Trying to pick a QiGong system

[raimonio]

Hi, I'm in a tough spot here and would appreciate it if you could come up with an opinion on the matter seeing as you guys have alot of experience on the subject

 

So here's the deal. I suffer from cronic fatique syndrome which limits my training plans quite alot. If I start doing a practice I will be able to do it 5-15minutes a day max. On the other hand I am very interested in all of the spiritual methods that are around. I've done yoga, zen-meditation, tai chi etc but nothing has cured my illness. For some reason I believe that qigong could be the gamebreaker and even if it isn't I still feel that it would be my favored method. I haven't done much of qigong, only experimented with it a few times alone in my home. But I just feel like its the thing for me. Tai chi came really close and infact I do love it (more than yoga or meditation), it is basicly what I'm looking for but its a martial art. So qigong is like Tai Chi but is solely for spiritual purposes and thats what I'm after. Spirituality and better health.

 

The problem is that I live in Finland and there are only a few teachers around. Basicly what we have here is the Healing Tao and Zhinen/Chilel. I also have a teacher in my city who doesn't have a real system so I guess thats off.

 

I've done alot of research on the subject and for example on this forum people aren't very much into HT or Zhineng/Chilel, that makes me very sad. Everyone are talking either about SFQ or a secret system that only they have access to. Ofcourse there are many other disciplines here. But SFQ seems to have the biggest "hype" around it.

 

Now, I already enrolled on a Zhineng course but after reading all the not so enthusiastic opinions on the system or the lack of them I've come to think I should cancel. Its kind of heavy on my budjet also, being a student. Ontop of that I didn't really resonate with it. The fact that it's an "open system" where you gather chi mainly from the outside at first makes me question can it work? While HT isn't the biggest thing here most people seem to give it some credit, so from reading the threads that seems to be the better of the two.

 

My main concern in choosing a system is my disease. I really hope I could cure it, I am trying all the possible natural remedies but none of them seem to take it away. I've gone trough alot of illnesses and mental problems and have been able to cure them all trough psychotherapy, diet and natural remedies. CFS is the only one that just sticks there like a glue. I had to stop doing Tai Chi a year ago, because it made me tired overall. Although it took me a while to admit it. I did it for half a year without any change in my condition.

 

I really hope I could find a system that I could stick to. I would also be happy if there was even a slight chance of curing my disease with it. HT seems like the correct choice but the exercises seem rather complicated keeping in mind that I have a 15minute window to execute them. For example I'm really into the six healing sounds but the inner smile meditation seems too troublesome. (Watched the dvd)

 

One option would be to do SFQ based on videos, but it would take another 5-8 years before I get money to go on a real course

[RiverSnake]

Its funny that you say you live in Finland. Michael Lomax is having a seminar in Finland in a month, they might still have some spots left. If your interested check it out. he teaches a form of Medical Chi Gung: Gift of the Tao and Stillness Movement. Maybe it could possibly help.

 

Link: http://thetaobums.com/topic/23895-stillness-movement-goes-billnas-finland-on-sept-1-3/

[mrtiger]

I can't recommend Flying Phoenix Qigong enough. I've suffered low energy problems and it's sorted me right out. I just learnt (and am still learning) from the Dvds.

 

I've tried various types of Qigong, meditation and yoga over the years and this is by far the most effective.

 

I'm not very 'spiritually sensetive' but this has had some really deep effects, even on me.

 

There also a really good FP community here on Tao Bums.

 

 

[Leif]

I have heard good things about Chilel, as a healing qigong.

 

Anyway, I second the above, try Michael Lomax or Flying Phoenix. I think they'll fit your criteria to start with - both are very "easy:.

I don't think you'll like the second part of Michael Lomax's workshop as IMHO that practice doesn't fit your current state (intense moving), but the core of the system is basically sitting meditation, and if you go for the seminar you'll get a huge boost with that practice (including a healing presence of true master teacher).

 

Flying Phoenix in first two levels contains static standing and sitting meditations, where absolute minimum for most is 5 minutes per exercise, so that IMHO will fit your criteria as well, and first two levels are easy to learn without attending live workshop.

Edited August 13, 2012 by Leif

[The Way Is Virtue]

Everyone has their own opinions and own experience, so in the end you have to go with what is available and what seems to work for you.

 

I haven't tried Zhineng qigong, but it seems to be quite popular and have a good reputation in China as a good form of qigong for healing. IMO, it certainly wouldn't hurt to give it a try a see how you like it. From what I have seen, lots of people try various types/styles of qigong for awhile but then either don't practice much, or just practice for a couple of months or so and if they don't feel much going on yet they assume it is not working and give up and maybe start looking for something else. The thing is that with certain types of chronic health problems, it may take many months or even more than a year or longer of regular practice to really start seeing results. A person has to be patient. One way to try to help assess a qigong system is to talk to other students and get their feedback on how long they have been practicing and how often they practice and what results they feel they have achieved.

 

Tai chi is very good for helping a person build up their health when they are weak, but with tai chi

it can take a fair bit of time as well before a person starts seeing progress. Adding a good qigong practice can really help to bring results somewhat faster.

 

If you have to practice on your own for the time being but want an effective and simple form of qigong practice, I personally have had very good results with standing qigong (AKA zhan zhuang).

I went through a period of being quite on the weak side with low energy and chronic health problems in the past and tried a lot of things as well including tai chi practice, but only really started seeing really noticeable improvement after starting to do standing qigong practice regularly over a period of a year. It seems to be very effective for building up and restoring essence and qi, and therefore overcoming illnesses related to low energy and deficiencies, such as chronic fatigue and related. You may well have to practice regularly and give it lots of time for these types of problems, depending on the exact nature of the problem, but if you are weak you can just stand for 5 to 10 minutes at a time to start and practice two or three times per day. Slowly over time you can increase your standing time. Don't stand longer than you can without straining. Once you are straining you will lose the benefit. Over time you will be able to stand longer. If you can get to the point of being able to stand fairly comfortably for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and practice at least twice per day such as morning and evening if you can, you should start slowly over time seeing improvement to your situation. In my experience chronic fatigue or related such as low energy can take a fair bit of time of regular practice to really start seeing results.

 

If you regularly practice the first standing form as demonstrated by Lam Kam Chuen in this video, you should start seeing some good improvement if you are patient and give it lots of time.

 

Whatever form of qigong you practice, as long as it is a decent form of practice, the key is always to practice regularly, and to keep going even if you are not feeling much going on or seeing much results at first. If you are really feeling weak or have very low energy, practicing daily, both mornings and evenings, is best. Standing qigong helps to build up energy and start opening blockages and balancing imbalances quite quickly overall, in my personal experience. In some internal martial arts schools such as taiji and xing yi, standing qigong practice was the 'secret' of building up energy quickly, and sometimes only shown to personal students but not shown when taught publicly. Today many internal martial arts schools teach the forms but may neglect the standing practice to help build up internal energy. It can be a bit awkward to stand like that at first if you haven't practiced zhan zhuang before, but you should get more used to it after several weeks of practice or so, and it doesn't take much effort to just stand.

 

Good luck in your practice.

Edited August 13, 2012 by The Way Is Virtue

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I practiced this http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1572962536605659291 style of qi gong for a few years, off and on while experimenting with others to see what I liked best. It may be linked to Healing Tao as it seems to have been developed by Michael Winn. It is relatively easy to remember the movements\details and seems to take the essentials of qi gong and create one sucinct style. With all the various styles that I looked into, I found that this one had enough of them for me to just stick with it. I found it very effective to clear stagnant energy and bring in fresh and positive energy right from the first try. You can do the form without so many repetitions if needed to keep it short. The video may seem long but that is due to all the extra info in it. Sitting meditation following the set is also good.

 

If you can, I would definitely get to the Michael Lomax weekend in Finland as that is an amazing opportunity, especially when you have so much to gain given your condition. You could message him (username: Ya Mu) at TTB to determine if you will be able to handle all the (non-strenuous) movement.

 

 

Have you tried a Doctor of Naturopathy? Macca root powder? Checked your thyroid function? Kelp capsules?

[Jetsun]

I would definitely message or email YaMu as he will be able to give you advice from experience

 

I would try Zhan Zhuang too see if it helps. Personally I find the White Skeleton visualisation method by Bill Bodri to be really effective but it depends on the individual , I like it because it covers so many different areas in one technique and is very powerful. But you have many recommendations so it might be best to contact a trained healer or master.

[raimonio]

Yea I've tried the Macca powder and all the other powders aswell. Atm I'm doing a parasite cleanse and after that I'm gonna do a liver and kidney flush. The parasite cleanse has had a very good effect on me. I do make little proggress with each dietary change and supplement. I just think that having a practice would atleast speed the process or maybe be the cure. I feel like with the supplements and diets they always make my overall condition better but they never actually change the fact that I can't exercise. It's like today I feel completely normal, as long as I dont stress myself regularly. I used to feel like crap every minute. But the main problem hasn't gone away..

 

When it comes to me handling a workshop I can handle it. I can handle the occasional burst in activity. In that way I am actually a blessed CFS sufferer. Most guys with CFS cant get out of the bed in the morning. I can live an almost normal life as long as I dont stress my body. Ontop of that I can stress my body if its not frequent. For example I could go to the gym no problem, its after the workout that I feel tired. For 1hour of gym I need to spend the next day in bed. But its not like I cant do the exercise if I want to. So I know I can do a two day workshop, I'm not gonna collapse in the middle of the exercises. But after the workshop I will be resting for a couple of days. So when youre talking about having a daily practice it just doesn't work if I have to recover from it at all other times except when practicing. That is why the limit is 15minutes, with that amount of trainining it might work so that I can still go to school etc. The funny thing is that for some reason all the daily activities like cleaning etc dont stress my body. But the minute I start doing an actual practice whether it is meditation, tai chi or the gym (which is even more gentle than cleaning) it stresses my body. Its like my nervous system is overloaded when I "practice". Not sure if I'm making any sense. I feel like all the best things in life are forbidden for me. I've now been for half a year without any practice and it is making me mad. I thought I would get better if I didn't do anything and let my body just regenerate, doesn't seem to be the case.

 

I did have this one experience when I tested with qigong during my tai chi era. I did five minutes of a random qigong exercise taught by my tai chi instructor for a couple of days. It was a very basic exercise where you just moved your hands and concentrated on the movement. I started noticing instant changes. The next day I felt like there was a ball of energy in my stomach and I didnt feel tired from the exercise. I felt as if I had tapped onto some secret power. I didn't stick with it because there was no system involved, it was just a random exercise. But it made me think "qigong is the thing for me". This is basicly the reason I'm now searching for a system. I'm a rational person and a future oriented one. I need to know the science behind what I'm doing and I need to now where I'm going. Doing a random exercise which I dont understand is not my style. I figured that if a random exercise gives me this, then a real system will give me the same and maybe even more. I also feel being drawn into tai chi and qigong, when I see someone do them I go "I wanna join in!". When I look at someone doing yoga I go "blah".

 

It's nice to have these recommendations. I've started to feel like I should just start testing different systems and go with the one that gives me the best initial vibes. Talking of vibes Michael Lomax and the workshop in Finland have started to interest me. I'm contemplating how I could be able to conjure the money for the workshop. I'm a student and live on the social security funds of Finland. But if I want something enough it can be done. This seems like a rare opportunity to meet a "real master". Don't think we have them in Finland in the qigong circles. When it comes to Yoga we have many actual masters of the art. Qigong is a rare beast here. So yea, this is definitely a golden opportunity. Ya Mu has generetad a positive hype around himself in the internet I sent an email to the people who are arranging this event. Let's hope there is still room

[The Way Is Virtue]

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Edited August 13, 2012 by The Way Is Virtue

[johndoe2012]

Going or not going: use your intuition, not your mind

 

http://www.movingintostillness.com/book/meditation_divine_guidance.html

[RiverSnake]

Was going back and looking at some old posts...it turns out that a member here Dreaming Fugitive actually has been using S-M to help get over his own Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, perhaps it could help you get over your condition as well.

 

Link: http://thetaobums.com/topic/15225-stillness-movement-neigong-and-michael-lomaxs-light-warriors-guide-book/page__st__288

[Brian]

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I liked your post!

[Aetherous]

Edited August 14, 2012 by Scotty

[chi 2012]

I'm trying to do a 75/25 ratio of standing to sitting Qigong. I definatly feel a differance with a lot of standing. The first two exercises in SFQ are standing exercises with no movements - but they are only a couple of minutes each. I read where Chuyni Lin said he would of liked to make these exercises longer - but people like movement. So I've been trying to do these for a longer duration.

 

Also if you do choose SFQ - I would recomend buying the course through Learning Strategies....When you do this - you get free coaching for life - and can get more detailed instruction for your condition if you ask them for it.

[Mokona]

Where can I get one of those cool chinease practice suits?

[raimonio]

Also saw Dreaming Fugitive in that thread, could PM him

 

I'm going to the workshop by Ya Mu. It says in the description that there will be stillness-movement done standing (also sitting) and I think I read somewhere that its somewhat like ZZ. We'll see how it goes, thnx for all the advices I'll keep them in mind

Edited August 14, 2012 by raimonio

[skydog]

pick nature it knows what its doing its you

 

system, methods, routine, ego trying to act like its in control.

[skydog]

stillness movement, drumming, spontaneous art, walking, wu wei, taoism