what is the best practice for dan-tien?

[Non]

I've been having trouble filling up my dan-tian.

 

I used to be able to use breathing to bring energy into the specific parts I breathe into but... that is no more.

 

I could spend hours and hours breathing into a spot and it is nowhere how I used to feel, where I would feel the entire area resonating and tingling. That was back when I first discovered energy and energetic practices with Bruce Monroe's N.E.W. Energy Ways.

 

There was a time even when I would go to my urban goju ryu karate classes... and as soon as I stepped into the dojo my whole dojo became resonant and blissful. I would feel electricity fill my whole dan-tian and I would be like "whoa..."

 

lol.

 

but I haven't been able to do this anymore.

 

it's like my dan-tian has disappeared. that or maybe that whole area is ill. I've had a lot of tension around there also.

 

I am also more skeptical than I used to be. I would always think well the feeling of energy is just my awareness stimulating my nervous system and creating a sort of feedback with a tingling sensation.

 

Perhaps now it is my disbelief in a dan-tian or chi energy that doesn't let me fill it up anymore?

 

Are we even supposed to store energy? I read we aren't even supposed to store energy, and that dan-tian is just a place to store energy and collect temporarily which will just circulate in the end off into other parts of the body. Maybe the ego gets in the way....

[Spectrum]

Splinter CIAtoldyasoo cell activity

[Vajrasattva]

The simplest & safest thing is to just smile in there and do deep relaxed lower belly breathing with the Lw DT.

[宁]

massage

[effilang]

http://www.thetaobums.com/GREAT-QI-GUNG-GI...UMS-t13104.html

[bukejian]

Pull up onyour anal sphicter, press your tounge against your pallate, relax and sink.

 

Bu

[Eternal_Student]

People get hung up on the "energy" thing. If you translate qi gong properly, it actually means breath work. Most of the actual eastern practitioners rarely talk of energy. Its a Western obsession.

 

Yes there is an energy component, but Qi is only ONE of the six sensations experienced during qi gong and internal cultivation. There are 5 other things that you can feel long before qi.

 

So if you aren't focusing on the qi aspect, then your training is telling you to go back to the solidarity sensations and build a stronger base. Then you will probably end up feeling the lighter stuff again.

 

I love pilates for building up the tissues surrounding the dantien. They incorporate the vibrational pumping which is excellent for strengthening both muscle and fascia. Isometrics is another great tool for incorporating breath and structural tissues.

 

Don't get hung up on the energy thing. We are physical beings as well...

[Guest sykkelpump]

I've been having trouble filling up my dan-tian.

 

I used to be able to use breathing to bring energy into the specific parts I breathe into but... that is no more.

 

I could spend hours and hours breathing into a spot and it is nowhere how I used to feel, where I would feel the entire area resonating and tingling. That was back when I first discovered energy and energetic practices with Bruce Monroe's N.E.W. Energy Ways.

 

There was a time even when I would go to my urban goju ryu karate classes... and as soon as I stepped into the dojo my whole dojo became resonant and blissful. I would feel electricity fill my whole dan-tian and I would be like "whoa..."

 

lol.

 

but I haven't been able to do this anymore.

 

it's like my dan-tian has disappeared. that or maybe that whole area is ill. I've had a lot of tension around there also.

 

I am also more skeptical than I used to be. I would always think well the feeling of energy is just my awareness stimulating my nervous system and creating a sort of feedback with a tingling sensation.

 

Perhaps now it is my disbelief in a dan-tian or chi energy that doesn't let me fill it up anymore?

 

Are we even supposed to store energy? I read we aren't even supposed to store energy, and that dan-tian is just a place to store energy and collect temporarily which will just circulate in the end off into other parts of the body. Maybe the ego gets in the way....

 

I had this problem.i could breath direct into dan tien and into organs.i also could breath chi into every cell off the body.somehow i lost it,and wasted years on trying to get it back.but i couldnt.I think i created unbalance in the body which caused blockages in the spine and fucked up my nervous system.

But when I started meditation I started generating chi again and blockages opened up.So I would recomand trying meditation.Remember meditation is only a tool for stopping the mind,and then things starting to happend.good luck

[Sloppy Zhang]

There are some instances when I breathe, and I feel like stuff is "filling up", then a couple minutes later as I relax more, I "lose" that feeling.

 

I think that in some instances, our search for "energy" and "moving energy" can actually cause some tension, mental and physical. If you are doing a practice that is about relaxing, eventually you get to a point where you have relaxed and let go of that physical sensation. But then you/your ego wants that energy feeling so bad, it tries to get it, but your body is relaxed, and you have to fight against the whole thing so you can get your energy "back", even though you are really taking a step backwards.

 

So if you are doing dantien breathing, for example, just breathe into the dantien and relax. If you feel energy, great. If you don't, well don't flip out. For all you know that is the natural state and the "energy state" is unnatural. Or your body is doing its own thing as a result of the practice. Which is good, especially when you are just getting into the groove of things. Most of us are very disconnected from our bodies, and we have to get used to being more connected- we start experiencing sensations that are totally natural and probably always happened but we ignored for a long time.

 

In short, don't worry about it.

[Aetherous]

If you're connected to nature, then building the dantien is quicker.

[fizix]

If you're connected to nature, then building the dantien is quicker.

This is very true, and very important.

[Ya Mu]

People get hung up on the "energy" thing. If you translate qi gong properly, it actually means breath work. Most of the actual eastern practitioners rarely talk of energy. Its a Western obsession.

 

Where do you get the idea that Eastern practitioners rarely talk of energy? Not my experience at all. The medical qigong hospitals in China do not teach it as breath work but as energy cultivation, or at least they used to. Perhaps since government crackdown publicly this may be so.

[Vajrasattva]

Where do you get the idea that Eastern practitioners rarely talk of energy? Not my experience at all.

 

 

Not mine either.

[Eternal_Student]

Not mine either.

 

 

I have had multiple teachers who have studied in China for years. Two of which I have had dinner with regularly and they have 30+plus years of experience individually. Both are founders of major systems and are OMD's as well.

 

They both have relayed stories about how little energy is actually spoken about in China. Multiple teachers that they had the opportunity to study with actually laughed at their "energy" questions. Mind you, this was probably 30 years ago, so you have to take context into consideration. Most of the attention is on words like, mind/focus/yi/will/structure.

 

My point was to not get hung up on it. Energy by its definition, is a subtle thing. Although it is far from subtle for me and my patients now, it is not the only thing necessary to personal cultivation. Stagnation does not exist in an energetic form only. Neither does weakness. Sometimes it is more essential to focus on the "physical" as well. Because even the physical is exactly what some of the definitions of energy sensations are attributed to. The tangible is just as much energy as the intangible. Yin=structure while Yang=metabolism

 

Sometimes by ignoring the goal and focusing on the process, the goal is achieved indirectly.

Edited January 5, 2010 by Eternal_Student

[Spectrum]

Don't waste your breathe

[Ya Mu]

I have had multiple teachers who have studied in China for years. Two of which I have had dinner with regularly and they have 30+plus years of experience individually. Both are founders of major systems and are OMD's as well.

 

They both have relayed stories about how little energy is actually spoken about in China. Multiple teachers that they had the opportunity to study with actually laughed at their "energy" questions. Mind you, this was probably 30 years ago, so you have to take context into consideration. Most of the attention is on words like, mind/focus/yi/will/structure.

 

My point was to not get hung up on it. Energy by its definition, is a subtle thing. Although it is far from subtle for me and my patients now, it is not the only thing necessary to personal cultivation. Stagnation does not exist in an energetic form only. Neither does weakness. Sometimes it is more essential to focus on the "physical" as well. Because even the physical is exactly what some of the definitions of energy sensations are attributed to. The tangible is just as much energy as the intangible. Yin=structure while Yang=metabolism

 

Sometimes by ignoring the goal and focusing on the process, the goal is achieved indirectly.

 

Different teachers - different times; does make a difference. And I do think now, after the latest crackdown, the teachers will not mention much spiritual unless you are alone and they have a really good connection. I had a really good long-term connection and my teacher freely talked about these things. I have a telephone conversation every now and then with a qigong teacher-healer friend in China and we talk only about "scientific" applications of medical qigong; it would not do to talk about energy and spiritual stuff.

 

If you see my friend Jim (got a feeling he is one of the teachers you are referring to; if not never mind) tell him I said hello and hope to get to Boulder next year and do some beer qigong with him. Great guy!

 

Yes we cannot ignore the physical. But IMO if one practices internal qigong they need less physical exercise than if they didn't but will probably end up doing more because of motivation. Also, when working on people I do both physical methods and energy healing on most, but not all. The combination gives it a lot of oomph. Sometimes, though, just the high level energy healing is what they need.

[Eternal_Student]

 

 

If you see my friend Jim (got a feeling he is one of the teachers you are referring to; if not never mind) tell him I said hello and hope to get to Boulder next year and do some beer qigong with him. Great guy!

 

Either by deduction or an example of excellent seeing skills; I will say hello.

 

I know there is a "bump" between us as I feel it in your posts occasionally. Please do not mistake it for anything other than one large positive field running into another. Same goes for you, Santiago...

 

(Humble bow)

 

Stephen

[Non]

Im not sure why bioenergy is not considered "scientific" but anywho...

[Vajrasattva]

Either by deduction or an example of excellent seeing skills; I will say hello.

 

I know there is a "bump" between us as I feel it in your posts occasionally. Please do not mistake it for anything other than one large positive field running into another. Same goes for you, Santiago...

 

(Humble bow)

 

Stephen

 

 

(humble bow) back

[King Kabalabhati]

Isometrics is another great tool for incorporating breath and structural tissues.

 

 

 

I've done isometrics for a few weeks now and yes, it IS like a kind of Chi Kung, as well as great muscle sculpting.

[Sunya]

Beer Qi Gong??? intriguing... is it as it sounds? drinking and practicing?

[Ya Mu]

Either by deduction or an example of excellent seeing skills; I will say hello.

 

I know there is a "bump" between us as I feel it in your posts occasionally. Please do not mistake it for anything other than one large positive field running into another. Same goes for you, Santiago...

 

(Humble bow)

 

Stephen

 

No problems. Peace and calmness to us all.

 

 

Beer Qi Gong??? intriguing... is it as it sounds? drinking and practicing?

Let me first state that I am a fan of the path of the golden mean.

 

The name "beer qigong" got started when I was having a beer with one of my students after a 2-day workshop. He said something like "Hey, you are doing qigong while drinking your beer!" And I made some kinda joke about a super-secret "beer qigong" technique. I am sure we were not the first.

 

Sure I practice qigong while having a beer. I also practice qigong while eating, I also practice while...

[effilang]

I honestly don't see why one should not be able to consume anything he wants, fruits, vegetables, spices, chocolate, alcohol etc. as long as the Yin/Yang - Kan/Li are in balance.

 

?

[joeblast]

I honestly don't see why one should not be able to consume anything he wants, fruits, vegetables, spices, chocolate, alcohol etc. as long as the Yin/Yang - Kan/Li are in balance.

 

?

"anything one wants" cannot be arbitrarily extrapolated, though. at some point, its too much. how much alcohol is too much? how much cocaine is too much, by the anything rationale? (any at all, imho.) how much sugar is too much?

 

nothing wrong with having a couple beers, but get trashed 3 days in a row and see what it does to your cultivation!

[Understanding]

hey, just want to put it out there, you can be a complete skeptic of all things spiritual and still do mediation,

i dont believe in anything that is not physically provable, and i believe that awareness and the nervous system ARE chi. The whole god thing is ancient tradition in my opionin.

 

Hell, it makes perfefct scientific sense that meditation and viusliaztion can produce profound bliss, awareness, higher conciouisness, and health. There are huge fields of science dedicated to the very subject of the connect between the pyche and the nervous system and the nervous system and the rest of the body.

 

And, if miracles and other "supernatural" things are possible by using "chi" then there is a very real force doing this, whether we can measure it right NOW, doesnt matter. We will develop the technology in time

 

my .00000002 cents