Hi Dave
i practised SFQ over a period of several years before i could see or feel the Qi at all. Then one day it happened i could feel it with my hands which most people can feel from day 1!!!
What triggered it was doing the small universe for the first time. Prior to that i had just focused on the active exercises. I literally freaked out when i could feel it it with my hands and even see rays of light coming from my hands and going into my stomach. You don't need to believe it but it will happen. Focus on the small universe and see if you can do 100 cycles for a hundred days continuously. It will radically change your practise. Also very important is the reverse breathing and try to do it all while in the full lotus position.
Now i would consider myself one of the 5% of people that Master Lin mentions who have extreme difficulty feeling the energy as i am a very right brain logic type person after spending a large portion of my life in various universities.
Recently i taught 2 friends (essentially level 1 and 2) SFQ: both had amazing experiences. I knew from the outset they would be extremely sensitive and powerful in healing. They have all the descriptions that Master Lin says is the source of healing power: love, kindness, forgiveness, openness, humility. And they are very synesthaetic types, ie ones who "feel" rather than visualise, this is apparent in the language and you can learn this from body language experts.
One of these friends ZV has become an extremely powerful healer who can see energy very clearly. It happened over a period of few weeks. At first he could just see an aura around himself and others in a mirror and then without the mirror (if someone can explain why this is i would love an explanation). The more he practises the Small Universe the greater his sensitivity and healing power develops. In complete contrast to me he is a very "right brain" person and can detect even the smallest scar tissue on the skin and completely diagnose and detect blockages remotely who has healed people with cancer and parkinsons very effectively in a matter of few months of learning.
So please don't give up. Start a regime of SU and do it regularly.
Respect
Hakim
