We were lucky to catch up with Leonard Shen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leonard, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I spent 40 years on the straight and narrow: Harvard-trained litigator, served in all three branches of the U.S. government, corporate chief compliance and ethics officer at four Fortune 100 companies, Chairman of the Board of two companies in the U.S. and Canada.

But then I began learning about Qi Gong, a 3,000 year old Chinese healing, martial arts and spiritual practice, with common elements with tai chi, yoga and meditation. Qi Gong boils down to one principle: that your mind is incredibly powerful, much more than given credit in the U.S. (but well recognized in cultures around the world). And your mind can control electromagnetic energy. Since even matter is energy — just protons, neutrons, electrons whirling around space–this means that the mind can actually affect your body tissue. If applied in a systematic way, based on centuries of carefully developed techniques, this means that you can potentially use Qi Gong to treat emotional and physical illnesses in yourself and others.

I would have totally scoffed at this idea until I experienced it myself — twice — and saw this happen with many others. First, in 2021, after showing symptoms I had an MRI done of my prostate. The radiologist showed me two large lesions covering 70% of my prostate, which based on their density and characteristics had a high likelihood of being cancer.

I had been training in Qi Gong, so asked my instructor to treat me. I also began daily practices to purge the toxic energy in my prostate. A month later, my surgeon did a biopsy, taking 16 core samples of my prostate to define the contours of the tumors so he could operate.

All the tests came back clean — no cancer!

Now it is certainly possible that the radiologist was wrong, and that I never had cancer. But it is also possible that, after applying the prostate cancer-specific medical Qi Gong protocols, developed over centuries in China, I actually dispersed the toxic energy which had led to the tumors growing … and the tumors disappeared.

Four years later, I am totally cancer free and without any symptoms. And I have met others who had Stage 4 cancer …but after being treated by my Qi Gong masters, are now cancer free, for reasons which their traditional doctors cannot explain.

A second defining moment for me was just a few months ago. In November and December 2024, lab tests confirmed that I had clinical albuminuria: the filters in my kidneys had large holes in them, allowing protein to pass unfiltered into the blood and urine. (This kidney damage was likely from an advanced form of tai chi which I had been practicing, creating enormous levels of energy in my body which “burned out” my kidneys.). My nephrologist physician believed this was “irreversible damage”, for which the only treatment was to go onto chemotherapy to suppress my immune system–possibly indefinitely–and/or face a lifetime of dialysis.

Again, I resorted to Qi Gong. Two of my fellow Qi Gong doctors did two treatments apiece for me (remotely, while I was traveling in Australia), and I did some simple Qi Gong kidney purging exercises.

In January 2025, I retook the lab test — and the clinical albuminaria had disappeared! My markers had plunged back down to a fraction of what they had been a month ago, healthy and with no need for any treatment. And my nephrologist couldn’t explain why the “irreversible” holes in my kidney filters had somehow regenerated themselves.

These two cases where potentially fatal diseases may have been healed through medical Qi Gong have entirely shifted my career and life mission. I retired from my corporate career, and have dedicated myself to training in this ancient science, then teaching others and offering the benefits of this practice.

And I have been delighted to see that the U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Veterans Administration, Kaiser Medical, and other major institutions in the U.S. have also begun to recognize the benefits of medical Qi Gong. For example, in September 2023, at a Harvard Medical School conference, the VA presented studies of its veterans — showing statistically significant health benefits from Qi Gong –and announced it would be developing a Qi Gong Doctor Certification track, so as to allow qualified practitioners to treat VA patients around the country.

So I am excited to participate in the application of these powerful techniques in the U.S., as our country finally catches up to China and other countries where Qi Gong or its equivalent have been used for centuries to heal.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I like to say that when I walk into the room, I’m like a punchline about to happen! I am a Doctor, Lawyer, Priest, and Buddhist Lama.

A graduate with honors of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School, I spent the first 20 years of my career as an environmental lawyer at the U.S. Justice Department, U.S. EPA, and in private law practice. I then spent two decades as the Global Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer at GE Commercial Finance, American Express, PayPal, and Visa, and most recently served as the Chairman of the Board of two financial services companies.

In parallel, over the last 40 years I have been training in tai chi, reiki (certified Levels 1 and 2), yoga, meditation — and medical qi gong. I am one of fewer than 1,000 medical qi gong doctors in the U.S., as well as an ordained Christian mystical priest and Buddhist Lama. I have been training intensively for the last several years with the “father of Qi Gong in the West”, learning the most sophisticated techniques for self-healing and spiritual advancement.

What I love about Qi Gong is how self-empowering it can be: clients can apply its benefits to their own bodies based on what they directly sense and feel their body needs. While real work, often emotionally trying, is involved, its benefits are as deep seated as the energetic roots of our illnesses.

My passionate mission is to make the healing benefits of qi gong available to those who can least afford it. I therefore teach Qi Gong at four homeless shelters in CA and CO (to which I donate 100% of my fees), at Veterans Administration facilities, and to Memory Care patients at an assisted living facility.

I also teach online and in person. For more information about my training and treatments, where I lead a consortium of some of the most skilled Qi Gong doctors in the country, please go to www.californiaqigong.com.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Authentic, extra 1-1 attention and TLC for the client!

The old maxim is “they don’t care what you know, they want to know that you care.” Of course you have to have the technical knowledge and real, impactful abilities, but what sets you above everyone else is taking a lot of your personal time and care to be available to your clients, 24-7 (especially important in the health and wellbeing area, where client crises will occur anytime). Check back proactively to see how they are doing, and always be very focused on truly HEARING their concerns and offering an empathetic as well as knowledgeable mind. 100% engagement!

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

In the healing/wellbeing business, we as practitioners need to be fully healed ourselves before we can treat others.

For medical Qi Gong to work, it is essential that the doctor themselves have “done the work”–taking accountability for things we have done, forgiving others and ourselves, thoroughly purging the toxic energy which we all accumulate when we grow up in an imperfect world, and building our own radiance with unceasing high integrity and living in service to others.

When we ourselves are operating from a place of virtue, love and compassion — not carrying the hurts and harms of our own life into the relationship — that radiant energy will be felt by our clients, giving them the seedling for healing themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.californiaqigong.com
• Facebook: Two Trees Qi Gong
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardshen