Blocked Chi Flow

Comment by Chad J. Dupuis, L.Ac.

You are entirely correct when you point out that you cannot rush it. Practice, practice, practice and not forcing is the only way to develop. Outside of proper instruction there are really no shortcuts. The shaking and other sensations are very common as the body opens up blockages, so you usually just have to let them happen and keep practicing.

The main thing to avoid is focusing too much on what you think is moving and not moving, on the sensations, etc. - just do the practice without as much thought and it will work itself out naturally.

With regards to yin building, this, again, just comes from practice. Your restlessness will die down eventually. You should not, however, force this - and this includes forcing yourself through with over control of the breath. This is the number one way to get the "running fire" syndrome which can have a host of symptoms. If you are restless, just experience the restlessness and it will die down on it's own. If you are particularly restless and have reasons to be (work, life, etc.) wait a while before you practice. You cannot force your nervous system to slow down immediately, so a longer-term view is essential.

Comment by Archived User

I had a very similar experience when learning a branch of the praying mantis kung fu that relied mostly on internal power. I had the tremblings, restlessness, digestion problems and felt a little out of balance with my environment. Later I found out the problems were caused by internal heat (yang) accumulation inside the body - mostly in the middle and lower jiao that were due to the intense internal work - and these caused the above mentioned problems.

You may also would like to seek an acupuncturist and/or herbalist but the most effective 'sefl help' method I found was actually to going back and pick up training again in an external (hard) style I did previously. External work draws your yang out from the inside and this process will also give room for yin to rebuild.

If you haven't done any external training yet, might just want to start with walking/jogging regularly and later possibly running and do cardio workouts - anything: jumping jacks, circleing arms, body, any muscle work will help. Don't expect immediate results but if you slowly master these you will be able to balance out the 'side effects' of some internal arts.

This is the method I found the most effective and not just for getting rid of the side effects but also keeping them under control.

Best of luck,
Blade~

Comment by Archived User

Have you thought about your diet? Yin is damaged by overconsumption of heating, stimulating foods such as coffee, strong spices, lamb, ginger, mustard etc. These will also make you feel more agitated and shaky. In contrast, cooling Yin building foods include things like asparagus, apple, lemon, pear, seaweed. make sure you drink plenty of water too.

If you're interested in this side of things, I recommend the books by Daverick Leggett.