soaring crane

You don't actually need credentials or certification to "teach" "Qigong" - all you need is an audience. If you're good (and honest), they'll come. What I mean is, start small, with friends and family. See if you know enough and are competent (and confident) enough to explain it to them and get them excited about it. Don't think of it as teaching but rather as sharing what you've learned and experienced. "Earning a little side cash" is a poor motivation for this, imo, and it'll show in your instruction. So, my suggestion is to shift gears already before you begin.

Well, it's all connected. And the worry about the appointment in the morning sends the adrenals (not to keep harping on the one theme, but I've worked through something similar for my own self) into overdrive, and they keep you awake and alert, in survival mode. As far as they're concerned, the appointment may be with a cave bear. The saying, "all fear is the fear of death" applies here See what your pulse does at that time and convince yourself that everything's ok, no need to worry. Talk to your kidneys, ask them to settle down. And hey man, you live in Germany - start a good regimen of Johanniskraut and Baldrian (and of course, Hopfen ). Remember that they take a good 4-6 weeks to start working. The most basic Qigong exercise I know of to aid sleep is "Beating the Heavenly Drum" - do you know how to do that? It's easy, fun, and effective. Actually, all movements that involve invigorating and cleansing the Wind Gate at the base of the skull could help you sleep. - Hey, I just got back from my third Chansi Jin weekend with Frank Ranz, feeling incredibly light and pliable, and motivated to go look at that Daoist School in Berlin

Wasabi

Ciao Buscon! Just some different ideas to consider... I'm wondering if your adrenal glands (Nebennieren) aren't in survival mode and contributing to the problem. The description of how your insomnia started would be a pretty classic scenario for this. Overactive adrenal glands are very common and cause a lot of misery for people, the symptoms can be very wide-ranging. Question - how's your resting pulse? And your pulse in general? What does it do when you stand up quickly? How long does it take for it to settle down after exercise? And when you're lying in bed "trying" to sleep? Does it jump up? Healing/soothing overtaxed adrenals is kind of built in to virtually all Qigong plans. That's because they're so closely related to the kidneys. What about your diet? Have you ever tested yourself for carbohydrate intolerance? If you're carb-intolerant, it'll affect your sleep patterns for sure. Do you stick to whole foods and mostly vegetarian with plenty of healthy oils and vegetarian proteins? Switching to that kind of Speiseplan could have almost instant effects, really.

I remembered something - I'm going to be collecting Milfoil (Yarrow) this year for myself and some other people. It grows very beautifully right around my area. In case anybody wants a stack, let me know. (holy moly - as a suggestion for "Milfoil", the spell check offered up, watch out now - "Milf Oil"! ) PS - it's also easy to collect yourself, it grows everywhere that's moist, and maybe "homegrown" is better for I Ching purposes. But, there's a plant that looks almost identical to it and is even more common. We call it "False Yarrow", it has the same flowers and stems, but the leaves aren't nearly as frilly, they're broader... Just a tip. Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarrow

hmmm... I think you might actually enjoy the RJ Lynn/Wang Bi version I linked to. Take a looksee...

lol, that book is popcorn for the soul. Cotton Candy for the mind. But, I love it, too! Blows JL Seagull out of the water, er, air. you jest... haven't seen it? Whaddaya think I am? A Big Nose with a False Beard?

Very inspiring! Thanks I went from about ~450 to ~300 "accidentally" during a time when I was first learning reverse/embryonic breathing. My grey hairs also reversed. The thing is, once I became aware of these effects, I became obsessed with them and began practicing even more diligently and with the intent of healing my eyes and completely restoring my hair color (more important than the eyes, lol), and, welp, the was all she wrote. I couldn't progress beyond that point and after a while, my grey hairs returned and my eyes got a little worse. Now they're around the 325 zone. Every male in my family had completely grey hair no later than the age of thirty, so that was a pretty big deal. I'm 46 and still have more of a dark silver/brown color, lol. And I'm working on the eyes again, just have to remain relaxed... I bought a pair of these things: Not sure what they're called in English but they seem to be doing the job.

Not a Koan but it immediately reminded me of this from Richard Bach (from the book "Illusions"): "Here is a test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." And sort of Byron Katie-ish, you could post something like this: "brother-in-law has found the point to all of this. We know what the fuck we're doing here. Can I extend my stay? I'm not done yet". It would be a good sign if he laughs at it but, yeah, depression is a little too complex for facebook...

Hi, these are the three that I consult: Richard John Lynn, Wang Bi - Scholarly and thick - surprised it hasn't been mentioned here yet. It's a must-have, imo. Kind of a reference work to check other translations against. The Complete Idiot's Guide, E. Moran barebones slick, goes straight to the heart of the matter, also has top notch historical info. The reviews at Amazon say a lot. I Ching Workbook, RL Wing Insightful interpretations, somehow often spot-on. The first two really complement each other well, really yin and yang, my first suggestions. The third one is less "authoratative", more modern, but I enjoy it. Probably has to do with some synergy between me and the author... I have Wilhelm in German, can't get very far with him, though. The Cleary "Taoist" I Ching is also not up to snuff. I've had it forever, but it never works for me. There was a long article online about the flaws in that book, I can't find it now.

The power of Chan Si Jing!

Hi - It'll probably be an enjoyable seminar for the people who attend but it seems to me that there's too much stuff crammed into the program, and no real cohesion. Every AM and PM a new topic, for seven days straight. What exactly is the goal here?

YESSSSS! This would be an excellent year to draw more attention to the problem! Dao knows, the Tigers will do their part: Happy New Lunar Year to you all anyway (And Happy Valentine's Day, too )

Hey Ya Mu - You've developed the ability to practice that way, over many years. In practice, I don't force anything, either, but that's because I've practiced so long that my movements and breath harmonize (or harmorize, as Yang Jwing Ming says, lol) without interference or strain on my part. They wander around a bit, too, not always in synch, of course not. But the basic principle remains, it just practices itself after a while, with its own improvisations. I'm very strict with people in my groups that they should not force the breath. We do exercises, on the "gymnastic level", just to get the motors running, so to speak, but during actual practice, nobody should be hung up too strictly on controlling the breath.

Oceans overflow before rivers run. Fill the oceans and the rivers take care of themselves. Rivers depend on Oceans, but not vice-versa. Rivers are child's play compared to Oceans. I think the GC is easier to affect with things like self-massage and general gymnastics than with strict meditation on the exact circulation through the twelve meridians. That said, it was on a Sunday afternoon after an extremely intense weekend of strict Meridian Qigong that I crashed my car, and laughed about it My wife was very upset. About the laughing, not the crappy car Qi High

Inhale = Yang becomes Yin (passive) Exhale = Yin becomes Yang (active) The first thing we learn.... Every breath is a transformation on so many levels.

Hey Paul - That's a bit of a blanket statement which comes up frequently, but, please explain exactly how one "loses energy" by breathing through the mouth. I believe a lot depends on the individual. There are many many people who simply cannot breathe comfortably through the nose, often it's the exhale they find more strenuous. If that's the case, then it makes good sense, imo, to at least supplement the nose breathing with a slightly open and relaxed mouth. It's far more important to practice in a harmonious, comfortable state than to adhere to dogmatic "rules" for fear of doing something wrong. The anxiety caused by worrying about failure can quickly overcome any benefits of the practice. Would you agree with that? That said, I'd really like to know exactly what Gonzie is doing, from start to finish. Maybe there's a clue in there somewhere. I don't really buy pauschal into the suggestions that feeling depleted after a meditation session is a normal adjustment phase, although, yeah, it is possible. But I've done this with enough people to know that what is being described probably has to do with an incomplete and inefficient routine. It could also be lifestyle-related. Maybe all Gonzie needs is a good slap in the face

He's supposed to be bringing out a book specifically on the Macrocosmic Orbit which Non is asking about... I checked back in to add that maybe what Non is really asking about is the 24-hour circulation, which is a related topic.

Hey Non - there are a lot of ways to go about it, there is no "real one". Searches for the "real" anything always lead down blind alleys. I learned a complex system with one exercise per meridian, plus two opening exercises and a special conclusion. I looked around at youtube but didn't see anything similar. You know that it's essentially the flow of Qi through the 12 meridians, right? There's a shorter, less "accurate" but imo more relaxing and really more effective way to do it, but still not something you can learn in a forum post. You basically breathe along the rough outline of the meridians - from the chest DOWN the inside of the arms, UP the back of the arms to the head, DOWN the back side of the body and legs to the feet, UP the front side of the legs and torso to the chest, etc... but you really have to have a good solid foundation in the meridian structure to understand what's going on and to find the real start and end points. Also, WHOLE BODY BREATH is, imo, essential for this to really work. Aha, I remembered something - when we learned this, we were first taught finger and foot breathing as a way of developing the whole body breath. That really is an easy way to do slide into it. Commonly, you'd fist build up the Qi in the Lower Dantian, circulate it through the Small Circulation and then progress to the Grand Circulation. But that's just one variation on a large theme. If you poke around the internet, look for "Meridian Qigong" as well - there are some videos at YouTube, but nothing like what I learned. The other name would be Grand Circulation like I wrote above. Why are you looking into it? It's more a medical thing and not as "cosmic" as the small circulation, if that's what you're wondering. The MCO is the biggie, don't let the name fool ya

That sounds logical, Scott, but actually, I wouldn't expect to get the same results as a teacher just from doing what he says or mimicking what he does. Like planting two sunflowers next to one another in the same pot, water and fertilize them the same, and yet when they grow, there will be great differences between the adult plants. And those are just simple sunflowers. Plant two complex humans in the same pot and they'll really grow differently. It's the natural way. A teacher should understand this and really make sure the students understand it as well. This relates to what I've been reading in this thread. Go ahead and try the exercises, experiment, but don't force the results. True opening of any major gate has to occur passively, spontaneously. I started a thread about my mud pill experience recently which nobody seemed to really pick up on... hmmm... PS - Take the warnings in this thread to heart if you're fooling around in the head region. It really isn't a game.

lol, I'm with ya, except that I do shower nice and warm at first. I believe the warm/cold process does more than just the one-sided cold. Try it a couple times. Just do your normal routine but at the end, blast yourself good with very warm to hot water, long enough to really feel the temperature rise on your skin, all over. And reverse it quickly - rinse off thoroughly with the coldest water you can get out of the shower. You'll feel the rush of blood through your skin, it's wonderful. Yin/Yang. I'm off to the gym and after my workout, lol, I'll shower off with cold water. The other guys think I'm nuts but I'm the healthiest one of all. I've been asked many many times what I do to avoid colds and flu or to get rid of the sniffles when they do occasionally catch me off guard - people just don't want to listen when I tell them the things I do, lol. And then to explain that I supplement everything with whole body breath, well.... They just want me to recommend a pill or a puky liquid to swallow instead.

^^ I'm a big spa/sauna fan, too. You do know that the ice cold rinse after the hot sweat is 50% of the program, right? I've made snow angels in the nude, lol. Fun stuff

check out this video: if the embedment doesn't work: That's a bit like what we do here except the crossed-over legs is new to me. The tempo and the fluidity are the same, I'd like to know his breathing technique. I poked around youdoob looking for videos of Qigong Walking and was left feeling pretty flat. I wonder how much it's actually practiced outside of China and Germany. It's a fundamental part of the teacher certification schooling here, one of the most important things we learn.