Moving into Stillness: a practical guide to Qigong and meditation

Good book with down-to-earth material for those with an interest in meditation and qigong. Written in simple language, without the mystique that usually surrounds such studies; so it provides a nice springboard for any who are interested in either starting up, or for those who want to continue their internal practice.

Moving into Stillness - a practical guide to Qigong and meditation is an accurate introduction to some key points of qigong practice. While Mr. Hines effectively conveys his sincere belief in the amazing powers of qigong and Chinese “internal” martial arts, he neither makes fantastical claims nor indulges in digressions of unsupported theories of Chinese metaphysics or medicine.And don’t let the author’s unpretentious and informal writing style mislead you into thinking this is a shallow or superficial text. Read carefully because Mr. Hines has plenty to teach. Importantly, this knowledge comes from his personal experience of hard training and its rewards, which is not something that can be claimed by all writers of such books.

Very basic ideas presented, but that's what qigong is all about. Great reminders of what to focus on if you have experience. Takes the mysticism out of the practice and explains how to focus on getting good results instead of subscribing to a religious or cult like mentality. Most qigong books are all about the nonsense attached to the practice. This was a breath of fresh air from a "normal' person. There is no magic, only consistent practice which produces reasonable results not fantastical skills of the wishful thinker and fiction writer.

Everything and anything has been written about the Chinese martial arts ... Many totally esoteric things (and wacky !) Making it all the more problematic approach and understanding for Western practitioners.Especially for the arts such as tai chi , bagua or qi gong.The author presents here a clear and practical book , dense but quite " digest ", with a holistic approach , making art accessible to everyone, whether you are a longtime practitioner or beginner.I was expecting conventional book , but found something quite refreshing : really good surprise!

If you are a reader who appreciates books that are non-judgmental (and certainly non-sentimental), written with sound reasonings that make use of scientific observation, I believe I can safely recommend Moving into to stillness for Qi gong self study as well as anyone looking to further their Qi gong practice, especially for the mediation aspect of it.The author takes time and effort, straight from the beginning, putting it down to make known to Readers his objective: to provide a different perspective and a set of reminders. He opens the book with a promising "you will not find a great deal of technical jargon or references to Chinese culture or special powers." And this he keeps, which makes the reading a lot more enjoyable than if we were to swim through half-facts and superstitions and absurd claims.The instructions are written with much care to keep things straight forward and clear as to leave least of the space for misunderstanding. The big, simple line illustrations of the movements are both realistic and easy to follow.This book is as much of a manual to Qi gong movements as a set of a principles on how one could approach his or her life. First quarter of the book lays the ground for the accompanying movements that follow, and it was helpful for me to simply go back to these views and ideas several times as reminders while going through the movements.Lastly, I hope to see some complementary materials such as youtube video links to a few more important movements in the next edition for those of us willing to go further.

Moving into stilness is a book that keeps its promises: a "practical" and "down to earth" one. Edward Hines gives us a great variety of exercices that are simple, profound and -thanks to the very detailed explanations and numerous illustrations- perfectly clear. The author takes you from basic joint movements, to subtle breathing exercices; which means that not only are the exercices well described, but Mr. Hines also helps us on how to enter the practice and how to schedule it. It is also a crucial point that makes this book so easy to use.But this book is not only a set of exercices, it is also full of rich insights: from body awarness, to transferability of Qigong skills in day to day life including (chinese) martial arts. The concise writing of Edward Hines makes these ideas easy to grasp (even though, it does not mean that you won't need to take time to think about it afterwards...).To conclude, for me this book is a must have, not only for Qigong practionner (beginner or not), but also for martial artists and maybe more generally, for everyone interested in its physicality.

It's a masterpiece of simplicity. Everyone who thinks they know better will pass it by and look for complicated methods to confuse them for decades to come. Or, you could absorb this material and do away with the hocus pocus. It's up to you!

This short book should be essential reading for anyone interested in qigong and meditation practices.Don’t expect to find long sequences or well-known qigong sets. Don’t expect plush colour photos, long discussions of meridian lines and circuits, or indeed expert editing. Do expect a few typos and the word “breathe” spelt consistently without the final “e”.But what the book lacks in polish it more than makes up for in content. Edward Hines takes a bare-bones approach to qigong, cutting through all the esoteric and culturally-entrenched window dressing often attached to this subject to expose the heart of the practice.His explanations are concise, considered and illuminating. He offers a simple method based around a few basic but effective exercises, and discusses the wider benefits of qigong in other areas of life. His guidance and advice is all well-balanced, realistic, testable and coherent.“Moving Into Stillness” is a breath of fresh air in a swamp of over-elaborate, overly mystical views and opinions on the mechanics of qigong and meditation.That’s not to say there’s anything false in the Chinese medicine perspective on qigong, for after all that’s the tradition in which the practice belongs, but Edward Hines manages successfully to present the subject here from a purely physiological perspective, stripped of its (admittedly fascinating and highly charismatic) cultural lodgings.The book simply offers a different perspective on qigong and it works well. It is certainly worth looking past the book’s small cosmetic flaws to invest some time in its admirable and valuable content.

Really clear and concise book, easy to adapt to your every day training.