This may start sounding like a broken record, but...
It is still
another case of "good, better, best". The BEST is actually about an hour and then do the entire set.
However, a 15 minute practice, would still be good. In general, for a shorter practice like this, it is usually BETTER to pick only one or at most two exercises. This allows one to get more into the "meditational" aspects of the exercise. As gallen and others have said here recently, SFQ (and really most qigong in general) is not so much about a "series of movements", as much as it is about the mind set, the intention, the visualization, the meditational quality. The movements are helpful and important, but not the most important part.
A half hour session is better than 15 minutes, and even there, one might to focus on not more than three exercises. One could do all 8 exercises, but they might feel a little rushed that way. I still think only one or two might be better for these shorter sets.
As to which ones to practice, that is a much more complicated answer, as every person is a unique individual and what is best for me, might not be best for you.
I think "best", is to master the entire set over an hour set for at least a few weeks, and then pick an exercise that you like or feels healing to you and focus on that. And that might change from day to day. Or you could set an intention to rotate through the entire set of 8 over a period of days, picking one exercise on one day and the next day doing a different one.
Again, I think the most important thing is not WHICH movements to do, but rather HOW you do them. It is better to do ANY of them with full intention, with strong focus, letting one's mind ease into a meditational state, then to be concerned about which movement is "best".
Also, it can be very good to break up practice sessions into several shorter sessions multiple times per day. I.e. If one does not have a one or two hour block during the day, it might be actually better to do 3 or 4 10-15 minute sessions during the day.
Here, as I said here and in another thread (this question comes up a lot
), what is best for one person might not be as good for someone else. Short multiple sessions daily might be much better for one person, while a long 3 hour "marathon" session might be better for someone else. What is
best is letting SFQ become an integral part of your life and doing that in a the best way that works
for you.
I hope this helps.
