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dezhen2001
04-17-2002, 03:42 AM
I'm not very good at starting new topics, but here goes :)

How many of you have noticed a change in your body and even your mind when you are under a lot of pressure?

Usually when i am training Qigong a lot my mind feels very clear and my body light. My posture is good and i have a happy attitude etc. But recently i have had a lot of problems and pressure on me, and the change is something i have personally noticed. First of all, my body feels much heavier, as i don't have as much vitality as usual. My mind feels more 'groggy' and like there is a cloud or something over it (making it dull). I've also noticed that my attitude has become much more pessimistic iin nature, instead of my usual 'prepare for the worst and hope for the best' kinda nature.

Has anyone else noticed or had this kind of experience?

(things are sorting themselves out now, so don't worry...)
thanks :)

david

scotty1
04-17-2002, 03:58 AM
I have found through training that as you become more aware of your body you can notice changes more, be they good or bad.

Glad things are sorting themselves out. :)

dfedorko@mindspring.com
04-17-2002, 04:00 AM
Good thread dezhen2001 - I'm sure that most of us have some sort of stress from work etc. What you are experiencing, in my opinion, is reality. It would be great to just do Qigong all day long, feeling euphoric and looking down from the mountain top. Unfortunately, it is not that easy but it motivates me to perform Qigong everyday; it is so good. My attitude and stress level, actually, have improved even though I still have those situations at work but I deal with them better being more calm. When people tell you you have changed Qigong could be the reason.

dezhen2001
04-17-2002, 04:29 AM
hi guys, thx for your replies so far :)
Yes, i can see what you both are saying. I do (usually) train qigong each day, but lately haven't so much as i've been trying to sort things out. I was just wondering if anyone else had been aware of the way your body/mind reflects what's happening (or vice-versa of course)...

david

Nexus
04-17-2002, 09:32 AM
Originally posted by dezhen2001
hi guys, thx for your replies so far :)
Yes, i can see what you both are saying. I do (usually) train qigong each day, but lately haven't so much as i've been trying to sort things out. I was just wondering if anyone else had been aware of the way your body/mind reflects what's happening (or vice-versa of course)...

david

When you realize that qi gong and meditation 'are' what sorts things out it is likely you will embrace them as a more regular part of your life.

Some things to take into account is that the taoist arts such as chi kung and t'ai chi in their early stages will amplify everything in your life, especially any imbalances. Thing's that went by unnoticed before are now suddenly in your face. As already said, you are becoming more aware of the actual reality around you, and as you begin to move towards that reality and further from the perception you have lived you begin to feel the emotions of reality in the raw sense.

You become open to feeling all of lifes emotions and feelings and situations the way they are actually happening. However, the taoist arts will teach you to stay centerred while in situations, although there is no reason why you must remain calm all the time either. Calm is nice when you are trying to relax, but when you need to let the emotions out and you don't have the opportunity to drop into a chi kung, don't force them to stay in. Instead try and conduct your feelings appropriately in response to the situation you are in.

As for stress, it usually occurs when the body is not open and relaxed. If you are not starting your day out with chi kung & t'ai chi, your body is more suscpetible to experiencing the full weight of the stress put on it, and as you will have no barrier of energy built up, people will try and dump their stress onto you as well. That is why it's nice to do it in the morning as you not only cultivate relaxation for yourself but also cultivate awareness of the self, and are able to choose what stress you will take on during the day and what stress you will leave for others to deal with.

Keep working at it.

- Nexus

dezhen2001
04-17-2002, 09:57 AM
hi Nexus, i appreaciate your post as you have lots more experience than me. Actually i have learned that lesson now :)

The reason i wasn't training in the morning is because i was up so late working at night etc. But now that i've pretty much sorted things out, i can get back in to my routine.

I think maybe because the hard qigong i am doing now has really opened me up, so maybe i am more succeptible to things? i dunno? I'm sure doing more meditation can help me get balanced again :)

thx,
david

Nexus
04-17-2002, 11:09 AM
I think maybe because the hard qigong i am doing now has really opened me up, so maybe i am more succeptible to things? i dunno? I'm sure doing more meditation can help me get balanced again

It is likely that you are opening up if you are doing chi kung. This does not make you more succeptible to things, it does however make you more open to feeling yourself and your surroundings. The taoists view this as experiencing reality, and you must understand that the path of these arts leads to feeling lifes emotions in their most raw form. That means that the pleasurable and painful ones are just as much part of that, and the more you open yourself up to one, the more you become open to the other. This however is viewed as being perfectly ok, because they are both sensations, and at their extremes considered to be the same thing. (Coins the term, the extreme of yin is yang, and the extreme of yang is yin - ex. The extreme of pleasure is pain, The Extreme of pain is pleasure).

The difference between the taoist arts and perhaps just normally feeling these emotions is the taoist arts teach you feel them and then let go of them. For most people, the tendency when they are in pain is to feel that pain and then once the pain is passed to continually hold onto it, which in turn makes them fearful in life. (An example would be someone who is bitten by a dog, and after the experience is afraid to own a dog or be around dogs). The same applies to pleasure, as many people experience it, and then after the experience is over continually hold onto that experience to the point that it becomes part of their character, inhibbitting their decissions and becoming an desirable attachment (sex is an easily understood example in this case, where after a sexual experience, the person holds onto it and spends much of their time thinking about it and fantasizing).

So you will find the more open you become, the more you are able to feel the feelings and sensations of life and let them flow through you. You become open and receptive.

Does that clear it up a bit?

- Nexus

dezhen2001
04-17-2002, 05:19 PM
thanks Nexus, you help explain things a lot.

takje care :)
david

dezhen2001
04-18-2002, 10:19 AM
i liked your 'clinical defenition' of Stress there :D

I've toned down my training now, and am doing more meditatin to try and balance with my qigong. Now all i need to do is catch up on some sleep!

thx guys,
david