Cultivating Chi/Energy for the novice

[Phoenixrising]

Hi seniors,

I started Taichi 6mths ago, in a Taichi school. I am keen to cultivate and increase my 'internal' store of chi. Apparently, I am 'leaking' chi, often causing my hands and body to get cold and clammy.

 

My teacher is very concerned with my progress, which went downhill a few months back after I resumed my career as a therapist, working mainly with frail elderlies, cancer patients, and those with vague pain disorders. I was previously able to do at least 10-30mins of the Zhan Zhuang (standing meditation). Now I only last a few minutes.

 

So I have ditched the Zhan Zhuang and opted for a half lotus sitting breathing meditation. I can barely feel energy flow down my 'kua'/pelvis. When I did sitting and lying meditation 10yrs ago, I could feel energy flowing freely to every leg.

 

I know that when I work, I give energy freely. I cant stop myself. My teacher asks me to stop working until I am strong enough to withstand the daily energy loss, but my heart goes out to the ill people I so wish to make better.

 

It is in my blood, to eventually be a healer. And to be a martial artist. I have this yearning my whole life. And I have chosen Taichi as The Way to achieve both.

 

Please share your insights on how to help myself along this path. Esp on energy cultivation practices.

 

Ps. Apart from Sitting meditation and Taichi External Forms, I have also been taught a 'detox' technique to rid my body of the sticky dirty energy I tend to pick up (I am an empath, a touch 'feeler', and was told I easily absorb bad energy, even as I am giving away healing energy).

 

Thank you for yr input.

[RiverSnake]

DP

Edited April 16, 2016 by OldChi

[Phoenixrising]

I am sorry, Oldchi. I dont mean to be an ass. In fact, half the reason I posted on the matter because I wasn't sure if the notion of 'absorbing bad chi' is true. I was brought up in strict Catholic tradition and studied western medicine. My sifu and the ppl who told me about 'absorbing other people's chi' are obviously brought up in the traditional chinese tradition.

 

So it is all TRUE??!!!!! *Oh,no, I am so shit!!*

 

I know many of you are longtime practitioners and well-versed in the knowledge of such matters. I also wanted to hear if there are differing views. I am a bit conflicted in my belief, but for the most part, my head agrees with you. My heart needs to listen to my head.

 

I am already learning and applying 'detachment', having read some Tao short articles related to my Taiji practice. And I will follow-up on your advice to protect myself and learn more on how to do all this safely.

 

*going off to detox...*

[RiverSnake]

DP

Edited April 16, 2016 by OldChi

[EmeraldHead]

For one I would suggest get your feet in your boots. You have control over your being...and so just stop giving out. 

Earthing, sungazing and working will get you charged. (plus celibacy of course). Like OldChi said, dont take it lightly and if you want to be one of the best, then be proffesional all the way. Full control, full mastery, thats the mindset. 

 

You can do it.

[Spotless]

Reframe your thinking - you are a healer - so you do not need to think of becoming a healer.

 

Presently you tend to heal even the cracks in the sidewalk.

 

Imagine your body is a house - packed with all sorts of great things and a fridge full of food. You do not allow people to come and go as they please and take your furniture and food and live in the rooms - of course perhaps you do - you would generally be a drug addict or alcoholic or a serious candidate for the asylum if you do.

 

Putting your energy in someone else's house is an invasion upon their space and your energy does them no good.

Someone else's energy in your space is close to having "bad" energy in your space.

 

When someone is ill they are on some level imbalanced - and they have created that situation for some reason or another.

As a healer you want to coax them into being there for themselves and healing themselves - you cannot heal them. Sometimes healing comes in them just "accepting" because over-riding and willfulness is something they have been doing their entire life.

 

Healing someone has nothing to do with giving someone your energy - that is ego and self importance and meddling imposed upon others "for their good and in order to help them". A great healer can heal all day long without an ounce of exhaustion from it.

 

This is accomplished in a number of ways but imagine:

If your space is one of No Effort and you are grounded in ease and full of light - then being around you allows others to drop their effort and angst - the jamming of a square peg into a round hole - your presence helps them to relax off of their unhealthy Imbalancing - they begin to balance simply by being near you. The furniture in their rooms will begin to move back to their proper positions, whole rooms will begin to clean up and they will begin to restock their refrigerators - you simply cannot do this and it would do no good if you did.

 

The acupuncturist stimulates points in a person's system - but it is the person's own energies that begin to run again and rebalance - they do the healing.

 

As an empath - work on neutrality - work on neutrality - it is the only way to see what you feel with clarity.

At the end of the day and in your exchanges - imagine that any energy you have left behind comes back to you in a golden sun above your head and breath that back into your space. Additionally - imagine that anyone's energy in your space and in your futures (creations) goes back to them in a golden sun in present time.

 

The idea of healing is in future and past - in present their is spirit - say hello to spirit - if that hello gets through there is no greater healer.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Spotless

[Phoenixrising]

Wow, Spotless. You just expanded my mind in more ways than one. It hits deep and TRUE. You have just explained to me what it means to be a TRUE healer. I appreciate it a lot. Taking note ...: Work on neutrality. No effort. No imposing on others. Be grounded and full of light.

 

Thanks the tips, Arramu. Yes, having a bit of sunlight do work wonders for me!! I am also doing grounding on a daily basis now.

[Phoenixrising]

I get it now - Just becausse my intentions is good, it doesnt make it right. I see now why my teacher asked me to practice 'Detachment'. Previously I thought that being detached seems selfish. Now I understand that it means respect, for my Self, and for others.

 

I have started reading up on Daoism too. I like the explanations by Robert J Coons. Currently learning the Embryonic Breathing System, and in just two days, I am already feeling 'flow' and happiness when I meditate. Such is the simplicity of it.

[Phoenixrising]

Oh, just one thing. I dont get the part about 'celibacy'. Heard my husband mention it before, but... Whats the explanation behind it??

[Spotless]

Oh, just one thing. I dont get the part about 'celibacy'. Heard my husband mention it before, but... Whats the explanation behind it??

Celibacy is a practice that helps certain desires / urges become less raging and distracting. It has additional benefits in that one does not constantly deplete certain energies through masturbation or in sexual relations and in intimate relationships (most celibates are considered to be single). In the west in particular students tend to imagine all sorts of relatively ridiculous additional benefits and super human attraction levels and a great deal of nonsense so it is often counter productive.

 

With regard to spiritual endeavors it is practiced in order not to participate in base desires and for the transmutation of energies. It is also more helpful for certain individuals and at certain times. In some teachings it may be imposed on a group for a time simply to help them understand what a place sexual interaction takes in their life, to learn restrain and possibly to stop certain destructive activities taking place within the group as well as to lift the group through energetic self discipline.

 

In religious practice it is often done in order to "lead a pure life" and not participate in "sinful activity" and base natures as well as being worn as a pledge that they will not marry so as to also help others in a lay position to know openly that that person is celibate and not to try to entice them into intimate relationship.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Spotless

[RiverSnake]

DP

Edited April 16, 2016 by OldChi

[Phoenixrising]

Thank you for the elaborate explanations, Spotless & Oldchi. Grateful for the pointers.

[BaguaKicksAss]

Unless you are in your 20's I'd recomend listening to your teacher and not healing in that way.  There are several reasons to not give up your personal energy when working with others.  Some for your well being and health, and some for theirs.  Your own personal energy is not what should be used anyways, and most definitely not without training. 

 

I have seen a couple of healers end up extreely ill from giving too much of themselves.  Basially your life force is getting taken; the thing you need to stay healthy.  Instead of giving less of yourself away, you do sitting down Zhan Zhuang instead of standing... may want to do some internal work to check into why you give too much of yourself.  Personal boundaries are extremely important (not too little nor too much) and they tend to be out of whack for various reasons, things which have happened in our past which shouldn't have, generally. 

[Brian]

If you want to be a healer, then be a skilled one, not one with his head up his butt whom gives away all his energy and thus makes himself in need of healing. I am sure you can see the contradictory nature of this situation....your not helping anyone if your harming yourself (where's the balance?). There are rules to this kind of work in order to do it safely and live to old age.

 

Being an empath is not an excuse. If you don't protect yourself....then all the sick chi your removing from other people is going to come into your body and eventually kill or cripple you (you obviously already know is), so if you actually want to do this for a living you need to take the dangers seriously, be a professional and come to the table with correct intent.

 

This is an excellent book on medical qigong and healing. Also I recommend you see the author for a distance healing session as you seem to be unable to clear your own body of the energetic junk you allowed in.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Warriors-Guide-Energy-Healing/dp/0967474256/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1460113035&sr=8-8&keywords=A+light+warriors

OldChi's recommendation and reference are excellent, BTW.

 

 

[Phoenixrising]

Hmm... Now I do understand why. My teacher speaks in a cryptic way. Like Yoda. Not much in terms of explanation. It is my mistake not to take his words seriously. I only half-believed him. I didnt believe in chinese medicine or post-delivery confinement practices (oh shit!). I think THAT is the root cause the lower half of my body has energy blockages (at the 'kua'/pelvis) level.

 

As for using my personal energy for healing - i dont actually do energy healing. I do western medicine-based soft tissue massages and lymphatic drainage.

 

QUESTION : I often work with my hands on the patients and having a strong intention to heal them while I am working. Or I will bump into a stressed friend and instinctively want to give them a neck/shoulder rub. Will that lead to my personal energy being used up? I have my shifu and a spiritual healer tell me that I cannot do ANY massages for anybody, not even for my husband (he has the occassional backache). So, is it sufficient if I can modify my intention/mindset, as recommended by Spotless?? I am still figuring out how to set up a mental barrier/personal boundary too.

 

Ps. I have already reduced doing hands-on work whenever I can. My taiji foundation is slowly building up. And yes, sitting meditation has helped me a lot to regain my health and balance - am learning from a proper Dao teacher now. So much safer to have guidance!

 

Inner check - Why didnt I believe in chinese medicine and practices? It is because Western medicine and christian practices is all that I know. Oh wow. So now, it falls onto me to study deeper into chinese (and other) medicine practices, and the nature of chi (as I am serious in going level up in Taiji).

 

Courage!!!

Edited April 12, 2016 by Phoenixrising

[Phoenixrising]

Yea, Brian. That book will be in my reading list.

[cheya]

Hi Phoenixrising,

 

I've pondered this very question for years!

Don't have an answer, but do notice that my chi energy improves the more days I don't do any bodywork, and that I'm really "tanked" when I get back to it. But it does seem that just doing it, intent or not, does tend to drain the batteries.

 

Eager to hear what others have to say about this!

[RiverSnake]

DP

Edited April 16, 2016 by OldChi

[Phoenixrising]

Woohooo!!! Cheya, we have found our support buddies.

 

Thanks for the explanation, Oldchi. Hello, Amazon!!

[Spotless]

At some point you can do lots of hands on healing and many types of non-touch energetic healing without any drain what so ever - actually you should feel incredible rather than depleted. But it takes a fair understanding and certainty in your abilities to work/play with energy.

 

When you are messaging someone as an example - you can have the physical pressure of your bones and skin pressing down and moving things around and as an extension an energy field around your hands can be going deeper and moving blocks - the energetic part requires Zero effort but most do not understand this and never move forward to it - primarily out of having learned it one way and not knowing of or transcending to a simpler stronger way. Yet it always takes less and less effort - particularly when you get exasperated with your self and just let go and just do it - that is when you move into a new zone - time, space and effort fall away.

 

One must become very clear - you cannot heal the other person - but you can facilitate them healing themself.

The levels of this facilitation know no bounds - most healers are working on specifics and analysing - all fine and well and it works and they can be incredible.

 

Let's look at engineering:

Their is this big and very long gully that needs to be unblocked, straightened and reworked a bit - so the tractors are brought in etc and all goes well - it take 4 years and everyone is impressed and happy.

 

Another guy with the same situation says we should hydro blast certain areas and divert a river for a time through the area and it will take half the time and 25% of the cost as the original plan - they do it and all goes well and everyone is super happy.

 

Another guy say we should dynamight three areas, bring in some rain clouds, douse the area and be done with it - it takes 3 months and costs 2% of the other plans and everyone is astonished and their jaws are open.

 

In energy work the bizarre type of range seen in the examples above are completely within range of most of us - but what we limit ourselves to doing and in believing what is possible - constrains us - we want to get a system down.

 

Neutrality is beyond important in healing and in energy arts - we need to get out of our way.

Time and space do not exist and energy is simply everywhere - it's not possible to run out - but we can deplete ourselves if we work linear which is how we are taught to think feel and work. And by assigning names to everything we peg down masses of flowing things into concepts that constrain free movement and box it up.

 

But - all this has been said to keep in your pocket because before we learn to fly we must learn some of the basics such as the mental constructs that will help us to remember not to funnel out our energy ( but we can use it like a plow). How not to take on another's self doubt and discordant energies (but we can see them and acknowledge them without judgement).

 

Grounding off another's energy and filling yourself with energy can take a day or an hour or a minute or a nanosecond or no time.

This is entirely up to your certainty with this and willingness to part with what has worked with an openness to what the universe would like to show you.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Spotless

[cheya]

What a GREAT post! Thank you Spotless!

 

I remember the first time I noticed my mind developing a strategy of techniques to work on the person, and MY HANDS piped up (or so it seemed to me): "We KNOW what we're doing here! Would you puh-leeze butt out!" Still makes me laugh. And it still happens.

 

Spotless, I wish you could write a book on this stuff. It could be short, but I bet it would be a best seller in the healing community. We bodyworkers/healers need to keep hearing and working this perspective again and again until we no longer need reminding to shift perspectives, it's just part of us.

 

You speak it better than anyone I've read.

 

 

[tao stillness]

Hello Phoenix Rising,

I can understand your situation as last Oct. I retired as a psychotherapist/psychologist after a 30 year career. Picking up negative energy is real. Along the way I found energy devices to wear which were supposed to protect from such energies. I also did qigong 2-4 times a day. I would suggest a qigong method that installs an etheric chi generator in your lower dan tian which works 24/7 and gets rid of negative chi while at the same time generating healthy chi. The only2 known qigong methods that do this are Falun Dafa and George Xu's Wu Wei Qigong dvd. I felt the chi generator being installed, so I know this is real.

[Phoenixrising]

Stillness, thank you so much for your sharing. I will try to source the materials. Wu wei Qigong sounds interesting. Now I am learning the Jade Emperor Embryonic Breathing, which is my first lower dantien development practise. I am feeling so much stronger now that my LDT is developing, even though I know I have a long long way to go.

 

I have taken all advices to guard from energy loss and to mentally create an energetic shield which prevents bad energy transfer from ppl around me.

 

Thanks to all for your advice and info.

[RigdzinTrinley]

maybe if I might put in some tibetan buddhist understanding?

 

eheeem....

 

First and exclaimer:

"this is purely intellectual understanding" .... still as I spend considerable time with tibetan masters, and see how much energy they have and how tireless they can work for others, I mean 7am in the morning till 22pm at night - constantly seeing people - hearing out their problems, teaching, giving empowerment. even while eating - being constantly bombarded with the neediness of disciples

 

(probably they practice from 4-7am as well to keep their samaya)

 

me being merely the translator, I know how intense that is - to be only for others, if you do not have that capacity then it ends up like one time when adzom rinpoche gyurme gyamtso said after one of these 7-11 days "trinley your eyes are very red" and I just nodded my head, walked to my room and collapsed into my bed.

 

so what the teachings say is the stronger your relative and ultimate bodhicitta, the less "being there for others" is a drain to you. why?

through mediating on relative bodhicitta your idea of "I" becomes much more vast - all these beings become like your own body, their body is your body - f.e.: hands and feet, if you step on a thorn your hand naturally takes care of the feet, there is no thought of this is other then me, I am the hand - who cares how about this other thing? Or this is going to be tough, to take care again of this stupid feet that constantly steps on thorns and stones - kicks into doors etc. etc.

 

through meditating on relative bodhicitta all life becomes your organism and there is no more strive in caring for this organism

 

and through ultimate bodhicitta aliveness is seen as emptiness, no substance to grasp, all is seen as illusion an insubstantial play of light and form - there is just immense openess

 

if these two bodhicittas are highly developed then, one becomes undrainable. Again I do not speak from experience but I see how the tibetan masters interact with people - and it is incredible

 

I just recently received empowerments from yangthang rinpoche - he is in his eighties or nineties - he would prepare the empowerment from 4am in the morning and then bestow the actual empowerment sometimes from 9am - 8pm with some short breaks, for many many days - I never saw him yawn or waver in his presence ever (I was taking plenty of naps by day three...)

 

blew my mind

 

so I would also say stury and practice some mind-training or lojong - I would say read and contemplate shantidevas "bodhicharyavatara" and then also the text called "taking suffering and happiness as the path" by the third dodrubchen tenpai nyima...

 

I will post a link to this second text - it is amazing!

 

hope that helps a little as well

Edited May 11, 2016 by RigdzinTrinley

[RigdzinTrinley]

here you go:

 

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/dodrupchen-III/transforming-suffering-and-happiness

 

don't know if it will end up being a URL thingy.... anyway this is one of my favourite lojong texts, it is very spot on and practical

 

may it be of benefit

Edited May 11, 2016 by RigdzinTrinley