Nacken

I was taught it, but my someone who was taught through the Upledger institute. There is a connection between CST and Qigong I know. For instance the craniosacral pulse seems to be much the same as the pulsations of the energy body.

I'm not saying that this isn't an interesting topic or that you should abandon this, but being that this is a forum about Taoism and energy work let me tell you a story that gives a slightly different perspective. I've heard this story a few times so it is probably fairly wide spread. Anyhow it goes like this. A young monk goes up to the abbott of the monastery--it is unclear whether this is a Buddhist or Taoist monastery. Anyhow the young monk approaches the abbott and tells him about all of the visions and cool experiences he is having while he does his daily meditation practice. The abbott smiles and nods as he listens to the young monk. When the young monk finishes his talk the abbott pats him on the shoulder and in a kind voice says, "Don't worry. Just keep doing your meditation. Eventually that sort of thing will go away." What the abbott meant is that these visions, astral projection, siddhis and such were distractions from the basic goal in the monastery of spiritual evolution. You aren't in a monastery, but don't get too distracted or obsessed by this sort of thing. Its interesting and cool, but there are other things that are past it that are way cooler.

As mentioned, body positioning is the largest part of this, stance and leverage. Essentially the Master Chen positions himself so that the force is directed slightly downwards so that it actually roots him more firmly. I'm not saying that it is all a trick--he probably is using some internals, but he uses both. Also, when you have a line of men pushing into each other it isn't the total of their combined strength in the push. Their bodies absorb most of the strength of each other's push. I've done the same, although only with five or six guys rather than the twenty or so here. But energy/qi does certainly exist. I don't understand it entirely although I work with it often enough. I agree with the Adam Hsu articles. Chinese do overuse the word 'Jing'. They talk about it as sexual essence, and they talk about it in martial arts techniques. They also use it as though Qi and Jing were interchangeable. I tend to think of it as being Qi when it is circulated in the body and Jing when being actively used. That probably isn't quite right, but I compare it to potential and kinetic energy, with Jing being the energy when in use. Feel free to give me your version.

True to an extent, but normally the pain would be lessened somewhat even so. I know when to stop and move on by using judgement and experience. You feel the tension in the muscle lessen, you look at the client's body language and breathing, or just get verbal feedback. I can feel things like muscle tension or inflammation, and on a good day I can feel the energy flowing or not flowing well, but I can't read minds.

Hi I'm new here and am just in the midst of exploring the forum. But I am a Massage Therapist who does Qigong as part of therapy. First of all what I explain to clients is that there is 'good pain' and 'bad pain.' You know what I mean when I say that it might hurt but it hurts in a good way. Massage works largely by stretching the muscles. The kneading and deep stroking stretches the muscle fibres causing a reflexive relaxation response. Once you work out as much of the tension in the muscle as is practical and gotten the blood flowing through the area this is as much as you can do for that area. You might move onto another bodypart. If you work on one body part for too long it just becomes irritating. I find that sending energy into the client's body with my hands allows me to relax the muscles more quickly and with less effort than colleagues. I also believe that the combination of the energy work and the physical pressure on the tissues drives the qi into the tissues. I don't know whether you have to be an expert in massage or not to cause emotional releasing, but I know that few massage therapists can do it reliably. With me it happens occasionally with clients, although it isn't something I normally intend. Reichian therapists are supposed to be able to do this, but I don't have any personal experience with this.

Ottawa and Toronto. I'm from Hamilton. Also I know Reed from another forum. Give me some time to get used to the forum culture, read any interesting threads, etc., and I will start contributing to the forum.

Greetings. I've been doing Qigong since 1986. I teach a class on Qigong, primarily for people who have health problems. Generally it is pretty basic stuff with the physical exercises to promote circulation of energy, plus a few for clearing or developing sensitivity. One of the basic things we do is the microcosmic and macrocosmic orbit. I'm trying to teach them how to move energy around the body mentally as well as by using the movements. Also to scan themselves and develop sensitivity to energy. Eventually I hope to get them dissolving blockages using some of BK Frantzis' techniques--which is what I use myself at home. That's all for now. No use in giving my whole life's story.