寒月 Hanyue

If you know where leylines, as the term 'leylines', are referenced in old European texts please tell me, I'd like to know. They were not invented by dowsers, the concept was hijacked by them and turned into something else. If you want to talk about energy lines associated with the Earth fine, but they are NOT what leylines are, except in the minds of those that liked to mix and blend ideas during the New Age. Pedantic? maybe but the guy who first threw out the concept is connected to my hometown and so yes I kinda feel the need to set the record straight on occasion. As for his original concept and work, it wasn't accepted by the archaeologists of his day, and always seems to have remained a 'fringe' idea. Which is probably why it got hijacked and altered into something else entirely by people with their own agenda. As for the validity of energetic lines crisscrossing the Earth found by dowsers, well I'll leave that for each individual to believe as they wish. Funny though, energy lines don't tend to be dead straight usually, just a thought. I had questions, sorry if they came out as 'challenging'. End of the day I don't care enough to bother with any attempts at further dialog, I had queries, asked them got shot down. I'm not bothered if 5ET wants to talk or not that is his perogative, he posted so figured he did, my bad. I wanted to clarify given the fact that the reply I got clearly mis-understood me. So I posted again, thats it. People see the patterns in the world that they see, that is the way of things, no-one is immune. Cultivation is meant to teach you to discern truth from falsehood, that is what practice is for and teachers are there as a guide. What is true? what is not? Yet there is no singular truth, it is for each individual to find. I'm not interested in starting any threads about any cultural forms of Geomancy. All i'll say is that there is a reason why this stuff comes out from the cultures it does, and the later 'tables of correspondences' that people espouse in their systems today are usually highly contrived and only keep the would be student at arms length from that which they try to understand. Just think about why the compass and so many of these things crop up in the older traditions? Similar has also happened with the "Nordic" cosmology, most of the 'patterns' of which have little to do with the actual descriptions in the old texts (many of which contradict each other due to 'local' and 'individual' colour) and much more to do with Western Ceremonial magic and its fancy for geometric designs and neat boxes. The beliefs stay the same, as do the practices, only the names get changed. Sad really. And just for the record, no the above is NOT in relation to or a comment upon 5ET or his system, it is in reference to a wealth of supposed "Northern tradition" systems that exist today. best, and happy practice

I think you mis-read me, by quite some distance. Shame. Actually I read through it quite thoroughly, it was that reading that led to my questions, which in my opinion were NOT answered by the info on your site, hence me asking them here. Not to challenge you, but as a way of simply finding out your opinion. Given that you posted about it here on a public forum I figured that was your intention, giving us a chance to know about your work and to ask questions about it. I'm sorry you've been trolled so much in the past you are jaded by queries, but I can appreciate it. (Given what else happened on this thread, well) Actually, no. You use terminology drawn from various cultures and times in history all under one 'roof'. Cultural appropriation is the borrowing or use of cultural terms from outside that culture (see the wiki article linked previously if you need to). Given that NO ONE today is continuing a direct line from the historical cultures you are using to frame your shamanism, and that you are using various parts of various cultures, then that IS "the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group" by definition. I am NOT trying to KNOCK you for doing that, I am also NOT trying to say it makes your work pointless or 'fake'. But it is what it is. I wanted to know why, when you say something like "It is no longer necessary to study foreign spiritual disciplines to learn tribal, Earth-centered spiritual practices." you are still in effect doing this. THAT is what I was curious about, not your work directly but about your feelings regarding aspects of it. I appreciate that you had an experience that showed you aspects that led you to look at European traditions, I was just curious about what led you to develop a modern 'shamanic' path using dead terms drawn from a variety of historical "European" cultures. Given that such terms are meaningless outside of their respective cultures unless one is 'educated' in to an understanding of them, whether this comes from spirit directly (as seems to be the case with yourself) or from teachers. I was also curious about whether you had started out in any of the other Heathen reconstruction or revival groups and studied their forms of 'shamanism', hence me asking about who you studied with. Not that doing so, or not doing so validates or invalidates your work, I was simply curious. Why the curiosity, primarily similar interests, and I find it interesting to hear the thoughts and reasonings of someone who has obviously put in a lot of thought, study, and reserach into their work. I don't always agree, and I don't expect you or anyone else to always agree with me either, but sometimes debate, and discussion can be good, no? As for genetics, I mentioned that because on YOUR SITE you say "The Teutonic myths unlock spiritual secrets hidden in our genes, language and culture." This sentence taken together with the one quoted above taken from earlier in the same web-page, gives the implication that you are saying that as Westerners we are genetically predisposed to 'get' the European based "shamanism" more than say, Oriental lineages. THATS why I mentioned genetics, because I READ your site. OK, so you have 'history', maybe you should say 'baggage'. That is understandable, anyone who posts about their work on a forum is going to get fed up after a while if they take flak. Please understand, I don't want you or anyone else to spoonfeed me, I read your site I had questions, I asked you shot me down. Fair enough. Curiosity killed that cat after all ; p No one was baiting you, cynical is a general state of my being so apologies if that upsets you, but its part of my 'baggage' like you have yours, lazy? I'll let that slide as you seem to consider reading through your website and becoming curious and then asking you questions as being lazy. Nice backhanded comment there, Whoah, ok I think your 'history' is making you somewhat overly sensitive and paranoid. One, I am simply not intelligent enough to be so underhanded, two I don't play 'games' in life let alone on forums, three it wasn't a statement it was a QUESTION!, and so it was written as one, maybe it was written badly, but it was still a question. If you don't want to answer any of my questions then that is fine. As I said, I was curious. Anyway, I can see you think I'm just attacking you, so I don't expect you to answer my questions. I have in this post simply tried to elucidate my first post to make it clear I was simply asking some questions that arose when I read through your web-site. Good luck with your work, PS. And yes this is a statement. I know the concept of leylines has been high jacked by New Age people based on the beliefs of a couple of dowsers, and now people talk of them as energetic. But the original concept which is really less than a hundred years old has NOTHING to do with energy lines of anything, let alone Teutonic anything. Why you are using this term in your Teutonic shamanic practice as way to describe Chinese Meridian theory is beyond me.

May I ask who you studied 'shamanism' with? and where? "It is no longer necessary to study foreign spiritual disciplines to learn tribal, Earth-centered spiritual practices." I agree with this, though I also feel that cultural appropriation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation) is still cultural appropriation even if that culture is gone. Why bother with these cultural terms at all? I remember being told that it is daft for a Westerner to try to study Mikkyo Buddhism as the symbology inherent in the system is too alien, yet the symbology in Western esoteric lineages connected to Western religions can be just as alien if not explained. If the practice is solid and the experiences of the student are cultivated with the teacher, who explains the terms within that context. The terminology or cosmology will make sense, it doesn't matter who they are. When the spirits teach it is beyond such terms, which only come about from trying to teach. So why start using old dead cultural terms, at least some of the Chinese lineages still exist. If you want to play the genes game, then according to current understandings of genetic research we can trace back to whichever culture we want all the way back to Africa. No offence meant. I'm genuinely curious,

Gatwick looks best, its only 15-20 by train over to East Croydon St. But it may well depend upon where you are flying from and the airline you fly with as to which airport you come in to. Best,

I've been lucky to have good teachers and friends over the years Love n hugs,

Wasn't sure of the number of years, but I did know about the change in clinic name. My bad, sorry Michael, post corrected. Best,

Its certainly an interesting read, enjoy

I would like to thank everyone for their interest in this workshop happen, and to all those that have signed up already. There are still a few places left, if you are interested then please contact us and let us know. It is cheaper if you register this month. Enquiries to [email protected] To register http://qigongamerica.com I am not a great self promoter and neither is Michael, this is one of the reasons I am drawn to his work, his funny, down to earth, and non-egotistical ATTITUDE and consistency with it. His renown skills and abilities aside, makes a change in a Qi world gone mad. So to give some further info for those less familiar with the postings of Ya Mu. Michael Lomax wll be teaching an introductory workshop in the foundational qigong work he teaches. This will be a two day workshop on the 22nd and 23rd of January. Michael will also be teaching an optional third day (24th January) introducing medical qigong. This is a great opportunity to meet and learn from a high level qigong teacher with a solid lineage in Daoist qigong, meditation and Daoist healing. Michael has been given permission to teach and transmit the stillness movement qigong that has been passed to him by Wang Juemin. As Teacher Wang Juemin said "It is NOW time for these ancient Chinese healing techniques to be made available to the West." For some background on where all this stuff comes from. Jing Dong Gong Hu Yao Zhen – Wang Jue min – Michael Lomax Hu Yao Zhen (1879-1973) native of Yuci in Shanxi Province. Hu mastered the three unique Taoist skills: martial arts, medicine and qigong (energy cultivation). Hu, a famous Chinese medical practitioner, became known as the father of modern qigong in China. Hu graduated from Shanxi Chuanzhi Medical School, During his life Hu learned from many masters of martial arts (internal styles of Taiji, Bagua and Xingyi), Buddhist and Taoist meditation, and Chinese medicine, he received secret transmissions of Buddhist and Taoist meditation, and on the basis of his experience in medicine and internal martial arts methods created "Hu Yaozhen's Still and Moving Qigong"; in 1942 in Taiyuan set up Martial Arts Academy of Shanxi Province and became its president. Wrote several books: "Qigong and Health Preserving", "Qigong", "Hua Tuo's Five Animals Play". Wang Juemin began his study of qigong under the Buddhist Abbot of Emei mountain, continuing to find and study with several respected teachers of medicine, qigong, and meditation including Hu Yao Zhen. Hu Yao Zhen tramsmitted to Wang Juemin his "jing dong gong" or stillness movement qigong. In the later part of his life Wang Juemin was the principal of the Baoding qigong healing Hospital in Beijing. The Hospital only offered medical qigong for treatment, with Master Wang specialising in stroke patient recovery. Master Wang Juemin is recognized as a National Treasure by the Chinese government. Qigong teacher Michael Lomax, Dipl. OBT (NCCAOM) has 30 years of direct clinical experience with Chinese Medical therapeutics and is internationally recognized for his work in medical qigong and oriental bodywork therapy. Michael completed a 12 year apprenticeship with a Master of Chinese Daoist healing. After completing his Daoist apprenticeship, Michael studied medical qigong in China at the Baoding Medical Qigong Healing Hospital with Master Wang Juemin. Michael has been endorsed by Master Wang to teach qigong and medical qigong in the USA. Michael owns and operates the Institute of Chinese Energy Healing in Missouri , where he specializes in the elimination of chronic pain syndrome. Best, (edited for corrections )

Odin I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run. No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn, downwards I peered; I took up the runes, screaming I took them, then I fell back from there.[6] Haven't learned Gift of the Tao, so can't comment.

Ah that makes sense. I struggle with visualsations not just being my head, I have found the feeling-awareness approach much better for me. It seems different people find one works better for them. Though I am finding that certain images now come through and they can then help recreate the feeling, but being given one from someone else rarely helps. I hope so, but maybe not without clothes in January here in the UK Brrr

Glad to help. If you have any specific questions ask them, and I will if able to, respond. I will not respond or give answers to things I can't. It's probably easier than me rabbiting on. Of course then anyone else can help and give their 2 cents too. I struggled with dissolving for ages. I was used to certain 'relaxation' techniques and body scanning and kinda approached it like that to begin with. I think someone asked in another thread about this, dissolving is something else. This is my view. The dissolving process is a natural process, but like many other natural processes it gets stuck and we get in the way of it. If you read about zuo wang (sitting and forgetting), which many consider a cornerstone of Daoist meditation, you will find people describing dissolving. Bruce explains that going straight for this is not easy, the tradition he passes on is designed to help you rediscover that process and slowly clear out the different layers of your being (the 8 energy bodies). The outer dissolving is, strictly speaking qigong. The inner dissolving is, according to Bruce, jing zuo (sitting in stillness) meditation. Jing zuo leads to zuo wang. So it is a way to go from the gross to the very subtle and slowly clear out each layer. As such is can become very 'method' or 'technique' but dissolving is just dissolving really, and will happen to anyone who practices Daoist meditation properly*. So I have stopped looking at the dissolving process as a technique or method to dissolve things. It is more a process to discover and allow to happen. In fact when I have had a 'happy accident' this is exactly what has happened and it has been a much clearer and deeper experience. The intention when finding blockages should be like the sun melting an ice cube, no effort, it is just there present and steady and the ice melts. This is why Bruce teaches the stages he does, to help you develop the concentration and attention and presence required, which are not easy. You should not try to dissvolve the blockages, at least this is how I was taught. Yes trying to dissolve them can lead to frustration and a downward spiral. I have been there, and still go through that on occasion myself. You may have marked out on the map where you want go/be, but if you do not genuinely know where you are NOW, how can you move in the right direction? Yes you can move (effort) and travel (practice) but how much is wasted? Or you may be lucky and move in the right direction Start with awareness and presence allow your qi to sink and to feel the downward flow and as you keep your attention on blockages you should find that they begin to release, the body will let go and unwind, and so on. * Same as spontaneous releases, pulsing and many other aspects of neigong which can become methods taught specifically. Very interesting. I can relate to this,a lot. I was brought to my Water method teacher, and I have slowly been fixing my body. I put aside all my other energy work and meditation, and I have found that the heavy emphasis on body during the beginning practices has been slow going getting back to and re-integrating 'energy' work. Though Bruce did say recently that qigong is moving energy in your body, not moving your body about. Now I am lucky enough to have had Ya Mu's teachings brought into my life, I can't wait for January Though a query, imagery? in the Water method? really, is that how you were taught? I was always taught that Ice to water to gas/space isn't a visualisation or an imagery to be used during dissolving. It's just something to help people intellectually grasp the concept. I personally think it probably doesn't actually help as people get hung up on it. Would love to hear more from you Best,

Bruce's use of the term "pulsing" he relates to open close (kai he), but it is not always the same as when others talk of open close. You can open and close from the outside, or from the inside. Several xing yi and bagua people I have met have learned to open and close the joints in a 'mechanical' way, which is very strong. This is different to the Water method guys I've met who open and close the joints through the fluids in a 'hydraulic' way. Bruce has said that breathing is related to open close, and breathing itself is of course an open and close. Yet I have also seen him dramatically empty all the air from his lungs, clamp a hand over his mouth and nose, and hold his breath while pulsing joints to show that the pulsing is not powered from the breath. So go figure? Bruce's pulsing works with the fluids of the body (synovial, blood, cerebro-spinal etc) it is very relaxing and can have a powerful affect on the body that is also quite subtle. The main idea is to become increasingly sensitive to the natural rhythms of the body. Let me repeat that. The main idea is to become increasingly sensitive to the natural rhythms of the body. As such if you start to play with this, and start trying to make things 'pulse' according to consciously imposed rhythms, you may upset the natural rhythms from what they need to be, not so bad in the wrist, but the pelvis and spine mmm. Remember there are people who make a living out of fixing these rhythms in people! they are called cranio-sacral osteopaths and qigong tuina doctors! In my opinion it is safest and best to learn to become aware of the natural sensations of pulsing that occur before you begin to play around with making the rhythm larger or anything else, yes this is harder and requires more sensitivity. There are pro's and con's for either the outside or the inside being taught first. It is a circle though. Stick to 70% of capacity (if in doubt do less), I would say it is best to NOT PLAY with this unless you have a decent qigong teacher! The following therefore is for educational purposes for those with a solid qigong/meditation background only Be aware that it is a basic overview and not the whole pie. Bruce uses two things as vehicles to get the qi going in the body and to be able to feel qi. The nerves, and the bodies fluids. ALWAYS start with the wrist and the joints of the arm. GET THIS STABILISED FIRST, before playing with the legs let alone going near the pelvis or spine. Pulsing outside to inside; I have seen Bruce teach pulsing straight off the bat, but generally within his method learning to lengthen the tissues of the body comes first (yin tissues on the front, yang tissues on the back). Lengthening is NOT the same as stretching, it involves releasing the nerves to allow the lengthening of the tissues, not pulling the tissues further. If the tissues have no space, then there is going to be little space for the joints to be able to move. With all kai he (open close) there is shu (pivot), listen for the changeover point and try to smooth it out and diminish it. Now you've got some space, take the movement of the tissues and concentrate on the actual joints. Feel for the spaces and allow them to release open and to release closed. The partner exercises mentioned by RV are best to help you get a feel for this. Your partner should gently pulse your joint for you, in a slight circluar motion aiming to feel it releasing and smoothing out. Once familiar with this learn to take over from them so you begin to pulse the wrist joint and they do less and less. Once you can pulse your wrist, make the sensation more and more subtle until there appears to be virtually no external movement, then expand it up again. Inside to outside; In the Water method pulsing is taught AFTER you have learned to feel and open the gates (it is taught as part of Heaven & Earth neigong it is expected that you know Energy Gates neigong). Sit in meditation. Put your awareness on your wrist, and feel the center of the joint, the energy gate. Feel for the natural pulsing (do not think about what it is that is actually pulsing, just feel the rhythm of it). Relax and allow your awareness of the sensations to become subtler and fuller. This in itself with no intention or effort will increase the strength of the pulsing. Once you have a clear feeling begin to release around the pulsing and to allow it to expand. Think of adding a LITTLE momentum to the rhythm that is there, not imposing your own rhythm. Once you have a clear sensation of pulsing within the wrist joint, pay attention to laogung to open the palm of the hand, and then feel for all the spaces imbetween the bones of the hand and the joints of the fingers. If you have practised the 'physical' opneing and closing of the hand the more you relax you will find that this sensation begins to gently and subtley generate this movement with no intention. Through practice of both, wai nei he yi, allow external and internal to harmonise as one. Best,

Hi, Thanks for starting this thread. Michael's advice is gold, please listen to him. A teacher is worth it, sometimes you cannot find one straight away. Practice on you own, but slowly and stick to yin methods, things can have a way of working out. I am no spokesman for Bruce, so please take all I say as only my understanding. The Water Method was the best thing I found to help with my chronic pain, and certain emotional/mental aspects tied to it. That is for me, and for the things I have experienced/am experiencing. It does not mean it IS the best or that there is not better. To be clear my transmission has primarily been in "jinggong"* or somatics, I have not plumbed the depths of the higher qi aspects of the Water Method. The 70% rule is something that even Bruce often does not stick to when teaching and many of his students follow his example and not what he says. It depends on WHO you are ARE. It sounds to me as though you want to adhere to the 70% rule, this can be hard in and of itself. Bruce was empowered to teach the health and healing aspects of the Water method to as many people as possible, his methodology is systematic and safe if followed with all things considered and listening to yourself. The 70% rule means that you do not want to strain yourself physically or emotionally or mentally. When you find resistance you do not want to embed it further. Some things like stillness and relaxation to release, some things like movement, most things like both in some capacity. The Water method will most certainly show you what is wrong, where you are blocked. This is not always comfortable. My teacher reminds us it is not the neigong that is making us feel sore,stiff, angry, etc it is showing us where we are holding these things. TO be able to let go of them you need to be aware of them, and then to accept where you are now, what is happening now. For change to occur this has to be accepted or surrendered to. Only then can our system begin to release and change. This presence, or mindfulness, is not easy. Try to find the stillness within yourself that lies behind the movement/activity. Pay attention to the energy behind the shape of the blockage, whether it is physical or emotional or both. Keep your awareness on it and allow it to dissolve, accept it and let it go. Keep to the 70% rule. The blockage will either tend to want to expand and release outwards or implode inwards, allow it to do what it wants, you should be left with a clearer sense of space. And maintain a sense of your qi falling or dropping downwards to help clear things out. You can practice dissolving standing or sitting or even lying down. It is generally considered easier to get still before moving. The body is like a Chinese puzzle box, do not focus on the bit you 'want' to release or 'think' you should be releasing. If the right bit is not open, then the next bit will not open either regardless of what you do. You have to learn to scan through and release what you can but to allow and surrender to the bodies natural processes too. It will open and release what needs to be done first. Assume your preferred position and once settled, try to feel the whole body as one, just get a sense of the whole of yourself. Make no judgements just feel. Observe the feeling, relax and pay more attention to the subtle sensations, as a whole do you feel expansion? contraction? spiralling? are any emotions related/connected? allow whatever to be, observe it, examine it, but do not try to understand or make sense of it. Just be. Keep part of your awareness on the whole, and use part to do a scan of your qi from above your head to below your feet. Make no attempt to change anything, just slowly scan through feeling what you find. Do this gently like stroking a cat, it should be pleasant. Then just sit in stillness and be relaxed and observe. If you have a strong reaction in any place then simply do less, do what is easy to start with. The dissolving is a natural process that we do to clear things out, we just forget it. To bring things fully into our awareness is how we can kick start the dissolving, but presence and awareness needs to be there first. To clarify. If your body wants to move when practicing the dissolving methods let it. If it needs to move to open and release then allow this. Sometimes it just moves and then stays in an odd position, then rights itself again. Let it do so. It took me a long time to realise this was not 'wrong', Bruce does not directly teach a spontaneous practice, though he does discuss it and it is a part of the water method, it is just seen as a process that can occur during practice. I have had all kinds of things come out from the water method practice, spontaneous movements throwing me off the zafu, strong emotions such as laughing fits I can't stop, a lot of anger and fear and sadness,as well as spontaneous soul retrievals. If strong emotions come up try to allow them to come through you without attaching to them again. This can continue the pattern and release them but if you pander to them you can reinforce that pattern. No its not easy. It has also at times led to severe frustration, as the increased awareness of problems runs 24/7. Having loving support, supportive friends and a teacher can be a godsend. The fact you have found simply sitting and forgetting helpful is interesting. The dissolving methods are a process designed to help clear out the different layers of your being to enable the proper practice of zuo wang (sitting and forgetting). Becoming tired is common, so is falling asleep. Two things, one build more energy, two develop your ability to remain focused. Breathing methods are normally best. Hope some of that helps in some way Best, *Water method neigong consists of jing(essence/body)gong, Qi(energy)gong, shen(spirit)gong. Where it should be noted that jing is understood to also refer to the qi acupuncture works with, whereas the 'Qi' of Qigong is chengqi ("real qi") which some view as similar if not the same as kundalini-shakti

Thank you, I'm glad things are coming together too. The idea was to enable those on this side of the pond access to a teacher like Michael. Hi, I have no problem discussing my experiences with the Water Method either in a thread or in private message. I would however rather keep this thread about Stillness-Movement and Michael Lomax's work, that is why it was started. If you want to start a thread on the differences/similarities then please do so and I will respond. If you want to come along and experience Michael's work for yourself to make an informed comparison then please contact us through the supplied e-mail. Thanking you kindly, Best regards

Well no sunny beaches to offer I'm afraid But those willing to bear January in England are more than welcome to come and meet Michael See http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/16013-stillness-movement-uk-workshop/ mjjbecker- Maybe next time we should go for a Sunny Greek location Mike

Thanks Michael And thank you to those who have expressed their interest. All the best,

+1

Thank you, that is very helpful I will check it out : )

Of course. World-view ALWAYS strongly influences the reality the individual interacts with, regardless of the origin of what comes to make up someones world-view. Anyone would be naive to think it doesn't. You asked me about Winn's article, not about Bruce, hence my reply being about Winn and his views. But everyones human Most well known qigong teachers have strong personalities, it is why they are out there and well known. This will always be reflected within what they teach. Bruce's strong stance and perspective is well documented in his older writings (which also involves some straw man arguments), his more recent books are more chilled out. Many try to explain what they do by explaining what they DO NOT do, some do this more gracefully than others but most just end up throwing mud whether intentionally or not.

Thank you for posting this. Is it written by Max, or written down from what Max has said?

I could be quite grand and say, the Water method has kept me out of Hospital and from having extensive surgery and I can now stand and walk again. Which is true, but also slightly misleading How I found the Water method, well thats too long and weird a story for today so let me just say, I did not become involved because of Bruce. I had read some of his books previously and liked the content but knew you'd need a teacher and so left it alone. I found my teacher, and it is because of them that I stayed and studied. It didn't matter where the stuff came from to me. After years in chronic pain, and playing ping pong with the various healthcare professionals I had been seeing I finally found something that actually helped me. I want to point out here that it was not just because of the practices or methods, again similar are found in other places. I had gotten to a very yang state, and I needed a very yin way in to the practices and to enable my body, my energy and nervous system to start healing and clearing things out, and letting go. I also needed close attention as my mentality was very stuck in a competitive sport and combat sport training frame of mind (hence all the accumulated injuries), being able to see my teacher several times a week was a blessing. I had to learn to accept that sometimes feeling like going backwards is actually going forwards. I continue to try to understand all this on deeper levels, and it took a long time before I could really appreciate the why that lay underneath it all. So while the practices themselves can be quite common (zhan zhuang, cloud hands, breathing etc), though, in my experience so far, not often taught with as much depth or clarity, it was the learning to shift how I viewed the practice and how i approached things that was most beneficial, and also really really hard. Hope that makes sense ha ha