Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Spring Forest Qigong Harmony of the universe exercise

On the exercise DVD, in harmony o the universe, when Chuni puts his hands together and comes down over the top o the head, it seems like his fingers are closed. How does that conform with the idea that when finggers are closed you don't receive energy?

Yechiel

You would still receive energy, if you didn't--how would you still be alive? But yeah, ...for the most part the channels would close(safely of course). Instead of me giving a bunch of 'info' let's get down to the goods... here's an exercise you can try and you'll see for yourself.

Breath naturally, relax.
Gently hold out your hand in front of you with your fingers stretched. Visualize energy coming off of your hand as you breathe. For some, it helps as a visual aid to 'breath through your hand'

You should defiantly feel at-least *something* by doing this for a moment or so...

Notice how smooth your energy flows out.
Make a mental 'bookmark' of this.

Now try it by making a fist, notice how it feels different and the energy 'balls' around the fist but doesn't really feel like it's going anywhere--other than 'hanging out' at your fist.

Compare it with your 'mental bookmark' and see the difference. Open finger-easy to extend and flow, closed fist-it stays with your hand...

Try it with closed fingers (fingers stretched, but stay together)
and see what happens.

Connect the forefinger and thumb, forming an 'O' and notice how 'difficult' it is to release any energy at all. The pointer finger is lung channel and the thumb is part of the colon or large intestine channel--both of these are 'energy exchange' systems of your body, so it's not too difficult to see why 'looping' them keeps the energy in your body.

In higher practice, we want to do this because we generate a pure state and focus intensely (but still quite gently) and it can be used for other purposes, like if you feel like you are 'losing energy' or someone is 'draining you' you can make this posture (discussed in Level 2) it can help.


All in all, everything we "do" is symbolic. This includes hand postures, notice when you make a "symbolic" 'antenna' by stretching your fingers out--it behaves like an antenna.

Notice when you close off, by closing the fingers, your energy will do the same. (sort of like if/when someone is uncomfortable with what you are saying in a conversation, they might cross their arms while they defend their viewpoint)--this is also a 'symbolic' closing of the energy.

For the most part, your energy 'mirrors' what your body is doing (actually it's the reverse) but they are actually synonymous(meaning one is the other).

I hope with the 'games' and mental exercises and viewpoints presented here, that not only was your question answered but you now have several new ways of looking at people and situations as well as a few more techniques on sensing (& playing with) your own energy for various purposes.


~Z

Aloha Yechiel,

Different movements in the Harmony of the Universe have their own purpose.

"Opening" your fingers is a way to open more channels.

Some of what is going on here is you have just collected universal energy and are holding, focusing, and directing it at the level/area of the head to clear, energizing the crown, head area, as well as through the main channels and torso as the movement/hands come down the front of the body.

Much Love,

Shawn

Thanks Zakyrus and Shawn. You've outdid my expectations. Between both of your posts things are becoming much clearer to me. What I'm understanding is, that it isn't that open fingers makes the energy flow as opposed to closed fingers. It's that for the purpose of receiving energy they need to be open, but there's also other purposes such as containing the energy and creating a flow within the body and for those purposes it can be better to have them closed. The idea of containing the energy in a challenging environment makes a lot of sense. This is a wonderful learning experience. I'm also wondering about the tounge on the roof of the mouth, are there exceptions to that to? I sometimes tend to feel more energy without connecting the channels. Also why are the ending exercises so important? Also if the duration of the exercise is a half an hour, what is meant by doing them for an hour does it mean doing them for longer, or repeating the sequence?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge,
Yechiel

There are a few exceptions to that, usually that is so you can 'clear' some of the meridians (channels) by inhaling with the tounge on the roof, then move the tounge to 'cut the circuit' and exhale through the mouth. For the most part, I've seen this mainly in the 'fighting arts'--when practicing certain palm techniques. ...but let's move on to why you'd mainly want to keep the circuit open, especially for healing purposes...

The more 'obvious' energy you are experiencing is 'Yang' and the much less noticeable, for the most part but equally important is Yin energy. Even when you feel fatigued or tired you still have a tremendous amount of energy flowing through the body, it's just that the 'Yin' is in a more seemingly dominant state.

Just keep working with it and as you open the channels, your energy will become very smooth. At first, when this happens it seems like 'you have not so much energy feeling' as you did when you started, this is quite alright. It means several things, one your current energy capacity is expanding so you will be able to store more energy. Secondly, your energy is smoother so the 'obvious' blockages have melted away. Third, in time, you will start to feel a deep, subtle but VAST power awakening, that is very real to you. This may not be obvious right away, it's power is that it is subtle, and as you practice your sensitivity will deepen and you will know it more and more. "It" cannot be explained to someone else in words, but you will know it for yourself.



This is so that you can seal your centers and they won't continue to run at full capacity when you jump back into your daily activities. Think of it like 'turning down' the faucet or slightly dimming the lights since you aren't 'actively' using them. However, they will continue to function perfectly and will actually continue to filter after you are done practicing/meditating and go on to your normal activities.



2-5mins for the closing is good. If you are increasing amount of practice time, I think it's better to do each sequence longer that it would be to 'do them all and go through them again'.




~Z

Thanks for the extensive reponse. Hearing from someone on the other side of the fence, is very empowering. The fact that my energy is smoother is probably bacause of all the other energy work I have been doing, i.e. meditation, EFT, and Neurofeedback. I'm already seeing results with Qigong, and look forward to experience the vast power awakening you mentioned.

much appreciation,
Yechiel

thanks for these .