Trunk

ime, from trying various of DGS Sifu Matsuo's methods that compress into the body... and maybe this is similar across bagua schools, I don't know as I don't have broad bagua experience ... but there tends to be a combination of compressing, twisting, and stretching all in a single movement. And my observation is that that *brilliantly* solves the problem of "packing too much", because there is circulation built-into the packing method. I don't have to do a packing method (and watch out! not to injure myself), then unpack with other methods (which method/s?? and did I unpack enough???)... it's all built-in to a single movement. Blew my socks off, as I'd been trying to debug other methods for a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41vm87qq1KU

1. Healing Tao cautions. (TTBs thread accessible to members only) 2. Essential reading external link: (available to anyone on the www) Essays/posts by 5 different Healing Tao instructors cautioning about the "Healing Love" and "Iron Shirt 1: Packing Breathing" practices within that system.

Just a couple of quick notes: 1. Basher resigned from lobby steward; a lot going on in other areas of his life. (Chang is still on duty there). Thank you, Basher, for your help! 2. New procedure, that the mod team will implement at their discretion. Some times it takes us a while to discuss a mod issue and up 'till now we wouldn't take any action 'till we'd sorted it out: meanwhile more chaos piles up. So, often now, we will put a member on immediate temporary suspension while we discuss and sort out what to do. This helps cut back the chaos. - Trunk

Mal has other things in his life that've come up, so he is shifting out of mod'ing. Thank you!, Mal, for all your help. Dawei has come on as a new moderator. Welcome!, Dawei. We've put in place a model of a "moderation rotation pool", where (ideally) each mod serves for a period of time (say, ~ 4 months) then rotates out of active duty and back into the pool. The idea is to help prevent burnout, amongst other things (balanced life, for instance, lol). Eventually I'd like to have about a dozen moderators in the pool to draw from, only 3-4 on active duty. If you're interested, pm me. In considering whether you'd like to moderate please review: 1. TTBs 3 Foundations - states the vision of the board. In terms of moderation, if your vision of TTBs varies, moderating at TTBs might not be for you. We'd need to at least communicate about differences first. 2. Forum Terms & Rules - basis for most common mod issues. - Trunk

Hey!!! Whadyadoin' here??? There's a new state!

The fact that you are reviewing the incident with concern is evidence of conscience, compassion inherent within you.

p.s. Happy new year!

thx We really have created a shared psychic space... that's why it so cool sometimes, and so painfully chaotic sometimes. I think there's potential if enough of us do something-like-that-in-our-own-way, ... has the potential to really transform the space. Will we remember, actually do that (at least on a semi-regular basis)? ... will I? I dunno, lol. We'll see.

Beautifully written pure sentiments. I've recently thought, both for myself and to encourage others... but I couldn't think of the right way, so your post is very conveniently synchronous... I'd thought to start saying a prayer, as a regular practice, as part of logging on to TTBs. Something that is fundamentally non-sectarian, that embraces all beings regardless of argumentative position (relative to me or to anyone else) and that breaks through the bonds of my personal ego ... yet still affirming the pure part of all beings including myself ... I'm sure you each have your own and I encourage you to consider doing something along those lines.. what I use is inspired by the Tibetans, imho, a kind of version of the bodhisattva vow (could be debated, but that's how I see it). "may all beings be free from suffering and be free from the causes of suffering may all beings have happiness and have the causes of happiness" Trunk

loco kinda loka

Please welcome Zanshin as our new mod!

Your body is not processing the basic heat of sexuality. As the water element (jing) is dense, it often gets stuck and is typical of a "water - wood" (aka, "kidney - liver") disharmony... the "Liver rules spreading and flowing". Things are not circulating so you have trapped heat, and it comes out some times. Self massage the Liver channel Massage the grooves between muscles (and between muscles and bone) along your inner legs. Be gentle with yourself. Spend extra time where there are any knots or tenderness. Do this not just after sex, but regularly: this is likely an underlying condition. Don't worry if you're not right on the Liver channel: all the channels that run along those grooves could be helpful, especially working out pts of blockage and tenderness where ever you find them. Anything that you can do to generally, overall, on an on-going long term basis to: - circulate blood (any aerobic exercise) - open the tissues and channels (stretching, for instance.) - work gently and deeply with breath ... will help, a big part of the cultivation path in general. Hatha yoga combines stretching and gentle steady deep breathing. Taking up that sort of practice could be beneficial. The general strategy is relieve stuckness, clear heat, circulate chi and blood. Any exercise or qigong that go in those general directions. Stay away from aggressive packing techniques. Beyond that, go see a doctor of Chinese medicine. Could be very worth while for you, if available, feasible. Along with self-help.

Info here, ordering info at bottom of page. p.s. "Heart of Bagua" is a nickname for the dgs dvd actually entitled, "Bagua Circle Walking: Single and Double Palm Change".

Thanks for posting that. Remarkable clips, obviously people were helped, impressively. It strikes me that GC is a stark example of a teacher in that: 1. He has something valuable to offer. 2. He's obviously also human (meaning, has idiosyncrasies/flaws just like the rest of us). (His 'volume' just happens to be right out there for everyone to see right away.) There's a myth that teachers are "perfect" (whatever that is), and it's just not true... it's an unrealistic expectation that ends up being a kind of cruelty towards teachers and is a naivete that sets students up for disillusionment. Go Gary!

See the link to dragon gate sanctuary in my signature line.

I'm more and more appreciating the traditional arts (music, painting, cooking) for all purposes... - soothing the loneliness of the solitary mystic, when I'm on my own... also as a way to psychologically process the changes brought on by practice of the internal arts, and a way to communicate with 'regular people' (especially since I've gone way past odd, a long long time ago, relating to folks has its challenging aspects) - bringing joy and harmony to the house-hold, with those that I live with - as traditional courtship arts, something to share with would-be sweety

imho & ime... I look for sushumna by feel. Q. What does it feel like? A. Nothing. It's the still place. There's a series of still places - in the deep-center of each center. Find each still place and line them up: that's sushumna. (There's alchemy that occurs in the still deep-centers. You get them to ignite first individually, then the whole sushumna lights up like a light-bulb filament.)

imho, the two dvds (qigong and bagua) that I describe on my DGS page are foundational to that system, maybe all you'd ever need, or - if you're an internal arts nut - at least a good start.

We're broadening our rules for moderating based on communication style, not based on teacher or other status. Things have not gelled yet as far as specific wording... for now I'm giving mods broader discretion to moderate creatively based on appropriate-to-situation.

~~~ official somethingorrather ~~~ This thread has been moved into General with permission of the original poster. ~~~ /stop yadda-yadda ~~~

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

Yup. We're aware of that and doing what we can. / topic closed