Sue D

Thanks, I agree that my choice of words was not accurate. Connect would have been much better, how much is that recognised in the qigong world, I wonder. Even the good books (I'm thinking Damo Mitchell) seem to lead me astray sometimes. Probably a case of mea culpa, though!

In qigong, connection to earth and heaven is clearly important. I believe that much initial work is setting up alignment and body conditioning so that we can experience support from the ground beneath our feet; that is my experience. I work on establishing a benevolent connection to the earth both through gardening (caring for the soil) and in qigong (where I like the subtle rising support that seems to give me access to an inner elastic quality, even in a simple arm swing). Any comments welcome! But I would also be grateful for information on how we 'experience' the energy of heaven. And is cosmic energy the same as heaven? Or does cosmic include both heaven and earth energy?

Thank you for this useful reply. Yes, I do play with gravity - recently after some activation of the heel point rather than Bubbling spring. It is a great test, as is simply observing ability to be upright when standing. As you could tell, I like exploring the earth connection! Some time ago, I had some feedback that my qi was not going down to the feet in the first Dragon and Tiger movement. I've taken that to heart. On the heaven connection, I like your ideas. particularly 'become the sky'.I will definitely work with that. I've reviewed some notes from Zhixing Wang this morning and it seems to me now that he taught the heaven connection as 'catch the living signal'. The methods were different from your suggestion; they used symbolic hand gestures with the results being to go into a state of being suspended, freely mobile, like a planet in the sky. This followed on from what Zhixing calls 'activating qi'. It seems to me the foundation is the work on earth energy as without that you will not be in a condition to absorb heaven energy. Does that make sense?

Hello Daobums, just joining this forum after learning qigong for more than 10 years. I've looked at different 'styles' and teachers and my choice has been Zhixing Wang who teaches mainly in the UK. He calls his work Huagong, Hua indicating transformation I think. I find him excellent but there are still so many unanswered questions, hoping you experienced members can help me along the way! With all good wishes S

Thanks to Michael for the welcome. I also resonate with the response from freeform, 'it's just what I do'. Something I want my students to believe but not so easy when in the groove of Western thought. Dipping into other posts, the degree of advanced experience in Daobums seems staggering. As does the access to gifted and high level teachers. Always hard to find the combination of skill and ability to teach and I wonder whether there is something lost in, say, the published material, where the ability to teach to a Western audience may have become paramount. Is there a middle ground between entirely enigmatic and over simplified? And, if so, how do you find it?

Thanks for making your comment clear - and love your example of a positive older role model. Gosh, we all need qigong so much more as we get older. I wonder what you are practising - and what attracts you to it?

Good to hear your thoughts on Zhixing! His teaching is getting better and better - although understanding him online is a little challenging. Did you do the running? Yes, I meant actual running. I'm a fan of the Damo Mitchell books but have never studied with him. I'm probably a bit old .. His podcasts are interesting, just started listening to them. Topical, earthy, informed. With good wishes