Daoyin catered to the individual

[Aetherous]

Different people have different needs in cultivation...qigong is not only a one size fits all. Sometimes a method that's thought to be great for all people affects some people in a negative way. Yet, most modern methods focus on complete forms that are intended for every practitioner to do in the same way, and there isn't really common info on individualized qigong.

I've been interested in exploring daoyin and qigong as they were throughout history, which is more catered to the individual's needs...thought I'd share with the forum, as well as see what others have to say about the subject. These two books give a good idea...

This book gives an outline of some of the historical qigong practices...it's simple, as well as filled with illustrations. I love it. (Also, Sun Si Miao's Tianzhu Anmo form makes me feel really good afterward.)

 

This book is more modernized, but in the back of the book it has sections on different common health conditions in Western terminology, possible TCM patterns for those, and at the end of each health condition it gives portions of what ancient texts had to say about treating various syndromes that were likely similar. So this is good in addition to the first book, to get an idea of historical individualized qigong therapy. The section on the six healing sounds is pretty bad, though.

(It helps to have a little bit of knowledge about Chinese medical terminology that was used historically. For instance, one qigong practice is for "depression in the chest". Most people would think that means emotional sadness, but actually it means a sense of stagnancy in some way, such as fullness, bloating, distention, tightness, blockage, etc...depression is just qi stagnation.)

Got any further info on personalized cultivation?