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Baby, Can You Feel My Chi?
A while back, somebody told me a simple exercise which is supposed to let you feel the chi (qi) energy of your body. It goes like this.
- Rest your arms flat at your sides. Raise them up outward from your body (not in front of your body, but to the sides) until they are at 90 degree angles with your torso.
- Turn one palm so it is facing upward. Turn the other so it is facing down.
- At the same time, rapidly open and close your hands, so that the fingers slap against the fleshy heel of your hand. Do this at least three times in rapid succession. Then turn the upward palm face down, and the downward palm face up and repeat.
- Repeat this about ten times or so quickly, then bring your hands together, palms facing one another, about an inch or so apart.
- You should be able to feel a sort of energy charge or resistance between the two hands. The person who told me this said that this is chi.
I can definitely and predictably feel something every time I do this. Can you? How strong is it? What do you think it is? Chi or just some kind of natural nervous-system response? Does anybody know other good simple exercises to make you aware of subtle energy flows in the body?
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October 7th, 2005 at 1:19 am
go to this link, http://shoofoundation.elfrad.org/ shoo edwards can activate chi energy in others. listen to an interview with shoo on www.radiorbit.com in the archives. his basic exercise is to put your finger tips together and make a gap between them a few milimeters apart and gently focus your thoughts on the sensation between your finger tips. i personally get tingling sensations that eventually migrate into my arms and up into my shoulders. i have done this in seminars and had people get strong pulsations up into thier arms also. cool stuff.
October 7th, 2005 at 1:25 am
i got my boys to activate healing energy through thier hands when thier mother smashed her toe one night and thier actions took her pain and swelling away considerably. i didn`t give them any specific instructions on how to do it other than by focussing on making thier mother feel better through thier hands in contact with her foot. they weren`t told they couldn`t so they went ahead and did it.
October 7th, 2005 at 2:18 am
Dude, I have, like, zero chi.
October 7th, 2005 at 3:12 am
I felt *something*, although that may have just been my palms tingling from being slapped by my fingers…
October 7th, 2005 at 7:21 am
Be careful, activate inpured energy will get one sick, not only in mind but also in body.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:28 am
If you could be a little less vague, Aliens, I’m sure we’d all appreciate your insight.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
chi is a subtle energy that takes time to recoginise and develop. it is a physical skill like a golf swing in the basic sense, though there is a metaphysical aspect of chi as there is with a golf swing. everything in our consciousness develops out of balance, physical health, mental and spiritual health and intellectual health all function to support each other.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
Alien is right . if sick - lay lo . your day will come . til then - purify .
and then say - Wha! I can see them bouncing lil balls of chi all around ¤
same same . . they will bring you if you just would trust them .
. to the source .
Blessed be you all ¤ Jah!
October 7th, 2005 at 12:38 pm
alistair is correct, the more time one spends famiarising him- or herself with their own proprioception, the more acute your sense of “chi” will become.
If anyone wants an easy exercise, try this by Robert Bruce:—
1. Rub your thumb in circular motions around the top of the knuckle/joint that joins the other thumb to the hand. You may start off by scratching or pinching the skin to make yourself aware of that point in your body, as this is an exercise in proprioception. Rub for about three minutes, really become aware of the sensation.
2. After that time of rubbing in circular motions, take your thumb away and continue “feeling” or perpetuating the sensation using your mind and imagination. There is a minor chakra located here, so as you train your mind to be able to make motions of the sensate space within yourself, you will also become aware that this “sense” within oneself is similar to chi. The more awareness one has, the more control one has.
3. After a few tries, the chakra should become activated. Not by the rubbing, but by the mental stimulation of the movement of such energy in the minor chakra. It should make a little ‘pop’ sensation and voilà !
Worth giving it a try for those unfamiliar with what chi feels like. Like a particular aroma or what not, you must allow the mind to become aware of it first so it becomes easier to “find” time and time again. Eventually you’ll wonder how you never noticed it in the first place.
As for Aliens’ comment, I would stress that you explore the concept of the dualistic paradigm you’re perpetuating by claiming that there are so-called “good” and “bad” energies. They are, in fact, one and the same. Your involvement with them is what warrants you to predetermine the resultant adjective, good or bad.
October 7th, 2005 at 1:40 pm
Ch’ien: you’re being just as vague as Alien here. You’re obviously presenting some kind of dissenting viewpoint on this subject, but I’m hard-pressed to really understand what either of you are trying to communicate. Could you possibly rephrase it?
Are you suggesting that people should not become personally aware of their own life-force and how it flows through them? For what reason? I’m certainly open to hearing a more thorough explanation, but I remain skeptical if that is indeed your position.
October 7th, 2005 at 2:49 pm
Doubleyou tee eff?
October 7th, 2005 at 3:20 pm
quick someone break out the “Troll Be Gone” Spray
October 7th, 2005 at 4:37 pm
learning to sense chi in living things is a marvelous experience, a visceral discovery that living things are indeed alive, filled with this electrical, tingly, living, intelligent energy. once you learn to sense chi, you discover that everything is filled with it–every rock, plant, tree, animal, person. you wonder how you lived so long without knowticing this. you wonder how the entire medical profession can be ignorant of such a basic fact.
the ability to sense is all in your intent and patient attention. we’ve all felt chi all along, just haven’t paid attention. having felt it all along, we never knew a time when we didn’t feel chi. so how do you notice something you’ve felt from the beginning? by paying attention.
in addition to the parallel-hands exercise, i’d suggest having someone lay down and placing your hands above their tummy, not touching. As you move your hands downwards, you will feel an opposing force. The hara is the reservoir of chi in the human body, so it is a strong force.
the discovery that you can feel chi is only the first step along a path of self-discovery. many wonderful discoveries follow that one. there are dangers, too, because the subtle world is full of illusion.
wish you the best on your path…
October 7th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
See, now that answer makes sense to me. If you have any more to say about these dangers, or could point people in the right direction, it would be much appreciated.
October 7th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
i read about a man who developed something called t-touch and used it on horses to calm them and to develop trust relationships. i modelled some of his methods(hand movements, head position, facial expressions, breathing, etc.) and tried it on my oldest cat sparky, who was virtually feral and a concern for us around our young children. within a few days of patient work with my old cat he started to really like being moved around and touched tothe point where he came looking for the treatment. he now sleeps right against me some nights and is great with the boys.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:31 pm
Through my Taoist studies and general interest, I’ve come across something called Dark chi but it’s not something that you can find out about easily. I don’t know anything about it, but I just thought I’d mention it as it seems relevant to what some people are saying about dangers although it might be complete b/s.
I’ve never consciously “felt” chi as such. I didn’t know there were exercises that could easily allow you to feel the flow of chi without a lot of prior work. I’ve started meditating a lot and so soon I hope to reach one the intial stages of Taoist meditations which is to be able to feel chi in your lower abdomen, a highly important area in Taoist inner alchemy.
I’ve read loads of amazing stories/accounts of Taoist adepts using their own chi to heal others, it’s really fascinating.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:34 pm
Ok I just tried that exercise in the initial post and definately felt something! Very cool.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
(sorry to triple comment lol)
I think what Alien was getting at is that if you use such exercises without being in good health and in a healthy state of mind, you can draw out bad energy which can have some bad side effects.
As to what Ch’ien Shantiman:
“Alien is right . if sick - lay lo . your day will come . til then - purify .”
This makes perfect sense. Purify people!
October 7th, 2005 at 11:03 pm
I do a thing called trul khor (magical wheel) in tibetan, with a local Lama. Its kind of like yoga or tai chi type exercises. Sometimes in the middle we do a thing where we rotate our cupped hands as if rolling an invisible ball between them, and I can feel the chi quite strongly.
October 8th, 2005 at 2:23 am
I suspect neither of them actually knows how to communicate anything.
October 8th, 2005 at 7:31 am
To me, sensing Chi is one thing and channelling Chi is another. One can afford to sense Chi, but not channelling Chi. These are different levels of metaphysical activities.
Channelling Chi should not be performed before one’s inpure engergy is purified through other mild means.
October 8th, 2005 at 7:45 am
Those mild means include: mantra recitations, repetively bathed in certain holistic musics, breath or daily activity observations, walking or sitting meditations, out-door relaxations etc.
October 8th, 2005 at 7:50 am
Singing holistic songs like Choir do and fasting like Ramada Festival are other excellent means.
October 8th, 2005 at 12:20 pm
tim, I’m hardly any kinda expert to be pointing people anywhere
that said…
the yogic model of the human mind-energy-body complex is layered; “anna-maya kosha”, the layer made of food, outermost; then the “prana-maya kosha”, or energy body, within; and one layer down, the “mano-maya kosha”, the layer of mind. there are layers beyond that too, but suffice to say that mind moves energy which creates physicality
thus, intent is what makes the river of energy to flow. your intent is more powerful than you’d ever guess.
if you have the intent to feel energy, you will. if you have the intent to see energy, you will. if you have the intent to heal, you can facilitate it in yourself and others
by way of enouragement to those who haven’t yet felt chi, I didn’t myself until I was well past my 40th year in this body.
there’s lots of ritualtistic mumbo-jumbo around chi in all the religious traditions, but it is a simple, natural, thing, a fundamental property of life. it is nameless and formless. my personal belief is that all the stories around dangers etc are means of control because your power is limitless.
your chi is yours, my friend, is part of your essence. it is guided by your intent alone. you’ve flowed in this river of chi all your life. if you want to, you can become aware of it. it’s that simple.
to use chi, however, requires focused intent. that’s where meditation comes in.
so meditation is more fundamental than chi exercises. I’m only beginning to comprehend that. master meditation and you master everything, and that’s very easily said, true. your mind is yours, a deeper part of your essence, but seemingly impossible to control; there are no shortcuts…
practice…
practice…
practice…
may your mind be calm and your chi joyful…
–sifu
October 8th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
Sa! ¤
didn’t know you’d hear me . ok den .
I’ve been sick and I’ve been down for so long . yes smoking cigarettes and gulping coffe and eating sugar and not taking care of my body at all . and why? oh how I wondered . and even hated myself for beeing so stupid since i “know” better right .
but I’ve been saving up . and waiting out . and even now I see why I was a punkrocker as young ( and now look like a stoneageman ) . Dem wicked ones will try to recruite all promising people . all the goodlookin and fit and smarties . they all get caught . the ugly and troublesome and sick ones - they get left alone - in peace . yes .
topic ah .. k
so Truth shall set us free . yes . but very dangerous it is to tell the Truth . you all know this . and to chnage . your friends and family don’t want you to change . they want “static safety” because they’re afraid of the Sea of Eris , the unknowable , unpredictable . ah you know this . and as you start to tell the truth and change faster they will alienate you . and you better be prepared for this . the truth is very frightening and painful to the ego and the evol-society . still Go for it - but be humble and careful ¤
Set and setting - conciousness is a tryptamine trip
so treat it so . when you bring out the powers you better not try to control it . talk about intent - purest intent is to Give it Back . put the energy into the earth and up to the suns .
know that the flow knows where it’s going . and you could never .
Give Up ¤ Let Go .
Only unconditional love and trust is pure white magic
and the Chi - Prana - Orgone . it’s Right Before your Eyes . Dancing .
Bless it and bless all . but watch out for the city and dem wicked ones . Go Back . Lay Lo . Fly High .
thanks for the patience . Bom!
October 8th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
I dunno if this is “chi”, exactly, but I’ve always been able to feel other people’s energy, so to speak. I don’t think I’m alone, or special, in this regard either. I think most of us can feel when our presence is wanted and desired. Especially when it isn’t. Perhaps I’m thinking about “aura’s” or something like that, but isn’t an aura merely supposed to be one’s chi expressing itself outwardly from the body?
October 8th, 2005 at 5:33 pm
it`s right before your eyes, dancing. yes it is. that`s the miracle of existance. the joy of life. rowing our boat down the river of enegy is the meaning of life it`s self.
October 9th, 2005 at 8:55 am
Energy energy energy
Everything I read leads to energy
Energy whores, energy wars
Energy as the path to all source
October 9th, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Fell’s made a good call. “Chi” seems to me like it’s closely tied with balance and inertia–in fact, one Tai Chi master said that the best translation for “chi” would be “gravity.” Robert Bruce, despite being published by Llewyn, has some great techniques. If you ask me, “chi” or “energy” is like a ladder connecting the various bodies. In the meatpuppet, it manifests as weight and inertia. At astrally or ethereally, it’s chi gung and chakras. That said, though, once you start playing with it–”By doing certain things, certain things will follow.”
One mundane technique I learned way way back when I was about ten from a Shotokan (mostly crap) instructor: Stand up. On inhalation, raise the arms out to the sides; on exhalation, bring them back down. Continue doing this, keeping the motion tied to breathing; after a few efforts, the arms start to move without thought but under the control of breath. Can’t think of any practical application, though.
As far as working on your chi or “energy” being dangerous. Maybe. I think it’s more like coming to a crisis–work through the crisis, and you’re good. Some of Bruce’s excercises will lead to some scary sleep phenomenon, until you grow accustomed to it. Now, actually raising your Kundalini spontaneously can lead to serious problems, I’ve read, but this is a different, related but specific phenomenon.
October 10th, 2005 at 11:02 am
Adding my 2 cents worth to the conversation, IMHO most Tai-Chi/martial-arts teacher’s that make a big thing about chi, like chucking people across the room etc. Are generally not very good at their art and use a lot of trickery to try and hide the fact they don’t know a lot. It maybe interesting to note that some of exercises commonly employed to check if a person has ‘a lot of chi’ before one of these teachers demonstrates on them look very similar to those used by stage hypnotists to check the suggestibility of a audience member.
Any Tai-Chi teacher that I’ve trained with that’s worth his salt will not make a big deal about chi. The most advise you get is to concentrate on sinking your chi to the dan-tien (the bodies centre of gravity just below the navel) oh and do that spear exercise another 100 times while your at it.
By this definition Channel Null’s comment on equating chi with gravity is probably the closest to my own experience. The way I try to think of it is that chi is a Chinese cultural concept, you perform certain exercises (like fells) and you get certain feelings/reactions. Chi is just the framework the Chinese developed for explaining these results.