. But that's how life happened.

Mingtong Gu [00:17:34]:
So a sense of like lost sense of homeless.

Mike Koenigs [00:17:38]:
And you had some health issues of your own as well.

Mingtong Gu [00:17:40]:
Yeah. So the health issue including sclerosis and asthma condition is really uncomfortable being in the body. So this kind of disconnection, that's the way I grown up and then also be mental, study mathematics. Yeah. Eventually getting to the heart a little bit. When I switch to fine art, become artist. And that's where I start open more naturally leading to discovery of qigong. So one thing leads to another and actually I discovered qigong in the U.S.

Mingtong Gu [00:18:13]:
columbus, Ohio, believe it or not. That's a great place. Yeah. Actually I never heard of qigong. Truth is so slow. A kind of friend then discovered that study with her teacher in the US But I was artist, I was helping producing video and they get really inspired. Then I went to the center in China called the medicine as Qigong hospital to study with my teacher Grandma Peng Ming. And he's also medicine doctors both in Western and Chinese medicine, Maryland.

Mingtong Gu [00:18:45]:
Okay, wow. As profession. So he start to offer qigong to the people who have all kind of health issue diagnosis issues, you know, cannot be resolved by Western medicine. Then eventually he realizing even traditional Chinese medicine cannot help effectively. So he started to experimenting with qigong. Getting the amazing result. So he ended up opening medicine Qigong hospital. So at the time when I was there, there were 3,000, 5,000 practitioner and stay there for one month long retreat and just qigong without any medication, without any dietary prescription.

Mingtong Gu [00:19:29]:
And the beauty of qigong is that it's not based on diagnosis. When you're recognizing energy is a source of life. When you Recognize these simple practice, so accessible, meditative, easy, personal, and anyone can do it. By awakening the energy, opening energy, you're naturally improving whatever condition you have. So you kind of letting go of the diagnosis, tap into the source of life, source of healing. So in a sense you're letting go of this, you know, the common feeling. Right now we are the victim of something, we or victim of history, victim of the society, victim of everyday life, so to speak. And here you're letting go of that story.

Mingtong Gu [00:20:18]:
You tap into the power you're born with inside of you. That's the truth. Yeah. When you're connecting with your body, you discover another dimension of truth beyond the mental story, beyond the mental diagnosis, beyond the mental stress. Then you discover the power inside view. Then everything become possible beyond just theory, beyond just belief. So it's a self discovery, continuous self discovery process. So at a time when I was in the medicine Qigong Hospital, it's like every day people come to me, show me medical result.

Mingtong Gu [00:20:53]:
I heal from, you know, this condition, this condition, all these incurable conditions and the result before, after. And in the beginning I was like, is that true? Because I was living in the west for about 10 years already, quite rational in my education as well. So I have a sense of skepticism, doubt. Then after a while it's like these are real people, real story, real data.

Mike Koenigs [00:21:24]:
So I become looking at people who had incurable diseases, practice qigong and soon you were seeing evidence that it had reversed. Yeah. So yeah. What, like, what were some of the specifics? I don't mean to interrupt you, but I'm going to ask a couple specifics here.

Mingtong Gu [00:21:41]:
So with my teacher did a one like statistics out of 2000 cases, all kind of disease, you know, all these chronic or incurable condition, basically it's not like acute, simple thing, you know, not like cold, anything like that. So among all these conditions, you're required to have a medical test beforehand, before the one month long retreat, then afterwards, the same kind of test, according to western medicine, then compare the result. If there's change, measurable change, then that's effective. Then if there's no symptom, no sign of disease anymore, according to the established test, then totally recover. So from that result, 98% people see measurable result, and that is inconceivable according to the western medical, you know, perceptions. And then about 20 to 30% total recovery rate just within months. We're talking about incurable condition.

Mike Koenigs [00:22:49]:
Yeah, yeah, yep. And that, that leads us to. There's two paths I want to take. Take us down right now, one of them is about being stuck in old patterns, right? So in health, business relationships, and the relationship with the body and energy. But I'm going to make this hyper personal because today you and I had lunch and you and I were talking about.

Mingtong Gu [00:23:12]:
I. I'll talk.

Mike Koenigs [00:23:12]:
I'll tell you my version of the story. I was telling a story about how I am. I cannot ever touch thc. I have very harsh reaction. And the. There was one time I did it on purpose. One other time I ex. I.

Mike Koenigs [00:23:29]:
I basically, I've had two accidental tastes, and it was because someone gave me a gummy that they said was CBD to sleep. It turned out it had THC in it. And I wound up in the ER because I had a very severe mental breakdown. And the backstory behind that was, it was the day before I was speaking at Tony Robbins House, and this attack happened after I took this thing to sleep because I wanted to get a good night's sleep. And someone said, oh, yeah, this stuff works crazy. I have this breakdown. I ended up going to the hospital, to the er. I spent two hours there.

Mike Koenigs [00:24:01]:
They ended up just giving me a lorazepam, basically a benzo. Two hours later, I'm on a flight going to Tony's house. The only bad thing I didn't do is I didn't tell the story about what had happened hours before. It would have been kind of funny. But the. The point of this was I was telling you how I experienced total hell and I had true visions of being murderous and suicidal simultaneously, like I was a menace and a danger to myself and other people. It was very harsh, something I never want to feel again. But you corrected my language pattern and you told me, because I kept on saying my hallucination is.

Mike Koenigs [00:24:45]:
So I want you to tell me a little bit about my belief system, what you've observed, and relate that to what you see in so many people you work with who have old patterns of language, old beliefs, and those are in fact the causes, or at least they may.

Mingtong Gu [00:25:03]:
I'm. I.

Mike Koenigs [00:25:04]:
And I don't know. You tell me, like, how does that show up as a disease, a mental disease, a physical disease? What's the relationship between the story I just told you? Bring it. Absurd. I know that was a lot, but.

Mingtong Gu [00:25:17]:
That'S a deep question, obviously. But the simple answer is this powerful label we have. Good, bad, good, bad. So noticing you're the one creating this label, you have all the reason to justify this is good, this is bad. Then same kind of, you know, process could be Plant medicine. Could it be, you know, a moment in your nature? Whatever could be whatever. Especially when you're alone by yourself and you start experiencing part of you you labeled as positive, negative. But you say good and bad.

Mingtong Gu [00:26:01]:
That's the differentiation creating this conflict inside view. So what are we trying to really discover? Our looking at the experience with a new perception beyond God, good and bad. God doesn't look at life as good and bad. And your body has capacity experience life beyond good and bad. So recognizing whatever you're experiencing, there's two things happening. One is whatever happened in the past, the body carries everything, both positive, negative. On other hand, your experience of this moment is based on your perception. This perception determines, I'm simplifying, generalizing it.

Mingtong Gu [00:26:55]:
But in a sense, by this label good and bad. And that's become the battle, become the enemy, become the continued struggle, so to speak. And that tension is this thing most time unconscious is happening in the body, in a cellular level, in your subconsciousness. And that is creating a tension in your life without knowing it. So changing the perception is one of the key. But in order to change the perception, you have to embracing what is true inside you without label and bad. And that's one of the secret to open the doorway for compassion, for love, for deep forgiveness, deep resolution of trauma. For example.

Mingtong Gu [00:27:48]:
It's like when healing from trauma. It's not like you get rid of the trauma. It's about making peace with yourself. And that part of you especially is affected. In another knowledge is like the trauma is causing a disconnection, causing a separation as part of you buried inside view, which is energy. It's part of who you are before you label it as bad. But that is life force. So in qigong, it's like we recognizing everything's energy.

Mingtong Gu [00:28:30]:
So before you give the label good and bad, energy is energy. Energy has three quality. One is power. Second is movement. The third is creativity. And the next is connection. Connection. So when you're working with the energy this way, then you releasing the story, which is programming your experience, so to speak.

Mingtong Gu [00:28:55]:
But you have a direct experience more than the story itself. And then you discover, yeah. What is possible for yourself. And that is the same energy of the universe, the same energy of creation, same energy of Mother Earth is supplying to our life. Basically, yeah. Everything we're experiencing come from the union of heaven and earth. And yet the union heaven, earth is inside of you, inside me, inside of us already. Yeah.

Mike Koenigs [00:29:29]:
Okay, so the next question is clearing patterns or traumas that go back generations. And some of what you Were just talking about were labels and language patterns. Okay. But um, and again, I'm going to lay a complex question on you because you're so good at decoding this and finding the truth and, and coming up with a simple solution. So as an example, Vivian, her mother and father were Holocaust survivors. They came here, they were narrowly escaped with their lives from Nazi occupied Yugoslavia. They escaped to Italy and then came to the United States. And there's no question that there's scientific proof showing that we trauma gets embedded in our DNA multi generational.

Mike Koenigs [00:30:20]:
So there's like a physical proof of this and I've even witnessed it in Vivian for years. Just her just terror reactions from certain things and just other traumatic responses that go back to her childhood and beyond. And I've known other people with ptsd, so we'll call it this generation multi generational. And then what we live in right now is very much a society filled with little traumas from technology and banishment and overuse of electronics that we've witnessed. Like the lockdown, for example, caused enormous trauma in a whole generation of young people. So all of this encoding is happening all the time. And talk about Qigong's ability to release multigenerational trauma and then recent trauma, like what's the science behind that? And give us an example of some of the tools that are available to get rid of this or witness it, observe it and let it go, if it's possible.

Mingtong Gu [00:31:33]:
Right. This is another powerful question. First of all, recognizing as human being growing up, even, you know, previous generation or ancestors now or next generation as existence as human being, trauma is inevitable. Trauma is inevitable. You know what I mean? I think everybody know what I mean.

Mike Koenigs [00:32:03]:
Right. Anyone who's had children.

Mingtong Gu [00:32:05]:
Right? Exactly.

Mike Koenigs [00:32:06]:
No matter what you do.

Mingtong Gu [00:32:07]:
Exactly.

Mike Koenigs [00:32:07]:
Are going to need a therapist.

Mingtong Gu [00:32:10]:
But maybe you don't. But it's like recognizing, oh, trauma is part of life. But recognizing the severe trauma as a result of severe trauma, as I mentioned, is part of you in the shock then is creating a contraction. So when you're looking at the energy, there's two pattern two pattern one is the energy contract and that is energy open to pattern. And if you're contracted, and of course when the energy is contracted, then the function of energy, including your health, emotional well being, your mental function, even your spiritual connection, fulfillment, you is compromised. Yeah. And when the same energy opens up, then life come back. Life come back.

Mingtong Gu [00:33:06]:
So when you contract only for a few minutes, it's fine. If you look at the children. Yeah. If they're upset with something, you Know I see my kids when they're young, they're fighting each other, right. Upset with each other, you know, like become worst enemy. But few seconds later the best friend again. So there's no issue. The energy is still flowing.

Mingtong Gu [00:33:28]:
Contract, boom. Open contract, bone open. Right. But as grown up, we stuck. We stuck. So there's two things. One is when trauma happens unconsciously, this energy contract, but not temporarily stuck for the rest of life. We're unconscious of it.

Mingtong Gu [00:33:49]:
We don't know what to do with it. We bury that pattern like in the closet, eventually go to the basement. It's like part of us missing. We feel lack, we feel incomplete, unworthy. We feel certain level cannot function in relationship or even in job. Yeah. So that's part of us is missing. Basically, yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:34:15]:
Then another level is when we have these stress or mini, whatever trauma. To certain degree as grown up, we consciously reasoning suppressing the emotion, suppressing that feeling. So that means the feeling is energy. When you suppress it long enough, that energy is stuck. So often now psychology, we're speaking of unprocessed emotion. So when you speaking about it, somehow the energy released. But often you don't know what happened. So that means energy is stuck.

Mingtong Gu [00:34:56]:
That means even generational stuck energy pattern continues, low genetic imprints in the system. So no matter whether it's happened ancestral many generation before us, or happening right now, or happening in childhood, or happening globally in like pandemic, recognizing this stuck energy pattern in the body. So doesn't matter whether it's what is the story, what is circumstance which is beyond our control. But what you can do is become more aware of the tension in the body. So for example, people feel surprised when diagnosed with whatever, you know, stroke, Parkinson or any other condition, you know, often trauma related, but only because they're not deal with before. Then suddenly the body say, I cannot handle this anymore. Like too much, you know, it's basically almost like giving up. Basically.

Mingtong Gu [00:36:01]:
Yeah. So the idea is not analyzing, not wishing it's not there. You're simply accessing your own body. Often I say, you know, when you claim this is your own body, the implication of that is you have access to your own body more than anyone else. The sensation, the feeling. So when noticing, okay, my life is stressed, I feel stuck, feel unhappy. Here is very important, different process. Oh, you go into your body feeling the deeper trust.

Mingtong Gu [00:36:42]:
I mean the truth. Oh, my shoulder is frozen. Oh, my low back is painful. Oh, my hip is not moving. Oh, my hands feel numb. Whatever. You simply dismiss the oh, lack of blood flow. No, much More than that, some part of you is stuck.

Mingtong Gu [00:37:01]:
The energy is not moving, not connecting, not functioning, holistically speaking. So when you're noticing that, then these practice come in. The movement, opening the energy, the sound, vibrating, accessing the deeper emotional energy associated with 5 organ system and simple meditation. You can imagine visualizing the ocean of energy beneath you, above you, all around you, deep inside of you. Even when you're holding the arm. This way, when the mind visualizing the energy, suddenly your arm is shoulder able to relax and soft. You start to have deep experience of vibration of your body. And so different perception arise, different relationship arise.

Mingtong Gu [00:37:49]:
Then the opening just naturally happen. So more you're aware, embracing the contraction. Through the practice, more you can open. So it's like more you feeling the pain, more the pain can heal, but through the movement, you're exhalating the process.

Mike Koenigs [00:38:08]:
Got it. I think the what I recall from my experiences. And I'm going to just reinterpret what you just said, which is what. And I read this from a western point of view. Louise Hay wrote this book called you Can Heal youl Life. And it really had to do with the relationship between disease and emotions. Stuck energy, basically. And ultimately now, whether it's conscious or unconscious.

Mike Koenigs [00:38:38]:
Again, this is that good bad mindset that I live in. But I'm labeling things. But that we, whether it's something we're born with, trauma related, or something that was inflicted upon us, or something that we've done unconsciously, repetitively, that can be a cause that emotional buildup turns into energy, which can manifest as disease when our body decides to give up. And what qigong enables you to do is become aware of the body, the emotions, the relationship between the energy and through emotion. It gives us this ability to release and let go of stuff that's trapped us. Could be generationally, it could be from last week. But the practice is what keeps the energy moving. So am I.

Mike Koenigs [00:39:29]:
I know that's an oversimplification of what you just said, but that's my interpretation.

Mingtong Gu [00:39:33]:
Beautiful. Okay, Beautiful. You've got the essence of it. So it's really everyday practice, everyday, self aware, self care, self empower, self discovery. But the gift is way beyond just health. The gift is way beyond just managing everyday stress, including release of trauma. The gift is you're awakening to this capacity, able to function with a new alignment. That means the physical, emotional, the mental, spiritual is working together in alignment instead of fragmented, separated, or even in conflict.

Mingtong Gu [00:40:20]:
You know, sometimes our mind want to do this, this, accomplish this, go somewhere else. The Body cannot do it, cannot follow with it. Then eventually you give up. So here is like allowing this collaboration. Mind, body collaboration. As result is a physical, emotional, mental, spiritual alignment, connection, nourishment and deeper fulfillment. This deeper fulfillment is like beyond mental excitement, beyond, you know, physically feel high. It's like a sense of ah, life is good, I'm here, I'm present, I'm ready for the adventure.

Mingtong Gu [00:41:02]:
But also you're honoring your limitation. Especially when we're aging. Yeah. So one of the, I think really deep. Cause our mistake. Yeah. Beyond just trauma is this overdrive. Overdrive.

Mingtong Gu [00:41:19]:
Not honoring the life cycle, honoring the natural intelligence of this body. And that is another mistake. Especially in common in, you know, in entrepreneur ambitious people like us, we have a personal experience. You know my story like you know, creating a business from scratch. You know, I mean scratch have nothing and from zero resources, you know, zero money. Now creating a business of. With a big team, every tree center, you know, wearing, you know, many hats and like we all know it's hard work.

Mike Koenigs [00:42:03]:
Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:42:04]:
So I cannot imagine I can do what I do without qigong. That's a simple choice. Yeah. Yeah. Including like teaching whole monthly tree by myself on the stage, eight, ten hours a day, nonstop for one month.

Mike Koenigs [00:42:23]:
Yeah. You're the qigong version of Tony Robbins. Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:42:28]:
I don't know if Tony Robbins can do that whole month.

Mike Koenigs [00:42:32]:
Yeah, he goes for a week at a time, which I want to lead into that because you know, qigong is something that you can learn the basics in minutes, you can practice it daily in minutes and start seeing results quickly. And there's huge benefits. But one of the things that you've been doing now for decades is working remotely. You've got weekly trainings. You do, but you also do immersive week long and month long experiences at your center in Santa Fe, which I've been to. And I'm going to paint the picture here because you've got a beautiful complex. It is on remarkable native grounds that still there's ancient art that are thousands of years old on the rocks there. Amazing trees.

Mike Koenigs [00:43:28]:
The seasons of Santa Fe, which is really remarkable in the colors. That's one of the reasons I chose that background for you is it's, it really is like that. It's sunshine and, and much more than desert. But you take people on a journey of self discovery and release and forgiveness and someone who could have been, you know, one of your case studies is about the executive making tens of millions of dollars. He couldn't feel his children's hugs until he came People who are stuck in transition, death, divorce. Sometimes it'd be something as positive as sold their company and lost their purpose to empty Nestor. Feeling just this heart emptiness. To some people who've been diagnosed and have literally been given their death sentence, okay.

Mike Koenigs [00:44:22]:
They come out and experience remarkable transformations and. And they may show up for a week and stay for a month or more, but talk about what the experience is like and what happens.

Mingtong Gu [00:44:36]:
Yeah, it's hard to put into words. It's like the discovery of what they have been truly longing for in their life and yet too busy to feel them, connecting them. That's when discovery and secondly the deeper self connection, self discovery, self nourishment. But it happens. It's like in a very gentle, loving, accessible way. It's like, okay, I'm here. Take a vacation from. Just picture that it's a vacation, a true vacation from busy mind, stressful thoughts, problem solving, moment to moment.

Mingtong Gu [00:45:33]:
Every day, suddenly the same attention you're giving to yourself, to your own brain, to your own heart, to your own five organ, to your own body. Discovering the energetic connection with yourself. Then the energetic connection with the mother earth, the nature, the power of nature and the energetic connection with each other. A sense of community. So important, so important. But this community sense is way beyond just networking, way beyond just support group. It's like deeper recognition of who we are by mirroring each other. Wow.

Mingtong Gu [00:46:16]:
We share the pain, wow. We share the challenges. But we also share the energy, the power, the natural intelligence, the compassion. So in that space, miracles don't happen. People can suddenly get up from wheelchair and people suddenly feel, you know, like as you said, open your heart, able to allow love, allow joy. But deeply it's about like deep sense of connection. Connection. It's beyond functionality.

Mingtong Gu [00:46:48]:
You know, there's in life, we so much focus on functionality, make life functional, which is required. It's important part of it. But we're so busy making life functional, we don't have time, space or capacity to enjoy life. Experience life connecting what is essential and so come out of that basically is more like a coming home experience. Coming home to your own body, coming home to yourself, coming home to nature, coming home to community and coming home to life. So you're increasing this connection, this breath baseline. So when you go home, everything changes. Your perception changed.

Mingtong Gu [00:47:35]:
But the deeper connection with life, the deeper experiential joy without depending on a story or circumstance and that become a new, let's say new baseline for your life. Yeah, yeah, that's very nice.

Mike Koenigs [00:47:54]:
And one thing that because my first experience at Chi center was with a group over 50 of us at a group where we brought it. What I was imagining when I was listening to you is how incredibly valuable it would be to bring your family there, to bring a business group there, or even a team for a business. Because you, you customize this. You can either go solo or bring other people. But I can just imagine, you know, a traumatized family, someone who lost someone very important. Being able to go through this experience and how freeing that would be to be able to release that. It's like doing months or years of trauma recovery and therapy, but in a way that's very, very different and unique. And that leads me to my last big question, which is how does qigong help repair or awaken a marriage or a close relationship? What have you seen qigong do for couples?

Mingtong Gu [00:49:06]:
That's been happening more and more often, kind of naturally happening and including literally see more couple show up, always bring me delight. It's like, yes, this is happening and I totally know deep transformation. What happened. Just imagine the couple able to sit next to each other in this place. We gather and practice together day in and night for eight, ten hours a day. Sitting next to each other could be for one week at a time, even longer. Imagine for one month long what kind of energetic space they're holding each other, interacting with each other, be with each other. Not to mentioning the quantity of time, you know, in life.

Mingtong Gu [00:49:58]:
The couple, everyone is so busy, their own space, their own busyness. Yeah. Rarely to interact or if we need to, problem solving, take care of kids, what other business done. Then you on your own again. Right. And here is like, you have no obligation, no responsibility, no expectation, but just being together, sharing the space, sharing the experience, that is more than the honeymoon, more than an animal. So if that survives the experience, not only praying could be, you know, broken marriage, but deeper connection in way you cannot put into words otherwise beyond everyday life. And that is a tremendous gift.

Mingtong Gu [00:50:49]:
So when I see the couple show up, like, I'm so delighted, so happy for them. Miracle happens all the time. All the time.

Mike Koenigs [00:50:57]:
So absolutely be a lot less expensive than a divorce.

Mingtong Gu [00:51:00]:
Totally, totally. Yeah. That's another thing. It's like this issue with saving, you know, we're facing often is like soft issue, quality issue. Unless like you have super, you know, urgent life threatening diagnosis, you know, threatening the quality of life, experience of life, relationship and your creativity and your job and everything. But these are really the most important problem I call million dollars problems. Because if you don't resolve them, pied up, pie up, then compromising everything you do. Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:51:41]:
Your creativity compromised. Your communication with a team is compromised. Your deep feeling about who you are, what do you do in your life compromised. So that is the internal struggle. We're not aware of it, we not pay attention. So when we fill in that gap, you know, could be one week, could be. If you stay longer, they are then more recharged, renew whole discovery can happen. Then you're able to function very differently.

Mingtong Gu [00:52:13]:
I call this baseline. You're increasing the baseline functioning in another level, including superpower level. Yeah, but in order to be superpower, you have to be human first. First true human first. You cannot transcending by passing whatever is going on inside of you. Trying to wear a mask of superpower. That doesn't work, doesn't last. So I'm really into this.

Mingtong Gu [00:52:44]:
Deep change is shifting from searching for quick fix, shortcut, instantaneous gravitation. And after a while you feel disappointed or empty. Doesn't fulfill because does not literally sustain your energy, sustain your long term purpose. So that's where the big shift start happen. That's where you know, long time of retreat help you to dig deeper. Like this awning, you peel off layers. Layers. Eventually discover the goal, the treasure of who you are waiting for you.

Mingtong Gu [00:53:24]:
Super exciting.

Mike Koenigs [00:53:26]:
And one thing that I.

Mingtong Gu [00:53:29]:
When I.

Mike Koenigs [00:53:30]:
Was listening to you right now, I was thinking about the compound return. So you're either negatively compounding or you're positively compound. And it doesn't have to be that binary, but it really is. If you're not at your optimum human level, you're not going to be at your optimum superhuman level either. And you have to take care of the human side, your awareness side, your consciousness side. And that's when the benefits compound. But if you're ignoring these things, all these problems in your life are just a symptom of these energetic blockages that qigong makes you aware of as a beautiful byproduct. Okay, so I'm gonna do one thing for you right now, which is if you're listening to this, watching this right now, I just want to tell you, if you go to QI center at C-I, C-E-N-T-E R.com Freedom, that's where you can learn more about Ming Tung and this team's programs.

Mike Koenigs [00:54:30]:
And he's got a variety of different programs that can last. Either they're purely online, you can get started easily, or spend a week or a month there, or do a custom program with them in breathtaking Santa Fe, which is A very, very magical place. If you haven't spent time there, especially in his area, it's spectacular. So I'm going to ask you one last question, because one of the things that brought us back together, because we've stayed in touch over the years and we bumped into each other and lots of mutual events. You are a remarkable entrepreneur, you know, and you are, you truly have. I've been able to look behind the scenes backstage, and what you've put together is awesome. And you're also a huge AI advocate. You're doing a lot with AI.

Mike Koenigs [00:55:20]:
You've been through all of our courses. We spent a lot of time making cool stuff together. And also Zach, for example, has made some really cool videos about your program in your center. But in the world of AI and technology, this idea of embodied awareness is more important than ever. And why is that? So this conflict or this relationship we all have with technology, especially at its accelerating pace, where does qigong fit into that mix? And what do you see as the threat and the solution?

Mingtong Gu [00:55:56]:
Yeah, actually that is one of the most powerful question in way never happened in human history because of AI. AI can do a lot of amazing things for us. But for me, AI forced me to ask in a deeper question what it meant to be a human. What is my difference than the AI from the AI? So the deeper realization is on one hand, as human being, we can experience life, feel life, touch, smell, see everything, feel love, feel joy, feel our tear, feel hate, feel our anxiety, whatever. Yeah, Pain, for example. And that's the true human experience. And AI can assimilate in whatever language, visual poetry, you know, even video about this experience, but cannot experience them directly because they don't have a human body. So not robot.

Mingtong Gu [00:57:11]:
The robot body can be a body, but cannot experience the same as a human body. So from that place I'm realizing what truly to be human. We cannot truly be human until we discover, connect, experience fully, this body, beyond any definition, who we are as a presence, as energy, as embodiment of consciousness. So this heaven and earth union inside of you. And so this embodiment, why it's so important you can think of right now. The three world we live in. One is the mental world, for better words, we're lost in that world. We're super.

Mingtong Gu [00:58:08]:
You know, let's say highlighting this mental world, all the success, all the story, all the knowledge, all the information, all the numbers, it's all a mental world, right? We're living in is 247 unless you sleep. Right? So the new world is a digital world is the AI world. Now it's a digital world, including the computer game, all the simulation, all the problem solving, all the knowledge bases, all the data and so on. It's there that is beyond our mental, but existing by itself beyond these two. We're forgetting this world is beyond your physical. Yes, including the physical. Where you can touch, smell, feel. Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [00:58:57]:
Love, yeah. All the experiences slow this human body and yet we're not aware of it most of the time. We're now asking thousand people how many of you, how often you're aware this body exists and how you're feeling inside of you. Maybe one of two hands raise up. Unless you feel pain, unless you feel whatever symptom of disease. And that is like Christ reaction, fight flight kind of reaction. It's different than consciously. Where consciously connecting, consciously experiencing life, encompassing physical, emotional, mental, spiritual.

Mingtong Gu [00:59:45]:
So I'm making this as tangible as possible. There's three world you're choosing to live, which world you're living 24 7. When you dismissing this world, you're dismissing humanity, dismissing yourself as human beings. So the result of that is end of humanity. The result of that is this new idea of imprinting our consciousness into a machine without depend on this body anymore, become robot. And that's the end of humanity, basically. So the same disconnection from this body is causing all other problems, including disease, including addiction. All kind of addiction, yeah.

Mingtong Gu [01:00:39]:
Including this idea of quick fix, shortcut, instantaneous gravitation. More, more, more. And you never get satisfied. And so that is the deeper crisis of humanity beyond just environmental crisis. So until we can take care of this beyond just clothing, feeding the food and so on, deeply reclaiming our own body, our own power, own presence, we can lose our humanity. That's what I'm feeling, That's the urgency. So all the mental health is not just the mind self, is this disconnection of the mind from the body experienced further addiction, further problem of the mind self. So the cue for that is again, come back to this body, reclaim your body.

Mingtong Gu [01:01:43]:
Coming home to this beyond any definition. I can say when I say in the body, you're interpreting as something other than you. You're interpreting as something physical, Interpreting something medical. No, much more. That is everything. And this physical is carry the subtle energetic which is kind of invisible inside of you as well around you. And this connection with earth, connection with heaven, connection with the life, it's energetic. And that's this amazing benefit.

Mingtong Gu [01:02:22]:
It's like the most profound benefit I have discovered in qigong is this deep experience of wholeness. Experience of oneness, experience of essence. And that's very much to do. You know, the powerful idea beyond ideal, the experience of freedom we're seeking, you know, it's like we talk about this today. Yeah. What that means freedom is almost so elusive. Right. And you work so hard trying to gain some freedom.

Mingtong Gu [01:02:53]:
But do you truly experience freedom when you have more time? For example, free from your busy work, can you still experience freedom? No, not necessary. Yeah. Your mind's still busy. Yeah. And maybe your body doesn't feel free at all. So the deeper freedom, especially when we're aging, it's become so much more important. It's like this level of physically feel flexible, free, vital, effective as well. Emotionally feel dynamic, feel free, feel like this flow of energy, experiencing life fully and mentally as well.

Mingtong Gu [01:03:41]:
Spiritually, you feel open, creative, connected and purposeful. So all these three, when connected, then that's the true freedom. Otherwise, it's fragmented freedom. It's just ideal freedom. You cannot really fully experience it. So I call this not true freedom. So one of my desire is very simple. When I'm aging, it's not just like, oh, how can I keep my body flexible as young as possible.

Mingtong Gu [01:04:12]:
Not only the mind feel open, free, heart feel young, loving, playful, you know, joyful, so on. That's important. But training the body, including the body, collaborating with the body, experiencing the body. The same freedom your mind wants, same freedom your heart longing for. That is a powerful dedication. And it's possible. That's what I'm experiencing. That's what I'm really dedicated to.

Mingtong Gu [01:04:46]:
Well.

Mike Koenigs [01:04:48]:
I've witnessed it, I've seen it. I've seen how you operate. And I think that's a perfect place to bring this home, which is for you, listening, watching right now. Isn't it time you can finally come home? And that's what I just encourage you to look at what the possibilities and the options are. Go to qi center.com freedom learn more about the programs that Mingtong has put together. Learn more about him. Watch some of the videos, the testimonials, and one of the things that I'll make sure that we share that's really exciting that Ming Tong and his team are working on right now is a documentary that explains, describes, and takes you on a journey of what this experience is like. But there's no reason to wait.

Mike Koenigs [01:05:47]:
I'm looking forward to getting back soon. And also I've always recommended highly. This is one of those breakthrough moments you owe to yourself. You owe it to your family, you owe it to your team to do it for you and to do it with them too. So anything else before we let everyone go here and say goodbye?

Mingtong Gu [01:06:06]:
And when you say, you know, it's like this idea of freedom is so deep into my heart. So I'm thinking of like the retreat and never, you know, it's like this common experience beyond other benefit, you know, health, vitality, creative energy, connection, self discovery and so on. But the sense of freedom you got to experience in the retreat is way beyond any other human experience.

Mike Koenigs [01:06:32]:
Yeah.

Mingtong Gu [01:06:33]:
And that is truly a gift. But at the same time, you take that experience of freedom, embodied freedom, back to home, then you see, not only see, but experiencing living from that place of freedom. It's not just ideal freedom. Not just. Okay, next month. Oh, next year I have more freedom, have more money, I have more vacation. Oh, big house, whatever, you know. And so this internal freedom is the true freedom is long lasting freedom and everything else become bonus.

Mingtong Gu [01:07:10]:
Mm, great.

Mike Koenigs [01:07:11]:
Yeah. And everyone who sees you going through the transformation is going to want it to you. That's the other great benefit.

Mingtong Gu [01:07:18]:
Yeah. So.

Mike Koenigs [01:07:19]:
All right, well, let's leave it at that. I want to thank you for being here. It's been a total pleasure.

Mingtong Gu [01:07:25]:
All right. Thank you so, so much. Milk. All right, brother. It's so good.

Mike Koenigs [01:07:30]:
So for you, watching, listening, thank you so much for spending your time with us today. Capability amplifier. Again, it's QI center.com freedom. We'll see you in the next episode. Bye bye.