Beginers Increasing Chi Question

[Singh]

Hey all i was wondering if some one could guide me to a beginners practices techniques to increasing chi and tips on improving ones own meditation practice (which at the moment is non existant):-(

 

Thank you !

[Maddie]

Hey Singh

Let me first of all say that you are going to get a LOT of advice that is going to be all over the place. Since all of us are unique individuals sort through the suggestions and decide what is the best fit for your particular needs and goals. Ok with that disclaimer, now my two cents lol...

 

Basically doing almost any form of qigong is going to increase your chi to some degree, some more than others. But simply increasing chi is not always the first step, and may not be what is needed most. It is important to really get your channels nice and clear first, because if not, you will have all this chi, and it still won't be able to flow through your body like it needs to.

As far as meditation goes, again there are a lot of different meditations. In my personal experience I could not really meditate when I began qigong. I did the physical movements for a good while first, and those got me to the point where I then could meditate.

My personal goals are mainly emotional balance. My personal routine is the 8 brocades, inner smile/healing sounds, MCO/Cold Draw. These for now are proving to be effective for my goals. They say that a good way to build up chi is to do standing meditation. Hope that helps

[thelerner]

1. Just do it, or rather meditate. Begin w/ 15 minutes same time every day work your way up.

 

2. Standing meditation is good to build up Chi, maybe 10 minutes work your way up. Look up Zhan Zhang and/or standing on the bums. 'The Way of Energy' is a good book. I'm sure there are some free references on the internet.

 

3. A good chi gung routine. I like Michael Winn's Fundamentals II video. There are some good ones out there, even on Youtube. Still its best to learn live. Good is good, there may be an excellent yoga or Tai chi teacher in your area. Or martial art, like Aikido (my martial art of choice).

 

4. The basics eat healthy, get plenty of rest, exercise.

 

5. I've enjoyed the KAP class that Santiago offers, lots of energetic & shamanic style meditations where you can get an experienced teachers feedback. Many of us here started out with the Healing Tao, through the founder Mantak Chia or Michael Winn (I mentioned him earlier-he has some good course material IMO)

 

 

Michael

[NeiChuan]

Meditate, and Keep yourself wanting more.

[Singh]

Thanks for the tips guys

 

Dmattwads you mention clearing your channels. How would I go about that? Simply by finding qi gong classes near me?

[Martial Development]

With respect to "increasing chi," you're better off learning martial arts from a good instructor than learning meditation with no instructor.

[Guest sykkelpump]

LEARN MEDITATION.

dont waste your time with diffrent breathing exercises,it proparly wont get you anywhere.chi generates when the mind slows down.If you can slow down your mind with meditation you will increase your chi.Thats a natural law.Some people can do dan tien breathing,full body breathing etc.but most people cant,and it is a big chance you wasting your time and give up.These breathings will anyway happen naturally when you meditate.chi qong movements doesnt generate energy the same way meditation does.it can not be compared.qi gong mostly circulates energy.but if you dont have much energy then you dont have much to circulate.so meditation first.

I would suggest you start mantra meditation and then add some kind of qi gong later if you need to.zhan zhuang,spring forest and falun gong is all good methods.

mantra meditation is the easiest to learn without a teacher i belive.

here is a good place to start if you are interested http://www.aypsite.org/13.html

(remember to reapeat the mantra easily and effortless as the instruction tell you to,easy to forget this importent part)

Edited October 29, 2010 by sykkelpump

[Sahaj Nath]

...But simply increasing chi is not always the first step, and may not be what is needed most. It is important to really get your channels nice and clear first, because if not, you will have all this chi, and it still won't be able to flow through your body like it needs to.

 

THIS is probably the most important point that gets ignored the most often. keep in mind, blocked qi flow is the very definition of illness in Chinese medicine. if you wish to avoid any possibility of qi-sickness, FIRST clean the pipes, THEN fill the banks! you want to engage a cathartic practice like shaking, dropping post, or trembling horse. and you want a qigong set that incorporates a lot of stretching. also, look to some of the shaolin systems that employ bursts of tension and deep relaxation. your first goal should be to rid your body of all unnecessary tension/contraction, including in your breathing.

 

there are lots of systems to choose from, but you want to stretch and open things up, and eliminate resistance in your system. let those qualities guide your decision making and you can't go wrong.

 

 

 

1. Just do it, or rather meditate. Begin w/ 15 minutes same time every day work your way up.

 

2. Standing meditation is good to build up Chi, maybe 10 minutes work your way up. Look up Zhan Zhang and/or standing on the bums. 'The Way of Energy' is a good book. I'm sure there are some free references on the internet.

 

yes! the key to meditating is to meditate. period. techniques don't mean squat if you never sit the hell down. LOL! i never sit for less than an hour every day. some days i do 3 or 4. not all in one sitting, but broken up into 2 or 3 sessions. if there's any secret to sticking with it, i would say it's to not take yourself too seriously. don't worry about quieting your mind. just stay vigilant about bringing your mind back to the present moment once you realize you've wandered off. when that happens, IT'S NOT A FAILURE. it's actually the job that IS meditative practice. look at each time your mind wanders as another opportunity to generate a little bit of discipline. like a mental push-up. the more times your mind wanders, the more push-ups you do. there is no failure.

 

zhan zhang can be a difficult place to start if you're a newbie. it's easy enough to get right, but it's challenging and strenuous, so you might seek to avoid the practice after the first day or two. it's easier when you have a teacher encouraging you and holding you accountable. plus, it's good to have someone there to remind you to relax everything that you're not using to maintain posture. really easy to tense up. if you're a fairly disciplined individual, then go for it. it's really one of the best foundational practices out there. but if you can't even get yourself to sit down and meditate, then you might want to start with something more active.

 

Chi Kung, The Way of Energy is a great book. but like always, i must first and foremost recommend my standard textbook for all of my new students: The Healing Promise of Qi by Roger Jahnke. great explanations, and lots of good basic exercises.

Edited October 30, 2010 by Hundun

[Mokona]

With respect to "increasing chi," you're better off learning martial arts from a good instructor than learning meditation with no instructor.

 

Why?

[de_paradise]

LEARN MEDITATION.

dont waste your time with diffrent breathing exercises,it proparly wont get you anywhere.chi generates when the mind slows down.If you can slow down your mind with meditation you will increase your chi.Thats a natural law.Some people can do dan tien breathing,full body breathing etc.but most people cant,and it is a big chance you wasting your time and give up.These breathings will anyway happen naturally when you meditate.chi qong movements doesnt generate energy the same way meditation does.it can not be compared.qi gong mostly circulates energy.but if you dont have much energy then you dont have much to circulate.so meditation first.

I would suggest you start mantra meditation and then add some kind of qi gong later if you need to.zhan zhuang,spring forest and falun gong is all good methods.

mantra meditation is the easiest to learn without a teacher i belive.

here is a good place to start if you are interested http://www.aypsite.org/13.html

(remember to reapeat the mantra easily and effortless as the instruction tell you to,easy to forget this importent part)

 

I second this. You know, many people do yoga, taichi and lots of excercise, and while its good, there is no comparison for the time efficiency if you really want to open your channels to sit down, and make yourself meditate. You may not understand how it all works, you may think that cool slow movements is somehow being very qi, but the mechanics of why mantra works in a way that is more efficient. Mantra is what I started with, and what I still like to do for long periods of time. This is because I tend to start talking to myself in other forms of meditation, and mantra automatically blocks that monkey mind, AND that allows qi to circulate in an efficient fashion. So please, get an egg timer, or download a timer for your computer, and just start. I seperate the wannabees from the real practitioners by how much or if they meditate. Guess what, the world is full of wannabees (isnt that from a song?) So hey hey do that pretty thing.

Edited October 30, 2010 by de_paradise

[Maddie]

Thanks for the tips guys

 

Dmattwads you mention clearing your channels. How would I go about that? Simply by finding qi gong classes near me?

 

Yes

[Maddie]

With respect to "increasing chi," you're better off learning martial arts from a good instructor than learning meditation with no instructor.

 

Yea its so important to learn this stuff the right way from someone who knows what they are doing. Due to not having an instructor near me when I began I sort of had to be my own lab rat, and that was rough. :-/

[Martial Development]

Why?

 

Because practicing martial arts increases chi, but dicking around and calling it "meditation" does not.