“Der Frankfurter Ring” interviews Carsten Dohnke about Shengzhen Qigong
After twenty years of intensive practice in Martial Arts, Qigong and Meditation as well as four years living in Asia, Carsten Dohnke was very skeptical when a friend mentioned: “I know a Qigong that can change your life!“ That’s how it started. He met Master Li, the founder of this method, who has trained a lot of World Masters, Movie Stars and Shaolin Monks. Since then he practices and teaches this style with great passion.

What are the goals of Shengzhen Qigong?
Self-healing and vitality, removing stress and negative emotions as well as opening up the heart. As a consequence spiritual development.

What is so special about Shengzhen Qigong?
Shengzhen can be seen as spiritual Qigong, because the main focus lies on the development of a spiritual attitude of love and compassion, as well as a deep understanding of what life in essence is all about. The special thing is that this inner process is activated by the movements of these forms. The esthetic forms strengthen the whole body and develop a whole lot of Qi. At the same time these movements possess a soul quality: they bring the practitioner in a position of wholeness and naturalness. Some forms require more the inner peace and resignation, others improve qualities of strength and willpower or they bring us back to the playful joy of a child.

What health improvements can we observe?
The exercises improve the function of all organs, the breath and especially the immune system. The healing unfolds even at a cellular level. Some forms can also be done sitting down. Many of the course attendants who include a range of people from those who are sick to Taiji-teachers, report that they have never before felt so fresh and free.

Why this Qigong is also very popular among young people?
Young people and mainly men often have an excess of Yang energy or inner dynamic. They really want to get back into their power and to relax at the same time. The advantage of this method is that a lot of the movements can be done dynamically, like a real Workout, in which the most diverse muscle groups and the cardiovascular system are trained.

What is the function of the Meditations?
The meditations and the movements supplement each other mutually. However, the Qi in the meditations is more subtle, which opens the possibility for the heart to really unfold. You can dive in a position of limitless space, filled with peace, love, stillness and just a presence of being.

Is it important to master all Shengzhen forms to reach a deep effect?
At the start it suffices to practice just one form and meditation. Each form has about 10-12 movements, which are repeated more than once, and takes as long as 10 to 20 minutes. This is very realistic for every day use.

Does it require a lot of space and is a long warm-up necessary to practice the movements?
No, you don’t have to rebuild your living room, and a warm-up program isn’t necessary either. Two by two square meter suffices to do a complete practice!

Where do you see the main problem for most people who are searching?
Most people are going too much in circles. Because opening the heart is the main focus in Shengzen it will immediately carry the practitioner beyond himself. It is like a wave, which gradually recognizes that it is a part of the ocean. In Shengzhen it is called “The Notion of your True Nature”. If you have experienced this state once – even at a very rudimentary level– an inner upheaval towards freedom combined with a deeper trust in life will be initiated.