The Spring Forest Qigong Centre is the home of modern Qigong, offering a number of ways for you to learn all about this ancient practice. The Spring Forest Qigong Centre is one of the few online Qigong schools, and of the many techniques, exercises and meditations that they practice, one of the most popular and useful is Back into the Universe. As we shall discover, this is not a meditation as such, but it is something that can greatly improve your practice, helping you to slip into those deep meditative states.
What is Back into the Universe?
Created by Master Chunyi Lin, who founded the SFQ Centre, Back into the Universe is a piece of meditation music that was designed to help you go into a deeper state. It is not the only meditation music that you can purchase at the centre, but Back into the Universe was designed with more advanced courses in mind. You can play this and benefit from it even if you are a beginner or intermediate student, but it’s main use was to help those who want to meditate for longer, those who want to go into a deeper state.
Music is a distraction when it comes to meditation, but Back into the Universe was designed to be different. It does not stimulate and excite like commercial music does. Instead, it was designed to simulate the sounds of a natural environment, so that it feels like you are sitting out in the open, with the breeze rustling though the trees and the sun beating down on your face.
How to Use Back into the Universe
You can play the Back into the Universe music during any meditation where you are required to enter a deep, trance-like state. It works perfectly with many of the meditations taught by the Spring Forest Qigong Centre. However, you can’t play this music as you listen to other guides. That’s because all guides contain ambient music, as well as a guided narration, so by playing Back into the Universe over the top you’re just creating a wall of noise that will be more of a distraction than an aid.
Many students find that they perform these meditations better when they continue to play the guide every time they meditate, and most of that is because of the music. So, if you have already learned these meditations and the techniques they require, then you can just play Back into the Universe instead. If you want to use the Back into the Universe music and don’t have much prior knowledge of meditation, then simply play the music and then follow these guidelines:
- Sit comfortably. It doesn’t matter if you are sitting on the floor, on a chair, or if you are lying down. It is important to keep your spine straight, but besides that, it doesn’t matter how you sit.
- Press your thumbs and your forefingers together and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. You don’t need to apply a lot of pressure but you do need to remain in this state as it will open your main energy channels.
- Breathe deeply. Your breath is perhaps the most important aspect of meditation and it is very important to get this right. Focus on filling and then emptying your lungs.
- Try to avoid distractions as you listen to the music. If your mind begins to wonder, simply shelve those wayward thoughts and then focus back on your breathing.
If you would prefer a little assistance, then try one of the following SFQ guides, all of which were created with beginners in mind:
- Small Universe
- Energy Breathing
- Enhanced Energy Breathing
- Healing Our World
- Temple of Heaven
Where to Find Back into the Universe
You can purchase the Back into the Universe composition from the Spring Forest Qigong Centre website, where it is listed on their Digital Library. You can play it directly through the website immediately after purchase and you can also download it as an MP3. If you would prefer, you can arrange to have a CD of the Back into the Universe music sent to your home address. All of these options cost about the same and it’s just a matter of preference, but we personally get more use out of the MP3, as it’s easy to sync onto smartphones and tablets.
The Back into the Universe music is also played during some of the SFQ meditation retreats, which are held at the Healing Centre and at other venues throughout North America. These are not always accessible for students here in Australia, but if you can access one, then we would definitely recommend it.