Ep#094 Taking Charge Of Your Health With Qigong and Tai Chi – With Sifu Rubia

0 (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you’re so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host, she’s a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, chef author, and Yogi, Christine Okezie.

Christine Okezie (23s):
Hello, and welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast. Thanks so much for listening today. So a paradigm shift that I’ve discovered to be incredibly empowering in this space of health and wellness is making our endeavor less about self-improvement and perhaps more about self-realization. So for me, this is the essence of why mind, body practices that hail from Eastern wisdom contains so much powerful medicine. They understand there’s a vast intelligence that resides within our bodies, and it offers tools to reconnect and step into a space of healing and transformation.

Christine Okezie (1m 3s):
See now modern science is rapidly catching up and proving how practices that work at all levels of our being body, mind, and energy accelerate. This innate capacity that we have to self-regulate and heal well today’s guest. And I took a deep dive into the specific ancient practices of Tai Chi and she gone she’s Sifu Rubia as an orphan worn in Bangladesh. She’s navigated the scars of trauma that created intense anxiety in her body and mind. She also suffered the traumatic loss for miscarriage, which is actually what brought her many years ago now to her first, she gone class Rubia discovered firsthand the healing and strength building power of chief cultivation through these practices, which helped her transform and overcome her grief and loss.

Christine Okezie (1m 57s):
She went on to become a seasoned teacher, teaching hundreds of students of all ages in community centers, private group classes, drug, and alcohol rehab centers. She’s also been a speaker at local and national corporate organizations. She’s incredibly passionate about showing people just how accessible these ancient technologies are and helping people take control of their physical and mental wellbeing, rejuvenate their bodies, and we claim youthful energy. Be sure to check out the show notes, to learn more about Sifu Rubio and her course offerings. And for listeners, there’s a special gift for free access to a short Qigong grounding sequence.

Christine Okezie (2m 39s):
You’ll definitely want to check that out. There’s a VIP code in the show notes as well as links to helpful resources to take a deeper dive into these amazing practices. I can’t wait to, for you to listen to this fascinating conversation. And if you do like it, I’d be grateful if you’d leave a rating and review, then if you haven’t already hit the subscribe button, please do so it helps me keep the podcast growing. Thanks again for listening and enjoy the episode And hello, Sify Rubia. Welcome to the podcast. It’s really wonderful to have you here today.

Sifu Rubia (3m 16s):
Ah, thank you, Christine. It’s an honor and privilege to be here and I, I, I’m very grateful. Thank you.

Christine Okezie (3m 22s):
Thank you. Well, I’m so excited for you to share the wonderful wisdom and, and healing that’s in these traditions of cheap drawing and Tai Chi. But if we could first start out, you know, maybe a little bit about how it became such an essential role in your journey of healing.

Sifu Rubia (3m 38s):
Yeah, that’s a, that’s a good question. I was just talking the other day with someone and I told them, I said, I walked out of my title my first.

Christine Okezie (3m 46s):
Oh my gosh. Amazing. So good to know. Right.

Sifu Rubia (3m 50s):
Because it just, it challenges you in every way. It just, because you’re going so slow, you have to be so present and I wasn’t ready for it. I just wasn’t ready for it the first time. And it took a couple of years after that for me to try it again. And then I, I felt something maybe can stick. And then the third time it was like, okay, this is a practice and I’m ready to receive the, the lessons and information. So everything’s about timing, right? Where, where, where are you in your own personal growth healing and whatnot? So I was ready for it at the time. And, and it did, it became a spiritual discovery for me, as well as the healing of the body.

Sifu Rubia (4m 36s):
Like the, the obvious parts of, you know, the medicine behind, you know, moving meditation and all of the synergies that are happening with happening there. But I was ready to start transcending, you know, the, the, the crazy mind, the monkey mind, and I was ready to fall into a place of peace and stillness and, or, or at the very least cultivated, cultivate the place where I can fall into when life is chaotic, because you realize life is always going to be messy. Yes, that’s right. That’s just the, the, the human experience.

Sifu Rubia (5m 16s):
So surrendering to, to never having full control over anything, and then just creating a space for yourself to fall into.

Christine Okezie (5m 26s):
I love the way they say

Sifu Rubia (5m 27s):
That. Yeah. So that’s, that’s kind of been my journey and, or part of the journey and I’m, I’m, you know, now speaking it and sharing, sharing the work and sharing the tools. All I can do really is share the mechanisms and it’s, you know, the, the practitioner’s responsibility to take it for, for, for what it is, you know, their, their, their tools. And it’s constantly revealing itself. The practice is consistently revealing itself, even over now, 15 years of practice. And I intend to practice until I can’t practice no more

Christine Okezie (6m 8s):
Until you can take their Latin until you can’t breathe. Because

Sifu Rubia (6m 11s):
My last breath will hopefully be in, I don’t know, think a whip. I don’t know how to administer.

Christine Okezie (6m 16s):
That’s right. That’s right. I love that. Oh my gosh. So let’s just, you know, lay some fundamentals and, you know, for those of us who really want to understand, like you said, the, the mechanics of it, and, you know, a lot of us are like, oh, is it martial arts? Is it yoga? Is it isn’t meditation? You know, what’s the specific recipe that makes, you know, Tai-Chi and Xi gong, the work that it is.

Sifu Rubia (6m 40s):
Yes. So, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s an energy work. So you’re cultivating your energy body and you’re, you’re working from the inside out. She, she is prana life force. So she, gong, gong simply means to cultivate, to work, to, to toil. So achieve gong practice is just that you’re, you’re developing your inner inner life force, that, that line of energy that supports everything else and connects you to everything else. And then the Tai Chi is a martial expression of that work.

Sifu Rubia (7m 20s):
And as we see it, it’s a, it’s a gentle moving, you know, dance. But if you’re a martial artist and you know what to look for, then you see all of the martial applications that are, that are within it. And I don’t, I don’t necessarily teach the martial applications. I teach really this body of work for, for healing and as a meditation and, and whatnot and self a path of self-realization. So that’s, that’s my purpose with it. But other, other than that, I mean, it’s, there’s a neuromuscular synergy and that’s expressed in these movements, you know, based on the sequence and the timing and the combination of the, the muscle groups that are being activated and used just like swimming, swimming, you’re using your whole body and the resistance of the water, which is which isn’t there in tight G.

Sifu Rubia (8m 16s):
So in the, you’re creating your own resistance by going slower and slowing down the movements. It is very slow.

Christine Okezie (8m 24s):
Yeah. So that’s the very first thing that struck me as I was doing your wonderful class, which we’ll talk about later, but the fundamentals class that you have online really breaks down the specific choreography. And that’s the V that’s the very first thing that strikes you is that it is really slow. You’re moving in slow motion, you’re moving very fluidly, but it’s very slow and there’s really no opportunity to, you know, be doing your to-do list, you know, or, or, you know, be thinking about the next move, because, well, you know, you’re just, you’re just having to really be super present and super aware of what you’re doing with your, with your attention, you know, with your breath.

Christine Okezie (9m 10s):
It’s, it’s, that’s the first thing. So you mentioned specific exercises and series, and just, are there specific choreographies there, or are there like the way that there are a saunas in yoga, for example, and they get strung together, depending on what type of yoga you’re doing? Is that the same for Qigong?

Sifu Rubia (9m 36s):
That’s a really good question. I haven’t, I haven’t come across that question. Well, there are self for the most part you’re, you’re, you’ll always be seeing a young family style Tai-Chi and so the, the, the movements are, they, they look the same, but there may be placed in different sequences. And then there’s another style is a Chen family style that looks very different than, than a young family, but there are some elements that are similar. So I, yeah, that’s a good question. I, I can’t say that it really makes a big difference in, in the choreography or sequence.

Sifu Rubia (10m 20s):
The medicine in these practices is really the breath to movement, just like anything else, but breath to movement and the slowing down, like the, the pace at which you go, eh, that’s really where the medicine is in, in the practice. Not so much the sequence, but you, you will see familiar movements in Tai-Chi that aren’t necessarily strung together the same way.

Christine Okezie (10m 47s):
Got it. Okay. Thank you. And are there stillness components to this as well? Or is it all, are there there’s the motion fluid and are there stillness components? Is there like actual sitting or non-movement components to Tai-Chi or is she gone?

Sifu Rubia (11m 6s):
These are practices that you can adapt to sitting. Yes. Okay. Yeah, it can, it can be adapted, but like, if your reference, if you’re kind of comparing it to yoga, where you have like a yin practice, which is a little bit more static, a lot more static, or a Vinyasa practice, which is a lot more fluid. So in the courses that I’ve produced and I present online that Xi gong is very it’s grounding. So you’re standing and you’re very, you’re working on your, your roots, your, your legs. And then you’re combining the movements with, with specific arm movements and what not, but it’s pretty, you’re not moving, so you’re not stepping out.

Sifu Rubia (11m 51s):
Whereas Qigong you’re a more balanced proprioception and just like where you are in space, because you’re, you are stepping and moving forward, shifting your weight. So you’re in with Tai-Chi, you definitely learn to move differently. And I mean, I don’t move through the world in the same way since my, my Tai Chi practice since developing Tai-Chi practice. Oh,

Christine Okezie (12m 19s):
More about that. So what happened, some of the benefits that you personally have experienced as you’ve evolved as a student, as well as the practitioner?

Sifu Rubia (12m 28s):
I mean, yeah, just to kind of, you know, elaborate more on what I just said as far as moving through the world differently, and that comes with age as well. So in my 30 2030s, you’re just going through and every step is, is, is varying. It’s like you’re pounding the pavement. I just don’t pound the pavement like that. Literally, I like to wander and you develop extra senses. Like your, that definitely gets developed. You, your sight becomes clearer, your periphery becomes wider.

Sifu Rubia (13m 10s):
So you can see, you can see more and you can hear more clearly. You’re just, you’re in tuned tight. She follows, you know, a Taoist principles, which are, you know, being in tune with nature and allowing nature to nature knows what to do it. It knows how to unfold itself. And so these Tai-Chi specifically allows you to tap into that. And you just, you, yeah. Your, your senses are definitely heightened. That’s beautiful.

Christine Okezie (13m 44s):
I love that. Yeah. Okay. What is some of the key? You mentioned one of them, which is, you know, principle element of being in harmony with nature. What are some of the key healing elements, you know, that would be useful to know, and you talk a lot about it sometimes in your work around the five elements and things like this.

Sifu Rubia (14m 3s):
Well, you’re, you’re yeah. You’re connecting, you’re connecting to a lot of elemental fundamental processes of just being, you know, part of, part of the earth. Those are things I discovered along the way. I think it’s something that happens internally when you are, when you’re ready to receive the information, there are specific moves that and techniques that cultivates a fire energy. Now that fire breath, I mean, you’ll recognize that in, in yes, yoga and pranayama practices, you know, there’s a, there’s a Qigong movement called Phoenix Rising.

Sifu Rubia (14m 47s):
So that’s all about rising from the ashes. And you’re literally working on, you know, your center, your lower, your lower dantien and activating all of that. And then the grounding. Yeah. The earth element water, just the, the flow. And I mean, w what’s left air. Yeah. It can be a little airy. Yeah. But it’s, it’s kind of bringing it all together, synthesizing it, all, all of the elements come together at some point and you feel them when you, again, it’s, it’s a practice. You, it’s something that you develop over time.

Sifu Rubia (15m 27s):
It’s, it’s something that you just discover over time and that it all comes together and it becomes, it just becomes a very deep part of part of you. I love that.

Christine Okezie (15m 40s):
Yeah. Okay. So when it comes to, we can go talk about some of the sort of common elements or, or challenges that, you know, a lot of us are struggling with physical, mental, emotional. W can you share some of the, as a teacher? What do you notice? Like people really get out from a practice get from?

Sifu Rubia (16m 4s):
So in my experience, every everyone’s different. So the key, if there is a key to unlock, it’s really consistency, just like anything else. And that’s, the key to mastery is just doing something over and over again, until it no longer exists and you become it. So taking the time and, and, and that could be with, with anything I’m here promoting this work, but it’s really like if you’re an artist, you know, delving into your art is your tight sheet, it’s your flow state. So I would say I would encourage people to, to be more creative and to give themselves permission, to be more creative and find, find that flow state within them.

Sifu Rubia (16m 47s):
And then the medicine kind of happens. The healing, the healing happens for, for this particular work. A lot of people shared with me, you know, their mental state got shifted. Like they were able to not be so mentally frazzled and fragmented. So it gave them a place of respite helping with their digestion. Cause you’re activating and you’re moving, you know, you’re, you’re clearing out the organs and you’re giving them space to move as you open up your waste. So mobility pain from arthritis, some people, you know, are, have found success.

Sifu Rubia (17m 29s):
They’re definitely balance when you’re, when you’re learning the right stepping techniques with Tai Chi. You definitely, again, move through life, move through life differently. And with a lot more stability and balance, better sleep, improved cognition, focus. Yeah. There’s a lot of good benefits too, to irregular or regular practice.

Christine Okezie (17m 55s):
Thank you. Thank you. And you know, how is it part of your self care routine now? Like, you know, what are, you know, how does it look like to you just in your own daily practice once you’ve developed your own? Is it becoming, is there a morning routine? Is there just a breathing technique? You know, what does it look like when you evolve it to be in your own?

Sifu Rubia (18m 16s):
That’s a good question. I have a, I have a longer yoga practice and I have a Tai Chi practice. I’ve been practicing yoga probably five, seven years longer than I’ve been practicing.

Christine Okezie (18m 26s):
Interesting. So would, they would be complimentary for many people? Yes.

Sifu Rubia (18m 30s):
They, they have been for me, they, they color each other. They’ve definitely inform each other and in a different way. And my, my Tai Chi practice and she gone practice elevated my yoga practice, I say, yeah. And I, I don’t think that I, it would have happened if I don’t think my yoga practice would have happened that way. I just moved through my yoga differently because of the Tai Chi and the genome. Okay. And there’s a different buoyancy in my body through, through that. I mean, that was my experience. I’m not, I’m not saying that’s going to happen to, to everybody, but that was my experience. And it continues to be my experience.

Sifu Rubia (19m 11s):
So I, you know, I’m pretty calm. I’m very consistent with it. My yoga practice and my Tai Chi practice. What’s interesting about teaching is that once you start teaching something, it just, it doesn’t belong to you anymore. You in a fillable, you have to give it away if you’re sincere in your, your teaching. So, and my yoga practice has always been my that’s my place of like, healing that I just I’ve never wanted to share it. So I don’t, I don’t teach yoga, but I have a very dedicated yoga practice, but Tai-Chi, I never felt like it belonged to me. So I can, I can be in my tight G just by lying down so I can be in that visual flow and I can feel what it does to me, because I felt it so many times, so I can, I can fit in.

Sifu Rubia (20m 5s):
Yeah. I can fall into it fairly quickly. But yeah. I mean, sometimes I just do like two or three, two gong moves just to get three things going. And then the Tai Chi sequence, I mean, ultimately you can take like one minute to do once, you know,

Christine Okezie (20m 23s):
Think that’s really good to know. Yeah. It doesn’t have to be a 60 minute class or a 60 minute process. Right. So very powerful movements and very beneficial.

Sifu Rubia (20m 34s):
You’re consistent. A consistent practice is your strongest practice, right. So it’s not about the amount of time you spend in it. It’s the, the amount of times you do it. Yes. Because again, you, you, you, you’re creating a sphere, creating a space internally where you can drop into when you’re in the middle of something stressful. And this has happened to me many, many times where I’m in a moment of stress and I drop into my chigong and I drop into my breath, and then I can see things a little more clearly to properly respond, as opposed to, you know, just going head in and responding head in which it was just something that I, I struggle with because I’m very fiery by nature.

Sifu Rubia (21m 17s):
So I need, I need that water out meant to calm me down.

Christine Okezie (21m 22s):
I get it. That’s great to know, to know how to bring yourself into that relative state of equanimity, right? Yeah.

Sifu Rubia (21m 29s):
There you go. Best word.

Christine Okezie (21m 34s):
So you know, what, what I’m getting and what it comes really through when you learn about the practice of Qigong and Tai Chi, is that it’s such a, it’s so open and available to all levels of health, all ages, you know, experienced non-experienced meditators, you know, non-experienced meditators, it’s really that very like a level playing field to come on in.

Sifu Rubia (21m 58s):
It is, and you don’t need a mat to do it, and you don’t need to be a contortion because yoga practices are, are beautiful. I mean, the whole system is, is it’s transcendent. It’s a beautiful system to, to take in, but the Asana practice can be a little overwhelming and intimidating and dangerous if you’re not, you know, guided through properly. So if you haven’t released certain parts of your ego, you could really get really injure yourself. Whereas with Tai Chi, it’s really, the approach is different. You’re you’re setting, you’re settling into a softness, you’re creating a softness in your body.

Sifu Rubia (22m 42s):
You’re looking for a soft place in your body to move through your joints differently and activate things differently. And it’s moving.

Christine Okezie (22m 52s):
Okay. And so you, you you’ve mentioned, you know, the walking meditation, it’s a form of moving meditation. You know, tell me more about that because you know, meditation is, you know, all kinds of, you know, flavors and experiences and techniques, but maybe share a little bit, a bit about, you know, what, you know, can be very beneficial when it comes to people who say, I have really, you know, I have trouble meditating, you know, maybe I should try this practice. How can it be different for me?

Sifu Rubia (23m 22s):
That’s it. Yeah. Thank you for bringing that up. I mean, I would raise my hand. A sitting meditation has always been difficult for me. I need to, I need to move. So when I found this and it became a moving meditation, meditation is mindfulness. It’s being present in the moment it’s being mindful of what is happening. And it’s, you’re not trying to get rid of any thoughts. You’re just trying to acknowledge them and move them along. The, so we’re not trying to get rid of anything in meditation, we’re just trying to really be present. Right? So the gift of Tai Chi for me is that because again, coming back to the slowness of it, it does require you to be very present and very aware of what’s going on in your body.

Sifu Rubia (24m 11s):
So, but whether you’re doing a sitting meditation or a moving meditation, the process is the same. The outcome of mindfulness is the same. That’s been my experience, but I think people have different experiences and, and their meditations. The other thing for me, if we look at the body from an energetic point of view and the spine, and in both practices and yoga, and Tai-Chi, you’re, you’re really working on your, your, your spine, your heaven and earth connection. And the spine is between the, between heaven and earth creating, you know, a gentle, gentle traction between, between the two points.

Sifu Rubia (24m 51s):
And that’s where our nervous system resides. So, yeah, so the, you know, the, the, the, the spine is the, the, the Mider and the re and the receiver. So when you have a clear line, you’re allowing your body to heal. That’s the other thing you’re, you’re allowing homeostasis to, to happen in a gentle, you’re creating a gentle space for, for that to happen. But you’re also opening yourself up to, I mean, I don’t know how deep you want to get into this conversation.

Christine Okezie (25m 27s):
Well, you mentioned it since a tool for self-realization and you know, this again, you know, as a practice like this evolves, it is working with the subtle energy system in the body. A lot of stuff gets moved around, physiological, emotional, and then obviously, you know, into that awareness space, you know, so tell us about how has it been a tool of self-realization for you

Sifu Rubia (25m 50s):
Just, it opened me is opens up your, your energy fields. So when you’re working with energy and coming back to the spine and the nervous system, you’re it, you become more vulnerable. So learning boundaries has, has you have to learn boundaries. You just have to, so you just become a lot more open, receptive, and it, everything changes. And then your, your environment changes what you bring in changes, what you call in changes. And you have, I dunno, manifesting powers. I don’t know if that’s the right way to,

Christine Okezie (26m 30s):
Well, you, you flow, you get, you, you sync up, you know, that, which you desire becomes something that happens with more ease. Okay,

Sifu Rubia (26m 38s):
It’s a divinity. You become, you become your divine nature, essentially. So I I’m still becoming there’s no, there’s no end to it. So it really helped me. Alchemize like, alchemize my data led to goals and, and connect to my divine nature, my divine being, and then move, move through the world. And in that, in that space, and I have to bring in astrology for a moment, because that brought me to, to the study of, of the cosmos and the stars, and, you know, the moving meditation that’s happening above us, you know, everything’s in motion, beautiful and understanding, understanding transits and how you’re, you’re affected by those transits at certain points in time.

Sifu Rubia (27m 29s):
And so for me, the study of, or the ongoing study of astrology is probably where I’ve found the most self-compassion. And so understanding, and also creating compassion for more compassion for others. Like when you understand everybody is different and going through something at different times in their lives, you just, you have more compassion for, for them and for, for yourself. And then purpose. You know, you, when you look at your birth chart and you start to understand what certain houses mean, what certain plan planets mean, and when, when they’re transiting and at such time in your life, then you kind of prepare, you know, how to prepare for, for certain it’s like a weather report.

Christine Okezie (28m 23s):
It is

Sifu Rubia (28m 23s):
Exactly that. So I would encourage people to, you know, find a good astrologer and, and because you find peace, it brought me a lot of peace to understand certain things that I think only the cosmos could reveal to me. So

Christine Okezie (28m 37s):
That’s so beautiful. Thank you. And I get it, you know, they’re the dots, you know, really line up when you start to enter. And I like the way language, creating a soft space within yourself, you know, deep within yourself, because what that becomes is you get to know, you know, exactly what is our nature. You get to experience and, you know, a different aspect of, of what this is all about.

Sifu Rubia (29m 3s):
You experienced yourself as a whole, right. And that you’re not separate. So for my experience has been, you know, I, again, coming back to yoga, yoga, didn’t reveal to me what she had gone. And Tai-Chi revealed not to say that it couldn’t, it’s just, it brought me further along. And then it’s my Tai Chi and Qigong that brought me to astrology and studying the cosmos. And then, yeah. So it’s, it’s just accepting, accepting things as they come, you know, and, and surrendering is really important. Yield Tigie is a lot about yielding and surrendering.

Sifu Rubia (29m 46s):
There’s a, there’s an, there’s an energy there because it’s a water energy, the water, if you, if you think of water in itself, it’s always looking for the lowest point and it’s always connected to the ocean. So it, it flows uninterrupted. It’s it knows where it’s going. It surrenders to the banks, that’s carrying it through. And it just, it, it, it flows. So it brings you into that state.

Christine Okezie (30m 12s):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Very similar path for me was, you know, when I found Kundalini yoga. So of course, you know, your first, your first and foremost is I remember walking, I didn’t walk out of my first class. I did walk out of my first and go, what was that? And what does happen? And I got to get some more of that. Don’t know what it is, but got to get some more of that. Had no words really for, for that very first experience of that. And, you know, over the years, that’s really what has happened for me is then you put it well, which is you connect to, we call it our true self, you know, which is our divine nature, right. Our infinite nature.

Christine Okezie (30m 52s):
And I think it’s fascinating that you are also in the space of looking to astrology and the cosmos, and because they’re all there to me. And I know very little, I, I, I’m fascinated by it. It’s like a coat. It’s like decoding nature for me, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s almost like it helps decode nature because we are nature, right? We’re not separate from nature. We are made exactly of the same substances that are all around us. So when we really look in that, it creates this sort of expansive understanding and isn’t that why kind of, why we’re all here really it’s just to know more and more and learn more and more about ourselves.

Christine Okezie (31m 36s):
So all these different things, whether it’s the meridians in the body, which are intimately connected to the practice of chigong right, or the cosmos, you know, the planets in the sky and the elements in nature, it’s that expansive version of ourselves that becomes so becomes the medicine, in my opinion. Absolutely because it cuts through so much crap that goes on it, you know, like it’s like, you know, this whole book, don’t sweat, the small stuff. It’s really small stuff.

Sifu Rubia (32m 10s):
It is really small. When you think about how far the plan is actually are. I mean, it’s just, it’s mind blowing. And then you, you realize that, well, first of all, I’m looking at something here. I have a wall, like a vision board and something that I consistently look at as a quote from BKS I, and Gar. And it says it is through your body, that you realize that you are a spark of divinity. So it’s through these yogic practices, Asana, and through, through the, the body that you make, your cosmic connections and your divine connections. Well, I didn’t say it, you know?

Christine Okezie (32m 47s):
Oh, no, but that’s, that’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. That’s exactly it. Yeah. And I think it’s a, it’s an, it’s a, it’s a real, it’s a technology for sure. You know, because it’s a system that we’re working with. And at the same time, I guess, you know, this leads me to the other, another question, which I think you may have already answered, but you know, one of the, if you would share, like what was one of the benefits that came of knowing she gone, that you didn’t expect at all?

Sifu Rubia (33m 16s):
That’s a great question. Well, one, one of them is that when, well, first of all, my back went out, that’s why I started to go home. I had a miscarriage in 2008 and my yoga practice Agra aggravated my back to the point where I was immobile and the school where I had taken my teacher training for yoga also had a Tai Chi and Qigong program. So I just kind of went into it that way. And I did. Yeah. So I developed it, you gone practice and that’s what helped bring my back to normal. And then when it, cause it used to go out every three months, like for years.

Sifu Rubia (33m 58s):
And what I realized is that when it did go out, the recovery time was less because I had this two gong practice that I was developing. And then after some time it just, it just stopped going out. So wow. It took time. It took time to do it. And there may have been other ways to, to, to go about doing that. But this was the way that I, that found me. So, so that the recovery time was shorter. And I think that if something were knock on, wood happened to me again, I think the recovery time would be shorter just because you, you have that body awareness and you know how to focus and you know how to activate the healing properties of your own body.

Sifu Rubia (34m 39s):
You get to that, that point. So I think that’s one of, one of the many benefits. I love that.

Christine Okezie (34m 46s):
Yeah. And again, it just so you know, to maybe dispel myths that you have to be in tip-top condition to begin the practice of chigong, you know, or Tai Chi, it’s really the other way around it’s, you know, come as you are, right. And then learn, you know, you know, what might be going on and how to help yourself.

Sifu Rubia (35m 7s):
What’s beautiful about this practice and how I’ve seen it with, with many, many students is that it’s a practice that will meet you where you are at any given time and moment and not necessarily the other way around, because it’s yeah. And it will, it’ll always meet you where you are and it won’t. Yeah. I won’t disappoint.

Christine Okezie (35m 30s):
That’s wonderful. Now group versus private. Do you need a teacher?

Sifu Rubia (35m 37s):
Do you, at what point can you do stuff on your own? Oh yeah. Good question. Well, there are plenty of beautiful Tai-Chi books and I can give you some links to the books in the show notes, because I don’t have them all in my, in my head right now. So people will start by reading. And then there are books that go through, you know, the description of the movements. So you can, if you’re, if you’re more intellectual, that might be the place where you would want to start. Otherwise, if you have a local, you know, YMCAor recreation center, usually there’s a Tai Chi class or had she gone to class,

Christine Okezie (36m 22s):
Is there perhaps a difference whether we start doing the practices, starting with Tai-Chi or Qigong, what should we do if, you know, let’s say just one is available.

Sifu Rubia (36m 33s):
So sometimes local centers will. I used to teach in at the YMCA and, and recreation centers here. So I usually offered both, but even within my Tai Chi classes, I would have a chigong section and then a section. But that’s just my that’s how I, okay. That’s not necessarily what people should expect. I would say if they’re both important and you can start from zero at, at any one, so you don’t necessarily have to have done, she gong to really understand Tai-Chi and vice versa. They’re, they’re pretty separate that she gong again.

Sifu Rubia (37m 16s):
I think I mentioned this earlier. It’s just, it’s mindful breathing, coordinating your, your limbs and movement and just activating the, the energy body and the energy lines and meridians. So that’s, there are deeper practices and you can go pretty far with it. You gong practice, but as an introduction, if you’re, if they, if your center only has one or the other, just go for whichever one’s available, there will be equal benefit. Okay. And does that answer that question? Absolutely.

Christine Okezie (37m 49s):
Yeah. That’s very helpful. Thank

Sifu Rubia (37m 51s):
You. Okay.

Christine Okezie (37m 53s):
And are you teaching live in personnel? And if not, maybe this is a good time for you to tell us about what you have online and what you’ve created for online

Sifu Rubia (38m 3s):
Right now with COVID covert is what brought me to produce the videos that I did. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So I’m still, so that’s a good place to start. And with, with my programs and courses online, I’m very accessible. So I have a calendar where you can meet me and there’s always a follow-up to the courses that are included in the price of the course. So for questions, and I look at your alignment and I’m, I’m really accessible, ideally. Yes. Working with working with the teacher helps, but as you experience you, you can have, you can have a pretty good experience through the video because everything’s kind of like broken down and in small, easy, manageable sections.

Christine Okezie (38m 54s):
Yeah. That was the best part. Cause sometimes, you know, we all, you know, I’ve had this perception of, oh my goodness. It looks like such, you know, you always get the classic, you see all these people doing chigong in the park. You don’t, you’ve seen them a lot of stock photography there.

Sifu Rubia (39m 7s):
I’m one of those people.

Christine Okezie (39m 9s):
Exactly, exactly. But they all look like they know what they’re doing, you know, it’s, they’re like, you know, it’s this choreography and it’s just flowing like this beautiful dance, but I love the way that you remind us that it’s actually broken down into really bite sized pieces and

Sifu Rubia (39m 26s):
You know, people, you see, they didn’t just, it just start

Christine Okezie (39m 29s):
There. Right? Yeah. You don’t, you don’t show up at a class and everyone’s doing like 20 things. Right. Okay. Yeah. So it was in my old dance school days. I was, I was in ballet for a long time. I was fine. I was very intimidated by, oh my God, that sequence is so hard.

Sifu Rubia (39m 47s):
So be patient with yourself. We’re so hard on ourselves. You know, that that’s another gift of this practice. It it’s, it allowed me to be more compassionate, you know, when we heal ourselves, when we really take the time and intention to, to create healing for our bodies, for our mind, for our souls. And that extends outward that, you know, in our small little environment and that’s where the overall collective healing happens is like little pockets of healing, healing, and compassion. You can be more compassionate when you’ve gone through, through the gauntlet yourself.

Christine Okezie (40m 24s):
Yeah. Yeah. And, and actually, you know, you, again, a lot of this coming from, I mean, many different wisdom traditions, but here a lot of the elements of the depth of Daoism in this, right. Which is, you know, microcosm, macrocosm, and, and, you know, so we may think that we’re just working on ourselves and working through our trauma and working with, you know, our unmanaged, you know, kind of wounding and whatnot. But in doing that, that’s actually a gift to the collective. That’s a gift to the world around us. And I think that perspective is something, again, that is very empowering.

Sifu Rubia (41m 1s):
It’s our responsibility. It’s our responsibility to heal, especially I don’t have children, so I don’t come from that, that angle. But when you do have children, it’s definitely your responsibility to heal yourself so you can move the generation forward and in a good way. And I’m very hopeful. I there’s, a lot of, there is a lot of going on. There’s a lot of darkness going on, but I feel that there are a lot of light workers coming up to, to the four and, and taking a stand and sharing the, sharing, the work, sharing the, the technologies opening people’s, you know, consciousness, awareness, and yeah, I’m, I’m hopeful.

Christine Okezie (41m 46s):
Thank you for sharing that. No, it’s, it’s exactly. I think we’re living in that a very amazing time where that is actually an acceleration that unprecedented or people are, you know, I mean, thanks. You know, this is the good of podcasts like this of online classes of, you know, the webinars and platforms is that it’s catching like wildfire and people are open

Sifu Rubia (42m 8s):
The receiving we’re as a collective it’s it’s happening, but the dark is always going to exist.

Christine Okezie (42m 17s):
How would we not? How would we be know light if the dark didn’t exist? Right. So in this body, the pole, the duality will continue to be. So what is your definition of health and healing, knowing what, you know, knowing what you’ve gone through in your own personal journey?

Sifu Rubia (42m 36s):
Great questions, Christine. I think a lot of people underestimate the power of creativity as a healing mechanism. And I also know that a lot of people don’t give themselves permission to take the time to be creative because they either think that it won’t be perfect or it just, they don’t have time or whatever it is. I think that’s the best starting point for healing is really diving into some kind of creative, artistic process and allow it to, to open something else in you.

Sifu Rubia (43m 17s):
Yeah. There’s a lot of power and there’s a lot of healing power in, in the arts and yeah. Discover something artistic and you’ll heal. There’s a lot of healing there. My mechanism was through movement like this, but a lot of people, it can be anything, anything else.

Christine Okezie (43m 38s):
Right. Well, I, you know, and I guess what you mean is in contrast to the doing self, right? The thinking doing, do you sing, you know, kind of gears that really, we get stuck in that and the creativity, meaning it’s funny because you know, when I work with folks, we always end up there at some point in, in our, in our journey together it’s, well, what lights you up? You know, you know, what did you give up? Because you thought it wasn’t practical, you know? And how might you be able to invite that back into your life? Because that is such a portal for healing.

Sifu Rubia (44m 14s):
Exactly. And it shifts your, your energy field. Again, coming back to, I’m talking about more specifically energy work and then kind of elevating that. But when you shift your, your energy field, your other things, you get, you open up to other, other possibilities and, and for other things to, into you without even not even manifesting, just allowing something new to flow in, because you’ve opened, you’ve opened the doors to something else within yourself with,

Christine Okezie (44m 46s):
Right. Right. I love that. Thank you so much. What is the number one thing that you hope, you know, our listeners will take away from learning about chigong

Sifu Rubia (44m 57s):
To, to try it. Even if you do it once you’ll something will, you’ll take something away and, and then maybe there’s something else that gets ignited that will take you in a different direction. Or maybe it’s a practice that you want to continue and evolve, but to, you know, take a minute to, to try it. Movement is so important in you, in your healing journey and your mental health, your physical health. Oh my goodness. Yes. It’s so important. So get a little bit of movement

Christine Okezie (45m 31s):
And where can we find you so we can get a taste of what you’re offering these days.

Sifu Rubia (45m 35s):
So the courses reside on, you can go to Tai-Chi wellness.online. So T a I C H I wellness.online, and then you can go directly. There are courses there, I’m still building new courses. So once you’re signed up as a student, then you’ll get, you’ll get notices of that. And then for your audience today, for everybody listening, there’s, there’s a short sequence, a short chigong sequence for grounding. And it has the tapping as well. I don’t know if you look wonderful. Yeah. So, which is beautiful if you just do the tapping, honestly,

Christine Okezie (46m 17s):
The gift, this is wonderful. Again, I love how these modalities can compliment each other, right? Yeah.

Sifu Rubia (46m 23s):
So they can go to the site. And then if they use the VIP code, Soul QI, S O U L Q I, they can have a hundred percent access to that little chorus.

Christine Okezie (46m 37s):
Sure. Okay. I will definitely put all of that in the show notes. And this has been amazing. So thank you so much. Rubia for being the light in the world that you are, and

Sifu Rubia (46m 48s):
Yeah. As are you as are, your, your work is just as important because you’re allowing me to share mine. So yeah, we’re all in it together. So thank you for the opportunity, your a beautiful soul. And you guys can’t see her smile. She has a beautiful smile, light up the room, really beautiful.

Christine Okezie (47m 7s):
So thank you.

Sifu Rubia (47m 9s):
Bye bye everyone.