Precautions for the 5 Tibetan Rites

[Encephalon]

I love this routine. It is simple, effective, and does not require a lot of time. I quickly built myself up to the 21-rep sequence since I'm in pretty good shape, but I did have one mishap; I went through a period of cramping in my anterior neck muscles. I felt the cramping deep in the throat, a very odd sensation. Rites #2 and #3 can put a strain on them. I now make sure that #2 is done with a complete rest between reps, just to give the neck a break (no pun intended). Cramps are now history.

 

Any other precautionary tales out there?

[markern]

There is a yoga teacher that has a book with modifications for physical safety. This is his homepage:

 

http://www.t5t.com/

Edited December 16, 2009 by markern

[Encephalon]

There is a yoga teacher that has a book with modifications for physical safety. This is his homepage:

 

http://www.t5t.com/

 

If I had to make an educated guess and not spend the $35, I'd say she slows things down quite a bit and really focuses on breathing as deeply as possible.

 

This is consistent with movement on the inhale, turning your body/mind into a vacuum, or sponge, that sucks the chi energy out of the air.

 

Get your negative ion generator today while supplies last!

[宁]

Exercise is supposed to be strenuous, otherwise if you get rid this and that, you loose the transformative potential.

This is a major 'risk' for self-taught seekers, because we are more inclined to do things we can do, and avoid things we find hard to do.

mm?

[Encephalon]

Exercise is supposed to be strenuous, otherwise if you get rid this and that, you loose the transformative potential.

This is a major 'risk' for self-taught seekers, because we are more inclined to do things we can do, and avoid things we find hard to do.

mm?

 

Would it be accurate to suggest that strenuous exercise is what T5T is all about? It's my understanding that there are other goals behind the routine.

[宁]

i think so, at first

we move 100 times less than in 100 years ago

before you learn to fly, crawling would also do nicely

[Dainin]

In my own experience, I found that inhaling during the active phase of the movements (e.g. when the legs are going up) as suggested in the books, caused my blood pressure to elevate significantly and gave me headaches afterwards. However, when I exhaled during the active phase instead, I no longer had this problem. I already had hypertension (medicated), so this may not be the case for most people.

[soaring crane]

Exercise is supposed to be strenuous, otherwise if you get rid this and that, you loose the transformative potential.

This is a major 'risk' for self-taught seekers, because we are more inclined to do things we can do, and avoid things we find hard to do.

mm?

 

That's interesting to me. Last night, at a Christmas party, I was trying to tell some people what to expect in an upcoming Qigong course. I told them we won't do anything strenuous, it's all very relaxing. I said I like to start my sessions with a little "schnaufen", meaning rigorous exercise that gets the blood pumping and the raises the breathrate, in order to clear the head and prepare for the more intense Qi exercises. ("Schnaufen" is German for "panting"). A woman said right away, "what happened to 'nothing strenuous'?", and they all chuckled. My answer was that, physical exercise, schnaufen, isn't strenuous, everyone can do that. Standing like a tree for 30 minutes, now, that's strenuous.

 

Every one present was shocked at the idea. The idea of standing still for a measly half hour is scary for so many people. Difficult. Strenuous. But the same people will pay big $$ to go to a gym and sweat and pant and strain, convinced that they're doing something productive for themselves.

 

I think, when the activity agrees with societal norms, when it seems normal, proper, and acceptable, then most people find it easy to do. It's those less conformist, "foreign" ideas (that we all love so much) that cause the strain. And the modern world is so yang-heavy, it's kind of lop-sided.

 

 

when I exhaled during the active phase instead, I no longer had this problem.

 

Which I would consider normal and natural...

 

Why during yoga are the "active", yang phases of the movements done on the yin inhale? It's counter-intuitive to me, but it's like I'm missing out on what the other half of the universe is doing so, I know there's a well-based logic to the method, I just can't follow it.

Edited December 16, 2009 by soaring crane

[Taomeow]

Why during yoga are the "active", yang phases of the movements done on the yin inhale? It's counter-intuitive to me, but it's like I'm missing out on what the other half of the universe is doing so, I know there's a well-based logic to the method, I just can't follow it.

That's to establish reverse breathing, which is a fetal breathing pattern with many alchemical benefits. It is neither natural nor unnatural -- it's an earlier developmental stage, something that once was natural for all, recaptured via practice. Doing so is going to recapture some other peculiarities of that earlier stage, the xiantian stage.

 

In one of the systems I've been taught, you actually use your stomach muscles on inhale, in certain specific rhythmic patterns. You do this for a while and you are then taught how to use the muscles of the pores of your skin in a similar manner. You do that for a while and then you learn to open and close them at will. So you open them wider and breathe through your skin when you're somewhere nice and fresh, and you close them shut when you're in a polluted environment. They say you can't contract any illness if you have mastered this.

[soaring crane]

TM - i'm not sure embryonic, reverse stomach breathing enters into it. The way i practice and teach qigong, soaring crane for example, the reverse breathing happens automatically but we still exhale on the yang moves, when the center of gravity sinks and the abdomen expands (outward means outward, wei qi).

 

I view embryonic breath as very natural, the most natural thing in the world. We ALL practiced it for roughly the first 9 months of our lives and repairing those broken connections is what it's all about after all ;-)

 

As i understand it, and have experienced it a number of times, in the yang phase of a (Hatha) yoga move, cat bow for example, they'll inhale. Exhaling is then related to the relaxation phase. Backwards. Breath goes in, focus goes out. Why inhale while projecting outwards?

 

Do they emphasize reverse stomach breathing in some yoga forms? That would surprise me as i thought that was a Daoist mainstay.

 

They also like to push the shoulders back during standing figures for some reason which also eludes me (which is of course my fault, not theirs).

Edited December 17, 2009 by soaring crane

[Guest paul walter]

I love this routine. It is simple, effective, and does not require a lot of time. I quickly built myself up to the 21-rep sequence since I'm in pretty good shape, but I did have one mishap; I went through a period of cramping in my anterior neck muscles. I felt the cramping deep in the throat, a very odd sensation. Rites #2 and #3 can put a strain on them. I now make sure that #2 is done with a complete rest between reps, just to give the neck a break (no pun intended). Cramps are now history.

 

Any other precautionary tales out there?

 

 

I started this routine this week. It's all very misleading the way it's being touted by most in the 'west'. It's highly arduous for a beginner. The usual punishing yoga crap from neurotics who seem fixated on taming the body for power (often mistaken for health) related reasons. Still, I will persist with it and include my own modifications as it is openeing me up in various ways.

[~jK~]

I love this routine. It is simple, effective, and does not require a lot of time. I quickly built myself up to the 21-rep sequence since I'm in pretty good shape, but I did have one mishap; I went through a period of cramping in my anterior neck muscles. I felt the cramping deep in the throat, a very odd sensation. Rites #2 and #3 can put a strain on them. I now make sure that #2 is done with a complete rest between reps, just to give the neck a break (no pun intended). Cramps are now history.

 

Any other precautionary tales out there?

 

I took and taught Karate for some years. The class was 2 hours of super aerobic exercises.

From necessity I developed the philosophy of: "begin easy, work up to a goal slowly."

This way students would build up, not get hurt, and remain with the program.

Even with T5T, I began with 1 rep and - increased 1 rep each day.

I've been doing T5T for about 10 years.

 

This really is a good website for T5T as it has video of a model doing the exercises.

Click on the little pictures at the end of the first video to get to them.

http://www.t5t.com/

 

After each exercise session, spend about 30 minuites meditating Kundalini.

The exercises will tune your body and prepare it for the Kundalini rising.

Kundalini will rewire your body so that all is recieving energy as needed.

In essence, your energy system will recieve an electrical tune - up.

Kundalini is a rising - morning exercise. Savasana is evenings.

Here is a webpage I wrote on the Savasana:

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?showtopic=11802

With these two, you can go far but you must Practice

[Mal]

[Encephalon]

[Andrei]

According to the original book you must begin with 3 reps first week, then add 3 reps at the end of each week making a gradual progress: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 reps. Then you can add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way.

Edited December 17, 2009 by steam

[~jK~]

According to the original book you must begin with 3 reps first week, then add 3 reps at the end of each week making a gradual progress: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 reps. Then you can add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way.

 

Good addition:

"add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way"

When I did this with free weights- I got a tremendous boost

Killham points out in his book that beyond 21 no advantage

But "add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way"?

 

I almost forgot - T5T # 6 is performed only 3 times at the maximum.

It affects the internal organs directly with much more directly applied energy.

Although: T5T # 6 was included in my original Yoga over 20 years ago doing 10 reps.

 

The e-book Steam has posted gives essential information not included in Kilham's T5T

Edited December 17, 2009 by ~jK~

[Encephalon]

Good addition:

"add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way"

When I did this with free weights- I got a tremendous boost

Killham points out in his book that beyound 21 no advantage

But "add morning and evening practice in the same gradual way" ?

 

Anyone out there who has personal experience with the advantages of increasing to 2-3 times a day? I can only assume that you start feeling much stronger externally, but is there a palpable difference with internal energy? I do my Embrace Horse ten minutes after T5T.

[Mal]

[Andrei]

Alternatives of the exercises:

 

http://www.mkprojects.com/pf_TibetanRites.htm

[宁]

 

After each exercise session, spend about 30 minuites meditating Kundalini.

The exercises will tune your body and prepare it for the Kundalini rising.

Kundalini will rewire your body so that all is recieving energy as needed.

 

 

What does kundalini mean to you?

[~jK~]

What does kundalini mean to you?

 

From my experience, Kundalini is the electrical flow system of our body.

Primary chanel of flow is from the base of the spine to the brain & reverse.

This primary chanel encompases our major organ systems excluding our limbs.

[Taomeow]

TM - i'm not sure embryonic, reverse stomach breathing enters into it. The way i practice and teach qigong, soaring crane for example, the reverse breathing happens automatically but we still exhale on the yang moves, when the center of gravity sinks and the abdomen expands (outward means outward, wei qi).

Crane,

 

We might be caught up in linguistic rather than physical distinctions -- what does "reverse" stand for to you? To me it means "the opposite of postnatal." In terms of yin-yang dynamics, postnatally we inhale (yin) and expand the stomach (yang); then exhale (yang) and contract the stomach (yin). Whereas prenatally we inhale (yin) and contract the stomach (yin), then exhale (yang) and expand the stomach (yang). So postnatal is yin/yang turnig into yang/yin; prenatal is yin/yin turning into yang/yang. That's because we are in the domain of "pure" or "old" yin and yang, less intermixed, before we are born.

 

I view embryonic breath as very natural, the most natural thing in the world. We ALL practiced it for roughly the first 9 months of our lives and repairing those broken connections is what it's all about after all ;-)

 

Yes, it's natural, but most people don't breathe like that after they are born. I relived my birth many times when I was working on -- hm, myself -- and it would kick in on autopilot when the somatosensory memory fully activated. It's nothing like everyday breathing. For starters, it's individual and replicates the way you actually did breathe during birth, in a sympathetic or parasympathetic mode depending on what was going on. In my case, it was sympathetic, so the breathing that kicked in was unbelievably fast -- perhaps twenty times the rate of "ordinary" -- so with "ordinary" breathing I would hyperventilate in two minutes going like that, but in the systemic memory context it would go on for up to two hours on autopilot, with no signs of hyperventilation. And it was not only yin-exhale yang-inhale but like a wave up and down the stomach, naturally rising on exhale, falling on inhale. That's because you breathe through the umbilical cord as a fetus. Your stomach follows the pressure of the fluid -- in on inhale, out on exhale.

As i understand it, and have experienced it a number of times, in the yang phase of a (Hatha) yoga move, cat bow for example, they'll inhale. Exhaling is then related to the relaxation phase. Backwards. Breath goes in, focus goes out. Why inhale while projecting outwards?

Because that's real prenatal breathing they're trying to emulate.

 

Do they emphasize reverse stomach breathing in some yoga forms? That would surprise me as i thought that was a Daoist mainstay.

 

It is indeed, but yoga has its moments too.

 

They also like to push the shoulders back during standing figures for some reason which also eludes me (which is of course my fault, not theirs).

 

There's much about yoga that is designed to replicate the conditions of the fetus in the womb and, especially, in the process of being born. Shoulders back is one of the positions you invariably go through while being born. If it is a complicated birth (as most modern birth is, due to the parents' less-than-stellar health), one might get stuck in this position for minutes, hours, or even days. This is horribly traumatic, as well as many other difficult positions the fetus might get stuck in. Yoga is actually a therapeutic modality that works with repressed traumatic memories -- not of the neocortex (which wasn't even there while this was going on) but of the body. Reliving an unconscious memory consciously is therapeutic. Too bad yoga doesn't connect all the dots, only some of them...

[Encephalon]

I read Mantak Chia's "Wisdom Chi Kung" last night. It's only 140 pages, and like so many of his books, 80% has already been covered in his previous works. But there was an interesting parallel between T5T and his explanation of the "Spinal Cord Breathing," a technique of rocking the torso in such a way that activates the three pumps of the sacrum, Door of Life, and cranium. It's very similar to movement #3 of T5T. So now, when I do T5T #3, I make sure I tuck in the sacrum at the same time my head bends forward. This dynamic stretching technique feels far more efficacious (?) than without the sacral tuck.

 

These are also consistent with some of the movements in Gurmukh's Kundalini Yoga practice (DVD).

[宁]

I read Mantak Chia's "Wisdom Chi Kung" last night.

imho it's not a book to be read in one night... i studied it one summer, after a live seminar, and practiced as i went to and from work, in the bus. it made a radical shift in the way i understand the mind, the brain, and it's link to the physical and the spiritual... it's something that takes time. i'm still adjusting to that new view, almost organical.

[Encephalon]

imho it's not a book to be read in one night... i studied it one summer, after a live seminar, and practiced as i went to and from work, in the bus. it made a radical shift in the way i understand the mind, the brain, and it's link to the physical and the spiritual... it's something that takes time. i'm still adjusting to that new view, almost organical.

 

I'll give you that, but you have to admit, Chia is not the first author who starts cannibalizing previous works in order to fluff up ideas and book sales. I own three of his other titles. The practice seems to be especially visible amongst the health/fitness/consciousness genre (see Pavel Tsatsouline!).