Water 水 and Ki 気

We explore our connection to Nature in the Japanese Yoga according to the Seasons course.
In Japanese and Chinese Traditional Medicine the transformation of seasons and elements plays an important role. That's why Dō-in yoga integrates the seasons and five elements (Gogyo 五行) in our practice. Wintertime is connected to the element of water and the Bladder and Kidney meridians.

Who better to explain the Taoist and Buddhist concepts of emptiness and water than Bruce Lee?

“Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend."

In this course, we discuss twelve important meridians, spread over twelve months. Just as rivers distribute water over the land to make it fertile, the meridians distribute Ki 気 (life force energy) throughout our body to nourish our organs and mind.

Ki 気 is translated as 'chi/qi 氣' in Chinese and 'prana प्राण' in Sanskrit. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, every living organism begins with Ki. In humans, Ki is created in the womb and forms the meridians. After this, our tissues, organs, and their functions grow. There are a total of twenty meridians, twelve of which run just below the surface of our skin and eight of which run deeper into our body.

The kanji 気 for Ki can be translated in the West as spirit, air, atmosphere, or mood. In this course, we use this character to indicate life force energy.