Breaking Down Peoples Practice

[thelerner]

I'd like to start a thread where people go a little more in-depth about there practice. Stigweard wrote this:

"For me the less crap I take into my mind and the more breathing and gentle movement I do the clearer my energy becomes.

 

However my neidan practice is about:

 

~ breathing

~ guiding awareness through major orbit

~ five clouds and five element fusion through organs

~ procuring Xindan"

 

Simple things like breathing can cover a multitude of methods, five clouds and procuring Xindan are even more mysterious.

 

I'm hoping Stigweard will go into some detail on what he does and later other people will follow.

 

I'd prefer this thread to be kept as respectful as possible with questions out of interest and Not devolve into what practice is rightest or wrongest.

 

Thanks

 

Michael

 

P.S. It might be interesting to get a feel for how long people practice, per day or week.

[Green Tiger]

Heya,

 

Good topic. I've been thinking of doing one o' them journals, but I feel I would not keep up with it. I have enough trouble keeping my hardcopy journal up to date.

 

My practice begins when I wake up. If I feel I have time, I like to sit up in bed and just sit and breathe for a few minutes. (I've been working on 'letting breath happen' rather than trying to control my breath in any way.) A lot of my focus lately has just been on relaxing more. First thing in the morning seems to be a good time to just sort of scan your body and relax.

 

Next, I like to practice the 8 pieces of brocade (ba duan jin). Again, trying to relax as much as possible. Not forcing anything. Ideally, I want to feel like the movements do themselves.

 

If I have time before I need to start getting ready for work I'll run through the Yang 24 a couple of times. If not, I just stand in ZZ for a minute or so.

 

In the evening I have a Tai Chi class. If it is an off night, I still try to run through the same routine we do in class. This includes 20 minutes of basic stretching, 20 minutes of standing, 3 alternating repetitions of the Yang 24 and 48 posture forms. The full monty takes about 2 hours. I usually only run through the 48 posture form once and the 24 posture form twice.

 

Was that the sort of thing you were looking for?

 

I also do the Jerry Alan Johnson meditation CDs a few times a week (often on my lunch breaks). I will sometimes do his Healing Chi Kung DVD in the morning instead of ba duan jin. Mix it up a bit.

 

I've been doing this basic routine for about the last four months. In a couple more months I might switch it up. I'd like to start doing more repetitions of the Yang 48 instead of the 24. I just never feel like I have enough time . . .

[thelerner]

Thank you Green Tiger. I'm hoping for even more depth. Like when you stand in ZZ, what position are you in, hands, depth of stance? Whats practices are on the Jerry Alan Johnson CDs?

by the way thats a nice full monty.

 

 

 

I started this, but my practice is uninteresting. I think there is a 'magic' period upon waking where the mind is bit more pliable then later on.

 

So when I wake up I'll listen to a guided meditation. Today I listened to Bliss Trip's 30 minute 'Gifts of the Earth'. It walks you through forest, sauna, giving tree, forgetting brook, gem cave, and finally you end up by a fountain where you throw a penny in and make a wish. Being in a half sleepy state the visuals are better.

 

In the washroom I'll do the KAP Secret Smile, and try to do it every time I'm in the Washroom. Santiago who teaches KAP has an indepth post on it in the general discussion area. In short, you remember a time you were very relaxed. I'll remember a hammock in St. Lucia w/ moon rising. Run it through your system. Remember a time of great confidence, run it through your MCO channel once or twice, mix Confidence feeling, w/ relaxation, swallow it down. You go on in a similar vein with Humor, Love & finally orgasmic feelings.

 

The idea behind it is energy runs best through a relaxed happy medium. So the Secret Smile is the primer behind other meditations.

 

If I have time I'll do 25 minutes of meditation. Didn't today. Lately I'll do 25 minutes of meditation App called Insight Timer. It'll give me a wooden ring every 21 seconds and I'll use that to control my breath. It takes about 5 minutes before I sync up. Then I'll do 25 minutes of meditation without it. I'll put my hands touching my dan tien and not pay much attention to breathing. The hands on Dan tien is taught by Michael Lomax. It gives a nice feeling of awareness, more so then IMO the standard Zen mudra or relaxed on lap positioning does.

 

I'll also do the vigorous closing Lomax (Ya Mu) teaches. Much rubbing on the body. I particularly like the extra attention it gives the bottom of the feet. Fast rubbing with the palms. This seems to bring more 'life' to both energy centers. Kind of 'iron man' in flight sensation.

 

One strange body work I do is moving fast. I work out of my house, so I'll move and speed walking as quickly as I can, up stairs, entering and rooms at random, fast turns etc.

Edited September 5, 2011 by thelerner

[Green Tiger]

Thank you Green Tiger. I'm hoping for even more depth. Like when you stand in ZZ, what position are you in, hands, depth of stance? Whats practices are on the Jerry Alan Johnson CDs?

by the way thats a nice full monty.

 

 

Yeah, the full monty usually leaves me sweating pretty profusely.

 

My ZZ is a basic sort of wu wei posture. Some of the things I try to be mindful of include: Feet about hip width apart, knees slightly bent, hips relaxed during inhale, contract on exhale (that's something I took from the golden ball exercise at the end of Jerry Alan Johnson's Chi Kung for Healing Dvd), tail tucked, anal sphincter lightly contracted, back full and straight, chest empty, head suspended, tongue against the roof of the mouth with the tip just behind the teeth. I don't sit very deeply. I try to start high and gradually relax to lower stance, but I don't end up much lower than where I start.

 

I start with my hands at my side and after about five minutes I raise them up to about sternum height, then, after another five minutes or so I raise them to shoulder height. After about five minutes at shoulder height I drop them back to to my side for the last five minutes.

 

Dr. Johnson has two meditation CDs. The first one is called Life Force Breathing and the second one is Eight Direction Meditation. Life Force Breathing is practiced laying down with the hands on the dan tien. You focus on the dan tien and visualize expansion and contraction of the energy (as white light). Aside from visualization, he asks you to feel the expansion and contraction of the energy. First within your body, then just outside your body, then as an expansion and contraction of the entire room. Literally, feeling the walls, ceiling, and floors flowing into your body and then expanding back out to where they came from.

 

Pretty cool. That part is the part I've been working on mostly. There is a second half to the life force breathing where you visualize your body dissolving and then coming back into existence . . . that part is interesting but I don't have as firm a grasp on it yet and I'm not sure I could explain it very well.

 

The eight direction meditation is a body scanning meditation. It is practiced seated or standing. You scan the front, back, sides, upside, and downside of your body in a sequential way. So, for instance you would start at the top of your head and feel that warm oil is flowing down from the top of your head to your forehead, around your eyes, down your nose and cheeks, over your lips and chin, down the front of your neck, ect, ect. I don't do that one as often as the first one, although I really enjoy both equally.

[Mal]

I think there is a 'magic' period upon waking where the mind is bit more pliable then later on.

 

While I'm unlikely to belong in Taoist discussion I agree with the above.

 

What I do is I set my zen alarm clock to wake me up and then I hit the timer for 20 min 20 sec and meditate. Currently I'll meditate lying on my side or standing (very simple wu wei standing, hands down by my side like a gunslinger) Really just depends on what feels "right" to do.

 

If standing currently I do a breathe in - hold - breathe out pattern, if lying I just pay attention to the sensation of air moving in and out of my nostrils.

 

So that's before I get up, cleaning and washing I'll focus on what I'm doing or let my mind have a bit of fun and daydream.

 

If it gets a bit cold or I'm not concentrating on the way to work I'll do some tumo on the bike.

 

Interacting with people I try my best to be compassionate.

 

At morning tea I'll get by myself and do some more tumo breathing while standing ~10 min as that fits into work easy.

 

Lunchtime I do Tai Chi, again at the moment I do my breathing set before I start the form.

 

Afternoon tea, another 10 min of standing.

 

Afternoon back at home. Tai Chi form, then kung fu stuff. This is my basic daily practice that I can (almost) squeeze down to 35 min, usually 45min to 1h30m depending on how challenging kung fu is (if teaching class then it's just kung fu although sometimes I'll go earlier to warm up with Tai Chi.

 

Night time then becomes playtime I have a PILE of different practices I could feel inspired to do. Usually some form of standing with something else plugged in. Hair Breathing is popular and I like shaking. But then last night I had a great seated meditation session while waiting for my partner to get dressed up

 

Perhaps the biggest change in my practice in the last year is I'm in the process of listening to myself and going with my feelings rather than 'today the practice I've scheduled is ZYX for ABC time'

 

p.s working days "work" better than weekends for me as I tend to get up, have a quick surf on TTB that usually ends up much longer than I intended i.e. 1 h 30 min today and eventually wander off and do some Tai Chi.

[Birch]

Well usually :-)

 

There is no usually. Lots of 'stuff' happens all the time. I pay attention to it and do whatever I feel needs to be done with it at the time. So for example, if I wake up in a grouchy jerk of a mood, I will take some time before actually getting up to recognize that and perhaps 'fix' it - or maybe just note that I'm in grouch jerk mode and so there may be some consequences to that that day.

If I have time, I do a scan and melt off the worst, but to be honest, I rarely take the time to go all the way. So this is a good reminder :-)

 

Rest of the day 'usually' involves basic mindfulness, some days I'm better at it than others. Depending, I may 'spin' a few MCO's here and there (which seem to have gotten a bit more 'full-body-meridians' recently) or 'do stuff' in a 'whatever works' frame of mind. Today for example, I went to a funeral. When my friend greeted me at the door to the parlor I got whacked by her grief, straight into the lungs/heart. I could tell it a) wasn't my stuff and was absolutely bloody normal, at a funeral. So as I sat through the eulogy (which was very nicely said), I did run some of the heaviness off. But the lady had had a sweet life and so people were not too unhappy in my opinion.

 

When I heard the monks were going to arrive (it was a buddhist ceremony) I left, a) because I couldn't stay there knowing I don't believe in their religion and because I had to be somewhere else and c)I was not a close friend and didn't want to get all 'tourist' at the funeral (I've never been to a buddhist one and I was curious.)

 

So maybe that counts as practice too?

 

I should add that as soon as I got back home, I felt extremely sick and had to 'get rid' of whatever, but felt fine after that. I was pondering 5E to figure out whether the extra grief bomb had hit my stomach after the lungs but I keep forgetting which element the stomach is classed in so I gave up.

 

I guess the other 'main' practices are recognizing when a 'negative emotion' is about to have its way with me with no apparent cause. And not getting caught up in 'effects'. Especially not the spontaneous golden ecstatic flying 'dreams'. Although that's pretty difficult ;-)

[Stigweard]

I'd like to start a thread where people go a little more in-depth about there practice. Stigweard wrote this:

"For me the less crap I take into my mind and the more breathing and gentle movement I do the clearer my energy becomes.

 

However my neidan practice is about:

 

~ breathing

~ guiding awareness through major orbit

~ five clouds and five element fusion through organs

~ procuring Xindan"

 

Simple things like breathing can cover a multitude of methods, five clouds and procuring Xindan are even more mysterious.

 

I'm hoping Stigweard will go into some detail on what he does and later other people will follow.

 

I'd prefer this thread to be kept as respectful as possible with questions out of interest and Not devolve into what practice is rightest or wrongest.

 

Thanks

 

Michael

 

P.S. It might be interesting to get a feel for how long people practice, per day or week.

Sorry I missed this Michael

 

On an ideal day, which rarely happens lol...

 

Wake to my harp alarm, stretch and activate wrists and ankles to get the bod' going. Scratch left testicle ... oh wait up ... not that much detail right? hehehe

 

Commence morning benedictions ... light incense with prayer, maybe another attunement prayer. Then 3 salutations before altar.

 

Then neidan work:

 

~ sounding gongs

~ simple breathing

~ guiding awareness through major orbit

~ five clouds and five element fusion through organs

~ procuring Xindan

~ sounding gongs

 

3 more salutations.

 

Then 20-30 mins of just sitting and breathing. No focus, no trying to achieve anything. Hands in simple mudra in front of dantien.

 

Then some Fu Jyeo, sacred talismans, including tracing the characters 天下太平, tian xia tai ping, peace under heaven, with left hand in thunder position and using right hand in sword position to trace characters.

 

By this stage there is enough light to read a few more invocations/prayers. Usually include Jade Emperors Heart Seal Sutra.

 

The above takes about 2hrs to complete so I start around 4:30. Well that's when my alarm goes off though sometimes I go "nah stuff it" and roll over and go back to sleep ... hahahahah !!!

 

Then I head outside to do some movement. Start with breathing set, 36 breaths at about 3 breaths per min. Using basic qigong formwork to enhance breath capacity and control.

 

Then full sequence of Fang Song Gong, usually takes about 10-15 mins. And then the full 108 Yang family taijiquan form, again about 15mins.

 

Sometimes I interchange my movement sequence with Ba Bao, eight treasures. Sometimes I include 20mins of standing. Sometimes I just do a good 30mins of so of Song. Sometimes I just play with some freeform movement. And sometimes I just sit on my back patio with a cuppa and watch the fog roll through the valley below our house

 

And after jumping online here for some TaoBumGong, its time for work

 

Afternoons I always the breathing set again and try and do some movement ... taijiquan, ba bao, song, kung fu staff, whatever feels right. Maybe some gardening as well (which I have to scoot off and do right now).

 

Undoubtedly some more TaoBumGong

 

Evenings after hanging out with wifey for a bit watching tele or whatever, some reading of some sort of Daoist text, maybe some more reading of invocations, prayers. Then some quiet sitting, salutations and finally off to visit zhuangzi's butterfly.

 

Realistically I might do the full thing maybe only once or twice per week (sometimes when I am slack and/or distracted by other stuff I can go a whole week or two without doing it all ) and then bits and pieces on other days. Always do at least one part of it.

 

Try and do the full thing on solstices and equinoxes though, with the addition of some full ceremony work.

 

[lifeforce]

My day starts early at 5am. After waking, I do my Xing Yi Nei Gong set, which takes around 25 minutes.

I try my best to be mindful of my movements at all times and not to drift off into mind-chatter.

After rubbing down/closing, I'll get my zafu and sit in full lotus for half an hour, with eyes lightly closed, doing deep, normal abdominal breathing.

Then it's time to get ready to go to work.

On an evening I'll do another set of Xing Yi Nei Gong, followed by san ti shi standing for about 10 minutes and maybe some five fist forms, if time allows.

On weekends, when I'm not at work, I'll rise a little later and go for a nice long walk in the countryside.

I'm fortunate, that I live in a semi-rural environment. Only 5 minutes from my door and there's no sound of traffic or people. Just the sounds of the natural world waking up. It's wonderful.

Great thread.

[konchog uma]

things i do every day

 

- wake up and smile, anchor myself in gratitude and love

 

- prayers of thanks and blessings to the spirit, the gods/goddesses, the ancestors, etc

 

- remember the tzolkin calendar and pray to the day sign (to native americans the day signs were like deities)

 

- stretching and light yoga (nothing crazy just enough to stay limber)

 

- 5 to 15 minutes breathing white light/fullness and clear light/emptiness with the spiritual umbilical cord

 

- 45 min to 75 min meditation starting with chakra hand seals and mantras (kuji-in) and ending with quiet sitting

 

- today was my second day of taiji/qigong class, so now i have that to do every day too.

 

- and reading, right now i am reading "tao and longevity" by huai-chin nan, "the tibetan yogas of dream and sleep" by tenzin wangyal rinpoche, and "the secret of light" by walter russell

Edited September 4, 2011 by anamatva

[~riverflow]

Usually, when my erratic work schedule permits, this is my "morning" routine ("morning" meaning when I wake up-- I work strange hours sometimes):

 

1) Recite a brief waking gatha.

2) A brief, simple improvisation on the shakuhachi (an end-blown bamboo flute).

3) Recite a brief gatha and the Bodhisattva vows, a series of gasshos, lighting a candle.

4) 15-20 minutes (rarely 30 minutes) of zazen (shikantaza).

5) Burn incense, recite a brief metta gatha.

6) 30-60 minutes of book study

 

I am beginning to add to this routine some qi gong exercises-- though I am still just learning from some beginner videos (zazen for meditation in stillness, qi gong for meditation in motion-- that's how I see it!).

 

In addition, I write haiku at times, not merely for aesthetic pleasure, but as a kind of exercise in self-inquiry (or should I say, "no-self inquiry"!). And I keep a journal, much of which I post on my blog as well.

 

And I especially tend to use my job as a place for practice. I work in an emergency room registering patients (and I'm a supervisor). There isn't a lot a mere pencil pusher like me can do to alleviate some people's ills, but I can help in some simple ways with fears. I can also say from experience that the principles of the Daodejing really do work in many different ways. My practice in the ER is just as important as it is on the cushion!

[thelerner]

1) Recite a brief waking gatha.

2) A brief, simple improvisation on the shakuhachi (an end-blown bamboo flute).

3) Recite a brief gatha and the Bodhisattva vows, a series of gasshos, lighting a candle.

4) 15-20 minutes (rarely 30 minutes) of zazen (shikantaza).

5) Burn incense, recite a brief metta gatha.

6) 30-60 minutes of book study

 

I am beginning to add to this routine some qi gong exercises-- though I am still just learning from some beginner videos (zazen for meditation in stillness, qi gong for meditation in motion-- that's how I see it!).

 

In addition, I write haiku at times, not merely for aesthetic pleasure, but as a kind of exercise in self-inquiry (or should I say, "no-self inquiry"!). And I keep a journal, much of which I post on my blog as well.

 

Thanks for your reply Riverflow. Would you mind telling us what gathas sayings you use?

 

Also you're the second person who lights incense. What kind do you use? Is it a special ceremony?

 

Thanks

 

Michael

Edited September 4, 2011 by thelerner

[~riverflow]

The gathas are cobbled together, sometimes combined, or a variation from a few different sources (Thich Nhat Hanh, Aiken), tailored for myself:

 

GATHA NO. 1

 

Breathing in, breathing out

I vow with all beings

to dwell in the present moment

letting each moment arrive,

letting each moment go.

 

GATHA NO. 2

 

For all benificent seeds

ever growing through me, I give thanks.

May this gratitude be expressed

through my body, speech and mind:

with infinite kindness to the past,

infinite service to the present,

infinite responsibility to the future.

(slightly revised, originally written by Susan Postal)

 

FOUR BODHISATTVA VOWS

 

Numberless beings: I vow to free them.

Countless delusions: I vow to abandon them.

Boundless reality: I vow to perceive it.

Endless awakening: I vow to embody it.

 

METTA

 

May all beings be free of suffering,

may we feel safe and still.

May all beings be free of discord,

may we be loving grateful and kind.

May all beings be healthy,

at ease in all our ills.

May all beings be at peace,

embracing all conditions of life.

 

--I sometimes say this in the plural, sometimes I say it with someone specific in mind ("May ____ be free of suffering..."), sometimes I do both.

 

I have been using cones (sticks are just too messy). I've been pleased with Kamini's frankincense. Their sandalwood is quite good too. Potent stuff. I highly recommend it. I get it from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Frankincense-Cones-Kamini-Incense-Box/dp/B00122CMWO/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1HTNQV94TMQNJ&colid=29IRU7SER1707

 

I burn the incense toward the end for purely practical reasons (incense smoke and zazen don't really mix well, especially with the eyes half open!). But I do think it symbolic too, lighting the incense with the candle (flame = awakening, cone = self). I try to keep it simple, and I've experimented with things over the past year.

 

But I don't have any flowers. I have a cat, so that has been a problem!

 

This is my minimalist meditation space (it has changed slightly since this photo was taken):

 

[thelerner]

My day starts early at 5am. After waking, I do my Xing Yi Nei Gong set, which takes around 25 minutes.

I try my best to be mindful of my movements at all times and not to drift off into mind-chatter.

After rubbing down/closing, I'll get my zafu and sit in full lotus for half an hour, with eyes lightly closed, doing deep, normal abdominal breathing.

Then it's time to get ready to go to work.

I'm unfamiliar with the Xing Yi set. Is it a medical chi gong form? 25 minutes is pretty long, are you repeating a set of movements or is it a very long form, also what makes it special.

 

Is san ti shi standing similar to Zhan Zang? If so is there a special position for hands and feet?

 

Thanks

[lifeforce]

I'm unfamiliar with the Xing Yi set. Is it a medical chi gong form? 25 minutes is pretty long, are you repeating a set of movements or is it a very long form, also what makes it special.

 

Is san ti shi standing similar to Zhan Zang? If so is there a special position for hands and feet?

 

Thanks

 

Xing Yi Nei Gong is a martially orientated set, but you don't have to practice any martial arts in order to benefit.

The benefits are numerous, but the underlying basis for this set is to heal and strengthen the body, from the inside out, to live a long healthy, happy life, free of physical pain and disease. The set focusses deep inside the body, exercising fascia, tendon, bone marrow and keeping the bodily fluids in motion, thereby not allowing them to stagnate, which can cause many health problems.

As I've stated before, the pictures on the front of the book of Wang Ji Wu (the set's founder), performing the exercises at nearly 100 years of age is the only encouragement I need to practice.

There are 17 movements in the set, with differing numbers of repetitions according to the exercise that is being performed.

The set starts off slowly and builds to quite an exilarating workout by the time it's finished.

San ti shi is the main zhan zhuang of xingyiquan.

A good website which goes into detail is here.

Edited September 5, 2011 by lifeforce