-_sometimes

I'm very surprised to hear this! What type of Muslim? A specific sect you consider yourself a part of?

Hi all, I'm interested in taking up FP to complement a taiji practice (just getting the wuji down at the moment). Is it safe to practice for individuals who lack grounding? I tend to be stuck in the head, so much so it doesn't take much to trigger headaches if I strain a little too much when studying or get a little too stressed. Can FP be an issue for people like myself, might it actually help resolve the issues, or perhaps only ideal if complemented by other activities to balance things out? I don't want to try FP for any particular reason, I'm just curious, given how much @Earl Grey and @Pak_Satrio like to recommend it! Just want to be sure I'm not going to make things worse for myself

I'm following Damo Mitchell's taiji form, which for now is comprised of: raising the crown and sinking the Yao, knees unlocked and weight of the body split between the heel and balls of the feet. I was flat-footed for years, and tried to correct it through manual change of foot posture, but when standing still, I'm not sure what the right posture of my feet should be at all. Let my feet relax? My ankles collapse inwards and I return to being flat-footed. Do my best at holding some posture split between the ball of the foot and the heel? I have no idea what normal foot posture is, so it's guesswork and I spend a great deal of time just adjusting my feet, unsure. Please advise me on this 🙏 .. I have no idea what sinking or letting gravity do the work looks like. How exactly do you sink the Yao by letting gravity do the work? Finally, is it better to try making constant adjustments to find the 'right' spot, or instead to make one initial adjustment at the start of the session, and then refrain from making any movement for the rest of the session? I believe Damo mentioned that wuji in taiji should be empty, without movement, so I imagine the latter is best? Thank you all!

I've noticed that sort of elastic quality, only in my legs though, when I shift my weight forward more into the balls of the feet. But Damo mentions that the weight should be distributed evenly between the balls and heel of the feet. Are you saying that if done right, the weight on the heel does balance out with the balls of the feet? I imagine there is a period of muscle building that must take place before sinking can happen? I can't hold the position still when I move towards the front of the feet, lots of shaking and inability to stay still. Anyways thank you for your input, it was helpful! I've been doing this, and it feels more natural already, so thanks

I'm attracted to Damo's taiji course as his free material online is particularly fabulous. I have read that taiji has a strong focus on Sung/Song, and it seems the course covers much which would enable the sinking of qi, and building the mind-body connection. It seems like it would build a solid foundation for Neigong, building a dantian, etc. Is anyone currently working through this course who would like to share their experience? Would you recommend, and how have you fared so far?

How was your experience with the wuji posture introduced at the beginning? Did you already know how to sink before? I've recently taken up the course, and the first step is wuji until you can sink enough that there's a sort of opposing push in the spine that transforms the external act of raising the crown into an internal phenomenon, along with sinking the shoulders and dropping the scapula back till the arms lift up and sort of float in front of you. Did you manage this?

I think the method you are using or are familiar with is quite different to that used by Damo, so I'm hesitant to apply the suggestions you've given. Nonetheless thank you for the advice!

Could I get a PPD as well please?

I've been practicing damo Mitchell's anchoring the breath exercise for about a month, now a daily exercise for me. I recognize the importance of intention vs attention; I imagine proper attention is essentially development of Ting - listening. When it comes to attention, should there be any 'reaching out' at all? Mentally reaching out to find the area - and physical movement, no matter how small, when attempting to diffuse attention into an area of the body. In my head around my eyes, when placing attention, the muscles in my forehead and around my eyes tense up - very slightly, and this seems to occur whenever I try to direct my attention. I feel like I shouldn't be directing at all, but rather I should be completely still, not reaching out at all, not even the slightest little mental or physical movement, but somehow in a paradoxical sort of way, engage a particular part of the body. I guess what I'm trying to say is, is it possible to place attention into different parts of the body from a localised approach? My attention direction is top-down based right now; the head seems to act as the centre point, and then moves down to place awareness wherever, but the body should be like this everywhere? Aka attention on the eyes should come from the eyes, attention on the abdominal cavity should come from the abdominal cavity, the attention of the nose should come from the nose not from some 'centre of control', which then moves according to where it's placed right? Sorry for the poor explanation, and thank you

To those beginners considering this exercise, or perhaps feeling disheartened by the lack of progress, do continue forward I stopped for about a month after this post trying other things, and eventually returned back to it. I do one session a day, and only now am I beginning to notice changes. I've probably done the anchoring the breath about 70-100 times so far, give or take (I don't quite remember when I began). I'm starting to notice little things about my attention; my ability to direct my attention regardless of the times my mind goes to another part of the body, has improved - I feel mentally stronger during my meditation now, less in servitude to the whims of my mind. I'm able to focus a little better on the actual body parts not the place I imagine them to be. I can see I have been carrying tension in my attention, even carrying a pessimist attitude of "there's no way I can do this" within my attention, which was really strange to notice! I have a tremendous way to go, just to be able to place attention on the physical body as opposed to a distorted mental representation of it, but after what feels like countless sessions of getting absolutely nowhere, being utterly disheartened, and giving up for a bit, I can say that it is worth sticking with this practice. If I, monsieur neurotic, can make progress, I'm certain anyone else can too! Stick with it!

Are you being serious?

What is elixir poisoning?

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@Vajra Fist How did you find it helped with sinking the qi and being grounded in general? How long did you practice daily?

I've read many things on this forum, and so apologies if I can't exactly quote anything. I've read on this forum that according to alchemical traditions, having consolidated Jing causes one not to be driven by base desires. Dreamless sleep appears when fully consolidated. But I've likewise read that as Jing consolidates - as dispersal is reduced through healthy living, the urge to consume that Jing increases. Could it be that as one moves towards consolidation, abandoning various habits, the desire to spend that Jing in those activities that drain it, increases as Jing increases, until a tipping point is reached, where Jing is fully consolidated and the natural approach is keep it that way? This would be without alchemical practice, or is internal alchemy the only way to fully consolidate the Jing? I find when I limit activities I would consider Jing draining or dispersing - are they the same? - the temptation to indulge them grows ever stronger. If I'm burnt out from clearly Jing draining activities, I have no desire for anything. It's like a certain level of overflowing jing - beyond what is necessary for basic functioning - is necessary to 'want' to do things, so perhaps the enjoyment and desire to do 'things' increases as Jing increases. It could be very helpful then, to consider the increase in the wanting of things as a sign of progress when limiting them is the goal. The change in perspective could be very helpful in continuing to consolidate the Jing. What are your thoughts on this?

Btw best of luck on your retreat, do come back when you're done and let us all know what's up

It does! I was confused about the differences between dispersal & leakage, you've cleared things up a lot! When Jing is full and consolidated, it does not leak, which means it keeps on building constantly through daily life, is that correct? If so, this excess Jing, where does it go? Does it naturally fuel the Jing->Qi->Shen process? If the Jing is consolidated and so there is a great excess, it has no 'choice' but to become qi? So really, the aspect of the desires being fuelled because of greater Jing is basically leakage. It's a sign that you're replenishing Jing, and that can go so far, but it's like having a bucket with 11 holes in it and only 10 fingers to cover them - covering one hole just exposes another, and the water can't really go beyond that. ..so consolidated Jing leads to a calming of the desires, but consolidated Jing requires a calming of the desires through calming of the mind, at least to some tipping point. Now on the more hypothetical front, as a normal person, could you replenish Jing till it's full, about the point where the 'boom' cycle becomes the 'bust', and then hold out, dealing with the accompanying emotions as they arise? Might there be a use to operating in the space of being 'full of jing', learning to walk in this place and paying careful attention to one's physical and mental behaviour, in a way that might bring about some insight, gradually leading to less leakage? Of course coupled with a grounding/sinking type of practice, but I can't help but feel there has to be some use to not entering the 'bust' cycle, even if it takes a lot of effort

I thought the exercise had to be done exactly as Damo set out, but you seem to be implying that it's more about building physical body awareness, the end result being an anchored breath as you bring the body parts together. I will try as you mentioned, I think it will help a lot! I have heavy difficulty feeling my throat at all, so entire sessions dedicated to it could be quite helpful, as well.. On the point of 'feeling my throat'.. I know you've run through this a little.. but am I correct in assuming that I essentially want to open my awareness to whatever the body or a body part is 'feeling', during this practice? Do I create a space, upon which the sensations from the body are projected? I feel this goes counter to what you mentioned earlier on in the thread, in terms of letting go, but I presume I must at least be aware of 'where' I'm placing my attention, not lose myself in it. Eg. I must know that I am paying attention to the abdominal cavity whilst simultaneously paying attention to the abdominal cavity? Sorry for all the questions, it's more difficult than I expected 😅

@freeform @Shadow_self why do you consider it to be harder than Damo Mitchell's exercise?

@freeform is there anything I can do about preventing excess thought during practice? It feels a bit much when I practice and it lowers my alertness a great deal.. I've read that having a lot of qi can help one ignore thoughts, but I'm guessing any qi generating exercise is a mistake if you're not anchored 😅

Aside from excessive thinking, what parts of normal life prevent qi from sinking? Is it related to Jing in some way? Can certain things hinder the anchoring process? I'm confident caffeine for instance, doesn't help at all

I'm curious, how long do you expect it would take the average neurotically inclined person to achieve this? Once 'achieved', is the qi anchored to the ldt constantly, even when involved in intellectual tasks - would there still be awareness of the body and the anchoring of the qi?

I very much enjoy immersive video games that make one feel like they've entered an alternate dimension.. they capture the attention, and can be awe-inspiring experiences. As someone currently heading into the software industry, I do find the idea of moving from app development to solve real-world problems, into gaming development - creating beautiful immersive game experiences, to be quite enticing - especially since the introduction of unreal engine 5. However, I am hesitant to do so, primarily because I have had issues with video games and self control, both in the past and ongoing; I'm not sure if this is a challenge I want to force on others through making even better games than exist today that caused me so much trouble, and I also don't know if creating products which ultimately distract and provide an escape from real life for its players is really something I can do with good conscience. I would be interested to hear your perspectives on this. I know the opinion on video games in this forum is quite divided - some users ardently against them, others very passionate gamers alongside intensive internal practice. Considering that distractions from real life, losing touch with one's body by absorbing attention into screens, high adrenaline experiences, all consume what I consider higher than normal amount of jing, I definitely lie more on the gaming = bad side of the fence. I would love to know about your experiences, and if you think the issue lies not in the games themselves, but the person playing them. Can there be such a thing as mindful consumption of such media?