Qi gong queries

[rakkasan]

I am a newby with regards to Qi gong - I am currently studying Chunyi Lin's Spring Forest system, unfortunately only from the cd's and dvd's. I have a number of questions regarding this system and QG in general

 

1) The SF system uses reverse breathing, in all my former martial arts studies i was taught to breathe from the diaphragm, expanding the stomach while inhaling. Utilizing the method taught by Lin I get a feeling of shortness of breath sometimes, would it be a problem to sostituire the breathing method?

 

2) Is there a problem with practicing different styles of QG - I would also like to study the Zhan Zhuang system as taught by Lam Kam Chuen - would this create a conflict in any way with the SF method?

 

I realize that these questions might have been answered elsewhere and if so I apologize, but unfortunately my lunch hour is waning....................

 

thanks

[emily]

Hey rakkasan

 

I am practising spring forest qigong too and am getting really positive benefits from it.

 

I read in an article about spring forest that intitially the most important thing is to learn and get comfortable with the movements and synchronise with the breath.

 

I didn't intitially practise reverse breathing for the same reason you stated, I felt it was a little constricting, but I still got good results. As I am developing my practise I've started to add it consciously to certain moves with the intention of applying reverse breathing to the whole practice in time. This is working well, slowly adapting the muscles to this process.

 

Can't see that doing together with zhan zhuang will turn you into some sort of energy mutant i practise with mantak chia's stuff and have tried a few other things that have caused no problems.

 

emily

[Sahaj Nath]

i've been teaching qigong for a few years now, and the only time i ever reverse breathe is when it arises naturally. a good friend of mine swears by it, but choosing not to do it won't prevent you from developing. it may slow your energetic breakthrough progress a little bit (unless, of course, you know some other powerful techniques), but not necessarily.

 

it sounds to me like maybe you're just trying too hard. you just need some practice with reverse breathing. it can feel very good and at times even more relaxing than normal abdominal breathing.

 

 

when you reverse breathe you're naturally massaging the internal organs with the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles. you're also expanding your lower back, which can cleanse and release vast amounts of energy.

 

 

depending on your personal goals with your practice, reverse breathing could prove to be just the ticket.

 

 

it's not my thing, but that's not because it's uncomfortable. take the time to learn to do it correctly, THEN decide what you think about it.

 

but in the meantime, take emily's advice.

[gendao]

i've been teaching qigong for a few years now, and the only time i ever reverse breathe is when it arises naturally.

I find when doing qigong, it feels more comfortable to connect to the energy first and then let it guide you. As opposed to "conventionally" the other way around.

 

So, instead of focusing on your breathing (to guide your energy), you could focus on following the energy and letting it dictate your breathing, instead.

 

I dunno, just something different to try...as I've admittedly not really had any formal instruction in this. So, caveat emptor.

Edited June 24, 2008 by vortex