Margaret,
Although it is ok to alternate, one does not have to do everything, all the time. I would focus on one thing, experience that , then move to the other. By that , I mean, try doing active exercises, level I, for a week. Try doing the full set every day. Or, at least for , say, three days. Each time you do them, you will experience them at a deeper level. You can't reach a depth into the exercise without some focus and repeated visiting to the same exercise set. Once you do this, you will have the "feeling" of those exercises,,,what they are like, and their effect. You will, in a sense, know them. Then, try the same with level II active exercises. Immerse in them for a week, or so...
At this point, you have "felt" them. It would be harder to alternate, or, do short sessions everyday, alternating or not, and experience them at a meaningful depth.
After you have experienced both at a deeper level, then make some choices, based on your experience, focusing again on "your" choice as you move forward. You may find you love something, and want to go forward for awhile with that.. You may find something addresses your physical healing needs better..
Some other ideas:
Level II active exercises "can" be a short time commitment. It could also be viewed as a warm up to working on yourself with level II technique. Or, just a "healing session" on self. A warm up to turn on your hands and get the qi flowing, then self scan, and treatment. Learn the basic points to cover in a session, from a level II standpoint. Check out the arthritis comments...work on both knees, good one first. Learn the level II healing info, by working on yourself. You cover two things at once, active exercise, and healing technique.
I think our intuition tells us , in the morning, what to do. Or what we feel like doing. You can try following that...or, set up a schedule for a week. you can revisit everything once, and focus more on one thing, or whatever..At some point, you want to bring what you need from the exercises, to you. Knowing them helps you do this. Just doing them all, all the time, or alternating to cover ground, isn't as effective as knowing them, and using them to fit your needs. I don't do the level I active exercises very often any more. I did, for several months do them at least once, often twice a day. It was a wonderful time period. If I don't do them for a long time,I still know them..
I think you could use the shorter cycles I mentioned above to get into some depth in the different exercises. I think in general, repetition is better than variety. You can retain things you spent time with. There is alot that could be said about this. Do some basic time, learn the material, then customize. Different people would need different amounts of time to accomplish this.
