Formosa Fitness

I posted this on a discussion board and thought some here might appreciate the info. The topic was how to get started with a qigong or meditation pracitce.

One very important point to bring up IMO is that different parts of the spectrum work for different people. Eight brocades, standing, yoga, taichi, etc. all work the body and the mind. This is their strength and weakness. As a dual mind/body practice, they bridge the gap between the two but never quite reach the heights of either side. For example, no one I know would tell you that one of those is better than seated meditation for pure mind practice. Involving the body just creates too much interference.

Involving the body also means greatly lengthening and complicating the learning process. Learning to move correctly in qigong, taichi, etc. is much more difficult than learning how to sit in meditation properly. If you don't have access to a teacher, then a mind/body practice is much more difficult.

The advice to just pick one is spot on, but there are different learning curves for each so keep that in mind. If you're wanting more of a pure mind path, pick a seated meditation and get started. If mind/body is what you want and you have access to a good teacher, then pick that route.