Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong Meditation question

I have started a meditation practice for about 6 months. My question is, will I get the same benefit lying down... I am so much more relaxed. I cannot seem to find a comfortable sitting position where I can truly let go. when I sit, my back and neck begin to ache and distract me, no matter what support I have used. Have always wondered about this.

Hi Sheryll,
You will still get a benefit from lying down and meditating. There are perhaps two considerations within this. It is really valuable to let go, and it is also valuable to work with your focus within a situation where you are distracted by discomfort. Your focus can allow you to stay longer in a position. The moving between you holding the focus, and thinking about the discomfort, is valuable self awareness to work with. That switch, can be a reaction of sorts with an edge, or sort of an unware state of thinking. In a non reactive state, always returning to the focus, when you find yourself thinking that you are uncomfortable, can be transformative.
I have always had times where I may have gotten too wound up in self discipline too, and a good non physically challenging let go can also be transformative.
From a larger physical viewpoint, your meditation and active exerise, can move you towards a better state of physical health, and less discomfort regarding sitting or standing exercises.
If you choose to lie down, which is certainly fine, and you are in the good , better , best mode of operation, see yourself as progressing, through the lying down, into a sitting position, and so on, regarding better and better sitting positions. No hurry, no pressure to do that.
Let go, enjoy letting go, and also challenge yourself to sit, and try to move that along too. There isn't a right or wrong here, only more good possibility within the practice.
love,
gallen

Thanks Gallen,
That really helps, because your answer helped me with my "should" and "best" belief sets. Yes... that was very helpful. What I am hearing is to create a loving environment for myself, and still gently challenge myself.

I had one other question. I know most people make their meditation practice in the morning. I find that when I first wake up, my head is immediately full of thoughts, and it is very difficult and frustrating to meditate. My thought is that for now, I will do my meditations in the evening, and then maybe someday I may choose the AM. What are your thoughts on "evening meditators"?

Aloha Sheryll,

I think you'll find the "most people" comment, a perspective that isn't necessarily true. Those you may know that do it, may do it because that's the only time they can, that's the only time they can stay awake to do it, that's the most calm and "still" time for them, etc. While the time at which you do your qigong can naturally have more of an impact on certain energy systems that are dominant at that time...
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Chunyi mentions that an ideal time is between either of the 11-1 times, because the front and back channels automatically open during those times.

Look at what works for your practice. Doing it every day is better off than only doing it when you can do it during the best times, once in a while. It's about training your system to keep the channels open. The more experience it has, the more it will want to naturally shift and stay there.

Much Love, Shawn

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Hi Sheryll,
I wouldn't promote morning over nightime, or nightime over morning, anymore than I would pick the sun over the moon, or yin over yang. I have no preference, and find 'specific' value in several different times of the day. I have absolutely no opinion about whether someone meditates at night or morning, and I refuse to join either team!
I experience a very brief time of self awareness, prethinking, when I wake up. i find that I can choose to not immediately go into thinking about my day or work. As long as I don't jump in with both feet, I stay aware of that choice being there, and remain more present in the moment. Sometimes I ask my Master's energy to help me with this, the night before, if I am really focusing on mindfulness.
Don't go forward defining your morning meditation as above. Stay neutral. Don't react to thinking. Just return to a focus if you find yourself thinking. It is not difficult or frustrating. It is just thinking. No reaction, return to the focus. No matter how often, how many times. Keep a sense of humor too. Sometimes the things/times that are more challenging for us, hold more transformational possibility.
love,
gallen

Thank you so much for your help. All my life I have been an obsessive thinker. I know it is difficult for everyone to become focused and mindful. Gallen, your words "Stay neutral... don't react to thinking" meant alot to me... because my reaction to my thinking is more thinking about it! I have made some major improvements and my mindfulness through the day is increasing. But some days... well you know, I just feel "frenetic". It is my hope that someday I will be able to focus and direct my energy.

I didn't know where to post, but the meditation practice I have just started using is Jeddah's Seeds of Enlightenment, which I find incredible.
The message I am hearing is practice, pratice practice. Now you think this wouldn't be so hard for an obsessive personality to do... oh yeah I forgot to mix it with patience! (That was supposed to be the humor part.)

Again, thank you Gallen and Shawn for your support and love.

That brings up a lingering question for me.

From the varying classes with Master Lin, as indicated here, I have heard that 11 pm - 1 am and 11 am - 1 pm are ideal times to meditate, because these are high spiritual times and are therefore ideal times to work on any condition. It is my understanding that Yang is at its peak during the 11 am - 1 pm time and Yin is at its peak during the 11 pm and 1 am time.

However, have also heard that it is important to sleep between 11 pm and 1 am, and if you don't sleep during that period of time, you will feel sleepy during the day.

So, I have had a lingering question about the 11 pm - 1 am block of time. So far, I have just assumed that these seemingly potentially conflicting suggestions may both be true and that each of us should be led by the universe for what is most important to us in determining what is best to do during this period of time.

Nonetheless, this has been a lingering question for me. As a very healthy person who is very interested in continuing to develop spiritually with SFQ, does anyone have any insights about whether I should lean towards aiming to meditate from 11 pm - 1 am or make sure that I sleep during this period of time?

Thanks in advance for any insights you might have.

Much love,

Aloha Lynn,

As sleeping is natural meditation, and meditation can be like an extended sleep for the body, you can't go wrong with either.

There may be times when your body needs "Sleep." As you said, listen to it. Even in these situations you could either follow what Master Lin suggests about Sleeping Qigong in the Level one class/course, or start one of his meditations and at the beginning, say in you mind "I will continue this meditations through my sleep, and my channels are open, completely healed."

I tend to put the Small Universe which I've removed the intro and outro, so it's all Ohms and Muahs, on repeat for the night.

I'll have this running in Zaiah's room is he's knocking on the door of a cold, or has some puffiness under the eye telling me he's working with an infection.

This Ohm-Muah Only mix can easily be made with the iTunes application on your Mac or Windows machine.

Much Love,

Shawn

How do you make the mix you're talking about. Couldn't find an application on my itunes to let me cut part of the selection.

Ed

Nevermind...I googled it and found out..thanks for the great advice.

Hi, Shawn,

Wow and thanks!!!!!

Now I get it! I thought I had understood that Master Lin often meditates during this period of time and was confused about the seeming contradictory recommendation about not missing sleep. Got it now! So, the 11 pm to 1 am time slot is indeed a great time to meditate and as long as you are either meditating or sleeping during that period of time (pending as you said what your body says to you) the sleepiness the next day is really only related to being up without sleeping or meditating during that period of time.

Makes sense.

Thanks so much.

Much love,