DaoChild

What is it? Here's what I've found it to be. (And I agree 100% that synchronicity is MUCH more common with people on a spiritual path). It's Wu-wei in action! Let me give an example of something that happens (nearly EVERY day): The other day, I was driving to campus to do some work. At the last minute, I decided to change routes just because I was bored. I went on a whim. I eventually showed up on campus a few minutes later than usual, parked my car, and my friend (Who I had been trying to get into contact with for several weeks) just showed up right next to me in his car! So what is it? In my experience, it's proof of effortless action, that you really are "eating when hungry, sleeping when tired". Recently I asked a friend to see her bible to point out a passage to another guy. I discussed something with the guy the day before, and was going to show him the next time I ran into him. Literally, as I turned to the page he showed up and said hey guys! That was the third time in half a year he did that. Anyway, to me it's just evidence that I'm on the right path (but most of all) I'm more tuned into the essence of Wuwei. My 2 cents.

Right -- I agree with the herbs portion. Herbs make sense though, in a western science sense. Herbs have alkaloids, toxins, tannins , etc. All "real" and measurable. Cardiac stimulants will damage or affect your heart whether or not you believe in them.

What is your reasoning for wanting to learn "his stuff" ? I promise, either way you're going to have a hard (understatement) time finding him.

If it were some kind of bio electricity it could be easily measured.

How do you remember to take all those!?

Don't you think the ancients that "Discovered" and played with Qi must've been scientists?

Yes, feeling your hand by focusing on it is your imagination. I'm not completely a vegetarian, I eat meat every few days. Why doesn't some medication work? That's like saying why doesn't acupuncture fix everything -- if it did, it would have much more publicity and would be used all over the country! It's not. And what are you referring to, concerning medicine not working? Obviously there are complex interactions between molecules (look up "Absolute contraindications"). You aren't going to use aspirin and expect cancer to be healed. Again, citing anecdotal evidence is not really doing anything for the discussion. I know people on both sides of the equation who have/have not been fixed by Allopathic/alternative medicines. I'm a Bio student at a major US university and want to go into Alternative medicine. It's a very very big decision for me, and I won't make it lightly. I believe the placebo effect exists, but isn't always that strong like you mention. Take a placebo, and your cancer probably will not go into remission. Have you seen the multitude of studies done on acupuncture and Sham acupuncture? From what I've read in the literature, Acupuncture has been slightly effective in pain reduction, and in increasing fertility. That's all I've read so far, but haven't been following it as of late. Unfortunately, acupuncture studied objectively really hasn't been super effective (or as effective as it claims to be). Keep in mind I want to go into alternative medicine! I know many things work, and I Believe in preventative medicine as the highest of high. But I don't want to spend $150,000 going to school, and then devoting my life to something that doesn't work. Note that i'm not saying whether or not acupuncture works or Qi exists, but studied objectively it hasn't been a cure-all for patients. Not that western medicine has either. Acupuncture vs. Sham acupuncture for pain relief in Fibromyalgia http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/143/1/10.pdf Acupuncture vs. Sham acupuncture for smoking cessation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10796466 Acupuncture vs. Sham acupuncture for Lower back pain (A very common trial) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11932074 Note: And I'm mostly anti-allopathic medicine in my own life. I'm totally for alternative therapies, but there's a lot of myth / misconception / wives tales / anecdotal evidence. I've taken 1 painkiller in my entire life (22 years, not that long I suppose), the day I got my wisdom teeth pulled. I believe the body is usually given everything it needs to fix itself, so I try to support that as much as possible. But in the exploration of things that are much harder to understand, I enjoy testing them as close to "scientifically" (aka reproducible results) as possible.

Again, I'm not sure. Maybe perhaps both evolved and inaccurate. Obvious Qi has to have properties in order for the ancients to have studied it. Maybe Qi is transmitted via pheromones Honestly, I'm looking for the same answers you are. Once I feel a distant Qi transmission, then I'll start searching for an answer. Any Qigong practitioners out there that wouldn't mind doing a distant healing, and sending me a SLAP to the face of Qi? That'd be a good reason for me to further investigate, haha

No, what I feel in my bai hui is not increased circulation. For example, I'm sitting at my computer. If I focus on my stomach, I can feel it. That's just imagination I would say. If I focus on my pointer finger, I can feel sensations in it. That's just imagination, even though I physically feel it. Where your attention goes your mind goes too.. not necessarily only this "Qi follows Yi" although that is written in ancient texts. For example, you have a stomach ache. If you focus on the stomach ache, and not on letting it pass, or trying some other activity, it likely will seem worse or go away. Just like your mommy telling you to "not focus on it". Very gentle movements make your circulation feel stronger? Of course! Here is an example in my own life: I have very poor circulation. I am in excellent physical health from lifting weights and working out, but still usually have cold hands (even in summer). If I sit quietly, just letting my breath become natural, my hands will get quite warm. This is focusing on just natural, consistent breathing. To me, relaxed breathing is the major factor causing the warmth and circulation, not Qi. Note: I practice Qigong, and I feel the "Qi", but I think metaphysical concepts are somewhat inaccurate. 11:33, truthfully I don't know. I've never experienced it, except for healing myself -- therefore consider it the placebo effect and I am currently a "non-believer". Of course, I wouldn't keep on practicing it if I didn't think it had potential. I'm just trying to gain a better understanding of it. Well I think you bring up a pretty valid point. Here's my theory -- ancient peoples (who had a much harder time surviving than we currently do) did not waste time with things that didn't help them survive. There simply isn't enough time to do it. Thus, I'm inclined to believe that if people practiced Qigong for 2,500 or 5,000 years it should do something. Otherwise, that's a lot of years of suckers being duped. Off I go to explore..

And how do you know that's energy? If I focus on the Baihui I can feel a noticeable presence there. Is that caused by 'energy' or by where I am giving my attention? Is that just focusing on the part of the body, or energy? That's not how circulation feels? What does circulation feel like then? And what do you mean, "It's my nervous system" ?

I agree -- this is probably the most evolved understanding of Qi that I personally agree with and have come upon.

I'm not sure if energetic practices increase emotional vulnerability. But I do know that emotions are one of the main leading factors in energetic blockages / problems. Tranquility / stillness being the baseline 'emotion'.

"while they lost more than 12 lbs in just one week! " Sounds like It'll kill you, guaranteed! In less than one year!

And what do you feel? Warmth, circulation, a magnetic pull? Can't all those easily be attributed to the increase in circulation (from breathing) caused by Qigong practices?

Hi everyone. This question is mostly in regards to theory -- after getting beat up and bruised in my martial arts classes, sometimes I have a limp in the morning, sometimes my bones ache, or sometimes I just have bruises. Usually I direct the Qi or use another healing technique and the pain is mostly gone after 10-15 minutes, but I still don't understand why. For example. Yesterday in Judo , my instructor tossed me head over heels hard onto the ground. My heel slammed onto the floor and my big toe busted open, and heel was severely bruised. Today I feel better, but I can't walk on the heel at all. Since it's 10 am, I won't be able to do some Qigong and healing until later. So how does an energy healing technique actually heal the physical? Does a physical problem produce an energetic one, or only vice versa? Thanks

Just focusing on the sound / feeling of your breaths. After some time you no longer can feel the inhales and exhales, so you focus on the abdomen slooooowly rising and falling. Like someone else said, I'm not quite sure it's about creating gaps in thoughts, but being present when thoughts arise, and then dropping them before your mind continues. It's especially important to focus on this when doing things you do every day -- e.g. shower, using the toilet, brushing the teeth, washing dishes, doing laundry. Most of us have a tendency to let the mind wander then, as a product of conditioning.

Well-said. You don't need multi vitamins if you eat a diverse and mostly plant diet. I repeat, you do not need multivitamins. Additionally, you get plenty of Calcium & Vit. D if you spend at least 20 minutes out in the sun a day. Research I've seen shows that the countries with the highest Calcium intake have the highest rates of hip and bone fractures.

Get a teacher . What you know you were going to hear, but didn't want to hear. The MCO isn't a beginner's exercise

Check out McMoneagle's books on Amazon.com He has several books on remote viewing, how to learn it, etc.

Sounds like you were getting close to having an Out of Body experience (OBE). They're pretty easy to induce, and usually you get that "oh crap, I'm fallling off the bed" or drifting above your body feeling. Go buy "Adventures out of body" and it will tell you everything about them, safeguards, how to induce, etc. Getting over fears. The works. Good luck

An interesting practice I came across, which I'm more than certain I'd like to try, but have a few questions. Anyway, here it is: "Every time between 11 pm and 1 am, 11 am and 1 pm, 5 am and 7 am, 5 pm and 7 pm, retreat to your meditation chamber. Place a warm mat on your wooden bed. Sit cross-legged and close your eyes. Use some cotton wool to block your ears. Do not have any thoughts. Be mindful of your breathing, following each inward and outward flow to a point between the heart and the kidneys. Do not be too fast, not too slow; be natural. After sitting for the time of one incense (about 30 minutes), you will find that your breathing through your mouth and nose has ceased to be rough, and has become smooth and gentle. After sitting for another incense, you will find no breath passing through your mouth and nose. Then gently stretch your limbs, open your eyes and take out the cotton wool. Leave your bed and walk about. Then lie on your wooden bed and take a nap. When you awake, eat half a bowl of light porridge. Do not work laboriously nor be angry, as this will diminish the effect you have acquired in the training. Practice the method every day. After two months, you will see the results." What is the importance of the 5-7, 11-1 times? I assume they must be liminal times, where energy is high and thus are good times for Qigong, meditation, etc.? Do you think it's necessary to adhere to these strictly, or just do a sunrise/sunset/two other times meditation? My only main gripe here is that I'd have to cease working out for several months.. and would therefore have a very rough time getting back into it. I can actually fit those times for meditation into my schedule quite nicely though. Has anyone else heard of this? There apparently are no other resources (at least that I've found) on this man/ the exercise in the English language.

No no, I agree with what you said. If doing seated meditation, I only go for one hour shifts. Scotty: You bring up some very valid points. I'm not going to adhere exactly to his method, so I'm just going to space several 1 hour meditations throughout the day. I believe you're correct in saying that a lot of teachings that may outwardly simple, are more inwardly complex. Thus, I'm going to shy away from prescribed methods and so on without a teacher. Thank you for the advice. Regarding the type of meditation I do, I get up early before class and first do standing meditation up to an hour, and then just a seated stillness/void meditation before making my oatmeal and heading to class. At sunset I do an hour and a half of Qigong, followed by another seated meditation. This is a unique period of my life though -- once I hop into the 9-5 world, obvious adjustments will have to be made. It's a unique opportunity that I am able to do 4 hours of spiritual exercises a day -- something I know I won't be able to maintain throughout my life.

Yep, it's called VIDEO GAMES. AKA a skill that is completely, utterly useless. Why on earth would you want to learn this?

I was told by several people never to resist the urge. Farting , burping, stomach rumbling -- all are commonplace when doing standing meditation because it tends to get the digestive juices going. Of course, if you are in public or in a class they can be embarassing. Perhaps if you have to pass gas consistently, drink a lot of water before class so that it won't have a smell

Funny; you read my mind