We are truly blessed in Shaolin Wahnam to benefit from Cosmos Qigong, at all different levels. For such a seemingly simple practice, which requires only 15 minutes a day to train, we reap health, abundant energy, stamina, joy, vitality, calmness and centering of the mind which is second to none and allows us to tap into our full potential as human beings. In a world where the desire is maximum benefit for minimal effort, Cosmos Qigong is about as close as you can get to that.
But what about times when we’re just not operating at 100%? How should we approach our practice? These circumstances could be just about anything: one could have just caught a nasty cold (though this happens less and less with regular training!), they could be recovering from a major surgery, or completely exhausted and fatigued from external factors. When you’re really, truly exhausted beyond belief, what are the best practices for helping yourself out while avoiding over-training?
While it’s tempting to carry on with high level training during these times, this can actually be detrimental to progress. Time and again, Grandmaster Wong stresses doing low-level qigong in these cases. The same is actually true if someone has been suffering from a long-term chronic illness. Why is this? Cosmos Qigong initiates a very powerful energy flow, this is why it works so efficiently. But if someone’s system isn’t in good shape, it can actually overwhelm them and tire them out further. If your car engine is in good shape and you rev the gas, you can warm up the engine pretty quick and take off. But if your engine is only operating at half-capacity and you rev the gas too hard, you burn the engine out. The same idea applies to training. In Chinese medicine, doing too much energy moving in an acupuncture treatment does more harm than good. There has to be harmony between moving and building energy. Actually, for some of my sickest patients I use the least amount of needles.
The simplest advice I give to anyone who finds themselves dealing with any health challenge is to practice Lifting the Sky at a low level. This is a great exercise because while it can be very moving and powerful, it can also become very gentle and nourishing by simply not going too deep into a qigong state and letting your Qi flow be gentle. In this way, you’ll recover faster and get back to your regular training sooner.
Starting or continuing your qigong practice in a class environment gives you the advantage of having a qualified instructor to ensure your form is correct, your level of practice is appropriate to your health, and help you set up a training program to put you on the path to success. Our beginning qigong class will be starting up again in early 2020 at Shaolin Wahnam Twin Cities. Sign up here to be the first to know when registration is open.