Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

[zen-bear]

I came across the positioning of the tongue 5 years after practicing FPCK with the tongue in soft palate and did some research and contemplation of my own.

There are actually 3 positions, water/ soft palate switching the front channel to the central channel, also nourishing all internal organs + enabling one to do some "spine" work, like deep meditations.

Fire place is at the hard palate on top, which I suspect what they call as "roof of the mouth" which GMDW is always instructing to put the tip of tongue on his videos.

There is also the wind place where every one in this forum talks about to be told to keep their tongues at, behind the top teeth. I did not come across any official reference about this, I may have missed it, but I was so serious to find it out, so I tried all the positions. All have different effects as they switch to different places.

For martial arts, limbic system is a priority, wind place connects front and back channels, boosting external organs and make me feel lighter both in the mind and body while doing any moving exercises, but mind chatter is literally boosted.

I am guessing all who came into this system with a prior martial art experience accepts this position without any further thinking.

Fire place kind of balances both internal and external, and in my experience boosts the root. It combines stillness with the movement and reduces mind chatter considerably.

Water place I believe is where we will all end up after a certain practice time, as it allows the spine with all these chakras to act directly, bypassing intellect and allowing our higher self to operate with more freedom in this environment.

Tongue finds its correct position with respect to practice experience. It is very logical to begin with the wind/external and move on, if not told officially otherwise ☺

Cheers

Hi Cihan,

Thanks for your interesting post and questions about tongue position.

You see, that's the great value of a forum such as this:  During my decades of practicing FP Qigong,I have placed the tongue in all three positions, but mostly in the middle palate position.  Neither directly behind the upper teeth (touching them) or farthest back towards the throat  pointing at the pineal gland (as done in Tibetan tantric yogas).  GM Doo Wai never made any distinction as to 3 positions of the tongue during all the years that I learned from him.

 

Thus I will try all three positions in my continuing practice and let you know in time, if I experience similar involuntary movements of the tongue, and also if the various positions of the tongue on the hard palate result in different yogic effects.

 

Thanks for prompting me to explore this, Cihan.

 

Regards,

 

Sifu Terry

Edited November 25, 2016 by zen-bear

[Raven's Fire]

Greetings Sifu Terry Dunn and all.

 

It has been sometime since I had been here. I have not forgotten the group. My practice has been continuing though at the Standing Rock area in North Dakota. The fight against an oil company poisoning the water and desecrating the land continues.

 

While at Standing Rock, I started in on the fourth volume of the DVDs. I found a peaceful spot along the river where I had practice during the morning and early evening.

 

This became a spot where not only did I continue with my practice but a couple of "shamans" came and practiced their forms of healing as well.

 

A curious thing happened when I had done the longform meditation a couple times in a row back to back. After I had stopped, I noted a rather new sensation running through my body. It didn't startle me. It felt quite pleasant. I felt like I was vibrating on the inside and so I went to lie down on a rock nearby and before I knew it my body was trembling all over from head to toe, not quite like an epileptic seizure.

 

The shamans who were practicing their arts took notice of this. They told people to stand back. I just let the "shaking" continue. I don't know what it means. Has anyone had this experience before after practicing?

 

Does this "shaking" signify something?

[SeekerOfHealing]

The most funny effect I have that I could clearly feel channels of jing mai in my legs and body when the heat was pouring there.

[tao stillness]

I have witnessed many people shaking as they did powerful energy methods such as the TM Siddhi program, and the Oneness Blessing movement deepening processes involving pranayama and chakra meditations. The explanations for the spontaneous shaking involved powerful release of stress/karma/negative energies caused by kundalini rising from the energy methods. Release of stress from the mind/body is what eventually leads to enlightenment. Someone recently reminded me that enlightenment is a method of subtraction, not addition. The natural state of the human nervous system produces enlightenment. It is only the stress of daily living and from our genetics which adds things to our nervous system which then must be eliminated, hence the term, release of stress or it has also been called purification of the nervous system. To understand these experiences is one of the benefits of having teachers while we are on the path. Otherwise, there is confusion and because of that, wonderful cleansing has taken place but this frightens some people so they have stopped doing their practice and then moved on to something else. I have known some people who had wonderful spiritual experiences when first learning to meditate but because they did not understand them, they were too frightened to continue with meditation. They were such sensitive types that they both immediately had the experience of their Consciousness being separate from the physical body and this freaked them out instead of rejoicing at how highly evolved they actually were to have such an experience at the beginning stage of meditating. Whichever way we release stress during our energy work, or chi kung, it means something good is happening. We end the session with less stress than we had at the beginning. But we also need to keep in mind that sometimes we can overdue our energy work and then too much stress is released at one time, and that can make the symptoms feel uncomfortable. But I seen people go into wild, spontaneous gyrations of body parts, arms flapping like birds, body doing yoga like contortions and they all wanted to be left alone during those situations. They were aware it was their kundalini moving things around, making adjustments. From the outside it looks very weird. When I used to do Jenny Lamb's Yi Gong, I would sometimes have involuntary shaking of the legs, arms and hands at the same time and I suppose it looked like I had Parkinson's Disease. But on the inside I felt like it was a garden hose that had been crimped in one spot and pressure built up and when it released the energy shot out. It was enjoyable and I always looked forward to it, knowing it was the chi becoming unblocked and then restored to flowing.

Edited November 25, 2016 by tao stillness

[ralis]

I have witnessed many people shaking as they did powerful energy methods such as the TM Siddhi program, and the Oneness Blessing movement deepening processes involving pranayama and chakra meditations. The explanations for the spontaneous shaking involved powerful release of stress/karma/negative energies caused by kundalini rising from the energy methods. Release of stress from the mind/body is what eventually leads to enlightenment. Someone recently reminded me that enlightenment is a method of subtraction, not addiction. The natural state of the human nervous system produces enlightenment. It is only the stress of daily living and from our genetics which adds things to our nervous system which then must be eliminated, hence the term, release of stress or it has also been called purification of the nervous system. To understand these experiences is one of the benefits of having teachers while we are on the path. Otherwise, there is confusion and because of that, wonderful cleansing has taken place but this frightens some people so they have stopped doing their practice and then moved on to something else. I have known some people who had wonderful spiritual experiences when first learning to meditate but because they did not understand them, they were too frightened to continue with meditation. They were such sensitive types that they both immediately had the experience of their Consciousness being separate from the physical body and this freaked them out instead of rejoicing at how highly evolved they actually were to have such an experience at the beginning stage of meditating. Whichever way we release stress during our energy work, or chi kung, it means something good is happening. We end the session with less stress than we had at the beginning. But we also need to keep in mind that sometimes we can overdue our energy work and then too much stress is released at one time, and that can make the symptoms feel uncomfortable. But I seen people go into wild, spontaneous gyrations of body parts, arms flapping like birds, body doing yoga like contortions and they all wanted to be left alone during those situations. They were aware it was their kundalini moving things around, making adjustments. From the outside it looks very weird. When I used to do Jenny Lamb's Yi Gong, I would sometimes have involuntary shaking of the legs, arms and hands at the same time and I suppose it looked like I had Parkinson's Disease. But on the inside I felt like it was a garden hose that had been crimped in one spot and pressure built up and when it released the energy shot out. It was enjoyable and I always looked forward to it, knowing it was the chi becoming unblocked and then restored to flowing.

 

 

Shaking seems to be in many practices. When I practiced Vipassana I reached a certain point where I would start to shake and quiver. I was just fine with it given that it seemed a natural process.

[tao stillness]

As for the universal stress resulting from the USA election. My teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, taught us that whoever is the President of the U.S. is a reflection of the group consciousness of the nation at that time. This saddened me quite a bit as I considered that the behavior and values of Trump could be a reflection of many people in this country. That is what frightens me the most. He is our mirror. And the estimated minority of 2 percent of the population who regularly are on a spiritual path are far from being the norm. No wonder the world is burning in its greed as the late Jim Morrison used to sing.

If anyone doubts that rampant greed exists, just go shopping. And when at the grocery store be sure to read the labels of each item you put in your cart. The only reason toxic chemicals are added to food, such as preservatives, is to cut down the waste which means only one thing in the world of business, to cut down on loss of profit. In this current dark age called Kali Yuga in the Vedic tradition, values are upside down. Gold is more revered than health. That means that money is more important than life itself.

I apologize for the digression but I have tried to at least tie it to spirituality which is what chi kung is for me ultimately. So to keep afloat from the current darkness in the world and to keep my mind off the allegations that it is costing taxpayers one million dollars a day to pay for security whenever the Trump family is in New York, I will end this post and begin my morning practice of chi kung.

Edited November 25, 2016 by tao stillness

[the fool]

regarding the warm up exercises on DVD 2....they seem to improve the effects of the forms for me. It's like the effect is deeper and smoother.

I will definitely try doing 2 long forms back to back....never did that before. Time is a bit of a crunch.

 

Also, Sifu, is the Flying Phoenix book still a go? I read you were working on one.

I appreciate all the information given here. It seems everyone feels the energy in a way that relates to them specifically.

 

One gripe, let's leave any politics out of the discussion. Here, let's be friends trying to improve, supporting each other.

 

TF

[zen-bear]

Greetings Sifu Terry Dunn and all.

 

It has been sometime since I had been here. I have not forgotten the group. My practice has been continuing though at the Standing Rock area in North Dakota. The fight against an oil company poisoning the water and desecrating the land continues.

 

While at Standing Rock, I started in on the fourth volume of the DVDs. I found a peaceful spot along the river where I had practice during the morning and early evening.

 

This became a spot where not only did I continue with my practice but a couple of "shamans" came and practiced their forms of healing as well.

 

A curious thing happened when I had done the longform meditation a couple times in a row back to back. After I had stopped, I noted a rather new sensation running through my body. It didn't startle me. It felt quite pleasant. I felt like I was vibrating on the inside and so I went to lie down on a rock nearby and before I knew it my body was trembling all over from head to toe, not quite like an epileptic seizure.

 

The shamans who were practicing their arts took notice of this. They told people to stand back. I just let the "shaking" continue. I don't know what it means. Has anyone had this experience before after practicing?

 

Does this "shaking" signify something?

 

Hi Raven's Fire,

Thank you for sharing your experience of what I call the "vibratory states" resulting from your doing the FP Standing Long Form Meditation a couple of times while at Standing Rock.  While doing the Long Form Standing Meditation two times is a standard prescription for feeling tangible and verifiable energization, the location where one practices sometimes can make a big difference in enhancing FP's energizing and rejuvenating effects. 

 

As I've written a good deal about it in the early years of this thread, the body shaking an vibrating during an FP exercise--regardless of whether it is standing or seated, sedentary or moving meditation--is absolutely normal and a common side effect of FP Qigong practice.  As I stated in past postings, all of the Bok Fu Pai (White Tiger) meditations have shaking and vibrating as a normal side-effect.  Here's the detailed summary on shaking:

 

1.  The involuntary shaking, tossing and vibrating are caused by the internal energy ignited by the FP Qigong breathing sequences and circulated by the movements and postures of each FP Meditation the  circulates this FP Healing energy through specific pathways in the body.  Whenever this energy flow meets tense tissues in the body, that tense body part shakes.  

 

2.  Each FP Meditation will cause different types of shaking.  e.g.  "Monk Holding Peach" (90 50 40 20 10) always caused practitioners to bend forward deeply at the waist and continue to bob up and own in repetitive "bowings".  Several of my L.A. students in the 90's quipped that they felt that they were at the wailing wall in Jerusalem.

 

2.  The "Qigong" in FP Qigong means to condition the body to conduct the FP Qigong efficiently.  The more one practices FP Qigong, the more refined that vibrations become so that over time one no longer shakes as vigorously...because the FP energy permeates or is infused into the body's tissues.

 

3.  The involuntary shaking-tossing is perfectly safe and will automatically stop on its own after a certain period of time that differes from person to person.  That's one of the most interesting features of the FP Qigong.  The vibrations are not that severe to begin with, and even if they do get intense in terms of amplitude and frequency, all FP practitioners experience the fact that shaking will always shut down on its own before it does any arm to the body.

 

4.  The calm and inner quiet that is felt after the shaking shuts itself down is sublime and very sweet.  (You may have felt this already.)

 

5.  Compared to the shakings and vibrating induced by FP Qigong, the  martial qigong exercises in the other Bok Fu Pai traditions induce far more intense shakings--some almost violent.  My classmates and I in the early 90's referred to some of the meditations in 10,000 Buddhas System as "carnival rides", where we would be careening all across the room with arms flailing and bouncing off of walls, literally.

 

6.   With prolonged practice, one feels a tangible reserve of FP healing energy.  And this energy is distinctively different from "general" chi of the body.  This healing energy will spontaneously  transfer to another person in proximity to you if you have positive regard for the person and he happens to be ill or injured.

 

7. As I've stated earlier this year, the light, "ethereal", and blue Flying Phoenix energy is purely a healing energy.  I cannot be used for martial art.

 

8.  Location can make a difference in FP practice.  There are some places in the world that are optimal for practicing yogas like FP Qigong. Carlos Castaneda called them "power spots" in his books.  One can find them if one can "see" them.  

 

I remember that one of my more senior students in L.A. reported to me two summers ago by phone after he did a couple of basic standing FP Meditations (vol.1) followed by one of the seated Monk Serves Wine meditations at the famous red sand beach on the north side of Maui, which I told him to visit.  In so many words, he said that first his head and mind felt expansion to the limits of universe. Then he said that he no longer felt that he had a body.  Complete jhana-absorption.

 

9. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy these good vibrations.

 

Be sure to give the thread your feedback as you continue to the FP Shake.

 

Here's a song for inspiration:

(It gets good visually about 1:13 !) 

 

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

Edited November 30, 2016 by zen-bear

[Joolian]

Hi Raven's Fire,

Thank you for sharing your experience of what I call the "vibratory states" resulting from your doing the FP Standing Long Form Meditation a couple of times while at Standing Rock.  While doing the Long Form Standing Meditation two times is a standard prescription for feeling tangible and verifiable energization, the location where one practices sometimes can make a big difference in enhancing FP's energizing and rejuvenating effects. 

 

As I've written a good deal about it in the early years of this thread, the body shaking an vibrating during an FP exercise--regardless of whether it is standing or seated, sedentary or moving meditation--is absolutely normal and a common side effect of FP Qigong practice.  As I stated in past postings, all of the Bok Fu Pai (White Tiger) meditations have shaking and vibrating as a normal side-effect.  Here's the detailed summary on shaking:

 

1.  The involuntary shaking, tossing and vibrating are caused by the internal energy ignited by the FP Qigong breathing sequences and circulated by the movements and postures of each FP Meditation the  circulates this FP Healing energy through specific pathways in the body.  Whenever this energy flow meets tense tissues in the body, that tense body part shakes.  

 

2.  Each FP Meditation will cause different types of shaking.  e.g.  "Monk Holding Peach" (90 50 40 20 10) always caused practitioners to bend forward deeply at the waist and continue to bob up and own in repetitive "bowings".  Several of my L.A. students in the 90's quipped that they felt that they were at the wailing wall in Jerusalem.

 

2.  The "Qigong" in FP Qigong means to condition the body to conduct the FP Qigong efficiently.  The more one practices FP Qigong, the more refined that vibrations become so that over time one no longer shakes as vigorously...because the FP energy permeates or is infused into the body's tissues.

 

3.  The involuntary shaking-tossing is perfectly safe and will automatically stop on its own after a certain period of time that differes from person to person.  That's one of the most interesting features of the FP Qigong.  The vibrations are not that severe to begin with, and even if they do get intense in terms of amplitude and frequency, all FP practitioners experience the fact that shaking will always shut down on its own before it does any arm to the body.

 

4.  The calm and inner quiet that is felt after the shaking shuts itself down is sublime and very sweet.  (You may have felt this already.)

 

5.  Compared to the shakings and vibrating induced by FP Qigong, the  martial qigong exercises in the other Bok Fu Pai traditions induce far more intense shakings--some almost violent.  My classmates and I in the early 90's referred to some of the meditations in 10,000 Buddhas System as "carnival rides", where we would be careening all across the room with arms flailing and bouncing off of walls, literally.

 

6.   With prolonged practice, one feels a tangible reserve of FP healing energy.  And this energy is distinctively different from "general" chi of the body.  This healing energy will spontaneously  transfer to another person in proximity to you if you have positive regard for the person and he happens to be ill or injured.

 

7. As I've stated earlier this year, the light, "ethereal", and blue Flying Phoenix energy is purely a healing energy.  I cannot be used for martial art.

 

8.  Location can make a difference in FP practice.  There are some places in the world that are optimal for practicing yogas like FP Qigong. Carlos Castaneda called them "power spots" in his books.  One can find them if one can "see" them.  

 

I remember that one of my more senior students in L.A. reported to me two summers ago by phone after he did a couple of basic standing FP Meditations (vol.1) followed by one of the seated Monk Serves Wine meditations at the famous red sand beach on the north side of Maui, which I told him to visit.  In so many words, he said that first his head and mind felt expansion to the limits of universe. Then he said that he no longer felt that he had a body.  Complete jhana-absorption.

 

9. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy these good vibrations.

 

Be sure to give the thread your feedback as you continue to the FP Shake.

 

Here's a song for inspiration:

(It gets good visually about 1:13 !) 

 

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

 

Thank you very much, Sifu Terry, for this great reply and inspiration.

 

I was about to write about my recent shakings, so this was well synchronized. Whereas I did shake in the beginning of my FP practice (e.g. while doing standing "Monk gazing at moon") it subsided and came back in the last few days. So I was wondering if I had acquired new/more blockages which set the shakings off again or if it was just breaking through a new layer... At my earlier practice the shakings would only occur after a minimum of 8 minutes standing, but at the moment they occur at minute 3 or 4 and are getting rigorous. Sometimes I "do" shapes of 8's with my elbows or my whole upper torso rotates nearly 180 degrees to either left or right. It always feels good and I am astounded by the energy's intelligence. While doing these movements I experience cracking and popping noises in my neck and back, so I think this is readjusting my whole structure.

 

Do you guys also have these shakings during "Monk gazing at moon"?

 

Thanks and greetings,

Julian

[tao stillness]

I was glad to read the report of the senior student who in Maui felt that he did not have a body. I have felt that when some of my meditations during TM were very deep. It is a common experience among TM meditators. So it might be quite an experience to do meditation and qigong in Maui to go into even deeper meditation and hence higher states of consciousness.

My teacher at one point long ago was exploring having people meditate at the peak time for each individual based on their own biorhythm which is available online. I would think the same experiment could be done with qigong. Look at your biorhythm chart and do your favorite Flying Phoenix Qigong method at your peak time and see if becomes more special than usual. Then please report on this thread. It is at least cheaper than booking a flight to Maui.  

Edited November 30, 2016 by tao stillness

[SeekerOfHealing]

Okay. I do not know if someone will be interested but I doing experiment like Win Hof. I shot myself couple "safe" bacteria to generate immune system response. I waiting couple hours to kick in to have flu like responses or cold like which start kicking in. I will see how Flying Phoenix will affect such state from start to end of such infection.

 

[ridingtheox]

now at day 31   twice daily  morning and evening  

made it thru thanksgiving and the family visit here,  now i am starting to worry about xmas  .... practice that is not the gifting !

I hope to do some back to back  sessions this week or next

 

Hoa Binh

 

stubborn as the ox  

[tao stillness]

If not for family I am not sure I would surface very often from our basement meditation/qigong room, especially as we continue to decorate it. Family needs definitely cut down on qigong time. When I lived in a modern day ashram type setting, although it was never called that, it was not continuous meditation there either since daily living requires mundane chores, etc.

That is why I continue to marvel at those of you who are reporting putting in 2-3 hours of Flying Phoenix Chi Kung in a day. But if I was more off than online, I probably could log in more chi kung time. The older I have become lately, the less self-disciplined I now am.

[Frederic]

Questions on Monk Holding the Peach

 

1. Should the knees be locked, or very gently loose and thus a little bend?

2. In what part of the foot should the weight fall?

 

Thank you.

 

I'm having some knee trouble, both in this exercise and when sitting in half lotus for long. So I'm doing some extra work on the knees.

 

I can report that practicing FP really has a great beneficial impact on my day! I feel more at ease & relaxed. Tensions in my shoulder are also becoming less.

 

Question on the Lower Dantian Standing meditation (50-40-30-20-10)

3. Is this one also usable in a sitting position? Or should I just do 50-10-50 then?

 

Thank you!

[SeekerOfHealing]

Do Gua Sha if you have knee pains.

[Frederic]

Question on the Lower Dantian Standing meditation (50-40-30-20-10)

3. Is this one also usable in a sitting position? Or should I just do 50-10-50 then?

 

I think this question is answered by Grandmaster Doo Wai in this video:

 

 

What is with the Ginger in context of this meditation? Or in larger perspective in Qigong in general and in FP specifically?

Edited December 6, 2016 by Frederic

[zen-bear]

Hi Astral_B

 

Somebody please elaborate on the warm-ups and how their importance may or not fluctuate with time.

 

To be safe I generally do the full ten minutes but sometimes I am so desperate and have so little time that I skip it. How will this influence the progress?

 

I sometimes abandon the warm-up when I feel the heat increasing to a sufficient level to get me satisfied enough to leap straight to the exercises.

 

Please advise?

Hi Astral_B,
 

Sorry for the slowness in replying to your questions about warm-ups.  I got back from a 2 week teaching trip to east coast and then got swept into more teaching FP Qigong seminars and planning next year's seminar schedule at 4 different locations.

Anyway, the answer to your question is:  It all depends on how much experience in Chinese internal energy arts (not necessarily Qigong) and how advanced your Tai Chi, Kung Fu, or Qigong form is. 

 

As a free-standing medical Qigong system, Flying Phoenix is normally done with no preliminary warm-ups.  I added warm-up exercises to Volume 1 and I recall Vol.5 simply because I like warm-ups as a teacher.  They add variety to a workout and they will loosen up the body, focus one's concentration, and dissipate tension beforehand so that the FP Meditations have less tension to deal with.

 

If you practice Tai Chi or other internal arts such as Liu He Ba Fa, you can use portion of those arts as warm-up to FP Qigong practice.  But when you're short of time, just do the FP Qigong.  The FP Meditations themselves are complete, sufficient, and self-explanatory.

 

If one is advanced in Tai Chi Chuan, then warm-up isn't all that necessary.  An example I had cited earlier in this post:  "ridingtheox" in Arizona posted in year 2 or 3 of this thread that he had 20+ years of Tai Chi experience and was able to jump straight into doing the Long Form Standing Meditation on Volume 4, skipping vols. 1, 2, and 3.   He said that he got such powerful energizing results immediately that all he did was the Long Form Standing Med. two times every day.  And "ridingtheox" was 71 years old at the time, and was "retired" to the physical life of cattle ranching.  (Much later he went back and picked up all the FP Meds. in Vols.1 to 3) and found them to be individually empowering and also synergistic.

 

You pretty much answered your own question in your comment:  when short on time, just do the Flying Phoenix exercises.  There's no Qigong or Yoga quite like it.  So practicing it is the best use of your limited time.

 

Sifu Terry Dunn

 

 

_{www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html}

[Astral_butterfly]

Thanks a mil Sifu Terri. You have confirmed my intuition

[tao stillness]

Answering Frederic about ginger. A few years ago when I watched the video of GM Doo Wai extol the virtues of having a piece of ginger in your mouth as you do qigong, I then asked my medical intuitive to test that. He confirmed that having ginger in the mouth during qigong increases energy and is a good thing to do.

[cihan]

Accidentally I discovered taking vitamin c (of the effervescent types) before the moving exercises also add noticeable different feelings during the meditations. I dropped them when my flu passed. I don't know if they contribute anything extra when they are combined.

A little warning about intensive usage of ginger : Some people like me have allergic reactions to it. Five years ago I started using ginger as advised in the posted vid of GMDW. One day, while I was doing Monk Holding Peach, (wrongly dwelling on a hypnotic trance state instead of being a pure watcher) I was bitten by a snake form on my lower leg in that state :-) After the med, my leg got red and swollen like a ham sausage and stayed like that for a week. Only logical explanation was I had developed an allergic reaction, and it passed once I dropped taking ginger. I am not using ginger on my meds after the trauma :-) and still practice Monk Holding Pearl with very good effects. Maybe it was not ginger, may be it was some kind of warning to me I don't know I just wanted to share it. I am not against or pro Ginger and vitamin C.

Best.

[Raven's Fire]

I sat back at a community gathering which was called for by some people who felt it was time for some community healing to take place.

 

Buddhists, yoga practitioners, shamans, Tai Chi practitioners and of course myself and a couple of other friends went there to practice Flying Phoenix Heavenly Healing Qigong!

 

Sometime ago, I had read that one could feel the difference between how each of these practices had a different "energy" to them.

 

It was great to meet all of these people who came together for a community healing. I chatted with a few of them to learn a little bit more about their practices.

 

Noteworthy was that the tai chi practitioners and all learn from Sifu Terry Dunn's DVD. The energy of that was "familiar" yet different from FPHHCK.

 

Liu He Ba Fa was at this as well. I did enjoy the feeling of the energy present as this form was being practiced.

 

There were a few other forms of qigong though none really stuck out to me.

 

What I did enjoy was how the place seemed so overflowing with good energy which rippled out through our community, I guess you could say. It's been a few days and the tribal community house where this took place is still having a very good vibe to it.

 

When I was asked if I was going to try any other forms that were there, my thought has been that I will stay with FPHHCK for maybe another couple hundred days just so that I can feel a little bit more "grounded/rooted" given that I am so new to the practice.

 

Ginger! I'm going to keep that in mind and try that out this week as I practice.

[tao stillness]

Speaking of ginger. Several weeks ago I discovered I suddenly am having high blood pressure which is not the norm for me. Once when I had it due to too many carbs in my diet, the recommended ayurvedic formula normalized my BP overnight. This time the same formula is ineffective. I began thinking what did I change around the time the BP was noticed and one of the supplements I added on my own was ginger. Today I am having Eric test my entire supply of supplements to see if anyone of them is the culprit. I suspect Eric will report that it is entirely due still to my diet causing toxic reaction and heart working harder to remove toxins.

[ridingtheox]

day  38 of planned 108 experiment.  currently  2x long form daily   morning and evening  standard and mirror image ... awesome ...

 

almost every day I do  teach  the long form TCC  to neighbors also in their 75 / 77  yr range.    Jimmy has to have a rotator cuff surgery (old injury),  the Doc was amazed at his flexibility during the pre-op examination,  J reported his TCC and the Doc was truly impressed.

 

thank you  Sifu ...

[cihan]

Questions on Monk Holding the Peach

 

1. Should the knees be locked, or very gently loose and thus a little bend?

2. In what part of the foot should the weight fall?

 

Hi Frederic

Ideal posture for Monk Holding Peach is officially described as a wide stance, knees locked and feet at 45 degrees to the chest.

Weight on the feet is up to the expertise :-)

Below is my experience on Monk Holding Peach if you are interested.

 

It is a challenging posture, which I struggled to maintain by some force, but it wasn't fun and I was only feeling pain, especially on knees when they were locked as well as my hips and shoulders.

I wondered why my right knee refused to lock when standing in symmetry, then discovered my right leg to be longer :-) it was painful and very distracting adding the back and shoulder pains after 5 minutes from the funnel mudra.

Other two standing meds and Bending the Bows teach and prepare the torso for this with the help of Monk Serves wine series which exercise shoulders and higher back.

After my skeleton was adusted to sinking in standing the pains disappeared, but it took 5 years for me to practice Monk Holding Peach again with ease.

If you have any joint pains, you are standing/doing incorrectly or your body is not ready. To stand correctly, all body parts should be seasoned by different exercises for some time. Bending the Bows worked wonders in my case.

Happy Practicing.

Edited December 13, 2016 by cihan

[Frederic]

@ SeekerofHealing: thank you for the Guasha tip! I have a Guasha stone in my acupuncture kit, but my lesson on it is still due (I'm studying TCM). After your tip I went on youtube, got the stone out of the kit and started treating myself, and the neck and shoulders of my wife. We both enjoy very much the effects of the scraping!

 

@Cihan: Thank you for your insights in the practice and your own experiences with it. I indeed notice that Bending the Bows improves many things, and it feels in so many ways foundational to the whole FP system, the base of the pyramid so to speak, so I made it my priority.

 

I try to do the whole first DVD each morning, but at least Monk Gazing at Moon and Bending the Bows. I want to do 18 reps BTB one day but 7-10 already takes 30 minutes or so :-)

 

Monk Gazing at Moon hurts like * in the arms, even for the 6 minutes that I practice it for. But I just started my daily commitment after some dabbling and trying different qigong forms and now made the choice for Flying Phoenix and I love the daily practice of it. I plan to keep Gazing 6 minutes until that becomes easy and then add 1 minute until that is easy and improve incrementally.

 

I want to shoot for 20 minutes for each of the 3 stationary standing exercises (easy for Monk Holding the Pearl), before reduce the time again and start introducing the exercises on DVD #3.

 

My knees are already improving! I've also stopped doing an exercise which I thought was helpful but actually is harmful for the knees:

 

 

And her solution is a sort of scraping with the hands: