Headache & Tattoos

[raimonio]

Hi everyone I have two questions for you and they are unrelated to each other but I didn't want to make two posts

 

Okay so one is that I've begun doing tai chi on a daily basis and now I have a headache I went from doing around 45minutes 2-3 times a week into doing 15-20minutes daily. Otherwise it has granted me good energy and uppered my general feeling but on top of that I seem to be getting a headache

 

The other question is about taking tattoos. I've always wanted to take one, maybe a buddhist lotus-tribal-figure or something. But it feels somehow controversial to take a tattoo to represent spirituality when taking a tattoo doesn't seem like a very spiritual action So I wish to hear your opinions I somehow think that a pure body would be more spiritual than a tattoo'ed one.

[Taomeow]

Hi everyone I have two questions for you and they are unrelated to each other but I didn't want to make two posts

 

Okay so one is that I've begun doing tai chi on a daily basis and now I have a headache I went from doing around 45minutes 2-3 times a week into doing 15-20minutes daily. Otherwise it has granted me good energy and uppered my general feeling but on top of that I seem to be getting a headache

 

The other question is about taking tattoos. I've always wanted to take one, maybe a buddhist lotus-tribal-figure or something. But it feels somehow controversial to take a tattoo to represent spirituality when taking a tattoo doesn't seem like a very spiritual action So I wish to hear your opinions I somehow think that a pure body would be more spiritual than a tattoo'ed one.

 

If you have a headache after taiji, it may mean that you've raised too much yang energy up to the head, this is common with beginners though not always headachy. My teacher, when he sees indications of too much yang stirred up after the practice, has us do Beating the Heavenly Drum to remove it. I've described it at some point -- maybe you'll find it so I don't have to repeat myself -- it's quick and efficient. This is followed (or preceded, whichever you prefer) by vigorous slapping of your whole body, beginning with bending as low as you can and slapping your ankles and calves, straightening out gradually and slapping away, the chest, sides, shoulders, back, arms, then bend down and repeat. You don't hit hard -- the goal is not to punish or hurt -- but you don't wuss out, make your slaps fairly decisive, as though you are swatting many annoying mosquitoes very rapidly.

 

As for tattoos, some schools of taoism explicitly prohibit them, while others may not have voiced any particular opinions, but in general there's spiritual laws against self-mutilation in taoism that might apply. The belief is that you carve on your shen when you carve on your body, because taoism, unlike other modalities, does not view the body and the spirit as readily separable, they are both co-creators of the overall you, and the body is not understood as a chunk of inert matter animated by a spirit that influences it but is not influenced by it. In authentic taoism, what happens to your spirit is very much influenced by what you do with your body. So, consider whether you want to tattoo your shen -- you may wind up carrying the pattern into immortality and the immortals are rather old-fashioned (obviously), not as impressed by this or that current fad as most, for they've seen them all...

[Birch]

Oh good one Taomeow.

I don't know what the immortals think of mine but it does seem pretty representative of both my self and my practices. I wasn't thinking "spiritual" when I did it though. I was thinking "how do I take this body to represent myself?" as opposed to someone else. Tattoos have been used by different people to different ends throughout history. I think it bears thinking about what kind of history you have in mind.

[Taomeow]

Oh good one Taomeow.

I don't know what the immortals think of mine but it does seem pretty representative of both my self and my practices. I wasn't thinking "spiritual" when I did it though. I was thinking "how do I take this body to represent myself?" as opposed to someone else. Tattoos have been used by different people to different ends throughout history. I think it bears thinking about what kind of history you have in mind.

 

I'd love to see it! -- is it photogenic, this tattoo of yours, any pics?

 

Here's a story of an involuntary/accidental tattoo with unexpected implications. When my grandmother was young, she was what one may call an emancipated woman, and shocked her proper relatives with outrageous fashions, makeup, smoking, and flings with high-ranking military men (we never had any military in the family). So, at some point in that distant past, a tattoo appeared on her cheek -- we're talking an era when only prison inmates wore them in the old country -- in a strategic spot where Mme De Pompadour, followed by silent movies stars et al, used to paint a fake mole that was a code for a playful intent. My grandmother's was small, perfectly round, and blue. She swore that she accidentally stabbed herself with a fountain pen and the ink got embedded and that was how she got it. No one believed her though she was adamant -- "it was an accident!" Well... I will never know. I never suspected that my grandmother could have been a woman of controversy in her youth, having come to know her much later in her life, but that's what her niece told me who was 7 when she last saw her until the family reunited 70 years later (the niece's side emigrated to the US 70 years earlier). The niece retained this image of a woman she wanted to be when she would grow up, all centered around that tattoo on her cheek, revolving around it in a never-fading memory. So... you never know. When I met the niece, she was, well, 77, an exquisite self-made American aristocracy piece, and she attributed much of what she had made herself into to that tattoo. Tao works in mysterious ways...

[mYTHmAKER]

Okay so one is that I've begun doing tai chi on a daily basis and now I have a headache I went from doing around 45minutes 2-3 times a week into doing 15-20minutes daily. Otherwise it has granted me good energy and uppered my general feeling but on top of that I seem to be getting a headache

 

 

You might have too much tension in your body.

Check your body for areas of tension and let them go

[Birch]

Excellent account:-)

 

Yes, mine is quite photogenic, although like the thing it depicts, you're unlikely to see it with me just like that:-) It was only later that I figured what it was really doing there. Seems it has "friends" too, albeit symbollically. All very similar (that sounds a bit strange, but the way I see it is as a multilayered bio-symbolic act, hence my suggestion to the OP for caution in the choosing of the objects and places of inscription)

 

Will take a pic at some point. Probably not going to post it on the TTB's though:-)

[Mattimo]

Hi everyone I have two questions for you and they are unrelated to each other but I didn't want to make two posts

 

Okay so one is that I've begun doing tai chi on a daily basis and now I have a headache I went from doing around 45minutes 2-3 times a week into doing 15-20minutes daily. Otherwise it has granted me good energy and uppered my general feeling but on top of that I seem to be getting a headache

 

The other question is about taking tattoos. I've always wanted to take one, maybe a buddhist lotus-tribal-figure or something. But it feels somehow controversial to take a tattoo to represent spirituality when taking a tattoo doesn't seem like a very spiritual action So I wish to hear your opinions I somehow think that a pure body would be more spiritual than a tattoo'ed one.

 

>Experiencing headaches could be a side-effect of purifying your body which can manifest through tai-chi practice. However, your headaches could also be an indication of so-called improper practice. That is to say, perhaps it is necessary for you to make an adjustment in terms of structural alignment, relaxation, etc.

 

>Regarding the tattoo, only you can answer that question. The opinions of other people do not matter at all in this case. Are your underlying motivations for getting a tattoo sincere? Do you want to get a tattoo because of superficial reasons related to your personal-image. Or, will getting a specific tattoo represent and embody your inner-most genuine character and provide you with inspiration to achieve your goals. More to the point and ignoring the previous questions, simply, do you want to get a tattoo?

[raimonio]

Okay today I did my practice and tried to remain as relaxed as possible, no headache afterwards hope this lasts If not then I'll try the Beating the Heavenly Drum Thnx for advices

 

I guess that my motives for taking a tattoo would be kind of superficial, I mean I think it would look cool and it would be great to have something that is important to me represented in my body But I don't think it would be that important spiritually wise

 

I do find this taoist view somehow too merciless. I think it would be stupid if people who took tattoo's would get some kind of a critical effect in the afterlife for taking those tattoos. Again I dont know if god exists but I dont think he would come up with a world where if you took a tattoo you would harm your soul forever. Think about all the guys going into the other side and being informed "you ruined your existence thanks for those tattoos, nice job mate" and then they would be like "Oops, didn't know that, guess it can't be helped now I'm screwed"

[AЯAB]

I'll be honest I don't know a thing about the headache thing.

 

But I've also been wanting to get a tattoo for a while now. I want to get the yin yang on my wrist except since I'm a dude right(yang) just get the yin part and the yang would represent my body. I want to get it so I can remember to always be with the way and think good thoughts, cause sometimes I forget. It may sound like I'm weak or maybe I'm not were you guys are but I think reminders are always great. This is all just talk right now nothing has happened. Also when my brother stops doing drugs and smoking I told him we would both get the infinity symbol tattooed to our wrist to symbolize our friendship and to keep it as a reminder to him to not touch that stuff anymore.

 

 

I found a site a while ago about this guy that got a "Taoist tattoo". It's really neat and he shares the whole experience through words and pictures.

 

http://equivocality.com/2007/08/13/the-tao-tattoo/

[三江源]

Chi headache! Not nice. Sorry you are suffering this. Get rid of it by getting the energy out of your head, with your intention. Various ways you can choose to do this.

 

Vent it by putting your head against the wall/a tree/the ground/ and intend for the excess chi to move out of you and into the thing, like a mist.

 

Or vent direct from your head, let the headache stuckness leave as you breathe out.

 

If you are familiar with the microcosmic orbit, you can pull the energy to your crown and let it fall down the front channel, and loop it round until your headache is gone, then store what you are working with in your lower dantien.

 

 

If you are outside, on the earth, or around trees, the elements will help you, draw in cool earth energy from your feet upwards and wash it through your sytstem and out the crown, taking headache with it. Or pull sky energy down through crown and wash through your body and out through feet.

 

Good Luck.

 

I have wondered abut a tattoo too. I have a strawberry birth mark on my lower back and I wondered about turning it into something else, but I am ambivalent being drawn on permanently, it feels disloyal to what I have already here. I agree that the image would meld with me and not be a superficial image but a new part of me.. I guess it would have to be a ritual of some import and the image would have to be arrived at shamanically. I think though that it would become irrelevant to act it out in the physical world, if one went into it that deeply, it would be 'done' in the subtle realms, anyhow.

[raimonio]

Hehe I'm just a total beginner in Tai Chi I've only learned half of the Yang family 24 form and certainly cannot sense my chi or know where it is going I think I'm miles away from these microcosmic orbs etc

 

Nice story Taomeow

 

Seems like alot of people have thought about taking a tattoo to represent their spiritual beliefs Maybe we should all go and take our tattoos and then post some pictures

 

-K- it would be nice to see it mate

Edited December 18, 2011 by raimonio

[三江源]

Hehe I'm just a total beginner in Tai Chi I've only learned half of the Yang family 24 form and certainly cannot sense my chi or know where it is going I think I'm miles away from these microcosmic orbs etc

 

 

Okay. Venting is an easy basic practice though for releasing build up. try it, see how it goes. Use your intent, trust the process.

[Aetherous]

Becalm balls have successfully gotten rid of any headache I've had, when nothing else worked.

[Audiohealing]

Is rinsing your mouth with scolding listerine self-mutilation?

 

Is exercise self-mutilation (lactic acid burn)?

 

Is having surgery self-mutilation?

 

If getting a tattoo was not painful- would it still be self-mutilation? Technically, you're just inserting ink in the body. You're not damaging it. Not like a piercing.

 

Where does one draw the line? Isn't buddhism and toaism about being non-judgmental. Why would the immortals judge you for inserting ink in your body? I don't think they would care.

 

If you have a headache after taiji, it may mean that you've raised too much yang energy up to the head, this is common with beginners though not always headachy. My teacher, when he sees indications of too much yang stirred up after the practice, has us do Beating the Heavenly Drum to remove it. I've described it at some point -- maybe you'll find it so I don't have to repeat myself -- it's quick and efficient. This is followed (or preceded, whichever you prefer) by vigorous slapping of your whole body, beginning with bending as low as you can and slapping your ankles and calves, straightening out gradually and slapping away, the chest, sides, shoulders, back, arms, then bend down and repeat. You don't hit hard -- the goal is not to punish or hurt -- but you don't wuss out, make your slaps fairly decisive, as though you are swatting many annoying mosquitoes very rapidly.

 

As for tattoos, some schools of taoism explicitly prohibit them, while others may not have voiced any particular opinions, but in general there's spiritual laws against self-mutilation in taoism that might apply. The belief is that you carve on your shen when you carve on your body, because taoism, unlike other modalities, does not view the body and the spirit as readily separable, they are both co-creators of the overall you, and the body is not understood as a chunk of inert matter animated by a spirit that influences it but is not influenced by it. In authentic taoism, what happens to your spirit is very much influenced by what you do with your body. So, consider whether you want to tattoo your shen -- you may wind up carrying the pattern into immortality and the immortals are rather old-fashioned (obviously), not as impressed by this or that current fad as most, for they've seen them all...

[AЯAB]

Becalm balls have successfully gotten rid of any headache I've had, when nothing else worked.

 

Dude thanks for posting about them a while back. I got mine a couple weeks ago. They're pretty sweet man, for me it takes like 2 mins for it start to kick in nice. All my friends come over now just so they can use em XD

[mYTHmAKER]

Make your own Becalm Balls

two tennis ball in a sock - tie the ends.

Can also roll up and down your spine

[Aetherous]

Sweet, Arab.

 

About tennis balls, they are pretty hard in comparison to the becalms. I'd rather use a rolled up towel.

[mYTHmAKER]

Sweet, Arab.

 

About tennis balls, they are pretty hard in comparison to the becalms. I'd rather use a rolled up towel.

 

There are many softer balls available in the marketplace

[三江源]

 

 

Where does one draw the line? Isn't buddhism and toaism about being non-judgmental. Why would the immortals judge you for inserting ink in your body? I don't think they would care.

 

 

 

Wondering where you get this idea from?

 

How does a tattoo become merely 'inserting ink into the body'? That sort of reductionism doesnt serve actual truth seeing. Isnt it staining the body with an ego chosen image that endures?

 

non - judgmental? How do immortals know who they want to visit and communicate with?

[Birch]

Yes it's staining the body with an image that endures. Yes "ego" chose it in a sort of a wu-wei kind of way with relatively convoluted rationale that only later made some sense when viewed in relation to ego's cultivation efforts (which are themselves convoluted).

I think it's kind of fun:-) Also one of those "future prepares past" kind of things. Maybe my immortal self decided it. Who knows? Who cares? I will when I'm old and laughing:-)

[DanC]

Thai Buddhist monks have a long history in doing tattoos, all of the tattoos they get have spiritual significance.