Involuntary Movements

I mentioned few posts back about involuntary movements being sometimes experienced during Qigong practice. Some people may occasionally  experience a quivering or jerking sensation while practicing. People receiving acupuncture treatment sometime notice this phenomena as well. These movements are usually quite harmless and disappear as soon as the practice ends. If the involuntary movement does not stop with the cessation of practice however, or if you continue to experience involuntary movements when not practicing, this could be a sign of a Qi deviation. In such cases, you should contact a Qigong instructor or acupuncturist at once.

My first experience with involuntary movements came when I was studying Fomen Jiu Gong Zhang in China in the late ‘80's. The very first posture is a static one. You simply stand still with your hands pressed together in prayer position while mentally reciting a mantra. One day soon after I began studying, a group of about 20 others and I were practicing this posture in the courtyard of the hospital. Since it was the only posture we knew so far, we were supposed to hold it for the entire hour of practice.

After about ten minutes or so, I thought I heard someone nearby clapping. I thought maybe someone had seen me, a foreigner, practicing Qigong with the group and was trying to get my attention. This was not as unusual as it may sound. Foreigners were still pretty rare in China at that time and anything I did in public was sure to command a lot of attention. I decided to ignore it, hoping the person would get bored and move on. However, even after a couple of minutes, the clapping did not stop. If anything, it got louder and faster. It didn’t sound like normal applause either, it was more staccato, like a jackhammer.

This seemed really odd to me so I opened my eyes to see what was going on. Contrary to what I had imagined, there was no zealous spectator on the sidelines cheering us on. Instead, the clapping sound was being made by one of the other students. She was standing with her hands in prayer position banging them together rapidly with her eyes still closed. “This is weird,” I thought,
“Why in the world is she doing that?”.

Just then I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Several of the other students were moving also. One was swaying back and forth, while another was making big circles at the waist with her torso. One man was actually taking short steps this way and that while others were moving their arms in jerky motions. Though I would later learn that these types of involuntary movements were not unusual, at the time I thought it was very odd.

During the next practice session, I ignored the clapping and shuffling and really concentrated on my practice. After a while, I began to feel as if I was being pulled backwards. I tried to ignore it but it wouldn’t go away. I began to get a little concerned so I opened my eyes. The sensation went away immediately. I looked behind me. Unlike the poor student I mentioned in a previous entry, there was no one behind me playing a practical joke. There was nothing there that would explain the sensation. I closed my eyes and went back to reciting the mantra. The sensation of being pulled soon returned; stronger this time. Rather than trying to fight it, I decided to relax and accept it. Eventually, the  pulling sensation became so strong that I felt I was going to fall. I was forced to take a step backward in order to keep my balance.

After I stabilized myself, I felt as if there was a string attached to my sternum that was pulling me forward. I resisted for a bit until the sensation grew too strong. I gave in and let it pull me forward, once again taking a step to catch my balance. As soon as I stopped my forward momentum, I could feel myself being pulled backwards again only to be pulled forward yet again as soon as I was still. Soon I was taking several steps forward, catching my balance and then being pulled several steps backward. I had to open my eyes slightly to make sure that I didn’t run into anyone.

The sensation of being pulled by unseen forces was not unpleasant and I was not afraid at all. It was actually kind of fun. I felt that I was in complete control if I chose to be. If I consciously resisted the sensation or opened my eyes, it stopped. Later, I asked Teacher Gong about this and he explained that involuntary movements were not unusual or harmful. It was the vigorous movement of Qi that caused the spontaneous motions. It was actually a positive sign that one’s practice was working, though it did tend to tire one out. Sometime later, I found myself moving in circles during practice. One of the teachers was quite impressed and said that I was moving in a Baqua (Eight Diagram) pattern and that this was a good thing.

Even though involuntary movement is not scary, I’ll admit that it does keep me from practicing that posture as much as I should. It’s just not the kind of thing I’m looking for when I practice Qigong and I find it kind of bothersome. That’s not really a good excuse to keep from practicing, however.  Most involuntary movements resolve themselves over time as the various channels open. The best thing is just to continue to practice and ignore it until it goes away (remembering the cautions at the beginning of this article, of course). In the end, voluntary moments are simply benign manifestations of Qi and something you just need to work through.

Qi Bubbles

After I had completed all the course and clinic work for my Medical Qigong Practitioner’s certificate, I would sometimes help my teacher, Professor Francesca Ferrari with classes. One weekend I was assisting with a beginner’s class that was being taught at the Five Branches campus in Santa Cruz. The class was held in a large room that was usually divided into two classrooms and had a very high ceiling.

Part of the class was devoted to experiencing Qi; learning what it felt like and developing sensitivity to it. I remember when I went through the class, I was sure that I would not be able to feel anything. But I did, and once you experience it and learn what Qi feels like, it is very easy to recognize it.

The day went very smoothly with the students doing various exercises involving the emitting and sensing of Qi. During one of the exercises, I noticed one of the students taking pictures. At the end of the day, as the students began to clear out, I asked if I could see the pictures. To my surprise, I saw what looked like milky white bubbles of various sizes floating about the room. They were in every picture.  Nobody had been blowing soap bubbles during class so I thought perhaps the bubbles were caused by a dirty lens or flair of light. When I looked closer I noticed that the bubbles appeared in different places in each picture, even though the photographer hadn’t moved and the lighting hadn’t changed. I also noticed that there were fewer bubbles when the students were standing around listening to instruction and more when they were actively practicing.

I was very intrigued. Everyone had already left so it was too late to take anymore pictures, but I asked the student to try to stand where she had been standing before and take a picture of the empty room. I was not surprised when this photo showed only an empty room, no bubbles in sight. Same photographer, same lighting; no bubbles. Something had been happening when the students were practicing and I honestly believe we were able to photograph bubbles of Qi that day.

The clincher came some months later. Francesca had taught a Medical Qigong class in England and had taken a picture with the group at the end of the day. There, in a picture taken by a different person, with a different camera, thousands of miles away and months apart, was a very prominent Qi bubble!

Did we photograph Qi that day? I don’t know. I’d like to think so. I haven’t attempted any further  photographic experiments however because ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Qi exists whether you can photograph it or not. Still, it’s kind of fun to have some “proof” that Qi is all around us. I’ve included some photos with this entry so that you can make up your own mind.

Qi bubbles photographed during Qigong class:

The same classroom photographed by the same camera a few minutes after the end of Qigong class:

Professor Francesca Ferrari (center in gold) with Qigong seminar participants months later, photographed in the United Kingdom:

Naughty Boys

I began studying Qigong in 1988 while living in Zhengzhou city in Henan province, China. I had come across a flier advertising a course to be taught at the local hospital. The system was called Fomen Jiu Gong Zhang or “Buddhist Nine Palace Palm” and been handed down in the Gong family for many generations. The class was prescribed as medical therapy and all the other students were patients at the hospital. The classes lasted all day. There were practice sessions in the morning and evening and academic sessions in the afternoon. I attended class as whenever I was not teaching English classes at my college. Over the course of a couple of months, I experienced a number of unusual things while studying.

Our instructor, Teacher Gong, always brought his adult sons along to help with the class. One day, early on in my training, about 20 of us were practicing in the courtyard, with Teacher Gong and his sons supervising. We were doing a static posture and  had been holding it for quite a long time. I was new to Qigong and my concentration was not what it should have been. Like most beginners, I was getting bored so I opened my eyes just a bit to see what was going on. The rest of the class were standing stock still, exhibiting all the concentration that I lacked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one of Teacher Gong’s sons moving through the crowd, heading in my direction. I quickly shut my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see that I had been goofing off. I waited for him to arrive. After some time, I opened my eyes slightly and noticed he was standing about 5 to 10 feet behind a nearby student. Curious, I let go of all pretense of practicing and began watching him closely.

As I watched, he extended his arms towards the back of the student. Slowly he pulled his arms back, as if he was a mime pulling taffy or a long rope. As he pulled, the student began to sway backward, almost losing his balance. A couple more pulls and the student did lose his balance and had to step back to catch himself before he fell. He righted himself but was soon pulled off balance again. Each time he would set himself only to be pulled backwards by Teacher Gong’s son. Soon he was taking several steps backwards in order to keep from falling over. All this time he had his eyes tightly shut and had no idea that Teacher Gong’s son was behind him.

Tiring of this, Teacher Gong’s son decided to try something different. After giving the student a few minutes to recover his equilibrium, he started making pushing motions. Sure enough, the student began to lean  forward as if something was pushing him from the back. As the teacher’s son continued to mime pushing, the student leaned farther and farther forward until he was forced to take a step to catch his balance. Just as before, each “push” was stronger until the student was forced to run several steps to keep from falling down.

Why didn’t the student just open his eyes and find out what was going on? Involuntary movements are common when practicing Qigong so it is not unusual to find yourself moving in odd ways for no apparent reason. The student probably thought that the movements were a  natural byproduct of his practice. He had no reason to suspect that someone was actually “messing” with him.

After a while, Teacher Gong’s other son noticed what was happening and decided to join in on the fun. He stood in front of the same student and began to make the same pushing motions. Now, as soon as the student recovered from being pushed forward, he found himself being pushed backwards. There were mischievous smiles on the faces of Teacher Gong’s sons as they gently pushed the poor, unsuspecting student forward and back.

Perhaps sensing that this was not practice as usual after all, the student finally opened his eyes. Laughing, the boys explained what they had been doing. The student looked puzzled at first, but then, realizing he had just experienced a true manifestation of Qi, he joined in the laughter. The whole class then gathered round as the two explained what had happened. Several students immediately volunteered to be pushed and pulled around. It was all good natured fun but Teacher Gong finally had to intervene in order  to get everybody back on track. That was my first experience with the power of Qi but there were soon to be others.

Published June 11,  2015