Learning yigong

[Kasper]

Hi everyone

 

Does anyone know how I can learn Sifu Jenny Lamb's Yigong level 1? I have bought the course on her website but I haven't received any download and I have written to them via the contact form, but haven't gotten any reply.

 

Hope someone can help.

 

All the best

 

[idquest]

On 05/09/2025 at 7:03 AM, Kasper said:

Hi everyone

 

Does anyone know how I can learn Sifu Jenny Lamb's Yigong level 1? I have bought the course on her website but I haven't received any download and I have written to them via the contact form, but haven't gotten any reply.

 

Hope someone can help.

 

All the best

 

 

I vaguely remember she might have retired from any activity. 

[Kasper]

Thank you for your reply.

 

Is there none else teaching it?

[Sahaja]

Max Christiansen’s Kunlun  book describes essentially the same procedure (sitting in a chair on a rubber mat with a mudra with some breath awareness exercises to calm you). It’s available as a free pdf online if you search a bit.  I learned it initially from the free  Kunlun pdf and later bought Jenny’s video to see if I was missing anything - her video also has some other more conventional qi gong on it. Yi gong/kunlun  triggers  zi fa gong  (spontaneous movement) from freed up yang qi which is interesting but not particularly profound (more of a natural body process than a spiritual one). It does make one more aware of ones own qi movement which can be quite helpful in further cultivation. However it’s  not just this Yi Gong mudra that generates zifagong. Many qi gong practices can and do including the standing static postures like wuji, Taiyi, zhang Zhuang and others. 
 

[liminal_luke]

I personally don´t worry about the rubber mat or even the mudra.  I just sit on a chair, lift my heels up so just the balls of my feet are on the floor, and let the movement happen.  The important thing, I think, is just to allow oneself to be spontaneous rather than trying to control the movement (or lack of movement) in any way and to maintain awareness of what´s happening.  That´s it.  Sit afterwards on the floor in stillness to allow everything to integrate.

[Kasper]

Thank you both @liminal_luke and @Sahaja!

 

I have learned kunlun from Max' book, but wanted to see if Sifu Jenny's instruction was the same. It sounds like it, so thank for clearing that up.

 

It is not particularly profound, though? Are you able to expand a bit on that? 

 

I read on Jenny's website that all most people need is level one yigong and that it would open all the channels eventually, but I would love to hear what your experience with it is.

 

Edited September 10 by Kasper

[liminal_luke]

Hi @Kaspar,

 

Some years back Kunlun / yigong was all the rage on the board, and many people shared their experiences -- both positive and negative -- with the practice.  If you search back, you should be able to read many of those accounts.  I think of spontaneous movement as a process of purification; it releases blockages that get in the way of stillness and silence.  In a sense, the specifics of our blockages are not "profound," but the underlying calm that remains when the blockages are removed is profound.  That´s the way I see it.

 

Like you, I love to read about other people´s experiences with practices I´m interested in.  These stories are often inspiring, motivating.  But what is ultimately important is the experience you will have if you commit to the practice.  I¨m confident that your story will be uniquely your own.  I think it´s a worthy undertaking.  You may not do it forever, but it´s worth spending some time with as an experiment, seeing where it will take you.  Just my two cents.

Edited September 10 by liminal_luke

[Kasper]

On 10.9.2025 at 7:08 PM, liminal_luke said:

Hi @Kaspar,

 

Some years back Kunlun / yigong was all the rage on the board, and many people shared their experiences -- both positive and negative -- with the practice.  If you search back, you should be able to read many of those accounts.  I think of spontaneous movement as a process of purification; it releases blockages that get in the way of stillness and silence.  In a sense, the specifics of our blockages are not "profound," but the underlying calm that remains when the blockages are removed is profound.  That´s the way I see it.

 

Like you, I love to read about other people´s experiences with practices I´m interested in.  These stories are often inspiring, motivating.  But what is ultimately important is the experience you will have if you commit to the practice.  I¨m confident that your story will be uniquely your own.  I think it´s a worthy undertaking.  You may not do it forever, but it´s worth spending some time with as an experiment, seeing where it will take you.  Just my two cents.

Thank you for your reply! I did actually search on the forum to read other people's experiences, however a lot of the talk was about Max' credibility and person and it became a little confusing. But I will take another look and see if I can seperate the useful from the less useful.

Edited Wednesday at 11:31 AM by Kasper

[Sahaja]

The profound comment was targeted at the marketing of Kunlun  which had a lot of nonsense in it about special energies and other esoteric stories. I met people who had previously practiced Kunlun years later in a completely different practice setting  surrounded by other people having Zi Fa Gong from a completely different practice (that had never done Kunlun) still believing these stories that the Zi Fa Gong from Kunlun was somehow special. This seemed sad to me. Zi fa gong is zi fa gong. Zi in Chinese really refers to something coming from inside of you naturally. What people are experiencing is their own qi - mostly yang qi but also some yin qi as the two travel together. 
 

what I think is good about it is that - perhaps even profound - is that it gives one a direct, in your face experience of qi. Depending on the individual this can change one’s perspective as it’s dramatic, sometimes inexplicable  presentation can challenge their paradigm and get them to look at things differently.   I think it also can give one a direct somatic experience of accupuncture/marma areas of the body and even relationships of things like the six harmonies that are quite useful in the practice of internal martial arts. These experiences can also provide motivation for further exploration. Similar to liminal Luke I used to sit with it every morning to see what it would show me. If you pay attention it can show you some things about your internal wiring/subtle body configuration  that are helpful on the path. For example this is where a first noticed the magnetic relationship between laogong and the lower Dan tian area. I was not aware of this relationship at the time but it made when I formally learned about it later make sense quite quickly, “oh geez that’s why it did that!” This type of naturally arising knowledge from inside  gives one discernment that is useful when later choosing a teacher /getting formal training. 
 

 Just need to be careful not to become attached to any specific experience, to be willing to let whatever arises go, and allow it to change. If you don’t you can get stuck repeating the same pattern over and over again. Cultivation experiences and phenomena should be observed/noted  for whatever  information they contain  and then treated as irrelevant scenery and allowed to recede from awareness behind you as you travel on your path. 
 

The last comment I have is not to undertake it if you are being treated for any mental health issues as it will just add fuel to these existing issues which may exacerbate them. 

[liminal_luke]

4 hours ago, Kasper said:

 I did actually search on the forum to read other people's experiences, however a lot of the talk was about Max' credibility and person and it became a little confusing. But I will take another look and see if I can seperate the useful from the less useful.

 

I haven´t read those old threads for years, but I´m sure you´re right that much of it is about Max´s credibility as a person.  Not so useful.  My own view is that it´s the practice that counts -- not the likeability / trustworthiness of the teacher.  If you undertake the practice, you´ll develop your own educated opinion about it.  In the end, that´s all that matters.  

[forestofclarity]

The old Kunlun craze was something--- the Lama DORJE THUNDERBOLT movie/website where he walked around in vaguely Tibetan robes evidently channeling qi into screaming women. That armies died in order to learn the mysterious Red Phoenix technique. People looking for dream initiation. Horror movies. Clones. Conspiracies of the highest order. 

 

I agree with what Sahaja said, but would add that involuntary movements are widely known across traditions and tend to pop up even during intensive concentration and Vipassana retreats. 

 

 

[Kasper]

Thank you all.

It is also my experience that the involuntary movements can happen when doing other methods or no method at all. I got shaktipat from Jan Esmann (and David Spero was there in Denmark adventitiously at my first encounter with Jan) and around the same time got it from Jivanmukti from siddhantayoga, where the basic practice was just to let go and let "spontaneous kriyas" happen. Later I also learned Dr. Berceli's TRE-method, which in some was seems like Yigong/Kunlun - get in position and let the body do its job.

 

With my shaktipat teachers I felt there either was some personality issues or (later) entity issues, which made my stop. And TRE doesn't have a spiritual tradition, which I missed. So I hope/hoped that Yigong/Kunlun would be a good alternative.  However, Max's stories and promises also seems too good to be true. But I think you are right, that although we all have many things in common as humans but we are also different and will have different experiences, so in the end I have to see how it works for me - still very useful to get you input, though!

 

[Sahaja]

Yes my first experience of energetic movement  was in seated yogic meditative practice. It was not part of the tradition I was in but fortunately I had a very experienced teacher that advised me to sit with it to see what it teaches me but to also stay in charge of it. This ultimately led me to a different cultivation path through trying various qi gongs and now  Neidan. I can now see how the initial energetic experience was related to the Neidan process. 
 

Based on my observations in the process I followed I think working with qi  is fairly generic (based on song and ting - mind soaked inside and release physical tension and mental intention) and I am somewhat skeptical of  teachers that promote unique special methods and energies as I think the cultivation process is more basic than that. That said structure and advisor is essential as discipline and direction is an important part of the process (probably more than the specific method used !)  .My suggestion is to use your energetic experiences to assess them and help you choose wisely. 

[forestofclarity]

12 hours ago, Kasper said:

I felt there either was some personality issues

 

That is definitely an issue with increasing the power to the system. Whatever is there-- good, bad or ugly, tends to get amplified. This is likely one reason why certain traditions don't teach these openly without initiation and taking ethical vows and so on. 

 

 

 

[liminal_luke]

11 hours ago, Kasper said:

 

 And TRE doesn't have a spiritual tradition, which I missed. So I hope/hoped that Yigong/Kunlun would be a good alternative.  However, Max's stories and promises also seems too good to be true. 

 

 

Max says that his system is not the same as his teachers, meaning, I think, that "kunlun" is not the same as "yi gong."  Having received instructions for both practices, I can´t say I see the difference.  But what is glaringly true is that Max (Kunlun) and Jenny Lamb (Yi Gong) have wildly different personalities and approaches.  Max is flamboyant, a self-proclaimed "coyote" given to telling wild stories.  Jenny is grounded, circumspect.  I think it would be a mistake to dismiss Kunlun / yigong based on an appraisal of Max´s character.  Those who don´t like Max will likely like Jenny, and vice versa.  

 

I´m positive that Yigong is grounded in a spiritual tradition, though not one that is easily accessed, especially now that Jenny is retired.  My intuitive sense is that the tradition can best be accessed through committed practice.  It´s possible that the best teachers are not presently embodied in human form, but nevertheless actively guide the diligent student.  Just my guess.

Edited 19 hours ago by liminal_luke

[steve]

I think it is very important to consider the teacher when learning a spiritual or energetic practice. The teacher represents the system and demonstrates what dedicated practice in the system can produce in their words and actions. The integrity of the system and accuracy of transmission is only as dependable and pure as the teacher. 

Edited 13 hours ago by steve

[liminal_luke]

3 hours ago, steve said:

I think it is very important to consider the teacher when learning a spiritual or energetic practice. The teacher represents the system and demonstrates what dedicated practice in the system can produce in their words and actions. The integrity of the system and accuracy of transmission is only as dependable and pure as the teacher. 

 

I think much depends on the nature of the student / teacher relationship.  These relationships can be very deep, familial even, as when a student commits to a particular path that the teacher exemplifies and represents.  There can be an emotional bond on both sides that is central to the teaching endeavor.  In this case, I think you´re spot-on that it´s crucial to consider the character of the teacher. 

 

But there are many teachers who we can learn bits and pieces from who maybe we don´t like in some ways.  Like many others, I find Damo Mitchell´s cigar smoking bro-culture ways a little off-putting.  I´m not tempted to join his academy.  As for Max, one would be wise to take some of his stories with a mine full of salt.  Neither of these teachers will ever be anything like a heart-guru for me.  But, for all their imperfections, I believe both of them have valuable things to share.  When I can, I try to take what feels worthwhile -- without going all-in on the fake Tibetan spiritual trappings, imported Habanos, and promises of everlasting life.   

Edited 12 hours ago by liminal_luke

[steve]

I’ve always been a bit of a purist. I’m not looking for bits and pieces of questionable pedigree from here and there. When it comes to spiritual view, practice, and result, going deeper with consistency seems far more productive than sampling a variety of things that may or may not be compatible. Consequently, a solid lineage and credible teacher have a lot of value for me. Trust is an important ingredient in spiritual growth and transformation. Elaborate window dressing, filmed convulsions, and outlandish stories do little to inspire trust in me. It gives me more the vibe of someone trying to control and take advantage of others.