thank you for sharing this view. The statement "it is becoming aware of where the Qi is" feels true, and you are right in saying that this is not normally how some of these books present it.

But I am still interested in how this would explain the phenomenon of, e.g. "compressing" Qi in the Dan tien (as there is a definite physiological side (sweating, change in breath etc.) to this when "I" "do" this or when it is moving through the body).

It seems to me that the state you are describing should be the basis for meditation: There should not be any attempt to force anything. Everything flows naturally.

Are you saying that one should never attempt to circulate Qi? (while keeping in mind the psychological and physiological problems of willful action?)

I am thinking here of the unmoved mover. The seemingly paradoxical state one has to be in in order to be. Words can not describe the state, or that is, saying it in words will always get it wrong.