Learning Ch’i Circulation Patterns

One question that my students always ask about learning and doing ch’i circulation patterns – especially in the early stages – is, “What if I’m not feeling my ch’i (internal energy) just yet? Does it still make sense to practice these patterns?”

The answer, of course, is yes. Do the “patterns,” even if you don’t consciously “feel” the energy flow just yet. You can use the dance patterns that I teach in my Level 3 and Advanced Level 2 training, or use ch’i kung, T’ai Chi Ch’uan, or “circulating the body of light” – whatever patterns you have been been taught or discovered in your own studies.

When I took Elena Lentini’s October workshop in NYC last month, she opened the class with ch’i kung patterns, and used those (exclusively!) as a warm-up.

There are times that we “feel” our internal energy, or ch’i, and times that we don’t. Both are okay. When we don’t “feel” the energy quite so much, we can use the energy patterns to both help develop and bring our energy up a bit, and also to practice both our energy-sensitivity and our visualization abilities. We always need practice in these areas, so this is good.

Think of the energy circulation patterns as creating – with intention – a rivercourse. The more that the water flows through the rivercourse, the more well-defined it becomes. Sometimes there’s a lot of water, sometimes not. Either way, our first task is to help define the direction of its flow. That’s why we have the various “practice patterns.”