Illness as a Messenger: How Do You See It in Qigong?

[Kati]

Do you reflect on the state of your health as part of your Qigong journey, rather than focusing only on the exercises?
I don’t mean chasing after specific results, but more in the sense that when our body is in balance and health, we may be more able to receive the full benefits of the practice.

One could argue that health does make a difference:

• Flow of Qi: When the body is not dominated by pain, exhaustion, or blockages, qi can circulate more freely, and the subtle shifts in practice become clearer. Daoist writings often point out that cultivated energy flows best in states of calm and emptiness.

• Clarity of attention: With fewer distractions from symptoms, awareness can sink deeper into stillness and inner sensing.

• Resonance with the practice: A balanced body can take in movements, breath work, and meditation more easily, creating a finer resonance between exercise and inner state.

At the same time, I wonder how seriously we take illness as a messenger – whether we pay attention to what it is trying to show us, or tend to avoid looking at it.

For me, this has always been a paradox. I value a healthy body, but I don’t want to become overly fixated on measuring or controlling it. On the other hand, I’ve also come to see illness not simply as an obstacle, but as a messenger pointing to deeper imbalance. For most of my life, I lived with depression, and only by seeing it as a messenger did I find my way to qigong. Through practice, the depression gradually lifted – so in a sense, my illness both limited me and guided me toward healing.

From a daoist perspective, perhaps health and illness are not opposites but part of the same cycle – each carrying the seed of transformation. That’s why I’m curious: how do you approach this in your own practice? How do you focus on maintaining health and how do you trust the practice itself to bring you into balance over time?
 

I know that, in general, the advice is something like: “Pay attention to the signals your body gives you—they are your teachers. But don’t let your current health limit or distract you. Qigong heals from within, no matter where you start.”

Still, I’m much more curious about how people personally experience this. How do you actually notice or respond to your body’s messages in daily life? Do you treat illness as a teacher, or do you tend to avoid looking at it? Hearing real experiences helps me connect with this advice in a way that simply reading it never could.

Edited yesterday at 01:56 AM by Kati

[Lairg]

Speaking to a friend yesterday and he said he suffered  from atrial fibrillation - resulting in irregular heart beat etc.

 

When I looked at the vertical flow of life force that anchors in his heart, the flow had lots of narrow horizontal gaps.  The gaps seemed to relate to quite a lot of messy deaths in previous incarnations.  When he let go some of that trauma there were fewer and much narrower gaps in the inflow of life force

 

 

[Kati]

Are you throwing wisdom Nuggets in a cryptic way at me? You wouldnt ,right? Ok joke aside. It sounds cryptic because i a dont know most of the Terminology you use. Could you explain those for me?

Sounds like you do energy healing and sensed the flow of energy in your friend. You seem open to sense energy around you

If you do energy healing ,can i ask some questions?

 

And thank yu for sharing this. It shows how emotions +trauma are linked.

Edited 21 hours ago by Kati

[Lairg]

I prefer to start with experience rather than theory.

 

Visualize (or just imagine) a vertical flow of life force into your physical body.

 

Put your attention above your head, and follow the downflow. 

 

What do you observe/experience?

 

 

[Sanity Check]

On 9/12/2025 at 3:51 PM, Kati said:

 

Still, I’m much more curious about how people personally experience this. How do you actually notice or respond to your body’s messages in daily life? Do you treat illness as a teacher, or do you tend to avoid looking at it? Hearing real experiences helps me connect with this advice in a way that simply reading it never could.

 

 

 

I think it helps to remember there is a small percentage of people with immunity to local anesthetic.

 

There are some of european scandinavian descent with a DNA mutation giving them immunity to AIDs/HIV.

 

People are dissimilar and typically need to find out what is optimal for them on an individual level.

 

While clarity and peace may be the path for some.

 

Others they might find calm in chaos and noise.

 

Nature is a freaky mysterious thing and the idyllic and utopian view people have of there being a one size fits all teaching for everyone.

 

Is something that does not necessarily exist.

 

[Krenx]

On 9/12/2025 at 6:51 PM, Kati said:

How do you actually notice or respond to your body’s messages in daily life? Do you treat illness as a teacher, or do you tend to avoid looking at it? Hearing real experiences helps me connect with this advice in a way that simply reading it never could.

You pay attention to it, and execute actions and habits that are skillful. NOT actions that stem from avoiding, or identifying with it. 

Simple example is let's say you have some back ache. Be attentive where this pain is, the quality of it, and if it is connected to any other parts of your body, and consider potential causes of it. 

Skillful habits and actions would be to seek professional help to investigate the root causes, picking up light stretching and strengthening exercises, energy work to heal and give support to the pain. Intimate attention and awareness around the pain, allows the qi to know where to go. 

Unskillful actions would be doing everything in your power to cover up the pain with drugs, avoid the pain by not moving at all, develop identity and an unhealthy relationship with the pain; for example using it to gain pity, as an excessive excuse to not take up responsibilities etc. The mind and body has the ability prolong pain and injury when it serves their vices. Or you hate it so much, you exert on that pain to make the injury WORSE. 

The skillful way is often not a pleasant process. It is bitter. In fact, when you do it right and well, you will be able to discover the "Web" root of injuries. That back pain, with enough attention, you start to reveal hidden culprits in your body, and how they contributed to repeated injuries. And when they are discovered, these culprits throw a tantrum and hurt. These culprits could be physical habits, energetic, psychological. They do not like to be found, and they will retaliate in pain. And you do the same work to address all these hidden issues. The other end of this process, is a thriving health. 

In my case, I had a sharp pain in my chest, and upper back that appeared every few months for about 5 years. I finally decided to use neigong to resolve it, instead of ignoring it. What happened was my practice opened up that pain, and revealed its connection to my lower back, all the way up to my neck. When that line of pain opened, it was very painful, but bearable when I kept it filled it up with Qi. That line of pain made obviously made it easy to find, and with practice keep it as open and clear as possible for qi to flow through it for 6 months, and one day it finally disappeared. I never had any pain at those areas ever again since. The qi finally was able to transform my body to end that pain after 6 months. 

The work of the internal and spiritual, is to help you thrive in life, mentally and physically. Not cope and survive. The cost is effort, and dedication. Such fruits and gifts are not given, but cultivated. 

[Master Logray]

On 9/13/2025 at 9:51 AM, Kati said:

Do you reflect on the state of your health as part of your Qigong journey, rather than focusing only on the exercises?
I don’t mean chasing after specific results, but more in the sense that when our body is in balance and health, we may be more able to receive the full benefits of the practice.

One could argue that health does make a difference:

• Flow of Qi: When the body is not dominated by pain, exhaustion, or blockages, qi can circulate more freely, and the subtle shifts in practice become clearer. Daoist writings often point out that cultivated energy flows best in states of calm and emptiness.

• Clarity of attention: With fewer distractions from symptoms, awareness can sink deeper into stillness and inner sensing.

• Resonance with the practice: A balanced body can take in movements, breath work, and meditation more easily, creating a finer resonance between exercise and inner state.

At the same time, I wonder how seriously we take illness as a messenger – whether we pay attention to what it is trying to show us, or tend to avoid looking at it.

For me, this has always been a paradox. I value a healthy body, but I don’t want to become overly fixated on measuring or controlling it. On the other hand, I’ve also come to see illness not simply as an obstacle, but as a messenger pointing to deeper imbalance. For most of my life, I lived with depression, and only by seeing it as a messenger did I find my way to qigong. Through practice, the depression gradually lifted – so in a sense, my illness both limited me and guided me toward healing.

From a daoist perspective, perhaps health and illness are not opposites but part of the same cycle – each carrying the seed of transformation. That’s why I’m curious: how do you approach this in your own practice? How do you focus on maintaining health and how do you trust the practice itself to bring you into balance over time?
 

I know that, in general, the advice is something like: “Pay attention to the signals your body gives you—they are your teachers. But don’t let your current health limit or distract you. Qigong heals from within, no matter where you start.”

Still, I’m much more curious about how people personally experience this. How do you actually notice or respond to your body’s messages in daily life? Do you treat illness as a teacher, or do you tend to avoid looking at it? Hearing real experiences helps me connect with this advice in a way that simply reading it never could.

 

 

Illness is often a messenger for other illnesses.   

 

[forestofclarity]

I think that pain and suffering is an indication of a misalignment-- physical, mental, and/or spiritual. I also think that all three are connected and interdependent. 

 

Some pain and illness can be addressed in ways put forth here, and some of it has deeper, karmic roots. Suffering can always be addressed. 

 

7 hours ago, Krenx said:

Unskillful actions would be doing everything in your power to cover up the pain with drugs, avoid the pain by not moving at all, develop identity and an unhealthy relationship with the pain; for example using it to gain pity, as an excessive excuse to not take up responsibilities etc. The mind and body has the ability prolong pain and injury when it serves their vices. Or you hate it so much, you exert on that pain to make the injury WORSE. 

 

Well said!