This simplified form is amazing but all parts are crucial in my opinion. Please strive to leave nothing out. Master Lin went through a grate deal of research to develop a process that has refined and simplified many complicated and ancient systems. I would strive to find away to get it right rather than leave something out. Sometimes what happens is you have a picture in your mind of doing a movement one way and think you are doing it correctly but may be off slightly or enough to cause discomfort or disorientation. If you are feeling awkward it might help to check yourself in a mirror to verify if what you are feeling is in fact what you are doing..
In the neck rotation section a combination of reviewing the manual and video might be helpful as well. Sometimes you may just have to simply brake out a section of the form and experiment, analyze and evaluate or simply play with it till it feels and looks right. The body is wise and will adapt.
What might help is to imagine that you are drawing a circle with your chin. You can imagine that some how you were able to take a small pencil and affixed it to your chin so that it's tip is pointing downward. Now there is a piece of paper lets day a standard 8 1/2 X 11 sheet, that magically hovers at neck level. I did say user your imagination right 
So It magically hovers and is flat over the floor. Now with your chin tucked in slightly (as stated in the beginning of the exercise) you begin to move your chin for example turning your head left and keeping the chin or pencil perpendicular to the floor or paper you imagine that as you look/move left you are drawing the outer left part of the circle. Keeping the pencil on the paper (as level as possible) at all times, you then move to the top of the circle then right and eventually the circle has to come in close to the neck to complete the circle where you had started. Think of not razing the chin up and down but keeping it level with this imaginary paper.
Also be sure that you are not moving your body, isolate your torso and focus the movement with the neck and chin only. And finally try not to be too rigid in the process of all of this the secret is to relax and don・t forget to breath as you focus on the particulars of the mechanics. Then reverse and repeat for the other side. You will find a nice stretch in the neck/spine area. This should be a nice gentle movement don・t over extend or over stretch the movement. As you play with this tune your attention into the nice stretch in the spine and the perpendicular movement of the chin at the same time. Sometimes it helps to brake down parts and analyze its pieces and effects. Eventually we can let all that go and the body will find the right way on flow on its own.
Also note if you have had any neck injury or a stiff/sore neck, then an extremely gentle approach to the same steps mentioned above could be applied. The circle may even be a little smaller. Remember if you・re feeling any pain then listen to the wisdom of your body and do less or smaller but see what you can do with out eliminating all together. Obviously you・re the best judge as to how much to do and whether you should or shouldn・t do the exercise.
For the Dolphin the neck exercises. You can visualize a similar approach. Check with the manual on this but to simplify think of drawing that circle with the bottom tip of the chin. The circle may go out far but it also comes in close to the body so pay close attention to what is happening at both extremes. At both extremes you are stretching the neck spine out ward then compressing back, stretching it back ward then up and out. This is an incredible exercise and can also be understood by thinking of a whip.
There is a whip like effect that happens in this exercise where the tip of the chin is the end of the whip. With the whip idea in mind you can think of it as when the head body neck goes out the chin is drawn up and back as the momentum of the body moves forward. The chin is last in this upward forward movement toward the top outer edge of the circle. At the end of the (apex of circle) forward stretch the body starts to naturally come back first from the lower dantien and there is a gentle natural compression of abdomen here. The chin is outward at the end of the whip drawing the outer circle from the top to the outside and down. You can think of the whip from the spine stand point as the chin comes in and the circle is completed on the outside to bottom section there is a rolling up through the spine effect that is next. As the chin comes up and the spine moves back the chin starts to rise and each vertebrae follows rolling up from the lower back part of that circle one at a time. You should have both hands supporting the kidneys here and if it helps make fist instead of open hands. This will help support this undulating moment of the spine and body while also stabilizing your balance as your center shifts throughout the movement.
The benefit in these exercises and why it is so important in simple terms lies in what happens energetically. In between the vertebrae of are spine for instance and in simple terms, there is sponge like material. With these spinal type exercises you are compressing the sponges between the vertebrae and releasing them, flushing out the old and replenishing with the new. Picture a wet sponge in your hand squeezing all the water out then drawing in new fresh clean water. Apply that concept to the neck/spine exercise and you will see that there is an awful lot going on with a simple exercise. Besides the sponge analogy you are not only affecting energy and blood circulation but stimulating and affecting your lymphatic system, which intern helps to recalculate the chi through out the body. This is only a rough small glimpse of the vast benefits from this simple exercise.
I hope this helps and my apologies for making this way to long but I thought it might provide some helpful insight.
Love and light to you in your quest
[This message has been edited by Ascending1 (edited September 25, 2003).]
