soaring crane

Hey Blasto - the 8 Brocades are a perfect sitting form, and also a super introduction to Qigong. I would also recommend Cloud Hands/silk-reeling type movements for anyone chairbound, to facillitate relaxation and build up a feel for Qi. You have to convince her that her chances for quicker and more complete recovery will be better if she remains relaxed. If she's a good athlete, she'll understand something about the recovery phase and supercompensation, she needs to apply that portoin of the training phase to her healing. In her case, because of the legs, I'd guide her through dantian/yongquan and marrow breathing. And look into accupressure specifically for bone breaks. One of my teachers got his arm broken by a beginner with a sword and he recovered extremely quickly. He said it was the accupressure that helped most but I don't think we ever discussed exactly what he did at that time. Lot's more advice coming soon from others, I hope

Excellent idea for a thread, 5ET, should grow into a whopper My Qigong and my spirtualism are kept seperate, and my deeper spiritual practicing days are behind me. But I do have a lot of experience with a lot of subjects and recommend this book as a safe and effective starting place for anyone who wants to get into touch with the astral planes: How to met and work with spirit guides, Ted Andrews

Is it possible that 500 years is only meant to represent a really, really long time? 500 years is pretty long. 10,000 things are a lot of things. But it isn't all of them. I think it's not so easy to separate Buddhism and Taoism. Buddhism has been integrated into Chinese thought and practice for 2,000+ years and contact with Buddhists goes back even further. You won't find an original Taoist text that wasn't transcribed by someone with at least a touch of Buddhist influence, anywhere. You're also unlikely to find any Taoists who live and practice methods exactly as was done before the earliest inkling of Buddhist thought entered China. There's probably not one on the entire planet. You don't meet many Taoists, period. Especially not on the internet. But you can't throw a brick into a crowd of moderate size anywhere without risk of hitting a Buddhist. So, first thing to do is, find a Taoist to compare to. Gotta throw a lotta bricks. One thing that I notice about the practicing western (the stress on western is important) Buddhists who I know personally, they all seem to concentrate so much on identifying what the Buddha is not, that they run a great risk of missing it when they meet it. They're not very happy people. No sense of humor, as stated previously. They remind me very much of Christians, in many ways. Their attitudes don't come from the original teachings of Siddhartha-Gautama, they come from the cult of personality that sprang up around him. They have the same human roots as the dogma you find in any religion, including religious Taoism, I suppose. I wrote in a PM recently that I've only met one person so far who I really feel radiates Tao. He's in his mid-fifties and when you go for a walk with him, you have the feeling you're babysitting a highly gifted four-year-old. His knowledge on virtually any subject is encyclopedic, yet he'll stop suddenly, look at a particular tree, start laughing and say, "Do you see it?". You ask, "What?". His answer, "The Yin. The Yang". And you just can't help smiling with him because, the way he says it, yes, you see it. It's there. It's always there. Smile He doesn't drive a car, but I doubt he'd honk if he did, except to enjoy the funny music it makes. The original Buddha image: Buddha on Tao: That's kind of the difference as I sense it.

Funny you should mention the Embryonic Breathing book, Scotty, as I took it out again yesterday after not looking through it for a while. I'm looking for info on the Mud Pill Palace for some reason I'm going to post something from the book later when I get the chance. You should get it, I think you'd be very happy with it, from what I can sense about you.

I wonder often how much the huge pharma concerns understand about the placebo effect and how much they keep hidden. It must be a lot. I mentioned that my mother worked at one of these companies - well, she worked in "Regulatory Affairs", assembling research papers for submission to the FDA, and collecting responses from the FDA and prepping them for the researchers. She sat right in the middle of the two. She says with authority that the placebo effect is without compare the biggest obstacle for the researchers and always has been. Healthy people get in the way of profits. Medical research revolves around two main themes: creating synthetic compositions that are unique enough to be patented, and getting around the placebo effect (ie, real healing). The first is the reason they'll never fund (or release) unbiased studies on the efficacy of natural medicines (or therapies, or lifestyle changes), and the second is the reason so many of the drugs turn out to be so harsh and laden with unhealthy side-effects. I'd say the theme ties in well with the Demons thread...

Warmest Appreciation Scotty, that's going to prove useful to me often!

I want to mention something in Yang Jwing-Ming's defense - he says straight up that he does not have the Qigong experience, and encourages people to seek further instruction from other places. He makes it very clear that his writing is often based on his own theories and interpretations of texts. His De is clean. And that counts for a lot these days. I like him, and will probably going to Graz to meet him this summer

You added one Sorry, couldn't resist And, btw, your post is absolutely spot-on! Headed out for a walk in the wintry woods now

Very impotant link, GiH, thank you. The pharma industry exploits and abuses the "nocebo" effect. They don't advertise in order to inform consumers of the products that are on the market - they do it to make people sick. It's simple psychology, and it works. The worst by far is the ant-depressants niche. Being away from the lion's den for so long, I get genuinely ill anytime I flip through an American "Family" magazine like Redbook or Family Circle, which my mother (who worked for a large pharma concern for 25+ years) brings over when she comes to visit. Every single page has an agressive ad for a prescription drug. TV over there is just as bad. There are no such ads permitted here. Zero. And that's how it should be. The first thing I would reign in in the US if I had the power would be the advertising industry...

Very splendid, Enouch, thank you

Just off the tip of my feathery head... Victor Mair Brock Silvers (if you can find him) Joseph Yu Eva Wong and maybe some chick that calls herself Taomeow... I would expect a course like this to include very thorough schooling in Astrology/Feng Shui. Would that be in the plan Stig?

now I wish there were a beetle there! J/K , of course, thank you for the link, bro. Scarabs are fascinating creatures even without the symbolism. They dig their holes and roll those balls to the point of total exhaustion, lay their eggs in them, and then die. It's a superbeetle effort. Actually, this experience was a pretty piece of profundity for me. And the dung ball, I think is perfect. I'm very happy with my little ball. Does it get more yin than dung?

Now, Angels would have been about that last thing I would expect

"perceptive" is good. I think I perceived what you were saying, because I've experienced it myself, often. I've been involved with spiritual cleansings in the past. Our approach always involved helping these "Wesen" go where they wanted or needed to go. I many cases, we had to first show them what that was, and they were the ones who were terrified and confused. They'd often been maniplated and lied to. It was mostly very sad, like accompanying a death. So, yeah, I appreciate your comments very much. Btw, the "tools" that I used the most were a column of white Qi and a Tam-Tam Gong. They really get everyone's attention and create the perfect gate, or elevator.

I gaze at the moon Yang light in the sea of night Black is no color

I wonder sometimes, I really do... 1:30am and I'm wide awake... this not normal... something not good here

wow... I mean, just, wow. This is one of the most profound texts I've ever seen on the internet, or anywhere else. Amazing. Thank you, TM.

Absolutely, and DaoZhen is wonderful I knew the video and the text before you posted it. The only point *I* was making was that it didn't directly address Magitek's request. And then I embellished a little, lol. But, for sure, anything that helps make "it click", and that could mean 1,000 different formulations and reformulations of the same instruction until 1,000 people understand it, is good. IM not always so HO. I don't have anything against visualization or imagery in Qogong, either. My reply didn't seem to be implying that, did it? Some of us understand things better in that way, and some of us don't.

Just wait for my story after the next visit to the real sauna spa: http://www.kristalltherme-fichtelberg.de/S...gramm&id=15 The towels were only used for the photos, it's actually "textile free" and Co-Ed. Did I mention I love life in Germany?

Supercilious sacks of sanctimony. Who does that make me? Much better. Thank you, Mama My answer: Sitting quietly on the floor next to the piano with my eyes closed while my daughter works out a tough spot in a new song and being there when it clicks for her. I think that's about as high as it gets for me these days

+1 big time. And like I said, look into Phil Maffetone It's really a simple process - our storage space for sugar-based energy is narrowly limited and every milligram that can't be either stored or used by the muscles immediately gets transported to the ever-expandable fat cells. Done. Cut the carbs way down, and view (healthy) fats as your top source for fuel. Run away from anything that says "Diet", "Low Fat" or "Light" on the package. It's poison. Btw, FRUIT is carb/sugar rich as a rule. Concentrate on a wide variety of vegetables as your main food group, and enhance it with a little protein, fat and healthy carbohydrate (zero carb is dangerous in the long term, don't do it, no matter what some fanatics might recommend). A big, mixed, colorful salad with some hard-boiled egg, sunflower seeds and a generous dollop of olive oil - that's what's for breakfast, Mom. Ask any successful ultramarathoner For anyone who wants to get into running, do yourself a big favor and go S-L-O-W, and alternate walking and running for quite a few months before starting longer runs. Keep the pulse waaaaaay low. Stu Mittelmann's "Slow Burn" has some excellent guidelines on how to get into running safely and easily, for the long term. His book also kind of wanders around and gets a little too poetic and repetetive, but essentially, it's the one to get. He also has some top nutrition advice. A perfect companion to Maffetone What? You never heard of Stu Mittelmann? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stu_Mittleman

Hey folks - look up Dr Phil Maffetone: http://philmaffetone.com/fr_index.cfm He's the real deal on fitness and diet. btw, Yessssssss running is the best! And Born To Run is a tremendous book! Super-highly-recommended from a runner who is thankful that finally someone had the nerve to break through all the corporate dogma and tell it like it is.