Maddie

I had an interesting insight (at least I think its interesting). So far some of the key themes that have come up while I've been working on my solar plexus have been the kidneys, and the heart. The solar plexus' element is fire, the heart's element is fire, and the kidneys house the ministeral fire, and water which is responsible for keeping fire in check. Now if you look at the body, the solar plexus would appear to lie somewhere in the middle between the heart and kidneys. Seeing that it lies mid-way between them, and it seems to somehow relate to both of them, I began to wonder if it is in the solar plexus that the kidneys and heart communicate and coordinate with eachother? Perhaps it is here that these two organs and meridian systems meet to keep eachother in balance? I base this not only upon the information that I stated above, but also on the fact that ever since I began working on the solar plexus the I've also had to work extensively on my heart and kidneys as well, and have also gained insight into how these two organs have to work closely together to achieve a state of balance.

I think working on my solar plexus seems to be one of the best things I've ever done so far! People seem to be totally responding differently to me and I've only just begun working on it! It seems even people from a distance such as Facebook friends and what not seem to be responding to me differently, weird eh? Additionally I feel a whole lot better, and with out trying to.

Ok I think I understand. Perhaps that is why earlier today when I began to feel strong sexual arousal, when I first tried to deal with it in my heart, I did not get results (for this was pure sexual desire). Yet when I worked on my kidneys (the store house of raw sexual energy) I did get results (a lessening of raw desire). Other times I may have had a crush on someone that was not primarily sexual (though not to say it was not a component) and working on the heart did help with this type of obsession. It also seems that when I have both my heart and kidneys in a good state of balance, that is when I am able to be very objective, non compuslive/obessive about all such matters. It would seem having both poles of this beast in harmony produces the ideal state of mind. The reason I don't like to be sexually obsessed is the same reason I don't like to be obsessed with anything. Obsession is NOT balance, it does not feel good, and it ruins objectivity, and when wanting to meet someone to have a relationship with objectivity is one of the most valuable things you can have. It was a lack of objectivity that caused me to get married to someone who was very bad for and to me previously. Also any extreme of any emotion, regardless of what that emotion may be is not healthy, and plus it does not feel good. So from what I gather passion is not limited to sexuality, but can be a deep seated intrest in almost anything, up to and including someone you care about. While sexual desire as you stated means that most likely you feel frisky down below and you have an "itch to scratch"? *edit: not that I'm ready for Kan and Li, but is it a good way to transform all this "stuff" into passion?

I'm curious about the hormone - chi relationship? How do these two aspects communicate with eachother, affect, and produce eachother? I know this question is a bit vauge, but so is my understanding (takes good understanding to ask good questions lol)

If you wouldn't mind, could you clarify the difference you mean by passion arousal, vs sexual arousal? Also I have noticed a similar thing with latinas. Where I live now there are a lot of them. About a month ago when I first began working on my solar plexus two different ones took me home in the same week. I don't know what it was, but thats what happened. With the first one in particular I noticed just sitting next to her and talking to her I felt a LOT of chi, particuarly in my hands, that was new. The second one was harder to understand cause the whole time I was talking to her she looked bored, but then got pretty loud when she climbed on top of me... go figure? That girl I spoke of last week who was really pretty but kind of freaked me out was also a hot latina, but by this point I was beginning to feel a bit disillusioned with boinking hot latinas just for a cheap thrill. Perhaps this is where my heart chakra cast its veto for any more such behavior? Though I suppose it is not a streach to say my solar plexus may have said nay as well, as I've heard that this chakra has to do with our self respect, boundries, and limitations. I found your insights into status and sex drive/appeal very interesting as the solar plexus as all about power and status. So basically I feel rather disoriented as of late, trying to process all of these conflicting feelings, or morality vs horniness, respect for self and others vs wanting to have fun/feel good. But that is one of the reasons I have begun to work again on my solar plexus, as I feel that a lot of the conflict is within it. The aggressive sex drive seems to lie with in there, but so does my personal standards as well. So I am trying to achieve a greater state of equalibrium in there, and less polarity of these two extremes. Another interesting question that you raised, and I have been pondering since reading your last post is what is the relationship between chi and hormones? Obviously hormones are the phyical chemical component, and chi the energetic, but what I want to know is how the two interact, and affect eachother? Also again, I would be interested and appreciate a little clarification as to what you mean as the difference between passion and the desire for sex?

Another thing you could possibly try is to hang one of those Feng Shui crystals from your rear view mirror. A few years ago when I first started doing Qigong I had similar problems with my car and that seemed to help a bit.

Hey Markern, I think your reply was one of the most interesting and informative that I have had on this thread . I found your comparisons to the monkey's social status very interesting. I have noticed that as I work on my solar plexus chakra I am beginning to become more picky, while at the same time more women seem to be approaching me, which goes back to what you said about the monkeys. I did see that cartoon on Non's practice page, and came to a lot of the same conclusions about it that you did. Interesing you should have mentioned the adrenals for a couple reasons today. First is that when I felt my horniness level rise after doing work on my solar plexus which was in the middle of my practice, I then felt it calm down after doing the kidney inner smile/healing sound at the end. Since in chinese medicine the adrenals are lumped together with the kidneys, I got some "Adreanal herbal blend" at the herb store, as it contained Rehemmania ( a classic chinese herb for the kidneys/adreanals). I guess another way to look at it is as I mentioned before, the "water" of the kidneys balances the "fire" of the solar plexus. I also agree that a degree of aggression comes from the liver, but since the liver lies within the realm of the solar plexus there is diffinately a connection and/or overlap. Additionally as you mentioned the solar plexus / adreanal connection is also suspect (another good reason to focus on the kidney/adreanal system). Thanks again for the reference to the monkeys, I found it very insightful, as well as the information about dopamine (particuarly the low dopamine = desperation connection, I'll look into that more)

Oh I have no idea who Grace Elohim is lol, but I thought the information about side effects might be useful.

Pay attention to number 33. http://www.namastecafe.com/edu/symptoms.htm

I know I just talked about this on my other thread, but it seemed relevant since I'm thinking about it, but isn't Kan and Li both a water and fire method at the same time?

Some more thoughts for me to rant and rave on about the solar plexus, and specifically in regards to its relation to male sexuality. I was wondering if any other guys on here periodically get these spikes in their libido that are NOT cured by "releasing" in the traditional manner? What I mean is (and this also backs up my ideas about male sexuality being contained in the solar plexus) from time to time I will go through a couple day spell of being extremely aroused. It will be so much so, that my usual efforts to deal with it fail such as cold draw/testical breathing, and am like "we have reached critical captain, we must eject the nuclar reactor", so I will release for the sake of sanity, yet to no avail. For after that for the rest of that day, and often for a couple days following the libido spike will continue, even though I'm now "empty". Now if the male sex drive were located in the genitals or root chakra area one would assume that such an action would aliviate such desire, but since it does not, it is suggestive of the source of such a libido being located somewhere else in the body. In may case as I have already mentioned I had recently added a significant amount of chi to my solar plexus to balance it out for reasons other than sexual ones (for I had no inkling of an idea that the solar plexus might have anything to do with male sexuality at all). The first day after having done so I noticed a surge in the emotions of depresion, and a spike in libido. Usually, under normal circumstances if I do the cold draw in the morning I am good all day (no desire). That day (the first day of working on my solar plexus) I had to do the cold draw twice that day, and still did not feel completely at a neutral state. The next day I did not do any qigong what so ever due to my fatigued and depleted state that often follows doing the "hold the ball" posture at the level of a new chakra which I am working on. On day three my energy level had returned to almost normal, so I worked on my solar plexus once again. This time the over-joy emotions of the heart flared up (to include sexual over stimulation) and this day I did the heart inner smile/healing sound which seemed to be effective that day. The next day after that I was extremely fatigued (more than usual after working on a new chakra) and took and extended nap, did no qigong (was too tired). This day my libido became excessive so much so that I decided to "release" in order to aleviate this condition. While it seemed to calm me down for a little while, a few hours later my libido was sky high once again. This was also the case the day after that, along with the extreme fatigue. The only factor I could account for as being different was my work on the solar plexus chakra. The fatigue I expected because this is a common side effect no matter which chakra I work on (though the fatigue was more extreme in the case of the solar plexus). The factor that suprised me though was the effect upon my libido, which further reinforces my suspicion that the male sex drive is to be found largely in the solar plexus chakra. The other interesting thing that I thought about was Kan and Li practice. Now I don't do Kan and Li and am not an expert, but from what I understand the practitioner uses the "water" element in the sacral chakra area, and the "fire" in the solar plexus area and inverts the two in relation to eachother. From what I understand this has the result of balancing the practitioners yin/yang internally as the water/sacral chakra is yin, and the fire/solar plexus chakra is yang. I think this is how an advanced practitioner finds yin/yang equalibrium internally as opposed to seeking it in an external source (i.e. a member of the opposite sex). If my understanding of this practice is correct then, to me it further supports the notion that male sexaulity is centered in the solar plexus, and female sexuality in the sacral chakra, and that basically all the sex drive is, is yin and yang trying to find eachother to achieve a state of balance. *edit: ok so I just finished my daily practice today. After getting to the hold the ball at the solar plexus part, I once again began to feel very sexually aggressive. After that I did the inner smile/healing sounds. Initially I began with the heart, but that did not seem to have much effect, so I then proceeded to the kidneys and that did help. The assumption I made was that I was not so much "over excited" as I was "not calm enough" a subtel difference yes I know, but a difference nevertheless. But then again isn't being excited, and the fight/flight fear reaction of the kidneys/adreanals also a very similar feeling? The way I distinguish it is that I did not feel hyper, giddy, reved up, or anything like that. I felt a more deep, urge, longing, desire. I figured working on the kidneys was a two fold solution. For one the kidneys house the sexual essense, so getting rid of its negative aspect such as uncomfortable desire, the kind of desire that coulds sound judgement helped. Also the kidneys positive attribute is calmness, which feeling more of that has its obvious benefits in regards to a situation like this. Also the kidneys keep the heart in check, so by default you also can prevent the "over-joy" problem of the heart by keeping your kidney chi healthy. I also figure since the kidneys are water element, that should help to counter-balance the fire element of the solar plexus

Thanks for your responce. I find your observations very similar to my own personal observations. I have also felt that when I get very aroused that I very often feel it in my solar plexus area. Also as I previously stated in my last post each time I have worked on my solar plexus chakra (adding energy using the hold the ball technique at that level) that my general state of arousal increases dramatically. I found your theory interesting that this feeling in the solar plexus during arousal might be the conversaion of chi into jing for anticipated sexual activity (much as saliva forms in the mouth in anticipation of eating). I have read that both the solar plexus chakra and the middle burrner of the triple burner system (which are located in the same area) are responsible for converting the jing of food into chi, so it could be plausable that this "food-chi" may be converted into sexual jing for sexual activity? I've also noticed that some of my better orgasms tend to extend up into the solar plexus area as well. I've also noticed that when I get hit in the balls, the pain tends to spread up to this area too. In addition to arousal, I've also noticed that when I tend to get a bad vibe about a girl (like the one I spoke about last week) that I feel it in the solar plexus too. Also as I had mentioned previously I noticed that when I worked on the sacral and root chakra I did not feel any out of the ordinary increase in sexual arousal or desire. Rather I felt other things, as I have already mentioned. Now what I am not sure about is if this also holds true for women. I can't be sure (since I am obviously not a woman) but I have noticed that most of these books and websites are either writen by women, or take their information from a woman, as in this country its mostly women that seem to be interested in yoga for some reason. Perhaps it was due to these female yoginis personal experience that they wrote their description of the chakras as they did? Maybe the sacral chakra is the primary sexual center for a woman? who knows? It is certainly plausable as the sacral chakra is a yin chakra, or so I've read. Nevertheless pretty much everyone realizes that male and female attitudes towards sex are quite different, so perhaps this is the explination for that. On the other hand the solar plexus chakra is a very yang chakra, and as men are yang, perhaps this is the primary chakra for male sexual drive? Though what does confuse me is why I seem to feel more sexaul arousal from the solar plexus as opposed to the root chakra which is obviously more close to the genitals? But as I stated in my last post my personal experience from working on the root chakra was not a sexaul one, but more of a "basic" one (guess thats why its also called the base chakra). What I mean by this is that the simple child like things took on primary importance while working with this chakra... eat, drink, sleep, comfortable home, like, dislike, ect. But then I go and work on my solar plexus and suddenly I feel very aggressively sexual... hmmm???? I'm still working on this one, so I'll share results and insights as they come. *edit: my "hunch" tells me that just like with the rest of the "issues" I worked on in my other chakras, that if I just keep working on this chakra, and get through the rough spot, then things should make more sense soon. ** ok so a little more time has gone by and I've had more time to ponder this topic, and its starting to make more sense. Lets just assume for a moment that the center of a man's sexuality is his solar plexus, and lets also assume that the center of a woman's sexuality is her sacral chakra. The solar plexus is a very yang chakra, and the sacral chakra is a very yin chakra. All things in nature see to balance polarity. This is why we have lightning strikes, wind, storms, magnetic fields, electricity, ect. The woman being yin seeks yang in her desire to reach a state of balance from her her of polarity. The man being yang likewise seeks yin in his desire to acheive equalibrium from his state of polarity. Now the woman being yin already is going to naturally be attracted to a strong source of yang, and the man being yang is going to be attracted to a strong source of yin. Using the solar plexus and scaral chakra as a center of yang and yin respectively for an example we can make the following observations. Think of the "ideal" very yang solar plexus chakra man. The athlete, the jock, the fighter pilot, the Alpha male. All of these steriotypes are very yang, and these steriotypes also are known for attracting females. Now think of the "ideal" very yin sacral chakra woman. She is very feminine, sexy, gentel, soft, smooth, pretty, charming. All of these steriotypes are very yin, and known for being very attractive to men. Being that a very yang solar plexus energy is going to natrually be quite attractive to women, I suppose then it is not a suprise that one could see the role of the solar plexus in male sexuality, as this is what draws women (yin) to him. Contrary to some other theories put forth on this forum, I do not believe women really want to be treated poory nor raped, BUT women are attracted to POWER, as power is a yang attribute, and one of the centeral themes of the solar plexus. Sometimes, somemen, the "bad boys" have an over active, unbalanced solar plexus, which is excessively yang. This is why it appears that women are drawn to "bad boys". Not because women enjoy being treated poorly, but because women are drawn to yang, and some of yang's manefestations are power, assertiveness, confidence, ect. This migh also explain why a woman is attracted to rich and socially important men, again due to the power associated with wealth and fame. From the man's point of view, it is yang that seeks its opposite polarity in yin. This being the case it is again no supprise that for a man his solar plexus chakra would be key in his sex drive, for the essence of his sex drive is his yang seeking yin, just as an electrical postive charge seeks its negative polar opposite. Being that the solar plexus chakra is the predominate source of yang energy, it makes sense that this would be the centre in a man's body that would feel most drawn to a woman's yin. This might also explain why men traditionally are less interested in monogamy than women. Yin is receptive, while yang is conquering and aggressive. Yin wants to take in, yang wants to expand, and move. After yang has made its conquest, its nature is to make another. After yin has recieved, its nature is to hold. I realize that our raw sexual essense lies with in the domain of the root chakra, but could it not be that perhaps the root chakra is simply the resivor of this energy, while the solar plexus in the man, or the sacral chakra in the woman is the director of this resivor? Anyways this is what I have come up with so far from working with my solar plexus. Any additional and thoughtful insights will be appreciated.

It's increasingly become my observation that my personal experience with chakra's does not always perfectly match what the books and websites say about them. For example most websites and books say that sex drive and such things are located in the sacral chakra. In my experience the sacral chakra feels much less sexual to me than solar plexus chakra. Twice now with in about a two month period as I have begun to work on my solar plexus chakra my libido has shot through the roof, become very aggressive, and is rather insatiable. When I have worked with my sacral chakra my focus has seemed to shift to thinking about relationships, and feeling more emotional, not sex. I don't know if its because a lot of these books and websites are written by women, and their experience is different, but what they say does not seem to always be the case in my personal experience. Then there is the common teachings about the root chakra that Kundalini lies there and thus its also a very sexual chakra, and granted most of the time I feel arousal I feel it there, but the last time I worked on this chakra I pretty much lost intrest in sex all together. So far here have been my personal experiences while working on the various chakras in my own body: 1. Root: this one felt very child like to me. When focusing on this one I pretty much became interested in the basics, like food, drink, home, family, ect. 2. Sacral: this one felt like an emotional/hormonal teenaged girl to me. I became very interested in relationships and that whole dynamic, and started listening the Justin Bieber (just kidding). The pitfall I noticed here was the notion that another person can make you happy (again like a teenaged girl). 3. Solar Plexus: this one has been a barrel full of monkies. As I am working on this again presently, all I can say is that I'm processing through a lot of various emotions. A lot of stuff related to status, respect, pride, ego, depression and stuff like that. Also as I had mentioned it seems that both times I have begun work on the solar plexus my libido has really gone way up, and my attitude towards women has gone in the direction of the cave man (no offence to the GIECO cave man lol).

Just curious, when if first began holding the ball at the heart and lower abdomen, did you notice initially less energy for a little while?

I'm back to actually working on a lower chakra again. Now I'm back to working on the solar plexus, and as usual the associated fatigue and energy drain have acompanied it, (which is temporary) but also the desired results as well. Initially a lot of what I suppose was supressed depression was relased from working on it, but as that begins to abate I'm beginning to experience this general sense of well being. There also seems to be a lot of processing of old latent memories from early childhood all the way till now. I also seem to be having dreams about stuff from childhood more frequently. As to the all encompasing topic of women.... my attitude has become one of more "I can take them or leave them" as opposed to a more obessive attiude previously. Interestingly enough I've also noticed a great satifaction in learning and intellectual activities which gives me a great sense of satisfaction...hmmmm. But it seems that I generally feel more peaceful since working more on the solar plexus, and am also beginning to see through rather empty ego illusions, such as competitiveness, inflated ego, striving, frustration, anger, depression, sadness, fear, and other such "hollow" feelings. What I seem to be getting to a greater degree in exchange is contentment, peace, an attitude of inquiry, and a feeling of centeredness. *edit: thought I would add the relation to the organs as well while I'm on the topic. It seems that every time I work on a chakra, it has an effect on at least one, usually more of the organs as well. When I first started working on the solar plexus again, at first I felt a lot of sadness, and thus had to work on my lungs. After I had that taken care of, I then began to feel the "over-joy/excitement" of the heart, which is what I'm working on now. When I began working on the over-joy of the heart, it dawned on me, that it would seem that a large portion of the population has this imbalance. I guess its no supprise that heart disease is the number one killer in America. Most people it would seem can simply not just sit still, be quiet on the inside. It seems that most of the population always craves constant stimulation, which is exactely what an imbalanced heart meridian does. This seems to be a chronic problem in this country.

Largely due to this thread I went out to the bookstore and got the idiots guide to Taoism last night. Its a really good book

I want to know what/which qigong practices are the best for fatigue? I ask because even though I have been doing qigong for a while now, and it has helped me with a lot of stuff, I still manage to feel fatigued often. So I would like to know the best way to deal with this.

In retrospect I think I have figured out what was/is making me tired. It seems that every time I do the "hold the ball" pose in the area of a new chakra, or one that I had not worked on very much previously I get very tired at first. I have noticed this patern time and again. I realize that there are a wide range of things that can cause one to feel fatigued, but I beleive in my case this is the cause, as I have past experiences and a patter established by those pratices to give me something to go by. Here is what I believe happens. It would seem that doing the hold the ball posture in ZZ at the level of a certain chakra causes the blockages in that chakra to get burned off. If you work on a new chakra that you have not worked on much, it would seem that doing this posture causes a lot of the chi in your body to be directed at that point, thus leaving the rest of your body at a relatively lower level than it was. This I believe is why for several days after doing hold the ball at the level of a new chakra I feel so tired, but then as the "issues" of that chakra improve and not as much energy is needed to work on them, my energy level returns to normal, plus the problems of the chakra I was working on, are resolved as well.

Hmmm your interpretation is nicer than mine lol, I was wondering if she was a witch or something haha.

yup In relation to what I said yesterday, raising the state of my upper dan tien with the cool draw, I had to work on my spleen with the inner smile/healing sounds because it would seem that as my upper dan tien was getting all that jing chi from the cool draw, it was causing my brain to go into over time. I was just thinking a million miles an hour, which naturally threw my spleen out of wack. Once my spleen got out of wack with all that overthinking, things like going to bed at a decent hour became difficult, as well as overthinking everything, like "is this the right decision" "what did that mean in the past" ect... I've had a tendency to overthink in the past, so doing the spleen inner smile/healing sound really helped slow down the over active thinker.

When I said life is weird I spoke too soon lol. Ok so that girl that asked me out, leme tell you, what an experience. First of all her heart meridian was way over active, and therefore I had a hard time being near her, I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin, even though she was drop dead gorgeous. But where it really gets weird is I noticed as we were talking she started projecting chi out of her upper dan tien/ third eye and scanning me. That made me feel really uncomfortable. I told her that I knew what she was doing, and she looked like she was in shock. She asked me how I knew that she was doing that, and she did that all the time to guys, and no one had ever realized that she was doing it. Now I'm thinking what kind of person am I on a date with lol? And even though she looked like a model, when it was time to go I could not wait to get out of there. Anyways the lastest thing I've been doing the past few days now that I have begun the cool draw again, is I've been using it to energize my upper dan tien, and doing so has really changed my perspective in life dramatically. Standing meditation had already done wonders for my middle and lower dan tiens, but I felt that something was missing, as though not all pieces of the puzzel were in place yet. So as I began doing the cool draw, and drawing jing up to my crown, and spinning it there as to fix it, suddenly its like I'm looking at things in a whole new way. Its like my appetite to learn and understand has become unsatiable. I've checked out a bunch of books from the library about the various sciences and want to read, and know and learn more and more. Not only that but my perspective on things seems much more "big picture" than before. Anyways its kind of hard to desribe but I think those of you who've been there done that prolly know what I'm talking about.

Back in when I was actively training in karate, one of the things our teacher told us to do was to try to get your opponent angry before fighting them, as this would throw off their focus. I found it to be true in sparing. If my opponent lost his cool in sparing, and I kept mine they became pretty easy to deal with. Another time back when I was in basic traing for the army, we had pugel contests. These are large Q-tip looking objects that you pummel eachother with as part of bayonet training. Anyways the guy I was to go up against was huffing and puffing and saying how he was going to kick my ass ect... I just kept my martial arts training in mind, and focused on cultivating a calm and peaceful mind. When the drill sergant said go, he came out in the rage swinging every which way, which I was greatful for because it made him very easy to defeat. My point is that I do not believe that negative emtions are more powerful than postive ones.