I tried some Chi Gung recently just for 10 minutes and found it useful and enjoyed it. It was just hand movements but was good. Is that all there is to it? Is it worth taking further? If so, do you recommend an ongoing class or just a short term class and then doing it alone like in the morning?
It's definitely enjoyable for relaxation. Whether it actually strengthens organs and all the rest is another matter, though most of us only take shallow breaths, so anything to breathe more deeply will be good for your health.
Yoga is supposed to be good for that although I've found it more like a work out than meditative although I think it does have both aspects.
Provided you can find a good teacher it is worth continuing with but you should be aware that good teachers are quite rare.
ye, the quality of teaching is an important matter. but i would encourage you to continue the class. personally, the most important practice of chi gung is standing. I suggest you take a look into standing because it is definitely the most beneficial when it comes to healing and strengthening your physical, mental and psychological well being. peace.
Daily mobility drills for joint health, static and dynamic stretches for flexibility and mobility (respectively), strength training (for strength, not body building/sculpting) 2-3 times a week, aerobic endurance training to strengthen your heart 3-4 times a week, a balanced diet and minimal intoxicating substances are all you need to live a healthy lifestyle. Save your time and money if you're just doing Chi Gung solely for health benefits (which are disputed). But like anything - do it if you enjoy it.
The mind's effect on physical health is well known. Chi gung is designed for spiritual and mental health as I understand it. All the other things are more physically focussed. The benefits of meditative practises are well reported.
Chi Gung is perfectly fine if you limit its definition to a series of physical movements and relaxation exercises. Problems start however when practitioners start making claims about Chi Gung which go beyond established medical and biological scientific understanding, and start becoming borderline pseudoscience or even supernatural. The criticisms I have of Chi Gung can also be applied to traditional Chinese medicine (which is frankly something straight out of the dark ages), as well as homeopathy or any other 'alternative' medicine in which there is no real scientific basis behind treatment protocols. The problem is that the methods found in these 'healing' systems do not fit the model for Western medical and scientific understanding. And if you say, "Well, lots of people in China believe in it," I will respond, "Yes, everybody in China without a good education." Most, if not all, benefits derived from Chi Gung and alternative medicines are a placebo effect. Heck, Chi Gung practice has even turned some folks nuts. Google the term 'zuohuo rumo' or Chi Gung deviation. But like I said, you wanna do it for fun? Fine. Just don't fall into the gullibility trap of believing that warm, fuzzy feeling you're getting is your Chi aligning your soul or whatever.
Yes exactly. Does western science know what that is? No, not fully because the mind is a huge mystery as is consciousness. There isn't even an established field to study consciousness AFAIK, outside of perhaps the work done by places like the Insitiute of Noetic sciences. I didn't see much consistent or congruent in those reports. Why not believe it? Humans are capable of believing in higher forces and if that's for harmony and in moderation and relaxes you mentally and physically it seems a good thing.
Humans are capable of believing lots of things - that does not mean they are true Chi is contentious anyway - especially on these hallowed boards. Personally I have seen nothing that cannot be easily replicated. That does not invalidate the feeling you get from doing chi gung or whatever, but it does mean that the movements and posturing a largely irrelevant and it is the concentration and relaxing that is working. In other words you can get the same results with yoga, zen, reading or sitting in a room with your feet up. I have a lot of chi moments with a nice cup of tea and a book Like Van Zandt said, if you enjoy it then good for you...but it is not mystic or magic
They can have a personal truth. Maybe but you often need to facilitate the satori (or whatever) state. As I say I like yoga but it seems more like a physical work out. What little chi gung I did had an amazing effect. Depends how we define mystic. If it's "anything outside of received western objectivity" or something like that then it sounds interesting to me. On the subject of Zen, have you read Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It will convey the point a lot better than I am trying here.
I get it - I have been around this block a lot and have heard the arguments before. There is this false gulf between east and west that people invent to justify a belief system or (as often as not) an untenable position. Objectivity is exactly that - it is not Eastern or Western it is viewing things on their own merits. There are a lot of Western systems that teach that inner focus that are not physical in any way shape or form. Breathing in silk pyjamas just adds a bit of eastern spice that isn't necessary Results personal to you are always a good indicator...but the placebo effect (universally recognised) is not limited to medicine and applies here too.
To be honest I have had very similar results with Scott Sonnon's Intuflow.The movements are very similar to chi kung movement forms and in my opinion better thought out.The Chinese have a habit of wanting to stay in a time warp and are afraid to try something different,especially if it might cause them to loose face and admit someone else has got something better. Practice chi kung but don't expect it to produce better results than a long walk or mild workout in the gym would.In fact walking is about the best kind of exercise you can do and it wasn't invented by the Chinese.
Got to love how folks claim science is flawed when it debunks the myths of pseudosciences like Chi, acupuncture and The Force. I don't understand why people still choose to believe traditions invented by uneducated pig farmers from the backwaters of Mongolia over the reasoned arguments of PhD scientists.
