When you're sick...

[styx_oarsman]

I'd like to know your thoughts regarding meditation/qigong practice when one is sick. I don't mean seriously ill - I know there is a wide branch of medical Qigong that deals with that - I mean just when you catch a cold or flu etc. You know the situation - you don't feel well, you have a sore throat, feel dizzy in the head and you need a tissue every two minutes. Personally, I find it very hard to concentrate and so I do only some simple relaxation techniques and try to conserve my body energy in general to let my body regenerate by itself. I stop all other practices or physical training until I feel better (but that's commons sense, really). Anyway, I'd very much like to know your opinions. Do you alter your practice when you're sick?

[ChiDragon]

When you are sick which means your immune system is low. If you have been practicing Chi Kung properly, then you shouldn't be sick. Therefore, since you are sick, you wouldn't want to do any strenuous exercise but meditation with slow breathing to enhance the immune system and build up your energy level.

Edited September 11, 2011 by ChiDragon

[Lucky7Strikes]

I'd like to know your thoughts regarding meditation/qigong practice when one is sick. I don't mean seriously ill - I know there is a wide branch of medical Qigong that deals with that - I mean just when you catch a cold or flu etc. You know the situation - you don't feel well, you have a sore throat, feel dizzy in the head and you need a tissue every two minutes. Personally, I find it very hard to concentrate and so I do only some simple relaxation techniques and try to conserve my body energy in general to let my body regenerate by itself. I stop all other practices or physical training until I feel better (but that's commons sense, really). Anyway, I'd very much like to know your opinions. Do you alter your practice when you're sick?

The first year I began doing energy work, I got sick really often and had the severest fevers and body aches. I heard that this isn't so uncommon due to blockages being released. I did try to practice in those circumstances mistakenly believing that it would help me progress faster but was just straining my body needlessly. I should have used your common sense and rested to let the toxins naturally dissipate.

 

Also I always kind of enjoyed being sick, it can provide a good deep rest.

Edited September 10, 2011 by Lucky7Strikes

[Jetsun]

When you are sick which means your immune system is low. If you have been practicing Chi Kung properly, then you shouldn't be sick. Therefore, since you are sick, you wouldn't want to do any strenuous exercise but meditation with slow breathing to enhance the immune system and build up you energy level.

 

It must be incredible Chi Kung for you to never ever get sick, it should make it less likely but even the masters and medicine men get sick sometimes, some of them even get illnesses like cancer. I would expect Chi Kung will help you recover though, meditation might by allowing relaxation although it might be more uncomfortable to meditate when sick

Edited September 10, 2011 by Jetsun

[zanshin]

Rest and a little introspection, take it easy but why did you get sick? Then once you're past stage of feeling so ill can hardly do anything, if you recognize bad patterns gently start working on fixing them, clean house (literally and figuratively), let some fresh air in, give or throw things away that you don't need anymore so your mental posture and message to the universe is reset.

[FixXxer1846]

I'd like to know your thoughts regarding meditation/qigong practice when one is sick. I don't mean seriously ill - I know there is a wide branch of medical Qigong that deals with that - I mean just when you catch a cold or flu etc. You know the situation - you don't feel well, you have a sore throat, feel dizzy in the head and you need a tissue every two minutes. Personally, I find it very hard to concentrate and so I do only some simple relaxation techniques and try to conserve my body energy in general to let my body regenerate by itself. I stop all other practices or physical training until I feel better (but that's commons sense, really). Anyway, I'd very much like to know your opinions. Do you alter your practice when you're sick?

 

I just got sick a day after stepping up with Chunyi Lin's microcosmic orbit (last thursday). Don't know if it is related. Haven't been sick in 1,5 years. Thought I do the orbit while being sick, but the main problem is that the nose is stuffed. So I breath through the mouth (vaseline on lower lip). Works, but still it's very hard to concentrate, impossible if you are very sick. Got the idea my body was seriously overheating after doing it for 2 hours while sick. Had to walk around a bit.

Edited September 10, 2011 by FixXxer1845

[deci belle]

Don't obsess over energy practice. Take a break and just sit without becoming bored and having to move something around because you can't be still for a few minutes. You'll be better soon!❤

[NeiChuan]

A cold? Meditate. Anything like a fever? Hell no.

[styx_oarsman]

Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions. I don't get sick often (once a year, maybe) and this time it took me by surprise, so maybe I'm just trying to understand it. Maybe my body actually sent me some signals and I just didn't notice. Well, I feel all better now... it gave me a "pretext" to get some real rest, to sleep a lot and let my body regain strength. I meditated every day for a half an hour or so, but only to reach a deeper state of relaxation. It felt a little weird (I mean different than usual) but I guess it worked.

[ChiDragon]

I just got sick a day after stepping up with Chunyi Lin's microcosmic orbit (last thursday). Don't know if it is related. Haven't been sick in 1,5 years. Thought I do the orbit while being sick, but the main problem is that the nose is stuffed. So I breath through the mouth (vaseline on lower lip). Works, but still it's very hard to concentrate, impossible if you are very sick. Got the idea my body was seriously overheating after doing it for 2 hours while sick. Had to walk around a bit.

Yes, it was hard to breathe through a stuffed nose. However, if it can be avoided, it's better not to breathe through the mouth but the nose. Breathing through the nostrils will filter out the unwanted dust by the nostril hairs before the air goes into the lungs. Exhale can be done through either the mouth or nose.

[joeblast]

If your sinuses are stuffed up, try a neti pot to cleanse them. Also, when breathing, and this is relevant for when you're not sick also - you need to let go of your sinuses entirely anyway. Do not use them for meditative breathing. You do not want to "change the size or shape of the cylinder walls" - you want to "let the piston do the job of moving the contents of the cylinder" - for a car-analogy When most people breathe they facilitate air all over the place. When you "breathe from the dantien" you are letting all sinuses, windpipes, bronchi, all that stuff go slack and begin the inhale-descent from the overlap of the thoracic diaphragm and the psoas muscle, then let the resultant wave-motion propagate upwards and forwards along the diaphragm. Doing it that way also lets you relax the foramina in the diaphragm (aortic, esophageal, etc) and reduces stress amongst the system as a whole.

 

Once you gain proficiency with this breathing method, then you are able to eliminate turbulence in the air passageways, can hold that feather under your nose and not move it during respiration Usually a good arising of zheng qi will cause the sinuses to partially empty...although if they're stuffed up pretty good then they may not empty completely.

 

I havent gotten seasonal allergies since beginning kunlun and red phoenix, pretty much since 2008 - it regularly keeps my sinuses empty, causes slow-fire tears, keeps the back happy...something the glow of minute+ long breaths did not provide!

[ChiDragon]

"breathe from the dantien"

 

I do not breathe from the Dan Tian but sunk my breath deep down to the Dan Tian.

[joeblast]

goddakes man, if you cant reply seriously, dont bother at all. I'm not here to play games of semantics, which is all that post is. if you're here to learn or otherwise add to the discussion, great, if not, then there are much better things you could be doing with your time instead of nitpicking over a concept mangled from an out of context quote. dont expect responses if your reply doesnt demonstrate some sincerity or perhaps a shred of evidence you read and/or understood what you're replying to.

[ChiDragon]

goddakes man, if you cant reply seriously, dont bother at all. I'm not here to play games of semantics, which is all that post is. if you're here to learn or otherwise add to the discussion, great, if not, then there are much better things you could be doing with your time instead of nitpicking over a concept mangled from an out of context quote. dont expect responses if your reply doesnt demonstrate some sincerity or perhaps a shred of evidence you read and/or understood what you're replying to.

 

Yes, we should use proper terminologies.

[Yuen Biao]

I personally haven't got sick in a few years now...I do remember though that when I began Qigong I would get a cold once a year without fail. I always used to meditate and found my breathing actually got better and the blocked nose would soon disappear not long after.

 

I'd recommend a little training so long as it is not too strenuous.

[joeblast]

oh yes, those completely descriptive, experience-equivalent concepts we've constructed in our minds...yes, let's make sure we use that particular exact one that describes the phenomena I'm referring to fully and completely

 

you do realize what you quoted...was itself in quotation marks, denoting analogy, the relational way we find out about point C from knowledge of A & B...

 

...yet we only are able to truly know C when we experience it, and no amount of studying A & B will get you to the level of having experienced C.

[styx_oarsman]

I personally haven't got sick in a few years now...I do remember though that when I began Qigong I would get a cold once a year without fail. I always used to meditate and found my breathing actually got better and the blocked nose would soon disappear not long after.

 

I'd recommend a little training so long as it is not too strenuous.

 

Getting a cold once a year, that's exactly my case. On one hand, I'm glad it's nothing more serious (I used to get sick much more often when I was younger), on the other, I could do without it... But relaxing meditation and deep slow breathing worked for me pretty well this time. I didn't do any physical exercise though - I felt I really needed to rest.

 

All the same, I hope that I'm done with sickness for this year