Trunk

Well, your physical resilience must be well developed. Just on a conceptual level, not having worked with a sand-filled ball myself, I'd guess that it would work for flexing the rib-cage. However, from the solar plexus down, I find the beneficial effect has a lot to do with a rhythmic and cushy bounce that an air-filled rubber ball has, that pumps the blood in the region of the torso that you're breathing & bouncing. A good preventative from qi, blood stagnation, that those attempting retention tend to get - as well as just promoting good circulation through the tissues. I doubt that sand-filled ball would give the quality of cushy-bounce-back that would produce that pumping of the blood. I think that softer is more effective in this case. But, that's all just thought & talk, not having worked with a harder ball myself. Curious to hear how it goes for you. -- edit -- btw, they're available online, cheap.

The way Plato did it, I agree (he's a maniac). But with the soft inflated playground balls + being in some variation of a push-up position, you can control how hard/deeply you bounce on the ball. You can do it with just very very mild pressure, and still get the 'bounce' effect. So, it's very adjustable, not dangerous, imo. Here's a picture. They are called so many things.. swiss balls, yoga balls, stability balls, etc. Good one!

OK, I know I've already written about this in my blog, but I'm enthused again today: The swiss ball rocks! I did a search of swiss ball vids at youtube, and ridgeline fitness had the best ones by a margin. I got several of their dvd's, and have been digging into Abs & Core. It's innovative and aggressive, and this is the best spine work that I've seen to date. Every place, every angle, every line, curve, and twist. (Except cervical vertebrae - and I still think Sonnon's neck exercises are the best for that.) Articulates all of the interior muscles of the torso... This is one of those tools, for processing jing up the spine, that I wish I would've had 20 yrs ago. Really diggin it now!

I'm curious as to how you experience that... Do experience past events as you do your jing refinement? ... as the jing becomes more subtle and luminous, do the stored traces of past events reveal?

I always appreciate that you're so good at starkly disagreeing without hostility, you're honest, stand your ground, express your views clearly.

Just had time to view the first video,that was so cute!!!

Cute. I find that I'm settling on two energetic mentors: Kuan-Yin Shows up in every eastern religion, from Tibet through India and through-out Asia. So, if you're get around the eastern traditions over the years, you'll never be out of place with Kuan-Yin. Also, Kuan-Yin sometimes shows up as male, sometimes as female. My personal view of that is that she has accomplished the wisdom of both genders. Many other things about her that are just.. compatable, personally and broadly. Trees All that we've been talking about.

Also found this one. U6C-LIPGhjA And this one, which isn't Stuart at all.... uh, but.. it's got some sort of stringed instrument playing.. and has to do with culture, so it's on topic?? fS0QYq26V2g&NR

How have you experienced it? (of your own, or another's) -- later edit -- That is, how did it show up? Describe the event. Probably people experience virtue (or te) in a lot of different ways... what happened?

I've recently been doing something very similar, and also find it beneficial.

AlchemicalTaoism.com is a mix of my own essays, plus archived sort of "greatest hits" from this community, compiled over the last 6 yrs +. (Related note, it is not Teaching by Teacher/s, but in the context of students-helping-students.) Though it's way too extensive for a single read, it's a good intro to a lot of what's been going on around here, theory and practice.

dao dao dao It'll only drive me batty to participate in this thread. Trunk out.

I'm astounded that there's a debate on this topic. ... I don't even know where to begin Let's see... Courses of action: a) Destroy life around us, destroy what makes our lives possible, as well as countless species and ecosystems. - or - Learn to be kinder to nature. (Given that much has been destroyed already, and the momentum that we have going will destroy much more even if we do much better as fast as we can.) hmmmm..., hmmm, hmmmmm... Global warming is just one way that we are harming life around us. (For instance, there was a recent article at the BBC that the oceans will be effectively fished out by the middle of the century.) (This is one debate where I don't think I could participate much without going absolutely psycho-wacko. ) -- later edit -- My repeated plug for any of the books of essays by Wendell Berry. -- one more thing -- Some of the best things that you can do, are cost effective.

A good foundation meditation is to follow your breath with your attention (link).

If you click on the youtube logo, that is part of the youtube picture embedded in Sean's post, it will hyperlink you to the right page.

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To paraphrase what Max said some years ago: It's like food - it's not how much you can eat but how much you can digest. That is, if you are retaining more jing than you can harmoniously integrate and transform, then you are doing yourself damage. So, this is a gradual process of learning how to harmoniously integrate and transform, and that generally comes about as bi-products of more core practices along all layers (very physical through very subtle). So, you keep up with whatever physical practice/s you have, whatever philosophical inquiry, whatever qi gong, devotions, whatever stillness meditation. As a result, maybe, your ability to harmoniously integrate jing gradually improves. It is not (!!!) a simple equation of "semen retention = benefit".

beautiful

... I wonder why people get fixated on this topic ...

"Bouncing the front" has definately brought out major stresses, emotional and physical. The back roller has been very helpful, crucial at least once, for me. The front method brought out physical stress that looked like it was going to ruin my day, I applied the back roller and the stuck tension just zipped around and alleviated. I have also noticed some mild back strain as a result of bouncing the front. The various other things that I do alleviate it, including the back roller, days off, other general exercise. Another thing is that bouncing the front is too intense - at least for me - to do every day. I've been putting two days in between sessions, and that seems to be about the right tempo for me for now. And I'm doing plenty of stretching, etc, during all this time. As M.Winn has said (paraphrase), "perhaps the most important part of packing is to unpack" - and that basic idea definately applies to this method. I suspect that, once I play out the initial major stuff that I seem to be getting from this, that I might even scale it back to once or twice a week... I don't know; I'll see as things develop. Hmm, in reviewing my response, I'm not sure I answered your question. I assumed you asked about the ma roller in context of the tensions that bouncing the front brought up. The two of them together has made sitting easier and smoother for me. Example, the other day in the shower I spontaneously cycled through deep sobbing ~ then laughing, a number of times. This is the sort of emotional access & release that I've needed for a long while, that I hadn't previously been able to get to, that these mikasas are getting to so effectively - with really very little time & effort... and I've tried digging with a lot of other methods. Trunk p.s. Another thanks to Spectrum for that video link: I'm getting way more out of my swiss/stability ball than I ever have before.

Go to the "Taoist Discussion" section, and see at the very bottom: - the swirly legend - the "Support the TaoBums" button. Those that donate get an "S" under their name (it's not really an ampersand).

I'm not sure - I really don't know what parts are/aren't in the dvd. I met someone who studied with McNeil; I haven't. The portion of his site that deals with it is Sex for Health. Click on the six little tabs that display numbers for different parts of it. They refer to the weight lifting practices as "shih shui". Beyond that, you'd have to contact him (hover cursor over "contact").

James McNeil.

Congratulations on your venture,wishing you much success!

!!! Wow! Congratulations. A million, in a single month!?!