In for a qi test

My friend professor Pan suggested I’d make an appointment with him to have my 氣, my qi, tested. “What is that?,” I asked. Well Wikipedia defines it as

a part of every living thing that exists, as a kind of “life force” or “spiritual energy”. It is frequently translated as “energy flow”, or literally as “air” or “breath”.

“Watch,” said professor Pan, “I’ll show you.” Then he started moving his hands back and forth in front of me, as though he was playing an invisible accordion. “Put your hands in the space between mine.” And much to my surprise my fingers started involuntarily moving apart. “See,” he said, “that’s qi.”

The examination itself consisted of him moving his open hands around, but not touching any part of, my body. He stopped occasionally and muttered something to himself. “OK,” he said after a few minutes, “the examination is over.” “You have problems with your kidneys and you don’t sleep very well. You need to go to bed earlier.”

Pretty amazing, I thought. A recent check-up with a regular doctor just revealed a potential risk of kidney stones, and no I don’t sleep as much as I should. A strange coincidence, no doubt.

Professor Pan says you can recharge your 氣 through meditation. You can pick it up straight from the energy coming down to us from cosmos. OK, it’s hogwash but pretty cool nonetheless.