Teaching Internal

I have discovered recently how difficult it can be to communicate to someone, the power of something internal. The ability to feel one's body from the inside out, not just from external stimuli, could change a martial artist's perspective.

Mentally it's difficult because there is so much more to the Qi Gong than just the external movements. Sure, anyone can teach you to hold your arms out to both sides and turn as far as you can to stretch out your core. That's just stretching though, and there's so much more to the study of Qi Gong. I've heard it described as Daoist yoga. And maybe to a very advanced yoga practitioner that has found that internal power, that is applicable. But so many people I know practice yoga for a workout or to stretch, but spend very little time reflecting on their energy.

There is power in learning to feel your micro muscles and where you have stiffness. Which muscles you don't normally notice and which movements leave you feeling recharged after. But most importantly is the power of learning to heal yourself. When you can start to read the signs that maybe you have a cold or flu coming on. When you can tell that hey, my neck and shoulders are really tight today, maybe that's a precursor to a migraine that I'm getting chronically. Or maybe there are no symptoms, but you're just learning to get your body operating at optimum levels.

So the difficult part isn't teaching someone how to move, it's teaching them how to feel the movements, inside and out. This kind of teaching is great practice for me. Maybe one day it will translate into great insight for others as well.