be gentle
I agree with Black Hole, especially about being careful not to abandon anti-hypertensive drugs without the right conditions.
To answer the question about my patient might be informative to people in this forum. I have only taught qigong to a handful of people, less than 10, and I am still learning not only the technical aspects, but also the more important lessons of teaching. Here is a good example.
I was encouraged by my patient's quick results in lowering his blood pressure. I suggested he practice the Moving Form at least three times a day, and twice a day for the Non-moving Form, which is a meditation. I knew that it was his best chance to recover from his kidney failure, and I was confident that if he followed my suggestion, he would eventually recover his health. It seemed that at least once a month he had a close brush with death due to his many illnesses or because of a doctor's or nurse's mistake, and I thought his quick immersion in qigong was the only chance he had to survive.
Because of this, I put some pressure on my patient to practice more than once a day, even though he told me that because of his back pain, it hurt a lot to do the simple hand exercises of this qigong. I called him every other day to check on him and give him a long distance qi-healing, and he always reported that it made him feel better. I visited him during his dialysis treatments to try and show him how to practice the meditation while he was sitting for 3-4 hours. He complained the room was too bright to close his eyes and make the visualizations in his mind, so I bought him a sleep mask, and gave him a cassette player with some calming music.
However, even though he was improving, and despite my good intentions, after four months he stopped practicing. When I called him, he politely, and showing obvious sympathy for me, found a kind way to let me know not to call him again.
Looking back, it's obvious I put too much pressure on him to practice. I learned that to be a good teacher, especially with the internal arts, I must always focus on what the student wants and needs, not what I want to give him. I cannot teach something to someone they don't want to know, and I should never put pressure on a student, but let things happen in a gradual and gentle way.
I happen to believe now that illnesses are part of a person's fate or karma, and that healers play their role when trying to help and cure their patients. Somtimes a cure is found, sometimes the patient moves on and finds another treatment, or perhaps just continues suffering, and sometimes the patient dies. It is beyond my control. I can only give my sincere effort and always focus on the patient, and not on what I want, and not on the power I would like to feel by curing him and believing my abilities are so great.
I have not heard from my patient since June 2004. He is probably still alive and making jokes whenever he has close calls with death.
Best wishes,
Michael
I agree with Black Hole, especially about being careful not to abandon anti-hypertensive drugs without the right conditions.
To answer the question about my patient might be informative to people in this forum. I have only taught qigong to a handful of people, less than 10, and I am still learning not only the technical aspects, but also the more important lessons of teaching. Here is a good example.
I was encouraged by my patient's quick results in lowering his blood pressure. I suggested he practice the Moving Form at least three times a day, and twice a day for the Non-moving Form, which is a meditation. I knew that it was his best chance to recover from his kidney failure, and I was confident that if he followed my suggestion, he would eventually recover his health. It seemed that at least once a month he had a close brush with death due to his many illnesses or because of a doctor's or nurse's mistake, and I thought his quick immersion in qigong was the only chance he had to survive.
Because of this, I put some pressure on my patient to practice more than once a day, even though he told me that because of his back pain, it hurt a lot to do the simple hand exercises of this qigong. I called him every other day to check on him and give him a long distance qi-healing, and he always reported that it made him feel better. I visited him during his dialysis treatments to try and show him how to practice the meditation while he was sitting for 3-4 hours. He complained the room was too bright to close his eyes and make the visualizations in his mind, so I bought him a sleep mask, and gave him a cassette player with some calming music.
However, even though he was improving, and despite my good intentions, after four months he stopped practicing. When I called him, he politely, and showing obvious sympathy for me, found a kind way to let me know not to call him again.
Looking back, it's obvious I put too much pressure on him to practice. I learned that to be a good teacher, especially with the internal arts, I must always focus on what the student wants and needs, not what I want to give him. I cannot teach something to someone they don't want to know, and I should never put pressure on a student, but let things happen in a gradual and gentle way.
I happen to believe now that illnesses are part of a person's fate or karma, and that healers play their role when trying to help and cure their patients. Somtimes a cure is found, sometimes the patient moves on and finds another treatment, or perhaps just continues suffering, and sometimes the patient dies. It is beyond my control. I can only give my sincere effort and always focus on the patient, and not on what I want, and not on the power I would like to feel by curing him and believing my abilities are so great.
I have not heard from my patient since June 2004. He is probably still alive and making jokes whenever he has close calls with death.
Best wishes,
Michael
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