Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong The Lotus pose, Arthritis, EHS

Greetings, all.

I have a couple of questions.

1) A friend of mine has been told by a doctor that the latter gets a lot of Indian and Japanese patients with arthritis in the knees caused by bending them sideways while sitting cross-legged. Is there anyone who has experience of developing (or not developing) arthritis in the knees after many years of Lotus position?

2) I suffer from a rare condition sometimes known as Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (or EHS), whereby spending time near computers or other intense EM sources can give me headaches or even migraines (in a way other people don't). Since I started Chi Gung, I've been noticing a clearer sensation of pressure around my third eye, which actually increases sometimes when I practice.

This same sensation now arises when my EHS is triggered, so I speculate that I have become more sensitive and therefore am sensing tension and/or a build-up of energy in that part of my head, and that this is how EHS works.

(if it's at all relevant, I only developed EHS after having brain surgery for sinusitis when I was 14 - I am 21 now)

Does anyone have any thoughts?

These are both great questions. I don't have any great answers, but I am glad you asked them!

I, for one, am very interested in the Lotus sitting question, as that is how I do the SU most of the time now, usually for an hour, but sometimes for 2. And though after doing some Yoga-style stretching and some of the warm-ups that Master Lin shows in Level 2, it is much better than it used to be, it still hurts a lot, especially at the end after I "unwrap". So, this is a concern of mine.

I do have a thought about your first question: it sounds like you are moving the energy around and it might be loosening up some. It feels to me like it might be a good thing. Keep sending yourself good messages and signals before and during the exercises and meditations and watch/feel what happens.

Thanks for the questions. I know they helped me just thinking about them. I look forward to some responses from people who know more and/or are more experienced in these things.

Hi Velorian,

I've learned almost by accident that my third eye will close if I aske it. Inside my mind I say, "Third eye, I need you to close now." And it does.

My issue isn't computers (that I'm aware of) but the emotional "junk" of other people. My work is a combination of accounting and IT, so I need to be able to focus on the facts and logic. In meetings, most people have some sort of energy relating to their jobs, whether it's frustration, boredom, anger, whatever. My third eye picks up on all that, and then I struggle to pay attention to the facts. Asking it to close takes care of that.

Seldom have I asked my third eye to open, but I've found that when I focus on something, it opens on its own.

Spiral, thank you so much for sharing. I'm working in a high-tension environment right now and was just thinking about how to protect myself from other people's "junk." I will definitely try asking my third eye to close as you suggest.

Further proof that the universe always provides exactly what we need. Thank you!

Aloha Velorien,

Working into the lotus posture, Chunyi recommends doing the hip/knee, and ankle exercises in the Level Two manual and work into the full lotus posture by doing your meditations in a semi-lotus position for a number of sessions.

When that becomes comfortable, then do your meditations in the semi lotus position with the other leg on top for a number of sessions. Then try the full lotus position for one of the 30 minute meditations found in Level One. You'll find one leg will be easier to be on top than the other.

Your legs, knees, joints, and energy going through the legs will all adapt. The thing is to let them work into it, rather than jumping right into it (you don't slap 500lbs on the bar and bench press it your first time in the gym).

When I worked into the lotus position for longer and longer periods of time, it all adapted. There was a periord at the begining when I'd be out playing soccer (Fútbol), and almost each time I'd make a quick move to the side, my ankle would give out on me, and bamm! I'd go down. I'd get up expecting that my ankle would be wrecked for a long time, needing ice, compression, elevation, etc. Only to find that that pain of the tearing and streching that would normally come from something like that, wasn't there. Hmmm...when it happened again in the same match, my teammate thought I was faking it, since I just seemed to crumble and get up and be able to play again. It was about a week later, that the ankle's joints, ligaments, and tendons all adjusted and I was playing as usual, and sitting in the full Lotus.

No weird curvature of the legs or anything after doing this for 10 years.



Much Love, Shawn

I have trouble going into lotus cause my right hip is restricted. It is a big difference between each leg. Anyhow, I always thought there was some way to loosen it up. I don't have SFQ II but maybe something will come along so I can some day do the lotus! I like your advise shakurav!