Lots of energy before bed

[David Langford]

I noticed since starting Cosmos Chi Kung that I have had a lot of energy and it's a bit hard to get to sleep at night, has anyone else experienced this?

It is actually kind of cool, the opposite of before when I would be quite tired many hours before bed.

[Bernardo]

Hi Sijat,

Yes, I have experienced this.

[Dorit]

Hi Neeros,

normally not - I am tired in the evening (it is a nice natural feeling of tiredness) coming to sleep very quickly. But I noticed I am neither tired in the morning, nor during the day.

Sifu Wong told us a very good remedy for those with difficulties in coming to sleep: doing ten times "Lifting the Sky" while lying in bed. And this really works, I do it sometimes when waking up in the night, and not being able to quickly fall in sleep again. It always works!

My best,
confermezza

[SimonR]

Yin Yang harmony

Dear Neeros,

I can see that you are enjoying very much your practice and that you are doing it regularly, that's great! Congratulations! I would just like to highlight something that I have heard from Sigung before, "to good is not good".

It is great that you are full of energy but it should be a gradual progress, one of the things Chi Kung does is to regulate our sleep, and as you say, much better having this amount of energy than being tired all day, but anyway we should be able to go to sleep at night easily if we want to. Remember the Yin Yang harmony.

Observe gently your practice, let the chi tell you what is the best way to practice in this moment, in relation to the time of the chi flow, number of repetitions, among others. Don't make it complicate just observe gently, our practice naturally develops the skill to sense and "listen" our body, trust it!

I've read in another post you are trying to practice 50 to 100 times of grasping sparrow's tail a day, it is great that you aim for high objectives, but let it grow naturally and fluidly.


Keep enjoying and smiling!


Simon

[David Langford]

Dear Neeros,

I can see that you are enjoying very much your practice and that you are doing it regularly, that's great! Congratulations! I would just like to highlight something that I have heard from Sigung before, "to good is not good".

It is great that you are full of energy but it should be a gradual progress, one of the things Chi Kung does is to regulate our sleep, and as you say, much better having this amount of energy than being tired all day, but anyway we should be able to go to sleep at night easily if we want to. Remember the Yin Yang harmony.

Observe gently your practice, let the chi tell you what is the best way to practice in this moment, in relation to the time of the chi flow, number of repetitions, among others. Don't make it complicate just observe gently, our practice naturally develops the skill to sense and "listen" our body, trust it!

I've read in another post you are trying to practice 50 to 100 times of grasping sparrow's tail a day, it is great that you aim for high objectives, but let it grow naturally and fluidly.


Keep enjoying and smiling!


Simon

Thank you Sifu,

I will try to "go with the flow" so to speak from now on and see where that leads me. I can see now that I may be over-practicing.

[Zach]

Hello David,

I experienced a reduced need for sleep for a couple of months toward the end of my first year of practice. And then it passed, and I went back to 8 hours or so on average.

If you feel that you're not able to sleep when you need to be sleeping, Sifu advises Lifting the Sky and a gentle thought at the dantien as a great way to overcome insomnia.

I've never had sleeping issues, but for a variety of reasons (travel being the main one) I worked at being able to sleep whenever and wherever for perhaps a month. Using Sifu's advice, I clear my mind as best as I can, and think of my dantien. For me, I'm impressed that I can fall asleep whenever I wish in no more than two minutes.

It's been a great skill to have with a three month old baby in the family who goes to sleep when he pleases and wakes at odd hours.

Enjoy your practice!

[Zach]

This just occurred to me as well, in the past I found that practicing a couple of hours before bed gave me lots of energy, but if I practiced shortly before bed, I could go to sleep quickly if I chose.

[Neil Kelson]

There's no doubt chi kung practice can greatly improve your tolerance for getting less sleep than your body needs.

However, the potential downside is that you can then enjoy this benefit too much and burn the midnight oil a bit more than you should, and this can go unnoticed because the chi kung practice is, in a sense, masking any possible ill-effects.

I confess I've fallen into this little trap more than a few times :-(

My experience is that it is better to get the right amount of sleep that your body needs, and allow your practice to build up a "reserve" of energy which you can then draw on when you really need to go without some sleep to get something important accomplished.

[Neil Kelson]

BTW, I remember Sifu once referring to sleep as "Nourishing the Spirit", which I think nicely highlights how important it is to us.

[David Langford]

Ah, thank you Sihing, and Sifu, I will take your advice to heart. *Writes this at 1:11AM* lol

It probably doesn't help that I have been celibate since I first learned Cosmos Chi Kung, which was a little over a month ago. I can't decide whether to aim for the 100 days, or just continue on warrior-monk style. It's been A LOT easier than I had imagined, almost simple. I just set the goal and did it, or rather didn't do it. heh

"Nourishing the spirit" I like that, a lot.

Thanks again,

Bedtime!

[Zach]

There's no doubt chi kung practice can greatly improve your tolerance for getting less sleep than your body needs.

However, the potential downside is that you can then enjoy this benefit too much and burn the midnight oil a bit more than you should, and this can go unnoticed because the chi kung practice is, in a sense, masking any possible ill-effects.

I confess I've fallen into this little trap more than a few times :-(

My experience is that it is better to get the right amount of sleep that your body needs, and allow your practice to build up a "reserve" of energy which you can then draw on when you really need to go without some sleep to get something important accomplished.

This is excellent advice. Thank you for sharing it, Sihing Neil.

[joko]

Yes,
sleep is the natural way of rest.

And, are we aware that sleep is a kind of experience of death?

The following are (translations of) two verses in the Book, related to sleep.

[25:47] He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to SLEEP and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.

[39:42] GOD puts the souls to death when the end of their life comes, and also at the time of SLEEP. Thus, He takes some back during their SLEEP, while others are allowed to continue living until the end of their predetermined interim. This should provide lessons for people who reflect.

------------------------------
Joko

[David Langford]

Yes,
sleep is the natural way of rest.

And, are we aware that sleep is a kind of experience of death?

The following are (translations of) two verses in the Book, related to sleep.

[25:47] He is the One who designed the night to be a cover, and for you to SLEEP and rest. And He made the day a resurrection.

[39:42] GOD puts the souls to death when the end of their life comes, and also at the time of SLEEP.

Wait, the soul itself dies during sleep and death? I thought during death the soul and energy is released. Well when one looks at the etymology of death it is a transformation rather than an "end." so this does make sense.

Thus, He takes some back during their SLEEP, while others are allowed to continue living until the end of their predetermined interim. This should provide lessons for people who reflect.

------------------------------
Joko

This literally meaning some of the soul is taken during sleep?

These are two slightly confusing passages, I haven't ran across passages as confusing as these actually. lol

I like them though.

[joko]

My interpretation of the passages is:

1. Sleep is needed for the body to rest.

2. a) During sleep, the soul is taken out (temporarily) from the body. On waking up, the soul is put back to the body.
b) When someone dies, the soul is separated permanently from the body. The soul remains alive.

(At the time of death means the death of the body, or the end of life in this phenomenal world. The soul never dies)

c) Some die during their sleep; others die while not in sleep.

Joko

[joko]

Dear David,

The passage in my first post in this thread was taken from a translator some years ago.
The following is another version of translation:

39:42 God seizes the souls at the time of their death; and for those that have not died, during their sleep. He then keeps those that have been overtaken by death, and He sends the others back until a predetermined time. In that are signs for a people who will think.

-------
Joko