hajii

I have often found that internet forums are a wonderful source of knowledge, vehicle to chat with experts etc. This forum however has been SO helpful to me, with differnet techniques, sources of knowledge, books, and herbs, and I am really grateful. Often when one is in the midst of change, the ones best able to understand, and council, are those who have gone thru it themselves. And reading the posts here has really made me feel less "out there". I haven't posted much yet ( I have some areas I'd like to explore), as I've mostly been reading (and enjoying) lots of great material here. I have some books on order (recommended here and on some sites I was lead to from here) that will be nice additions to my small library. I got a wicked headache yesterday (kind of centered on the jade pillow, extending thru my skull to the third eye region) that pretty much had me begging for mercy, not doing much but a bit of zazen. Maybe i just needed some rest, or the energy is getting clogged up there (kind of thought I had more of a clog around my sacrum, from manual retention). I have also been using some liver formulas for detoxing, perhaps that is causing it, or the energies are starting to move (I definitely have been feeling/expresssing anger). I'm not sure yet, although my intuition seem to be telling me rest is what I need. I can feel it in the background today, hopefully it will stay there. I am somewhat overwhelmed by ALL the great techniques, etc, I don't know where to start! I'm an Aries so of course I want my routine perfected NOW I have wanted to try some qi gong, but haven't found a teacher yet, MA is probably more accessible here. I am really enjoying the personalities on this forum, mostly very gentle and friendly. Thank you all!

Fascinating subject, I had been meaning to post on this, but here it is already, beautiful! It's really interesting to me that there are two seperate areas to explore, "eastern" with internal alchemy , yoga, meditation, and "western" with spirit guides, oracles, and manifesting reality. I feel deeply that there is only one. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and have temporarily forgotten our true nature. We are all aware of it on some level, and it manifests as a deep longing. The experience of our true nature, of source, oneness with god, samhadi, realization, is bliss. Complete, utter mind-blowing. I KNOW this, because I have experienced it first hand. Please don't think I am hung up on myself, I'm just a traveler like you. I can't maintain it, but I have been taking my "eastern" practices more seriously, and the increase in spiritual strength has allowed me to realize it is attainable. I may seem off on a tangent but bear with me I recently read "Ask and it is given" by Abraham-hicks, and it changed my life. Not that it was totally new to me, but the concepts were put together, and explained in such a way that really gave me an AHA! moment. I had been studying and thinking about this stuff for years, but it really put it all together. I guess the "distillation" of my inquiry into spiritual matters is this: Emotional/physical trauma becomes incorporated into the physical/subtle bodies and becomes stuck. These blockages keep source/qi from flowing. This causes misery/depression/sickness. And yet the "cure" is relatively simple, these blockages "uwind" if we just listen/pay attention to them when we are still. The increased energy flow brings greater and greater levels of health/awareness/joy. At some point it begins to feel blissful, and lots of cool stuff happens!! Eventually, we become aware of ourselves outside our bodies, on the astral/spiritual level. Haven't experienced much beyond that The coolest things about the Abraham-Hicks book were the ideas that: Our emotional guidance system (how good an idea feels when we hold it in our minds) shows if it is aligned with spirit or not. The more aligned we are, the more spirit flows, and so, the better we feel. Creation is an INTEGRAL part of being spiritually aware/blissful. If we joyously create, we will recieve ever greater levels of bliss! I haven't figured it out yet, but these two "areas" are just part of the big picture. There is no dichotomy, all is one So it is the same with creation, we have negative patterns that prevent us from believing we are capable of this or that. There is no "shortage" of God/source, the lack is only within us. This life is all about exploring that, and as we unwind ourselves, we go back to the light/God our true selves.

I was reading about BJJ, and it describes it as mostly a "ground fighting" technique. The stuff about it being gentle is good, but isn't there a need for strikes some times? Does BJJ include those?

Cameron- ROFL! man that got me laughing, first thing in the morning! Thaddeus- thanks for the great input!

An excellent point. I sure hope spirit points me in the right direction, there must be about 50 to choose from!

Wow, I was going to post a question about feeling "congested" in the sacral region, but now I don't need to! I will just read all the posts and try some of the excercises. Great site, thanks!

I have just joined the forum, thought I would make this my first post. I am a long-time student of esoteric and new age thinking. I have recently made some lifestyle changes, and I have more time to devote to my path. I had read some of M. Chia's work quite a few years ago, so I am familiar with conservation practices, but I really want to get better at that, and complete the MCO. I have a quaestion or two about that, but I thought I would say hi first. Thanks for the great forum!

Thanks for the welcome! I run,lift weights, do a bit of yoga, some pranayama, and meditate. Learning testicle breathing (sounds funny) and starting MCO. I also do some emotional unwinding/ energy work, I have kind of put together myself.