Treena

There are many excellent teachers. The system that will be the 'best' for you, will be the one that resonates with you. The one you will practice every day.

Thanks so much for the poem, ZenB. It's perfect.

Unless you find one, meteorites can be immensely expensive to purchase. I walked outside one day, about three years ago, and heard a loud bomb burst WAY over my head, saw a flashing light racing forward, like a spaceship breaking up. Found out later it was a meteorite. Likely ended up thousands of miles away. I like Karen's idea of using moon yin energy. After working for some time bringing in the sun yang energy, and never lucking out in the specific days my system recommends for bringing in moon energy because of clouds, forgetfullness and the like, I finally did and what yin bliss that was! Holy smokes.

Thanks for the excellent guidance. When I started (I call it Yi-Quan, I-Chuan standing exercises) hard hard hard. Had a dream signifying how important it was to practice. Persistence is crucial. The results very concrete. The connection to heaven and earth. The solid movement of energy. It has everything to do with manifesting that same solid energy in your martial arts, in your energy healing.

LOL! And I say do the work with your dantien that you are compelled to do then listen, learn, and continue.

For me, the difference between awake and asleep... Kind of opposite. When I'm asleep and dreaming, it's like I'm really where everything makes sense. Sometimes I bring wisdom out, sometimes I just bring confused me back out. When I'm awake, it's like I'm sleeping in our world of taxes, bills, crime but also flowers, ice cream, sun. I know when I die I'll go into the dream world. So, for now, I enjoy the sun.

Tres cool! Nice to have you here, Oolong Rabbit. Love your name. And your practice.

I agree with everyone, but with Voice most of all. A quick way to relieve the numbness in the fingers is to do some trigger point release. The likely culprits are the scalenes, the rotators perhaps teres major, minor, or infraspinatus, the lats, the pecs, the forearm muscles, and finally the muscles in the palm of the hand between the bones. Could be one, all, a combination. Trigger point release may not ultimately realign you like Feldenkrais will, but it will be a quick fix. Cheap good book on topic, Clair Davies The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook.

I've always found shadows fascinating. Sometimes they do what 'you' think they're supposed to and other times they do what 'they' want to do.

Bob Flaws has a decent book called _Curing Hay Fever Naturally with Chinese Medicine._ Has self-massage, moxa, cupping, seven star hammer, herb, food, and lifestyle methods for reducing the effect of hay fever allergies.

Hey, don't get me wrong TaoMeow, I love fish, and go out with a rod regularly. Just never found a good way to cook up fish eggs that was palatable, maybe I'd have to be starving first. So we give the eggs, skins, heads, and innards to the eagles instead. There's also the problem of overconsumption of some 'super' foods. Human love of caviar has got a certain type of fish, sturgeon, listed as 'vulnerable' on the endangered species list. Spectrum, you bring up something I've been worrying about. I come from a country that's increasing its regulations dramatically. So much so that I worry about being able to get my Chinese and regular herbs without first seeing some licensed professional who has to pay crazy amounts of money in association and insurance and license fees to be able to keep practicing.

Jeez do I ever like that. In a story, I've got Lao Tzu as a character that shapeshifts between human, snake, and one other form. And he leads others to the path of heaven, often by means of trickery.

Uh, yuck! I'd rather stick with the qigong exercises or the nettle infusion! Which reminds me, off to do my qigong.

Love all the great ideas in this post. Me, I just stop. Stop. Sit. Not necessarily meditate just sit. Just be. Once I'm there long enough for all the crazy tension to leave my body, I really penetrate to what is important to me. What is do-able. What is helping me the most. Then I focus on that.

Hmm, Lozen said there was an editor so change that to: Even people who self-publish can hire a good editor.