Chi Kung Questions

[Mbyte]

I have been doing Chi Kung for 2 months and two weeks now. I can only do one session 4 days a week. I usually do the 4 days from Monday to Thursday. I have a few questions to see whether my results are bad ones or good ones. I started getting Chi Flow about the 3rd or 4th day. The Chi flow is basically like a hip warm up. I'm standing upright and my pelvis is pushed forward then over to the side then pushed back over to the other side and the pushed forward again. It's in circular motion.

Much like the warm up during the start of this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu2LBIqvgmc

There are times wear the chi flow twist my torso while doing the circular motions which usually results with my lower back clicking. It's obvious that circuling the pelvis will move my back and there have been a lot of clicks because of it, sometimes even a sharp pain then followed by a relieving click. The clicks have died down. I do have a bad back and have lot of problems. My lower backs endurnace has improved over the last two months. Near the beginning of the Chi Kung I remember finishing up a session my back was sore and hadn't clicked while in chi flow. My back was sore for the entire weekend until the next Chi Kung session.

The first two or three sessions there was a slight clarity after the sessions but there hasn't really been anything like that ever since. Mostly there is.. i don't know, you just know that somehting is happening to my perseption but I wouldn't call it clarity. I also wouldn't say everything is more colourful. I would call it a mind warp.

For the first two weeks of Chi Kung I was doing 40 mintues with ease but now I'm struggling to do 15 mintues. My mind is time conscious while in Chi Flow. I find it hard to smile from the heart. The Chi Flow used to really push my pelves forward to the extent it would be slightly uncomfortable and would bring my mind away from smiling form the heart. My hips were pushed forward so much one day that I got strentch marks all along the left side of my tummy, it's like skin coloured pink striped camouflauge. My aims are to fix my back, fix my chest (structural defect), fix my knees (tendonitous and pain in general). My objectives is to basically be healthy, happy and content. You could say my life has stagnated. My energy is like a swamp.

Now the paragraphs above may seem pretty bleak but I have other benefits. I presume they're benfeits. I have had days that were so bleak and unintresting. I don't really get them as much and not as bad. A few days I had a very slight child likeness state of mind but not much. I enjoy playing video games ever so slighty. So slight it's hard to tell I was a good gamer but when I got started to get down and dull I played them to keep my mind occupied so I wouldn't be thinking. Around the same time the thought of going to sleep to keep my mind off things, it seemed like a some what decent solution.

I used to get pins and needle when I raised my arms up but not as much now.

My apollogies if the aspect of the post are fragmented.

How do you keep your mind content while in Chi Flow?

Is the back clicking, virtibrae shifting a sign of my back healing or a sign of proper Chi Flow?

I have aims and objectives but I forget about them. I do want to be healthy but my mind gets distracted and I forget why I just do Chi Kung. I think why am I doing Chi Kung.. then I remeber my chest is messed up, I don't have motivation to my fix back now because it's doing pretty well and I never associated it's cureent state to Chi Kung. My back is a lot better. Now that I think about it my chest a bit better too.

I watched a Kung Fu vid from one of Sifu Wongs classes and he did what is basically the kung fu walking stance with a puch extended and the other hand on my hip. I don't know the name of the walking stance done in kung fu but the feet are on the same line and both pointed to same direction. The punch requires the torso to twist to such an extent while punching in that stance that it hurt my ribs down the centre. That pain is not that anymore. Oh yes, the left foot would be forward and the right arm would be extended.

There are days I feel slightly pleasent. Everything is slightly. So slight that I could be deluding myself

I have also lost half a stone over the weeks. Well I had until I checked just now. I'm pretty much back wear I started.

I'm waiting for the amazing pleasent and happy feeling to kick in while doing Chi kung but I just can't produce it. I can't smile enough to smile.

This post is all over the place... Typing this post out is making me feel like a failure... At least I feel something, my feelings would usually be clouded a dense murkiness.

[Andrew]

If you want the best results and benefits, follow the instructions you were given respectfully.

The simple instructions were (I'm quite sure): "Practice twice per day every day or once per day if you are lazy. Each session should last about 15 minutes."

These are the most basic instructions. Yet you fail to follow them. You practice intentionally only 4 days per week instead of 7 (missing a session every now and then is ok, though, as long as the practice is generally regular and consistent). You attempt 40 minutes instead of 15. Why? Do you know something the Masters don't?

The instructions given are given to enable students to achieve the best benefits in the shortest time.

Start at the beginning and get the basics right. Follow the instructions you have been given. Then, in due course, the results and benefits will surely appear.

[Mbyte]

I never attempted to do 40 minutes. I stopped after 40 minutes unknowingly. The next few sessions then I had an idea that I was over the 15 minute time so I stopped closer to the 15 minute mark each day getting closer. I was doing 20 minutes for a week. I would finish up and 20 minutes would have passed. I was quite pleased that my sense of time flew so fast but now I'm aware of every minute. The idea of doing Chi Kung for twice a day everyday seems daunting, but if I were to do the sessions as perscribed this might stop.

Implying that I'm arrogant? "I know something the masters don't?" I practice four days on average because I simply don't have the time the next three days. I'm not at home at the moment and I have to travel home on the weekends. This was something I failed to mention because I felt it wasn't relevent. I am trying to practice everyday. I have done Chi Kung 6 days one week. 5 days another week. That's still doing it once a day unfortionatly. It takes 5 hours for me to go home. I bring my cousin up and down also. There are lots of reasons why I don't do Chi Kung on the weekends. Basically I'm always with company. It's hard enough to do it by myself but to do it when someone could walk in or distract me. It used to be freezing the first month and half so I could do it outside. I can't do it in my bedroom.

In two months I could have done about 98 sessions but only done about 28. I know how many sessions I'm losing. I am trying to do the perscribed method. I could go to bed early everynight, get up early 7:00 do Chi Kung go to college, come back do Chi Kung before the students come back, do what I have to do in the evening (which is a lot) then go to bed about 22:00. Then repeat this everyday for the next 2 and a half months because that's how long i'm down here for. (Co. Cork, beside Co. Kerry)

That regime doesn't sound enticing because I don't want a day wear I am doing something on a schedual that has to be done with no time to do nothing. 22:00 isen't a realistic bed time a for a student anyway. Maybe the benefits will include more stamina wear I can stay up untill a later time. When I come back from collage I am tired and I would fall asleep if I laid down. I have to do Chi Kung right after I get back to the accomidation. In time I could have energy to do more possibly. The other schedual I could follow is that I do Chi Kung after I get back to the accomidation then I wait for the students to go to sleep and I do Chi Kung then, about 00:00.

One of the main reasons why I wouldn't do Chi Kung twice a day is because my back would be stiff after all the clicking. Chi Kung makes back stiff, two sessions makes back stiff even more. It would be painful to rotate the hips for the first minutes of chi flow but lower virtibrae would losen up. Through out the day it affected me at first but the slowly reduced and then had an endurance that wasn't there before.

So basically I know I should be following the method, I try to follow the method. I was wondering, does my probably badly explained experiences and results sound good for the training I'm putting in.

On the First day of Chi Flow my lower back was clicking a lot. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

Thank you and also thank you Sifu Andrew.

I also have to travel across the city to my cousins to get access to the internet. Another little thing that takes up so much time.

[mping]

Hi Mbyte,

Although you may think you are doing your best, in my opinion there are some things you can do to get the most out of your training .

For instance, if you are sharing accomodation with someone, you can explain to them why doing Chi Kung is important for you and ask not to be bothered for 15 minutes. Or you can find a space where it is not likely that you are disturbed.

As for the back stiffness, I think you should consult personally with a Wahnam instructor or any other reliable source to make sure you are practicing correctly, but as a general rule after some regular practice one should feel better than before. If your back really hurts when you do Lifting the Sky for instance, maybe a Wahnam instructor can arrange another exercise than can be more beneficial for you situation.

[Omar]

The idea of doing Chi Kung for twice a day everyday seems daunting

Dear Mbyte,

Doing two sessions a day does not only ensure progress, twice a day does not double your progress compared to once a day, I've been told the gain is even greater.

I practice four days on average because I simply don't have the time the next three days.

Then you should take time. Trust me, it is worth it
Speaking from experience, what we do every day comes down to prioritizing.

We have a lot of time during a whole day, also when considering things like work/study, making food for ourselves or others, washing and tidying when needed and so forth. In addition to prioritize what to do, if things are done properly and efficient its is also more cost effective. For example when putting dried clothes into the closet, don't get distracted by other things when doing it thus dragging out the process. I don't mean to sound like a parent, just throwing around examples and I have experience with being a full time student

I am also not suggesting you should live like a eager army officer, (I dont!) who can make his bed in 10 seconds with razor sharp angles on the sheets and pillow corners, and shine his shoes so well he blind his colleagues.

I can't do it in my bedroom.

Do you have a very small bedroom? I usually do most of my training in my bedroom. You should have room to at least swing your arms freely though without knocking things over. If your movements are starting to move you around a lot, you can follow the instructions given before and just slow down with a gentle thought.

I could go to bed early everynight, get up early 7:00 do Chi Kung go to college, come back do Chi Kung before the students come back, do what I have to do in the evening (which is a lot) then go to bed about 22:00

That sounds like a good schedule, but perhaps you could change the late session to about 22:00 before bed instead of in the afternoon. Although midnight is a better time to do chi kung, if you have early duties the next day I would have the late session at ten or so and get those extra hours of sleep for now.

When I come back from collage I am tired and I would fall asleep if I laid down. I have to do Chi Kung right after I get back to the accomidation.

This is another reason why you should aim to do the two 15min sessions per day near their optimal times, it will help you overcome the tiredness.

One of the main reasons why I wouldn't do Chi Kung twice a day is because my back would be stiff after all the clicking. Chi Kung makes back stiff, two sessions makes back stiff even more. It would be painful to rotate the hips for the first minutes of chi flow but lower virtibrae would losen up.

In my opinion, this is a reason to keep doing it twice a day, your back crackling and clicking during chi flow and some accompanying pain sounds very much to me like cleansing. I had and still have similar results. Sounds like someone stepping on crispy bread crumbs inside a blanket sometimes

Sifu told me Carry the Moon is especially good for your back and indeed it is.

So basically I know I should be following the method, I try to follow the method. I was wondering, does my probably badly explained experiences and results sound good for the training I'm putting in.

Frankly, I would suggest you (as already advised by others before) put in the effort to get the basic twice a day routine chiseled into your daily schedule, then it will be better for people online to assess your experiences as you progress.

On the First day of Chi Flow my lower back was clicking a lot. Is this a good sign or a bad sign?

Depends, from my experience this is most likely cleansing. Mental tension can manifest as lower back stiffness. Then so can a lot of things, like wrong sitting position and so forth. I'd put a point on the cleansing though. But as Mping said, consult your instructor personally for a better opinion.

In closing, I think from your post that your "problem" with the chi kung schedule is a unconsciously constructed mental problem(blockage), though you may not be perfectly aware of it right now. In reality, there is no problem.

continue making an effort to make those two 15 minute sessions part of your daily routine. In the end, it is a matter of prioritizing and changing unseen mental habits. And it is no harder then you make it yourself. Really .

All the best,

Omar

[Andrew]

Excellent posts, genltemen.

Mbyte, please do note that everyone who has posted is trying their best to help you.

Time is one of the most common excuses (not reasons) people find (or create) to not practice regularly. As Omar so rightly said, this is a blockage. We know from Sifu's teaching but, more importantly, from personal experience, that the time invested in practicing will be returned manyfold.

Give it a try -- it will be worth it for sure.

[Chiahua]

Omar that was a great post.
It reminds me of a story I read on Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's website, one I've heard elsewhere (maybe on this forum?). A lecturer was giving a talk on time management and placed placed a jar in front of his audience. He first put in some big rocks. When no more big rocks fit, he started putting in rocks that were smaller. Eventually, he filled the rest of the jar with sand. When he asked the audience what the point of the exercise was, an audience member said it was to fill in the small spaces with sand.
The lecturer said that that's a good point but the real important message was to put the large rocks in first; much like the jar has a limited amount of space, a given person's day is only 24 hours. So make sure your day rocks!


hahah sorry I couldn't resist
Chow

[AlexBaranosky]

Hello MByte,

You need to practice every day. If you only practice every 4 days that is like starting to boil water, and then turning the stove off and then starting to boil it again, and then turning the stove off again, and then starting to boil it again, and then turning the stove off again...

[joko]

It reminds me of a story I read on Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's website, one I've heard elsewhere (maybe on this forum?).

Indeed, the story was in this forum some time ago, in this thread.

[mogi]

A lecturer was giving a talk on time management and placed placed a jar in front of his audience. He first put in some big rocks. When no more big rocks fit, he started putting in rocks that were smaller. Eventually, he filled the rest of the jar with sand. When he asked the audience what the point of the exercise was, an audience member said it was to fill in the small spaces with sand.
The lecturer said that that's a good point but the real important message was to put the large rocks in first; much like the jar has a limited amount of space, a given person's day is only 24 hours. So make sure your day rocks!

Then the student came opened a beer and poured it into the jar which means that whatever You do in life there is always place to drink a beer

That's a joke of course. The story is very good.

[Mbyte]

Wow, they are all great replies. That was a great reply omar. I'm glad to hear that back clicking and slight back pains sounds like cleansing to you. My lower back is stiff before Chi Kung and then loose after Chi Kung but the next day it's stiff again. Then there are other days my lower back feels quite pleasant, like yesterday. All this is associated to the back stiffness. This stiffness isn't my proper lower back problem. Origionally I had low endurance with my lower back. Sweeping floors for 30 seconds would cause a pain which could be compared to a tooth ache. The pain would naturally trigger my lower back muscles to tense up. This pain has practicially vanished. The pain would go up the enitre lower curvered column of my spine but a few weeks ago I noticed the pain had reduced and resided at two specific points in my lower back. I havn't had the full lower back pain now in weeks. It went two to three weeks of when I first started. I much prefer the stiffness. I can sweep floors though I still worry that when I stand upright after being slouched over that the pain will shoot up my lower back with the tension is released by the upright position but it never happens. It is astonishing. I have this pain for a few years and when my back clicks, shifts and what appears to sound like tissue while in Chi Flow the pain goes. I am sure that Chi Kung did this.

I understand that I could simply do 15 minutes really easily by doing fifteen minutes. All you have to do is stop what you’re doing and do it. In theory you could stop in the middle of the street and do it. The idea of people looking at you thinking your crazy would be a blockage thus hindering the progress of the session. I realise that avoiding the students about my Chi Kung practice could be called a blockage. I'm a secretive person. No one knows me, not even my family. Those who barely know me think I'm crazy or I just seem shy. Crazy because I would talking about Chi Kung and such things.

I don't practice in my bedroom because I remember reading something that Andrew posted (I think it was Andrew). You shouldn't practice in your bedroom because you will be cleansing in your room while doing Chi Kung then sleeping in your room. So you will be sleeping amongst the stuff that was released. I practice mostly in the sitting room. I have a concern that the students would be subjected to the released stuff (i don't know what to call it) while watching TV so I try and air out the room.

When I do Chi Kung in the sitting room I try and inhale as passively as possible. No hindrance or resistance in the inhalation or exhalation. I often crave fresh air while doing this. Is it common to crave fresh air?

Another thing I've noticed while in Chi Flow.. While my hips are circling and I come across a pain in my lower back it makes my breath stutter. The lack of hindrance is disrupted. It's obvious that a pain would cause tension and a different reaction to breathing. I feel that a pain like this wouldn't generate such an effect to my breathing under normal circumstances. The pain would make me exhale in fast little bursts. The pain isn’t even close to excruciating. Is this also common? I just try to override this by passively breathing. Doing this seems to conflict with the pain at some level, this feeling is very subtle almost unnoticeable. I would even go as far as saying it's not the physical pain it's self that causes this effect but something associated with it that I am unaware of.

[mping]

I understand that I could simply do 15 minutes really easily by doing fifteen minutes. All you have to do is stop what you’re doing and do it. In theory you could stop in the middle of the street and do it. The idea of people looking at you thinking your crazy would be a blockage thus hindering the progress of the session. I realise that avoiding the students about my Chi Kung practice could be called a blockage. I'm a secretive person. No one knows me, not even my family. Those who barely know me think I'm crazy or I just seem shy. Crazy because I would talking about Chi Kung and such things.

I don't see it this way. We as an social individual are a part of this society, and I feel that we have to find our place in the world also. So, I try to find a place where I don't disturb anyone and also I'm not disturbed.

I'm a secretive person. No one knows me, not even my family. Those who barely know me think I'm crazy or I just seem shy. Crazy because I would talking about Chi Kung and such things.

Just practice with an open heart and spirit If I have to practice near other people, I believe that other people would respect me. So far, I had good results

Besides, we weren't born doing Lifting The Sky, Chi Kung was introduced to us in some way. Who knows, maybe by talking about Chi Kung you'll raise the interest of some friends or family, who can later practice on their own. The real blockage is not practicing.

I don't practice in my bedroom because I remember reading something that Andrew posted (I think it was Andrew). You shouldn't practice in your bedroom because you will be cleansing in your room while doing Chi Kung then sleeping in your room. So you will be sleeping amongst the stuff that was released. I practice mostly in the sitting room. I have a concern that the students would be subjected to the released stuff (i don't know what to call it) while watching TV so I try and air out the room.

If you can practice and air the room for a couple of hours, I think you will be OK.

When I do Chi Kung in the sitting room I try and inhale as passively as possible. No hindrance or resistance in the inhalation or exhalation. I often crave fresh air while doing this. Is it common to crave fresh air?]

If you think you would feel more comfortable practicing in an open space, go and practice in an open space then Again, the important is to practice in a place that you are comfortable. First, you find your comfortable place, then you practice with no worries If you are not comfortable indoors, go outdoors. Maybe later you will be comfortable anywhere you are. Enjoy!

[mogi]

If you can practice and air the room for a couple of hours, I think you will be OK.

Is it neccessary to air the room for several hours? The room where I sleep in is the only place in my home when I can practice. I usually aired it during the practice and a while after but usually few minutes? Can it have some bad effects?

[Andrew]

Airing the room during and after practice is ideal if you cannot practice elsewhere. I would estimate the minimum to be airing the room for 15 minutes after the practice. If weather and other factors allow, then longer is certainly better.

[mogi]

This surely can be done. Thank You.