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Dedication and persistence pays off ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-39073334

So I am interested in a self taught yoga method that would help me gain flexibility and peace of mind and for a better meditation posture as well as something that would keep me limber for other forms of exercise. I've been considering starting with Yogani's Asana's book cause it seems simple and I won't have much time on my hands this year. I also am considering "Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya" by Satananda Saraswati. Seems like a complete guide and I like a lot of its other content about cold showers, neti pots, etc This book seems a lot more time consuming to follow and some have even deemed it dangerous to practice such tantric routines without a guru present. Anybody farmiliar with these texts?

Hi all, First off is there any way to delete a topic on the mobile version of this site? All I see are options to edit posts. So I have started my journey of meditation, but I was wondering if it should be coupled with some form of weight training, or cardio. In Chia's Awaken Healing Light of the Tao, he says exercise is important, but that you lose chi when you get out of breath. Should I just get into the sauna as exercise and do some Zhan Zhaung in there? I dont know if Im ready for Chi Gong or how I would practice it because I dont have wifi so I can't watch youtube really. Any good books that teach Chi Gong? Also I enjoy running on the beach by my house. Should I do that or would it mess up my energy to be out of breath? I used to go to the gym a lot, but I am a small guy so I have to eat a ton to gain any weight. I really don't think I need to be gaining weight, I just liked the effects of the gym (increased testosterone, increased vascularity). What are you guys' opinion on these topics. I know theres already a post about weightlifting which I have read. P.S. Does anyone find Mantak Chia's 6 healing sounds or Inner Smile meditations useful?

Does anyone simply walk for exercise and to meditate or reflect while doing so? I am 21 but started moving more when I noticed myself starting to age, youth fading and my body deteriorating. I now try to walk 10,000 steps a day and while doing so I reflect on life. I am a runner as well, but don't do it as much (only about 18 miles a week) because it is more "yang" to me and seems to degenerate the body in excess. The rest of my health practices and body / weight management are via yoga, healthy diet and fasting. But I like walking

I lift competitively in the 165 lb class. I am very tight and I started qi gong and zhan zhuang to become more flexible. By accident I felt some small amount of chi discharge down my spine and through my legs while doing squats. I can't replicate this situation. Would one of you that has enough experience with anything similar (possibly an internal martial artist,) suggest some qi gong to boost and direct chi while lifting? I would be very grateful for any help. Just as the internal martial arts are a spiritual path I feel I could turn powerlifting into an internal path if I went about it properly. Thanks ---Dan

Here's a little contemplative exercise which I think may be helpful for those of you who are currently materialistic in your outlook (meaning, you believe in some objective reality, unbending rules of physics, a universe that exist outside your mind, the whole shebang), but who are either leaning toward or are curious about a less materialistic outlook. This is a personal, intimate exercise, so purely intellectual analysis is not interesting or useful here. First produce what you consider a physical effect. For example, maybe move your arm around for a bit. And pay attention to how everything feels. An arm is something that follows laws of physics according to convention. So for example, you cannot accelerate your arm faster than the speed of light, and you must overcome inertia of the arm to move it, and you have to resist the pull of gravity, and so on. This is why we might say an arm is a physical object. Paying huge amount of careful attention, in a calm, cool and collected contemplative frame of mind, move your arm about feeling everything as carefully as possible. Or perform something else that you consider to be a physical effect, like maybe tense up your tongue or something, the idea is the same. Second, produce what you might consider a non-physical effect. Most of the committed materialists rail against fantasy and magical thinking. So that means materialists would consider something like daydreaming or fantasizing to be a non-physical effect. It's private and cannot be observed by others, where if a third party were to tap the brain, even brain waves are not the same thing as the qualities of your fantasies... so if you imagine a juicy apple, there are no juicy brainwaves, they're just numerical frequencies, and juiciness of an imaginary apple is a private quality that's not possible to experience for an outsider first hand. Also imaginary apples do not abide by rules of physics. They don't need to resist gravity. They can move around faster than light, and so on. Because objects of imagination do not have to follow rules of physics, we can consider them non-physical effects. As well we can consider them purely subjective effects vs moving an arm which has a subjective and a supposedly objective side to it. So engage for a little while in producing non-physical effects and like before, pay very very careful attention to what's happening and how it is happening. Now ask yourself some questions about the causal context which gives rise to these effects! So possible considerations might be: Am I using my brain to move my arm? (physical cause to physical effect) Am I using my immaterial mind to move my imaginary apple around? (non-physical cause to non-physical effect) Am I using my brain to both move my arm and move my imaginary apple? (physical cause to both physical and non-physical effects) Am I using my immaterial mind to produce both physical and non-physical effects? (non-physical cause to both physical and non-physical effects) When you ask these questions, please experiment and feel, don't just intellectualize. Also, the point of these questions is to investigate causal context, so there is no need to limit yourself to just these. Instead any question that is relevant to investigating causal context should be investigated. Now ask yourself some follow ups: If you think that the cause is physical, ask yourself what physical parameters it has, and then how something that's bound by physical parameters can produce effects that are not bound by physical parameters. Don't just intellectualize. Move that imaginary apple around as you contemplate. Feel it, don't just think it. And ask yourself other questions in similar manner. Ask yourself if there is one causal context or two or some other arrangement. On what grounds would you think so? Again, don't just analyze intellectually. Move your arm around and move your imaginary apple around to feel everything first hand. If you think there are multiple separate contexts, is there something that unifies them? Can you move from one context to another deliberately if you think there are numerous contexts? Again, feel this out, don't just intellectualize. The point of this exercise is exploration and familiarization.

Using all my spare time for over a year I have developed a web app to make some suggestions to answer a few commonly asked questions on this forum; Which path to take? How can I heal / cure myself of “x” health issue? I have this problem in my meditation, what do I do? The app is centred around providing effective and practical suggestions derived specifically for each individual user. The best thing about it is that you can get a lot of the great benefits of TCM and put things into practice right away without needing to learn piles of TCM theory. All you need to do is answer a questionnaire that takes 10-15 minutes, after which the app will generate a customised health cultivation program for you. Meditation, exercise and diet issues are addressed for each individual user aimed at bringing the body back into a state of balance where the possibibilty of extraordinary health can be achieved. However I would like to say that although the underlying capabilities are working, it is a work in progress and has a pretty basic looking interface. In the future I hope to make it look fancier, but until then when I can review the situation, the whole system is free to use. In the meantime I would be greatful if you could give me some feedback, inform me of any problems you face while using the webpage, or if you find the app useful it would be great if you 'liked' the facebook page (you can find it on the front webpage of the site www.healthcultivation.com). This app shouldn't take the place of advice given by your doctor. If you have health issues you should always see your doctor first. Check out the app at: Online TCM Diagnosis To use the diagnosis system you must create a login account (free), so that your answers get saved when you proceed to the next step, saving you from needing to re-enter answers at a later date. I spent heaps of time making this so i hope some people can benefit from it.

Hey friends. My girlfriend is a sweet, sweet person. But, she can get pretty down on herself. She is so beautiful and so adorable. I think she is beautiful the way she is. She does not, to say the least. She is 5'3 and about 130 lbs. She is worried about her excess fat around her stomach, thighs, butt and hips. She hula-hoops, but has never been that active, so she gets discouraged when she has difficulty with an exercise. She finds it hard, then thinks to herself "How do I know this is working anyways?" She has expressed interest in a workout plan and a diet. She said that if she had some sort of plan, she could stick to it and would feel better about the potential results. A little bit of background: She is half Italian, half Mexican. She is a B-positive blood type. As stated, she is 5'3 130 lbs. We live in the Midwest, United States. She was born in Arizona and lived a good portion of her early life in Texas. She is a Taurus and her moon sign is Virgo. She has a bit of a sweet tooth and is attracted to starchy foods. She knows that she'd have to reduce those things. She is also a very picky eater. She really wants to be healthier and be in better shape. It would be very, very much appreciated if I could get some workout plan and diet ideas, or any other suggestions for her. It pains me to see her so down on herself. Thank you.