Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong empathetic reactions to healing

Hello,
I have been practicing SFQ since the later part of October. I purchased both Level 1 and Level 2 at the same time. During this last month I have diligently started to 'practice' on some of my dear friends, who have been experiencing some health challenges, locating and clearing blockages. It is difficult to find the words to describe how it makes you feel to be able to see your friends heal themselves. At best, it is a 'quieting experience'.
When relating the success of my SFQ training to another energy healer friend, who does not practice SFQ, he cautioned me that I should not be involved in healing anyone for at least a year...until I have been completely healed. I suffer from migraine headaches and have since I was a young child. (This is the primary reason I purchased the course, although I knew I would never be satisfied just healing myself...thus I purchased Level 2.) Anyway, my friend cautioned me that my personality is such that I WILL take on everyone's problems and will make myself very ill in the process of healing others if I do not 'protect myself'. He describes me as being an empath. (I must mention that both times I felt the blockages to be incredible forceful I got a migraine that evening....coincidence?)
Do I have a false sense of security by believing that since I am not healing anyone and am nothing more than a conduit for Universal Energy to flow to my friend AND if I am practicing Small Universe Meditation that I cannot be affected by another's illness? As Master Lin describes in his CD re: the boy with cancer, I do not ask to take on anyones illness. I only think thoughts of healing and love.
I have been monitoring this forum for months and have seen a lot of wisdom come forth. I toss this out and look forward to your replies. Thank you.

Hi Stacy,
-Helping others, 'greatly' enhances 'self' healing. It is an unselfish act that comes back to you tenfold. This is really emphasized by Master Lin. Keep up the good work. Your own 'immediate' health issues will open up faster, after helping others 'and then' working on yourself through active exercise and meditation.
- I don't limit the term 'self healing' to an existing physical blockage. I see it as an ongoing thing, unlocking or discovering one's potential, basic truths, gaining wisdom and understanding, insight, inner vision, expressing love at higher levels,,,lots of things that take continual pursuit. Are you really healed until fully self realized? That could be a long wait!
- I think you have an innate sense of the truth about what you are speaking of. Trust that sense.
- With respect to your friend, his perspective could limit you. Handle your relationship , regarding the 'sharing' of healer stuff, more carefully, perhaps keeping more to yourself about your work. Let them do the talking, and be as understanding as you can of 'their' possible limitations, placed on them by their method. Also, some people empower themselves, limiting other people. It isn't a conscious intention, just their perspective on what they think you are doing.
- One can experience anothers blockage. One can have teaching dreams, as I call them, where you are given the chance to learn something, about something you are, or will be dealing with. One can also be dealing with something really toxic, like someone who has been given, say , chemotherapy. It might energetically feel like trying to wash tar off of your dog. Your hands can get pretty dirty... Regarding all of these possibilities, your level I active is a very effective means of cleaning yourself, keeping any extra energy moving through and out of you, or giving you a tool to work on something specific, perhaps from an empathetic experience, and learn how to work with it, in yourself, then help someone else. The nice part about, say level I active exercises, is that you don't have to know, it just works, and is great for self healing. I hear you mention small universe , which is also good, but I prefer an active exercise for self healing effectiveness, supplemented(at least in the beginning) with small universe. It is good to be doing something with visualization that moves 'out' extra energy, or blockages. Active exercises, level I , has that. Try incorporating those, if you haven't, and see what effect it has one your state of being, regarding your migrains. My experience, and everyone is different, was that level I active was/is very effective for physical blockages. For me small universe requires more maturing time, to be as effective. Level I really focuses on the lower dan tien, which is your 'physical' body energy center. The earth is very effective in taking negative energy from us, or redistributing extra energy. If you don't have time to do active exercises, at least sit down on the ground, put your hands down on the earth, breath in from the universe and visualize new balanced energy coming in, and anything you don't want, going into the earth(with respectfulness). If you want to be a successful qigong healer, I would use the exercises to move you forward, and better understand what is what , or where something is coming from, or the best way to know you are taking care of everything you aren't aware of. Keep your practice as simple, and complete as possible, regarding self maintainence. You have taken on alot of material.
It is odd that your friend said that , because of your personality, you WILL take on everyones problems, and make yourself ill. This is not a good thing to say. Don't take that in, and support that perspective. As I said, I can tell from your post, that you have a good idea that something better is possible,,,and it is.

opps!
love,
gallen

Gallen,
Thank you for your reply. It is always interesting to see the Law of Attraction in motion. I knew you would be the first to respond.
You are right, I have taken on quite a bit but it is only because I am capable and motivated. In the last several months I have learned about 'Generational Healing'...by healing myself, all those around me will be healed. I am a mother of four and grandmother of eight. SFQ has provided a surefire way to not ONLY heal myself but to heal my family through generational healing, and also through the healing techniques I learn studying Level 2. I have other goals as well but this is a good start. Incidentally, my husband and I bought my 24 year old daughter Level 1 for Christmas. After hearing my enthusiasm she wanted to study SFQ as well. Generational healing has already begun.
Regarding Active Exercises: I replaced Level 1 active exercises with Level 2 exercises about a month ago because I interpreted what I heard on the video to mean that it didn't make any difference which exercise program you did so long as you did one or the other. Since migraines are not a tumor or stone and not a typical illness, per se, and not knowing for sure exactly where the blockage is that causes the headaches, I thought it might be a good idea just to move on to Level 2 exercises. Cloud Hands open blockages in the whole body. I figured I had it covered! After reading what you wrote I wonder if I shouldn't perhaps incorporate both levels into my session. What are your thoughts on the subject? Too much of a good thing? Is less more? I tend to be a bit of a pitbull when I get started on something.
I do believe you are on the money when you said that healing is a lifetime experience (athough I paraphrased it a bit). I shall not and cannot wait to help my family and friends. I will, however, take your advice and be more careful about sharing my experiences. Thank you again for your insight. It was and is much appreciated.

Hi Stacy,
Sometimes, when you consciously choose to not openly report your healing experiences, say with this friend, holding in your energy, being humble, more of a reserved, listening mode, you may find yourself acutely aware of anything your friend says, in reference to ego, control issue, or anything inappropriate. Being respectful of them is good. Let them do the talking. Observe and be aware,,,learn... I find that I can also learn about my ego, being less verbal about my success stories. I constantly question my posts, and wonder about that! Is this helping in the best way, or do I like to hear myself talk!! I'm work'n on it...:-)

You are the best one to determine your self practice regarding level I and II. I merely state 'my' preference. It is good to be aware of the dan tiens, in the sense that level II focus's on the middle, although you can use the lower, and level I focuses more on the lower. I experience that difference, in doing the two different sets of exercises. I am more physically focused in level I active, although the postures and movements are all, to me, like cloud hands. Very relaxed and soft. The given exercise time is an hour in level I, and 25 minutes , as a starting suggested time in level II active. I think the longer emersion is good. I also feel the level I exercises, connect together well. In level II's, I feel sword fingers and thunderpalms, as sort of similar, then really drift off in cloud hands, and even more so in 10,000 hands. Drift off in a good way. I drift off in a good way through all of level I active, up to, seven steps, which find me in a slightly different state, as I do them. It is important to do the level II, relative to working on other people. It enhances your abilities. Again, level I active exercise is often spoke of as great exercise to self heal. Not that you can't do it with level II. It is , of course, as Master Lin says. Either or... When I practice level II active, focused on the heart center, I have this thought, that I support, that I am very happy, and I am helping/healing my heart center. I really support this inner smile and infusing the heart with spiritual energy, breathing in energy from the universe to heal my physical heart, and breathing in the sound ohm to bring in spiritual energy. Being happy to help the heart center. Also, loving yourself. All heart center things, to help enhance self healing through that center. I have read that in the five element sense, the heart rules the other organs, so progress in self healing can be made by working on all the organs, or , just the heart. Some of the types of meditation/spiritual practices that focus on the heart and love, involve the same deal. Everything one needs, coming from focus on the heart and feeling love. So, the choice may stem from which place you feel more comfortable approaching self healing from, along with what your purpose or chosen work is. Do you like to heal through the heart, all that entails, or through the body more, in the sense of all the organs, the lower dan tien, etc.. For many people, I think it is hard to smile, let alone smile inward and love oneself. Also, I think for many people it is easier to accept universal energy, or work with the balanced energy of nature, rather than engage with spiritual energy. I experience level I active as more literal, even as engaged with the master's energy, and level II as less physically literal, due to the fact that the inner smile, love, and spiritual/transformational energy is critical to employ, to bring about physical healing through those exericses. Again, this is my experience with them. A major difference in focusing in the middle dan tien, or lower. Both work. I think it is easier to miss, 'part' of the boat in the level II ones, for me, not necessarily for you. I like to work the in lower dan tien relative to self healing, physically. I am more comfortable there. I trust the other method and working through the heart, I just have a preference in regards to physically self healing. Emotionally, I would choose the heart center, and also, I would choose that dan tien as a more primary center, if I am in a state of physical being that feels whole, and not in need of healing, or no apparent blockages or phyiscal issues in my face. Spiritually , I would also base in the middle. Perhaps it is like opening applications on your computer, to accomplish specific things. Open level II, if you want to do this, or require this, or, open level I if that is the application you require or want.
You can do both, but it would require alot of time to do both at a nice level. If you just do level II, I think it is good to expand the times. If you haven't done level I for a full hour yet, or done that as a daily practice, I think you may be missing the benefits of that expereince, and that experience relative to your migrains too. It is okay to shift around abit to find a program within the material you have , that works best for you. You should do one or the other, completely, as a starting base. Focus on one, then the other, completely, so you can feel and compare, relative to your preferences. It is not too much, by any means, to do a full set of level I active at one time of the day, and the 25 min set of level II at another. Ahhhh,,,,when to meditate ! Meditation will become more and more important, but, be sure and fully experience the active exercises to receive that benefit. Also, there is a great difference in experience, between a few months practice, a few years, and several years. the maturity of your qigong practice is wonderful to experience over time. The exercises or meditations don't have to change. Your experience of them can. Like hearing the same words or concepts , over and over, and all of a sudden, it's like hearing them for the first time, and you really get it.
love,
gallen

Hi Stacy:

Migraines are no fun and they are one of the few things that really stop people in their tracks. My sister and a close friend both get them. They have been told all their lives that migraines can be learned from childhood, caused by the weather, caused by certain foods eaten or there can be more serious problems.

My friend finds SFQ 10,000 hands works best for him. He does just what Gallen was saying about inhaling through his feet, visualizing all the blockages turning to smoke and then exhaling through all his pores all over his body while doing 10,000 hands. He drinks lots of water and makes sure he gets extra sleep. He also finds the closing routine neck exercises to help greatly and visualizes that he is lubricating the ball bearings in his neck as he does them. Sometimes he does these clsoing neck exercises alone for 30 minutes and feels much better. When you are up in the middle of the night with a migraine, 30 minutes is no problem if it brings relief!

Why don't you add yourself to the weekly healing list and let us all give you a good blast of healing and maybe we can help you to get rid of those migraines. I'm sure with time the SFQ exercises will help them go away.

Sometimes I think we get these "blockages" so we continue to do the SFQ walk and not just the SFQ talk!

Love,
Agent B

Nice to meet you Agent B,

Thanks for your kind response. I have followed Gallen's advice and have returned to Level I but have also continued with Level 2. I love 10,000 hands and perhaps you have just given me the reason why. Perhaps that is my ticket to freedom.

I have to be careful when doing the neck exercises. Unfortuately, I had cervical surgery three years ago and now have a titanium plate in my neck. Long story ... good news is it ultimately led me to SFQ.

Don't worry about my walking the walk. Because I am so vocal about the 'loves of my life' I invited all my friends and neigbors to come practice my SFQ exercises with me anyday they like. I even have my husband involved.

I may still have my headaches but there are so many positive changes that have transpired in my life that I never want to stop practicing SFQ. My neighbor commented the other day that I used to be someone that looked like I would explode into a million pieces any moment and now I have a peace about me that most people search for all their lives and never attain. I won't give that up.

Thanks for the suggestion re: Saturday healing. I felt a bit funny about putting my own name on the list. Let me say it before you do...honoring oneself is equally as important as honoring one another. I shall put my name on the list for this Saturday. Thank you again.

Love,
Stacy

[This message has been edited by Stacy (edited January 28, 2004).]