gatsu

Lack of warm up can also not help indeed. Since I tend to do it as soon as I get out of bed, I barely do two, three Ba Dua Jin movements for warmup and assume I am ready to go...maybe not then. Thanks for the specific tips related to the UK, I will definitely look into it, especially this Udemy course.

Well I think the whole point of my post was that I was doubting this last and crucial important part in your sentence.

Many thanks for all the replies and different advices. I think I will go for stretches/yoga and maybe replace ZZ with slow movements like silk reeling for at least 2 weeks without computer (as I will be in holidays). Just to specify at least my experience of the day, it doesn't hurt while doing ZZ but it seems to hurt after, especially if I do ZZ in the morning like at 5am then by 9pm my back feels very tense. The pain also completely stops when I lay down on my bed and appears totally absent when I get up in the morning...for now. I will also try to find a teacher in my area but I live in a quite rural area of the UK...so eastern practices are not quite common here.

Hi all, I am new to the forum and would appreciate if you would have any advice for me. I have had pain or discomfort in my right shoulder for easily 15 years now due to me carrying my back pack full of books solely on my right shoulder for my 10 years of academic study (I am only 35). It would come and go but my plan was to eventually heal, at least partially, my shoulder with ZZ. I have been practicing ZZ daily for a year and half now. I was practicing Wuji and holding the ball from the book by Mark Cohen, keeping in mind some advice from Master Lam Kam Chuen "don't worry, pain will go eventually". And indeed, as I was able to put more time into it I felt my arms lighter while holding the ball, felt my right shoulder as if "unlocked" and more free to move than the left one and recently felt that I had a much better balance on a single foot, although I did not specifically train for it. I have also gained in neck mobility: I can turn my head to the right to look behind me much more easily than I could few months ago. In the recent weeks I could hold the ball for about an hour or so without forcing too much, 2 times a day. Now, recently I have noticed that my shoulder discomfort has come back but instead of being located close to the shoulder where it used to be, it has gone down to the right scapular region. I can feel pain in the region joining the scapula to the upper back and in the region joining with the rib cage and also tension on the right side of the neck. Just to mention that during the practice the pain tends to be actually less severe. The pain slowly just comes as the day passes and as I am sitting at my desk staring at a computer screen all day (on a laptop in fact). In spite of that I do have some physical activity as I walk 1 or 2h per day at least. My question is the following: Is this pain a good sign or should I look at it as a warning sign that I need to change my practice? For example my posture could be rubbish but I don't know about it; unfortunately I don't have a teacher. I can only say that I have always felt unsure about the right alignment for my upper back... Any piece of advice would be much appreciated! Many thanks.

Hi everyone, Happy to have registered. I have been reading on and practicing qi gong on-and-off for few years now but have only seriously got into Zhan Zhuang for the last year and a half or so for health and spirituality aspects. I look forward to reading from and exchanging with much more seasoned practitioners on the forum. Best, gatsu