Pranaman

This is Yu Yong Nian in Yiquan's "Dragon Stance". I like it alot. How do I learn the effects of specific postures, the ins and outs of the chi body's anatomy and how zhan zhuang, and every taiji posture affects it?

WOAH, watch out. who out there has an EXTREME formula for gaining ULTIMATE flexibility fastest. or you know, just a routine and theory to gain full body flexibility that I can practice for the next few months. I am going to incorporate contortionist exercises into my daily routine starting tommorow, unless somebody knows for sure that practicing back bends is really bad for your back:

Any suggestions for making my right knee stronger? it easily pops when I crouch down or stretch my hamstring. I feel minor pain in the inner outside(right) part of it. I still occassionally feel a left over sensitivity and vulnerability to cramping from an old sciatica injury. This is on the same leg and could contribute to the knee problem. Thank you for any help.

I tried to learn bagau from video once.... It didn't take long for me to give up. Now i'm learning taiji, hsing-i, and just recently bagua from a good teacher, so the best advice I can give is to find a teacher.

I've read a lot about spiritual traditions, ranging from interpretations of Lao Tzu to theosophist literature, that say that the body is a limitation, and therefore cultivating spiritually and psychically is the way to go.... I'm a newbie internal martial artist, but I have a very good teacher who truly understands what "internal" actually means. I also live and train a la The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. These are all very body oriented paths. If you are fully present, sensing all sights, sounds, feelings, and your "self".... then through the body, thoughtless and mindful, have you not gone beyond the physical? What do you believe?

Thank you. internal/external non-duality seems similar to, but probably different than, what I was trying to describe. Consciously, you become your environment. This is not only going beyond YOUR physical but being aware of the physical world even more. Scotty, Power Of Now is a good pointer. At times, my ego is strong so I can easily forget, but I always find myself back home.

These are my suggestions to prepare yourself for Taoist arts without having a teacher to guide you. 1. Get exercise. This is just plain old healthy, which is a goal for taoist practice. Get every which kind of exercise.... aerobic, anaerobic, static, dynamic.... Push yourself regularly. The discipline and pain tolerance will help when your future teacher asks you to do zhan zhuang for 20 minutes or meditate for an hour. Set a goal and intend on reaching it, say... 100 pushups, 50 pullups, 200 sit-ups. Sweat a lot and make sure your work makes you breath hard for more oxygen. The energetic benefits of exercise are to be experienced. Confidence gained will benefit you in all areas of life. Also, raising your heart beat for 20mins improves your BDNF which supports living brain cells and is highly active in promoting new neuro-connections. Exercise + meditation + intention = fast growth. 2. Listen to Eckhart Tolle, or Adyashanti, or someone else who guides people to the present moment, so you can be "in the experience, not above the experience". A very natural and universal part of being a Yogi or one with the Tao. Does anyone else have any suggestions for teacherless seekers of the truth?

We are possessed by energies of the past. These energies are personified through us. So on that level, anybody with an ego is possessed. I think it's also very likely that we have possessing entities within us, but I will not place faith and I will just simply do my practice.

Zen works good, helps you to just be with the emotion. Doing this, and not feeding it with thought... will eventually come to the emotion's death. The key is to not to rely on a practice . Everyday requires you to just feel the emotion, pay attention to your body and your environment simultaneously. Zen helps with this, and gives you good practice.

and this is why I have learned to accept popular culture. As many negative effects it creates, it also has potential to help a lot of people.....

Yeah, I guess the forms that I'm learning are of Chen Taiji and Hsing-I. Forms don't really matter though, what is important to me right now is that I'm learning to use my body most efficiently. My ability to focus my intention is also proving to be applicable outside of the martial art. I'm cultivating these things, and mastering them is endless. Most of this is coming out of the principles of Yichuan, but go beyond the label, "Yichuan".

Please share your idea of how chi and science work together? I know that science supports the exercise and meditation, two main components of internal martial arts and some qigong. I am not wasting too much time on the topic, but just curious as to how you see these two models intertwined. Chi and the biology of the body and mind, what is their relationship?

sung gunn is like, working without creating tension. Not mindless relaxation, but real, truly solid muscular work.... without creating tension. It's relaxation and firmness together. This requires attention, and this is what I personally want in my standing practice. This principle helps me judge my posture. This is a good article on different aspects of standing, and addresses different ways of learning it, as well as sung gunn and movement in stillness.

Basically tuck your tailbone forward as much as you can without creating tension. The first thing I was taught was... Stand tall, knees less bent(straighter) then when you stand, and feel a string connected to the top of your head that is connected to the ceiling. Then try to sit down, but the string won't let you, it pulls your spine, elongates and straightens it, and your tailbone tucks (because you are trying to sit down) all while your weight is trying to go downwards.... this is a good position for standing (learned this for wuji, embrace the ball, and the other hand positions....) If this is unclear I might be able to look at it from another angle.... PS. are you reading ZZ and the Search Of Wu?

my teacher found a different study that also shows an effect on dopamine from acupuncture. I understand still not believing in acupuncture... but as far as research goes apparently China is where you'll find it. My heart just tells me to explore it more, but discard what I find useless for me. So far so good, TCM has helped me with no side-effects. My mind and attention is improving drastically, and I didn't have to take amphetamine for 8 years. Learning to focus my mind has proven to be useful.

Acupuncture research: Acupuncture Research on Dopamine Pathway

about conviction..... My old spiritual teacher told me once that changing beliefs is like putting a pig on a stick and calling it something else.... Her point was that enlightenment is beyond conviction and any form of belief because if you believe in something, you are still only seeing your belief... not- what is.

I don't know if you misread what I wrote or not, but "all of the time" was used in the connotative and common American's use of the term. and yes, both sides have success stories. But my thing is, why do there have to be sides? Why can't doctors say,"hey, there isn't much research on Oxygen3 treatment, but it's shown to help people you should check it out and see if it's for you." There is no risk in doing so, and either being simply ill-informed, or withholding information from people who are about to die is not my idea of a genuinely good, down to earth, and thorough medical institution. From what I can see, a good example of a thorough institution is Oasis, they do integrated (alternative/conventional) therapy: Oasis stats vs. Convential (via NCI) I believe that 11:33 is right. Tokoyo Tama, I believe the scientific method is used to verify a hypothesis. Which is probably why it is as slow as you say. By these terms in it's very nature it is not designed to help us move forward but designed to document what is tried and may be true. To use your example, it's a f#cking joke that we had to call in scientists to document that female ejaculation is true, when it has been tried so many times before.

People with 100% faith in doctors die of cancer all of the time. At the same time, people in alternative therapies are being cured of cancer all of the time. The majority of doctors, based on science, don't condone alternative therapies. Is this a pure and good institution?

note too, that Rick Strassman, the doctor who ran research on DMT with hundreds of patients, has a background in Zen Buddhism. The buddhist community puts down his research actually. Anyway, His belief is that DMT exists in our body to allow us to feel energy. My experience verifies this for me personally, not scientifically. The last few times I did DMT, or Mushrooms.... my fears and joys were amplified, and I could work with these emotions like they were a substance in the air and in my body. Just like energy. Practicing presence around these energies was difficult, but definitely gave me some good practice.

True that. You put that very well. Speaking of standing practice and practicing perfectly, I'd be a lot farther now had I been practicing it perfectly over the last year instead of half-way and mildly like I had been. It's definitely a practice that takes a lot of mental and physical effort.

Why is it, that Yogis can not feel the effects of extremely high dosages of LSD? (Ram Dass's experience with his Yoga teacher in India, read Remember, Be Here Now) It shows me that there is a higher power than hallucinogenics. But the fact that the Yogi would take the dose, also shows me that there is no energetic harm to be done. I believe the harm is in thoughts and attachment.

Sifu Gregory Fong learned from Professor Yu. I'd suggest that anyone in the Portland area interested in the martial arts or going very in-depth with the mind-body connection, take some classes with Sifu Fong. (note: I feel a lot of hope because Professor Yu didn't start till he was 24, if my math is correct)

that Bong Han Duct video was pretty sweet, hopefully they go somewhere with that.