That’s fine, but that’s not how I teach.

I teach something called the 5-Phase Routine. We start our practice by entering into a meditative state of mind, which is the most important thing you can do with your qigong.

I’m glad you enjoyed it, Diane. Your problem is very common. For most people, it’s much easier to do Qigong and Tai Chi in a studio, with other people, and with a teacher leading the class. Making a dedicated space is a good idea. I managed to do that even while living in NYC, so it’s definitely possible (but not easy). Practicing with others is also a good idea.

My online academy, which is still in its infancy, will attempt to tackle this problems. For example, my long-distance students have found the guided audio lessons from my academy to be particularly helpful. (These guided audios are designed to lead you through a practice session.)

Hi Dawn. I don’t know who your teacher is, and I don’t mean to step on any toes, but I’ve seen many students in your situation. Long story short — there’s nothing more important than enjoying your practice. A short and sweet session is much more productive than a long one that feels like a chore.

That said, I applaud your dedication. It’s not easy to practice for 1 hour per day. You’ve got some good discipline there.

I’ve come back to your site, and especially this article, many times. I keep failing to keep up any sort of regular practice. I DO practice Chi Gong a few days per week during work, all the more when times are stressful, but in an extremely minimalistic and irregular way that does not do justice to what the art gave me in past years and continues to give me so far.

I always say that I have tremendous respect for the arts and my Sifu, but do I really? If I did, I would practice and do what Sifu tells me.

One sentence in this article, even though I read it for the 20th time, only rang true today:
“Setting an easy goal is fine. That’s an example of not being too hard on ourselves. But you have to stick with that easy goal! Don’t be too soft on yourself. Don’t allow yourself to fail.”

I always want too many things at once and let myself be overwhelmed. For example: stance training. Because it’s the basic of our Kung Fu / Taijiquan, I always assumed that it should be easy to practice it and beat myself up everytime I couldn’t do it. But now I had to realize: to ME, stance training is still hard and I still don’t like it, even after 3.5 years of studying with Sifu. Maybe I really just need to start with the most simple thing: Lifting the Sky.

Is there something wrong with me? Why can’t I set goals, practice regularly and just make a habit out of practice like everybody else? Lately, I keep thinking that I should maybe let go of Shaolin Wahnam because I keep failing in building discipline (and I sometimes feel tired of picking myself up again and again), but then I also know that I would waste the chance of many lifetimes if I gave up on the Shaolin Arts.

I apologize for the lenght of this. I have all the knowledge and tools I need to make my success happen. But maybe I’m subconciously hoping that you can give me some insight that might finally push my thoughts and motivation into the right direction.

Sincerely,
Fabienne

So cool to see that you’re also writing about self-discipline! 🙂
I’ve have been studying thesubject of self-discipline for quite some time now, and have just released a free eBook about it.
Maybe you’d like to check it out?
My blog is: http://www.builddiscipline.com

Cheers,
Seph

Good to hear from you, Walt!