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.

There's more!? I'm definitely going searching. And I'll also be eagerly awaiting suggested links from Tao Bums! The more you do it, the better it gets.

The book drove me mad with its need for severe editing. I read the whole thing because I thought I should give it the benefit of the doubt. Once done, I brought it back to the used bookstore, along with the second one I didn't bother to read. Even people who self-publish can hire editors. Most people I talked with loved the book. I didn't retain a thing from it.

I'd also recommend Dr. Paul Lam's vids/DVDs. He's developed a number of short forms that are quick and easy to learn for beginners and the instruction is excellent. He also has a few competition forms on DVD. Available from Amazon and places like that or from his website at www.taichiproductions.com.

I have a Finnish friend who tells me interesting stories about their little people who are known by cool Finnish names I no longer have recorded anywhere. Large expanses of lawn are considered not good. You need to have many heights of plants, be they flowers, herbs. or vegetables, growing so the little ones have places to hide. Then all goes well. My goal is to completely replace 85% of the lawn with those wondrous plants. Because I love the tale and because I love the plants.

I can't get the buttons, dials, or switches to work...

Beootiful, Smile. Thanks. I'm new to YouTube and didn't even know these *could* be there!

Get away from anything that needs to be plugged in then just rest. Normally do this at the cabin where I can listen to the wind through the pines. Become mesmerized by the lake. Walk, fish, wander. Or just sleep sleep sleep under the big down quilt.

Pleasing. Wild. Funny. Thank you.

Sean, I've been mulling over your very topic today, then arrived here after not being here for awhile to find it. Thanks! There was a National Geographic article depicting death causes and I was woeing that I'd tossed it out 2 days ago when I wanted to read it again today. I have clients that are suffering because of pharmaceuticals either prescribed inappropriately and then effects not monitored or clients who were suddenly cut off a prescription. Either way a doctor can kill a patient. Then I went searching about Chinese medicine and qigong and came across the quack watch website heading bashing it all as crap (and no I didn't go to read it because a lot of the energy work I do is based on "intention" and if I don't believe, I'm not effective. Self-doubt is a terrible thing.) Then a cancer site talks about no positive scientific studies to support the use of qigong with cancer. Pah! Anyway. Many worlds. Many perspectives. Many points of view. And yes herbs kill people too. Father Paul, just as medical qigong is very effective with illnesses such as cancer and Parkinsons, it is also effective with hepatitis. Even C. I am working with someone now (and I'm still quite newbie), with C, who has gone from desperate to extremely happy with the changes brought about by lifestyle (no more street drugs and alcohol), herbs (milkthistle), and medical qigong treatments. Not cured, but the liver inflammation is not physically noticeable anymore and the liver counts are down by half.

I'm in the midst of reading Daniel Pinchbeck's 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. I find it a fascinating read and, funny, it coincides with my recent introduction to Sacred Geometry. I also lucked into a great discount book called Crop Circles by the Alexanders, which has great visual images to go with the chapter Pinchbeck writes on the topic. Mindblowing images: sacred geometry, fractuals, spirals, religious symbols, forms of life. My mind is in one of those chaotic states of What the--? What does it all mean? Does it have to mean anything? Math as gorgeous images, too cool. Where was that when I was in high school? Who's doing the Crop Circles? Aliens? Ley lines and...? Or, other dimensional beings? Enlightened beings? Stephen Hawking? Only thing I can come up with is I don't know. But it sure is cool anyway. And the images are amazing. Mandalas to meditate on. Anyone have any great theories, comments, insights, references, info sources?