zenyogi

Hello Everyone, I have been thinking a lot lately about the pure spiritual side of Qigong, how it can help purify the mind and reach higher states of consciousness. Before it has mentioned that this certainly happens through Flying Phoenix Qigong and many have experienced that as well. Anyone wants to elaborate on that more or share their thoughts and experiences with this?

I'd like to get a book n the I Ching and make it a part of my life. Any recommendations as which are some good books? Also, some people prefer sticks and others coins. Is one better? Or are coins just more convenient? Would love to hear everyone's thoughts in this. Ben

Thanks Daeluin & Trunk for the insightful answers and recommendations. I'm going to have a look at those things.

Thanks Michael, for the explanation about the yarrow sticks and the book recommendation. I'm going to check that one out

Just a humble taobump to bring this to the top to increase awareness about Sifu Terry's lawsuit with dreamworks. As Kung fu Panda 3 is going to be released later this year appearantly more awareness should be spread about this. What are the latest updates on this Sifu Terry?

Back pain, Why am I'm going to share this? Everyone is going to go though it at some point in their lives. It can become an obstacle to our Qigong or Tai Chi practice and so many other things of course. I read before that some members have had back issues also so I decided to share. Long story short, I had lower back pain and sciatica for over 6 months. I tried many things and eventually my back got healed. I wanted to share with you guys what had helped me. Having back pain for such a long time for sure was my karma, I don't doubt that. But I feel I should share with you guys the things I did that worked and that healed my back. 1 - Diet - Having an anti inflammatory diet is a must. The main two things I completely cut out of my diet were sugar and caffeine, especially coffee. Both of those things create more inflammation and slow down the healing process tremendously. Sugar and caffeine do much more damage beyond that but in the scope of this little post I like to keep it to the point. 2 - Exercise - Twists, leg raises and other exercises that strengthen the core muscles is really important. Once the corse muscles get trained properly and become stronger it's easier for you body to keep things in place. 3 - Correct sitting posture - No more sloughing on chairs and couches, always sitting straight without leaning against something really helps strengthen core muscles and keeps you alert also. Sitting on the ground is best. 4 - Chiropractic adjustments - I had a friend give me chiropractic adjustments, mainly my neck and back. My atlas kept going out of place, what created a strain on my back, my lower back being the weakest point, that's where the trouble started. After 5 sessions things stayed in place and my body was adjusting to the original postion of the spine again. 5 - Inversion Table - At some point along the road I was very desperate to heal my back so I decided to buy an inversion table. In that way I could hang upside down with no strain anywhere and that allowed my spine to relax, create space and align. This made a huge difference! It completely removed my sciatica (pinched nerve). I still hang upside down twice daily to keep my spine in excellent shape and of course inversion has many other great benefits. After a long day it's the ultimate way to de-stress. 6 - Prayer - Prayer is powerful. It never hurts to pray for the right thing. If you have back issues, pray, pray that you may be healed and keep having faith that one day you will heal your back. The right circumstances will happen one day to let that happen. 7 - Herbs - There are great herbs that you can take to reduce inflammation and assist the body in healing itself. One of them is a herb called "Sallaki" There are other herb also, either Ayurvedic, Chinese or other that can assist you but really depends on the individual. 8 - Acupuncture - Everyone knows this. It is always helpful. Can help greatly with reducing inflammation and clearing out the pathways for the energy to flow better to heal yourself faster. 9 - Qigong - For the little Qigong I was doing during this time I feel it has helped a bit. Specifically I was doing Flying Phoenix Qigong learned from Sifu Terry Dunn. I wasn't able to do much but when I did I feel it helped. If at least one person has drawn inspiration from my little post here then it was already totally worth it. If you have back pain, may it heal fast for you and may you continue to do great things in life. Ben PS: I'd like to encourage everyone reading this to share their ways of getting rid of their back pain.

Excellent post Ya Mu, Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences with everyone. Ben

I just read the introduction page to Flying Phoenix Qigong on Sifu Terry's site again and it's really a wonderful read. I felt inspired to share it once more. Here is an excerpt: "The sublime and salient benefits of Flying Phoenix practice are repeatable and verifiable, and makes this Qigong method as much a proven science as it is a yogic art. Regular practice of just 15 to 20 minutes per day creates a super-abundance of the distinctive (and unmistakable) Flying Phoenix healing energy (qi) that besides inducing the deepest calm, comfort and relaxation on a cellular level, also transforms human consciousness by integrating mind and body to such a high level of "structural sensitivity" that physical existence can be experienced as an energy process continuous with all life. For thousands of years in Asian and Near Eastern cultures, high yogas such as the Flying Phoenix Celestial Healing Chi Meditations have been used to promote perfect health in the process of conditioning and empowering the practitioner to maintain this samadhic state--and experience the ever-present reality of union within form." Read the whole article here Enjoy

Hi all, Having done Flying Phoenix Qigong on and off over the last 9 months due to back pain and other issues that come up in life I have felt sad for not having been consistent with it. I decided to start a 100 Day FPQG challenge no matter what! I'm sharing my daily progress and thoughts here in my personal practice journal. I'll start tomorrow, the 16th of January 2015. I encourage anyone who has felt the same way to join me on a journey of 100 days and through that inspire yourself and inspire others to build a solid foundation in this wonderful practice. Cheers everyone. Ben

Nice words, Ridingthrox. It's been a blessing to have you here. Ben

Excellent Bruce Qi! Please take your time to read through all 200 pages of this thread. There is so much advice and guidance in it. It's packed with inspirational advice from Sifu Terry and others. This Qigong is definitely a keeper. This could be very well the best and most powerful Qigong available commercially that you can learn from DVD. Stick to it and more results will come. And a warm welcome to the forum :0 Ben

And we reached 200 pages packed with awesome information !!!

Silent Answers, Sounds like a great experiment to do. After the first week I gave up coffee and sugar I noticed a big shift I'm going to PM you something if you don't mind. Ben

Thanks for sharing the things that helped your back pain. Stretching the right muscles certainly is an excellent and almost necessary way of healing / preventing back pain.

Ridingtheox, You alway contribute excellent information and share very valuable experiences. You inspire me and I'm sure many other. Thanks for being here, thanks for being real. Ben

Very Inspiring Sifu Terry, as always love reading your comments and thoughts I have not been able to practice much in the last 6 months due to having had issues with my lower back and other distractions we have in life sometimes. Finally after a lot of work and changes my back is starting to feel great again and I'm able to start and hopefully continue for the rest of my life with FPQG. Very excited to get back on track and work my way up to the more advanced forms. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. It's so nice to have a place for everyone to share and learn. Happy practicing everyone Ben

Dear Sifu Terry, I had a question for me and maybe other FP practitioners about not being able to do DVD 3 & 4 due to back issues. For myself, I've had lower back issues for the last 6 months, went away but came back after doing too much forward bending. I don't know when my back is going to be perfectly fine again but only being able to practise DVD 1, 2, 5 & 7 for now how much could I progress with this system? As well, I believe I read somewhere that the healing energy generated by this system goes wherever its needed. I assume it could do wonders for lower back problems with diligent practise? Have a great day everyone, Ben

Cihan, Sounds like your're very perceptive and experiencing deeper layers of this wonderful system. Excellent and thanks for sharing, very inspiring! Enjoy your practise, Ben

Ja John, zie er erg naar uit! And yes this thread is full of awesome advice from Sifu Terry and others

Sifu Terry, Just ordered dvd 4, 5 & 7 from you. Excited to get started with them I was wondering if you could share some more on how the production of new DVDs is going in the FP system and others because I believe you mentioned before you were working on some more advanced DVDs, please correct me if I'm wrong. Also about the private Skype lessons you offer, how long in advance should they be booked and could you share a little of how much they have helped other students practising FP and how much of corrections and teachings you can exchange over Skype? Thanks again for being here, Ben

Wow this thread has reached 3000 posts! Going strong

I was wondering how are medical qigong "doctors" regarded? Are there actual titles you can hold and are they accepted as "valid" by the majority of people? Anybody has taken this path and wants to share their views? Ben

Removed, moment of zen

Hello Robb, Thanks for you kind reply. Yeah back issues are really a pain to deal with. In my case it seems to be a pinched nerve that is hard to get rid of. Sciatica comes and goes and sitting for longer periods is difficult but it's slowly improving. I don't ever want to deal with this again so once my back is better I will take very good care of it so my practise never has to suffer again. Many of the FP exercises really help train the right muscles for a strong and healthy back and do seem to help a lot with the alignment of the body so you can't really go wrong with them I'm really excited to start learning Tai Chi as well in the near future when I'm able to. Thanks again for the encouragement and whoever else is reading this : enjoy your day and don't forget to smile Ben

Dear Cihan, Thanks for the kind words. Under no circumstances would I ever give up this great system and I agree with everything you said. It's such a gem! I truly enjoy this forum and the wonderful posts made here by so many great practitioners. Thanks Cihan for chiming in and the encouragement. Enjoy your blessed day, Ben