Forestgreen

I would say that the root problem is not being able to cope with the reality of life( sometimes life sucks). Many of the less useful coping methods work by excessively use up jing. If I had a point ( I might be a pencil), that would be that replenishing jing, neidan style, without first working on the root problem, might fuel the problem.

So, psychotherapy sarcasm. Who said that the root problem was guilt? Who said psychotherapy primarily works with guilt?

Well, the issues the OP mentioned is well beyond "just" replenishing jing, neidan style.

I'm not a Daoist, but: The Du-Ren circulation is important in the beginner practices. The microcosmic orbit is central in the intermediate practices. None of the above are central beyond that.

Read Pregadios translation of Wang Mu Foundations of Internal Alchemy. The final stage is not about MCO. Read Karunadasa The Theravada Abhidhamma at the same time. It should fill in the blanks, and bridge the two traditions rather nicely.

ET phone home?

Cultivation imply not only more Qi, but that the practitioner improves the quality of it. It should be a component of improving the connectivity between as many bodymind aspects as possibly, and with a spiritual goal. When that is the case, having more Qi is definetly more useful than having less of it. That said, when moving beyond the initial stages of an alchemical process, post heaven Qi should no longer be a central aspect of ones practice. It continues to evolve, but as a side effect to proper practice.

Cultivation should imply not only more, but also a change of quality. Strengthening envy, depression and hate, that doesn't sound like cultivation, more like fertilizing.

That they are tools, and they can be used with more than one goal in mind. Side doors and crooked paths, I belive one of the chinese expressions state it.

But excluding transformative alchemical methods?

That brings back memories. Started my martial arts training with that, in 1989. I was young, insecure and unfit. They closed the dojo 18 months later, leaving me young, insecure, fit, and I still have the scars visible on my knuckles. A bit of aikido, Bujinkan, taiji, and Shaolin before I lost interest in the martial side in 2008. Still practice Shaolin, just not the martial side.

From very basic to more complex: Basic muscle stretching will help shifting from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state. It will also rejuvenate the function of the bloodvessels, it has antiinflammatory effects, and helps in improving microvascular blood circulation in the organs and the brain. Basic weight shifting and basic arm movements will affect blood pressure mechanisms in the body. The arterial baroreflex is active in most stress reactions, and balancing that function will affect current and old stress reactions. Physical movements, especially if one manage to add proper pressure changes in the body and the right mind state, will help the bodymind to reenact unintegrated sensory memories, thus defusing them. Some physical movements can aid in specific sensory processing. It is really helpful to do this under qualified guidance though. Some physical movements puts you through a sequence of emotional reactions that mimic more intense situations. I wouldn't recommend doing that without qualified help. There is a specific movement ( actually scientifically validated) that affect the core Self, so it becomes less dominated by autobiographical memories and cognitive schemat. All of this lessens the risk of a practitioner building up too much internal pressure which might result in breakdown rather than a breakthrough.

Before I joined, perhaps 2 months back (?), there were a thread where people discussed Jung. My guess is that the ones involved find (spiritual) value in that. Me, I prefer psychotherapy based on sensory processing. Sensory processing, might include things like mindfulness, working through old impressions, things like that. Part of buddhism, so could be useful while on a spiritual journey. I'm based here though, my personal practice is heavily based on rather directed sensory processing. Guess those shaolin dudes thought that might be useful. Useful for every situation? No, but a student under a teacher or a sangha member would be known, and anyone giving advice would have more information to base that advice on. And that would include being more able to separate emotional from spiritual issues. I do not think anyone is offended. It's a discussion forum, we should discuss things, and it is healthy to have different opinions. We don't have to agree either, we just have to remain polite.

I would interpret that in another way ( which you are free to disagree with): Some prefer to have their suffering affirmed rather than dealt with. If that is the point of voicing it, a kind word is better. But the suffering would remain. A person who cannot help with the actual issue can give valuable support, someone who know a way to alleviate the suffering will point to that. So, different solutions. There is no one size fits all.

Many people with nasty life experiences try to find peace through meditative arts. Based on that I would say that an advanced practitioner, or someone with experience in the field, would consider discussing a potential reaction in a public forum unethical. Someone could always write something like "you have congested Liver Qi which causes phlegm to affect the orifices of the Heart", but I am sure most TCM practitioners would prefer to see the person before answering such a question. Kind words are less compassionate than an attempt to actually help.

Because a psychotherapist might guide a person through that imagery, including help in resolving whatever feeds it? The question is, was the intent of the OP to get some mindful support, or was it to get advice on how to get to a resolution of the described situation? One could as well change the positions on this: Why react in this way when the advice of talking to a psychotherapist is given? I would say that it is reasonable to belive that meditative practices can make repressed or inadequately processed experiences resurface. And then we can argue about which way to handle them is the best ( and therefore, most compassionate).

The book is worth reading. Not so siddhi-focused, so anyone who has that as a goal should look elsewhere.

It seems like many meditative traditions prefer to teach simpler methods to the public. Perhaps because the methods we are talking about here tend to be destabilising, and therefore not all sentinent beings should engage in. The descriptions in hindu yoga, tibetan buddhism and daoist tradition do overlap. Not at the beginner level, but later on. 1) Because they are destabilising to the self. 2) Teachers are maybe not so self-less after all. Should be, since they are based on similar principles.

When it comes to the actual practice, what I do is described in the WuZhenPian. Or, to be fair, what I do can be interpreted as being similar to that process. In reality, who knows.

Then you should have a full understanding of Ming practices.

You can probably search this site for boran kammatthana.

There is at least one branch/school of TCM that was heavily influenced by what we tend to call neidan.

That is because after the great reforms that hit buddhism, these methods were made less publicly known.

I agree that the term is used in a wide variety of was, and the risk that we are talking about different things is rather large. I might add that I do not practice daoist neidan, I'm doing a buddhist alchemical practice.

Neidan is supposed to work on reversing the flow, to return to the pre-heaven "substances". As far as I know, TCM doesn't do that, but I would be delighted if you can prove me wrong.