Transcript for Writing Your Resilience Podcast Episode 74

Unlock Creative Flow with Qigong: Somatic Practices for Writers with Jay DeMaio

Have you ever felt like your creativity is blocked—but you know the problem isn’t your ideas, your schedule, or even your writing practice? What if your nervous system holds the key to unlocking the stories inside you?

In this episode, I’m joined by Jay DeMaio, a trauma-aware Internal Martial Arts teacher based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jay holds a five-year certification in Qigong, Qi Healing, and Internal Alchemy Meditation and has spent over 15 years studying directly with Daoist masters from the Dragon Gate and Mt. EMei Lineage Schools.

Together, we explore how Qigong—a gentle, meditative movement practice—can enhance creativity, help regulate your nervous system, and bring your body into deeper harmony so your writing can flow more freely. We also dig into my struggles with rest and boredom when doing things I know are good for me. Because Jay generously shares a practice you can use to connect to deeper levels of your creative energy, this is a great one to watch on YouTube, but you can also listen along. Either way, grab your pen, open your heart, and discover why slowing down might be the medicine your writing life truly needs.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [0:00]
Welcome, Jay. I am so excited to have you on the podcast. It is so great to see you today.

Jay DeMaio [0:15]

Hi, thanks. Yeah, thanks for having me.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [0:17]

Well, I'm really excited because we are going to talk about Qigong and how this practice can enhance your creativity. And I'm a big proponent of this because, you know, there is the practice that we have when we're writing. So, listeners, you may be thinking, okay, well, writing is about what we do on the page, but there is so much we need to do with our energy, with our minds, with our nervous systems, that supports our creativity. And Jay is going to help us do that today.

So, Jay, here's where I'd like to start. Can you tell us what Qi is—also, what Qigong is?

Jay DeMaio [0:45]
So I don't know if we have a week to talk about that to start, but what I’d like to say before even getting to Qi is that I have so much gratitude for being on the podcast. Thank you for having me.

Also, I want to say that before we get to the conversation about Qi, we should go into the resources of Qi—meaning the origin of where we find calmness and energetic vitality in our life. And I'd like to name mine to start: one being nature itself, and just the immersion that we have an opportunity to be in every day—I'm so grateful for that.

I’m also grateful for friends and family. I can name as resources for myself my beautiful children, Ailani, who’s two, and Kiara, who’s ten, and my wife, Sophia, who supports this work and allows me to have time to do podcasts and be with you and talk about Qi.

From that level, we create a foundation of resources from which the Qi originates. And I don’t want to define Qi as one thing or another—there are thousands of ways to define it—but generally, I want to say it takes a strong foundation, a building of that foundation, to even access Qi. That’s the part of Qigong and Qi that is important: to have a safe, calm foundation to begin.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [2:21]
And what I love is that just the way you’re speaking about this is slowing me down and getting me in the moment and allowing me to be grateful for all of the people who support my practice—my husband, my cats who serve as my spirit guides at different times, the beautiful nature, the mountains that I see outside my window.

Yeah, there’s so much we can bring into this practice. And as we have this conversation about Qi and Qigong, I’m going to slow myself down a little further, because I usually ask people this question at the beginning, and we’re going to backtrack to it—which is: what would you like us to know about you and your practices?

Jay DeMaio [3:09]
Well, for one, I’d like you and your listeners to know that I’m an ordinary human being who goes through struggles and goes through joy, and I’m learning every day a little bit more and more about how to titrate, how to pendulate from these states in a more balanced way.

I think for me, part of Qigong and what that’s done is it’s really helped me learn to go from one extreme state—whether joy or suffering—and come back to the center with more ease.

So yeah, just going back to the gratitude of being able to access the Qi, having methods that allow us as Qigong practitioners to transform internally with more ease and fluidity—not just in the nervous system, but our whole being.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [4:05]
You have been practicing this for 15 years now. Is that correct?

Jay DeMaio [4:10]
I would say professionally. But before that, I explored yoga in my early twenties and explored some Qigong forms, but I really didn’t get serious until about 2007 or so.

I had read in a lot of yoga texts, keep calling on the teacher and they will appear in your life. That’s what I was doing—looking for a Qigong teacher. And of course, my teacher was right around the corner in an office building I was working in. Not surprisingly, I found them there.

Then I started to really dig deep into the practices and realized this was something I could truly serve clients with—if I continued. And that’s what I’ve been doing.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [4:56]
How has this transformed your life—and the way you work with other people?

Jay DeMaio [5:02]
Well, I would say, generally speaking, the ability I have now—of course, I’m comparing myself to my twenties and younger self—is the ability to transform a state, a frequency, a vibration, an emotion.

To have some kind of agency over transforming those states on a daily basis is really what it’s done for my life.

And I think when we do that, especially as parents, we emanate that transformation outward. So if I’m in a state where I’m anxious—say, needing to get the kids to school—and I take five minutes to resource myself with Qi, and then come back into that same situation, my kids are calmer. Ideally, everything becomes more fluid and harmonious—just getting the kids to school or whatever else I'm doing.

Everything from those little things to—well, I know we talked about this before the show—applying Qigong to cancer. I was diagnosed in 2014 with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and I worked with a Qigong master to apply Qigong methods to help transform the cancer.

It’s now 2025, and while I’m not clear on what the definition of “cured” is, I’m still here.

So yeah, I’ve applied it in many ways. But it’s the daily practice where I see the most results. When I take time in the mornings to give myself that resource, to harmonize inside, the day unfolds more harmoniously as well.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [6:56]
Yeah. And I love how you’re talking about this concept of harmony—harmonizing our energy inside us.

And I would say, because I have the privilege of knowing you in person—you know, so many people I only know online because of my job—but I get to know you in person.

And I would say that you are not just here, but vitally here. You have this vitality about you, in addition to this incredible peace that I have had the privilege of experiencing.

Jay DeMaio [7:29]
It's interesting that you're using the word harmony—whatever we perceive harmony to be—because, probably not coincidentally, if we break the word down, half the word is harm, and the whole word is harmony.

That word, in Chinese characters, is also related to wind. What is the relationship of wind to our body? That’s the relationship to the lungs.

So, the lungs have the potential to create harmony—but they also have the potential, like wind, to become disharmonious and create harm in our bodies through how we breathe. Not that we’re doing it intentionally, but when we’re not breathing in a way that helps us stay calm, we experience harm.

The lungs are also our connection to the exterior world. The lungs come up through and out the mouth—it’s the only internal organ connected directly to the outside world. This gives us the ability to breathe in and breathe out, to connect, and to separate when we need to.

In that way, Qigong creates a more harmonious state through the breath. That’s how the Qi flows—with the breath. I don’t want to define Qi as the breath itself or as air, but it flows and moves with the air, with the lungs. And ideally, that state creates harmony.

One of the characters for Qigong is made up of symbols representing grass over harmony, and then over joy.

So, what does this mean? Well, the first part—grass—represents a strong life energy or life force. Think of grass or weeds: if you pull them out, they grow back quickly. That’s strong life energy.

The middle part—harmony—is exactly what I was talking about with the lungs and the vibrations that occur between two separate qualities. The lungs expand and contract, and they harmonize our body’s energy.

And the bottom character—joy—is the spirit. So where do we find joy? We find joy when we feel harmony inside our body.

In Qigong, we’re always working with these three levels. The life force is called the jing, the harmony is the qi, and the joy is the shen—or sometimes pronounced shin.

From a Qigong medicine perspective, we’re always working with these three treasures together. Ideally, we cultivate a state that sustains all three:

·       The grass or jing—a strong physical life energy.

·       The harmony or qi—a good balance, able to fluctuate between heaven and earth, or in and out of states of consciousness or awareness with ease and fluidity.

·       The joy or shen—a spirit that stays generally joyful, sustained by the foundations of life energy and harmony.

These are referred to as the three treasures in Qigong. And they’re part of Chinese medicine as well. These medicines are cultivated within us. We transform the Qi inside so it works through harmony, joy, and essence.

That’s a quick overview of how medical Qigong works.

The issue is, a lot of times, people don’t have the method. They need a method. And we’ll do a five-minute practice later in this podcast so you can access a simple one.

But once you have the method, you have access to the deeper medicine and how to use it. That’s generally what I’m teaching in classes—encouraging people to become aware that their medicine is available inside them and around them.

It’s the best and most abundant medicine.

And there’s no need to go out looking for external medicine. We have—well, I’ll estimate here—80 to 100 percent of people believing they need a pharmaceutical, some herbs, or something from outside the body to solve something inside the body.

But there is access to the life force, the harmony, and the joy if we have the method to transform it.

When we bring those medicines into the body and know how to use them, then that becomes powerful medicine. In Qigong, we call it the most powerful medicine we have—and it’s already available.

And it’s free.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [12:53]
And free is always good, right?

Jay DeMaio [12:57]
That’s really been what I’ve been focusing on in my classes and workshops—empowering people to be aware that there is this much potency in the medicine of Qigong.

Once you have access to that and agency to use a medicine like this in a way that supports you, there’s so much more that can unfold.

We’ll get into creativity more in a minute, but that’s where it begins to emerge.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [13:23]
Yeah, and what that’s getting me to think about is—I'm so glad you started with the lungs, because the lungs are very important to me.

I grew up as a severe asthmatic—almost died several times from having severe asthma attacks—and I have an interesting relationship with my lungs.

What I’d say, as a person who has experienced significant trauma and someone who works with people who’ve experienced significant trauma, is that when we’re in a dysregulated state, one of the first things that tends to happen is we stop breathing—or we start breathing really shallowly. So, our relationship with our lungs becomes even more dysregulated.

I love that part of harmonizing is working with the breath. What I’ve found personally—whether it’s through Qigong or another practice—is that the more I can expand my breath, the more I can… I don’t know if regulate is the right word. I think expand is probably better.

When I expand my breath and make it easeful, I become more creative.

I see this with my clients too. They don’t have to be talking about anything related to trauma—just the stress of “Oh my gosh, I want to create” is enough.

And I’ll notice their bodies start to shrink in. I see their breath become shallower—it’s right up in the chest—and they’re not really getting any air.

Because there can be something about that scarcity thinking, or that scarcity experience, that shrinks our energy, right?

Jay DeMaio [15:09]
Yeah. So, with any fear contraction—the somatic movement of fear—I can stand up, you know, and it's a closing in. That’s caving in on the organ system.

Fear—and unresolved grief. In the Chinese system, you’ve probably read that the lungs can carry and hold a lot of grief.

So, the practice of slowly expanding is key.

In Qigong, there are times when we use a breath cue, but a lot of times, the movement itself naturally expands and opens the tissues, the spaces, and the fluids.

Generally, in Qigong, we allow the breath to naturally expand on its own until you feel comfortable adding a little more to it.

Because the movements alone—if we’re doing a movement in Qigong, for example, just opening up—are already doing so much. We don’t want to overwhelm the system.

That’s why starting with a very simple, slow movement that begins close to the body, and then opening up little by little, is how we train ourselves to build resilience in the lung system and in the breath.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [16:27]
Yeah, I love that. It’s all about going slow, being slow, progressing slowly, having patience—something I was definitely brought into this incarnation to learn, right?

Right? Me as a triple fire sign—an Aries—it’s like, wow, I can be like, yes, go fast!

But I’ve had to learn the patience piece. And all the practices I’ve experienced through your teaching have helped me learn that, so I’m really grateful.

And I wonder—so far, we’ve talked more theoretically about these concepts—but I think when we get concrete with activities, it really brings things home for people.

So, could we go ahead and do this exercise, and then we’ll continue the conversation?

Jay DeMaio [17:19]
Yeah. So, I should preface this a little bit. Before we start, I want to say that Qigong cultivation can be broken down into three levels—at least for the purpose of this podcast.

The first level is letting go and releasing. Sometimes you’ll see people jiggling—that’s a kind of letting go. We’ll do a little of that today.

That’s the level where we take in Qi and focus on release. Once we do that, we’ve cleared the container, if you will, and we create space to resource the container.

That second level is often called Qi building or Qi resourcing.

It’s a good state to enter once you’ve done some of the emotional work—on trauma imprints, for instance. Not that it’s only for after trauma work—but once I did enough releasing, I began to feel the Qi circulate much more potently in my system.

So, we need to build Qi, sustain Qi, and do it daily. These practices are foundational, but also potent. They can be as short as five-minute practices, which we’ll do today.

The third level comes after we’ve built the Qi—now we have the medicine in the container.

That’s when we begin to prescribe it to ourselves.

We’ve got the medicine—now we use a method to apply it to the body part, the organ. That’s how Qigong prescriptions work.

It’s similar to pharmaceuticals. They mix the medicine. Herbalists do the same. And then you’re told to take it. In Qigong, you drink the Qi—down into different parts of your body.

Same concept. That’s the level of Qi circulation.

But for today, we’ll just do a simple way to resource and build our Qi in the Dantian.

I should say, the Dantian—without defining it too precisely—is below the navel, but it doesn’t have a fixed location.

Dantian literally means “elixir field.” Sometimes we call it the cauldron, the medicine pot, or the sea of Qi. It’s where mind and body merge.

In embryology, it’s considered the first place where sperm and egg meet.

We want to build this container, because it’s the center of oneness. If we have some resource there, then we can circulate the Qi.

So how do we build the Dantian?

If you’re sitting—let me move the camera so you can see—I'm sitting on a chair. It’s really important that your knees aren’t above your waist.

You want your toes to have a little “baby grip”—just touching, connecting with the earth.

You can think of it like this: there’s a tripod. Sitting in a chair, your toes are connected, your sit bones are connected—that’s your tripod. That gives you stability and connection to the earth.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [21:10]
And I’d say for people who are really concrete or visual—I’ve found that if you’re thinking, okay, where is this Dantian point? Can I have a little focus point?

I often find that about two finger-widths below your belly button is a good starting point for where to imagine the Dantian.

Jay DeMaio [21:37]
It is. It’s approximately there.

We can talk about the Dantian all day, but it’s not nearly as efficient, in my view, as somatically finding it in yourself—or at least finding a close point to it.

And this is how we’ll do that.

We’re just going to rock gently, side to side.

Now that we’re in movement and the body is beginning to shift, we’re adjusting harmony in the body through vibration—this new frequency.

So, everyone out there doing this exercise, just take your time. Feel into what feels good.

Maybe rocking wants to be a little wider or a little faster. Maybe it feels safer and more grounding to go really slow—barely moving side to side.

Jay DeMaio [22:42]
And bring your attention just below your navel—deeper than skin level—really inside, above your sit bones, deep in your body.

Jay DeMaio [23:02]
You may feel some vertebrae cracking—that’s perfectly normal. That’s energy opening up, space creating more room.

You might start to feel more awareness in that area.

Now that we’ve done side to side, we’re going to go front to back.

Just explore rocking front to back.

You’ll notice that the cross—meaning the side-to-side and front-to-back motions—has a center point.

And just notice if you can feel that center point in your body. That center point is, ideally, around—if not exactly—your Dantian.

Jay DeMaio [24:09]
Yeah, and we’ll slowly come to a stop and just notice what it feels like in your body now that you’ve connected with your Dantian—this cauldron or this sacred medicine pot.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [24:24]
And I noticed for myself that there was this point where my muscles were contracting—as we were doing that, it helped me find that point of Dantian inside myself.

I also noticed almost a coolness in that area—or at least a different sensation in the energy—based on the movements we’ve done so far.

Jay DeMaio [24:50]
Great. So, I can comment on coolness—for the viewers who experience coolness or heat in the practices.

When there’s energy that has a more extreme quality—like heat or cold—and we use movement, vibration, or breath, it’s like when a dam or rock is removed from a creek. The water starts gushing through, and suddenly the creek is harmonized—it’s no longer impeded or stagnant.

When that happens in the body—where there was cold and now heat comes in—it re-harmonizes that area. Or vice versa.

So that’s what that phenomenon is: our body moving us toward harmony by counteracting an imbalance—whether hot or cold—with the opposite.

That’s something you can experience in Qigong quite a bit, especially in places where there have been injuries, pain, trauma, or imprints.

Just notice that.

Now that we’ve found where the Dantian is, we’re able to begin filling it up with Qi. So, we’ll do a simple practice for that.

There are a few ways we can do this. One way is to leave your hands by your sides—I’m letting mine hang naturally.

Or you can place your hands over top of each other on your Dantian. I’ll show you—just cross and hold them there. Either way is fine, whatever feels comfortable.

Then we’re going to seal what we call the lower bridge. To do this, press your lower belly back and feel what that does.

This is going to lift the perineum—the tissue between your legs. Feel that lift.

Sucking in the lower belly will naturally lift it up. That keeps the “pot” sealed so we’re not leaking energy out.

After sealing, explore softening the belly a little while maintaining that seal.

So first, suck in the lower belly. Then soften slightly but keep the seal intact.

And we don’t want to be slumped over, right? We want to sit upright, spine straight.

Then place your tongue behind your upper teeth—just gently resting behind the upper tooth ridge. No pressure. That connects the upper bridge.

Now we’ve created a seal at both ends so the energy stays inside. We can now begin to fill.

Jay DeMaio [27:47]
To add more space in the spine, imagine all the hairs on your head lifting upward and outward, connecting to the stars.

Imagine your crown opening like a flower—lifting up, creating spaciousness in the vertebrae—so the Qi can come down and move through an enlightened spine.

On your next inhale, imagine Qi like sunlight surrounding you and entering your body from every direction—through all the pores of your skin.

As you exhale, imagine it condensing and gathering into your Dantian—your lower belly.

Jay DeMaio [28:57]
Allow your breath to find its own natural depth.

Nothing to change. Nothing to fix.

Just simply be with whatever breath arises.

Jay DeMaio [29:57]
And maintain attention on your Dantian with each breath.

If a thought arises, simply let it pass—like a shooting star—and come back to your Dantian.

Jay DeMaio [30:27]
If your eyes were closed, you can slowly open them and orient yourself to the space.

Just notice—what feels the same, and what feels different?

Jay DeMaio [30:46]
Yeah. So, Qi resourcing—this kind of practice—is something I use in the mornings a lot.

If I have five minutes, it’s accessible at any time.

And of course, after a practice like this, if you’re busy and on the move, the Qi will naturally circulate.

You don’t have to do a full Qigong form after this—though in formal practice, that’s what we would do.

But in everyday life, you can use this to resource yourself, so you have more energy for your day.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [31:17]
I love this—because so many of us have been conditioned, especially in capitalist society, to just get up and start our to-do lists before we’ve even gotten out of bed.

And these preparatory practices ensure, first, that we’re starting from a place of being harmonized.

And second, that we actually have the energy to do what the day requires—from a place of peace and ease.

Jay DeMaio [31:49]
Absolutely.

And another thing—it’s a lot cheaper than going out to get your morning coffee.

And honestly, I’d say it packs more of a punch than coffee once you learn the routine and implement it.

So yeah—save money and avoid the effects of daily coffee on the nervous system.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [32:11]
I’m going to admit that I do love a very good cup of coffee.

Jay DeMaio [32:16]
I do too, Lisa. I do too. It’s okay.

But yeah—it does have a big impact. This practice really affects the amount of energy you can carry into your morning—just like coffee, but in a different way.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [32:27]
So writers, if you’re thinking, okay, what’s a practice I could do to expand my creative energy?

This might be a great way to start your writing practice.

Absolutely.

Jay DeMaio [32:38]
And I want to comment too, Lisa—I know we talked about this—about how you can somatically write.

Here’s the finger—we use a finger like this, as if we’re having energy come through our fingers to write.

We do movements and draw energetically with our bodies. Some of the symbols we use—like a dragon symbol or others—we use them as a way to resource, to take in and connect with certain energies, and to call in more creativity.

So, in somatic Qigong practices, we move from the Dantian and visualize drawing symbols.

That can be something you do after a resourcing practice—then transition right into your writing.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [33:35]
I love that.

I'm going to ask you a question, and I’m really trying to attend to the people who are avid listeners—who are also trauma survivors.

I’m always curious about my own experience when I’m doing something and emotions come up. I believe those emotions are just information—and important information at that.

What I’ve found for myself sometimes—and this is nothing against you, Jay, just to be clear. This isn’t about your style or how you teach, because you’re a great teacher. I wouldn’t have you on the podcast otherwise.

But sometimes, in these early practices—especially the releasing practices—I’ll find that if they go on for what my nervous system perceives as too long, I experience a sense of, I’m bored. This is boring. Can we hurry up and get to the next thing?

And again, I just find that really interesting. Because I think it's telling me something about my nervous system—or perhaps how the energy is moving.

I'm curious to know your insight.

Jay DeMaio [34:42]
The Earth is 70% water. Our bodies are 70% water. So, the root of the medicine is kind of water-like. That’s the foundation.

Sometimes when we feel boredom, it can actually be a sign—and not to say anything against your practices—but a sign that we can go a little deeper.

We can explore that boredom and see how much more foundation we can access.

Because the more the foundation is set—if the water is calm, if the Earth is calm—the same will be true in our body.

And from that place can sprout new life energy—strong life energy.

So, from a Qigong perspective, staying in that “boring” place of meditation or standing practice, just breathing and expanding the body—but not doing much at all—is actually laying a huge foundation for creativity.

You mentioned the fallow part. Yes—we have to go into that dormant, very slow state to allow life energy to sprout.

Of course, it’s fun to do awesome moving Dragon Qigong or Tiger Tai Chi forms. But we have to let go of the attachment to the excitement of those practices.

We must enter the dormancy to rebuild.

That’s what we’re doing with the Dantian. And in Qi resourcing, we keep refilling that reservoir so we can come back again and again with enthusiasm, life energy, and creativity.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [36:31]
So I’m going to do a little interpreting based on my own experience, which—you can tell me if I’m on point or not.

And just so listeners know, when it comes to these things, I’m an open book.

My listeners know I talk about this stuff.

So, when I think about my own experience—and the slowness you’re talking about—the challenge point for me personally is rest.

I’ll say that right up front. Slowness and rest are hard for me.

And there are a wide variety of reasons why, which we won’t go into today. But I think that when I find myself experiencing boredom—like, “I’m bored with this, can we move on?”—my nervous system has hit a sticky point.

There’s discomfort with rest, with slowness.

And it’s important, as you said, to notice that and ask, Can I do a little more? Can I expand my tolerance for this experience?

Because in my case—where I totally suck at rest—I’ll just say, I do struggle.

You talk about napping, and I’m like, No. Not a nap! It really is that challenging for me.

But it’s also what I need.

Sometimes the things we resist are the very medicines we need most.

Jay DeMaio [37:55]
Absolutely.

And you know, the practices actually emphasize that. They bring it out.

They show that to us.

Traditionally—in the old Chinese way—a teacher would have a sort of “test,” and you’d stand there in meditation.

And I always felt that was kind of an old-fashioned way of doing things. Of course, it doesn’t translate well to the kinds of conversations we’re having on this podcast.

But now, with all the new science on how to repair the nervous system, we know we can build resilience differently.

So, the important part is to look for the resources—and be honest with yourself, as you are—and say, what resources do I have to slow down?

There are simple things—like yawning—that can help us slow down. Or rocking.

If your Qi is ascended or in a high state, you can rock gently to bring it down—or even jiggle.

Jiggling can bring the Qi down.

Any vibration—any shift in body frequency—has the potential to bring energy down or up, depending on how we apply it.

So, it’s about: How are we using the medicine of vibration?

You go to an ecstatic dance—music is playing—and most of the time, the Qi ascends.

But if you’re in a quiet, safe space, you can choose. Do I need my Qi to descend or ascend right now?

How do I want to use vibration as medicine?

That’s really helpful when it comes to rest.

If you’re in that state and you can’t just lie down and rest, use vibration—use humming—to slowly transition from one state to another.

Vibration is the medium you can use to change states.

A lot of people who’ve experienced trauma didn’t have a medium to go from point A to point B.

There was no way to discharge.

When trauma happens, we should be able to run, to flee, or to shake it off—as soon as possible.

But if we don’t have that opportunity, the energy stays inside the nervous system.

From a Qigong perspective, the same principle applies.

Every day, with everything happening in life, we can use vibration to transform—not just in extreme fight-or-flight moments, but during everyday events that knock us out of balance.

So, I’d say that’s the way to move toward rest: find a way to transition into it—slowly.

Use vibration as the bridge.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [40:44]
That has been one of my major practices.

And what I’d say to listeners is: if you’re doing Qigong—if you try this practice—or anything really, whether it’s meditation or writing, and you come up against emotions like “I feel uncomfortable,” or “I don’t want to do this,”

It doesn’t matter what the modality is—we often send ourselves the message: I’m doing it wrong.

Or: This doesn’t work for me.

And my invitation is: be curious about the experience.

Ask: Could this be teaching me something?

How is this your teacher, rather than something that’s not for you?

And yes, “no” is always a complete sentence. Sometimes that’s important.

But sometimes, a minor yes is important too.

Jay DeMaio [41:39]
So I can give you an example that also has a cosmological resonance with spring energy—and what you’re talking about as well.

Let’s say we’ve come across some kind of challenge. We know that challenge could serve us well, but we’re having trouble initiating the process.

It’s in the springtime when seeds start to sprout. There’s a certain amount of determination and motivation that seed needs to push through the earth—to break through, despite all the weeds fighting for space around it.

That type of vibration is like thunder. That thunderous energy we hear in the sky—we also have that resonance within us.

So, when we need to get something done, there’s no reason humans shouldn’t be grunting, moaning, or using those vibrations to add determination.

From a somatic standpoint, groaning or grunting to initiate something is a completely understandable human behavior.

Of course, in today’s society—and for decades—it hasn’t always been easy for children to have the agency to make those kinds of sounds, depending on their upbringing.

But that determination—that thunder vibration in spring—can be supported through tapping. In spring Qigong, we use tapping to wake up everything in the body that’s been dormant.

That’s another thunderous vibration.

This is how Qigong can also be used cosmologically—to resonate with the natural cycles of the seasons.

So, in spring, Qigong practices often include motivation-based movements—using sound, tapping, and vibration—to raise energy.

That helps the energy rise up.

And that’s part of what you asked about—how we resonate with energy.

Sometimes there’s a strong “no,” but other times there’s a “yes” that doesn’t quite feel like a “yes” yet—but needs to be.

So, this is how we can give ourselves the medicine to make that happen—to encourage the body to follow us in what we need.

That’s why incorporating the somatics makes everything flow more easily, instead of being met with resistance—especially when it comes to needs.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [44:19]
I love that.

And I’m curious, as we begin to wrap up—this episode is going to air just before the solstice, about a week before, actually.

So, if we think about the summer solstice approaching—and tapping being a great practice for spring—what would you recommend for writers who want to capitalize on that energy, on what they need, while also preparing for the next season?

Jay DeMaio [44:51]
So first of all, both the winter and spring equinoxes—the word equinox means equal night, or equal energy.

When we talk about spring and fall, we should remember that the equinox—according to the Gregorian calendar—is seen as the beginning, but cosmologically, it’s actually the middle of the energy of that season.

The solstices, then, are the peaks—the peak energy of fire in the summer, and the peak energy of water in the winter.

What does that mean for the body?

Well, it’s not just about temperature. Yes, temperature has some impact, but more importantly, at the solstices, the energy is peaking—and our bodies respond to that unconsciously.

That’s why, in meditation communities, we hear, “It’s winter—meditate more. Rest. Water element.” And that’s true.

But I find that in summer, things often slack off. People get excited. The energy’s strong.

Still, summer is also a time for deep slowing down. That really starts around now—right before or just after the solstice.

It’s a powerful time to recharge.

I usually suggest doing Qigong practices in the morning during summer and keeping the rest of the day slower.

Whereas in spring and fall, I can do movement all day and feel great. There’s more balanced energy then.

But at the peak of summer and peak of winter, cosmologically, it’s better to go really slow to help the body balance that extreme energy.

Of course, it also depends on other factors—like what we’re eating, the Qi we’re taking in from the outside, the people around us, and trauma imprints.

But that’s the general cosmological resonance.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [46:57]
Well, I am going to soak in this invitation to go slow, to rest, to be present as we prepare for this.

And I want to thank you so much for all the generous information you’ve shared with us.

It’s truly been a gift.

If people want to connect with you—if they have questions or want to learn more about your work, since you do offer online Qigong classes—what are the best ways to connect?

Jay DeMaio [47:28]
Yeah, so I send out invites to the Qigong classes through my website: www.jaydemaio.com.

You can email me through there, and I’ll have your email to add to my mailing list. That’s where I send out information about upcoming workshops.

If you’re interested in private lessons, bodywork, or Qigong sessions, you can sign up on the website too.

As for social media, I don’t use it much, but I do occasionally post on Instagram. My handle is @alter.native.medicine.

Lisa Cooper Ellison [48:11]
Jay’s website and Instagram handle will be in the show notes—so if you missed that, it’s just a click away.

Well, Jay, thank you again for being on the podcast.

It has been an absolute pleasure.

Jay DeMaio [48:24]
Thank you so much, Lisa, for having me. It’s been great. I really appreciate it.