soaring crane

Hi Leon, it really would be good if you would report back on your progress, please do That pelvic tilt is truly the place where most people get hung up. The other is the connecting the breath to the body. I first learned to stand truly like a pillar - a rigid stone column - but I don't want to be stone, I'd prefer to be a little blade of grass or a young birch sapling, something alive and full of potential. They dont resist environmental factors, they bend with the wind, and I allow myself to bend and flow as well. While standing, because I've practiced this for so long it's become automatic, it's even active now as I sit on the sofa and type, an inhalation signals a light upward motion and an exhale shifts the focus to the earth, and I sink a bit. That came initially from hours and hours of practicing the basin exercise, and opening and closing the groin kuas regions, and mingmen. I don't supress that when doing standing meditations, why should I supress a natural phenomenon? I've yet to see any beginner do this without struggle and stress. They have to think about it all, the whole time. They have to keep all the small elements of the practice under control, and there are quite a few elements that haven't been mentioned here yet. And that stress, the overabundance of thought, tend to negate the meditation's positive effects ... whoops, gotta run, I was going to write out my litlte sailboat meditation... L8R

I move in stillness The sheer curtains whispering Things I can not hear

Hi Steam, you already got fantastic replies, go with them. I just want to add that, specifically to the problem of dry skin and wrinkles, you may get some very quick results by simply reducing carbohydrates drastically and increasing the content of healthy fats in your daily menus. The first things to cut are all forms of sugar, wheat and corn. The best and easiest thing add is extra-virgin olive oil. The other thing to cut would be dairy, but if you're going to go vegan that's a given anyway. The reason so many vegans give up could be because they end up eating tons of pasta and relying on carbs for all their energy. And they do that because it's convenient, unfortunately. Unhealthy vegetarians tend to load up on dairy till they moo, for the same reason. Teenagers do this all the time. A good jumping off point would be Phil Maffetone's books, though there are others who say essentially the same thing. Look up Scott Jurek, he's a pretty interesting man. Stu Mittelman's book, Slow Burn has good diet info. I'll add that I'm not especially good at actually applying the principles to my own practice, but I've had enough success to feel confident in making the suggestions. I also failed miserably in my attempts with the five-element kitchen. Too much thinking for me, lol. Maybe in the future... My own attitude toward food is similar to how I view tanking up my car. It's a necessity and I make sure to buy high-quality gasoline, but after a quick fill-up, I'm of driving again.

Maybe, but, if the opponents share an ideology, or, better, have none at all, then they'll share the resources as well. Or not?

hi, typing with a fat cat on my lap, can't reach the shift key... not sure what's available in the states but, try to find bath salts that specifically state 'alkaline' or 'base' on the package. The (ahh, forgot about the other shift key, can just reach it with my pinky) point is to raise the pH to about 8.5. You'll notice the difference. Use a scrub brush as well. I know a simple routine for leg scrubbing if anyone's interested... also, salt is not salt. Cheapie table salt has virtually no essential minerals. Use sea salt, it's still cheap. Last bit - himalaya salts were tested and analyzed here and there were no more minerals in it than regular sea salt, and less in some cases. It does not really come from the Himalyas, either, not if it's affordable anyway...

To those who partake In morning meditation Lazy winter sun

At the moment, I'm finally starting to understand Leonard Cohen a bit better. And I'm enjoying that Liu Fang video that Trunk posted up there ^ sweeeeet.

Bach, Air - I love this, and think it fits in better with the original intent of the thread (sorry for going along with the hijack earlier): qOVwokQnV4M

Open for suggestions here. Got any?

Hi, Why is solid Earth representative of Yin and expansive Heaven Yang? It feels right, but it's not always so easy to grasp logically. On the one hand, Yin is the soft, female, empty, yet it's also the rock-solid Earth. Likewise, Yang is the hard, male, full, yet also the borderless, gaseous and always expanding heaven. Like I said above, I get lost sometimes. Anyone else?

Hey there - Thanks, that's elegant, but it's written in the past tense. It didn't just happen once and then quit. It's a constant and present exchange, the friction that animates us. Something like this: The light and clear Qi rises up and becomes the Heavenly sphere, and the dark and dense Qi sinks and becomes the Earthly sphere. From the mystic intercourse of Heaven and Earth the myriad things become distinct. Yes, sure, that's what I feel, but there's more to it, there's more hidden in there, more secrets to be exposed and more ways to harmonize with them. I should make clear that, although my posts may seem otherwise, I'm not hung up on this, not fanatical, and not over-analyzing. I really feel these things, these "spheres", internal and external, they're alive out there, and in here. I think that's amazing, and I gain strength from that realization. Here, I'm just musing about ways to express more clearly what I sense. And that's why I'm most interested in how other people, not neccessarily philosophers or authors, experience things. Experience in the keyword, I think. Perhaps.

You're right, of course, but then, how would you comeplete it? I'd like to know what you sense out there, and in there, Marblehead, you know? I don't really want to read (yet) another book. Also, English is my first language but I find German works better for me when I'm looking for just the right term to describe a process. German is based on naming things according to their function, so it works well with this kind of thing. It's also very good for children's stories and fairy tales. I live in Germany now.

Hi, oh, I don't feel bad about it. I believe I may have a strong grasp of "how it works", but I can't put it into the pefect words, especially not in english. And though I've read many, many books and attended seminars and courses for years, ( I even teach this stuff on a small scale), I have yet to come across the perfect expression for what I sense. It goes something like this, though, and I wish I could express it more elegantly, ie, shorter: The "earth" is empty, in the sense that it's the principle of contraction. An empty vessel that is being constantly filled. It's a vacuum. Earth doesn't "do" anything other then suck everything into itself, continuously, deep into its core. There is no "up" or "down", there is only "inward" and "outward" - toward or away from the center. An empty vessel or a vacuum has only the potential for "inward", it's a constant inhalation. It's the contraction potential of Qi. It seems like a crazy paradox that anything on earth can resist this megaforce. It doesn't make sense that anything should ever be able to "grow" outward from the vacuum, does it?. And, indeed, nothing grows very far, or "high". Viewed from far enough away to see the complete orb, the earth is as smooth as a polished pearl. It's only because we're so nano-sized tiny that the other tiny things on the surface which are slightly less-nano-sized than we are, seem so large. There are no large mountains, not really. Except, it does make sense because "heaven", Yang, is out there doing exactly the opposite. It's constantly exhaling, always expanding and doing its best to drag everything apart, to create space, expansiveness. It succeeds to a nano-degree in getting the earth to relent some of its power, and so we grow, and stand erect in the middle of these tremendous forces that would really like to claim us for their own. They breathe us. And because they breathe, we breathe, too. Everything in the universe has to breathe. This is about where I get lost and start babbling, lol... P&L to you, too (I was pondering this especially deep last night because I had been trying to explain to a group why inhalation is yin, and should occur more passively while the exalation is yang and we can do it a little more forcefully. I talked too much... just like happened here, see?) I'll add something else, because I just can't get enough, lol: I like the closed fist/open hand image as an elegant expression of what I sense. They're one hand. It works well for me. But it works better live and in person

haha, yes, FZ has his little way with the guitar. I always feel like he spent so much of his efforts supressing his wispier emotions, his love, but it all came out when he plugged in his guitar and just let it sing, and even cry. A great example, out of thousands: Black Nakkins And I think you're right that silence is the most enlightened music. youtube embedment experiment: _c-NMnYhM3Q edit: "FZ has his little way with the guitar", wishful thinking. It should have read "had"

Hi, this is a really nice thread with a a lot of generous insights and info, and some great links, too. I've gotten quite a few new ideas to try... does the search ever end? Anyway... There's one thing I'd like to add from my own experience and that's this: don't willfully "bend the knees" as a step in assuming the mabu posture. Rather, leave the knees (and ankles) dynamic and loose, and practice that pelvic tilt as described in the video. Let that pelvic motion guide the degree to which the knees bend. When you tip the pelvic basin to the rear (he says like a dog tucking in its tail, which is pretty good. I use the a little sailboat imagery), the knees will give all on their own, they'll bend just the right amount. Maintaining an upright torso, your center of gravity will tend to either move from the balls of the feet to the middle, or perhaps a little further back to heels, somewhat. When you "untilt" the pelvis, you'll tend to raise a bit and the COG will shift a little forward. Tip: practice that tilt. There's a good chance that you think you're doing it right but you're not. It's a lot easier to "feel" into it if you use an extra wide stance with the toes pointing outward, go extra deep into the knee bend, but maintain an upright torso, like the Gongfu stance (the Shaolin tea break), just as an exercise to help "activate" the movement and commit it to memory. Don't be over-eager. Practice pelvic rotation, too. Tip the basin to the front, the back, and to the sides as well. These days, my standing meditations start with the hands at the lower Dantian level but I allow them to rise on their own when they want. I start with relaxed shoulders, open shoulder blades, long, hanging arms and palms turned toward the lower Dantian. The rear-tipped basin (opens mingmen), Baihui brought to the middle (make sure the chin gets tucked inward, opening Dazhui and the neck vertebrae). I breathe through Dantian. After a few minutes, the "ball" will grow, the arms open accordingly, can get quite wide, and float upward toward the middle Dantian area. They stay there until the meditation has run its course (10 minutes? I'm not into the 30+ minutes stuff anymore) and then they sink. I find it better without music. Music tends to warp time. Practice in real time. If real time seems to move too slowly, then practice shorter at first until the "two clocks" (the one on the wall and your perception of how long it should "feel") merge and 10 minutes feels like 10 minutes, or 15 or 50... Relax the face, very important. The face is a mirror of everything that's going on everywhere else in the body and in the mind. You can affect them both positively by keeping the facial expression peaceful. And push the corners of that mouth upward slighty, smile Try to avoid the temptation to analyze sensations. Don't put them in boxes. Boxes tend to get stuck, they're not very aerodynamic. Observe the sensations, accept them, and let them go their own route. And there are sooooo many more things involved in doing this "simple" exercise... Everything I just wrote may seem all wrong to me ten years from now. I know I did things ten years ago that I wouldn't consider doing today, lol.

Watermelon In Easter Hay I mean, if you like enlightented guitar solos. or, if you just want the best possible musical companion for your Qigong: Buedi Siebert, Wave Hands Like Clouds Ok, "best" was ironically meant, but the CD remains my favorite after about six or seven years of listening to it. I have a LOT of meditation CDs (as do all of you), and have yet to come accross another one like this. Very unobtrusive and supportive, it draws no attention to itself, it just gives you nice floor to stand on. Doesn't work for Yoga, though, according to Yoga-teacher friend of mine - too Chinese, she says.

Hi, this is not very orthodox but I find the best results come when I feel Mingmen deep in the lower curve of my spine, kind of a large-ish area, not so specific, not millimeter exact. I just breathe through it... and sometimes branch off to the kidneys/adrenal glands. Ultramarathoner Stu Mittelman wrote something in his book that really gave me a wow effect I wasn't expecting, though I don't know where he got it: He suggests visualizing a triangle bult of the navel and the hip bones. Breathe deep into a ball in the center of the triangle, and there's the lower Dantian. Pretty cool.

Hi, I wrote this a couple years ago at the request of a physical therapist who wanted me to hold classes at his practice. He said the newspaper wanted two pages but when I submitted it, they said they only wanted two paragraphs. So, it got chopped down to the most basic statements, which may have been an improvement... This doesn't really represent my approach to Qigong but rather my approach to appeasing a physical therapist who was trying to exploit me to get people into his practice amidst tough competition. But, it is a real article Reading it over now for the first time in a long while, I realize how much of it was influenced by Roger Jahnke's book, "The healing Promise of Qi" (a book I owuld include on my "highly recommended" list). I hope my article isn't too derivative. Here it is: What is Qigong? Qigong (pronounced Tschi-Kung) is an ancient Chinese approach to attaining and maintaining health and achieving a long life. It's closely related to, and is sometimes referred to as the mother of the better-known art of "Tai Chi". The history of Qigong lies somewhere deep in Chinese pre-history. The earliest Qigong texts go back about 3000 years and the sophisticated descriptions of the art from that period indicate that it was well developed long before writing appeared in China. It developed out of shamanistic spiritual dances, most of which closely mimicked animal movements and were an attempt to build up physical energy and gain a closer relationship to nature. Indeed, Qigong excercises can be more accurately compared to dance than to aerobics or gymnastics. There's more The term "Qigong" should be viewed as a generalization as opposed to a specific system of excercises. It's a term as broad as "science" or "music". Strictly defined, Qigong means "concentrated care and maintenance of one's energy (or life-force)". The energy being described is "Qi", a concept that modern western physicists have determined for themselves should be called, among other things, "Quantum Fields", a kind of magnetic field that permeates and supports everything in our universe. Points in these fields of pure energy condense and result in substance and "life". Indeed, it's more accurate to view Qigong as applied Physics than to correlate it to western medicine. Qigong practice will usually include excercises to make this energy, the Qi, experiential, to activate it and to develop the ability to guide its flow through the body. The water principle For practical purposes, it's probably best to compare Qi with water, or water mist. Water collects in pools and oceans, moves through mighty roaring rivers and bubbling mountain streams and finds its way into the tiniest crevices on the planet. It also fills the air, continually changing its form from ice, to water, to misty clouds, and returning to Earth in a continuous cycle. We don't need to do anything to make water flow, just be patient and allow it to bring its gift of life when it's ready. What we can do however, is disturb the flow, interfering with its natural tendencies, holding it up from bringing its benefits where they're most needed. And Qi? All of this is true with Qi. Qi flows, it sinks from heaven to earth and rises again, it collects in pools and flows through channels, in the environment and in the body. Qi is always present, it flows through everyone and everything, and changes its form continually. Qi is a powerful, life-giving energy but its flow can be blocked easily, and that's what we humans are particularly good at. With our stressful minds, unnatural diets, and distancing ourselves from the natural world, we create trouble and energetic stagnation where there should be free-flowing Qi and happiness. Small blockages in the flow of our lifeforce may reveal themselves as chronic muscle or joint pain, or mood swings, or through a whole host of other "minor" symptoms. When the Qi stagnation becomes too extreme, however, the results can be traumatic, ranging from tumors to heart attack and any other severe illness imaginable. A total breakdown of the Qi flow in the body can be compared to the violent bursting of a dammed river or a massive landslide caused by unthoughtful, unnatural irrigation systems. Wise prevention is not difficult, in land management or in personal health. Passive Qigong? We were all born with an equal claim to an unobstructed, happy life. We came to the world open to the natural flow of universal lifeforce and have learned over the span of our lives, mostly through the paradigms and standards of our own societies, to close ourselves up, to resist our natural, internal inclination for simple harmony. Qigong is a method we can use to undo the damage caused by the misleading lessons, and prevent further damage. So, Qigong's ultimate goal, it could be said, is not to "increase" the "amount" of life-giving-force, but rather to minimize the obstructions to what is already there, to return to our original, simple state of being. For this reason, the mental aspect, the relaxation and breathing techniques, are inseparable from authentic Qigong practice. And when we practice enough Qigong, we build up a defense to breakdowns in our energetic structure, i.e., we become healthy and we remain healthy. In the west, we would simply call this boosting the immune system, but in actuality, the "boost" goes much deeper than the white blood cells. We also become immune to emotional sicknesses like depression and over-excitability. For everyone? YES Although some forms of Qigong become quite complex and physically challenging, Qigong is much more meditation than gymnastics. It demands a different perspective on what it means to be "fit". We move ourselves differently, guiding the movement from deep inside, it isn't just aerobics or dance in slow motion. Indeed, at the advanced stages of practice the movements become less and less necessary for effective Qigong practice and the simplest movements can become the most effective when perfomed at a deep level with sincerity. This means that there need be no physical limitations to Qigong practice, literally anybody who isn't severely mentally damaged can practice Qigong effectively. Theory? Or Logic? Gentle, slow breathing coordinated with equally slow, gentle physical movement and mental concentration are the three main elements of all Qigiong routines, whereby the movements can be replaced with simple posture corrections. Each component has an equal effect on the other. For example, good posture can ease our breathing, which can help to still a distracted mind. And we can optimize our posture by applying creative concentration. For example, we'll stand straighter and taller when we envision ourselves being lifted to the heavens by a golden thread gently pulling us upward. Qigong is Natural Science Because Qi is a product of the natural world, or better said, the natural world springs from the unobstructed, natural flow of Qi, most Qigong practitioners prefer to practice outdoors, among the trees, the blue sky and the green grass. A simple Qigong exercise can involve not much more than an aimless, relaxed walk along a winding country path, observing colors and sounds and breathing in the atmosphere of the surrounding environment. But, because we can't always depend on good weather, Qigong courses generally will be scheduled indoors.

That's a very, very important distiction, Aiwei, thank you for posting it. Would you agree that the real bulk of the problems people encounter with Qigong is simply a matter of "lack" as opposed to "blocked" or "closed" meridians/gates? Many of us simply have depleted our stores of Qi and the flow is weak, but it has nothing to do with the conduits themselves. I really think this is hugely important because there is so much information out there about how to move Qi through, for example, the Small Heavenly Orbit, but not much about what to do to restore our reserves of Qi in the first place, which requires much more than simple meditation techniques and often demands a change of lifestyle, ie, work and dedication.

Hi BCT, "We don't need to deny ourselves sensual pleasure" "We" is a pretty big little word. "Deny" is twice as big in size and even bigger scope. One man's denial is another man's pleasure and there never existed a Laozi who ever worked in any court, rode any ox or wrote any book. That's about all I can think of at the moment.

an unfettered reply to the original post.... The place to begin is with your reaction to the chatter. It's really the only place where you can effectively "act" without disturbing your meditation. Don't react. Don't get annoyed with yourself. Your mind can think, chatter and wander all it wants, just don't put yourself under pressure and think of yourself as some kind of loser because of it. This is what most people do but the wandering mind WANTS that kind of reaction, it WANTS to distract you. Just ignore it and eventually, it'll stop. Really. With no effort at all. But ignoring it means simply not reacting, it doesn't mean controlling or suppressing, denying or hiding. It doesn't mean accepting, either. No judgement, positive or negative. No matter what the thoughts are. It's like sitting near the railroad tracks. Train comes, it's loud and distracting, just let it roll in and roll out again at it's own pace. Can't stop a train. It might be a long freight train. I once ran out of gas waiting at a train crossing. What did I learn from that? Turn off the motor and just watch and wait. Or, say you start thinking "Butterfly" during your meditation. Ok, Butterfly... NO! can't think about butterflies! Gotta meditate... ommmmm...... Wow, Butterfly. Butterfly... Blue Butterfly... With white spots... where did I see one like that once? Damn. Meditate. Forget butterfly... Butterfly.... was on vacation in Croatia... 2003, was so freaking hot... and my wife was bitchy.... damn, meditate... Butterfly... Croatia was pretty good though... such beautiful houses in Zadar....But Isabella was a pain in the ass, we argued every day about where to go and she hated the beach because there was no sand, too many rocks and... damn... where was I? Oh yeah... Meditate... ommmm.... I can't meditate. Where did it go wrong? With the first "NO!". Just let the butterflies flutter by.

Opening Mingmen can happen when you start to breathe with the kidneys. Draw Qi through the nose, through the lungs and into the kidneys. Use the kidneys as the "impulse" point and sense the conversion of Qi to water that takes place there. (Right lung/left kidney and vice-versa is an interesting variation on the theme, for people with an overabundance of metal in their system Inhale into the kidneys and exhale into lower Dantian. Be sure you really know where the kidneys are beforehand. No reason to stop there, though. After you re-connect the lungs and kidneys, add the liver, then the heart and finally the spleen to the circuit. The other major points along the small orbit should open this way as well, or at least allow themselves to be opened much more easily. Always exhale into the lower Dantian until you add the spleen to the circuit. At that point, inhale through lung/kidney/liver/heart and exhale into the spleen. To finish the meditation, exhale through the spleen and into the lower Dantian a couple times. This Five Element / Organ meditation is much easier and, in my experience, more effective than the microcosmic orbit. The small orbit sometimes opens itself during this meditation. Don't stand still, always in motion, mingmen is a pump and shouldn't be allowed to rust shut. Feel it pulsing through your entire spinal cord. Works for me :-) (edited for the afterthought that "opening mingmen" isn't how I'd actually intended to describe it. Opening Mingmen or any other point or gate is secondary to building up enough Qi to flow through it in the first place and that's what the organ meditation is very good for. It may well be "open" but if there's nothing there to flow, what difference does it make? I think the whole topic of "opening" becomes kind of wishy-washy and becomes too much of a focus for many people)

nothing to see here folks... just trolling along... I'm mostly wondering why the thread wasn't started on April 1st...