Aetherous

Get a room, guys. ... By the way, the secret tsa lung practice is kind of sweet: In the secret chakra (4 finger widths below the navel, slightly forward in the body) visualize/feel a blue bellows (like an upside down teardrop shape) with the energy continually flowing downward out of it. Cultivate feelings of water...purity, coolness, liquid that wants to seek the lowest place, etc. Also a feeling of generosity. I'm interested in this because I feel great having energy descend to this spot, rather than the dantien, which is slightly higher. It is more grounding and empowering.

Four fingers below the navel is pretty far away from the penis itself. Although I guess it'd depend on what you're being taught (if using the penis has a purpose for that specific method). And I suppose attention within the area affects the penis, as well.

Thanks, CowTao, that book looks great.

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/596electransport.html http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp07/0702001.html These links explain a little bit of the respiratory chain and the electron transport chain. The process creates the most amount of ATP, and produces pure water as a byproduct. In other words, it's absolutely the most efficient and productive part of cellular metabolism. I think this is what's happening when "respiration happens throughout the entire body" or there is embryonic breathing...but that's just me guessing. It's a very complex thing to try and learn from the internet and books. Good to have a physiology teacher to talk with, to help make sense of it.

Yep. It's good to study physiology. ... Here is some information from a textbook I have (Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance. Sixth Edition. By McArdle and Katch). Unconsciousness because the brain isn't receiving the oxygen it needs. One of the functions of the respiratory system, and the respiratory centers in the brain, is to detect the carbon dioxide levels in the blood and adjust the breathing rate to maintain homeostasis. We need a certain level of carbon dioxide in order for the body to 'know' that its oxygen levels are good. If we get rid of our carbon dioxide, then gas exchange from the lungs to the blood is compromised, and oxygen consumption actually goes down. So if you're breathing a lot of air, you're actually messing with the sensory centers which ensure the correct proportion of gases are in the body...you're not getting more oxygen. If you're going to focus on the breathing, it's best to allow the body to breathe itself, and try your best to abandon control. In other words, to just breathe naturally. I like this paragraph: A lot is going on "under the hood"...the body is constantly attempting to bring itself back into balance. Exquisitely! If a person forces their breathing, they are bringing their body out of balance...any effects that they get from such a practice aren't necessarily signs that it's working...they might be signs that what you're doing is using up energy rather than creating it. But dantien breathing can be a sweet and very effective practice if you can do it right.

Actually, breathing and respiration/gas exchange are two entirely different things...there's not an ideal way of breathing for oxygenation of cells. Basically, the autonomic nervous system tells the body when to breathe, so the less you control the inhalation/exhalation process, the better you are breathing. To the point where I believe, if a person is in an embryonic breathing state (no breathing, only respiration), that they are truly functioning efficiently. Taking slow deep breaths can actually decrease the amount of oxygen that's being absorbed, because it's unnatural and sending mixed signals to the brain! If people really want to increase their oxygen intake, then they need to increase their VO2max by doing endurance forms of exercise. Cross country skiing is one of the best ways...they have the highest scores in general. Also, ATP isn't something we perceive (as far as we know). We can only know when there's a lack of it, because our muscles are then incapable of functioning. The "energy" that people talk about is the different sensations and forces that they become aware of through practice. If you wanted to prove that slow deep breathing increased ATP, you'd have to actually do a study on that...testing whether muscles fatigued faster and for longer periods or not, between deep breathers and people who didn't practice breathing. Or actually take samples from deep breathers to see if they had more ATP.

ChiDragon speaks doesn't know ... Don't be fucking ridiculous.

http://literati-tradition.com/qi_breath.html

How do you justify that...??? Chuang Tzu is attributed to say that a Taoist breathes through his heels. What this means is that the "energy flow" or respiration process occurs throughout the entire body. Embryonic breathing, the state that is achieved through breathing practice and other methods, is a similar thing...where the person doesn't need to inhale and exhale, yet respiration is occurring. The breath flows through the entire body. Or you could say the energy is flowing through the entire body. You haven't experienced this?? If you did, then it'd be easy to see how breath (qi) is the same thing that people call "energy". You wouldn't have to nitpick about various terms and definitions, because in truth they are the same thing.

Breath..."energy"...same meaning.

It's not a good or truthful message. Qigong can also be body movements or mind exercises. It doesn't have to be all three at once. And if a method causes changes in the breath, without being a breathing practice, then it still counts. So I don't see the point of this thread at all.

I'll take your word for it...with a grain of salt.

Yup, that totally increases the connection.

At least personally, I go for walks and put the whole idea out of my mind. All of a sudden, I will notice a strong affinity for a certain tree. Then I will begin to look at it and admire it, and end up sharing energy with it (because I am there simply admiring it, that's all it takes). Like a friend, a tree may have a good day and a bad day. Sometimes you don't jive with certain friends, no matter the day...it's on you. So finding the ideal moment is important, along with the ideal tree. You may have a strong bond with a tree today, but then tomorrow maybe that same spark of life just isn't there between you two. I think hugging a tree, or putting your forehead against it (like you would put your forehead against a loved one's forehead, when doing eskimo kisses or something), is a great thing to do. In doing this, you can come to know its character and personality. Once I did that and felt that the tree had a father type of presence...it was really odd. I've never had abandonment issues or anything...my relationship with my dad is fine...but the feeling of this being treating me as a loving father would, was something very moving at the time. Very heart opening and relaxing. Consider...humans and trees have a symbiotic relationship. We need them to survive. They enjoy our carbon dioxide that we exhale and emanate. Sometimes we plant them...sometimes we cut them down. But they are just there for us. So respecting that, and treating them like our lifelong companions...like brothers or best friends...rather than something to simply dominate, is good. Some cultures go as far as to worship certain trees. Some Mongolians, I have read, consider it horrible luck to cut evergreen trees. The Norse type people said the same thing for various trees like oak, elm, spruce, birch, etc. In my own experience, there can also be trees that are essentially telling you to piss off. Best to just forget about it and find another tree. All things in nature communicate primarily by feeling. The only way to be sure that what you're feeling is correct, is to be 100% sure you're feeling it correctly...if you're kind of uncertain, might as well not even bother. ... Oh also, I once read about a guitar that had a saying etched into it. It said something like: "In life, I stood silent, but in death I sweetly sing." So moral of the story is: maybe sometimes it's okay to use your friends!

When you "empty the heart/mind" in meditation, you're allowing the various fluctuations of the mind to settle. You're capable of thinking, percieving, feeling, remembering, imagining...but you don't have to do any of those things at the time.

Seems to me that whatever music conveys the most power is the one that will be on top. Also, whatever is new...electronic music in the past hasn't ever sounded like it does today. There is a lot of new sound technology out there.

I think they are brilliant.

Mind and brain aren't the same thing, and I don't consider the sensory experience to be "mind", even if the brain is making sense of things. When I'm listening to the radio, I don't say that action is mind...but if I were to play a song in my head from memory, that would be mind.

Tulku, There is no part in the instructions which tells a person to run energy from the ground up to their head through the front channel, during kunlun level one practice.

Tulku, Don't do that. Follow the instructions in the book and see if the practice gives you good effects.

I've heard that when you're sweating and your pores are open, if a cold harsh wind blows on your skin then it causes problems. I think there's some truth to it.

How are you percieving these different types of qi; how are you distinguishing them from each other?