“You have great joy in the knowledge that you can heal yourself.”

Holding the posture The Dragon Stands Between Heaven and Earth, my heart suddenly lifted, pounded in my chest. Grand Master Lu’s voice flowed around me. Great joy. Knowledge. Heal yourself.

As a Dragon’s Way student, I’d dropped pounds and pant sizes. I stopped taking meds for moods, changed jobs, and quite remarkably, was breathing through my nose rather than my mouth.

All of this went against my beliefs. It all went against my doctors’ and friends’ beliefs. I attributed everything to a weird set of coincidences. I lacked understanding about Qi and Traditional Chinese Medicine and still the changes came. Maybe this was inner healing, but I believed it was at its limit.

But then this new awareness–this joy–started to be more and more present. I suddenly wanted to rip off the long-held beliefs that no longer fit me–just like those old big pants.

I applied for The Dragons’ Way Instructor course to ensure that I would not let my mind talk me out of taking my seat in this new classroom. My curiosity perked up: What was going on?

The Instructor course pushed me to give quality time to study and practice. I could not waste the exceptional opportunity to be guided by a living Qigong Grand Master, Nan Lu. The teachers of this course are, like our favorite Kung Fu Panda, working so hard to help me be more like me–not more like them.

What happens to our beliefs when we are free from trying to fulfill others’ expectations and free from self-discrimination? Because of this course, I learned that I have to fulfill my purpose by myself, but I am not alone. I am a certified instructor, but still the student. I continue to peel back new layers of meaning to the great joy I have in knowing that I can heal myself. And in the classroom, I can hold this gift out to each student, and believe: Your search for a healing gateway has brought you to infinite possibilities that are right here, right now.

-Jenny Merdinger