Counterforce Breathing

Hi Jeff,

Do natural breathing: inhale, and abdomen expands;
exhale, and abdomen contracts.

What makes it different from natural breathing
is the internal energetics.

Internally, you become aware of a qi ball in your lower dantian.

While you do the natural breathing physically (as described above),
the qi ball also expands and contracts, but moves in opposite
directions to your abdomen’s movement. This is the
“counterforce” to the “physical force” of the abdomen.

So: abdomen expands, and qi ball contracts simultaneously;
abdomen contracts, and qi ball expands simultaneously.

More details of three breathing methods–i.e. natural,
reverse, and counterforce breathing–are covered on the
QF3 audio set. The QF3 video contains a separate qigong
form that integrates the audio work. It’s best to get
the whole QF3 package, as it is cheaper to buy together
than to buy separately.

The bit on the QF4 video involving counterforce breathing is
a qigong method to integrate movement with counterforce
breathing. Typically your physical body (with the
exception of the abdomen) move in the direction of
motion of the qi ball.

Qi,
Steven

Yes, you are exactly right about the counterforce qigong on QF4.

It’s good to hear about your experiences with
the QF2 package and the QF4 DVD. It’s all good stuff.

Spending the time that you are on the physical qigong
will only help you regarding the meditations. It is
vitally important to get embodied.

It sounds like you have a solid plan for future
and continued practices.

Best wishes and qi,
Steven

I don’t know how much detail you want, so I’ll
give you some choices . . .

In short:

With reverse breathing, it is the *abdomen* that
moves in opposition to the breath, not the qi ball.

With more detail:

Reverse breathing (mechanics)
inhale=abdomen contracts
exhale=abdomen expands

The qi ball, on the other hand, moves in coordination
with the abdomen movement. It is only in
counterforce breathing that the qi ball
moves opposite to abdomen movement.

With even more detail:

Of course, I am sort of oversimplifying things, as
the qi ball in reverse breathing does not change size
as it does in natural breathing or counterforce breathing.
It instead moves linearly from front-to-back and
back-to-front through your lower dantian.

More advanced info:

All three breathing methods can further be supercharged
by adding color instructions to the qi ball energetics,
something I haven’t discussed here.

Qi,
Steven

Hi Jeff,

Part of your confusion here lies in that
you are not getting a complete teaching
on the breathing methods via questions
that just address pieces of it. More
details, of course, are covered in QF3 audio.

However, in lieu of that, let me just summarize
the practice of the 3 breathing methods from QF3.
It will perhaps hopefully lift any confusion.

Natural Breathing:
Inhale and abdomen expands.
Exhale and abdomen contracts.
Picture a qi ball in your dantian.
Let the color be “clear”.
When you inhale, and the abdomen expands,
the qi ball also expands. The front edge
of the qi ball turns blue, while the back
edge turns red, and the center still remains
clear.
When you exhale, and the abdomen contracts,
the qi ball also contracts. The qi ball
returns to a smaller size that is entirely clear.
Note that the qi ball expands/contracts with
the movement of the abdomen.
The practice is good for overall relaxation,
activation of parasympathetic nervous system,
general enhanced awareness of the lower dantian.

Reverse Breathing:
Inhale and abdomen contracts.
Exhale and abdomen expands.
This part is opposite to natural breathing.
Picture a qi ball in your dantian.
Let the color be “clear”.
When you inhale, and the abdomen contracts
toward the spine, the qi ball does not change
size, but moves back toward the spine as well;
when it does so, the qi ball changes color from
clear to red.
When you exhale, and the abdomen expands forward,
the qi ball does not change size, but moves forward
toward the front of your belly; when it does so, the
red qi ball changes to clear (as it passes through
the center), and then changes to blue when it reaches
the front of your abdomen.
Note that the qi ball does not change size, and it
moves in coordination with the direction of the
abdomen movement, which is identical to natural breathing.
This practice is good for compressing qi into the
kidneys/mingmen to help with kidney depletion; also
good for strengthening the connection between
your dantian and mingmen, as well as your navel.
It also brings heat to the kidneys.
By focusing on different areas of your lower centers,
you can “pack qi” into the fascia . . . discussed
in the Iron Shirt 1 book, but is not actively taught
as there are now better methods for doing so,
and it can be dangerous if one overdoes it.
It is important to only move the belly during
reverse breathing, as moving the chest will activate
the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight),
creating panicky feelings, as well as bringing
too much energy to the heart and upper centers.

Counterforce breathing:
Inhale and abdomen expands.
Exhale and abdomen contracts.
This part is identical to natural breathing.
Picture a qi ball in your dantian.
Let the color be gold.
When you inhale, and the abdomen expands,
the qi ball contracts.
When you exhale, and the abdomen contracts,
the qi ball expands.
Note that the qi ball expands/contracts in
opposition to the movement of the abdomen.
The practice is good for energizing the body,
and for generating neutral force (yuan qi)
within the body. This latter bit is unprogrammed
qi which can help reset dysfunctional patterns
within the body and helps to mediate between
yin-yang forces and the 5 phase cycles within.
In counterforce qigong, the hands move in
coordination with the expansion/contraction
of the qi ball (not the physical body).

This is, of course, the “crib notes” version
of the three breathing methods taught in QF3.
Expanded details, additional theory, and
other things are covered in the course.

Qi,
Steven

-It is important to only move the belly during
-reverse breathing, as moving the chest will activate
-the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight),

Why does the movement in the upper chest activate
the SNS and belly movement the PSNS?

Adel

Right, it could also cause it like when
you feel stressed your shoulders raise
and your diaphragm freezes up which only
allows for shallow upper body breathing.

Makes sense, either way the cause is the
effect and vice verse.
Thanks, Adel