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Expect another 12 months of that !

I've practiced qigong for about 20 years. One thing I've learned is that my expectations need to be realistic. Certainly there are benefits from the forms I practice but qigong has not proven to be a comprehensive and complete system for me. I practice both Shiba Luohangong and Ba Duan Jin and derive valuable and different benefits from each. I have also continued to practice internal Chinese martial arts over that period of time - taijiquan, xingyiquan, and baguazhang. While I no longer compete or train martially with others, these have found a valuable role in my physical, energetic, and mental health. Finally, perhaps most important to me is my meditation practice from a Tibetan tradition. While I do think it's important to stick with a practice for a long time to really probe its depth and potential, I don't know that each one of us can expect to find a single practice or system that does everything we are looking for. Some do and that is wonderful but it hasn't been that way for me. I also think that we need to listen to our body and mind and maintain some openness and flexibility as our needs can change over time.

Hi everyone, I’ve been practicing Spring Forest Qigong for over two years. I’ve stayed with Level 1 exercises, didn’t experiment, and followed the instructions carefully. I also consistently did the grounding exercises exactly as recommended and for the suggested amount of time. And yet, I often felt ungrounded. There were many times when it felt like the energy was shooting up into my head and getting stuck there. Even though I was only doing beginner-level practices and focusing on grounding, I didn’t feel settled in my body. Instead, I sometimes felt more “up” than before. And here is something which bothered me a lot: unusual experiences(like seeing stuff which isnt there) started occurring in the middle of the night for several weeks in a row. For some reason it happened only at nighttime. They would wake me up or keep me from falling back asleep. Over time, this led to lack of sleep — and that’s when it became a real problem for me. That’s part of why I started questioning whether this form is truly right for my constitution So now my questions feel even more specific: If a practice leads to feeling ungrounded despite doing grounding exercises, is that a mismatch? If energy repeatedly rises to the head and doesn’t settle, what does that indicate? If unusual experiences start interfering with sleep, is that a red flag? How do experienced practitioners distinguish between “normal energetic adjustment” and actual overstimulation? I’m seriously considering committing to one form for 100 days — but I also don’t want to ignore signs that my system may be getting overstimulated. I would really appreciate hearing from long-term practitioners who have navigated similar phases. What were your markers for a practice being stabilizing versus destabilizing? Thank you for reading.

Simple trick for grounding and diffusing excess energy, I try to do it everyday. 5--30 min is a good metric, pay attention to when your system feels fully "released". -Bare feet on the ground -Tongue to the roof of the mouth -Just stand still.......allow any excess chi to be released into the earth

Fire horse modernised: fire + horse power

Maybe that's what it is. Person C has always viewed qigong as a remedy for something. Remedies are great and necessary, but not many of them are enjoyable, at least for Person C. Who has to debate with herself, "am I in the mood for this? Can I maybe do it later?" even before taking a vitamin C capsule.

There´s a lot to be said for following where the energy is, finding what "hits the spot." My mom has done commision paintings before but always thinks the work she does for herself is better quality -- probably because she chooses the subject and it´s always something that interests her. I think I might know Person C. Qigong, to me, is like a specific tool. You´ve got your qigong hammer and your qigong wrench, qigong to tonify the liver, qigong to open the hips. Taiji, by contrast, is more holistic -- each form is the whole shabang, the entire workshop, a mini version of the universe that mirrors the larger Universe. Similarly, other Daoist arts are also the whole universe. Feng Shui can be the whole universe, flower arranging ditto, tea, etc. To a certain kind of person, qigong can be frustrating because when they´re working on tonifying their liver qi or whatever, everything else that is not that qigong, all the rest of it, tugs at their consciousness. Some people want to work with the whole or nothing. Anyway, this is my theory. Not sure if it would mean anything or not to Person C.

Qigong needs to "hit the spot." Real life examples from my experience. Person A. An accomplished taiji practitioner for many years. Disciplined, dedicated, talented, competitive. Had a falling out with the teacher. Stopped practicing taiji altogether, which at the time struck me as cutting off her nose to spite her face. Found a different teacher, who only teaches qigong, meditation and a bit of related subjects ("feng shui light," very light.) A few years down the road, completely satisfied with her practice. I don't know what she's doing with the competitive side of her personality, but the rest of it has just flown naturally into the new practice. Person B. Has never been interested in anything Asian, and physical engagement with movement has been limited to an occasional game of tennis. An accomplished professional (medical doctor). Started having problems with her lower back later in life, which turned severe. Had surgery which made things worse. Lived in nonstop pain for several years. Was shown a few qigong exercises by a friend. Reluctantly gave it a try, mostly to humor the friend. Being also a naturally disciplined person, decided to give it a trial period of some length. Until then anything and everything she tried made things only worse, but this time at first she noticed her back doesn't feel worse from qigong, then, that it feels a bit better. Chalked it up to placebo yet kept practicing. Three years later, still practices, her back feels 90% better, she's able to go on long hikes now and is off pain medication. Still looking for an allopathic explanation. Person C. An accomplished taiji practitioner, with all-around taoist interests for many years. Has been taught many qigongs by her great teacher and at various workshops and seminars by other masters. Taught qigong to various audiences. Profoundly dislikes practicing it. Why? She has never been able to answer this question. She absolutely loves taiji and many taoist practices, she's an experienced meditator, and there was a time she would sit in full lotus for two hours with reverse breathing going on autopilot if her practice required it. Qigong? Please... no qigong. Why? Who knows. Doesn't hit the spot.

I´m trying to think of something funny to say, but faster, whittier Bums keep jockeying ahead of me.

Elementary! The first one gets washed away by a firehose. Or maybe shouted away by a hoarse voice.

Are you saying you wish people would stop horsing around?

Take it from a drifter, if you´ve been practicing the same system for two years and feel the benefits, you´re doing pretty darn great!

I think we're always looking for the next, the better, the more efficient, the best. Some techniques may seem useless or a slog for a very long time and then one day they open up. I think if you have found a qigong from a teacher you trust, then it would be better to practice that in the long run than drift from practice to practice (like many of us do/have done).

Feels relevant:

This...

Creeps out there, the Dao loves you

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In the interest of rolling out the banner image as expeditiously as possible, the poll is now closed. Horse number Two pulled ahead and is the winner. Thanks to every one who suggested possible images and gave their opinion along the way. Forward!

Cool ! I used to make up (on the spot) a lot of kids stories , when I had a lot to do with kids ( and during 'the age of stories , before they became 'electronic screen addicts ' ) - but I would like to put a twist on them and break the old archetype ( like a young girl finds her dreams come true ... without the prince that has to 'save her' . So I made my dragon story - a female dragon . By the way , you know how dragons are said to guard treasure ... or have treasure , did you know how they get that treasure ? Up in the tops of the craggy high mountains where they nest, they scrape out molds in the rocks with their claws . They dig out other rocks and blast them with their fiery breath to extract the precious metals and pour them, liquid, into the molds . When they dig out rocks they sometimes find gems and they cut these with their teeth by carefully biting them on different angles and polishing them on their rough skin . Then they set them in the metal shapes they have made ; rings, chalices, crowns, bangles and store them in their cave . Dont try to steal them ... she will get very very angry ! ... how a dragon takes a bath ; She splashes around a bit in the lava , being mindful to do behind her ears and neck , then while glowing hot , she plummets from the mountain top through the sky like a burning meteor into the ocean far below . There in the beach side waves she turns and rolls and the hissing water and steam thoroughly finish the job . She emerges even more shiny and burnished and bright ( and might even do a little Samba along the beach (if no one is watching ) ... just because that feels good .

There are a lot of different goals within qigong, some focusing on healing, some on martial power, some on spiritual expansion (this is often in preparation for alchemic work) Imo you should follow your intuition to find one that aligns best with your personal goals (remember there is not a single right choice) Within 100 days you should be able to judge whether the form is helping you to achieve those goals Examples, you'll often feel more youthful and have a higher baseline energy if working with a healing qigong, with martial development you'll get aches in places you didn't know existed, spiritual stuff you'll start to experience the various energetic phenomena leading to expansion of consciousness If you find a really good system it should cause all three Obviously real life isn't so black and white but this is a rough outline of what I've experienced with various systems

If a practice leads to feeling ungrounded despite doing grounding exercises then the grounded exercises don't work or you're doing them wrong. When energy rises to the head then it means you are in fight or flight or are you too much mental focus. Practices should NOT interfere with sleep. That is bad, as you yourself have seen. With regards to energetic phenomena there can be positive and negative experiences, it is best to ask your teacher. Always be mindful of your own health as well, not all teachers are wise, kind or helpful. Too much chi in the head is usually a bad thing unless it is a specific lineage that works with it. Here is a copy of a message i sent to someone else with grounding issues: Because of this i have a good amount of ways to bring the energy down which you could try. 1. Food, lack of food causes a stress state, a stress state influences any chi that is in the system negatively; so making sure you are eating enough is important. Red meat, potatoes, rice, bread, lots of good vegetables, heavy food is better as it directs chi down to the stomach. 2. Chi goes where it is required, meaning if you spend 8hrs a day on a computer your chi will rise to your head due to the activity of the brain. With this in mind it is better to do activities that are more physical, i know you said in your post that you get pains in your joints, so you should tailor the physical exercise to meet your needs. Maybe swimming or low impact walking, even cycling if that doesn't cause any issues. Could you do deep earth pulsing in a stream or lake ? to mitigate the friction build up. 3. Some other things that might be worthwhile would be: learning how to sink the chi (hard but probably the most useful), walking barefoot on grass, doing prostrations on the earth without a mat (forehead to the earth) preferably someplace private, Hakuin's butter meditation, not sitting for too long, sleeping before 10pm if possible, waking up naturally with the sun, sitting in a deep squat for extended periods of time, minimal intellectual activities, gardening.