Customer Reviews

Discovering Chi: Energy Exercises For The Beginner [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

At the beginning of the practice there should be warm up exercises first. These are quite simple and enjoyable. They are not the Chi Gong, but will leave you feeling relaxed and balanced right from the beginning. After that Linda demonstrates 8 treasures of Chi Gong - 8 movements. I have not mastered them all yet. But even doing the few I know gives me a lot of satisfaction.

At first it was hard to concentrate and get in tune with the movements. I did not want to give up. There is something very soothing and enchanting about the music, movements and Linda's quiet mastery that kept me coming back to watching the tape and repeating exercises with the tape.

Eventually the moment came, quite unexpectedly, when it started feeling like meditaion in motion. The results in the feeling of calmness and relaxation felt amazing.

It takes time and patience. Allow yourself for some time to get the right results. I cannot even imagine how good it could get practiced daily, for a life time. For me it is just the beginning.

All the best to you on a quite road to Chi Gong mastery. Try it in nature rather than at home. The good Chi of the nature's surroundings makes quite a difference in helping your own Chi to flow and grow.

It's been ages since I used this tape. So I forgot how good the warm-up excercises made me feel. But this morning I pulled it from the shelf and gave it another try. To be honest, I haven't even come close to mastering all the instructions on this video. But the warm-up alone will make you feel great. And I hope to use this tape more often. Why and how does it work? Who can say? I just know that I feel better and more relaxed. I sincerely hope it does the same for you.

I wanted to start off saying I thought this was an excellent video. Great music, clear explanations of what needed done along with the ability to see exactly what was going on. I was confused as to why the warm up was 26 minutes into the tape when you are to always do warm up prior to starting but I felt that was a minor issue. I do have a word of caution based on my experience. I am totally new to qigong. This video I picked up at a library as it has always been something I wanted to try. Each time after I practiced this video I became very sad. I couldn't even say why. This happened the first couple of times and on the next session (this was all in a two week timespan) I became very depressed. A problem at work that couldn't get resolved and I went downhill. As this has never happened to me before, it scared me. I picked up a book on qigong to find out what happened and one paragraph stood out - "Proceed gradually, step by step. Don't overload your qi by trying to do too much too soon." It went on to mention that latent problems could surface if you overload your qi circuits. My feeling is that if you are a basic beginner like me - check out Kenneth Cohen's book "The Way of Qigong" and start from there - then work your way up to this video. He gives a week by week qigong practice plan in his book. Obviously, not everyone will have this problem based upon other reviews but it did happen to me.

I, like most people, bought the tape & didn't touch it for several months. I did finally when I had a major migrane complete with stomach pain, etc. By the time I was done, unbelievably, I was fine. No symptoms & I felt great other then a little tired from normal exercise. Even though all this, I still did not use it again until I was very dizzy from a flu. Again, I was cured of the dizziness, but of course not the flu. I didn't expect a total miracle. I contined to use it during my flu & I fel more energized/better each time. It does take effort & like most, I can shy away from that. It was hard to at first to complete the warm-up and the 8 moves, but it's worth it. Definitly don't stop after starting the moves. Returning the Chi is VERY important or you might just feel tired. Take small breaks in between like I did. I'm going to buy all her other ones since this has worked so well. I am always so calm afterwards.

A key point to remember is that Qigong takes practice and perseverance, but it is fun doing something new and deriving the benefits of this ancient healing art form. Cohen's book (mentioned in another review) is good and filled with more information than one might ever need, but it is very comprehensive...like a small encyclopedia of Qigong. There are thousands of forms that have been created over the thousands of years Qigong has been practiced. Linda's program is very gentle and excellent for beginners. There are other, more martial arts oriented Qigong forms. I've heard it said that the root of all martial arts is Qigong. If you have a background in martial arts, or want to focus your program contiguous with martial arts then Discovering Chi will disappoint. But for a beginner to get started and then move into a more martial arts orientation, you can't go wrong with Discovering Chi.

Some folks have complained about the formatting of the video tape (and dvd too) in that there are no markers to easily locate segments of the tape. While this is a bit irritating I found that after one becomes moderately proficient with each movement and the warm-up one can simply follow the program from the beginning of the tape. It took me about ten times. Now I have the warm-ups well in hand (not difficult at all) and I can simply rewind back to the beginning and follow the routine. If additional practice is needed on any one movement then I can practice it several times and the rewind time is insignificant. I very much enjoy the relaxed nature of Linda's program and teaching. I feel fortunate and blessed to have found this program as my first experience with Qigong Ta'i Chi.

This video offers practical step by step instructions of circulating the energy through the body. This is important for well being. The warm up exercises are essential and are found midway through the tape. In my personal experience I have found it to help with back pain. I am not a medical professional and can only speak from my own experience.

It is important to add if any movement hurts other than slight discomfort while stretching the body, if it continues, stop immediately. Everyone's body is different. Watch the exercise and visualize it if this happens. The next movement may or may not be ok for each individual.

Watch the tape and listen to your body. I find this tape invaluable and do these exercises daily but there are a few sequences that I do not do because of my particular body makeup.

I recommend this tape highly.

After many video tapes and "in-person" training, the warm-up from this video is, for me, the best exercise. The warm up covers all the major chakras (body parts) in an easy to follow format. Recommended for anyone who wants to improved his, or her, inner experience.

This tape has lots of good exercizes, but not much useful information. There is one exercize that I consider dangerous, and should be avoided "The sleeping lioness awakens" END

I just watched this video for the first time. The first half hour shows the demonstrator doing the chi exercises to soft music. You have no clue what she is doing, or why.
The second half shows instructions on the warm up exercises and movements. The instructor is standing in front of a small class of participants and explaining the warm up movements. Her mouth is moving, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO VERBAL SOUND on my video. So, you still have no clue what you are doing or why. Is my video defective or are all of yours the same? You can hear the nice music, but absolutely no talking. Ok, I was totally lost and don't think I will ever use this video.
I would appreciate hearing from others who own this video. Is there and talking/ audible verbal instructions on yours???

If your into martial arts, and think this video is going to turn you into a Ninja with the death touch, your gonna be disappointed. It shows some exercises you do to improve your health and well being. It was the only video that I could find on the subject so I bought it. I tried a few of the exercises, and you can feel your chi flowing because of them, otherwise my video sits and gathers dust until I get more time to practice what's on it.