astralc

Sontsan, lol, nice to know that someone enjoys the waves Yes, GABA is a dynamo for reducing anxiety, and in helping sleep too taken half hr before bed. Watch you don't take too much because much more than 1/2 teaspoon for me (of the powder) would dilate my capilaries too rapidly and bring on an irritating skin flush that lasted about 10 minutes. Niacin is also a good one for anxiety and used quite extensively in the past to treat depression/anxiety. Melatonin is a really good anti-oxident for our condition too. Try also Vitamin C, sodium ascorbate, in high dose, about 10 grams powder, per day. What excess nerve energy does, and thats what kundalini does, it stirs up the nervous system, what it does is cause massive amounts of oxidation. The cells start over producing oxidating chemicals and free radicals that cause considerable damage that evetually leads to disease and cancer. Normally our cells have their own anti-oxidents that cope with it, but under stress they just get overwhelmed. By adding anti-oxidents, and the vitamins work as extremely good anti-oxidents, it reduces the impact on our body and soul. Vitamin C is the best and cheapest anti-oxident we could ever wish for, a God send indeed, so used in high dosages works a wonder for us suffering kundalini burnout. Try to find liposomal Vit C, its better absorbed that normal Vit C, like 90% liposomal compared to 20% oral. You can also make your own liposomal Vit C which is way cheaper.

Dragonsnectar, yep, I been there and done that one, first went flying after 6 months of tai chi and things just got better and beter for the following 20 years almost nightly astral travel. I opened all my chakras after 8 years and could awaken kundalini at will. But I also developed an autoimmune disease that made my kundalini go crazy, it burned my brain, what you guys have been talking about I have been there. Fortunately I found out what was wrong and began to build myself back up again, through minerals, vitamins, hormones and neurofeedback. As a psychologist I was already using neurofeedback for similar cases so that became the backbone of my own healing. It took me 5 years before I was brave enough to deliberately open up and move my kundalini. When I tried before it just flared up like a bushfire, my nervous system would go crazy and I became depressed and anxious but I was able to control it by all the things I did. I had to stop doing tai chi and chi work for that length of time too. Now things have settled down and I am back to developing my inner world again, but slowly, very gently and at its own pace. Songtsan, neurofeedback can be expensive but not everyone charges like a wounded bull, you might be lucky and find someone like me who does it dirt cheap, cause I have been there myself and know what my patients go through, I won't ever turn anyone away. What my post was about was to demonstrate that kundalini is intimitely involved with our nervous system, and through working the nervous system back to good health will repair kundalini syndrome. But it takes time and the right therapy. Good luck, feel free to PM me if you like.

There is so much information about the higher chakras, or energy centres, that I thought to 'put out there' some of my experience with the other chakras. There are many students of chi who make the mistake of pushing chi / energy into their head centres before they have developed the ability to discharge excess chi back out of it. They get themselves into all sorts of trouble which could be prevented by safe practices, but the lure of the wonders of the higher chakras is sometimes just too luring. Firstly, there is no difference between astral travel from the head centres than the dan tien than the base chakra, once you are 'out there' thats it, it doesn't matter how or where or why. Simple How to... I start with deep physical relaxation, then abdominal breathing. I bring my mind down to my navel and then centre the breath behind it, in the dan tien. The next step is to go even deeper into a relaxed state, deeper and deeper until you can lose consciousness. On the way to these deeper states I bring my awareness to my Base Chakra. The Base Chakra is located, in the male, at the Million Dollar Point, between the scrotum and the anus. For a woman it is the G-Spot, just inside the vagina and to its front on the bone wall. I place my awareness at the Base chakra, imagining a beam of light, warm and buzzing, which flows from beyond my feet (and I am lying down on my bed), and connected to the Earth. It is about the diameter of a ping pong ball for me. By this stage I am quite relaxed, deeply relaxed actually, almost asleep, and I imagine this light beam being drawn up into my Base Chakra and into my dan tien. There its roars into the furnace and pours warmth into my abdomen. As I slip deeper into the unconscious state at this stage, I will be wavering on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness. When I tip over into the unconscious, into my dream world, I am able, not all the time, but sometimes, to be able to jump or enter the dream I have dropped into. By this time the beam of energy into my Base Chakra is warm, even hot, and buzzing, and I can float about the landscape on a beam of light, from my Base Chakra. I can bounce around, and I can fly, with that beam of light blazing behind me like Astro Boys feet. It is a joyful experience and much the same as any other astral travel experience. Sometimes I will shift to dan tien movement, being drawn by the dan tien, or the head chakras will be open, automatically, and I can move via that as well. I am no longer limited by my Base Chakra, it is just a means to get in there, a safe means. This practice is simple, and very very safe. One way to practice is by doing PC crunches (pelvic floor exercises) maybe up to 50 crunches at a time during the day, you will sensitise your base chakra to chi. Both men and women can do these, just tighten up your base chakra, you will feel it when you tighten up your abdomen and vagina / penis muscles. It does NOT induce excess sexual urges, in fact it is not all that sexual at all, unless you want to, and add lots of chi to it. Then it feels nice, warm and humming with energy but does not necessarily induce a desire for sex (thank goodness). I suppose if you over worked it then you could, but it is not much more sexual than the dan tien. Anyway, I welcome comments and your experiences, maybe this will help those students of the spirit, to explore other means of spiritual projection. Astralc

This thread sure lives up to its name, its dark in here. The bottom line to kundalini burnout, and that is what we are talking about, a rampant wild fire burning through the body, is that it exists in the physical body. Yes, there are spiritual facets to it, but primarlily it needs a physical vehicle for us to use it. OK, before you guys hang me up, listen up a bit, kundalini needs a physical system to hook us into the spirit, and that is the nerves, the nervous system is the vehicle that chi can travel along. What I am getting at is that kundalini burnout, psychosis, nervousness, depression, OCD etc are all nervous system issues, they all link in at the Central Nervous System, the brain. Thats why drugs affect our senses, thats why traditional taoist masters made sure their novice students did not practice kundalini raising exercises for years until they had learned to manage and control it. If kundalini burnout, or kundalini syndrome, is physical, then is can be cured through the physical. Most importantly are the chi earthing exercises, water, swimming, showers, Kava root, Vitamin B complex in high doses, magnesium in high dose... we can repair our nerves that have been damaged, through natural means. And it is physical damage that I am takling about, the myelin sheath that wraps around the nerves, is easily damaged. To go into the chemical side, stress of any form causes adrenalin to be excreted by the adrenal gland, if this sits in the system too long it breaks down into adrenochrome, a very nasty neurotoxin. This hits the nerve sheath and rips the myelin off it. The result is exactly what I am reading here. May I mention one treatment that is drug free and the most powerul treatment for neurological problems? Its called Neurofeedback, I have mentioned it previously on this site. It trains the damaged nerves to function properly. I recommend it to anyone with raging kundalini syndrome, anxiety and depression, to put it simply, it works.

Baloony, think of the physical body as an electric appliance, like a toaster. Just enough eectricity and it cooks the bread turning it into toast. The right setting and it is lovely to put butter and jam on and eat it. But too much electricity will burn the toast, making is taste yuk, and if even more electricity is pushed through the toaster elements the toaster will burn out, it will destroy it rending it useless junk. So, in tai chi and chi kung, we train to generate chi, to store it in the dan tien and to circulate it through the body. We also learn to earth it outwards through the hands and feet. The feet are best because it is closest to the ground and in touch with it. We can push or connect deeply into the earth, a metre, or a few metres is nice, or you could go all the way to the centre of the earth. Earthing is designed to disipate chi when too mcuh chi is produced so that our physical wiring (nerves and Central Nervous System - Brain) doesn't burnout and destroy us. There is nothing pleasant about Kundalini Syndrome, and if that happens then you can wave good bye to your spiritual pusuit because all you will be able to do is sit around and take medication to control the burning of the chi raging through your body and brain. So, earthing, centering and ensuring that you fire up the base chakra and dan tien only, is a safe practice. To go higher should be done after years of practice and when your dreaming tells you. Mine opened when I was alseep and then I could slowly work opening them in meditation later. So, safety first.

Getting back on topic, by centering your chi at the perenium, between anus and scrotum in males, the G spot in females, and imagine that the energy projects downwards like a pogo stick. It feels as if you can sit down on it and you will be supported by it. In the astral plane it feels like flying upright, held in space by this powerful beam projecting from your base chakra. A nice feeling too.

daoist, thats one heck of a life journey you are both embarked upon and I wish you every good fortune through it. With such incredible sensitivity to energy I would suggest a whle lot of earthing before anything else. I would suggest that your partner learn this earthing process first before moving into chi work anywhere else, its like a safety valve, as you no doubt know already. Mantak Chia has a book on female daoist sexuality too which I think could provide some foundation exercises. The next step is then up to you both about under whom you study. May I ask what you both seek by learning more about toaist tantra? I think that knowing what your expectations are might help determine the direction you are heading. Good luck, you are lucky indeed to have found someone in love, please keep us informed of how things go on your journey.

Thats great Baloony, its now a case of 'keep doing', the more you practice the more it will happen for you, well done.

Once, when practicing tai chi with a group of people I popped out and was standing above my head. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, I thought that my body would fall over because I wasn't 'in' it. But thats uncommon, mostly while in bed asleep.

Baloony, lol, I love your enthusiasm, may I suggest to practice tai chi or chi gung or both, any form of disipline helps. It was the centered breathing that was my trigger, good luck and please let us know how it goes for you.

Baloony, good question, I always astral travel when asleep or in deep meditation, so I would say that it is water chi. The chi that runs through the boody is enormous but doesn't burn. Asking entities questions isn't always possible, my reaction was immediate, I had no time to ask how he was going, I just got angry. It was a spontaneous reaction which was appropriate at the time. Other experiences with entities in the astral plane do not elicit such a reaction, quite the contrary.

Gerard, why do you think that spiritual work such as astral travel leads to a dead end? Is this your own experience or did you read it somewhere or your master told you? And could you please elaborate on purifying the mind? Thanks.

Josama, once, many years ago, when my wife and I visited her mother, we slept that night in the main bedroom. I woke up in the astral to find their deceased dog in the room, that was nice, but so too was a peeping tom. A young man, who should not have been there, was standing there spying on us. I was horrified at him being there in the bedroom with us, I let loose and yelled at him to "Get lost!" He turned and saw me, his hair stood on end and he took off through the wall like a bullet, like he had seen a ghost!! All I can think of is that he hadn't ever experienced someone else on the astral while he was doing his thing. I don't know if he was a fellow astral traveller, a dreamer, or a dead dude stuck on this plane.

Hi Baloony, I have been away from the forum for some months, I hope you are still around. My astral travelling started after I began tai chi, not before. But having said that I was always the odd one in my family, like seeing ghosts, not often or many back then, much more so after starting tai chi. As for working on chakras for specific skills, yes, sure does work, give it a try, but best done under supervision. RBSA, I hope you take up something like tai chi, it will truely help with your spiritual work.

oodjee, you funny, thanks for your thoughts

Thanks CT, looking forward to watching it when I get home

Josama, thats a frightening experience, I have been lucky not to have had that sort of experience. What I was endeavouring to do with this thread was to encourage others to explore the lower chakras. Unwittingly there is always so much more emphasis on the crown and third eye chakras, however the higher you go the more problematic it becomes to the novice, and even experienced meditators can get into difficulty by over-emphasising the higher chakras. The lower chakras, namely the base and the navel / dan tien, are well within the body, they have no emotional connotations, you can explore them safely, and not get into trouble emotionally or mentally. The base chakra is totally enjoyable, it is the base of the spine and forward of it, it sits at the base of the male penis shaft and inside the front part of the female vagina. So, of course, it is also connected to the sexual organs. But please do not be put off by that, it doesn't stimulate excess sexual desire or dominate your thoughts with sex. It can raise your sexual energy though, for intense sexual pleasure, intense orgasm and staying power. For those who enjoy the Big Draw, holding back and stopping physical orgasm, it is that part of your body that is its centre. However, getting away from its sexual side, it is also powerful in moving you 'out of body' and into the astral planes. By practicing to move chi into and through the base chakra you generate more 'personal power' for spiritual activities. And funnily enough, when you go to sleep you have more power in your dream body for OOB and astral travel. Its the staying power in OOB thats just as important as getting out there, and the more power you have the longer you can stay 'out'. The higher chakras are so sensitive that they can easily be over stimulated, then the headaches start, then the anxiety and mood swings, the paranoia and delusions and this it is so hard to stop once it gets going. My advice has always been to stay away from the higher chakras, they will open by themselves without your input, when they are ready. Thus do your chi gung and tai chi but include the base and navel chakras, along with your microcosmic orbit and 5 element meditations, these are safe and powerful preparation exercises for your ongoing spiritual journey. astralc

OldGreen, Astral travel is something that helped me not to be afraid of death, I have met relatives and friends who had died, thats one thing that has made a difference to my life. I have also had experiences with people/spirits/entities who taught me things, about my work, my meditations and healing. So, once it is no longer a novelty it can lead to other experiences. No, it is not a trick but it certainly is an enjoyable experience. Sloppy, mmm, do you mean that I do not know what a lucid dream is or that I have never had one? My answer was in consideration that my definition may be different to others, which is why I asked for comments. If I take my own experiences of lucid dreaming into account, then the answer is, no, it is not lucid dreaming. I hope that has helped clear this up.

jconnar, if I understand your question properly, yes there is a difference, lucid dreaming is more passive like remote viewing, while astral traveling is being there and doing it and being conscious while you do it. I think the defining point is that in the astral you 'feel' yourself there, it is like a real life experience and exciting, the kundalini surges through your body like a fire and makes you ALIVE, you feel more alive in the astral than when awake, at least I do I hope I explained that OK, maybe someone else can add to it?

OldGreen, give it a go and see what happens, it does take practice, it sure does, but the hardest part is becoming deeply relaxed, you must drop off into sleep to get into the unconscious, to drop off the edge into the lucid state. So, train to go to sleep, best done during the day as a power nap, thats what I try to do every day, power nap, and sometimes I will astral travel with it.

CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is one of the hardest disorders to treat, it also contributes to their mental health decline in a big way. Again Thyroid can be involved, but I have found that the main cause of CFS is Glandular Fever, Mononucleosis, a very nasty virus that attacks the nervous system, primarily the CNS, the brain. Scans show it causes lesions to develop in the lower brain, at the back of the head. Other contributors are Ross River Virus, Brahman Virus, etc. many of the mosquito born virus's can contribute to this. This will of course contribute to the mitochondria performing less efficiently than it should severely interfering with brain function. OK, end of science lecture and back to work

Ah, interesting turn here to be looking at the brain, ChiDragon. If I may add some of my research, each brain cell has many mitochondria which produce ATP's to power and run the cell activities. These mitochondria require certain components to function efficiently, namely iodine and thyroid hormone. Interestingly, the mitochondria have special receptors for thyroid hormone, namely T3 which is the active principal hormone. If a person is unwell the thyroid produces a hormone called Reverse T3 (RT3), which is like the left handed shape of the active right handed T3. This inactive RT3 will sit in the same receptor reserved for the active T3, and do nothing, it does not power the cells at all, which is what the active T3 usually does. We see mammals who hibernate, produce massive amounts of RT3 prior to hibernating, it shuts down the ATP production in the mitochondria putting the animal to sleep. In humans if we produce too much RT3 we feel groggy, sleepy and very unwell, we are basically starting to enter hibernation. We see RT3 produced when people get sick, it slows us down to make us sleep to recover. But it also makes life terrible for sufferers who just get sicker and sicker instead of falling into a hibernation state. The Mitochondria also have special receptors for iodine, however, with so much iodine deficiency in the world (and even in 1st world countries) these receptors do not fill, there is not enough iodine in the blood to fill every mitochonrial receptor, thus the mitochondria die off, Mitochondrial Disease, or called something like that. These receptors also have the problem in that they will allow the toxic halides to sit in the iodine site. Thus we get fluoride, chlorine and bromine taking iodine's place. These are toxic and make us crook. They also give us, 'Brain Fag'. One way to reduce brain fag is to up our iodine intake, thus eventually we detox our cells and clear our head. So, in terms of mental health, my field, a healthy thyroid is essential - however, an unhealthy thyroid is implicated in Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, plus all the anxiety and depression disorders. Poor thyroid function is one of the first things I ask my patients to get checked, and many will have low thyroid, hypothyroid. Fix that and most of their symptoms disappear.

ChiD, but, ATP's are the outcome of a chemical reaction, how can you link chi to it besides as an energy within cells powering the cells to do their job? I was thinking more like in nei gung, where the mind moves the chi. I can feel the chi moving through my body without the breath, just the mind, directing it, now I don't think that this is ATP activity at the cellular level. He he, I think I got you thinking now

"As I said before, Chi Kung is the ultimate method of breathing. The ultimate goal in Chi Kung is have to ability to perform abdominal breathing. Only abdominal breathing will and can fill the lung to the 100% capacity. Many people do not understand what it meant by "sink chi to the dan tien", 氣沉丹田. First of all, Chi means air or breath by the Chinese definition, not the western definition as 'energy'. Dan tien is just only a descriptive location where the abdominal is. What the Chinese meant by "sink chi to the dan tien", 氣沉丹田, was that when the abdomen was fully expanded during inhalation. We all knew that the breath does not get into the abdomen but only in the lungs. What is happening in the abdominal breathing...??? Under the condition of abdominal breathing, the diaphragm will be flattened allowing the lungs to expand more downward to increase its volume. Thus more air can be filled in the lung. That is why it was called abdominal breathing or "sink chi to the dan tien"; 氣沉丹田." ChiD, back on track, so air is not chi, OK I can get that, but it's also not ATP's, so, what is it? I think of it as nerve energy, but then, ATP's are necessary for nerve impulses so they must be added to the mix. I am glad you briefly discussed the dan tien and abdominal breathing, it is central to all our chi work, is not the dan tien the major generator of power in TCM? - JMHO. I studied biology when I was studying as a food technician, but that was almost 30 years ago, I have forgotten almost everything about it, since moving to psychology I am lucky to even know anything at all

ChiD, have been flat out, got court on Friday as expert witness so have been busting my butt researching, so will need some time to get through your material, catch ya soonest.