Mingtong Gu, Named Qigong Master of the Year by the 13th World Congress on Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine, teaches a foundational qigong practice called Lai Chi—literally "pouring the chi"—for activating and directing healing energy. The method combines a specific hand position (fingers curved, tips pointing toward each other to create an energetic sphere), slow meditative movement, visualization of an expanding and contracting energy ball, and synchronized sound tones. By engaging both mind and body through relaxation and concentration, practitioners can feel and direct subtle energy for healing themselves and others. The practice requires no special equipment and can be performed sitting, standing, or lying down.
What Is Lai Chi and How Does It Work?
Lai Chi, as Mingtong Gu explains, means "pouring the chi"—the literal ability to direct life-force energy wherever it is needed (20s). Unlike many qigong systems that focus on storing energy or moving it through specific meridian pathways, Lai Chi emphasizes the conscious direction of chi into targeted areas of the body or into other people for healing purposes.
The practice operates on two core recognition principles. First, when the mind is busy or distracted, we fail to notice the subtle energy that constantly affects our physical body and wellbeing. Second, a busy mind cannot engage in the creative work of actively generating and reshaping energy patterns. Mingtong Gu calls these two aspects "recognition" and "initiation"—recognizing that subtle energy exists, and then initiating new patterns by directing it with relaxed intention (222s).
How Do You Position Your Hands to Create the Energy Sphere?
The foundational position is deceptively simple. Hold both hands in front of you at approximately one hand's distance apart, with fingers slightly curved and fingertips pointing toward each other. The palms face each other, and the thumb and forefinger form an open "tiger mouth"—a term from traditional qigong referring to the web of space between thumb and index finger (65s, 72s). This configuration is not arbitrary; it creates a natural energetic circuit between the two hands and activates multiple energy meridians and gates running through the fingers, hands, arms, and connected to the heart, lungs, liver, and brain (97s).
The distance between the hands matters. When hands are held farther apart, you access more subtle, less tangible energy. When hands are closer or touching, you activate more solid, physical energy that you can feel more obviously as sensation (140s, 145s). For beginners, the recommended distance—about one hand's width—creates a balance between these two types of energy.
Comfort is key. Whether you are sitting, standing, or lying down, the hands can be positioned higher or lower as long as the position feels natural and sustainable (48s, 53s). This accessibility is intentional: qigong movements in this system are designed to be gentle and adaptable for all body types and mobility levels.
What Happens When You Move Your Hands Slowly?
Once the hand position is established, the movement is almost imperceptible—opening and closing the hands by just a few inches (164s, 172s). The slowness is not a limitation; it is the mechanism that awakens sensation. As Mingtong Gu teaches, "the more slow you move, more relaxed you become, and also more your mind quieting down start to feel more energy" (185s, 192s).
Slow movement serves multiple functions. It allows the shoulders, arms, and hands to relax rather than contract, and it keeps the armpits open so energy can flow freely through the torso (200s, 207s). It quiets the thinking mind, which is essential because a quiet mind can perceive and direct subtle sensations. And it creates the conditions for the practitioner to feel energetic resistance, pulsation, and magnetic sensation between the palms—physical signs that chi is being concentrated and activated (311s, 319s).
How Do Visualization and Energy Sensing Work Together?
Once the hands are moving slowly, the next step is to close the eyes and begin visualizing an intense, bright sphere of energy between the palms. This is not passive imagining; it is active mental engagement synchronized with physical sensation. As the hands move outward, the imagined energy ball expands; as the hands move inward, it gathers and compresses like a "bloom of chi" (279s, 303s).
The visualization works most effectively when the mind is engaged in making effort while simultaneously allowing the body to relax. Mingtong Gu describes this paradox: "you're continuously visualizing the movement of the energy ball in a relaxed way in the same time making the best effort concentrating and same time allow the finger relax softening" (333s, 340s). As the hands move more slowly and the visualization deepens, the sensation of energy becomes stronger—not weaker, as might be expected, but stronger (361s, 366s, 372s).
The sensations practitioners report include resistance (a subtle push-back against the hands), pulsation (rhythmic throbs of energy), and a magnetic feeling between the palms (311s, 319s). These are not imaginary; they are the body's direct perception of chi accumulation and movement, accessible to anyone willing to slow down enough to notice.
What Role Does Sound Play in Activating Chi?
Sound is integrated into the practice as a synchronizer and amplifier. When the hands open, practitioners vocalize "Kai" (pronounced "K-AI"); when the hands close together, they vocalize "He" (pronounced like "eh") (410s, 417s). These syllables are not arbitrary but are drawn from traditional qigong and Taoist sound practice, where specific tones are believed to resonate with and activate different organs and energy centers.
The sound serves several purposes. It synchronizes the rhythm of hand movement with breath and intention, creating coherence between body, mind, and voice. It provides an anchor for attention when the mind begins to wander. And it generates vibration that some practitioners experience as amplifying the sensations of the energy ball (399s, 406s).
Can You Direct This Energy for Healing Others?
Once the practitioner has felt the energy ball becoming stronger through repeated practice—what Mingtong Gu calls "Lai practice"—the energy can be consciously directed for healing purposes (509s, 518s). The same sphere that has been visualized and felt between the hands can now be mentally projected into any area of the body: the brain, heart, lungs, legs, or any organ system that needs support (529s, 534s).
The energy can also be directed into another person. Using the hands as an extension of the mind's intention, the practitioner concentrates the accumulated energy and "pours" it toward whoever needs healing (539s, 549s). This advanced application requires that the practitioner have already developed a felt sense of the energy through consistent basic and intermediate practice; it cannot be forced or fabricated.
A more refined variation involves gathering "source energy"—a deeper reserve of life-force energy beyond what is immediately circulated in the meridian system—and concentrating it toward a specific purpose or location (545s). This represents an advanced stage of practice that builds on the foundation established by the basic light ball movements.
How Often Should You Practice, and What Results Can You Expect?
Mingtong Gu emphasizes that "the key is practice" and recommends repeating the rhythm of opening and closing as a regular, sustained practice (509s, 518s). He does not specify an exact duration or frequency in this introduction, but the implication is that consistency matters more than intensity.
The system is designed in stages: basic, intermediate, and advanced (560s, 565s). Beginners start by learning the hand position, practicing slow relaxed movement, adding visualization, and then incorporating sound. As sensation becomes more tangible and control over the energy improves, practitioners can move to intermediate applications such as directing energy into specific body areas. Eventually, the system allows for advanced healing work, which includes directing source energy for more powerful and specific therapeutic outcomes.
Results vary from person to person, and individual experience depends on factors such as consistency of practice, natural sensitivity to subtle sensation, and the quality of relaxation and mental focus brought to the work.
Where to Go from Here
This introduction to Lai Chi provides the foundation for understanding how to activate your innate healing capacity. The next steps are to practice the basic hand position and movement daily, begin to notice the sensations that arise, and gradually integrate visualization and sound. The Chi Center offers video guides progressing from basic to intermediate to advanced levels, as well as online courses and retreat programs for deepening practice under direct instruction. The work requires no special equipment or location—only a willingness to slow down, relax, and pay attention to the subtle energetic sensations that accompany focused intention and breath awareness.
