ValleyStream

Qigong this morning (11/19/2014). 30 minutes.

Hey, everybody. There is such a wide variety of people on this forum and it is a thrill to read all the insights of different worldly perspectives. In light of the variety i would really enjoy seeing some pictures of your environment (Neighborhood, walking paths, gardens, streets, villages, temples, etc.) I am interested in the scenes that are inspiring to all of you. Feel free to share.

Matcha is great stuff. Check it out! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha

Is it Matcha (powder) or leaves?

I totally agree. The flavor evolves after each steep and you really get to "know" your tea. Oolongs are my second choice (escpecially Tieguanyin) behind puerh.

As a person who takes a fancy to many different teas, i was wondering if anyone else enjoys the art of teas. What is your favorite type of tea? Fruit / herbal tisane? Gong Fu ceremony or just casual? Do you drink teas for health, social, meditation, or just for fun? Tea...

Lately I have been having some amazingly pertinent outcomes from my Yijing divinations. I cast using the 3 coin method and mainly refer to the Thomas Cleary translation of Liu I-ming's Commentary on the Yijing (1796). I was just wondering what resources people use for reference, what divination methods you use, and any good stories concerning advice from the Yijing. It is an amazing "book" and i just want to hear what you all have to to say.

It is simple...Deprive yourself of sex and you want sex. Receive sex and be satisfied. Proper sex, as i said. perhaps that is too basic. It has alot to do with semen retention too. When i was not retaining semen and not having sex i desired sex. When i was having sex and not retaining semen, i still desired sex. When i was having sex and retaining semen (what i call "proper" sexual activity) i felt as if i was accomplishing great feats. I was successful. My entire...life... reflected this new practice and became better. My sexual stamina skyrocketed and i felt like i could open the gates of life (or do a backflip). My jing energy was fueling me throughout the entire day. The specifics on how to properly use jing energy is complicated and has to do with pulling in the jing to your lower dantien during climax and then opening meridians for it to distribute to your entire body (rather than through the tip of your penis) . I dunno if what works for me will work for everyone but thanks to my wife and her yin energy i have had such great success cultivating energy within myself and within my home. Plus, i am no master of this. I am still learning and cultivating.

i think it depends on your goals... if you want to run far, run. if you want to bike far, bike. if your want to lift heavy things, lift. if you want to walk through the mountains, walk through the mountains. if your want to keep a garden, keep that biz. All of these are exercise. People do think that they have to do strenuous activity to be fit but look how many of those people become injured. Strenuous activity may get you fit quicker but to what end? To look good? or to do the activity more effectively. Go for a hike if that is what you want to do well. You dont have to run or bike to hike well. oh yeah and stretch...always. always. but this is a thread about nutrition... got a bit off topic. XD

During my experience in the military i learned alot about how much sleep and food i need. The posts above here are righteous in my eyes. i believe that 5 hours of sleep is substantial if your are living a simple life (even with physical activity). A really important part of sleeping and waking is understanding your own rem patterns and not waking from a deep sleep (there is a word for the cycle that i cant remember). As for diet, of course organic and local foods are the best. As for the amount of food...you are either going to allow your food intake reflect your activity level or vice-versa. It is possible to eat much less than we are used to (the japanese people you were talking about) but the activity level will lower also. Not that lowered activity level is a bad thing, but if you want to get more physical things done in a day you may want to eat a bit more. We can sustain a simple life without excessive activity (output) and without eating too much (input). The modern day life-style in most places do not accommodate this type of input, output. Luckily i live in a rural community, life is easy going and allows me to be simple.

A great person to teach you about yin energy is a proper female partner. note: proper, as in, right for you. Not some bimbos. A spiritual partner. Through my experience i have found that proper sexual activity has given me more energy (rather than deplete it) and has allowed my sexual drive to decrease overall. I still practice semen retention and thus my jing is conserved. With the help of Mantak Chia's publications i have learned how to separate orgasm and ejaculation. By doing this i can "steam" my jing energy and distribute it to other parts of my body. If celibacy is the way for you then all the power to you, much respect. But know that there are ways to have a healthy sexual life while still cultivating energy (if that is what you ever decide to do).

Computer engineering is my major and i am required to take social sciences and humanities every year. I go to an engineering school and the "humanities" departments are very small compared to the sciences departments.

Its hard to say. Perhaps certain admin see it allowing the student to become "well rounded". Perhaps it is a tactic to charge more credit hours to students in order to increase school funding. I see every situation as an opportunity to learn something and i walk into my humanities with an open mind. one thing is for sure...you have to take them...so why not try and learn something. i know i have; and i am glad i have taken certain classes even though they are not applicable to my major.

oh, no, reverse. Editing my post. Peer review and proof reading is life saving.

I have had issues with a lack of ching energy cultivation in the past. My marriage was suffering because of it. Mantak Chia's book Toaist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy is a great resource concerning ching energy, how to properly cultivate it and how the woman’s yin based ching energy is meant to correspond to the man’s yang based ching energy. The books taught me that sexual abstinence is an effective method of ching cultivation but it is not the only way. A woman complements a man in the same way that yin complements yang. Through specific sexual practices ching energy is effectively cultivated and distributed through the entire body which in-turn improves all aspects of life. Good luck with your practice, dc9.