Dave raises some interesting point. I've not paid much attention to Qi and so on, but friends have occasionally taught me a few little tricks, like massaging particular (acupunture-type) channels to help wake up and, more to the point here, a sort of circular breathing thing where attention circulates up and down around the abdomen. These techniques do have a noticeable effect, and having experimented with them a little I can see now how some meditation techniques, such as this following the breath inside, or rapid Goenka-style body scanning, could be (usually unintentionally) doing the same sort of "energy activation".
Mike
To Follow the Breath or Not?
Re: To Follow the Breath or Not?
And perhaps I should echo what one of my Malaysian friends (who is quite proficient in both meditation and qi methods) has often said me. We should not confuse the aims of these methods. Various techniques, such as qi, can be helpful to get the energy and/or calm one needs for meditation, and meditation gives blissful experiences (sometimes!), but the point of Buddhist meditation isn't about balancing energies, generating feelings of well-being, etc. It's about liberation from those (among other) things...
Mike
Mike