yugenphoenix

Appreciate the comments, it is not an intellectual understanding of the process but what I feel that I am attempting to articulate. I am foolish to talk about it anyway, but I was so excited by it and wanted to share my experience and ideas with others.

@MIchael80 Not pre-birth? I was hesitant to title this post anything lol 😝 but the results and the progress I feel I am making can’t be called anything but Neidan but I don’t want to split hairs over words that are meaningless I will just call it something else 🙂

@markern It depends on the day and how my body is feeling. Varies. But depth is not a pissing contest. It’s more about finding connections within yourself between body, breath, and energy and opening pathways to expressing that.

All that sounds like the great beginning of a flame that you could slowly and carefully be blown into existence. I think combining a seated practice with a standing one is best, however that looks in your system or what is best for your personal energetic situation and state. EVERYTHING is individualized. I have used Hof’s method and “vase breathing” is an arrow in my quiver for sure. I also love that silence and openness of the holds of breaths and in between…love to just let the engine maintain, just feel and observe, be aware, let breath, energy, colors, images, all go where they want, help where they can, dissolve into emptiness eventually…balance any work with energy with grounding and “just sitting” Shikantza…In my own personal system I call it, “Being alone with the weight of Being” or “Wrestling with the Void of Self” Can’t recommend standing meditation to you enough. It is key and my practice really took off when I learned to combine both. Highly highly recommend Ma bu or Horse stance but only when you can sit in it comfortably, correctly, and aligned…that’s when the magic happens 😁 but start higher in the stance so called “easy horse,” then gradually lower your thighs as your channels open and can handle more and more current and your thighs and hips open (squatting is great for this) Great amazing reference on aligning in horse stance and Nei Kung in general. This is an incredibly powerful system and forms the foundation of my “standing” practice. All the best 🙇🏻🙏 https://ckchutaichi.com/shop/books-and-dvds/books/the-book-of-nei-kung/

Nice article, love this diagram! Very succinct and pretty much hits all the points you need to be aware of to begin your standing practice.

Did you achieve any kind of results with the Wim Hoff Method? No feeling of CHI from it? Did you utilize his online instructions or did you receive training in person? Only reason I ask is I have heard he emphasizes doing Horse stance in his in person seminars but never mentions it in books or internet articles and information he puts out. And Horse stance is a key to CHI development IMO. As for CHI awareness exercises, it is not so much the system or technique you use, it’s how deeply you apply yourself to it. You need to get very comfortable with the movements until you can do them “mindlessly” and instead of focusing on how you are doing the movements or whether they are right, you begin to focus on your breathing, how it feels, where it goes, etc and once you are doing the movements with a focus on your breath, which IS Qi you are now doing “qi awareness exercises” same ones you were doing before but now it’s Nei Kung and you are beginning to learn what you need to do to manipulate you own energies and then others for purposes of healing or destruction. Do you do any standing meditation now? I still do this “Chi Circulation Exercise” from this system. It’s a great example of what I am talking about, even though it’s “basic” it can be very powerful and helpful throughout your training no matter what level. Good luck with your personal practice 🙏🙇

Lol that could be some pick up line 😆 And no worries! Happy to help anyone on their personal path 🙏

Hey @Lala Nila https://dakinitranslations.com/the-female-principle-women-in-buddhism/ https://dakinitranslations.com/buddhist-female-teachers-lineages/ Much progress in your practice 🙏🙇🏻

The four base Trigrams are pictorially in my mind Absolute Yang (Heaven) above man, Absolute Yin (Earth) below him. The two mixed Trigrams are his “arms,” representing Man, as caught between Heaven and Earth, a permutation of those creative energies, but which if he has the intuition and insight and training may learn to flow and manipulate these energies within himself and FOR himself. I have heard of a great Tai Chi player who was said to “hold the Eight Trigrams within his palms,” and this first diagram in this book I’m reading made me think of that quote and it’s possibilities 🙏🙇🏻 https://www.amazon.com/Ba-Zi-Four-Pillars-Destiny/dp/1848192908/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WA3YOPLPWJY2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.NYsTuOODMC3bBFWtCuUEKg.E_PfA_K1OltlnWsiXxPeMhEbmh4HcqAxtTkqK3zWcos&dib_tag=se&keywords=Ba+zi+serge&qid=1756995260&sprefix=ba+zi+serge%2Caps%2C388&sr=8-1 “These four are the nucleus for the remaining 60 and give us the base for all situations. As previously mentioned in the above extract from the Dao De Jing, they describe everything, or the ten thousand things. If we look back at the image of Man between heaven and earth, this is the complete theory, with Ba Zi and Feng Shui arising from this. But know that the knowledge contained in the book is deep and can take a lifetime to master. The difficulty lies in the understanding of each hexagram, because very often the information and explanation is just one example of its interpretation. Each of the hexagrams should be adaptable to any situation that we might want to look at—from work and money to relationships, amongst many other things. So, from these 64 things, we should be able to explain everything.”

Thank you for your kindly response and great advice! Grounding, grounding, grounding, totally agree 💯 We Westerners have so much energy (too much thinking) above and not enough deep rooting and consecutiveness below 🌍 My birthday is Feb 14th, 1971 so I am Metal but a Pig, would love to hear more about my Ba Zi from you 🙂 Good guess on the Water though, I am the “water bearer” after all but I feel I am drawn to water imagery and rituals because I am filled with Fire 🔥 and have always been..I struggle with anger, aggression (when provoked 😁), etc and perhaps it’s a way for me to heal myself and balance my energies deeply.

Love all of this! Great way points to look for in one’s personal practice 😃 I would add that feelings of well being and peace that seem to come out of nowhere (especially outside of direct practice times) are sure sign posts that what you are doing is good and right for you. When you have these feelings or insights that “All is well” or “Everything is ok” run with them! Embrace them and accept them wholeheartedly. This feeling can come to be your default setting as opposed to the sense of “something is always wrong” that is the Acquired mind’s baseline functioning. All the best to you in personal practice and path @KJ90 🙏🙇

Yes, I practice Bagua, Xingyiquan and Iron Palm (internal). My primary practice is standing meditation, mostly Mabu with various hand positions, and other postures with dynamic and stationary components as part of a larger “Nei kung” process. I do also circle walk around a tree in my yard that is my friend 🙂 (who I practice Zhan Zhuang with and thru). I have an natural altar at its base made from stones (and other special objects) I have brought from the mountains 🏔️ near me that is a Place Power, I call “The Council of Stone” where I camp, meditate, and trail run, and practice in nature. There is a natural well near my campsite that I do rituals at which I believe contains a deep Ley line and a Water Naga who is kinda of like a Kami or a Tengu to me. I also have a sitting practice I refer to as “Dao Yin.” It is a system of Yoga (in the sense of the word that Terry Dunn defines it in the great Flying Phoenix thread on here via the book “Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines” which is a comprehensive compendium and guide if you read the foot notes and follow to original sources 🙂), energy, breathing, stretching exercises, and meditations that I cycle seasonally and knowing what my body needs at the time after doing it for so long. In addition my practices involve weighted strength training in the gym, body weight exercises (pull ups, dips, push ups, very Navy SEAL muscular endurance building style training and other HIIT workouts) and running. I mostly do trail running in the forests and mountains as it’s a meditative experience for me and a Shen Gong practice in itself 🙇 I believe all systems originated from one founder who figured out what works for them individually and then this knowledge was passed onto disciples who attempted to make this system work for their specific energy and karmic circumstances and then passed that onto the next person, rinse and repeat down to today. There are many paths up to the Mountain and it is all individualized for us ❤️ Thank you for asking and look forward to more discussions and conversations 🙇🙏

Your deep personal experience is priceless my friend 🙏 You have championed the unending benefits of Bagua over and over, year in and year out, all just solid down to Earth advice and explanation. I am always happy to hear more of your thoughts and suggestions and experiences 🙇🏻

Agree with you! I hated gardening! And my mother (before she died) and my wife love it! Then my wife made this thing in our yard called a “forest garden” (if you don’t know it just Google it 🙂) and I watched it shape, then began helping shape it into a hidden grove, with fruit trees, herbs, flowers, a stone fire pit. It’s an amazing peaceful, quiet, place filled with such beauty and CHI. And I love digging in the dirt now and helping things grow. Seeing the insects and connections, feeling the sun, the delicate wind, and tranquil rains. It’s a full practice in itself 🙏 George Harrison was a devout Hindu practitioner all his life and he retired from fame and lived as a recluse in a mansion surrounded by 7 vast gardens which he spent his days slowly “cultivating” 🙂

Amazing advice from a man with many worn shoes on the Way 🙇 I wholeheartedly agree! Running, especially recommend trail running, it’s my main “practice” as I feel such a connection out in the mountains and rivers and stones and trees with Being, thru my body’s feelings, breathing, motion, sights of amazement in such beautiful surroundings, it’s a real Shen Gong practice for me 🙂 I also endorse weightlifting and body weight exercises like pull ups, pushups, dips, and sit ups done as super sets. Any physical activity done in moderation is good for your energy cultivation. Running will make you go thru your pain cave and into a place of deep strength if you let it 👊 And of course taking pain is the first step of you want to practice the martial arts. With @steve here the Dao bums for sure has much strength with very positive advice and direction 🙏

Here’s the Neidan for women PDF I remember printing for my wife…unfortunately at the time I was practicing “Mantak-deluded like/inspired” practices and now I recall I got her the female Mantak book and this🤦🏻 Thank god it never jived with her 😅 It’s disappointing but thought I’d share it anyway with you, ignore the occasional Jade egg 😝 but even if ONE idea or the inspiration of a way to go with your personal practice is found to you in it, it’s worth it to peruse. I read it a long time ago and just glanced at it today saw the Jade egg and Mantak as one of the sources and thought 😑 (Swimming Dragon is another source though and it encourages women to practice it! 😁) Final-Draft-Paper-for-Neidan-Conference-05_17_101.pdf

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No problem at all and thank you 🙏 🙂 So glad you have a practice that FEELS good to you and brings you such joy! Run with it! Dig deep. Saying “in my element” and “ethereal” says it all 😁 Practice on the beach must be amazing! Such great deep tidal chi forces and currents at work to imbue your Self with energetically and immerse in it. Wind, water, earth, sun, or moon the elements 😉 And agree not much published for women’s Nei gong and Nei Dan for sure ☹️ I looked deeply and found not much for my wife. There is a book by Damo Mitchell I think 🤔 I realize there are clearly many less internal female teachings because of the misogynistic slant of many traditional cultures but it’s disappointing so few texts of value are found for sure. But seriously avoid the female Mantak Chia book and all that BS…if you know the history of Daobums at all then you know that’s not helpful information for most people. I also remember printing my wife a pretty decent text called something like “Women’s Neidan” but not sure. I’ll poke around for it for you 🙏

Yes! Now the rub is find the RIGHT one for you energetically, karmically and having the gumption to do just that dive deeper than you have in anything else but if do, results will happen 🙏

WOW! Thank you 🙏 on the pointer to Daniel Ingram’s site. Lots to mine deeply here and chew on 🙂

Absolutely agree! 😁 Mabu is my foundational stance and the root of both building and circulating energy deeply IMO. If there was only on practice or stance I’d recommend someone do it’s horse stance. But only if you are in proper, aligned posture and position and deeply deeply learn to relax it in, will it work. It’s like a circuit and if there is an area of wiring blocked it runs hot and starts a fire, not enough current and nothing happens. Of course in person in best, but I have made huge, personal breakthroughs studying this material https://ckchutaichi.com And I have this book, which seems excellent! I gave it to my wife, who is getting much more interested in finding internal, energetic practice I believe as she gets older like me but it didn’t seem like it attracted her…that is no worries as there is no hurry. You are always practicing and exploring consciousness and siddhis but people are so busy being distracted by the outside, illusionary Maya (especially today with social media control so rampant) they are like fish who won’t believe ANYONE that tells them they live in water 😉 And yes I agree the Swimming Dragon 🐉 form feels energetically that it’s slanted toward the Mysterious Female 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Dragon-Chinese-Fitness-Beautiful/dp/0882680633/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LXITNMQJSEZW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kYOAavV9ArkXAWqVUE7NsivLJOp8FlZ83V_0X17pIv5xpj_xBaOCKA6zdG766L-vsdQjZAOduzravb02ASdcmJHumrGwd4eBV55QxWqF9W99PhGaI3FbyXFxiX5P587fOp-gTJvdiRmAN7NKWLmBvZK5d4wtY-UQESzP6vwkCivHiEwpoB2qF_JtB-yLZRF8urg0y3z9kM2Nz2HwSsIKQRoh3JYNCdvno1ZQ97vbKdWCvuSZYK3VlmX_u33bBtVTaNnuAfFhpexvE5oFpg93t2pxLVBggod0vzBPBUef7xs.dDSP8P0JeQJ9QdCYdOoIVBhKaCTUQG1pH-RzlMxtNH0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Swimming+dragon&qid=1755728699&sprefix=swimming+drago%2Caps%2C476&sr=8-1 All the best to you and your practice 🙇🏻🙏

This is simply amazing advice and the kind of down to earth, brass tacks, simplified, but dipping into profoundly deep wells at the same time teaching and understanding I am so very interested in these days. This kind of insight and ability to articulate is what seems to be missing when others speak of Daobums losing its shine in the last few years. And completely agree with de_paradise in that @Gerard post is great succinct advice and he indeed, from the amazing and deep insights he has shared here over years 🙇🏻 speaks with great experience.

It feels hopeless at first, like now I don’t care about anything! Not even reading, learning, or practicing anything, it’s all so pointless 😔 and then out of the darkness you just feel “nothing was ever needed, nothing was ever ever wrong” and boom 💥 🥰 Yes! This I finally understand, how can you expect fuel for the work if you are not creating the “backward flow” needed to ignite the process. You start to learn to let go and trust the process and know that “He who knows the Way” will guide you, if you just let it.

Yes! This is why asked the way I did…I spent so many years chasing JING thru sexual energy and techniques and it’s pointless. We need to create the “backward flow” of energy thru conservation on ALL levels, not just the physical gross level and expect the process to work. And for ALL the good Daobums has done for the myself and the cultivation community over the years, it has led me and so many down the path of pursuing energy, advancement, and growth by chasing our tails thru our front when all we had to do was really nothing, and to ALLOW our bodies to build up the needed energy by focusing inward and not letting it “flow out” whether that is thru our minds, our emotions, or our penises.