04/09/2026
Yī Xīn (一心) One Heart / One Mind
Single-pointed concentration means the mind resting steadily on one object without wandering, without scattering, without being pulled away. The key word here is resting. This fundamental mental quality is known across nearly all Eastern traditions as Calm Abiding.
Scattered Mind = Scattered Qi
Distraction scatters our vitality that is why a scattered mind is an anxious, tired and miserable mind. By cultivating attention through single-pointed concentration, just as we practiced yesterday in the class, we gather both Qi and mind back together.
A gathered mind is calm, clear, resilient and free to respond from clarity rather than react from compulsion. And because the Qi begins to organise itself, the body naturally finds an abundance of vigour.
Until then, we are swept along by the storms of emotions, desires and biases. If you set aside modern new-age writings and go directly to the classical Eastern teachings, you will find they call powerful emotions “poisons” and “thieves.”
The reason is simple: when intense hormonal surges flood the limbic system, we lose access to the prefrontal cortex…our ability to perceive clearly shuts down. We become trapped in fight-or-flight, losing the cognitive capacity to think in a linear, rational way. Instead we get caught in the intensity of feelings often conflicting emotions that pull us apart from within.
By developing single-pointed concentration and Calm Abiding, we begin to step out of these highly stimulating (and highly draining) neural circuits and out of the primitive, reptilian brain.
The result? We start seeing solutions through the much calmer, clearer pathways of the prefrontal cortex where the intelligence resides. When emotions no longer poison our perception and no longer steal our vitality by dispersing it, we not only stop damaging our health but start living from a state of ease, flow and adaptability.
Cultivate Calm Abiding via single pointed concentration so that you start moving towards stillness. Only then our Qigong moves beyond the preliminary stages of stretching&strengthening the body and into the development of practical wisdom and better health ⚡️
