Beginning to develop the aura
Qigong knowledge
A tip for practicing better Qigong
This article will be super short, but hopefully useful to you.
When you practice Qigong you can obtain greater energetic benefits by imagining your body as transperent.
The method isn’t quite that simple, so I’ll extend it a little to further elaborate:
The energy body is not restricted within any tissue of the body, it also extends into the environment. The environmental energy body is called the 气场 Qi Chang, which in English we translate as aura. The recognition of Qi Chang as a concept in Qigong partially comes from integration of Western somatics study with Chinese energy arts and is not native to Daoism, although Daoism has certain ideas which are harmonious with it.
In modern Qigong the aura is not exclusively outside the body, it occupies the outer body, but also enters the body so there is an exchange of energy between inside and outside.
This means that if you practice Qigong exclusively at the physical level you will miss an important element of the inner cultivation of energy since the sinuous body does not recognize the energy field without some training.
Here is how to establish a relationship with the energy field without learning a new style:
when you do Qigong movements try to make your mind deeply calm and still. Don’t worry about maintaining total clarity, but instead simply reside within the feeling of the movements, breath and Qi so that your mind naturally tends to be peaceful.
Once you become peaceful, don’t imagine the Qi in any part of the body, instead become aware of the whole body and what the body is doing in space.
When the hands move toward the body or around the body you can imagine they slightly enter the body surface, working deeper over time,
when the hands move away imagine they are emerging from the body.
Eventually you will figure out how to establish correct imagination for each kind of movement regardless of the hands moving up, down, side to side, or some other way.
Eventually you will have to remind yourself not to focus on the sinuous body, but instead on the energy feeling of the body.
Reafirm your inner calm and peace and continue the process.
Eventually you will start to lose a sense of distinction between the surface of your body, your inner body and the outside environment.
This eventually leads to the Qigong interpretation of the Daoist saying 内观其心，心无其心，外观其形，形无其形 “internally observe the heart, the heart is without heart. Externally observe the body, the body is without body.” Qigong comes from Daoism and all of those theoretical concepts we find valuable in Neidan can be applied in Qigong, but according to the requirements of Qigong practice.
This way you will attain non-action, but it is a kind of non-action which occurs within action, rather than the Neidan way which is action within non-action. The benefit is building a stronger energy body, interacting with the Qi field and eventually developing certain special abilities which are not available to non-practitioners (special sensory and energetic abilities).
As I said, a short article, but hopefully useful.
Behind the paywall is an article by master Pang Ming about the method of using the mind to draw the Qi. This is basically the beginner version of the principle I discussed in the above text, but Pang explains the concept using different language and illustrates some important points I didn’t mention. Of particular interest is his use of the Hun Yuan/primordial chaos concept, since it is closely related to the nature of the Qi field and aura. Pang also discusses the reason why people experience Qi deviation and “walking on fire and letting a demon in.” He believes this can be avoided through the practice of drawing Qi. Zhineng Gong has three levels of drawing Qi which include:
using the mind to draw Qi,
using the body to draw Qi,
using sound to draw Qi,
Each of these practices are based on ancient Daoist practices, but have evolved significantly in their energetic subtlety.