
Vanessa Lukes is a dedicated Qigong teacher and Qi therapist whose journey into healing began with a life-altering diagnosis of bowel cancer at the age of 30. Her quest for recovery led her to discover the ancient practice of Qigong, which transformed not only her physical health but also her emotional and spiritual well-being.
Trained in the Ren Xue system under the guidance of Yuan Tze, Vanessa now shares her profound knowledge through teaching, one-on-one therapy sessions, and group work. Her compassionate approach helps others find balance and purpose, whether they’re navigating personal challenges or seeking a deeper connection to life.
In this interview for Mystic Mag, Vanessa delves into her healing journey, the power of Qi, and the impact of her work on diverse communities.
What led you to start practicing Qigong after your surgery for bowel cancer, and how did it impact your recovery and overall well-being?
Getting bowel cancer when I was 30 was a huge wake-up call. I’d spent most of my life up til then enjoying adventures in the outdoors and travelling. When I got the diagnosis, I had the sense that this wasn’t a random event and that there was something to learn from it. So I set out to learn. This was in the days before the internet, so I went to the library and started at one end of the books in the health section – reading about the body & mainstream health, and then ended up at the other – reading about more “alternative”/mind-body healing approaches. Suddenly every book I opened had the word “Qigong” in it.
I’d never heard of it before, but soon got the message that this was something I needed to explore. I started by trying to learn from books, but it didn’t make much sense, and fortunately soon after I went to a workshop held by my teacher, Yuan Tze, and started practising some basic exercises. The first change I noticed immediately was how much calmer I felt after doing the movements. It was a relief to have something to do that could settle my mind, and whenever I started to worry about upcoming hospital scans or the potential of what the cancer could lead to, I found that doing the exercises would soon calm me down.
A key aspect of Qigong is to use the consciousness actively and positively, so I started to watch my thoughts and mental state with the aim of shifting into a more positive mindset if I wandered into unhelpful thinking about my diagnosis. I could also feel my body get stronger and began to see the Qigong practice as my treatment.
Can you describe the healing power of Qi and the benefits you experienced through regular Qigong practice and Qi therapy sessions?
I’d never done anything like Qigong, yoga or even meditation before, so when I first heard about Qi I was very sceptical that it even existed! To begin with I couldn’t feel Qi, but after a couple of months of practising, I could feel tingling and sensations of warmth in my hands. This soon moved deeper in my body, and I experienced all kinds of effects as the Qi worked through the area I’d had surgery, transforming and clearing the unhealthy information and Qi in the Qifield there.
It was very motivating to have such tangible evidence that the Qi was actually doing something, and I took the practice more seriously and started to practice daily. When Yuan Tze visited my town, I would have 1-1 Qi therapy sessions with him, and it was not just the Qi that he sent to me but also the guidance and advice he gave on how to work on my life that was so immensely helpful.
How did completing the REN XUE training programs shape your approach to teaching Qigong and offering Qi therapy?
When I started learning Qigong, I thought I just needed to learn Qigong exercises. I didn’t realise that Yuan Gong, the Qigong style my teacher, Yuan Tze, taught, came along with a whole body of life-cultivation teachings based in Chinese wisdom culture. These teachings, along with Yuan Gong, and Yuan Ming (Qi therapy) form the life cultivation system of Ren Xue (Ren – human, Xue – study).
Learning about laws of life and the universe, such as how Qi works, the role of the heart, consciousness, and True Self on Qi and life, and how everything is a totality, gave so much perspective on how my own illness arose and how to heal, that it became natural to want to share what I’d learnt through teaching others and doing Qi therapy. Indeed, this is what we call “Zi Du, Du Ren” – help yourself and help others – the main principle of Ren Xue: we need to first work on uplifting our own lives and then help others to do the same.
What inspired you to extend your Qigong teachings to groups like challenged youth, and what impact have you seen in their lives?
A social worker who was coming to one of my classes invited me to work with challenged youth. What has stuck me when working with these young people is how they can be very sensitive to Qi and information, and often a very simple practice can help them calm down if they are emotionally disregulated. Some have shared how they even practice in their room at home, others have got their classmates doing competitions to see who can hold a particular challenging posture the longest. While I don’t often know what the long-term impact is on their lives, I hope their experiences plant a seed in their life.
How do your 1-1 and group Qi healing sessions, both in person and via Skype, help participants achieve physical, emotional, and spiritual balance?
A Qi healing session involves both working with Qi as well as helping the participant to identify areas of life they would like to improve and providing steps on how to do so. Through using the tools of Ren Xue, people can learn how to help themselves balance physically and emotionally.