How to work with blockages and energy as a total beginner?

[GreenCord]

Hello,

I am new to this forum! Looking forward to learn from all of you.

 

I started doing Damo Mitchell's exercises from the book Daoist Nei Gong and his video series "Foundations of Qi Gong Practice". The basics are just Sung breathing for release and 8 simple Ji Ben Qi Gong exercises. My current goal is just to learn proper body alignments and gain vitality and clarity of mind. I may pursue more advanced stuff down along the line but it's not my current goal.

 

I have been working on the exercises above for some weeks and I released a lot of tension in my upper back with a lot of spontaneous readjustments of the spine and shoulder tendons.

 

The problems I am having are:

• I did some buddhism meditation some years ago. Basically just following the breath at the nose. This caused a lot of energy raising to my head that I can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.
• My sleep is very bad, I sleep all night no problem (8+ hours) but wake up tired. I had this even before the energy blockages mentioned in the previous point. Got diagnosed with sleep apnea and fixed it, but it didn't help, still wake up always tired.

 

Those blockages come up when I try to do standing in Wu Ji posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

[RiverSnake]

PM me and i may be able to help. 

[Earl Grey]

3 hours ago, GreenCord said:

Hello,

I am new to this forum! Looking forward to learn from all of you.

 

I started doing Damo Mitchell's exercises from the book Daoist Nei Gong and his video series "Foundations of Qi Gong Practice". The basics are just Sung breathing for release and 8 simple Ji Ben Qi Gong exercises. My current goal is just to learn proper body alignments and gain vitality and clarity of mind. I may pursue more advanced stuff down along the line but it's not my current goal.

 

I have been working on the exercises above for some weeks and I released a lot of tension in my upper back with a lot of spontaneous readjustments of the spine and shoulder tendons.

 

The problems I am having are:

• I did some buddhism meditation some years ago. Basically just following the breath at the nose. This caused a lot of energy raising to my head that I can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.
• My sleep is very bad, I sleep all night no problem (8+ hours) but wake up tired. I had this even before the energy blockages mentioned in the previous point. Got diagnosed with sleep apnea and fixed it, but it didn't help, still wake up always tired.

 

Those blockages come up when I try to do standing in Wu Ji posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[GreenCord]

@RiverSnake thanks! I'll DM you.

 

@Earl Grey thanks for the links! I had seen those videos by dragongatetaichi regarding Dragon Sickness, but they seem to discuss which problems you may run into once you incorrectly start moving Qi, but I haven't done any advanced practices like that yet. I was curious about what to do if energy arises without any advanced practices and how would I diagnose myself with Dragon Sickness if that was the issue. I'll check the links you sent in detail to see if I can find some orientation. Thanks!

[Earl Grey]

1 minute ago, GreenCord said:

. I was curious about what to do if energy arises without any advanced practices and how would I diagnose myself with Dragon Sickness if that was the issue. I'll check the links you sent in detail to see if I can find some orientation. Thanks!

 

Eric Isen-- www.ayurvedicintuitive.com 

[anshino23]

36 minutes ago, Earl Grey said:

Eric Isen-- www.ayurvedicintuitive.com 

 

I can confirm that Eric Isen has my issue down to detail that was also directly correborated by a CCM (classical chinese medicine) specialist, so he definitely knows his stuff and his insight into medical issues is really astounding. I can definitely recommend him for a view into one's health condition. 

 

As for your issues @GreenCord, do you have a good diet and exercise routine? In my own case, spleen qi deficiency and thus candida was/are the biggest energy hogs and trouble areas for me, also related to my own energetic make-up (Bazi).  

 

Eric will be able to help you more in detail about your issues, but if you're short on money for an analysis at the moment or seeing such a type of doctor, looking into diet, exercise and Yang Sheng Fa (healthy living principles) is very important for overall energy and is where I would look first. 

 

During this time of COVID-19 crisis worldwide, Damo Mitchell has been generous enough to teach two quite powerful and simple exercises that will help both the spleen and kidney Zang-Fu organs using very simple breathing techniques. So perhaps those can help you, too. 

I've posted the video here below. The techniques are explained toward the end. 
 

 

I hope this helps. Best of luck on your path.  

Edited April 16, 2020 by anshino23

[GreenCord]

@Earl Grey thanks for the info! I'll look into it.

@anshino23 Looks very interesting the video but I am a bit wary of doing any organ work without a proper diagnostic first, as I was told that you could be boosting an organ that already has an excess of energy. I'll try to look into the Yang Sheng Fa principles you mentioned, seems like it could be a very beneficial area to explore for me.

[anshino23]

18 minutes ago, GreenCord said:

@anshino23 Looks very interesting the video but I am a bit wary of doing any organ work without a proper diagnostic first, as I was told that you could be boosting an organ that already has an excess of energy. I'll try to look into the Yang Sheng Fa principles you mentioned, seems like it could be a very beneficial area to explore for me.

 

Sure. But if you watch the video you'll see it's pretty much recommended for everyone to support their immune system. I'm pretty sure if it would be damaging instead of nourishing, Damo would have said that in the video. As long as you don't practice it immediately before or after some other energetic work, I can't see how it would damage your organs. I could be wrong of course. 

 

But perhaps @freeform knows a bit more, and can chime in and say if he deems there would be any dangers/risk of doing that with said exercises?

 

In any case, best wishes for your healing  

Edited April 16, 2020 by anshino23

[thelerner]

6 hours ago, GreenCord said:

Hello,

I am new to this forum! Looking forward to learn from all of you.

 

The problems I am having are:

• ..
• My sleep is very bad, I sleep all night no problem (8+ hours) but wake up tired. I had this even before the energy blockages mentioned in the previous point. Got diagnosed with sleep apnea and fixed it, but it didn't help, still wake up always tired.

 

Those blockages come up when I try to do standing in Wu Ji posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

Wonder if you're grounding and getting enough exercise?  Too much energy staying with you.  Perhaps a solution as simple as long walks, a jog; doing enough calisthenics to burn off some energy might help.  

 

I've got a ring (Oura) that records my sleep cycles.  If I wake up during REM or Deep Sleep I feel much more tired regardless of how much sleep I've gotten.  Waking up without an alarm, or changing my sleep time has helped.   I snore which can be a precursor to sleep apnea, I tried a few things, a wedge pillow, and or setting two pillows up as a T, to raise my head, has helped the most.  

[Apech]

9 hours ago, GreenCord said:

Hello,

I am new to this forum! Looking forward to learn from all of you.

 

I started doing Damo Mitchell's exercises from the book Daoist Nei Gong and his video series "Foundations of Qi Gong Practice". The basics are just Sung breathing for release and 8 simple Ji Ben Qi Gong exercises. My current goal is just to learn proper body alignments and gain vitality and clarity of mind. I may pursue more advanced stuff down along the line but it's not my current goal.

 

I have been working on the exercises above for some weeks and I released a lot of tension in my upper back with a lot of spontaneous readjustments of the spine and shoulder tendons.

 

The problems I am having are:

• I did some buddhism meditation some years ago. Basically just following the breath at the nose. This caused a lot of energy raising to my head that I can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.
• My sleep is very bad, I sleep all night no problem (8+ hours) but wake up tired. I had this even before the energy blockages mentioned in the previous point. Got diagnosed with sleep apnea and fixed it, but it didn't help, still wake up always tired.

 

Those blockages come up when I try to do standing in Wu Ji posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

 Hi,

 

Welcome!!!

 

I can't answer your questions (although I think Damo Mitchell is sound basically - maybe you need to try to get some in person teaching and not from books???) ... but on the Buddhist meditation you are concentrating wrong I think ... there's head concentration which makes you tense and heart concentration which doesn't - so if you were wanting to pursue this I would find an image of a great sage or guru or someone who means a lot to you - and use that for the focus - place them in front of you or use an actual photo or image and just return to it when you feel you have drifted off.

 

The twitching and so on is not a bad sign actually - but you have some blockages which you need to find yourself a way through - meditation is sold as a relaxation technique - but its not really - very often you have to get worse to get better.

 

Hope this makes sense (probably doesn't  ).

 

Best wishes anyway,

 

A.

[NovaK]

On 16/04/2020 at 7:22 PM, anshino23 said:

 

I can confirm that Eric Isen has my issue down to detail that was also directly correborated by a CCM (classical chinese medicine) specialist, so he definitely knows his stuff and his insight into medical issues is really astounding. I can definitely recommend him for a view into one's health condition. 

 

As for your issues @GreenCord, do you have a good diet and exercise routine? In my own case, spleen qi deficiency and thus candida was/are the biggest energy hogs and trouble areas for me, also related to my own energetic make-up (Bazi).  

 

Eric will be able to help you more in detail about your issues, but if you're short on money for an analysis at the moment or seeing such a type of doctor, looking into diet, exercise and Yang Sheng Fa (healthy living principles) is very important for overall energy and is where I would look first. 

 

During this time of COVID-19 crisis worldwide, Damo Mitchell has been generous enough to teach two quite powerful and simple exercises that will help both the spleen and kidney Zang-Fu organs using very simple breathing techniques. So perhaps those can help you, too. 

I've posted the video here below. The techniques are explained toward the end. 
 

 

I hope this helps. Best of luck on your path.  

 

 

 

Thanks for the link. I just received his book a few days ago

Edited April 18, 2020 by NovaK

[freeform]

On 16/04/2020 at 2:16 PM, GreenCord said:

can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.

Hi there

 

A couple of questions.

Do you get headaches, pressure or anything like that afterwards? What about when you’re not training - do you have any of these sensations or movements?

[GreenCord]

@anshino23 thanks I'll try those exercises.

 

@thelerner I usually try to do some exercise, some times I've tried to push it and do it more often, but it ends up leaving me quite tired with regard to mental work for the next days. Lately I've been doing mostly just stretching daily and cardio for 1 hour for 1-2 days a week. It's good but I don't think I can push it further right now.

 

Not sure with regarding grounding, I've tried some Qi Gong exercises like "sinking down" (basically standing and slowly tracking your body from head to feet with your awareness), but it hasn't helped much so far with regard to sinking down the tension on the head.

 

@Apech Thanks for the recommendations regarding buddhist meditation that doesn't raise tension. I'll look into it!

 

@freeform Yes, I have headaches and brain fog more or less every day, but I had them before I got these sensations, and when I get the sensations they don't really make the headache or the brain fog any worse. The sensations may just be energizing and increase tension if I pay attention to them, but very easy to let go.

 

Yes, I have the sensations more or less always even without practicing. If I am doing something that involves physical tension or movements, they go away or I don't notice them, but if I am for example sitting and I take a deep breath they appear almost immediately.

[freeform]

18 minutes ago, GreenCord said:

Yes, I have the sensations more or less always even without practicing.

Thanks  

 

I think your best course of action is to put internal cultivation on hold for a bit. I assume you’ve had some medical examinations already - but if not, it might be handy.

 

Then I also suggest going to see a good chinese medicine practitioner. Maybe you could ask Damo, or someone from their school as they do very through Classical Chinese medicine training. I’m sure they’ll be able to help or to point you in the right direction.

 

Carrying on with internal training could make things worse rather than better. The fact that you get spontaneous movements, suggests you have some openness - so Chinese Medicine could be quite effective.

 

Once the mental fog, headaches and sleep issues have been solved, you could get back to cultivation.

 

Hope that helps! 

[forestofclarity]

Taoist Meditation. It starts simple and eventually leads to dissolving. It was released every few days, so it is not meant to be watched all the way through at once, or quickly. 

 

 

On 4/16/2020 at 7:16 AM, GreenCord said:

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

 

[dwai]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7

On 4/16/2020 at 8:16 AM, GreenCord said:

Hello,

I am new to this forum! Looking forward to learn from all of you.

 

I started doing Damo Mitchell's exercises from the book Daoist Nei Gong and his video series "Foundations of Qi Gong Practice". The basics are just Sung breathing for release and 8 simple Ji Ben Qi Gong exercises. My current goal is just to learn proper body alignments and gain vitality and clarity of mind. I may pursue more advanced stuff down along the line but it's not my current goal.

 

I have been working on the exercises above for some weeks and I released a lot of tension in my upper back with a lot of spontaneous readjustments of the spine and shoulder tendons.

 

The problems I am having are:

• I did some buddhism meditation some years ago. Basically just following the breath at the nose. This caused a lot of energy raising to my head that I can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.
• My sleep is very bad, I sleep all night no problem (8+ hours) but wake up tired. I had this even before the energy blockages mentioned in the previous point. Got diagnosed with sleep apnea and fixed it, but it didn't help, still wake up always tired.

When you release tension, the body takes time to recover and might feel sluggish. If you feel tired upon waking up, try and get some more sleep.

 

Another reason for feeling sluggish after sleep can be due to food. Try changing your normal diet, maybe the 16:8 intermittent fasting regimen for a couple of weeks, and see if that helps. 

On 4/16/2020 at 8:16 AM, GreenCord said:

Those blockages come up when I try to do standing in Wu Ji posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

My question is, are there any beginner books that explain how to gently work with energy at this very basic beginner phase? The books I read say not to work with energy at an early stage until your body has been shaped for it, but it comes out automatically and I don't know what to do with it.

 

Thanks!

Get this book -- https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Your-Life-Energy-Well-Being/dp/1590309960

It is very good and the routines outlined are not complicated at all. IMHO, don't get caught up in all the jing/qi/shen nonsense for now. Learn a good form of qigong (which is outlined in this book) and practice for a few months diligently and see if you get results.

[Master Logray]

On 4/16/2020 at 9:16 PM, GreenCord said:

The problems I am having are:

• I did some buddhism meditation some years ago. Basically just following the breath at the nose. This caused a lot of energy raising to my head that I can feel sometimes as bubbles in my face, sometimes as lines in my face, and when the intensity goes up it turns into involuntary body movements, like neck turns, shoulder movements, face movements or spine twisting. This continued after I stopped meditating and comes up very quick as soon as I do any concentration work.i posture in Qi Gong. I don't get them when I do dynamic movements. Usually when I get those involuntary movements I just let them do their thing and stretch my body however they want.

 

 

How do you follow the breath?    within the nose?  outside the nose?  and to where?  lung?  abdomen?   

 

Suggest stop meditation for the time being.  Dynamic ones are ok.

 

 

 

[GreenCord]

@freeform would you recommend stopping all Qi Gong exercises or only meditation? I was finding a lot of benefit when it comes to stretching, releasing body tension and improving body posture that I don't get from other types of exercise, and it will be a bit difficult to see a chinese medicine expert until the lockdown is stopped.

 

@forestofemptiness thank you! I will check the instructions in the video you shared.

 

@dwai thanks, sleeping more doesn't seem to help, for some reason I always wake up tired and recover energy as the day progresses. I'll check the book you recommended, does it explain general health practices or is it only Qi Gong oriented?

 

@Master Logray I was doing concentration meditation, keeping the attention at the sensation of the air at the tip of the nose, with a slightly open awareness so not too forced. Just keeping it there without moving it to other parts during the breath.

 

I seems like in general the recommendation is to stop meditating, should I stop also grounding exercises and things like that? Are there any books that may help me diagnose the issue better before I get the change to visit a chinese medicine practitioner that may help?

[Master Logray]

40 minutes ago, GreenCord said:

@Master Logray I was doing concentration meditation, keeping the attention at the sensation of the air at the tip of the nose, with a slightly open awareness so not too forced. Just keeping it there without moving it to other parts during the breath.

 

I seems like in general the recommendation is to stop meditating, should I stop also grounding exercises and things like that? Are there any books that may help me diagnose the issue better before I get the change to visit a chinese medicine practitioner that may help?

 

To be scientific, you better stop everything except one, then change to another and observe the result on your body.  Just like your PC is out of order, you unplug the usb, mouse, vga card etc one by one and see which one causes trouble.

 

attention at the sensation of the air at the tip of the nose:  It should be safe.  The western sect of Taoist has similar technique.  They pay attention to 1 inch away from the tip of the nose.  It is to prevent any concentration associate with your head, brain, third eye area.  Unless you have good guidance, don't concentrate in the head area, or even upper body, it is prone to all sorts of problems.

 

TCM doctors may or may not be able to help. 

 

A safe way to direct the Chi down is to immerse your feet into warm water(not too hot), usually before you sleep.  There are ingredients to put in, like silvery wormwood( Chinese mugwort,) or ginger .  If you can't find them or too expensive, just put a little bit of salt.  This method is not that powerful but also won't aggravate your situation.   This is good for sleep too.

 

Other possible methods including standing pose to direct energy to bottom of your feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[freeform]

On 26/04/2020 at 3:58 PM, GreenCord said:

@freeform would you recommend stopping all Qi Gong exercises or only meditation? I was finding a lot of benefit when it comes to stretching, releasing body tension and improving body posture that I don't get from other types of exercise, and it will be a bit difficult to see a chinese medicine expert until the lockdown is stopped.

 

Oh you can keep stretching and anything 'external' and physical. I would just caution against 'turning inside' - so any qigong or meditation really. You want to avoid turning your awareness inwards for a little while. Even if you're trying to sink Qi to your feet... 

 

By turning awareness inwards, you're basically feeding any existing 'circuit' that's been built and it can also move any pathogenic information into the deeper channels (where it's harder to get rid of).

 

Spend time in nature and around trees if you can. Light to moderate level of exercise can help. Stretching is good. In the meantime try to get some good recommendations for Chinese Medicine practitioners nearby, and get in contact. That would be my suggestion.

 

[GreenCord]

@freeform thanks, I'll try to keep away from meditation or internal work for now.

 

@Master Logray the warm water with salt seems to help quite a bit. Thanks!

 

Also found that eye rolling stretch during the day helps remove quite a lot of the tension on the head. Probably spend too much time reading and working on computers, so part of the tension probably comes from there plus meditation increased the issue.

[forestofclarity]

I would add this as well: things are impermanent. That means naturally, things will dissolve naturally so long as we are not tightening on them. From a meditation perspective, there are at least two approaches to blockages--- 1) powering through them; 2) relaxing and dissolving. I find that 1) inevitably leads to problems. In the long run, 2) is a much better approach in my experience, although it may be more difficult to find. 

 

Before I was able to learn to relax the mind (an ongoing process, I assure you), I had to spend some time learning to relax the body (also an ongoing process). This is where some of the physical arts come in--- yoga, tai chi, etc. Of course, you will also find the two approaches there: some yoga teachers focus on stretching and holding, others on relaxing. If you learn to relax the body, you will eventually create a nice container for your meditation practice. 

 

 

On 4/28/2020 at 7:19 AM, GreenCord said:

Also found that eye rolling stretch during the day helps remove quite a lot of the tension on the head. Probably spend too much time reading and working on computers, so part of the tension probably comes from there plus meditation increased the issue.