Qi Bubbles

After I had completed all the course and clinic work for my Medical Qigong Practitioner’s certificate, I would sometimes help my teacher, Professor Francesca Ferrari with classes. One weekend I was assisting with a beginner’s class that was being taught at the Five Branches campus in Santa Cruz. The class was held in a large room that was usually divided into two classrooms and had a very high ceiling.

Part of the class was devoted to experiencing Qi; learning what it felt like and developing sensitivity to it. I remember when I went through the class, I was sure that I would not be able to feel anything. But I did, and once you experience it and learn what Qi feels like, it is very easy to recognize it.

The day went very smoothly with the students doing various exercises involving the emitting and sensing of Qi. During one of the exercises, I noticed one of the students taking pictures. At the end of the day, as the students began to clear out, I asked if I could see the pictures. To my surprise, I saw what looked like milky white bubbles of various sizes floating about the room. They were in every picture.  Nobody had been blowing soap bubbles during class so I thought perhaps the bubbles were caused by a dirty lens or flair of light. When I looked closer I noticed that the bubbles appeared in different places in each picture, even though the photographer hadn’t moved and the lighting hadn’t changed. I also noticed that there were fewer bubbles when the students were standing around listening to instruction and more when they were actively practicing.

I was very intrigued. Everyone had already left so it was too late to take anymore pictures, but I asked the student to try to stand where she had been standing before and take a picture of the empty room. I was not surprised when this photo showed only an empty room, no bubbles in sight. Same photographer, same lighting; no bubbles. Something had been happening when the students were practicing and I honestly believe we were able to photograph bubbles of Qi that day.

The clincher came some months later. Francesca had taught a Medical Qigong class in England and had taken a picture with the group at the end of the day. There, in a picture taken by a different person, with a different camera, thousands of miles away and months apart, was a very prominent Qi bubble!

Did we photograph Qi that day? I don’t know. I’d like to think so. I haven’t attempted any further  photographic experiments however because ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Qi exists whether you can photograph it or not. Still, it’s kind of fun to have some “proof” that Qi is all around us. I’ve included some photos with this entry so that you can make up your own mind.

Qi bubbles photographed during Qigong class:

The same classroom photographed by the same camera a few minutes after the end of Qigong class:

Professor Francesca Ferrari (center in gold) with Qigong seminar participants months later, photographed in the United Kingdom: