cheya

Nine Nights with the Taoist Master, by Waysun Liao

Hey Sean! My favorite Tao Master! This is great! Here are a few questions off the top of my head... more may bubble to the surface. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with, and how Bruce responds! ******* I've read that you say it's better to emphasize the downward flow instead of the upward flow, because when we bring the energy down, it naturally returns up; while when we bring the energy up, it does not necessarily return down. Is there ever a time when we would concentrate on the upward flow, or even concentrate on both flows simultaneously? I think you also say that the sinking energy goes out the heels, especially when we lean our weight back on our heels. However, for years I've been experimenting with "Breathing from the heels" and find it seems the chi comes in right in front of the heel (not so much Kidney 1, Bubbling Spring", but posterior to the arch). I don't get any sensation of it leaving from there. Could you comment on the chi leaving via the heels in relation to the ancient taoist advice to breathe from the heels? I've heard that Dragon and Tiger is the most important of your forms for healers to practice. Could you elaborate on why that is so, specifically how practicing the Dragon and Tiger set can help healers develop their skills? Can you advise those of us interested in Opening and Closing, specifically how to proceed if personal instruction is not available? Is it better to focus intent and direct chi in our bodies (tell it where to go) or to let the chi go where it wants, especially when it seems to "have its own agenda'? Or should we just do the sets and watch where it goes? :-) Can people with weak legs and/or unstable knees benefit from your Bagua program, or should they concentrate on other sets?

Hi Kate, Personally, I don't exactly think about it as self-regulation, and I'm not clear yet about risk/harm. What I'm aiming at is increased feeling of the energy flow throughout my body, not just a sensation at the point I'm focusing on. Sometimes I'm working on a beginning point of a meridian and I get sensation at the other end of it. Sometimes the general path of the meridian sort of lights up. Sometimes whole areas of by body light up, often not obviously related to the meridian/channel I'm focusing on. I work to get the energy started by focusing on a point (or by breathing from my heels, working with the Chinese health balls, or just doing swing arms exercise). After the energy gets moving, I just watch where it goes. The energy seems to have its own agenda re where it goes in my body. My job is to get it started and then just watch. I'm not interested in "powers" or a high, but on days when lots of my body gets "lit" or energized at the same time, I seem to be very cheerful and happy the rest of the day, more at ease in my life than on days I don't manage to practice, or days when I just don't/can't "get there". I'm focusing on increasing the portion of my field that "lights up" at the same time, until I feel it all lit up at the same time. I'm reminded of Carlos Castaneda's report that Don Juan said the goal was to have all the fibers of his being lit up at the same time. Some days it gets really intense, and I can feel a little tired the rest of the day and may even slack off practice the next day. Currently, I think of that as an energetic detox, like opening clogged channels sets free a lot of crud which has to clear before my body's willing to release any more. Don't know if I've addressed your question....

I've been told that the old saying "Feed a cold, starve a fever" has been misinterpreted because some words are missing. The actual saying is "If you feed a cold, you'll have to starve a fever"! If you feed a cold it will get worse and turn into a more serious problem, which your body will need to fight with a fever. So when you start coming down with a cold, STOP EATING! Well, maybe not stop, but reduce food significantly, using lots of hot liquids and nourishing broths, hot so you will maintain body heat and sweat. Works for me....

Witch is right on about the iodine. A friend with a long-time diagnosis of PCOS went the iodine route with Dr. Flechas and has had major positive changes on many fronts, resolving problems she's had for fifteen odd years, ones that she had just given up on ever changing.

Miriam Lee is an acupuncturist who found herself so overwhelmed with patients that she determined to devise a simple combination of points that would be effective on most common maladies. That way she did not need to devote much time to diagnosis on the "simple" problems presented, allowing her more time to deal with complex cases. She came up with a 5-point combination, and presented them in her book, Insights of a Senior Acupuncturist. The 5 bilateral points are Large Intestine 4 and 11, Lung 7 (master point for the conception vessel), Stomach 36, and Spleen 6. These are all well known points, and I'm pleased with their balancing effect on my system. Lee says this set of points improves the circulation of qi, thereby eliminating pain and also improving both local conditions (near the points) and systemic imbalances. I've been using both finger acupressure and weighted 128 hz tuning fork on the points. John Beaulieu (Human Tuning: Sound Healing with Tuning Forks) says research shows the 128 hz fork spikes nitric oxide production ("puffing") at the point of application, which leads to vasodilation, nervous system balance, and an increase in opitate molecules. The result is enhanced circulation and less pain. Beaulieu does caution to use the fork on a given point no more than twice per session, as further applications actually reduce the NO spiking. Using tuning forks may improve your results with self-acupressure, and are good to use anywhere on the body, especially joints, and using them for self-acupuncture makes sense to me, both on the EEV points, and now on Miriam Lee's point combination.

Two random (but interesting) things on pink. There is a color called Miller-Baker pink, approximately the color of bubble gum, that is used in prisons and psych wards due to its effect of calming people down who are out of control. If people are left in a room of that color for longer than a couple hours, they not only calm down, they start weeping! One explanation I read is that that color of pink is the color a fetus would see under high light conditions when still in the womb. (Interesting to think about little girls' bedrooms often painted pink!) Completely unrelated. Maybe. Fabian Maman found that playing the tone A=440 hz creates the color pink in Kirlian photographs of blood cells. (In his book, he shows Kirlian pictures of blood cells responding to different musical notes or tones.) Maman writes that French physicist Joel Sternheimer says A=440 hz corresponds to the vibration of the electron. Its vibration attracts a concentration of electrons, recreating new conditions of life at a subatomic level. 440 hz then is a "powerful sound of harmonization" reflected visually as the color pink, which, according to Maman, always appears whenever A=440 is played, regardless of the instrument. Maman continues that pink is generally acknowledged to be the color of love, and that in Five Element Theory, the note A is linked with the energy of spring, with new birth, and strong creative power. (Fabian Maman, The Role of Music in the Twenty-First Century, p72-73. The Kirlian photgraphs are in this book as well.) So the mama thing actually kind of fits. Maman's picture of his 440-hz-evoked "Indian pink" looks a whole lot like Bubblegum pink.

Dear ShaktiMama, While I do understand your decision to stop contributing to this thread, it makes me very sad. For me, this ranks as one of the best threads I've ever found on the TaoBums, largely due to your contributions. What has been so special to me is the fact that what we are talking about, Shaktipat, is actually being demonstrated through the thread as we go! This has been just amazing! Read about it and experience it at the same time! I pm'd you about the energy I've been experiencing in your posts some days ago, but thought maybe I was the only one experiencing this. But then both RainbowVein and Cat alluded to it in the thread! So others have felt it as well! At any rate, thank you so much for the time and energy you have invested in this thread. It has been very special for me, and I am stunned and grateful that such a transfer is possible, and to have had it so palpably demonstrated. Love, respect, and much gratefulness,

Hi Art, Chinese medicine often works where western medicine has no good answers. I have a friend who's had ulcerative colitis for 40+ years, and escaped surgery a number of times, scaring some of us pretty bad with how close he was to dying. If it gets real bad (and I mean REAL bad!), which it tends to do every 5 or 6 years (always when he's under unusual stress), he has taken prednisone and sulfa drugs for awhile to calm it down, and then weaned himself off the med as soon as he could, due to the side effects. He says acupuncture didn't work for him, but swears by TCM herbs. However, he has found that nutrition plays a huge part. The big three for him are cod liver oil, glutamine, and pantetheine (a form of pantothenic acid). Also something called short chain branched amino acids, which I think feed the cells lining the gut, as does the glutamine. He takes a LOT of glutamine, and a LOT of cod liver oil. As long as he keeps his nutrition up, he seems to do pretty well, but if he gets complacent about it, letting it slide, the early signs of a problem come back. There is NO question in his mind that the nutrition approach is better than going the surgery route. There is another theory, which you could check out, that gluten (grains) and/or casein (dairy) are offending the gut and should be avoided. No grains �period� for a year or more has apparently helped some people. Google Elaine Gottshall, Breaking the Vicious Cycle for more on that and other possibilities. Her website has an extensive list of foods to avoid and which ones are okay. My friend with UC happens to be sitting here right now, and recommends "under acute conditions, 5-10 grams of glutamine powder daily (he gets it at Walmart) dosed out over the day, best between meals, along with cod liver oil 3x per day (one large tablespoon each meal, Carlson's lemon flavored is the best), and pantetheine, around 2000-3000 mg per day. You can taper off as you improve, down to a maintenance dose, which may vary from person to person. If symptoms return, crank up the doses." He says also, a good B vitamin and vitamin C, being careful not to take so much as to cause diarrhea! He wants to add, continue with the high dose until symptoms abate, and that none of these should cause problems. He says he saw improvement in three days and "miraculous remission of symptoms in a week." If you pm me, he's offering his phone number. Hope this helps!

I did Bruce's week long TuiNa course a couple years ago. In terms of content, I was a newbie and fairly adrift, but the experience was totally worth the cost to me. Bruce is amazing, and input from his instructors and others who've been studying with him for years is an added bonus. While it is "only" five days total, if you really jump in, the experience offers so much that, by the end of the week, you'll find yourself somewhat relieved that it doesn't go on longer. The energy was very strong. I couldn't get this from his books. Although the dorm accommodations were somewhat spartan, the campus was beautiful, and the food was GREAT! I'm REALLY glad I went, and if I had more $$, I'd be at "Camp Kumar" every year, regardless of what he was teaching!

BioBalance: the Acid/Alkaline Solution to the Food-Mood-Health Puzzle, by Rudolf A. Wiley is the most fascinating take on the acid/alkaline question that I've run across. He says the critical pH measurement is in the venous blood, which is difficult to measure. He describes two basic metabolic types that respond differently to "alkaline" foods, which are very good for one metabolic type, and not at all good for the other metabolic type. The reason is that the heavy foods make some people acid, but they actually bring others back into pH balance. Since high levels of alkaline food/diet have always made me feel bad, I like his theory, because it explains why some friends can thrive on a light diet that just leaves me hungry and gumpy. (Wiley also draws psychological reactions to venous pH into the discussion, which is very interesting.) If light diets DON'T make you feel good, check out this book for another take on the subject. Adeha

Hi Matt, If you sign up for Bruce Frantzis' tai chi newsletter at taichimaster.com, you get a free download of his article "Tai Chi Secrets," which includes an extensive analysis of the differences between 5 tai chi styles and how you can pick the one that is best for your goals, age, and physical condition. I found it an excellent read.

Hi Vortex, Sorry I don't know the answers to your questions! Maybe an acupuncturist can explain the mechanics of why it works. I'm more interested in what happens than why. Used alone, the EEV points seem to open palpable energy flows in the body. Someone at Tribe.net compared the master point to a light switch that turns on the related extraordinary vessel. Other sources say you turn on an EEV by using first the master point and then the coupled point, needling or stimulating them in specific sequences. Another simple and interesting book that includes both chakra and EEV work is Acupuncture and the Chakra Energy System, by John Cross. It's inexpensive and very practically oriented. Iona Teerguarden's method, Jin Shin Do, is a bodywork form that uses the EEVs, and her 3 books on Jin Shin are excellent. Re Deadman: it's THE source if you want to really get into the meridians and points. If you're dabbling, there are less expensive books that will serve. It was only reading Trunk's comments on Deadman's book a couple years ago that I realized I actually HAD it, left to me by a relative with a whole passel of others, along with the EEV classics. What a goldmine! But would I buy it new now? Probably not. if you want it, keep an eye on eBay, it sells for less there. Hope that helps!

I had the book on order for months and months.... every couple months they'd send a new projected publication date, but I eventually cancelled.

Hi Devoid, What a great experiment! How amazing to have your wisdom teeth make such a big move at your age! Suggestion: the dentin is supposed to be maintained by minerals in the saliva. If there aren't enough, minerals are withdrawn from the teeth. If there are sufficient minerals, they are restored to the teeth. Energy healer Rosalyn Bruyere said that minerals carry the chi. So...if you're trying to rebuild the teeth, you might want to make sure that you increase your mineral intake. Then you can use chi methods to stimulate saliva. Think how much saliva is produced sometimes in your practice! So circulating that chi-full saliva thoroughly around the affected teeth before you consciously swallow it to LTD. Looking forward to hearing more about your experiments!

So much work has gone into this upgrade, that I'm a little hesitant to even mention... Re the banner: (Yahoo! It's back!) Any chance for a more flowing font for "THE TAO BUMS"? At least something not quite so blocky.... I know, "picky, picky, picky."

Hi Blasto, Robert Bruce's website and book have been amazing for me in learning to get the energy running by mentally stimulating points and reflex areas. TCM says the kidney meridian is in charge of bones, so maybe get your PT patient to focus on K1, K3, and K6 using Bruce's methods? Also, I've found I can activate the channels that run through various areas of my legs by mentally stimulating the reflex areas that reflex there. Look at a reflexology map for this. For example, the middle outside of the foot reflexes to the knee. I discovered this working with Bruce's method, when focusing there activated the channel leading to the top of fibula (Gall Bladder)! I didn't know that was the reflex area to the knee! It was a revelation for me. There are a gazillion reflexolgy maps out there. Area 58 on this one shows where I was using Bruce's method and started the current up the outside of my calf to my knee. Pretty Good Reflexolgy Map Here's another one that shows the reflexes to the bones! Reflexology chart showing bones Also, you don't have to buy Bruce's (excellent) book to learn to use his method, as he has generously provided a free online tutorial: Bruce's free online tutorial As you can probably tell, I love this stuff!

Sound healer John Beaulieu has had a similar experience, but interpreted it differently. Here's the link to his story. Biosonic Resonance

Hi Ed, John Beaulieu was a musician thirty years ago who became so fascinated with sitting in his friend's totally soundproof room that he spent 500 hours in it! Gradually he realized he could hear this humming sound, and that it was coming from him. He realized that the sound was different when he was in different states, that is, it changed when he was anxious, upset, excited, or mellow. Then he realized that, if he played a tuning fork in the chamber, his inner sound would entrain or harmonize with it, and that he could "tune" his inner state and harmonize himself by listening to tuning forks. Apparently different intervals of notes (two forks that create a perfect fifth for instance, or a fourth..... DREW? :-)... ) had different effects on his state as well. He's pursued this over the years and has a site dedicated to sound healing. He says if you get good at it, you can eventually easily tell not only your own state of tuning, but also others'. His website lists different sets of tuning forks and what problems they can help you with. Very interesting! I'm sort of obsessed with tuning forks right now, and they really seem to be opening energy channels in a very gentle way. Here's Beaulieu's site: BioSonics Sound Healing And here's a site that sells quality forks less expensively (plus a boatload of info): Luminanti Tuning Forks The foreign-made forks available on eBay are generally lower quality, but can get you started. Have fun!

Here's an interesting article talking about the physiology of physical/emotional blocks and how sound frequency impacts the blocks. Our Sonic Pathways, By Arden and Jack Wilken, INNER SOUND http://www.innersoundonline.com/docs/Our%2...0Jan%2007-1.pdf These folks sell a set of 13 tuning forks based on the Schumann resonance and tuned as a "spiral of fifths": continuing ascending fifths. Drew, does that mean they are fourths when sounded in descending order? Yang up, yin down? Very interesting. (Anybody else here working with tuning forks?)

Hi Non, You sure you're not talking about the Tree of Life tones instead of the Solfeggio tones?

Transdermal magnesium gel or oil is another good way to raise magnesium levels. This form of magnesium chloride absorbs through your skin, so no digestive concerns. It can bring your mag levels up really fast. You can rub it in your skin or soak your feet in it. If you rub it on your skin and follow with vibration, it goes in REALLY fast. Turbocharged! Great for sore muscles and headaches too. Prices vary tremendously for essentially the same product. Best source I've found is Health and Wisdom . (Amazing and unending testimonials!) Swanson carries it too. Try rubbing it directly on yer twitches. Mag chloride is a form of salt, so it can sting on some people. Cut it with oil or lotion if that's a problem for you.

Hi Hardyg, I'm not so much interested in the mathematics as I am in actually using the frequencies. Healers use tuning forks tuned to these frequencies, setting the vibrating stems on acupoints or waving the forks around in the field (I know, that one's a little woo-woo). I haven't used the Solfeggio forks yet, but I've used some of the other forks, and it's very interesting! Here's a site you can find more articles on the Solfeggio frequencies, and even buy the forks themselves, individually or as a set. http://www.luminanti.com/tuningforks.html It's way fun!