Condensing or packing chi – is it a good idea?
A while back, Arpita, who was a new student at the time, wrote me the following message:
“Hello – I am brand new [to the course] … just starting week 2. I notice I have a tendency to tense some muscles and close the anal sphincter when i pull in my hips into a more forward position. … i read that this prevents energy leaks… comments?”
And Ed, one of our more experienced students, also asked:
“Interesting about sphincter tightening as I was going to initiate a question about this very subject, but the focus on tightening the anal and urinary sphincters was on “Condensing Qigong” where the focus is on packing increasing amounts of chi into the vessels. This was a large part of another system that I was involved with and was wondering where this fits with the ChiFusion system if at all. Peace and love and light.”
I generally don’t recommend “condensing chi” or related “packing chi” practices. (By the way, condensing usually refers to doing this in the chi vessels, packing usually refers to doing this with the chi meridians, but some instructors use these terms interchangeably.)
If we are talking about health, stress relief, and Chi development for the average person, especially those facing health challenges, these practices have many drawbacks. Yes, they work just fine for (as a guess) about 10% or 15% of the students, but for the rest, the drawbacks are just too great.
The primary drawback is that it is way too easy to “over-condense” or “over-pack”, and not really know you’ve done it. I’ve seen deviations happen from over-condensing.
One dramatic example happened at a workshop I was at a long, long time ago. A chi condensing practice lead to a nearly psychotic episode. This woman literally fell on the floor in the middle of the practice and screamed a single scream at the top of her lungs for a good 90 seconds. It was surreal – I’ve never heard a single scream that lasted that long.
Admittedly that’s a rare case. But what I’ve seen happen more often than not is that over-condensing can lead to a “chi high”. I know that sounds weird, but the “high” makes you think you are doing something good for yourself, and can almost become addictive. So you continue to condense more and more over the weeks and months.
But eventually, the vessels become like a shopping bag that you’ve stuffed too full. You keep stuffing and eventually the seams split and everything spills out. Then it becomes harder to put it back together. In the long run, you are worse off health-wise than when you started.
My personal opinion (soapbox time here) is that chi condensing seems to work against your body and energy system, not with it. It seems to require you to use your mind to override your body and energy system limitations. It really is “anal”, not only in the practice of tightening your anal sphincter, but in using your mind to micro-manage what your body and mind naturally want to do. For me, it encourages you NOT to listen to your body and energy system, and to ride rough-shod over your limitations.
I’m much more of the mind-set that you should work within your limitations, especially at the start, and to work with relaxation rather than tension.
Ironically, you can accomplish many of the same goals as condensing through learning to circulate chi from the vessels to the Wei Chi field, like we do in Level 3. You can train your body and energy system to pull in more chi when you need it instead of forcing the vessels to hold more “just in case” you need it.
And the side benefit is that you also learn to release chi when you don’t need it, avoiding the strain on the vessels. You can does this much better by getting your vessels integrated to the Wei Chi field. (For more about this, check the Complete Chi Health video and report in the Bonus material for the course.)
After I posted the above message, Ed wrote me back and let me know a little more about his experience:
“Thanks, Al. That was very helpful. I followed that system for awhile but never really made it ‘my own’. It could be that the working against nature is part of what kept me from really adopting the system (without knowing it consciously). I believe wholeheartedly in trusting one’s instincts and that is part of my enthusiasm for the ChiFusion system.”
Thanks for this post Al.
Although these are practices new to me, I like how you reinforce the ChiFusion Program’s ‘working within your limitations’,'to work with relaxation rather than tension’, and ‘listening to your body’. All sound advice for ANY exercise, self-healing, or self-improvement program.
We each have the phenomenal gift of body wisdom. For most of us, the challenge is learning to tap it.
Jackie
Jackie
9 Aug 11 at 4:00 pm
I took some lessons in “iron shirt qigong” some years ago where you deal with breath and condensing of chi – are you referring to these similar practices? I’ve always understood it as a sort of training to make the body stronger – like an old practice of ancient warriors. I think it is very important that these techniques should be taught by responsible teachers in order to avoid damage or “highs”. At first you need a deep grounding and feel your ‘roots’ and the earth
Personally I prefer qigong techniques which help me to discover my body and my inner voice and feeling.
Cheers
Livia
Livia
13 Aug 11 at 1:37 pm
I am yoga teacher, one day lady came to me for solution of her problems. She had attended very intence meditation programme without prior experiance. She was seeing light flashes, sparks and any illuminated object very very bright day and night.She can not sleep whole night and feel very uncomfortable. I realised that this is a case of Chi/Prana condensing.To drain the excess condence energy I have made her grounding and relaxation meditation.Whithin thirty minites she felt good no light fluses and sparks seen and no extra illumination seen. She was very happy with this solution.Your comment is right we should not condence the enery but when required we must get it.
Ambarish
Ambarish
13 Aug 11 at 1:59 pm
Thanks great artical.. very helpful. I understand your explanation. I have experianced condesing without knowing what had happend.. I have the same teacher for Tai Chi and Yin Yoga.. I am very litteral. she said hold the world up in yoga pose… While meditating far to long for my body. I injured my right hip, thigh, calf and could not lift my first 3 toes.. its taken months of being very careful not to hurt myself again. Was a very painful injury that should not have happend .. If I had listend to my body
Dianne
13 Aug 11 at 2:42 pm
Hi Dianne, all,
“Hold the world up”? Ha! It sounds like you were doing yin yoga in a very yang sort of way! ;o} I like yin yoga because of the emphasis of working within your limitations, “flirting” with your edges, but not pushing past them unless your body invites you go go further. The acceptance and yielding in yin yoga, and of course in ChiFusion are very important for me in this stage of my life, and to go to the next level, whatever that is.
Our entire (Western) culture is crazy-yang right now. Just look at stupid teevee shows like “Biggest Loser” which emphasize pain, suffering, competition, beating your body into submission and crashing through limitations. Bikram and similar “boot camp” styles of yoga so popular these days reflect this same “macho” excessively yang approach (Although those who love their Bikram, Hot Yoga and similar intense vinyasa styles) swear by it! Many professional athletes feel they cannot compete unless they alter their body chemically with steroids to force it into unnaturally high levels of performance.
I really like ChiFusion, and even though I have been practicing daily for 9 months now, I feel like I am very new at it, and always at the beginning. Whatever I may have gained I feel is because of following instructions, or at least trying to as best as I can, and letting the thing happen rather than trying to impose myself on the process.
Thanks, Al and you guys!
Aloha,
Rex
Khon Kaen, Thailand
rextutor@gmail.com
Rex
13 Aug 11 at 4:29 pm
I don’t see a reason to do this at this time maybe it could be considerd for an expert course offered seperately.
Larry
13 Aug 11 at 7:04 pm
Thats very good idea !!!I think if is possible at all because i hear about it for a first time.
To have energy for a hard days is more than good!!!
Valio
13 Aug 11 at 9:41 pm
I really appreciate this message that you put together here Al! As I have seen from other posts, it seems too easy to want to go to the top of the mountain without proper training. This whole idea of condensing energy sounds really dangerous to me without truly understanding what one is doing. For me, I have been a taiji student for about 3 years now, and routinely want to go back to the beginning to look at some of the fundamentals, for the reason of not going ahead of myself too fast. I like that the message always remains, “work within your limitations”. I find that I enjoy taiji more when I work within the limits of my body and relax in my heart.
Take care!
Robert M
Robert
14 Aug 11 at 12:03 am
About 5 years ago for a year or so I did an excercise called oxycise which is a breathing exercise where you take a huge breath then 3 sniffs while tightening the anus and pelvic floor and then breath out vigorously followed by 3 small outbreaths to get all the air out. I didn’t enjoy doing these breaths (I don’t like forceful exercise–lazy I guess) but it did seem to have good health effects for a lot of people. for me it helped with muscle stiffness etc. I gave it up after a year,no particular reason but thought about going back to it. I’m thinking this might be some kind of chi packing effect? Sometimes I would feel as though walking on air. I was thinking of starting again as I have a lot of muscle stiffness especially in the feet. Now I’m not so sure.
Mary
14 Aug 11 at 2:31 pm
I have been practicing for years but I didn’t really take off. I had been very yang internally.
I have to make much adjustment with ChiFusion
Vicente Abulucion
14 Aug 11 at 6:24 pm