I'm no Qi gong master but I've been practicing for well over a decade so I can speak with some authority on the subject.

I started doing Qi gong because I had bowel cancer and couldn't get treatment.

I've had some profoundly spiritual experiences whilst practicing Qi Gong. Some of the earlier ones were quite mundane but they have progressed over the years.

The first thing that ever happened when I was practicing was a possum would run along the top of the fence near where I did my practice. I was doing it at 3 am so I think he was going about his normal nocturnal routine at that time. At first he would just scurry past and pause very briefly to check me out - he was like a normal aloof possum and kept his distance.

After a week or so he would stop and sit there for a while and check me out, then over the next few weeks he lost all fear and started moving into the tree that overhung the fence and the driveway where I did my Qi Gong to get a good look at me.

Then one morning he came so close that I could feel his body warmth through my scalp. He was nearly touching me. He kept doing that for a few days, I really believe he could feel my Qi and liked to borrow a bit. I didn't mind as I was so honored to have a wild animal come so close and not perceive me as a threat.

Around that time I believe my third eye was starting to be awakened opened or whatever happens to it and was getting insights and visions that would pan out to be (sometimes) very accurate.

One morning when doing the Qi gong I was expecting my possum mate to turn up but he hadn't shown up as I was getting towards the end of my practice. I was doing an exercise (not really an exercise you stand dead still for this one) known as circulating the small universe - where you focus on moving your Qi around your body. Then I got an crystal clear image in my mids eye (I close my eyes for that particular exercise) of a tiger behind me. It was so vivid that it actually startled me, I could see this thing approaching behind me. It was so real that I just had to turn around to check it out and when I did I saw a ginger Tom cat walking down the driveway behind me.

Another time a few weeks later the possum started coming down and standing next to me while I practiced. This went on to become a regular thing and we did it together every day. One time I was doing the White Crane spreads wings exercise and I looked down at the possum and he was doing the exact same thing in sync with me, he was even standing on his two hind legs.

Then the people across the road got a Rottweiler pup and never kept it locked up, so I never saw the possum again.

I also went to see a Chinese TCM practitioner, while I was laying in her room with the acupuncture needles in me I would close my eyes and meditate. One time I felt like there were hands passing over me so I opened my eyes expecting to see her there (the doctor) but no-one was there. This happened several times and I started to get the impression it was one of her ancestors. I asked her if her father or grandfather were doctors and she told me nearly all the men in her family had been doctors for over 400 years.

After that I used to get a mental image of two old Chinese men standing over me and even guiding the qi through my body whenever I practiced. It was like they would point out the areas where there were blockages and help the flow of my Qi with their hands.

The cancer went into remission and has never returned. I still do Qi gong almost every day - although I do slack off sometimes.

To me Qi gong is a deeply spiritual practice and can connect us to the cosmos.