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Dear forum members,
I was just wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experiences with the 5 Animal movements and 6 Healing Sounds. I’ve been doing them for about a month and a half, mainly the 6 healing sounds (sitting), and have not experienced any dramatic release of trapped emotions. I know the emotions are there because I experience the whole range of them on a day to day basis, but never really during the Qigong practice. It could be that the emotional qi is trapped at a deeper level, and it will take further practice to free that stuck qi.
Thanks in advance!
Art
Hello Art
i’m not an expert like others on this forum but what i can recommand for you to do is to take measurements, meaning ask yourself how do you feel before you do the chi kung and after you do the chikung. if you’re sitting do it by sitting quitely for couple of minutes before and after each session and just try to feel what’s going on and compare it to what you were feeling before. finding differeces between these “measurements” will lead you into getting to understand how the chi kung works on you.
hopes this helps
good luck with the practice
JadeHello Art
I experienced what you are going through now, last year. I didn’t get any major release until I went into the Fusion series with Michael. It was almost as if my 5 shen didn’t take me seriously. Now the healing sounds are very effective and I do them frequently every day.
What did sometimes help was to relax for awhile, without any intention of hurrying or “forcing” a change. I smiled to the feeling that was bothering me and just accepted it for what it was, then I experienced a release. One of the most simple, yet underrated forms is the inner smile. When I get stuck, it is amazing how using the inner smile, will loosen things up.
We all have internal resistance at the shen level, and those resistances don’t want to give up their power. I finally realized that when taking Lesser Kan and Li this summer with Michael.
Hope this helps.
Bob
Art,
I find that it really helps to be open to communication with the shen during any qigong practice and this can easily be done during the healing sounds. In other words, communicating and smiling with that stream of consciousness responsible for a particular organ (for example, the hun/liver spirit). My experience is that spontaneous release happens when a particular part is given permission to reintegrate with the whole.
My experience of this practice (and this could be done during the healing sounds, fusion, healing love, kan and li or whatever) is that once I am aware of some contracted feeling in my “body” that has an emotional resonance, I allow myself to accept and feel the totality of it, do the inner smile, and a particular alchemical practice (such as a healing sound). I often find that the part then starts to resolve itself spontaneously into the larger whole of myself and reintegrate.
I think that the thing to avoid is to try to use alchemical techniques to manipulate our energy in a mechanistic way. Such a way is heavy on procedures, but very light on spontaneity and cooperation with our different aspects of consciousness. Such manipulations may yield small initial gains, but they likely miss deeper issues that require cooperation with parts of us that cannot be manipulated at a supraficial level.
If you haven’t checked out Michael’s inner smile CD, I highly recommend it. It will greatly deepen all your other qigong practices.
Enjoy the exploration
Steve
Hi Jade,
I appreciate your feedback. That makes a lot of sense to take measurements. That will give me objective data, whereas it’s easy to say this is not working because of the resistance that’s built into my psyche. Maybe I’ll try rating the emotions of sadness, fear, anger, hatred, and worry on a scale of 0-10 before and after the healing sounds, and see what I find.
Thanks!
Art
Thanks Bob and Steve. I really appreciate your advice. I totally agree that the inner smile is key. With the microcosmic orbit meditation that I’ve been doing, I noticed that when I smile to the energy centers, they respond much more readily than when I try to push, or manipulate them.
It seems to me that the healing sounds are a great tool to use when you have extreme emotions, but I’m wondering how effective they can be when you’re relatively relaxed. In other words, how useful has this practice been for you guys at releasing emotions that are hidden in the subconscious?
Thanks,
ArtHi Art
just wanted to mention in the same intent as others have wrote here afterwards. it’s better not to be presise of what to expect of the result of doing the chi gung rather just to obsereve openly what happens internally before and after the excersises.
peace and chi
JadeWell I use healing sounds in fusion too and also in kan and li. I would say that you first have to connect before you can release, although release can probably happen spontaneously too. Are you trying to access something specific and then use the healing sounds to process that? Or are you trying to apply healing sounds to an existing psychotherapy practice?
Steve,
I guess I’m trying to release a lot of anger and resentment from the past, which arises from time to time when certain memories are triggered, mainly mom issues. I currently have fear and anxiety issues that I’m trying to resolve. I’ve tried the psychotherapy approach, specifically psychoanalysis, but that seemed to make things worse, at least in the 8 months that I went, and got really expensive.
What you said makes a lot of sense though. I have to develop the connection to my organ spirits before I can expect to see any kind of release, and I’m sure that takes time and total acceptance of the process. I have noticed some sensations while doing the sounds in the corresponding organs, so I think I’m on my way. I’ll continue my practice with more emphasis on the inner smile, and see where that takes me. Thanks for the pointers.
Peace,
ArtHi Art,
Just to briefly join in the conversation . . .
I’m afraid that there are no easy answers here.
The healing sounds are a great tool for providing pathways
of emotional release, but if you have an underlying pattern
deep within . . . generating the emotions–then you
may feel that you are not progressing.In this case the answer lies in a combination of
TIME, STRONGER TECHNIQUES, and LOVING KINDNESS.Regarding TIME:
If you get stuck in traffic and get upset, six healing sounds
can fix the problem (the anger is due to a short-term situation)
and the problem will take no time to fix.If, on the other hand, you were abused by a parent when you
were younger (as an example), then you have had many years to stew about
and think about your anger. You’ve fed it and spent years
reinforcing the pattern. Just as it took time to create
the pattern, it takes time to *undo* it.Regarding STRONGER TECHNIQUES:
While the six healing sounds can empty the negative emotion
tank, they can’t replace the tank. If the tank is
broken and leaking, what you need is to fix the tank so it
stops filling up from the leak.Progressing further in the Healing Tao system will
allow you to learn stronger tools. Tools you can
learn NOW that require no additional background are
the Deep Healing Qigong and Primordial Qigong forms.
Consistent practice of these forms helps to slowly change
the underlying pattern.Regarding LOVING KINDNESS:
An analogy is useful here . . .
Suppose you have a sick and dying dog. You know the dog
is suffering and you want the suffering to end. If you
take the dog to a tub of water and try to force its head
under the water to drown it, what happens? Immediately it
goes into a panic and into survival mode. It scrambles like
crazy to survive. In such moments, the dog is more energetic
than ever. Ultimately you won’t be successful (and even if you
somehow manage to overpower it, you suffer such psychological
damage that you are worse off than before).On the other hand, suppose you provide the sick and dying dog
with support and loving kindness. You listen to its pain and
whimpering and respond with love. Either through a shot of
euthanasia or through time, the supported dog gives up its life
with no resistance (even in the euthanasia case, it knows what’s
coming, but presents no resistance).The same can be said with problems we want to “fix”.
The more you try to “fix” certain problems, the more
you can’t get rid of them. It’s an irony, but is similar
to the dog story.The only way to successfully deal with this situation is
to *let go* of the desire to eliminate the problem. Instead,
just provide support and loving kindness toward yourself
and the situation. Any work you do, you do with the goal
of creating positive change–whatever that might be–without
any thought toward the problem. Only when you have the
pattern supported, heard, and felt loved–with no desire of
elimination–will the pattern end. As long as you have the
pattern, it’s because it is struggling to survive and doesn’t
feel safe to express itself–so its the drowning dog . . . more alive
than ever.Best,
StevenArt,
You’re getting a lot of good feedback on this forum. So you have many techniques with which to experiment.
In regards to the particular issues you describe, perhaps I can provide some insight since I have gone through similar feelings. A lot of the feelings of resentment that I have habored towards my own mother have to do with what one might call “boundary issues.” In other words, since I was very young, I felt that I was overshadowed by my mom and not able to express what I needed to at the time. Since I was also somewhat of a docile child, I tended to repress my feelings and do what was expected of me. When I reached adolescence (and even into my 20s) this pattern continued and whenever I tried to try something new to express myself, I felt that my desires were being undermined by my mom.
Now this is probably a common experience for a lot of boys who grew up without their fathers. I realize now that my anger stemmed from internalizing my mom’s anxiety every time I tried to do something new. And so I was always afraid to act, because I was acting from a center of insecurity and was mad a her because I felt she had forced that state upon me. And I was frustrated because I didn’t feel that I had a strong enough center to be successful in the world. So I also blamed my parents for this.
Anyway, once I started to build a stronger sense of my own center, I was able to deal with my feelings of resentment without freaking out. My center was strong enough to hold those angry feelings and provide a place for me to process them. Then I used fusion and kan and li to help the process along.
Perhaps a similar process will work for you. If you decide to take this approach, you can begin building a stronger centre with inner smile and healing sounds, orbit, and fusion. I suggest that you pay particular attention to the yi (spleen/stomach). As you are doing the five animals in the creation cycle, you are feeding each of the five shen. As you smile and resonate “loving kindness” in the creation cycle, you are encouraging harmony between them and strengthening your centre. This process will intensify in fusion, which I’m sure you will soon learn.
There are so many tools in the Taoist path, that we’re really fortunate. But a thorough exploration of the fundamentals is essential in my opinion.
Hope that helps
Steve
Steven,
I really appreciate the words of wisdom. Your analogy about time makes perfect sense, and I think I expect too much too soon. I will look into Deep Healing Qigong and Primordial Qigong forms to strengthen my practice. Regarding loving kindness, I think that goes hand-in-hand with the inner smile, and the saying “what you resist, persists.” Personally, I’ve been practicing resistance for most of my life with family and career choice, and I’m tired of it. Acceptance seems to be the way to go. Thanks again for your time and compassion. I’m glad I can come back to this in times of frustration.
Take care,
ArtSteve,
Thanks for sharing! I identify strongly with your upbringing. I, too, was raised by a dominating mother. My father was there, but his presence was weak, and even though he objected to some of the ways my mother raised me, my mother was in control. I think you hit the nail on the head. I have to find my center. Boundaries were definitely crossed, and I tried to defend myself but was continually shot down by my mom and not backed up by my dad. In turn, I pretty much gave my parents and even my sister the cold shoulder for most of my life. The anger was internalized, and I pretty much became numb to most emotions. Most people say I seem so “chill”, but actually it’s just apathy. That may be why I’m not experiencing much of an emotional release yet with the healing sounds…because I’m not as in touch with my emotions. Anyway, it’s all part of my journey, and it led me to Qigong, which I’m very grateful for.
The feedback I’ve received so far HAS been wonderful and inspirational. It has really given me the spark that I needed to continue my practice with a more optimistic attitude:) I think the microcosmic orbit could be very useful in opening up blockages I feel in my throat and chest energy centers. I will definitely continue with the healing sounds, and try some of the other practices like “fusion” you and others have suggested.
Thanks again,
Art
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