Start where you are...but where????

[TimBlack]

I was first introduced to Taoist energy exercises after a life altering disability in the late 1980's. With the slowing of activity, pain, and increased weight, I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 1997.

Since then, I've been caught in the spiral of oral medications that bring blood sugars down, but increase my weight; which in turn increases my blood sugars. I did manage to reduce my weight to under 185 lbs (I'm 5'11") with a strict carb intake that was pretty unreasonable. 176 - 185 appears to be my healthiest weight. One year ago this week, I lost my job and I'm feeling deep financial pressure. My weight has increased to 208 and I'm exhausted.

I've taken various herbal formulas over time, multi vitamins, etc.....but my energy and meditation practice has disappeared.

I need to Start......from where I am.......but where, how?

I need an energy boost. I need a Chi infusion. I need something.

Any suggestions short of a kick in the ass?

[sean]

My two cents.

 

1. Start taking hot baths followed by very cold showers (this is your kick in the ass)

2. Get a water bottle and drink lot's of fresh water every day

3. Read Potatoes Not Prozac, start step 1 and get involved in their community.

4. Get Intu Flow and start the Beginner set.

5. Start reading the free Yoga lessons over on aypsite.org and begin a morning and evening mantra and pranayama meditation practice. (Or if you prefer the Taoist angle, borrow Winn's fundamentals 1 and 2 from someone, they are great.)

[thelerner]

Speaking as a lazy person, the easiest way to do these energy meditations is lying in bed and using a guided meditation. Minke De Vos has an excellent series in her Tao Basics I, 4 meditations for about $15. You can try to email her at Silent Ground.

 

Chi Nei Tsang has an excellent series. The Sleeping meditation CD has several excellent meditations, such as long deep bone breathing, an excellent energizer and is $25 or less.

 

Speaking of guided meditations I have a copy of Ron Diana's Bone breathing and NOR chant meditation I've been meaning to donate to the Bums Library. If you'd like first dibs on it email me. As is the custom in this site, respect the copy right laws. Use it, if you like it, BUY A COPY, and pass this on. Its good, but somewhat amateurishly done in a class room setting, Chi Nei Tsang's bone breathing exercise is better IMHO, but its still good and gives you a good feeling for how Ron Diana taught.

 

Personally I like to do the Chi Gung form that Michael Winn has on his Fundamental II video.

 

Ultimately energy comes from energy. Make sure you're doing the basics, eat properly, get your measure of sleep, move your body. Have a friend kick you in the ass if needed, its what they're there for.

 

A friend of mine who was looking for a job put a poster w/ 50 NO's on it and a big smiling YES at the end. W/ every no, (and there were lots of them) he'd cross a NO off, and he'd know he was one step closer to the YES.

 

Whats true for him is true for you. There's a job out there waiting for you. Finding it can be a bitch.

 

Let me know if you're interested in the CD.

 

Yours

 

Michael

[neimad]

hey sean... what are these chinese acrobatics you do???

[sunshine]

hey sean... what are these chinese acrobatics you do???

10317[/snapback]

 

 

A friend of mine is making custom formulas for people... she is somehow analyzing a hair or saliva and starts from there...

 

should you be interested: http://www.yahwehsaliveandwell.com/

 

it might take her some time to answer, as she is very busy... but that shouldn't hold you back...

 

and you might look into standing meditation/Qigong, which besides the aypsite-stuff I currently favor...

 

and if you go to http://www.traditionsoftao.com/ there is this Ginseng/Rice food which is said to stabilize blood sugar... I feel that the combi package is the best price for the buck one can get (herbs, rice food, cream etc.)... but you would have to find out for yourself if it helps with the blood sugar... I couldn't test, as mine is still stable...

 

Harry

[Cameron]

1. Read the Way of Qigong by Kenneth Cohen. Practice.

 

2. Get the Intu Flow program by Scott Sonnon. Practice.

 

3. Try Tao In a Bottle from Dragonherbs.com

 

Good luck.

[Lozen]

1. Give yourself a big pat on the back for wanting to change things!

 

2. Find a good local class-whether it's qi gong, yoga, meditation, or whatever floats your boat. Commit to going once a week, no matter what comes up, and stick with it. Journal your progress and anything that some up. Make sure you are practicing every day at least for five minutes.

 

3.Julia Cameron's books are really good, I'd recommend the Artist's Way or the Artist's Way at Work. Do all the exercises, esp. the morning pages and artist date.

[neimad]

i think i have to second sean's reccomendations.

i was checking out that ayp site today and it's very interesting, simple to follow and very good me thinks.

i don't practice it as i have something else i'm working on and i want to just stick to something for a decent length of time for once, so i'm not changing.

however i have decided to add the pranayama from the ayp, doing it before my meditations which are pretty similar, but slightly different focus.

 

but you can always try out my ultimate shower instead of the hot baths/cold showers if you like... it's quicker (like 4-5 minutes long total).

 

get a cloth. wet thoroughly with warm water. rub some GOOD (i.e. not supermarket soap - something more natural) soap on it till it's thoroughly lathered, add some bicarb to the cloth and some salt (sea salt, crystal salt, or at the moment i am actually using epsom salts). rub it together so it's all foamy.

scrub your body down with it.

rinse off with warm water.

rinse off with cold water after (especially down the spine and i find cold water on the jade pillow - where the neck meets the head - to be fantastic).

then while you are still wet, get some oil (coconut, olive, almond) and rub your body down with it.

towel off vigorously.

 

 

haven't read potatoes not prozac, but many people seem to have found it most helpful.

 

and definately get intu-flow!!! i am waiting on mine, but i have been working with warrior wellness for about 6 months now and it is superb! the benefits to my body have been immense.

 

as for water.... tap water is generally pretty bad.

look into the wellness water bottle. they don't sell it in australia yet.... but it looks really good. it's a special water filter in a sports water bottle form.

great!

[voice]

Exercise and eating!

 

1) Exercise. If I remember correctly, you like to bike. I know it is winter, but you can still get out on the bike if you bundle up. Or, try a stationary bike. Cheap ones are usually available in the local buy and sell.

 

2) Eating less to lose weight. Here is a breathing chi gung that I learned at a weight loss retreat. Do this a few minutes before each meal, and you will eat much less.

 

a) Stand with feet a bit more than hip width apart and arms at your sides.

 

Breath 3X normally, up from the Earth through the K1 in your feet up the core channel to your head. The outbreath goes down the core channel, through the K1 to the Earth.

 

c) On the third breath, bring your arms up in an arc along your sides, and then as you breathe out, they descend down the thrusting channels and you lean forward and squat and place the hands on your knees. On this breath out, you empty your lungs completely. As you empty your lungs, pull in your perineum.

 

d) With your lungs empty, gently pull your abdomen up towards your lungs - you know, suck in the gut! As you do that, again pull in ther perineum. Then relax your abdomen and perineum, but don't breathe in! Try and do that 3X with the breath out. Then, allow your breath to come in to your lungs, and gently straighten up.

 

e) Stay standing, let the energies swim, put your hands over your lower tan tien (left on body, right hand on top of left) if you feel too spacey. When you've recovered, do the breathing again. Aim to do the whole process 3X.

 

f) Tip: don't force it! Be gentle.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about details.

 

Best of luck,

Chris

[Yoda]

Some sort of 2x a day meditation plus theanine/tao in a bottle plus a few minutes of easy stretching would be my vote.

 

Your situation gives you enough energy, the challenge is to find enough peacefulness and bliss to allow your energy to flow with more synchronicity instead of tripping all over itself.

 

Then whatever is relaxing... Nobody has mentioned lying down to do the healing sounds and then inner smile, but that's a good one to keep in mind. I think the suggestion about lying down, or sitting in a very cushy chair will help any meditation technique that works for you.

 

Best Wishes!

Yoda

 

PS, outstanding suggestions on this thread, btw.

[Yoda]

Chris,

 

Killer breathing exercise--I'll try it!

 

-Yoda

[sean]

I was taking classes called "Chinese Acrobatics" at the Circus Center in San Francisco. Really great school that trains people that go on to Cirque du Soleil, etc. Rubber Boy came out of Circus Center if you've ever heard of him ... famous contortionist, is in some commercials and also plays a role in the HBO series Carnivale. Also Lezlie and I's good friend Fleeky still goes there... had a performance tonight actually. Anyway, I stopped taking the classes because they are expensive as balls but I still do the practices I learned as often as I can and I'll take the class again once I know I am good enough to pass the finals and graduate to the next level. The practices involve a lot of really aggressive stretching, handstands/handbalancing, tumbling ... stuff like that. Any day now I will be able to do this.

[Cameron]

Looks like she is putting the rubber guard on herself.

 

I need to choke someone out!

[sean]

Looks like she is putting the rubber guard on herself.

 

I need to choke someone out!

Heh. Fleeky is a guy ... but he looks a lot like a girl.

[Cameron]

Oh Snap!

[Cameron]

Sean!

 

I just read this on the Atama BJJ Forum on MMA.TV...Gymnastics and BJJ in Oakland Bro. Who's da man?

 

Rafael Romano will be coming for a weekend of pure BJJ training at Open Door.

January 13th,14th and 15th!

 

We will be having one big package for all students of BJJ. Friday(01/13) we will be starting the seminar at 7pm with a very nice warm up of Natural Gymnastics(www.naturalgymnastics.com)and after that we will be teaching a Clinic of Guard Pass...We will be doing a long free training as well.

 

Saturday(01/14) we will start at 12pm with a seminar of Ginastica Natural untill 1pm and after that a Clinic of how to defend from the guard and some sweeps from the Guard...-Sweep clinic,understanding of half guard,principles ,drills and stuff like that.

 

Sunday(01/15),12pm---Natural Gymnastics warm up and after that free training!(Black Belt,Brown Belt and Purple Belt on the mats---Cool!

 

Guys I will be studying with few different black belts while I'm in Brazil.I will be bringing the best of the techniques back to Open Door.I hope be able to see most of you guys at this fine weekend...

 

Anyone is welcome to enjoy this fine weekend with us...I hope see some guys from mma.tv over there!

 

Only Natural Gymnastics-50$dollars The Whole Package-75$dollars,lol---That's cheap,huh?

 

Sincerely,Sergio Silva

[TimBlack]

Thanks, All!

I will try to incorporate several of your suggestions. Your support and inspiration based on your practices is a good motivator.

I did get a stationary bike that has the handlebars rowing back and forth. I bought a timer and plan to start with 20 mins at least 3x a week. Once I can get some of my metabolism to jump start and provide me with better blood sugar control and energy, I hope to begin my meditation practice once again.

When I use the microcosmic exercises combined with vippassanna and a little standing Chi Kung, the mind clears and helps everything click into place.

I have known pain and limitation for too many years. I am very interested in the intu-flow. At this time, the $$ is too low to afford an added expense. I cannot view the website video demo for some reason. Are there alternative places where I might view a demo of the intu flow at work?

Be well......

[Cameron]

PM me your address and Intu Flow will be on the way.

 

Cameron

[sean]

Sean!

 

I just read this on the Atama BJJ Forum on MMA.TV...Gymnastics and BJJ in Oakland Bro. Who's da man?

Yup, that's my academy Open Door and my teacher Sergio. Can't wait for this event. I've wanted to learn Ginastica Natural for years now.

 

Sean

[Cameron]

Ummm..you told me that on the phone yesterday.

 

Or is this the official response

 

Better get training I am going to be back in action in a couple months and you need all the head start you can get you 170 pounder!

 

*Said in best sarchastic WWE wrestler voice*

[sean]

Ummm..you told me that on the phone yesterday.

 

Or is this the official response

 

Better get training I am going to be back in action in a couple months and you need all the head start you can get you 170 pounder!

 

*Said in best sarchastic WWE wrestler voice*

Nothing can prepare you for my chi packed ninja fist!