cheya

Riyue, that worked! All the way to the lips and salivation! First try! Thank you!

Hi Harry, No knowledge, but a strong preference for natural latex mattress. They have awonderful resiliance, but not too hard. They're expensive, but they last forever. I think Mercola.com had some articles on the dangers of metal springs in the mattress... Happy day back to ya,

This isn't so much about where to focus as how to focus as you look for the energy. I got so I could feel the energy within 5-10 seconds every time I started rotating the balls. Then one day I got up from an intense Sudoku session, and picked up the balls. I couldn't find the energy! It took me awhile to realize that I had to be in a right brain mode to feel the energy, and I actually don't switch very well naturally. That day, I was so deeply into the left brain, I had almost no access to energetic perception. Since then I have used the balls to learn to switch into right brain/energy perception mode more rapidly. This has helped me tremendously in my bodywork practice, as tuning in to the energy there is essentially the same switch. I think using the chinese balls is a useful tool to enhance coordination between brain hemispheres through the corpus callosum, which is probably a minor version of the skill Taisha Abelar was working on in The Sorcerer's Crossing.

Hi Moon Knight A couple years ago, I inherited two identical sets of Baoding balls. They were two inches in diameter, much bigger than the single small set I'd had for years, and I thought they would just be too big to handle. I'd been working alot with feeling energy in my chi gung practice, and when I finallly did pick them up, I was shocked at what I felt. The energy traveled up my arms to my head, down to my feet, back up to my head, back out to my hands. It wasn't a perfect circuit, and it didn't follow meridians, but it was very palpable. I was stunned. I mean, that is what the chinese say the balls do, but it just never occurred to me that the effect would be palpable! I didn't expect to be able to repeat the effect, but indeed, it happens every time I pick up the balls! I've become somewhat obsessed with Chinese balls, and have bought many pairs on eBay, which I make available for my massage clients. Some balls precipitate the energy effect more than others. Some hints: In general, I need balls in both hands to feel the effect. The old heavier type of balls are much more effective than the new lighter balls, which hardly do anything at all. The heavier balls, having more mass, have a stronger physical vibration. Look for two sets of balls that are at least two inches in diameter (6.5 inch circumference) that weigh at least 13 oz per pair without the box. That's not so easy to do. The new balls are plastic or something, weigh even only half as much as the old ones (pre 1985). Some of the 2" ones weigh as little as 6-8 oz.! Their chime sounds all right, but the sound doesn't convey as vibration the same way, as you can imagine. I think it is the vibration, not the sound, that generates the energetic effect. Some martial arts places sell big stainless steel balls which have fairly good chiming resonance even though they aren't from the old stocks. Easy to get two matched sets that way. If you can examine them in person, you can pick sets with more appealing and harmonious sound, which is a plus. My dogs leave the room when I start using those stainless balls though!

Hi Rain, Just mention "eight extraordinary meridians" and I am all ears! Yes, there certainly are "plenty more articles" on the net! Thousands of hits! Could you recommend a few articles/links to get us started? Thank you,

Traveling in Peru, our guide introduced us to Pachamama, roughly translated Mother Earth. We were told that our negative emotions are her food. She NEEDS us to give them to her, and her receiving what is negative to us is the basis for the cycle of life to continue. They are negative to us so we will part with them easily! They are beneficial to her, and she recieves them gladly. So we must never withhold them from her, any more than we should interupt the flow of (what we would call) the excrement of life, into the cosmic recycling system that maintains and nourishes our world, and out of which future generations of every species arise. (Of course dioxins, nuclear residue, and the other poisonous toxins we have created are outside this cycle, and by putting them on the earth, we destroy the cycle, the very foundation of life.) So in energy work, I'm just stirring the flow and recycling the energy. Works for me. But then I don't do it 40 hours a week, either.

Hi, I think you mean Tao Te Ching, The Definitive Edition, translation and commentary by Jonathon Star. I've got it, and it's a great help to understand and compare different translations. It has the Star's translation of the TTC, then a list of all the Chinese characters in order with multiple meanings and cross references so you can see where else the character is used. VERY interesting!

Has anybody been using piezo stimulation on acupressure points? Piezo stims are little pen-size stimulators that get their charge from a quartz crystal, without using a battery. You press the little plunger on one end, and the other end delivers a small charge. Inside, I guess there's a striker like what's used for lighting a gas stove, but you apply this spark to the acupoint. Sometimes you can't feel the spark at all, sometimes you feel it a lot. Interesting, if you apply it to someone else, you don't feel it unless some part of your body touches their body, in which case, you get shocked at the second point of contact! So if you apply the piezo to someone else at LI4 while you're touching their LI 10, your finger feels the shock at LI 10! So the charge is running up the arm to deliver the shock to your finger, possibly clearing that channel. This still really surprises me. I think some acupuncturists use the piezo to "wake up" points before needling. Anybody know more about this? I'm interested because often I can feel a building charge. Instructions say click the piezo 20-30 times over one point, timed at least one second apart. When I do that, often I can feel a... gathering... of energy there that seems to accumulate and then move along the meridian, or at least along the limb or body section. It's very gentle and pleasant. (It is not gentle or pleasant on the palm of the hand or on the face.) Any other TBs playing with this?

Hi Ramon, James MacRitchie has a great set of Eight Extraordinary Vessels QiGong exercises. He's put it all up free online. Global Qi Project All the best!

You could give Can-C drops a try. They are supposed to dissolve cataracts. Life Extension Foundation has a similar product for half the price at lef.org (Brite Eyes III). I used them on my dog, and it definitely helped. I got off schedule when he got kicked by a horse, and need to get back on track with it. Good luck!

I_am_sam, that was great! Where did you get all of those? Thanks, cheya

The NMT eye treatment isn't "for" astigmatism, but it can have an effect, since it relaxes and rebalances the muscles around the eyes, thus potentially changing the pulls of the various muscles which may be distorting the surface of the eye and causing astigmatism. In the training, we were told to warn patients they might have a change in prescription, and make sure they were willing for that to happen. (Some aren't.) It's a simple technique, one you can do on yourself, but you would have to be shown by someone trained, not only to make sure you do it effectively, but also to avoid damaging your eye. Find a local NMT and make sure they've learned the eye work before you schedule. I was trained in the St. John NMT method, and don't actually know if other trainings do that protocol. Eye circles are another good way to rebalance eye muscles.

Me too! Years ago I took a week-long residential shiatsu retreat. Giving and receiving shiatsu every day, intense Rajneesh-style meditations, no caffeine, no sugar, no dairy (argh! how did I live through it!). When I got out, I could see clearly from 30 feet the wall menu that had been blurry at ten feet before. The effect gradually faded over the next week as I reassumed all my addictions (and probably tensed back up again). I've always been more willing to wear contacts than to give up sugar and caffeine. Something for astigmatism. There is an NMT (Neuro Muscular Therapy) technique done on the eye muscles with Q-tips that apparently eliminated my astigmatism, which had been fairly bad before I did that, and has been unnoticable therafter. The work didn't change my prescription otherwise though. Also, wearing contacts may slow down or stop the progress of myopia. I've got theories why that might be true, but no facts, other than it seems to have worked for me. I have noticed I use my eye muscles more naturally when wearing contacts than when wearing glasses� turning my eyes when wearing contacts, but with glasses, turning my whole head to focus, not looking out of the corners of my eyes. Using computers and reading books really freezes up the eyes�very limited motion, glasses or not. Consider the difference between how you use your eyes looking at a computer versus how you'd be using them walking through a jungle!

Jon Whale wrote a book on the assemblage point (as in the tradition of Castenada and Mares). It's called The Catalyst of Power: The Assemblage Point of Man. Has anybody read this? There's a free sample download at http://dragonrising.com/store/catalyst_of_power/ Also of interest, Whale's medical pages. Looks like he's treating the AP with electric devices. Colored light, infrared, and gemstones also seem to be involved. http://www.whalemedical.com/ From there you can get to his page on the Assemblage Point: http://www.whalemedical.com/cd1.html (and seems like a lot of other interesting energy/healing stuff.)

Hi Creation, I've probably read Nine Nights at least ten times by now (over the course of two or three years). I always find new stuff that hadn't struck me before. It definitely has changed my life. Frantzis' Opening the Enerrgy Gates is probably the other most powerful book for me (because I actually did the practices for a couple years). His Relaxing Into Your Being is deeper and I've only read it so far, not worked with it. Did you do Energy Gates before the Relaxing practices?

Hi, I second DaoChild's ginger tea, with or without the other ingredients. Also, if you haven't tried a neti pot yet, now's the time. Amazing relief. Vegetable juice fasting, or any cleansing process can also help a lot for a longer term solution.

Jesse, This is a major find for me, especially MacRitchie's chapter on The Master-Coupled Points. And I'm also delighted to find these points integrated into a larger practice. I may even get to the rest of his practices. Thank you very much for posting this.

James MacRitchie's version of working the Eight Extraordinary Vessel Master-Coupled Points Found this by following Jesse's link to Extraordinary Vessel Qigong by James MacRitchie. It includes a short discussion of the points, how they are integrated with the rest of his Qigong system, which finger to use to stimulate the points (the middle), doing the points with your mind only, and some different point sequences from the single one given in "Essential Shiatsu." http://globalqiproject.com/media/8ExMs/10....upledPoints.pdf

RedwingBooks.com A friend just told me how tickled she was to find a used copy of Extraordinary Vessels online, and turns out she paid nearly $10.00 more than a new copy from Redwing Books would have cost her. Made me wonder how many other people haven't discovered Redwing yet. "Explore our collection of more than 2,000 books, audios, videos and CD-ROM titles on aspects of health, wellbeing and complementary medicine." Categories include Asian energetic arts (gigong, taiji, taoist arts, sexual energetics); Spiritual and energetic bodywork; Asian Healing arts and traditional manual therapies; world spirituality, cosmology and traditional wisdom; complementary and holistic medicine; and, of course, acupuncture in all its forms. These folks have a great catalogue (133 pages last time!). It's called Redwing Reviews, and they have a little blurb on each book. Their prices are often below prices listed on web book searches. Check it out. And definitely get their catalogue. Keep track of prices and find out what else is out there.

I'm sorry. PT is physical therapy!

Hi Karen, I don't think the breathing is meant to be coordinated with the counting. You count as long as you can stay relaxed, and then allow the inhale reflex. I think the coordination refers to how the breathing muscles work together, and exhaling in a relaxed way until you hit the reflex triggers the natural coordination. In the video, he also did some hand manipulations on the chest and abdomen while the person was breathing, to encourage the muscles to work together, or relax together, I guess. In the book, he says "....there is no absolute 'correct' method of breathing; there is only breathing coordination. The muscles and sets of muscles of the human respiratory mechanism are designed to operate in a perfectly coordinated synergism to give the individual the maximum breathing efficiency of which he is capable and to give it to him with a minimum expenditure of energy. Regardless of respiratory handicap or damage, the mechanism can be trained to function in a coordinated pattern with the work load of breathing evenly distributed over the operable portions of the mechanism. Each person, according to his physical structure, has his own individualistic pattern of breathing for maximum efficiency with minimum effort. If he suffers any form of respiratory damage, his muscles can be retrained to compenste the disability without overuse of any single muscle or sets of muscles. Breathing coordination can exist under any respiratory conditions..... Contrary to my previous notions, breathing coordination was not the name of something I did. It was a physiological fact, heretofore unknown, which I had discovered in my efforts to help emphysema patients breathe more easily. Breathing coordination is the intended function of the respiratory system just as digestion is the indtended function of the digestive system."(page 108) Hope that helps...

It does! Thanks, Stig!

Hi Stig, Thanks for your response. Actually I was asking for your next favorite Theun Mares volume, one that I could get at a reasonable price online. Return of the Warriors is pretty steep! I don't worry about CC's refuting a connection with Sanchez. I only use Sanchez's book to locate quotes in CC's many volumes. You know how you'll kind of remember a quote, and then you have no idea how to find it? Sanchez's book Promise of Power has a great "Catalogue of 1000 secrets" which gives book and page number for a gazillion CC topics, and it's a great reference. And you can locate practically everything CC said about any given topic. Sanchez's original work, on the other hand, is transparently not in alignment with CC. Thanks!

Hi idquest, I'm new at all this extraordinary vessel stuff, so keep that in mind, but I have been reading a lot, and this is what I understand right now. Anybody who understands differently, please jump in! I haven't read that the extraordinary channels would be induced to give up their energy into the regular meridians unless it was an emergency. I don't think just pressing the points would qualify. But by stimulating the points, we may redistribute the energy amongst the vessels. You may be especially sensitive to the redistribution. (Could your tiredness be telling you that youa ctually need some rest and recuperation?) One article I read (pm me if you want me to drag it out) indicated that using the master-coupled protocol, the master point vessel would gain energy and the coupled point could be sedated. That means we may need to know more about which vessels need stimulation before we start doing master-coupled points. (Especially if we are successful!) However, the protocol from Essential Shiatsu is stimulating all the points, but not in the master/coupled protocol. I have a DVD in which master acupuncturist Miki Shima said he would only do one master-coupled pair in a session, especially with people who are run down. He might do two sets in high energy people, and would only do more than that in athletes. Now, remember, he's not talking about the Essential Shiatsu protocol, which I understand as just facilitating flow within the extravessel system, allowing it to respond however needed to the 12 regular meridians. Shima also talked about tonifying kidney energy before working the master coupled points, since the main extraordinary vessels are based in kidney energy. Re using both hands to stimulate circuits� if you're not a contortionist, just try resting your non-working hand anywhere downstream stream on the meridian or vessel of the point you're working with, not necessarily on the coupled point. Interesting acupoint. A friend just did an energy psychology seminar in which they made a big deal over the lymph point located 3 inches out from the center of the sternum and three inches down from the collar bone. They said to work around the general area and use the sorest point. Deadman reads like lymphatic effect would be more on the kidney channel, a little closer to the sternum (3 fingers out, not 3 inches). I've been using K 25, 26 and 27 preparatory to acupressure sessions and am very impressed. These points seem to activate the lymphatic system and open the emotions. Any other acupressers have favorite/useful points?

Congratulations, IC! May today go just as well! (I'm following your thread with interest as my bro is totally addicted to the stuff. Me? "Just" sugar and caffeine.) Re addictions, from a sometime chocaholic (Once known by everyone to have chocolate on her person at all times!) After a two week vegetable juice fast, I honestly couldn't summon any interest in chocolate at all. Nada. Why would I put that stuff in my mouth? So amazing to experience that kind of change, and I send prayers for the same for you with the aspartame soda. All the best, PS Check out Janet Starr Hull on the web. She's onto the aspartame addiction thing, and probably lots of good tips for kicking it in her forums.