Long Yun

That's great! Who knew I was practicing something benefitial on accident. Thanks for the info guys.

Thanks for your input Drew. Anyone who's practiced Spring Forest besides Drew? Anyone care to tell me which exercises are the ones which gather and transmute Jing, Chi, and Shen?

Wonderful stuff Drew. Do you recommend that I just go through the Level One Manual, or seek an outside guide? I know you used "Taoist Yoga." How do you preserve your Jing, Chi, Shen? Transmute them? Does it just come naturally with the practice?

Getting back to some of my original thoughts, I am planning on taking several days soon on a sort of "virtue cultivation." I am going to intensely change the things in my life that I feel I don't exercise enough discipline in. No need to list them all out for you. After this, I'm going to be starting Spring Forest. Should I be following any sort of special order of exercises to get the full effects? (Besides Full Lotus, which I'm currently stretching my way into) Any celibacy period? The Spring Forest Manual doesn't mention any, but basically everything else that I've read does. Thanks for your input.

You agree that it's a total alchemy system? Or that I oversimplified everything?

It can be done. I'm not saying that it's going to be easy, but it's not impossible. If you want it to work, it's going to. Something you could try (which I have not had great success with but might help) is to get her interested in meditating with you. If I could get my girlfriend interested in my practice, it would make things so much easier. If not, just set some time aside for yourself. Nothing wrong with that. The biggest hurdle I've come across is any period of celibacy. Just explain to her what you have to do, and it'll be ok. Still, being celibate when you both don't want to is a challenge. Just keep the right attitude and you'll be fine. Best of luck to you.

Hello folks, Last night I sat in half lotus (working on full lotus, but not there yet) while saying some prayers on a mala. I wasn't really saying mantras, but I was saying the same prayer over and over, so sorta. Anyway, I was so deep in the feeling of oneness with the universe and everything in it that I couldn't help but smile. I got a really intense feeling of pressure in my head and ear canal, sort of like when you change altitude really quickly but not exactly. After I went around the mala completely, with three rests in between, my whole body felt awesome like it was totally clean. Anyway, I really liked the experience but does it sound like I should do more grounding exercises? The pressure in my head was almost worrying me but I didn't really let it enter my mind during the meditation. Let me know what you think.

How does one change this?

It's a type of bead that some claim to have individual spirits.

Yeah, get a quartz crystal cluster (several crystals that are all stuck together in their matrix) and some plant life. Or one of those salt lamps, which supposedly let off purifying ions or something.

Mak Tin Si, what's your opinion on dzi beads? They are amulets of sorts used in Tibet, and your mention of the Thai amulets reminded me of them.

Hi all, I was given the Spring Forest Qigong Level One manual for Christmas, and it shows a breathing technique that feels unusual for me. For years I've practiced what I thought was the correct method of abdominal breathing, that is allowing the stomach to rise on inhaling and fall on exhaling. I'm quite comfortable with it since I've done it for years. But SFQ shows the exact opposite, that is pulling the stomach in slightly on inhaling and allowing it to flatten back out on exhaling. I'm doing it as subtly as I can, but it feels like I'm storing tension in my chest and shoulders. What do you guys think? Rise on inhaling? Or pull in on inhaling?

Thanks for the advice. I think what I'll do is continue breathing my way throughout my day, but do it according to the manual during meditation and qigong. In any case, if I get uncomfortable, I'll just stick with what I know.

Ok, Spring Forest guys (I think there are at least a couple on here) The manual says that the purpose for pulling in on inhaling is to allow Yin and Yang to meet in the chest. It goes on to say that upon releasing the breath and exhaling, Yin and Yang join together in the belly (lower dantian). Should I be breathing this way all the time, or should I be breathing this way only during these certain exercises while breathing my way the rest of the time? It's not uncomfortable to do it like the manual says, just different than what I'm used to.

There's a very good possibility! I think the true purpose of using caves is for solitude, but being free from outiside influences like negative electromagnetism fits right into that. I don't know for sure, but I'll certainly entertain the idea. You might get more input if you put this in the Taoist Discussion section. It's alot more on topic than alot of the stuff in there.

That's horrible. Which scriptures were destroyed? And does anyone know the source of the fire?

From what I've read so far, which is not a whole lot, you do neither. You just face in the direction of the sun while doing the practices and harmonize your body with the energy given off by the sun.

Just want to revive this post because I'm really curious to see what other people on this forum have to say about him. Anybody?

I agree, he's a well versed individual. And from what I can tell he gives true practices. For example, he says that ear flicking exercises can be used when you feel a cold coming on to prevent it all together. I tried it earlier this week, and I'm still cold free! Woo hoo!

I have his book "Qigong for Total Wellness" and it's actually really good. It talks specifically about 9 palaces qigong. I'm only beginning using this method. So far, it seems pretty comprehensive. He gives a good background to the practice and includes a great meditation all in the hopes laying the proper foundation. And the practice itself is very simple. The best things in life always are

Ha! Sorry about the cut. I sometimes used to do flintknapping, and once had a big chunk of industrial glass. It cut the knuckle of my middle finger all the way to the bone. Seriously, glass can be alot sharper than steel. Nothing to mess around with

In any case, I think that I should wait until I'm done having kids before I do this. JJ Semple says that it's still possible to have children after but that it's very taxing on the brain/nervous system. Everyone, thanks for your help in this matter. I guess I'll stick with learning new qigong methods.

I went to the website of JJ Semple and downloaded his podcasts. He claims that breathing with the diaphragm and keeping a quiet, focused mind are all you need to begin this practice. He says that after 100 days of correct meditation (the quietness and the breathing) the process sort of takes over and that you are mostly just along for the ride. He then says that the seminal fluid (or cervical fluid in women) is diverted up the spine and used by the brain to nourish the entire body by passing through the nervous system. Now I haven't read his book, so I don't know what background he has. But it seems odd to me that Darin and Semple have both had revolutionary results using the Wilhelm translation, and there are still people saying that you need some special practice to get anything from the text. Ken and Kronos, please PM me or something to help me understand what you're saying. Thanks as always.

Please by all means. I'll be interested to hear it.