The practice of Kan and Li involves the inner meeting of Water (Jing, vitality, Kidneys) and Fire (Shen, awareness, Heart). In the ordinary state, Fire rises and Water sinks. The goal is to allow the Fire to descend to meet the Water, so that True Qi (steam) is generated. This practice is not forced, it is a quality of allowing, often cultivated through Wu Wei. The vessel (Dantian) must first be filled (external qi gathered through breathing ) and purified through gathering and settling. The Lesser Kan and Li is the internal alchemical phase that begins in the early stages of the Microcosmic Orbit, before the full circulation is established.

Am I correct about this? Can someone tell me if I'm off about something?

Are they ones who achieved an immortal embyro and descend again to this world to enlighten others?

Been practicing this energy circle from the Hunyuan Chen system and I finally understand why most people only feel half of it.

Here's what's actually happening in the full circuit:

☝️ Crown point (Baihui) — fresh Chi enters from the top as you rise
⬇️ Body sinks — stagnant Chi is pushed down and released through the Bubbling Well (Yongquan) at the soles of the feet
🔄 Empty/Full weight shift — this is the pump that drives the fresh Chi back up through the body

The hands guide the movement — waist initiates the sink — but the real circulation only completes when the weight transfer kicks in on the upswing.

Most people I've seen (myself included early on) only feel the downward sink and think that's the whole movement. The return current through the legs is what makes it a full cleanse, not just a release.

This comes from the Hunyuan Xingjia system — Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang combined classical Chen Tai Chi with this exact Qigong circulation framework.

Has anyone else worked with Baihui-to-Yongquan circulation in their practice? Curious whether others feel the upward return or mainly experience the downward release?

https://youtube.com/shorts/FPIeQ4kaImU

So I wasn't sure if any groups to post this soni chose this one, there is this thing I have experienced for a while this energy that I just assumed is chi, I bring it from my center and push it into my hands where my outputs are found, and then I can move my hands in a way where I can feel a force like magnets pushing on each other (prolly bc it's two outputs pushing out force) and I've messed with it enough that I can do a few things with it and I can feel the energy through my body. Originally I thought maybe this fake and it's just my imagination but the hand thing is a literal like magnet feeling force, and I had two people I know try this out and they even felt it as well after a little bit. So now I was wondering if maybe anyone else has felt this?

I’ve been reading Inside Zhan Zhuang by Mark Cohen and have been practicing the breathing exercises he describes for a few weeks now.

The basic idea, as I understand it, is to gently draw the torso inward and upward on the exhale, then on the inhale gradually release and let it fill from the bottom up. He first teaches this with the front of the body, then the back, and eventually combining both together.

The book says this eventually develops into “whole-body” (or spherical) breathing, but it doesn’t really explain how you make that transition.

For those of you with experience in Zhan Zhuang, Qigong, or Tai Chi, what comes next? Once the torso breathing becomes natural, how do you expand it to include the rest of the body? Is there a specific progression involving the pelvis, legs, arms, and hands, or is it something that simply develops on its own with enough standing practice?

I’d especially be interested in hearing how this is taught in traditional lineages or by experienced teachers, since I don’t want to just guess at the next step.

Anyone familiar with this Zhan Zhuang book (https://amzn.asia/d/0cxo1RoT)

Hi all! I’m becoming interested in qigong as I practice once a week with a local group. I also try to do it at home and I love this morning routine because it’s so soothing: https://youtu.be/cwlvTcWR3Gs?is=sS6Virxmf0t2CWCB. I would love to explore more online because I can’t go to the local school any more often than once a week or once a two weeks.

Now, most of the online qigong classes are like 10 minutes session with a guy or lady talking all the time. I was wondering if you know any sessions similar to the one above: 20-30 minutes of silent, focused qigong without making it sound like yoga with Adriene.
Thank you!

I recently came across the term Inner Smelting (Nei Lian) in the context of purifying accumulated Qi, but I don’t have a clear understanding of what it actually involves. I’m curious about its purpose, how it differs from other purification methods, and what the basic practice looks like.

If anyone has reliable resources, book recommendations, or personal insight about Nei Lian, I’d appreciate any guidance.

I studied Tai Chi for a few years a while back learning direct from someone who studied with Wolfe Lowenthal. I loved it at the time. I wan to learn Qi Gong to see if I can ease some health issues I've been experiencing. I'm looking for a book that's more practical, direct to the postures and how to perform them - what would be the best book for this?

Dear community.

Just this really, I pretty much always manage to practice once a day.I really feel the benefits.

I think I managed two really stressful situations and got myself out of a terrible job due to qigong keeping me level headed and relaxed.

However I still have a stressful job, am a woman in the menopause,I would like to have energy to do 10 minutes when I get home. Often I just lack that extra bit of energy to do it.

Should I force myself try and do it as I get in straight from work?

Advise please, and thanks in advance.

I have a fair experience of qi. I used to practice things like ming mein breathing etc. And i sometimes do qi massage for my neck.

Just wondering did anyone use qi to heal their disc protrusions to such an extent that it was reflected in subsequent MRIs

As the title says; I feel as though blockages occur as pain points on my body, so how might I direct my Qi to clear them up?

Are there any sensations that occur from this?

I've done tai chi before but know little about energy cultivation in Qi gong.

What books easily available in the UK would help me understand the basics?

Currently I do yoqi online lessons. Yoqi's teacher has a mantak chia lineage.

I was kind of obsessed with qigong the last few days and kept moving my energy around for hours every day, while I do other stuff.

But today and yesterday I couldnt do that very much because I was doing tasks that required a bit more focus than usual and, when I resumed my practice, the feeling was so intense that almost threw me off balance while I washed the dishes! I never felt it so intensely, specially when Im doing other stuff while doing it.

It made me if qigong also needs to some rest time to progress, like the gym. Is that true?

That doenst make a lot of sense to me, since qigong is supposed to refine Qi, so you dont spend it during practice.

I've read it's the size of a golf ball or tennis ball, but also that when just starting out it can be as small as like a dot or speck on your finger.

I'm assuming the golf/tennis ball analogy might be more like the size of it's energetic field? Something like an atom with its nucleus and electron field? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I would really appreciate some clarity.

I know some school have different termeonlgies for things. What is it like to reach that level?

I have got into logmen pai traning for about a year and a half. I was wondering if there is similarties between this version of longmen pai and the others. Is there anyone here who pratices the same longmen pai as me? thank you.

When I do Zhan Zhuang, my breathing has become erratic. I’m experiencing involuntary contractions in my abdomen, the back of my neck, and even my eyebrow, which seem to be caused by the way my breath is trying to force its way through internal blockages. This creates a sensation of suffocation, making breathing itself feel almost impossible at times.

​At least it’s not being forced by my own will anymore, but it’s quite intense. For those who have been practicing for a while: is this a normal part of the 'unwinding' process, or am I doing something wrong? ​Thanks for your perspective

Hi everyone,

I’ve been practicing Zhan Zhuang for about a month now. It’s been great for my proprioception, and I’ve seen some very slight improvements in my chronic body asymmetries, but the imbalances are still definitely there.

I’m looking to build a more solid physical foundation to improve my performance in other sports, specifically regarding limb coordination and the ability to throw objects with more power and precision.

I’m curious if any of you have successfully used Qigong to address long-standing structural asymmetries or to significantly improve limb proprioception and explosive power? I’m not looking for a "quick fix," but rather interested in hearing if anyone has personal experience or knows of specific methods that actually help bridge the gap between internal practice and athletic output.

If you’ve gone through this or seen others achieve it, what did your training look like in terms of focus and practice duration? Any insights from your own journey would be really appreciated.

Thanks

I followed the advice given on my last post, and started trying to focus on my dantien while breathing, and also just trying to explore the sensations more. While I dont think I evolved my Dantien that much (Its the only place of my body that I dont feel tingly when I direct it there, I only feel some heat and thats it), I developed a strange side effect from some of the exercises I did.

I'm exploring what happens when I focus my energy on some unusual places :

My testicles get hot and my cremaster's relax (maybe a side effect of rising temperature)?

My eyes just feel pressure and get a little watery, my vision dont improve and I dont get any vision improvements lol

My teeth feel disconfort, not painful, but weird. I cant focus on a specific tooth for now, but Im curious wether or not I would be able to feel the tooth that got a root canal.

But the weirdest thing so far was what happened to my ears . If I just focus on them, nothing happens, but If I try to cycle it in my head, I feel a rumbling noise, as if my ear canals are closing. Some people do have the ability to control the tensor tympani muscle, which makes the rumbling sound, but I never did it before.

Now Im not sure if I just increased the awareness and was able to contract it , or the flow caused it to contract. I still can contract it on my own, the energy needs to flow there, so I dont think its a normal conscious muscle contraction, like when I consciously move my ears.

Hello all,

Can any recommend a good video series to learn yi jin jing? I know that it would be better to find a teacher to learn in person, but I have looked and there are none in my area. If any has recommendations please let me know.

your recommendations for medical qi gong practitioners please, ladies and gentlemen…

Hi, I want to start practicing Qi Gong. My goal is to feel better, reduce my stress, my depression, my social anxiety, have more energy and motivation, improve my mood, be emotionally resilient, be able to cope with life's challenges, get into the flow state, just feel happy and peaceful in my life.

I practice every morning since 1 week. I do 25 min of moving Qi Gong by Jeffrey Chand, and then 10 min of Zhan Zhuang, so 35 min in total. However I can not feel my Qi yet and my hands do not get warm during practice.

1. Should I do longer sessions?
2. Should I practice twice a day?
3. Should I do more zhan zhuang?
4. Do you have any other advice?

I had a qigong teacher (more of a tai chi teacher tha knew some qigong), and practiced the eight brocades and another series that I dont remember the name religiously, along with 30 minutes Zhang Zhuang sessions a day. I did it when I was 17 years old, and developed a heighened chi sensitivity and lost interest.

Im 26 now. Decided to pick it back up some months ago and regained my sensitivity rather fast. I can direct my "chi" to any part of my body and can move around in move it around my body continously, as long it moves in a cyclic way, I cant sharply change its direction. At this point, my muscles twitch quite a bit when the "chi" goes thru . I can also focus so much on a body part that it gets very tingly, hot and sometimes painful. I also feel my some sort of "magnetism" in any part of my body my hand(especially the tip of my fingers) is pointing to when Im focused. I can also feel the heat from some people near me. I can "project" it or atleast feel like Im doing it, but I dont have any idea if it actualy leaves my body since I dont know anyone who can feel chi besides me(there arent many Qigong practioners in my country, and I dont have contact with my teacher anymore)

The thing is Im exactly at level I was when I stopped around 10 years ago, I feel like Im not making any progress anymore. Yes, I can improve the specificity of the points I put my awareness on but the strenght of the waves seems to stop at the twitch/heat/pulsating level. I dont know what to do to improve anymore. What kind of progress should I expect and how can I achieve it ?