In November I splurged and bought Ken Cohen's Essential Qigong Training Course - a Sounds True production on three DVDs and five CDs. It's a masterpiece and I've benefited enormously in following the practices he teaches so ably.
I started working with qigong in the late 1980's after I took a course in taijiquan from a Chinese master then living in Palo Alto. I was never very good at taiji because my knees aren't very stable: standing one-legged doesn't work too well for me. I bought several books on qigong, including Cohen's wonderful treatise, The Way of Qigong. But I never took the time to study with a master. Nevertheless, qigong standing meditation has been part of my morning meditation ritual for many years.
Enter Cohen's new training course. He recommends one hundred days to learn the practice and presents all the steps and techniques on the DVDs. Within a week I was standing better and breathing better. I've not followed his training schedule religiously because my travel often interferes. I have, however, developed a twice-a-day standing meditation routine when I'm at home. I'll do some opening breathing exercises, an energy cleansing routine, standing meditation, and some self-massage before I start my day. Then at night I'll repeat the standing meditation and add some of the other routines that he presents.
The big win for me is in energy balance and greatly improved breathing. I'll post shortly on my experiences in biofeedback before and after qigong: the effect is tremendous!
