Spirit of the Tiger

I am having trouble with practicing zhang zhuang consistently since I read and learn of conflicting ways of holding the standing posture. So usually I will just say to myself that I'll just do whatever way feels right and hopefully the qi will align me into the proper way eventually... For example in "hugging the tree" posture... or any other posture. My taiji teacher tells me to be more on the heels of the foot so as to keep from exerting pressure on the kidney 1 point yongquan. I have seen elsewhere that some recommend that you do the exact opposite and do put weight on the yongquan point. In the book Wujushi Breathing Practice it says to make a straight line going from yongquan to yongquan and the lower dan tien must me above the midpoint of that line and the upper dan-tien must also be aligned. "3 points on the same line" So yes... it's things like these. Some will say to slightly contract the lower abdomen or slightly tuck it in. Others say to keep it relaxed and to hold the concentration there around the navel. Others say pay no particular attention anywhere and just do it "zen" style like emptiness meditation type.

I like these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07iFFRr0IOc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtbEoibZtjE I also like the tabla and mridangam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdFVyR3xyho&feature=related the persian santoor There are more but I'll add any if I see anything good. So are there any cool youtube vids of exotic instruments or music that you enjoy?

Wujishi Breathing Exercise is a good little book on the benefits of standing meditation.

I guess it's also because people misinterpreting yin/yang and nondualism will say that since there is no "good or evil" or rather it is based on the interpretter then they can do anything they want without consequences as if there is no universal good for humanity. In thinking this way they might deliberately do wrong etc. when in reality this is just the same as deliberately doing good. How's that for "nondualism?" Also there seems to be a lot of this going against Confucianism thing.

That's really good music there steve! here are some vids I uploaded of my singing bowl that can make an overtone... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrit79VIzYg&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGSQjQqovE&feature=youtu.be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp_FxYTaGKI&feature=youtu.be

Coconut oil is really good too. I was reading an article that said the brain takes up coconut oil as ketone bodies for ATP just like the body would if it was in ketosis, and that's beneficial especially for peopole who's glucose metabolism is a bit slow... and in particular alzheimer's patients who's braincell's metabolism might be slower.

Darbouka/Egyptian Tablah Puerto Rican Tiple from my country

? The point is that you would help a person... why keep it a secret to keep the person suffering? There are sometimes I just do not agree with secrecy and keeping helpful knowledge from others when it would help them. Say it in PM if you want...

Also if you're drinking caffeinated beverages you might want to be careful about it as it can be quite acidic and that will deplete bone calcium. Excess sugars can also deplete bone calcium. Silicon (from raw veggies) is key to bone calcium absorption not calcium supplements. Caffeine, excess sugar etc, can not only deplete bone calcium but also affect the adrenals (endocrine) and thyroid (controls metabolism and calcium absorption) which are all essential to Beast mode . I forgot to mention Idione (from sea veggies) can also support the thyroid.

UHm.. I wouldn't recommend soy , unles it's sprouted and/or fermented and even so not in excess. I like Sun Warrior Protein, RAW Protein by Garden of Life, hemp protein powder and any good raw greens powder (if you take heaping tablespoons that is). Remember that when it's raw you have higher bioavailability than heat processed protein powders. Also if the protein comes from a seed, legume, grain, or nut AND sprouted/germinated (and also greens) a lot of the protein will come in the form of free amino acids which are easier to digest than the unbroken amino acid chains. The enzymes in the sprouts make it easier to digest, and they are also amino acids. But whey seems to absorb good also from what I've read. Though I stick to being vegan because that's just me. Nuts and seeds are also good sources of protein but can be high in fat so as a main source of protein it would only be recommended if you are a "low-moderate" carber like me. As for the "everyday" protein and any "everyday" food try finding the neutral (in property) foodstuffs. In the book Spiritual Nutrition, Gabriel Cousens writes that actually modern research is suggesting that 30-50g of protein is more than enough even for extreme athletes and in fact their performance improves when taken down to this level. But also other factors can be take into account like ratio of carbs to fats to protein (in keeping muscle mass). I'd say a diet too high in carbs would not be good for keeping muscle mass, nor are the extreme low carb diets except maybe if you eat an extreme amount of protein which may not be good for the kidneys. A diet like the Zone diet is probably best. Though as a raw foods enthusiast you can achieve an effect similar to the Zone diet without exactly following the percentage ratio of macronutrients suggested for the fact that raw protein is up to twice more effective or absorbable ie like 20g=40g protein and on raw foods are much lower in the glycemic index than their cooked versions esp. if you watch the sweet fruit intake (ie bananas dates, etc.). The lower glycemic fruits are best for that and balance it with enough fiber from greens. and... you could also try calorie restriction to make the body actually more efficient in digestion and metabolism. The 4-5 small meals a day though might help keep the metabolic rate up too. Intermittent fasting has also shown to give benefits for body builders also. The book Eat Stop Eat is a good book on this.

I got into lotus position and this time my top foot did not get numb. Actually I think because I got into it really tightly. When I began practicing the lotus posture I would think my feet jusst needed to be on top of the other leg but recently I remembered a video explaining that its actually supposed to be that the foot needs to be in as close to the hip as possible and closer, to the center rather than "just on top of the other thigh" which meant that I used to just think I needed to place my foot more on outside distal portion of the thighs. Well today I noticed something interesting other than my top foot now not going numb... but I felt a distinct stretching in my knees and hip/groin area? I dont know but it generated a lot of heat in my abdomen and I was feeling energy.. Also usually my knees would feel sore or hurt a lot after a while but this time it was hurting but then the pain would fluctuate going away... almost as if I was "working through the pain" and just opening something up. So I just ignored the pain and it went away even when I tried looking for it. Then it would come back in a wave but only to feel like I was working through something and I felt tingling all over and heat and shaking around my abdomen area. I thought it was very interesting. I felt like I was stretching something... or I thought maybe this is Really the way it's supposed to be and eventually the pain will go away due to 'opening up' to the correct posture. I also helped a little bit with my hands pulling on my toes to pull the feet more up and in. After I got out of it... I still felt pain but this time being a different kind of "pain".. it went away differently leaving me feeling as if I was opening something up (stretching ligaments and tendons, and also energetic pathways?) that is now making way for longer full lotus sitting and . In fact I could have gone on for longer but I had to use the restroom .

http://artesianspringom.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/medical-marijuana-and-traditional-chinese-medicine/ INTERESTING INFO ON MARIJUANA FROM TCM POV: Anyway, my point is that in that reference, it noted that the Chinese long ago delineated the differences between the male and female cannabis plants. The female plants were good yin tonics best used by women and the male plants were good yang tonics best used by men (I'm paraphrasing). What then was interesting was looking at a variety of different paradigms and comparing their viewpoints. The western biochemical view was fascinating in that it seemed to support the ancient Chinese perspective. The predominant cannabinoid in female plants is THC which has an affinity for CB1 receptors which are found mainly in the central nervous system. In male plants, cannabidiol is the main cannabinoid and has an affinity for CB2 receptors, which tend to be found more in white blood cells, the spleen and (I think) marrow. Therefore, stimulation of the CNS in effect is something that stimulates yang and would subsequently challenge and tonify yin. And stimulating the immune system and cellular repair would be more akin to activating yin, which would in turn challenge and tonify yang. Granted, this is based on my rather rudimentary understanding of Chinese medical theory, but I did find it compelling even if just looking at the the male plant and it's immunomodulatory potential. Given the growing acceptance of cannabis as medicine, I am hopeful more research will take a look at the often ignored male cannabis plant. ------------------------------------------ We have also used cannabis root to counter the chronic effects of the flower. Cannabis root is good for gout. ------------------------------------------- When hot smoke is inhaled it instantly starts to affect the lung qi and yin. At the same time the liver becomes stagnant over time because of the overload of toxins. These are the first organs to become affected by smoking herb. As time goes on, that damage to the lung qi begins to reach the spleen qi weakening the bodies defenses and digestive capabilities, and the heat from the smoke bot only damages the lung yin, but also begins to affect the kidney yin. This is evident in some chronic (no pun intended) smokers who suddenly wake up with night sweats. IMO smoking herb invigorates the yang qi with it's hot, pungent nature giving the effect of spontaneous creative waves and intellectual insights. Sourc: http://yinyang.tribe.net/thread/de25a0a2-0ec1-463f-b635-1165e2efdc7a -------------------------------------- Yahoo Answers Question: According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, how would marijuana negatively affect your chi, shen, yin, & yang? I've smoked my share of marijuana and quit last june and have never been the same since... and have been looking to regain the balance that I had prior to my poor decision to start smoking mj. SO, assuming that marijuana effects people similarly, how would the use of marijuana affect chi, shen, jing, and yin/yang balance? And how would YOU gain back balance after use of such a horrible drug? Best Answer - Chosen by Asker I've been studying under a very good spiritual acupuncturist (Adam Atman) who has a lot of experience with patients using substances. He did a radio show on this topic, and I flagged him down to give me a more detailed explanation on the subject. What follows has also matched the experiences of the two most perceptive individuals I know that smoke (I unfortunately never have tried so I lack some context to explain here). The only problem I saw with answering this properly, is that slightly different classification systems exist for the energies that compose an individual (ie. jing chi shen ling tao). My own preference is the 8 energetic bodies, since that was what I was taught in the mediation I've practiced since childhood, and Bruce Frantzis made it be one of the best quantified representations in his book Relaxing Into Your Being (plus I think it's more accurate). Since this question isn't about that topic though, I'll skip over the long discussion with the differences between the two. However I need to define some terms: Jing: Your basic energy, this is composed of your physical body, your etheric field (aura or chi body), and the lower half of your emotional body (the primal emotions generated by the organs). Chi: Your more advanced energy, it is composed of your higher (sentient) emotions, your mental body (or energy), and the first half of the energetic level when you start to open up psychic capacities. Shen: Your "spirit" energy, this is composed of the higher half of your psychic energy body, the energy when cause and effect or karma is stored, and the early parts of what is considered your true essence. Ling: This is basically synonymous with your highest energetic body or soul (although some disagree with the classification). Tao: This is the highest level of existence, or the universal consciousness that composes everything, which taoist masters spend years trying to connect with (and some Tibetan Buddhists). Anyhow, the basic effect of marajuanna is that is transfers energy from your chi body to your shen body, leading to an expansion of consciousness and occasionally if done enough an activation of the ling body, which is where the effects of being high come from. Since this is a forced artificial effect, it naturally has to end, and once is does, the energy recontracts back to the Chi body. A few problems arise from this: The first is that (typically 3 hours afterwards) the Chi Body starts to fill with gunk (to people who can see the energy it looks like a grey residue), which somewhat pollutes the body. The second is that this transfer drains the chi, which can lead overtime to various physical complications (Adam has observed many patients with weak chi have their immune system give out from continous pot smoking). Additionally, since the Jing is the normal place gone to for the Chi to restore itself, a common side effect of smoking is the munchies (as the body wanting to restore it's Jing). Overall, this causes a decline of chi overtime if done too much. Next off, the primary organ system affected by smoking pot is the Liver, in that it expands and grows out. The liver has the characteristic of having one of the most noticeable energy fields when it "expands" (ie. it's linked emotion is anger and when someone gets angry a presence can be felt in the room not commonly gotten with other emotions). The liver is a wood element yin organ, and due to the 5 element controlling cycle, when it excess it invades the yin earth organ, which happens to be the spleen. Since the spleen governs hunger (in the Chinese system) this also accounts for the food cravings generated after pot smoking and the liver expansion. Liver energy expansion isn't actually necessarily bad. Some individuals have too much which is tightly bound and very tense, so for them a liver energy expansion can be extremely balancing, but as highlighted before in the case of individuals with weak chi, smoking pot makes you sicker. It's actually a normal process for the Chi to be replenished as you sleep and then feed the Shen during the day. Depending on the equilibrium someone has in place, smoking pot can be helpful or detrimental, although I have never seen a case where large amounts of smoking were not detrimental. The best things I know of to regain your balance after smoking too much pot are a) smoke less (or don't) have a good diet that nourishes the body c) sleep well d) practice decent chi gung daily. I should note that other drugs cause a similar energetic transfer to happen, but normally are much worse and more dangerous than marijuana (ie. stuff like meth exposes you to actual psychic attacks). While I'm making marijuana out to be quite bad, it's often harmless and doesn't deserved to be lumped with all the other horrible drugs out there. Hope that helps; I did a lot of research to double check this answer for accuracy before I posted it! Source(s): Adam Atman LaC Relaxing Into Your Being by Bruce Frantzis Good website from a TCM POV on marijuana: http://www.marijuana-syndromes.com/ Herbal Formula sold to balance effects of cannabis, How it works: http://www.getbackyourdream.com/_howitworks.html Interesting to note also the name of the website is Get Your Dreams Back. Marijuana does take away your dreams. http://www.getbackyourdream.com/physical_effects.html http://www.getbackyourdream.com/nonphysical_effects.html ----------------------------------------------------- Western Medical Perspective: http://www.raysahelian.com/marijuana.html --------------------------------------------------------- http://www.quitsmokingmarijuananow.com/ Really good website also... on detoxification principles. Dont have to buy anything just read how to detox quickly so you wont experience withdrawals. Thisi is of course if you do it "too much." But I am inclined to think any smoking or heating of marijuana above raw temperatures ie 118F will alter the chemicals such that it will cause many of the "psychedelic" effects people get from it. Whether that's healthy or even necessary for the therapeutic effects is debatable. I'm also inclined to think maybe for special cases it might be beneficial in the short term and not when it is not indicated. Also another resource that is outdated but still plenty of good info: http://www.freewebs.com/herbalcomedown/ Discussion would be appreciated. Regards

Also.. Dr. Lin of Actionlove.come or lininstitute.com warns against flexing the PC muscle for guys as a practice for various reasons and says men should actually focus on the 'area between the tailbone and anus' rather than "huiyin/PC muscle flexing." This one is harder to isolate though because it happens quite involuntary and you'll notice it when you contract the abdomen and relax it you'll feel smtg also relaxing down there but it isn't exactly the full PC muscle contraction that is popularized nowadays. It actually happens before you get to the PC muscle contraction. It's subtle.. I'm also not sure that it's all that different from the PC muscle or even anal sphincter.. It seems all those terms might be referring to one big muscle there which are all interconnected so that's why i say it seems hard to isolate or grasp what exactly he is talking about.

Really 1 hr and a half and you "attain the female orgasm?" Is that with the PC muscle kept squeezing? is that also whilst meditating or just sitting? I was able to do 1 hr one day and probably could have gone longer. It was getting out of it that was tough. Also holding my feet with the hands probably made it easier.

Here's smtg interesting: It was said by my Chinese TCM professor that if a person can stand in this yoga posture for at least one minute it can be said this person might have very strong kidneys: http://images.agoramedia.com/everydayhealth/gcms/photogallery_morning_yoga_poses_06_full.jpg The kidneys being connected to the ears also give you your sense of balance. Also the kidneys have very interesting harmonic relationships with all the other organs from a TCM POV. Also (also.. ) very important when it comes to aging is the calcification of joints and ligaments, which can make one inflexible as we age.. In TCM the marrow has to do with kidneys and calcium is essential in bone health. The kidneys and the liver both have "the same source" principle. Also interesting is that out of all the fruits the ones that are most detoxing are the "acidic" fruits (which when consume can also be very alkalizing like lemons)... Though I would be cautious about eating too much of the really sweet fruits ie dates bananas etc. What is also interesting is that semen uses fructose for mobility of the sperm. Sweet foods tonify, with an emphasis also on the spleen but not in excess of course. The book by Paul Pitchford called Healing with Whole Foods comes to mind. Sometimes it can be outdated but it's the definitive source on the subject of TCM food therapy.

I think you mean THC (in the form of THCa) rather than CBD. But yes even so consuming by juicing as it is referred to in this video means juicing the Leaf rather than the buds of the female plant which also has much more CBD.

well.. I think you would have to be careful. Lol I dont want to advocate "getting high" just like I wouldn't advocate "getting drunk".. but yea.. I am inclined more towards the raw consumption and even so it can have toxic effects esp if consumed in excess and if contraindicated just as most herbs and specific herbs that do have some level of toxicity. That's not to say there might not be unique benefits when consumed in a way other than raw but you know, only if it's "indicated" for smtg beneficial and the toxic effects can be countered.

Yea I think it's important that smoking the herb is different in that it adds an extra element of fire toxin from the smoking and a poison esp. if taken in excess.

same as what is shown in these videos? And all the related videos on youtube... At first I thought it might have been real because the camera is crappy and it's not all commercialized. My friend says the Yellow Bamboo stuff is fake. Though I'm interested in Silat mainly because my friend tells me that much of the influences in Silat comes from the kung fu pre-shaolin times.

I created this post to share information that I have found researching on the internet in regards to cannabis firstly to help someone quit smoking. It is my belief that cannabis is not "bad" but smoking it does produce a specific effect which can be quite toxic and it's medicinal effects limiting. I think ingesting marijuana in raw form is really therapeutic even as a leafy green it might prove a useful food. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJAhgkeL5jQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-iU9QN0fEM As soon as you heat any herb or plant or even soak it in alcohol/vinegar or acidic medium (heck any 'chemical' medium), it will induce a chemical change and therefore change it's properties whether they be healthful or beneficial. I am a raw foods enthusiast but that doesn't mean I don't recognize beneficial effects of cooked or heated plant material in medicine. So I hope some of you might find this useful in your life and/or practice.

No yea it is a conspiracy. I'm tired of it. It's not just a coincidence. It's not just that "oh it's cheaper that way". No. The fact is there is a Real agenda to depopulate the Earth, to make people sick and kill them. It's deliberate. A lot of the problems on this earth too. Yea maybe humans are shortsighted.. but the ones at the very top aren't so short sighted. Don't be fooled into thinking we are all That stupid.