HIGH-LEVEL CHI KUNG GIVES US GOOD HEALTH, VITALITY, LONGEVITY, PEAK PERFORMANCE, AND SPIRITUAL JOYS
Lifting the Sky
Question
I see "Lifting the Sky" as sort of "First Aid" because I feel very well with it. Are there other Lohan Hands that could be used as "First Aid" against all things that may happen: injuries, illnesses, mental stress?
— Dorit, Austria
Answer
Lifting the Sky and all the other exercises in the Eighteen Lohan Hands are more than merely first aid, though they can be used as first aid if desired.
First aid means help given to a patient or victim of an accident before proper medical treatment is available. For example, if a person fractures his arm, his fractured arm will be bandaged as first aid and preferably he will also be given a warm drink before being taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
You may like to perform Lifting the Sky as first aid, i.e. preparatory exercise before the training proper, to loosen your limbs before proceeding to other chi kung or kungfu exercises like Sinew Metamorphosis and combat sequences. When one is mentally stressful or physical tired but he does not want to miss his regular chi kung or kungfu training, performing Lifting the Sky as first aid before proceeding to more vigorous training is recommended.
All other exercises of the Eighteen Lohan Hands can be used as first aid in this way, though Lifting the Sky is probably the best choice. Carrying the Moon is also an excellent choice.
Besides being suitable as first aid, Lifting the Sky and all the other exercises from Eighteen Lohan Hands can be used as a main therapeutic method to overcome illness. It is actually not the exercises themselves that heal a patient of his illness, but the chi flow derived from performing these exercises.
These exercises must be performed as chi kung, i.e. energy art. If they are performed as gentle physical exercises, as more than 80% of chi kung practitioners in the world today do so without realizing it, the exercises cannot overcome illness. But if they are performed as chi kung, there is no illness that cannot be overcome!
The form of the exercise is the same regardless of whether you perform it as chi kung or as gentle physical exercise. In other words, you can perform Lifting the Sky as chi kung or as gentle physical exercise with the same external form. The difference is in the internal chi flow. Students have to learn internal chi flow from a living teacher, not from a book or video. Nevertheless, Lifting the Sky performed as gentle physical exercise can be used as first aid, as it loosens the practitioner’s muscles and joints and helps him to relax.
Besides being first aid as well as a therapeutic method, Lifting the Sky and all other chi kung patterns performed as chi kung and not as gentle physical exercise, have other wonderful benefits like giving good health, vitality, longevity, mental freshness and spiritual joys irrespective of religion. One does not need to be injured or sick to benefit from chi kung exercises, whereas first aid and medicine are not useful for people who are healthy.
The above is taken from Question 4 of September 2014 Part 1 of the Selection of Questions and Answers.
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