soaring crane

Nope. Nobody notices me. I like it like that. Btw, weren't you the one who recently wrapped himself up in a toga and then came here to ask what the wrapping method was called?

I say, take off your shoes and socks. Go for a long walk (on natural terrain). Especially if you're loaded up on energy (-ies).

yep

I'm feeling quite guilty now

ok, in this order: a door a closed door an open door a door hinge a door frame (it's nice that you have so much fun with this, so I'm not going to spoil it)

Woot!

Please believe that this isn't the norm here. And I'm not using my phone for quoting text anymore, promise. When I write a longer post, I always at least select all/copy before posting, just in case my browser crashes. But having mods overwrite your posts is a pretty obscure danger. It was a good post, that's why I wanted to quote it.

Heart in TCM is one of the Zhang organs, yin when paired with it's Fu partner, the small intestine. I think you'd have to force square pegs into round holes to find the corollaries you're looking for. But then, we do have some pretty fine woodworkers here .... :-)

She's got the Kindle, lol. I read Sea-Wolf years ago, yes :-)

Collected Poems of Langston Hughes Call of the Wild/White Fang, Jack London Jeeves Compendium vol 3, PG Wodehouse The Dynamics of Standing Still, by Peter den Dekker Yijing, Moran/Yu and Wang Bi/Lynn Dao De Jing, Gunther Debon and DCLau Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, as mentioned above (was a Christmas present, not really my thing) Decoding the Dao, Tom Bisio Bagua Neigung, Tom Bisio The Internal Structure of Cloud Hands, Robert Tangora (sleeper of the decade, it's good stuff)

Grus Grus* Golden Crane, and welcome to the forums! Glad you found your way to us :-) Great intro, your academic specialty sounds quite fulfilling. I sense you're going to be a wonderful instructor/teacher/good example to your students. Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started. For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day. Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you, SC and the TTB team ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Note: all female members are more than welcome to join the discussions at our new Women’s Cultivation forum, moderated by rainbowvein and zanshin * a play on words. "Gruss" (pronounced groos) is German for "Greetings" and Grus Grus is the Latin for the common crane

other way 'round when viewing the body as a whole

The real interesting dynamics occur inside the body ...

Hi all I'd very much appreciate it if someone could tackle at least a small part of this for me. These are eight poems, one for each figure in the Qigong form I'm most familiar with, known as the Ba Fan Huan Gong. It's purportedly a Quanzhen practice dating to about 1200AD. Prof. Cong Yong-chun initiated a small number of Europeans into the practice in the early 1990s (IIRC) and it's become a foundation of the German Qigong Association over the years. Here are the poems to the eight main figures: 一氣三清 偈曰 一氣三清透頂門，任期百脈自勻.。 周身輾轉舒經洛，气在先天法自通 橫擔日月 偈曰 橫擔日月向前推，吐納綿綿看意催.。 齒落髮斑空息，快把長生法奮追。 霸王舉鼎 偈曰 霸王舉鼎練纏勁，內轉功夫無止境。 柔中剛化虛門，彼己之中動中靜 法輪常轉 偈曰 法輪常轉象圓周，守法殷勤靠自修。 洗髓九年除色相，左右盤旋萬事體。 彭祖抹鬚 偈曰 彭祖抹鬚走內旋，借撩鬚式易坤乾。 支撐弓步隨身換，變化全憑意在沾。 金剛伏虎 偈曰 金剛伏虎走腿功，挑纏勾胯側腰伸。 頻頻穩扎金雞立，伏虎全憑剎那中。 銀河入海 偈曰 銀河入海練大元，送寶歸還每服邊。 爐中火暖填離坎，全功就在蒂中玄。 臥學希夷 偈曰 臥學希夷很自然，壺中日月性中天。 河車運上昆侖頂，無物何塵便是仙。 Additional text to the static meditations: 調息功 偈曰 靜坐少思寡欲，冥心調息存神。 此是還妙訣，自然氣達舒伸。 胎息功 偈曰 法練乾坤祖，陰陽是本宗。 殷勤持此法，長壽貌儒童。 I do have a German translation, and a lot more text in German, but I'd really enjoy a fresh perspective, for comparison. Heartfelt thanks to anyone who agrees to help me out

oh hey, a friend sent me this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Yu That's King Ba :-) Xiang Yu was slightly taller than eight chi (approximately 1.85 metres, about 6' 1") and possessed unusual physical strength as he could lift a ding (an ancient Chinese vessel resembling a giant cauldron on tripods).

Hey, why did you erase your post? I saw it on my phone last night. Short answer -- the static exercise I do these days is Zhan Zhuang. When I was in school, I did the Fanhuangong sitting meditations intensively (especially the embryonic breath). I practice the FHG dynamic routine once a day, and finish it with some standing, holding a FHG position. I teach the dynamic form in a group, as well (not all eight figures, especially not the last one, not yet, anyway).

That's a crucial distinction. That sunny side of the hill is only sunny for a few hours a day. And the ratio of yin/yang changes with every moment. To my previous post, take the knees as an example. Standing as in the picture, the backs of the knees are yin (they form a soft hollow) to the knee caps (they're a hard protrusion). But if the person stretches the legs out, locks the knees to the rear, the yin from the back will progresively move forward, and the yang will move back. The knee caps become soft and wobbly while the hollows become stretched and firm. That's a crude way of describing qigong. It a game we play with yin and yang. For life to exist, yin and yang need to always be in flux, always trading places, or even battling with each other for position. If you look at the picture again, everywhere the body forms a hollow is yin to the opposite side's yang. So, the small of the back is yin to the stomach's yang. The thoracic spine is yang to the chest's yin (I know it doesn't look like it in the picture, but imagaine the chest as hollow. This is also true for women, except their female parts on the chest are their yang center, yang in yin), the nape of the neck is a yin hollow to the front of the throat. The head itself is the big yang center, but the openings are yin, etc. But the ears are very yin while the eyes have strong yang tendencies. The palms are the yang pole to the yin soles of the feet. But taken as a whole, the back is the yang to the front's yin (left and right are debatable). If you work in a field, the back is the "sunny side" of the body, the front is in the shade. The back is hard and protective, like a shell. We turn our backs to danger, to protect the delicate, susceptible front. But then, if you stand up and stretch to the rear, arch your back, open your chest and face to the sun, you've reversed the yin/yang order again ... and it feels good. If you stand on one leg, that leg becomes rooted, firm, supportive, yang. In equal measure, the raised leg will (should) be relaxed, free of tension, hollow, yin. And then they trade places. This is true on a small scale for every step you've ever taken in your life. This is yin and yang that you can "work with", apply to your every movement, and feel the benefits of, instead of playing intellectual games (which overlaod the head and make you too yang, causing a host of problems). I suggest investigating the Wu Xing, as well. In the cosmic order, it precedes yin/yang. First, there's change, flux. Then the change gravitates toward a yin or yang state.

There's more to it than that. For example, what's the head? What about the knees? Does the body position affect yin /yang? Does it change with the time of day? With age? If yang sinks, how can the yang qi flow from fingertips to head? It gets a lot deeper than that.

Wonderful :-)

Any friend of Manitou's is a friend of ours Welcome

where's the yin? Where's the yang?

I've noticed increased kidney/bladder action, too, but pretty minimal. I drink a lot of water as a rule, but there's no guarantee that it's going where it's supposed to go, I suppose. Maybe my pineal gland is getting decalcified, lol.

Yes, of course, and thank you. I know the background practice of the discipline very well. I'm only asking for direct Chinese>English translation of the poems to compare with the German translation. For example, in that third figure, Ba Wang Ju Ding, the German is, "König Ba hebt denn Weihrauchgefäss" which means, "King Ba lifts the incense censer". I didn't know that Ba Wang means Emporer. That's very intgeresting. In the sixth one, there should be reference to a Tiger (yin) in the poem. It's called Jin Gang Fu Hu and the German translates to: The Jingang subdues the Tiger (Jingang = Buddah Warrior)

Yes, very interesting. Looking forward to your contributions. Welcome :-)

Anybody come across mention anywhere of it causing migraines? I get migraine with aura normally once or twice a year;right now, though, I'm experiencing my third one since I started taking the capsules. It's been four days. Could be coincidence, of course. Other than that, I get hot flashes about an hour after talking one. It feels comfortable. Definitely not your average vitamin pill.