Qigong as a Practice with Lisa Decker

Introduction to Podcast

0:00Welcome to the Exploring Healing Arts podcast, your go-to source for learning about different healing techniques and meeting exceptional healing arts practitioners from around the globe. Together, we explore where the physical meets the subtle, the possibilities that exist for healing, and a diverse array of methods to try from acupuncture to yin yoga and Reiki to family constellation therapy. My name is Elizabeth Alexander. I am the creator and curator behind

0:32this podcast, a Reiki master and energy healing practitioner. This podcast is something I have dreamed of for many, many moons, and my intention is to birth the resource I wish I had had at the start of my own healing arts journey over a decade ago. Whether you are just getting started on your own journey, or you are intentionally diving deeper into a healing arts practice, this podcast is the place for you. You will hear inspiring stories, get real life practical tips, and connect with

1:04exceptional practitioners and teachers from around the world. No two paths in healing are the same, but that does not mean you need to be alone. Join us to explore and experience healing together.

Guest Introduction

1:22Welcome to the Exploring Healing Arts podcast. Today's guest is Lisa Decker. Lisa, a personal trainer for over 15 years, specializes in corrective exercise and postural realignment. With a master's degree in human movement and certifications in postural therapy, foundation training, and various fitness specialties, she founded Align Fitness in San Jose, California 12 years ago. Lisa's recognition of

1:59the importance of a balanced nervous system and efficient respiration in achieving optimal structural alignment led her to medical Qigong and energy medicine certifications, and she passionately shares her unique version of Qigong four days a week. Lisa's ultimate goal is to help individuals engage in their favorite activities in their favorite activities safely and pain-free, drawing from her diverse expertise and movement and wellness. Welcome, Lisa. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here today with you. I

2:31absolutely love taking your Qigong class online. I've added it to my like somatic practices that help me ground, which has just felt so needed this year. And I also love, you know, we're both personal trainers that also have, you know, this inquiry and this deep dive into more energy-based work and to get to talk with somebody else that has both of those passions and that level of knowledge and expertise is really exciting to me. So thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. And thank you for taking Qigong class.

Ancestry and Roots

3:07Of course. So I would love to start my favorite question I ask all podcast guests is, what is your ancestry? What are your roots? And how do you stay connected or not to them? Well, my roots are Eastern European. And I don't know how connected I am to my ancestry necessarily. I found my own way through life and I'm very connected to family. And I'm connected to nature. But I'm not sure how

3:46connected I am necessarily to my roots. It's a great question. Thank you. I've been uprooted many times in my life. You've been uprooted. So where are you physically rooted right now? So I'm physically in California, Northern California, Los Gatos, which is near San Jose. Awesome. Cool. You're right nearby me.

Journey to Qigong

4:12So let's talk about your journey. You started as a personal trainer and you've studied and integrated a variety of methods into your current practice, including Qigong. So what got you started with personal training? So I actually, my degree was in psychology and I ended up somehow living in the Silicon Valley, getting into high tech, which obviously was not driving me because, you know, I was more into the body. And so as soon as I had children, I had the luxury of quitting my job

4:46and starting over. And I thought, well, I want to do something that I enjoy. And I always enjoyed being athletic. I was surfing and snowboarding and wakeboarding. I did all sorts of fun sports. And so I just got into personal training and I'm one of those people that when I decide I'm going to do something, I do it. And so I just did it without a lot of base, you know, and, um, you know, then I got into the personal training realm and realized that there was a lot more to it than I, than I thought a lot more to the human body. I love that. And what were some of your like, aha moments,

5:25like along the way from, you know, getting your certification and personal training, making that career pivot to like realizing that you wanted to specialize more in like corrective exercise or like postural alignment. And then eventually like nervous system regulation and efficient respiration. Really good question. Um, everything I do has come from my own personal experience. So I was a personal trainer, but I came from a family history of a lot of body issues, a lot of scoliosis and kind of,

5:58you know, rotations and things within the body. So as I was training, what I started to notice was, uh, this is why is my body starting to not look right? Why, why am I dysfunctional when I'm, uh, you know, working to get better? I feel like I'm going downhill. And that led me to have to explore a lot of things. And I think in everything I do, including Qigong, it's all been an exploration into the self, into me, into my body, into my mind, uh, my emotional state, um, all of that.

6:31So it's all been personal. Um, but yeah, with, with personal training, I, I had to go to corrective exercise cause I realized I was training dysfunction and I had the integrity not to train my clients into more dysfunction. It's beautiful. And so when was it that you started, you know, you identified that there was dysfunction both in your own body and in the people you were working with, you were looking

7:02at physical modalities to help with that. Right. So that you weren't further training the physical dysfunctions. When was it that you were like, I need like the medical Qigong certifications. I need the energy medicine, you know, background, like how did that come together? Well, I think first,

Medical Qigong Certification

7:21if I look back right before, before that, um, I was, you know, a little hardcore, I was training hard and, and I liked working my body and, you know, um, I was looking for how do I, how, what makes sense out there? And I'd found this book pain-free by Peter Goscue. And I read that and I went, that just makes sense. So I studied that. And then I was like, I got my master's degree in human movement. And then I, you know, I kept getting certified in things for my body, but at some point, none of

7:55these things, everything just went to a standstill, a halt. And, uh, and I was dealing with some things. Um, I had done a hundred mile trail race and I had proven, Hey, you do, you know, these correct, you know, corrective programs and you can run a hundred miles pain-free, which I did, but I wasn't thinking about the inside of my body. So the system was really good. Um, but I ended up with some adrenal issues after that. And that's what led me to Qigong. But to be fair, Tai Chi and

8:26Qigong had come into my life at various times when I was in fourth grade, when I was in high school. So it's one of those things where you look at the synchronicities of life, something out there was telling me to slow down. And so, um, you know, like I did with everything, I really embraced the Qigong. And, uh, and that was a real rabbit hole for me that, that brought me down some interesting paths. Cool. And I love, like, for me, I'm, I'm so, I always get really excited and really interested

8:59in like the intersection between the physical and the subtle, right. And how interrelated they are. And I really love, you know, I think it's, people really think, Oh, you do physical things, you get physical results, but they don't always see the connection between doing subtle things and getting physical results. And I'm wondering like Qigong is a practice that integrates both, right. You're moving the energy and you're also matching it with the movement of your body, but did it help you with the inside of your body? Like you were talking about, like, did you see

9:29differences? You did. Cool. Absolutely. But I think one of the things, you know, we all learn the way I see this is we all learn through our experience and my experience continues to teach me something new every day, especially when I'm in the flow of life and not resisting it. Um, and what I've really learned is you can actually go to extremes, even with Qigong or with, with the physical body, you know, you, there are people who are way too up here and there are people who are way too down here.

10:00And so it's this balance and this integration and this flow, um, that I think is for me, what I'm learning is more healthy. You know, um, I, I feel that I actually had made the mistake of going fully into the physical and then fully into the energetic and not recognizing that they're all about, that they all need to remain in a balance and in a flow. Beautiful. Yes. So we've been talking all about, you know, your journey to Qigong and now this integration point where you're honoring both like

10:32the physical and the energetic practices to help balance the body. Can you tell us for people that

What is Qigong

10:38don't know what is Qigong? So Qigong is based in, um, theories of Chinese medicine. So it works along the acupuncture and the acupressure points of the body. It works with the organs of the body. Um, they have belief systems that are very similar. Qigong belief systems are very similar to even like the structural alignment that I studied. So there are these rules of posture and your alignment to gravity so that your bones, um, support your structure rather than your muscles always having

11:11to fire to support your structure. So, you know, you have the martial arts part of Qigong, Tai Chi. Um, but Qigong is actually, Qigong is your life force energy and Gong is the cultivation of your life force energy. So through movement practices, through breath work practices, through mindfulness practices, you're forming connection to your body. You're bringing your mind back into your body. That's actually been one of the biggest takeaways for me from your classes is those calls. Like,

11:45where is your mind? And can you bring it back to your body? And I, I've been able to get to a point where even when I'm not in your class, I'm like, where is my mind? And can I bring it back? The training of the mind, you know, we train our body. And especially I think in, in our culture, there's so much emphasis, you know, put on training the body, but what about training the mind? And, you know, um, I do believe, and I try not to hold rigidly to any belief because I've always

12:16learned when I believe something, it gets at some point blown out. If I were to say right now, what I believe is if you think psychologically Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I'm not sure if you're familiar with that, but you've got, you know, your basic needs shelter, you know, the basic is the body, because if your body is completely unhealthy, it's going to be very hard to have a healthy mind, right? I do believe that it needs to start with the structure, start with the body.

12:47And then you go up from there, you build up from there, like a pyramid, you know, the stability is rooted here, almost like the chakra system.

12:57It mirrors both of our paths so beautifully, too. I'm like, I really feel like I started in fitness to like get that grounded and like connected awareness of my body and the physical foundation to be able to, you know, build on it, like you just said. Yeah, I love that metaphor. Thank you. Yeah. And the training of the mind, you know, that's always so interesting, because I always like to be vulnerable in my classes and say to people, this is my practice, too. When I say that during the class, many of those times my mind is wandering. And I love just to bring it back to the body and do

13:31it gently, you know, without the criticism or Oh, how come I can't, you know, but just gently bring it back. So for somebody who, like, doesn't even have an idea of like what qigong, like as a movement practice entails, like, how would you describe like, what actually like you're doing physically, like in the class? Well, I think that's a really great question, because, but I don't have a great answer. Because what I've noticed about qigong is that everybody's class is very different. You know,

14:07you can go to three different qigong classes, and they are going to be completely different. Cool. Mind probably tends to be more movement based, because I like to move. And also, I think in our culture, we really need the movement, you know, we spent maybe, you know, the majority of time sitting, but for somebody who's spending all their time moving, they may need a much more, you know, a different type of qigong practice, because remember, it's all about balance. So it's all about what you're bringing to the practice. I've seen different people teach it in different ways. qigong also revolves around the five elements. So I happen to be a wood fire. And, you know,

14:44my teacher was a metal element. So how he taught qigong was very different than how I teach it. I tend to put a lot more emotional basis, a little bit more therapeutic basis into my classes. But if you were to ask, what does it look like, there's a lot of movement and connecting the different parts of the body opening through each joint, but then connecting each joint and feeling the connection between the pelvis, the spine, can you move from your center, you know, and get the connection of all the energy centers as you move?

15:15Yeah, and you do that so beautifully, like I would describe, to be honest, like I've, qigong's been in my field for a while, but your classes are the first time that I've done like a deep dive with it and stuck consistently with it. And it feels like, like a very somatic practice, right, of bringing awareness to what's happening in the body paired with a lot of mindfulness. And yeah, like for people that are listening, we do sometimes we do like deep, different breathwork practices, sometimes you have us using different sounds. And is that all coming from the qigong system? No, the sounds are. So the

15:54sounds, but see, what I've noticed is, as I've studied with different qigong practitioners, they differ in how they teach the even the healing sounds. But you know, you think about it, and we we use sound naturally, you know, if you're stressed, you're like, yell, sound comes out, it's how we express emotion. So in qigong, they use sound to release kind of obstructed emotion or obstructed

16:25energy in the system. And there's many different practices with the healing sounds that you can do my class definitely. Let's be clear. First of all, I don't pretend to be a qigong expert. Okay, I have integrated qigong in my way. This is a creation, this creation has taken off, which I'm really proud of, because people seem to respond to it, but it's really my practice. So some of this isn't traditional. And some people believe you need to stay in the traditional Chinese medicine,

16:58but I'm more of the mindset that things evolve, and practices evolve, and it's whatever you resonate with. Mm hmm. When I love in your classes, too, and this may be one of those pieces where it kind of deviates from the traditional one. But my I have a background in dance. And so at the end of your classes, you always play a song. And we put together like the moves that we practiced into a flow, and for me, it just like, it's this moment of like cohesion or integration. So is that something

17:29that's unique to you? As far as I know, there could be somebody else out there in the world doing it, but it is certainly not traditional qigong. But it came to me because I was at Esalen up in Big Sur. And I was taking a qigong workshop. And he put on a song and said, everybody dance. And I am not a dancer. I'm a runner. So I'm like, and I found myself doing qigong movements. Cool. And that's when I went, Oh, I wonder if you know, and I love music, I resonate with music,

18:04my energy needs music. That's, you know, how I feel and you know, how I can really let go. So I started playing with it. And I just created a class around it. And what I found was music, you know, is used in a lot of spiritual practices and really has a way of shifting people's energy. I've even noticed in my own class, if I have a body pain, or some part of my body that's not moving, well, as soon as the music comes up, it starts moving. And so I've had people very much respond

18:39to that. I've had people burst into tears after my class. You know, in the music is very much a part of my practice. And I love it.

Qigong Practice

18:51So I know you were certified and medical qigong. And is there a difference between that and regular qigong? And like, what is it? If so? Yeah, I, the medical qigong wasn't for me, I did get certified in it. But it's more prescriptive. So if you've got somebody that needs some form of even hands on healing or moving energy through the body. My teacher was doing that form of qigong. But but that, that wasn't

19:23my direction. However, it's it's a wonderful practice if you can work with a good medical qigong practitioner. And so medical qigong, it sounds like it's more like a one to one setup as opposed to like a class kind of thing like you teach. Yeah, I think like, in my experience, it was, you know, running, you know, hands over the body, attempting to move the energy. Yeah. Cool. And it seems like you're in the experience that I have, I should say from your classes,

19:55is that you're helping train us to move the energy ourselves. Or to feel it. Yeah, to feel it. You know, I have to be honest, it took me six months to feel the energy. Yeah.

20:11Wow. Yeah. So, you know, we're not all trained to slow down and feel energy. And so, you know, it's a training and a practice and being able to feel it. And that took me some time. And then I was having like jolts of electricity when I would practice, you know, going through my body. And I went to my teacher, I said, What is happening to me? And he said, Oh, that's cheap purification, you know, things are releasing. And yeah.

20:41Wow, I love that you brought this up. Because, you know, I'm someone who's been energy sensitive for a long time. So for me, it just, I think with Reiki and other practices that I've been trained in, I feel it immediately. But for people who maybe don't feel it immediately, or having an experience like you, what would you tell them?

21:08That it's a practice, it's process driven, it's not goal driven. And the more you practice anything, the more you adapt. So if you want to practice breath work or mindfulness, or weight training, as we know, our bodies adapt to what we throw at them. So the more you slow, like for Qigong, I feel like it's the slowing down, the sensing the feeling slowing down the mind. And then all of a sudden, you know, you begin to feel something, you know, or you can feel the energy. I'm pretty

21:42sensitive in my classes to help people feel it, because I was one of those people who had been running through life pretty fast. And it took me a while to really tune in.

21:55Wow. And what did that when that transition point happened for you? Like, can you describe what that felt like? Well, you know, not to get too woo woo, but you know, there's a lot when you start exploring this, as you probably know. And so anything that is not right, the energy is going to kick out of your life. And so my life actually kind of exploded. And I'm not sure I was fully ready for that. My Qigong

22:25teacher had warned me, but I was like, Oh, I'm fine. But it's all good thing in the end, everything is your direction, you know, you're learning from every experience. And I think one of the things I talk about in my class a lot is going with that flow, not resisting, not trying to control every circumstance in your life and being rigid in your thoughts and being rigid in your beliefs. Because what I've found is over time, a lot of that, when I've let go of that rigidity, new things have come

22:56in. And each one of them, I'm learning more and more and more. Wow. That's feels really profound. Yeah. I'm like, I'm just, I'm sitting with it for a moment. I don't hold rigid at times, you know, but we're just all a bunch of belief systems. And you can't open to the infinite potential of the universe if you're stuck in it in that. Right. Wow. So besides like, attuning you to energy, and, and, you know, building a practice

23:38where you're slowing down and being mindful, and being with the breath and the flow of chi, and, and ways that can sometimes, you know, redirect your life. Like, what does qigong help people with? Or like, particularly in your practice, like, what do you see people are walking away from your classes? Like, yeah, experiencing? Yeah, it's a great question. And, you know, to be clear, in medical qigong, it can be done in group format. So there are medical qigong hospitals

24:11in China. Oh, cool. Yeah. And I've worked over at Cancer Care Point, I still actually work there with cancer patients, a lot of them have really responded. And I think a lot of it is to being able to accept your circumstances, no matter what they are. So if I'm in pain, rather than creating a whole story and trying to get rid of it, and you know, all this is just going in and accepting the somatic experience of the pain in that moment. Because when we resist, when we fight,

24:43very, and when our thoughts go crazy, and our emotions get crazy, what can happen is it leads to actually more contraction in the body, which is the opposite of what we want. So it's this ability to take a breath, to let go of the thoughts and the stories that the mind has created over whatever you're experiencing for a moment to get present, you know, it's a state of presence that we're cultivating in qigong. Wow.

25:15Profound again, thank you.

25:19So,

Manifesting and Directing Energy

25:20but simultaneously, I want to bring this up, because this is the new one I'm working with right now. Cool, please. Yeah. You know, and this is one that I'm still trying to wrap my head around is, you know, and, and this is from a lot of different traditions, you know, Buddhism, you know, I, there's, there's a difference between going with the flow and the current, and manifesting and directing and activating the energy. And I think that's an important concept, because you'll get a lot of people just go with the flow, you know, I do believe that there's a time

25:50to take action, too. It's not that I'm trying to control the circumstance, I'm accepting the circumstance, but I'm saying, I'm a fighter, there's a time to fight. You know, there's a time that you get out there, and you say, No, I'm going to work with this. And I am going to find, you know, a way to heal. That's not resignation. That's my current experience is, you'll see people just go, Oh, I'm just going to go with the flow and let life take me. And I think you got to direct that current a little.

26:26And Qigong helps with that or Qigong as a practice? I think Qigong as a practice helps to clear your mind so you can open to your creativity so you can manifest your, your desires and your dreams and not get stuck in the emotions and the past. And the rigidity. Yeah. Wow, cool. So are there any other, you know, from your whole bountiful, you know, set of skills and expertise? Are there other modalities that you find you bring into frequently in your Qigong classes

27:01or that you integrate? Yeah, I integrate biomechanics. You know, I find myself integrating and the beauty of it is, it's all connected, you know, and I mean, I integrate quantum physics, you know, I mean, I started doing a deep dive into quantum physics, I integrate everything, I integrate so many things, you know, emotional release therapy, all sorts of, you know, breathwork patterns from different breathwork techniques, you know. You know, I mean, I'm taking breathwork

27:34patterns from the book breath from Andrew Huberman's podcast, you know, whatever I'm, whatever's resonating with me, I'm pulling it into the practice. I'm creating the practice around that. I love that. So I'm seeing a lot of parallels here with like how you present Qigong with how I present Reiki. And I love the piece that you shared that there's like so many different ways to like express this. Some people are more traditional, some people are more adaptive, you know, in their practices and in their teachings. When someone's like, let's say someone's listening, and they're like, I kind of want

28:09to try this. What would you recommend besides going to your website in terms of like, finding a class that's going to be a good fit for them? Well, I always tell people, take a bunch of classes. We're all different. Each teacher is different. You're going to find that teacher you resonate with. You know, my first teacher, he was like I said, what we call a metal element. So he was very structured, everything was very structured, but I'm far more flow. So I didn't necessarily resonate as well with that. Some people are going to want more

28:44movement. Some people are going to want less movement. I think, you know, I've studied with so many teachers, and I love each of them. And each of them has taught me so much. But they're all so different. Cool. Yeah, it's really about just exploring and trying things on within that moment and exploring. And that's what life's about. Get curious, explore, you know, work with each practice, and then find the one that you gravitate towards.

29:15Cool. Thank you. Yeah. Where is your, you know, I'm curious, because started in personal training, corrective exercise, and then diving into, you know, Qigong and energy practices. Like, what are you interested and curious about right now? Like, what are you looking to maybe, you know, study or integrate into what you're doing? Well, like now and in the future, question, because when I turned 50, I promised myself, I was never going to get certified in anything again. So many millions of things. And I'm all over the

29:55board with it. And what I find is each of those certifications has brought me deeper and deeper. But, you know, I'm not delving into one thing. So I'm now 54 next week. And I can tell you, I am now having, because of my own issue stuff with my own body at this age, I've had to get certified in something else. And so I'm back. I'm now back into the body. And it's an interesting thing, because I was coming up into this other direction. And I was almost very resistant. I don't want to go back

30:29to this. But life is having me go back to this. And so whatever, rather than fight that, I'm like, all right, right now, I will go back to studying biomechanics. And I am learning a lot. And, you know, and, and I'm sure from there, I'll go back up to studying the more metaphysical. Cool. Can you tell us about, you know, and I don't know if you have an experience personally yourself, or one that you have permission to share from a client or somebody who comes to your classes,

31:01but of a time where someone's Qigong practice, like help them create like a physical change that they were looking for in their lives or help them? Yeah. Well, I would say more, actually, the posture therapy, I've had people just night and day difference, you know, where really, where they're in so much pain, and, and they've lost hope in life. And then, and then all of a sudden, there, there's hope that, you know, wow, you know, I can make these changes and live a more pain free

31:35life, free of limitations. Because I teach Qigong classes, it's not as individual. But I've definitely had I remember one student over at breeze together yoga in Los Gatos. She was a younger student who had had a lot of trauma. And, and she came in one day, and she goes, Thank you so much for this class, I was traveling, and I had this full reaction. And I, I just didn't know what to do. So I did pulling down the heavens. And I cleared this energy. And, you know, and I thought, wow, you know,

32:11people are taking from this practice, something that's useful, and, you know, that they can work on. I've had many people talk to me about, you know, being able to, like, like having a complete shift after the class, and, you know, whatever was bothering them is now no longer bothering them, that kind of thing. Yeah, whether that's a pain symptom, I've definitely had people say, Oh, my gosh, all my shoulder pain is gone. Or whether that's just a circumstance in their life that they just managed to be able to let go of in that moment. Wow. Is there anyone you wouldn't recommend

32:43Qigong for? No, I will say this, any class you go to, or anything you do, you need to listen to your body. So, you know, I guess if somebody's got severe sciatica, you know, sit down, you know, or if that hurts, stand up, you know, whatever you need to be doing, she can be done. Qigong is, let's be clear, I guess we haven't really talked about in depth about what Qigong is. But, you know,

33:14you've got your physical body, and you've got your emotional body, and you've got your mental body. So you're, they call it posture, breath and intent, you can sit and imagine doing the exercise and get just as much benefit. And they've done studies where they've had people I've written papers on this where, you know, they've had people imagine lifting weights and growing their muscles from imagining it. So your imagination needs your mind, your mind leads your chi. What you think about

33:44will express itself, both in nature and in the body.

33:50Wow. And so Qigong is a practice to help you change your thinking sometimes. Yeah. Well, I'm thinking about it kind of like, the same way you might like train a horse, right? Like training the mind. Yeah, you're training the body, you're training the mind in Qigong. Yeah. And, you know, and you're integrating the posture, the breath and the intent with the three energy centers, you're moving them in connection. And, and so you're connecting plus you're connecting

34:23back into this body, this home, you know, that you're cleansing that you're clearing that you're paying attention to for a moment. Yeah, can you talk to us a little bit about like what the three energy centers are for people that aren't familiar with that system? Yeah, well, they're called dantians. In the reservoirs, like where energy that you have the meridians, there's 12 meridians that go to the organs. And then the lower dantians, mainly, I would call it the physical center.

34:53Okay. Then you've got your heart center. This is your, your breath, which is going to affect your nervous system. Um, and then you've got, uh, your spiritual center. And, and, and Qigong is a spiritual practice, uh, based in Daoist philosophy. Cool. And, and Daoist philosophy is from like what tradition or what culture? Chinese. Cool. Daoism. Very cool.

35:21The Dao to change. Yeah. That's what I was just thinking. I was like that book. That's where that comes from. Religion. I mean, my understanding of Daoism is it's more of a philosophy than a religion. But the beauty is, is that science and spirituality are beginning to form. They're beginning to come together, you know, quantum physics. And, and, and, and these are, uh, theories that they've been talking about since ancient times. Yeah. Millennia. Yeah. That's really exciting to be at a point in time where you can see that happening.

35:54Yeah. Is there anything I didn't ask about Qigong that you think people should know?

Additional Qigong Insights

36:02Um, well, there's so much. Yeah. I mean, I, I'm like, I still feel so new to it. I still feel so new to it. And, you know, it's a never ending exploration. And, you know, I went through a phase of being sad because right now I'm going back to exploring more of the biomechanics, but I, I've let that go because so much of that is actually a part of Qigong. And, uh, but, you know, there are so much, you can go down this big rabbit hole with Qigong because you're talking about spirituality. You're talking about physics.

36:33Uh, you're talking about the nervous system. And you're talking about the body, what they call the microcosmic, the universe within you, every cell is it's, you know, each of us is a cell in a larger universe. I talk about this in my class sometimes because I love the philosophy and, you know, within your body, each cell has its individual function. And there's a whole universe going on within you right now, you know, and, and, uh, you know, there's practices around that in Qigong. That's beautiful.

37:04And so besides, you know, finding a practitioner whose style somebody resonates with, are there any recommendations for like frequency of practice or like, yeah.

37:21You know, um, I think it's going to have to be really individual. You know, if you're practicing because you have to, I don't think it's a good practice. You know, if you don't have the time to practice, don't practice then. Or, or, you know, if you want to find the time to practice, then you should. Um, I, I just, you don't want to put stress around it, you know, but, um, I feel like I needed to practice daily to really begin to feel the energy and to, to make the shift.

37:51Um, and what got you, I mean, you said it took six months, uh, sounds like a pretty diligent practicing to get there. Like what was the thread that pulled you through? Cause I would imagine a lot of people would have moments of doubt, you know, or want to give up. Um, if they're not seeing like a physical, tangible result from it.

38:18Yeah. Um, it's a hard question. Um, but, but, uh, yeah. Like what pulled you through? Cause obviously, I mean, yeah. Persistence. I tend to be a pretty persistent person. You know, if you're going to run a hundred miles, it takes a little bit of dedication. Yeah, totally. So for somebody who doesn't have that nature, because, you know, as you know, we are all different. None of us are the same. Um, you know, uh, so, uh, yeah.

38:49I don't want to put a parameter on somebody else's practice, you know, but, uh, but yeah, some form of consistency. I would say consistency is very important in anything that you put your mind to. Cool. Or your body too. Yeah. Thank you. I'm just like, I think that my intent is like, I want to be the cheerleader for the people that are like, they know they need to do it, but maybe there's some like wobbly moments on the way, you know? Yeah. Well, anything I would just say to people, anything that you do consistently, you will

39:20most likely get better at. It's how life works. If you're going to learn to ride a bike or learn to ski, it doesn't happen in a day. When we learned to walk, it didn't happen in a day. You know, it's consistency, it's dedication. And this is where we get into the manifestation. You know, if, if you want something, you got to put in the effort. Yeah. It's not going to just happen to you. Most likely. Totally. Maybe for some people, if their mind is really, really strong.

39:49I don't want to say that that can't happen. It hasn't happened to me yet, but you know. Still waiting.

39:56Yeah. Cool. Well, I think we're going to go into our rapid fire questions. So these are five questions I do with all guests at the end. They're just short and sweet. So say the first thing that comes to mind. Okay. One, what is your human design? Oh, I had to look that up this morning. Generator. Cool. Where's your favorite place in nature to be? The mountains. Any specific mountains?

40:24Well, the Swiss Alps.

40:28Heck yeah. Beautiful.

40:31What is your beverage of choice right now? Water. And what's your top tip for good energy hygiene? Clearing the mind. Being present.

40:44And how would you define healing? I don't define healing. It changes every day. Okay. For me, it changes every day.

40:56Cool. What services? So, you know, we've talked about your Qigong class. What services do you offer and how can people find you?

41:06So I offer a lot of different services because I've done so many different things at this point. And so I do posture therapy, corrective exercise, a little bit of what I call play in the park, which is group functional training. But it's far more about connection and enjoyment while you're training, because I think that goes a long way. I do teach Qigong four days a week here in the Los Gatos, San Jose area.

41:39I also teach online through my own business on Thursdays. And those classes are recorded for people who can't make it live and who need a Qigong or who'd like a Qigong practice. Yeah, and those are the ones that I do. So they're live on Thursdays, but I have like a couple that are favorited. And it's really nice to be able to go back through the like video library and play them anytime you want. Yeah. Where can people, what is your website? So my website is aligned, A-L-I-G-N-E-D, fit.com.

42:12Cool. And we're going to drop that in the show notes. So if you want to go and check out Lisa and all of her amazing work in the world, you want to sign up for Qigong class, you can find the link in the show notes. Yeah. Or my newsletter as well. I really love to write. And I don't know if you've seen some of the newsletters I write, but I definitely feel like those have resonated with a lot of people. And people can sign up for the newsletter on your website or where do they do that? Yeah, they can sign up on my website.

42:42They're welcome also to just email me and I can send out a few articles. Okay, cool. Do you want to share your email here? Sure. I love getting emails. Lisa Beth Decker at Gmail. Cool. Wonderful. Well, Lisa, this has been an amazing conversation. I am so excited about Qigong. Grateful to have found you as, you know, my first instructor in the Qigong world. And, yeah, really appreciate you sharing your perspective and your expertise with us today.

43:15I think it's, you know, been impactful on me and I hope it is impactful on the listeners too. Thank you so much for having me. And thank you for joining me in Qigong. I love that people resonate with that class, with my practice. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast. I hope that our words, our stories, and the wisdom shared on today's episode inspire you and support you in feeling connected.

43:52If you loved this episode, please leave us a five-star review so we can reach more people. And as a thank you for listening, join me for a mini course on energy hygiene. You get three simple practices you can do anywhere, anytime to support you in feeling more grounded, connected to yourself, and confident in your energetic boundaries. Sign up at energyhealingelizabeth.com slash energyhygiene.

44:22Thanks for being here today, and I look forward to being with you again soon.

44:30The primary purpose of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast is to inspire and educate. As a reminder, the information and opinions shared on this podcast are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage you to speak with your doctor for professional medical advice, or treatment. Opinions offered on this podcast are just that, opinions.