P-Cals: and Chi-Generating Exercises

by Oscar Ichazo

79 pages, Hardcover

Published February 6, 2025

About the author

Óscar Ichazo was an early developer of the Enneagon or Enneagram of personality, and founded the Arica School in 1968.

Reviews

[Bill Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book presents exercises for revitalizing the human organism by increasing the flow of vital energy through breathing and movement. It begins by describing the anatomical plan of the body and the Core Point, or “Kath”, the center of equilibrium that has been recognized in all Western and Eastern meditation traditions. By concentrating in the Kath (referred to as the “tan t’ien” in China), vital energy is increased. Ichazo uses the term “Kath energy” for the vital energy that in Chinese is called “chi” and in Japanese is called “ki”. He provides a basic breathing technique for awakening awareness of the Kath and then presents a set of daily exercises called "P-cals" which use this breathing with a set of 23 movements that integrate mind, emotions and body by circulating Kath energy while moving the spine and stimulating the organs and glands. The book finishes by presenting 6 exercises for further generation of Kath energy; these are the “Chi-Generating Exercises” referred to in the title.

The Chi-Generating Exercises include one for deep relaxation while lying on your back, one while moving in a sitting position to produce a state of Serenity, one while standing still and feeling heat generate throughout your body, one while moving in a standing position to increase oxygen intake and move the spine, and one while walking to open a deep state of Awareness. These give a profound deepening of the experience of Kath energy produced by P-cals.

This book teaches exercises that can be done throughout one’s life – it even explains how to do P-cals during pregnancy. I’ve been doing these exercises regularly for five decades, and credit them for giving me a long life full of well-being and vitality.