Good question.
I did know one occultist who believed he was a vampire. His formula for using "energy vampirism" on people was to imagine himself as a bat, and hook his thumbs together over his solar plexus.
In general, when I paralim, I first crack all my knuckles to loosen the joints of my fingers, and then listen with my fingers apart, not with any muscular tension, but wide enough appart to follow the general posture of Spring Forest Qigong for opening channels. I'm not sure if this makes me more receptive to the learning or not, but it seems to drive my awareness more to an inner level.