Difference between Qi gong (chi) and Reiki

Beers can mess with qigong training...how about some grape juice

 

Ok, you have grape juice.

 

Well said!

Reaching higher levels of QiGong makes the body intolerant of alcohol ime.

 

That's just wine isn't it?.

 

I don't practice qigong or reiki, so forgive me for asking....

...is it really DANGEROUS to practice without an instructor? Or is it more like a waste of time and effort. I really don't know much about it, but I find it hard to believe you can cause much harm to yourself.

But like I said, I really have no experience with either. For all I know, I could buy a Qigong book at the store, do the exercises in it, and be posessed by an evil spirit by supper time.

 

I'd say it was down to disposition. But i have heard first hand of negative effects so.. ALWAYS READ THE SMALLPRINT

 

Yes, it can be dangerous without a qualified instructer. Even basic QiGong done before the body is ready can make you ill.

*sigh* Qi work has nothing to do with possession or evil spirits.....you're confusing IMA with something else. :woo:

 

Short answer Yes,
Reiki, not so much, unless you get an energetic attunement from someone whom has no idea what they are really doing.

Qigong, yes there are many dangers associated with such.

1) One is the physical danger, Qigong is physically is meant to be practiced a certain way, just as is TCC and other exercises. But Qigong is a kind of "special" exercise in that it uses slow movements (ala TCC) to open up joints, stretch ligaments, etc. Some people don't utilize, or know, of this and use the western idea "if a little is good more is much better" and take the light movements of Qigong too far, actually causing physical and long term damage to joints.

2) If you practice Qigong for the "energetics" or Qi then you also have to be VERY careful. I don't want to go into tons of theory of Qigong (unless necessary) but part of Qigong practice is to release unnecessary tension or "energy blockages". Sometimes this does include emotional and mental releases (similar to some releases people get when they exp. deep tissue massage, rolfing etc) and if you as a practitioner are not ready for such, this can cause emotional trauma. Sometimes leading to the now popular "Qigong psychosis"

Other times with improper visualization and physical techs you can harm yourself by creating more of a blockage or adding to an existing blockage and actually causing physical, emotional harm. Where the aid of a Master comes in, is being able to tell you if what you are exp. is normal, if it is not they would be able to correct what you are doing. They can also be helpful as somewhat of a "counselor" in the fact that they can listen to what you exp. emotionally (b/c ideally they exp. some sense of the same thing). This is where following from a book is dangerous.

More often than not people that have come to me asking "off the wall" questions about Qigong, or they had terrible exp. with it, they are the ones that say "I just found a book and did what it said in there." Seriously, when has anything in history been taught ONLY relying on books and not added with experience, from a teacher? So yes, Qigong by itself w/o a teacher can be dangerous on a few levels. Just like learning MA from an inexperienced teacher, or even worse from ONLY A BOOK!

 

Unless you are doing the spiritual Qigong (shengong) training.

 

True.

I stay clear of subjects such a Falun Gong as well. Good things turned bad by charasmatic teaching.

I try to emphasise the basics first if people are interested.

 

OMG! Qigong psychosis....could that be somehow related to reports of those practicing kundalini exercises experiencing bouts of madness???

 

Yes!

Again, the dangers of messing with powerful stuff without a teacher. Glenn Morris writes of his experiences in his book Path Notes Of An American Ninja Master.

These practices will transform your life in a good way with a qualified teacher. Go it alone and yes, you could end up in a rubber room wearing this seasons straight jacket.

 

Carys is exactly right,
Most Kundalini stuff is typically not taught until someone has received years of other training. Unfortunately, such is usually not the case in the West, people want to get to "the penthouse" without going through the "lower floors". This is very dangerous especially with the kundalini specifically, if you hit a blockage there can be very disastrous side effects.

I have seen this first hand and it has actually caused physical symptoms as well (headaches, heart palpitations, tidal fevers etc). Even modern science can agree the mind is powerful, so no matter if you believe in energy/Qi or not, you still have to consider the mind if you are doing visualizations and specifically what effect it can have on the human body.

 

Absolutely.

 

I almost feel special for even knowing the word Kundalini...

A couple of years ago I would have thought it was a type of pasta.

 

I wonder if the opposite is possible....

Just out of curiousity, do you suppose someone might be uber lucky and find some new way of doing qigong/reiki/kundalini stuff that grants them god-like powers?

I could see that happing...but only if it's the guy next to me in class...simply because the people around me always seem to have infinite luck.

"Oh my, your control and understanding of the ebb and flow of qi far surpasses anything I've ever experienced...you're like Buddha+Dali Lama+Lao Zi x 1000."

 

Is someone on your football team going to figure out a new weightlifting technique and suddenly turn into the Incredible Hulk?

Individuals certainly can and will find new or different tricks or knacks that work better for them in qigong, but something like what you're describing can't happen. It's a lot of gradual buildup. Some may go faster and farther than others, but it's not going to happen overnight, regardless.

 

Exactly,

People naturally have different talent in different areas, different areas of expertise etc. While someone may seem to have "unbelievable" talent in one area may be severely lacking in another.

Within our Meditation/Qigong system my master will readily admit that he has students that know certain areas of the system better than him b/c they spend TIME working with it. Where as he will have much more knowledge than them in other areas. Qigong is mostly about cultivating a person to be the best THEY can be. Once you seriously practice Qigong you come to understand the only one you compete with or workout with is yourself. Qigong is more about learning to learn.

 

I would say that this really depends on the teacher. I'm fairly certain that a level 1 attunement with my mentor would have included time spent sensing energy. (Having never actually bought one, that's not 100%.) The difference I think I'm hearing is that Qigong may spend months practicing sensing energy, where a reiki attunement takes anywhere between an hour and a day.

As for spending time building energy, my mentor recommended that his reiki students practice regularly. He even talked about reikiing himself every night. He indicated that with regular practice over time, the energy shifted. I gather that with Reiki, the energy builds up with practice *after* the attunement(s). Someone who didn't practice regularly wouldn't get the same buildup.

Different teachers have different philosophies. My sister did a weekend course, got her Reiki lvl 1 on Saturday, and lvl 2 on Sunday. So the risk you run with reiki is that you get someone who has done that, practices very little (perhaps only when they're paid to do a reiki session?), and some time later does another weekend course for their lvl 3 Master/Teacher attunement.

I'm reasonably sure that my mentor would not give someone a lvl 2 attunement until they had been practicing with their lvl 1 energies for somewhere on the order of a year or more. And similar for the step up from lvl 2 to lvl 3.

I know even less about qigong. Considering that I haven't gotten any Reiki attunements, it would be wrong for me to recommend that someone else do what I haven't.

My only other advice on this would be, whatever you do (reiki or qigong), get a good teacher. While searching, trust your gut. If the teacher makes you feel uncomfortable right away, don't stay with them.

 

Thanks ember,
You make a great point, definately does depend on the teacher. And thanks for the info on Reiki