Zyril

Hello everyone, I'm Zyril, a 23 year old engineering student, currently residing in a cold northern country. I've always been fascinated by eastern philosophy, and I have read quite many books on the topic though only a few of them were of the practical sort, i.e. Qigong Teachings of a Taoist Immortal: The Eight Essential Exercises of Master Li Ching-yun http://www.amazon.co...l/dp/0892819456 and The Inner Structure of Tai Chi: Mastering the Classic Forms of Tai Chi Chi Kung http://www.amazon.co...g/dp/1594770581 I now realize that I have alot of questions, and perhaps some of you may be able to help me out and point me in the correct direction. 1. I have for some time now wanted to "go practical" when it comes to my spiritual side, and I am very curious on both tai-chi chuan and qigong. My problem is that I have clue on how to start nor where to start. I've looked up a school near me where I can try out both arts, and I will do so. But how do I know what is best for me, or what it is that I want to do? 2. I am a fit guy, I eat right, I sleep well and I feel healthy in most ways I can think of. I have since about half a year back tried to spend each night meditating for some time, though I cannot say that I progressed very far. In the beginning, I couldn't sit still for more than ten minutes, because my middle back below my shoulder blades would start to hurt. Now, I can sit down and relax for about 30 minutes, before I feel like I'm slowly becoming more restless and contraproductive in the meditation. I write meditation, though I do not believe that I actually have entered a meditative state any of the times that I have done it. I do feel more relaxed and at ease though, so I guess that I am getting something good out of it. I have also read, and I know that this most likely is just opinions from people, that by not ejaculating I can reach a meditative state easier than when ejaculating from now and then. Lately, I have been experimenting with this in the way that whenever I have felt aroused, I have instead tried to meditate, and it has helped me to regain control of my mind and my body. Is there any truth in this? I feel like I am benefiting by doing it this way, so maybe it is how I should do? This turned into a lot of text, so I won't write more right now but instead wait for some replies. Perhaps I need to be clearer on some points. Yours faithfully, Z

This place really is a goldmine and I am very grateful for the advice that you are giving me, it's invaluable! GrandmasterP; I will try out the QiGong that was posted. This might be good since I plan to attend a try out workshop of QiGong quite soon. Gerard; Thank you again for opening my eyes to Bagua, from what I've viewed and read it seems very interesting and I will pursue it a bit further and see if there are any teachers somewhere. Regarding the meditation progression, I have saved the link and will perhaps use it for further reference. I will take the disclaimer seriously for now and try to work on my fundamental meditation technique a bit further on my own before reading up on it. Sloppy Zhang; Thank you for the reading tip, I will look into it. Everything that lays down basics and fundamentals is good!

Some great advice here from all three of you! Thank you to all, I will look into it. Gerard, I read up on some info on Baguazhang now, and indeed it looks interesting. Though, there appear to be no tutors where I live, not even close. Is the general view that you can start practice without a teacher in the beginning, or is this more or less useless? For me, in any other part of life where I was supposed to learn something, getting the basics correct with the help of a competent teacher has always been the best way and I do not see why this wouldn't be the case here.

Hello everyone, I'm Zyril (for real) and I have been lurking this forum for some time, now realising that I have some questions that I think are suitable for asking here! I hope to learn alot by my stay here, and that it will take my journey in life further! Take care, Z