I do that to the extent I can, or care to, while doing vipassana, but the energetic aspect isn't as intense as doing formal qigong practice. The problem with doing noting during the main qigong practice I'm interested in is that I'm concerned that it changes the meditation and I'll end up doing it half-assed. This specific qigong style (zhineng qigong) actually is very amenable to noticing sensations and very easy to vipassanize. The problem is that I'm pretty sure that doing that ends me up in a different mental state from what is aimed for in the instructions.

The main problem is time. I want to do each practice correctly and consistently every day. I'm not sure that any amount of time spent doing qigong in a vipassana way is as effective from an insight perspective as my regular vipassana practice (which is very qigong-flavored anyway, but not in a deliberate way, the qi stuff just happens on its own, just not as much, and I note or notice it). I'd rather be sure that my formal vipassana practice is actually working and focus on it to get past the remaining two paths as quickly as possible without additional doubts and then go back to qigong. I don't know what my vipassana practice will look like at that point. Kenneth teaches a sort of "mahamudra" technique (listening for ships in a harbor that aren't there) and a body awareness technique (direct mode) to people who have passed what he characterizes as 4th path. I know how to do those, but am not any good at maintaining concentration on them. Maybe the body awareness aspect of my qigong technique would be more appropriate at that point. I have no idea and I'll probably see if it works once I get there.

To bring the discussion back to the dukkha ñanas and how to deal with them while making progress, I have a hypnotist friend who also does Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which involves lightly tapping certain points on the body while repeating certain positive phrases. I tried EFT with him once and found it to be a surprisingly way effective to deal with an emotional pet peeve that was bothering me at the time. The nice thing was that it wasn't time-consuming. Oddly, I'm feeling pretty good today, but if the depression comes back, I might take the trouble to relearn how to do the technique and apply it as needed. The strange thing is my bouts of depression seem to be very topical, it's one thing that just keeps on bothering and bothering me in very specific patterns, except when I meditate. EFT is similarly topical. It might be a good match.

Has anyone else tried EFT while having a hard time with the dukkha ñanas? Has anyone tried anything else that worked? Has anyone else experienced not having any negative emotional effects from going through an entire cycle while doing some kind of energy practice, like qigong, tsa lung, or some tangibly energy-oriented style of yoga?