Green Tiger

Yeah, forget what I said about tortoise. It's definitely different from what you're doing. In the posture I'm thinking of, the hands were tucked into fists at the sides, and the elbows were pressed into the ribs. Sounds like you're progressing well.

Great video Hagar! I've practiced a similar stance, but with the back more straight. How does your breathing feel in that posture? Has it changed since you started? Do you feel like you can take a deeper breath now than when you began practicing the posture? I think the instructor called it turtle stance, or Golden Tortoise--something like that. Not tiger. I've seen a lot of stances called 'tiger' stance. I think the posture shown below is the most deserving of the title. Also, I'm curious, do you treat this as a standalone practice or part of a routine? Do you practice other postures before and after this one?

Ohhh . . . the disembodied eggheadism. Can we get a thread about how to curb that? That's the one that grinds my gears. Don't fear the man who had written posts about a thousand kicks, fear the man who reads those posts while practicing his horse stance. ;-) Maybe everyone should be allowed 1000 posts and no more. As soon as you reach 1000, you're suspended from posting for a year, then the count resets. Maybe that would make people be more selective about what they say.

I've often wondered why there appears to be a woman in the banner, hiding behind a tree. The figure in 'crane spreads wings' posture seems male to me (although could be female). The figure hiding behind the tree and the pack of wolves looks like she's wearing a skirt (although it could be a Scottish dude). And she looks like maybe she's hiding from the wolves. Is there something subliminal going on in the banner, or what?

I feel like I should watch less hardcore porn and read more erotic fiction after listening to her poem. Seriously though, it's shocking to see some of the stuff that is popular on porn sites. Most of the hardcore stuff is terrible. Violent, degrading, and not even remotely romantic. They've sucked all of the soul out of sex and all you're left with is some bouncing genitals.

After some of the stuff I've seen pop up in General Discussion lately, I thought this would be okay. If it was a dude performing a slam poem about semen retention it would fit in perfectly. *runs off to write a slam poem about semen retention*

Thanks for sharing. Good read. A lot of actors and actresses have said very kind things about Robin Williams. I think Norm MacDonald's tweets have been my favorite so far. I actually cried a little bit yesterday while reading about him. I don't think I've ever been emotional about a celebrity death before, but Robin Williams was a big part of my childhood. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen Hook, Aladdin, or Mrs. Doubtfire. I feel like an important part of my childhood has died. Maybe that's an indication that I watched too much television as a kid, but it still makes me a little sad.

Gah! My kryptonite! Particularly dangerous when paired with a stiletto heel . . .

It sort of reminds me of an interpretative dance or something. I dunno. I don't know much about art, but I know what I like. I honestly don't just watch yoga videos to see hot bodies. I get a lot of inspiration and ideas for my own practice. Occasionally though, I just sit in awe of what someone can do with their body. And it doesn't hurt that most of those bodies tend to be beautiful.

Was? She 'was' a kavorka, or she 'was' your girlfriend?

Nah, me neither

Is your yoga as good as hers though? I know mine isn't.

Haha! That's amazing! I kind of wish Marga would have gotten hold of them though. I used to carry nunchucks in my car, not so much because I thought they would be good protection, but because they look pretty intimidating when you swing them around quickly. Of course the only times I got them out were to impress my friends. I've managed to get through most of my adult life so far without needing to defend myself physically. Maybe when I'm an old man I'll start carrying one of the sword canes. That would be cool.

Oh, that's right, because John Chang said he 'sensed' there were something like ten people of HIS LEVEL in China. That doesn't say anything about the rest of the world, nor does it mean everyone else on Earth is at Ken's level. Really, it doesn't mean anything. It means JC had a feeling. And since MPG (Ken by proxy) reads Magus of Java like a fanatic Christian reads the bible, they take it as the absolute whole truth. Like Jetsun said, that book is being misused. The author had a clear agenda, and it was definitely NOT to teach people about energy cultivation.

How do you know they're at your level?

This is my first attempt at a garden of my own. The dirt seems good. Pretty sure there was a garden on the spot before I moved in. Problem is I'm near a creek with a small wooded area surrounding it. I've had all sorts of issues with deer, raccoons, and rabbits. I planted 6 cabbages and the rabbits got after them when they were small. I put up a fence, but apparently I need to use chicken wire, as I've watched fully grown rabbits dive through the wire of my current fence as I chased them out. I ended up getting 2 good cabbages. Ate one the other night, Indian stir-fry style and it was great. I got one tiny head of cabbage that I ended up using to bait a live trap. I thought I would catch some rabbits, but instead I caught a raccoon. He lives on the other side of town now. I've only dug up one row of potatoes but they look good. Many are small but very good for mashing. Tomatoes are big and green. They're waiting for rain, I think, to ripen. Same with the peppers. We just got rain today for the first time in nearly a month. I probably should have been watering. I planted 20 pepper plants and 5 tomato plants. So far I've picked one banana pepper . . . hopefully this rain gets them producing. The sweet potatoes . . . don't have tops. Something ate them. I'm hoping there are some potatoes underneath. The onions were a complete loss. I think I planted them too close together to begin with and then the rain washed some of them out when they were small and the weeds overtook the rest. Not a bad first year. Next year: better fence, better weed control, kill the rabbits.

This may have been better posted as a new thread, but there are SO MANY NEW THREADS I thought I would revive an old one. I chose this thread because it mentioned trauma therapy. Last night I practiced some stillness-movment spiral qiqong. This practice, for me, started off as something relaxing, but not particularly energetic. Something for me to fall asleep doing. I would sometimes fall asleep doing my tai chi form in my head. Both were calming and really just something for me to focus on and relax with. Sprial qigong has become something much more powerful. Last night I felt like I had some powerful energy collecting in my energy centers and working its way through the channels. This practice that used to be so calming has now become quite invigorating. I used to fall asleep after getting through the first three or four centers, but now I'm finding myself spiraling through the whole sequence wide awake, and then laying there afterward just basking in the glow of the energy. I'm starting to think I might need to start practicing in the morning instead of the evening. Also, I've noticed the centers at the back of my knees and the bottoms of my feet are much harder to connect with than any of the other centers. When the energy does start flowing through them more easily, I get a lot of tension releases in the muscles of my back and adjustments in my spine. Pretty powerful self-healing, ya'll

That sounds like a self-description, Ken. How's your meditation going? Filled your dan tien yet?

Best. Thread. Ever!

There are three-too-many women in that image.

Heh. Definitions. So Aristotelian. Behold: MAGIC!

In my experience, group seminars and retreats should be around $20 an hour. 1-on-1 instruction will be more like $60-$100 per hour. I'm not so sure about festivals. I haven't been to the renaissance festival here in years. I would guess admission will be $20 and they'll probably charge something outrageous for beer, but you shouldn't have to pay more than $4 for a cheeseburger or $7 for a turkey leg. Speaking of which, I am never buying one of those disgusting turkey legs again!

I like that you use ___ instead of saying 'God'. Words are symbols and ___ really cannot be adequately symbolized. The ___ that can be called 'God' is not the true ___.