Beginning experiences and questions

[Jimo]

Hi,

I got a copy of Sifu Wong's books The Art of Chi Kung and Chi Kung for Health and Vitality a couple of days ago after stumbling on this forum via Google and having my curiosity piqued by reading the experiences posted here. Over the last couple of days I've practiced the self-induced chi flow exercise only twice but have already noticed some quite strong effects from it, which I wasn't expecting.

I've practiced chi kung on and off for a while but normally do a set of the "golden eight" (Ba Duan Jin) followed by a standing exercise (Zhan Zhuang). I often feel energy moving when I do this but it's very different from what I experienced after the self-induced chi flow. Basically my observation is that the energy awakened by Ba Duan Jin/Zhan Zhuang is more physical and nearer the surface, so to speak, whereas the SICF awakens an energy that feels much deeper and is more strongly connected with the emotions.

I didn't get any spontaneous movements after practicing and initially thought that the SICF had not had much effect over and above my other chi kung experiments. But when I went to bed and began to drift into sleep I started to feel energy buzzing in my hands and then experienced very strong sensory and emotional dreams. I've never before encountered any exercise or meditation technique that has had such a strong immediate effect. Very baffling!

The only slight downside was that upon waking the last couple of mornings I have some feelings of pressure in my head. It feels like energy has moved up there and got stuck. Do any of the instructors here know what I should do about that (if anything)? I notice that Sifu Wong talks about opening the point on the top of the head to prevent this. Does this mean I didn't do that successfully in the second step of the exercise? Plus, I didn't feel any energy moving downwards at any point, which seems to be the aim of the exercise. Is this still ok?

And finally, does anyone know if Sifu Wong has plans to hold any seminars in London in the future?

Regards,
Jim.

[Brendan_OT]

While I will obviously defer to any of my seniors in answering these questions, these are my observations:

The only slight downside was that upon waking the last couple of mornings I have some feelings of pressure in my head. It feels like energy has moved up there and got stuck.

If the feeling you have is painful, you may have a problem, but normally feelings of pressure are not something to worry about. You may have blockages in that area that need to be cleared, and continuing to practice will eventually clean them out. I had what felt like an energy balloon in the middle of my back for six months that suddenly emptied one night while in chi flow. It was never outright painful, but I had no doubt that it was there!

I notice that Sifu Wong talks about opening the point on the top of the head to prevent this. Does this mean I didn't do that successfully in the second step of the exercise? Plus, I didn't feel any energy moving downwards at any point, which seems to be the aim of the exercise. Is this still ok?

I believe Sifu describes the exercises as they operate in the ideal sense, i.e. in someone without blockages and with chi flowing unobstructed through the governing meridians. I practice qi gong and regularly feel energy going up my back, but seldom feel anything going down my front. I believe this means that there are blockages yet to be cleared that my chi is still working on. It is not, in my experience, evidence of wrong practice. If you practice incorrectly, you will know it, either from "bad" pains or negative emotional effects. The most important things, I believe, are to smile from your heart, perform the exercise as correctly as you can and don't worry about strange effects unless they become painful or damaging. Let the chi do the worrying for you, it's got a lot more experience fixing problems than we do.

I have had intense and sudden emotional outbursts as a result of chi clearing blockages, and I'm not surprised to hear that you may have had strong dreams as a result of your training. That's the emotional and mental cleansing qi gong will do!

[Emiko H]

Two simple, but profound tips

Very well answered, Brendan.

Hello, Jim. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of your chi kung practice to "smile from the heart" is key. This is the essence.
It is one thing to do chi kung with decent flow, and another to experience it as a result of 'smiling from the heart'. The effects are greatly magnified.
Furthermore, genuinely smiling from the heart is an excellent way to prevent/avoid deviations and mistakes that can arise from mind-states of worry/anxiety/fear/anger/sadness.

Another point which is often overlooked is the importance of keeping one's mouth "open" during chi kung. One should breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth - gently. Keeping the mouth open is essential to the cleansing process. Not having it open can lead to headaches, nausea and other forms of discomfort.

I am glad to hear of your positive experiences. May you continue to derive countless benefits from these wondrous arts.


Best wishes,

Emiko

Shaolin Wahnam Canada - Toronto Community

[Jimo]

Thanks Brendan, and Emiko, for your advice and encouragement.

I'll try out your suggestions about smiling from the heart and keeping the mouth open, and see what happens. The feelings of pressure are not painful in any way so I can certainly live with them.

I'm still suprised at the effects I got from this exercise where everything else has "failed". I once spent 21 days doing dynamic meditation with the Osho Rajneesh people in London, which involves lots of rapid breathing and emotional catharsis, and even then didn't experience any effects comparable to those from only a couple of sessions of lifting the sky and holding the moon.

Thanks again,
Jim

[Andrew]

Congratulations on your success Jim. Now just try to imagine what could happen if you learnt from a Master

Andrew