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
