Hello, I have been using Level 1 to help in healing from musician's focal dystonia, as well as associated anxiety and depression. This condition has taken away my ability to play my brass instrument (which is my career) due to involuntary contractions and dysfunctional movements of my tongue, jaw, and throat. The problem has also crept a bit into other areas of my life, and sometimes I experience obsession with how my tongue or jaw feel. There can be discomfort, tension, or just a troubling hyper-awareness that bothers me at lot. At first practicing Spring Forest Qigong seemed very helpful and comforting, but lately I am having a lot of trouble with the instruction to "put the tongue against the roof of the mouth." When I do this I quickly feel discomfort through tension in my tongue and/or jaw, and I become obsessed with trying to become more comfortable, which I cannot achieve. I can no longer concentrate on the exercises, meditations or visualizations at all - I can't tear my awareness away from my tongue and jaw. Is it ok to just skip this instruction about the tongue, at least for now? Part of the problem of focal dystonia is excessive awareness of the affected body part, so I fear that placing and holding my tongue in a particular position may be making it worse. I would love to get back to practicing Qigong, but feel I need to take a break until I get some clarity on this question. Thank you so much for your help!
