Cold hands during practice

[voidisyinyang]

Steam -- I think Buscon is referring to the Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality book -- which is based on the small universe or microcosmic orbit. The whole purpose of the small universe is to bring the energy from the head DOWN the front of the body as ionization or purification.

 

Steam the teacher of Spring Forest Qigong focuses on SHEN long-distance third eye healing. So he sits in full-lotus at least 4 hours a day and heals patients referred from the top hospital in the world, the Mayo Clinic.

 

The West tends to get stuck on the skanda of form, as Buddhism calls it. So that is a problem with Taoist Yoga -- when the third eye does open up if the small universe practice continues on form it can create attachment to the skanda of form. That's not until about chapter 10 of Taoist Yoga though but Bill Bodri gets into this in his amazing book "Measuring Meditation."

 

That's why you had an insomnia, because the energy rised up to the head - the third dantien - pineal and pituitary glands. It is better to take it slow... first build the first dantien, then build the second, and then the third, it will take you more than a year so take it slow...

yes, taichi, zhan zhuang is a way to build Yin kidney. Yin energy is the static electricity of the earth and plants.

Also diet, Yin energy is within alkaline foods: http://www.tao-garden.com/5elements/5ElementsCDmenu.html

http://www.tao-garden.com/5elements/Water.html

yes, spring forest qigong is excellent. 5 tibetan rites is more vigurous and disperse the Yang and balances the central channel.

"Steam" is a metaphor. The nature of the steam is to disperse. If you cool down, the "steam" liquify turning back to "water". If you cool down further the "water" solidify/crystalize turning to "ice/crystal/metal element".

 

The purpose of the "steam" is to clean and open all the channels. It is easier to clean with hot water than with cold water. Normally the energy goes slow on the Yin channels and goes very quick on the Yang channels. If you circulate cold energy is very difficult and even if you can, the circulation is slower. If you heat a little bit the Yin energy will circulate quicker. Yin is body fluids and hormones, Yang is bio-electro-magnetism. If you cool down the Yang energy will circulate slower, it is just a matter of fine tunning, you need to make aquaintance with your body and your organs.

 

Liver likes it warm and moist. Spleen likes it dry and warm. Stomach likes it cool and wet and does not like dry. Lungs does not like it neither too dry nor too moist. Listen to them what they like...

[Eternal_Student]

I didnt read the whole thread, so apologies if repetitious. I am typing in between patients.

 

cold hands equates with qi stagnation. the qi is not moving.

qi gong should raise your body temperature after about 1 minute of breathing. It is not a passive exercise of the mind, but an active pumping of the breath, blood, lymph and qi.

 

your diaphragm is probably stuck, which prevents the liver from moving the blood out of the middle jiao.

 

visit an acupuncturist close to you, and they will move your qi and relax the diaphragm.

NCCAOM if you are in the U.S.

[buscon]

That's why you had an insomnia, because the energy rised up to the head - the third dantien - pineal and pituitary glands. It is better to take it slow... first build the first dantien, then build the second, and then the third, it will take you more than a year so take it slow...

 

ok, how can I build the second dantien (solar plexus) ?

I've read a lot of stuff about the first and the third, but nothing about the second.

I've acutally started with the pineal gland just because taoist yoga practice start with that one...

 

 

yes, taichi, zhan zhuang is a way to build Yin kidney. Yin energy is the static electricity of the earth and plants.

Also diet, Yin energy is within alkaline foods: http://www.tao-garden.com/5elements/5ElementsCDmenu.html

http://www.tao-garden.com/5elements/Water.html

 

 

ok, cool

 

 

yes, spring forest qigong is excellent. 5 tibetan rites is more vigurous and disperse the Yang and balances the central channel.

"Steam" is a metaphor. The nature of the steam is to disperse. If you cool down, the "steam" liquify turning back to "water". If you cool down further the "water" solidify/crystalize turning to "ice/crystal/metal element".

 

The purpose of the "steam" is to clean and open all the channels. It is easier to clean with hot water than with cold water. Normally the energy goes slow on the Yin channels and goes very quick on the Yang channels. If you circulate cold energy is very difficult and even if you can, the circulation is slower. If you heat a little bit the Yin energy will circulate quicker. Yin is body fluids and hormones, Yang is bio-electro-magnetism. If you cool down the Yang energy will circulate slower, it is just a matter of fine tunning, you need to make aquaintance with your body and your organs.

 

Liver likes it warm and moist. Spleen likes it dry and warm. Stomach likes it cool and wet and does not like dry. Lungs does not like it neither too dry nor too moist. Listen to them what they like...

 

Thank you for the explanation - I actually didn't want to see the steam for, but how to use the steam, metaphorically speaking.

Anyway thank you for the comprehensive answer, now I've got it

[Andrei]

ok, how can I build the second dantien (solar plexus) ?

 

spring forest qigong and lotus meditation

[buscon]

Here's an update of this post with my experience.

 

I increased the warmth of my body with food, now it's better.

 

I noticed that my hands and feet are very cold around midday. sometimes I have even time to meditate around this time, but my hands still cold.

In the morning it depends: sometimes they are fine, sometimes are cold.

On the other side everything is quite warm at evening meditation (around midnight).

 

Lately I'm working more on my second dantien, especially with spring forest 2.

This text is very useful too.

Edited December 14, 2009 by buscon

[soaring crane]

[buscon]

[doc benway]

 

 

If you do feel good and still want to keep your hands warm, wear gloves while practicing.

 

I'd suggest mittens if possible, rather than gloves. Mittens allow the fingers to share warmth whereas gloves insulate them from one another and can actually make them feel colder. I'm plagued with cold hands in part due to damage to the ulnar artery in my palms from martial arts practice (too much wooden dummy striking). Mittens work much better for me than gloves.

[voidisyinyang]

[Dainin]

Hello Buscon,

 

Two simple qigong forms that I have found to bring a lot of warmth to the hands (and feet) are Fragrance Qigong (aka Xiang Gong) and Pan Gu Shengong (aka Pan Gu Mystical Qigong). These forms

take about 20 minutes each to do. My hands get red and tingling after either one. Good luck!

[buscon]

I'd suggest mittens if possible, rather than gloves. Mittens allow the fingers to share warmth whereas gloves insulate them from one another and can actually make them feel colder. I'm plagued with cold hands in part due to damage to the ulnar artery in my palms from martial arts practice (too much wooden dummy striking). Mittens work much better for me than gloves.

 

ok, thx for the tip.

 

Buscon -- it's mid-day right now in Minnesota and we just got another snow fall -- several inches. The temperature is 20 degrees below freezing or so. I just finished a full-lotus meditation session.

 

Warming the heart is through ionization from the vagus nerve activation and then the blood getting magnetized. So the heat is from the chi or electromagnetic currents.

 

There's two ways to the heart -- the left vagus nerve is the left-brain mind yoga which means to focus on one thought as mind control. In nondualism this is the source of the I-thought -- repeating I-I-I over and over. That's just the beginning. Then the thought congeals into one and you LISTEN to the source of the thought. This creates ultrasound which then activates the vagus nerve through ionization. The left vagus nerve goes straight to the right side of the heart -- this is why advaita vedanta is called "the direct path."

 

In yoga -- through the full-lotus -- or kundalini sex energy -- the vagus nerve goes from the lower body up through the right side of the neck into the right side of the brain. There it goes to the pineal gland.

 

As the pineal gland, through the piezoelectric pressure, gets activated from INCREASED blood flow up the spine -- then the vagus nerve is activated to increase the chi or electromagnetic energy of the pineal gland.

 

So then the brain fills with electromagnetic energy and bliss -- the lower body serotonin -- and then the brain channels open up -- so that now the LEFT SIDE OF THE BRAIN has the vagus nerve activated with the blood flood and this then goes back down to the heart.

 

So once the heart is hot then the feet and hands will be nice and toasty as well.

 

Sitting meditation is COLLECTING THE ENERGY while standing meditation is ACTIVATING THE ENERGY -- so that the chi is "harvested" or spread into all the body channels. So if you want to increase the activation of the energy it's best to LOWER your knee stance when doing standing exercise. Or else sit in full-lotus which combines the lower knee stance with the sitting meditation of mind focus.

 

Very good explanation drew, as always

 

Here's in Berlin quite cold too, but I live in a warm flat.

My legs are already bent, but I'll try with some full-lotus too.

 

Hello Buscon,

 

Two simple qigong forms that I have found to bring a lot of warmth to the hands (and feet) are Fragrance Qigong (aka Xiang Gong) and Pan Gu Shengong (aka Pan Gu Mystical Qigong). These forms

take about 20 minutes each to do. My hands get red and tingling after either one. Good luck!

 

Thx for the links! I'll try them out.

Fragrance qigong is a free download, but I cannot find any free stuff about the Pan Gu Shengong - am I missing smt ?

[voidisyinyang]

Buscon -- this "summer in the Amazon" episode of Destination Truth makes a reference to "winter in Germany" -- DT is one of the most popular shows in the U.S. right now (well starts up again in March)

 

http://www.syfy.com/rewind/?sid=32856

 

ok, thx for the tip.

Very good explanation drew, as always

 

 

[buscon]

Buscon -- this "summer in the Amazon" episode of Destination Truth makes a reference to "winter in Germany" -- DT is one of the most popular shows in the U.S. right now (well starts up again in March)

 

http://www.syfy.com/rewind/?sid=32856

 

I cannot watch it because I'm outside U.S.

what do they say about winter in Germany ?

[voidisyinyang]

It was a joke because Destination Truth host, Josh Gates, had gone to Germany in the winter with the Ghost Hunters International hosts -- "Ghost Hunters" is another popular show in the U.S. So then Josh Gates took the Ghost Hunter hosts down to the Amazon in the summer -- supposedly an opposite extreme in temperature.

 

Josh Gates lives in California which has very mild winter -- here's the German Ghost Hunters episode write up on a skeptic site -- visiting Castle Frankenstein.

 

http://www.skepticalviewer.com/2008/02/20/...enstein-castle/

 

I cannot watch it because I'm outside U.S.

what do they say about winter in Germany ?

[New Dawn Fades]

Last week I noticed something interesting. I was meditating with two students who are both young healthy fellers but on is more yang and one is more yin. We were sitting, holding the ball at tan tien level. After the meditation I massage their hands and necks, and noticed that each of us had a warm left hand and a cool right hand, and that's the first time that has happened.

 

Any ideas?

[voidisyinyang]

Well it could be like the nose channels -- how the left nostril has the energy open for a 2 hour cycle and then the right nostril....

 

Still once you open up the central channel then it over-rides those differences but they amplify the effects. Especially the 11 am to 1 pm or 11 pm to 1 am with the first being the lower tan tien and the 2nd being the upper tan tien -- solar energy. You can double your meditation effects during those times daily.

 

Last week I noticed something interesting. I was meditating with two students who are both young healthy fellers but on is more yang and one is more yin. We were sitting, holding the ball at tan tien level. After the meditation I massage their hands and necks, and noticed that each of us had a warm left hand and a cool right hand, and that's the first time that has happened.

 

Any ideas?

[New Dawn Fades]

Thanks, that makes sense. I left some possibly pertinent information out: we always do our sittings after a couple of hours of moderately strenuous (yet gentle =) moving chi kung, and it was around 8:30PM. Of course the energy level in the room goes up quite a lot as we are all radiating energy and also sharing it since it is confined in the room. In our chi kung we practice indoors.

Edited December 16, 2009 by New Dawn Fades

[90_1494798740]

Hello Buscon,

 

Two simple qigong forms that I have found to bring a lot of warmth to the hands (and feet) are Fragrance Qigong (aka Xiang Gong) ...

 

Yes, Frangrance Qigong is really perfect to get warm hands (and keep warm hands if practiced consistently). That's also my experience! Apart from that, it's really easy to learn, too!

 

Good advice!