Practices for downward flow

[greenchild]

Can anyone recommend specific practices for cultivating the downward flow of qi, and particularly nourishing the water and metal elements? This is asked in consideration of past "dead jing" damage from excessive kundalini type manifestations. Perhaps there is an expert you could recommend for help in this area? Would love the feedback of anyone who's familiar with it!

[thelerner]

I'm by no means an expert but a simple series might interest you. There is a series of exercises on abardoncompanion.com called the Archaeous series. They're Rawn Clarks take on elemental theory; for 15 minutes you stack the elements to your body. Waist down is earth, stomach to solar plex is water, chest region air, head heat/sun/awareness. He takes it slowly and you stack the elements. Each element is matched with its qualities, i.e. earth being strength, stability, calm, relaxed, stoic. It gives a very good feeling of solidarity.

 

I consider it downwards because your feet, legs, pelvis is earth, on which everything rests, the basis for your strength. I like to do them standing up. As the series moves on he adds hermetic elements to it, but the basic first level is very nice. With many energetic meditations its easy to leave energy stuck up high. This places an emphasis physically and mentally on the whole lower section.

 

If nothing else, the 15 minutes of standing Zhan Zhang is a decent downward style method in itself, and listening to the exercise makes it go by quickly.

 

Rawn has a couple of innovative programs on his site. All free, most go very deep.

 

Yours

Michael

Edited March 8, 2012 by thelerner

[寒月 Hanyue]

Can anyone recommend specific practices for cultivating the downward flow of qi, and particularly nourishing the water and metal elements? This is asked in consideration of past "dead jing" damage from excessive kundalini type manifestations. Perhaps there is an expert you could recommend for help in this area? Would love the feedback of anyone who's familiar with it!

 

Sit, stand (lying is hard), open yourself to knowing the downward flow is already there. Relax, let go. Primary awareness on DT, secondary on the downward flow of the etheric body, let your breathing relax and open and become more circular naturally, with no effort. Simply BE.

 

Best,

[greenchild]

I'm by no means an expert but a simple series might interest you. There is a series of exercises on abardoncompanion.com called the Archaeous series. They're Rawn Clarks take on elemental theory; for 15 minutes you stack the elements to your body. Waist down is earth, stomach to solar plex is water, chest region air, head heat/sun/awareness. He takes it slowly and you stack the elements. Each element is matched with its qualities, i.e. earth being strength, stability, calm, relaxed, stoic. It gives a very good feeling of solidarity.

 

I consider it downwards because your feet, legs, pelvis is earth, on which everything rests, the basis for your strength. I like to do them standing up. As the series moves on he adds hermetic elements to it, but the basic first level is very nice. With many energetic meditations its easy to leave energy stuck up high. This places an emphasis physically and mentally on the whole lower section.

 

If nothing else, the 15 minutes of standing Zhan Zhang is a decent downward style method in itself, and listening to the exercise makes it go by quickly.

 

Rawn has a couple of innovative programs on his site. All free, most go very deep.

 

Yours

Michael

 

 

Thanks Michael, that's something I'll check out

[JustARandomPanda]

I'm by no means an expert but a simple series might interest you. There is a series of exercises on abardoncompanion.com called the Archaeous series. They're Rawn Clarks take on elemental theory; for 15 minutes you stack the elements to your body. Waist down is earth, stomach to solar plex is water, chest region air, head heat/sun/awareness. He takes it slowly and you stack the elements. Each element is matched with its qualities, i.e. earth being strength, stability, calm, relaxed, stoic. It gives a very good feeling of solidarity.

 

I consider it downwards because your feet, legs, pelvis is earth, on which everything rests, the basis for your strength. I like to do them standing up. As the series moves on he adds hermetic elements to it, but the basic first level is very nice. With many energetic meditations its easy to leave energy stuck up high. This places an emphasis physically and mentally on the whole lower section.

 

If nothing else, the 15 minutes of standing Zhan Zhang is a decent downward style method in itself, and listening to the exercise makes it go by quickly.

 

Rawn has a couple of innovative programs on his site. All free, most go very deep.

 

Thanks for this! I'll go check it out though a full fifteen minutes of Zhan Zhuang is a bit too much for me at the moment though someday perhaps I'll be able to do it well.

 

I'm about to start reading the Initiation into Hermetics so I'll be interested in seeing how Chinese 5 Element Theory might enhance my understanding of Bardon's material.

 

I also found the following book by Rawn Clark. A Bardon Companion.

 

 

Sit, stand (lying is hard), open yourself to knowing the downward flow is already there. Relax, let go. Primary awareness on DT, secondary on the downward flow of the etheric body, let your breathing relax and open and become more circular naturally, with no effort. Simply BE.

 

Thanks! This is exactly what I hope to achieve. I'm a bit like the OP. The energy goes up but it doesn't come back down. I'm hoping to correct that with enough practice.

 

 

Prior to reading Bardon I'm going to read:

 

 

Wu Xing, Five Elements

 

[寒月 Hanyue]

I'm a bit like the OP. The energy goes up but it doesn't come back down. I'm hoping to correct that with enough practice.

 

Yes. The downward flow means more will flow up. Upwards flow does NOT mean you will get a reciprocal down flow. Don't know why, but thats the way it seems to work.

 

Walking, standing, opening huiyin, your legs, your feet and yongquan. Getting your awareness out of your head. All will help.

 

Happy practice

[astralc]

Can anyone recommend specific practices for cultivating the downward flow of qi, and particularly nourishing the water and metal elements? This is asked in consideration of past "dead jing" damage from excessive kundalini type manifestations. Perhaps there is an expert you could recommend for help in this area? Would love the feedback of anyone who's familiar with it!

 

greenchild, this sounds a bit like Kundalini Syndrome, a serious condition in which practitioners drawing chi into the head chakras, create congestion and irritation of the Central Nervous System, the brain, and can eventually experience anxiety, panic attacks, delusions and paranoia. I sincerely hope that your condition is not that bad. It becomes a neurological issue.

 

If it is early days and not too bad then yes, definitely do the earthing / grounding exercises described here, train your chi to go downwards, never upwards, you cannot afford further irritation to the CNS. Taoist tantric and kundalini training is designed to start doing earthing and grounding exercises, learning to dissipate excess chi thru the feet and hands, it can take years to do this. They then move the chi slowly upwards over time, sometimes this happens unconsciously, thru dreams and astral travel, OOB, etc. When we rush to push chi into the top chakras we get problems.

 

So, talk to your teacher, and get some acupuncture it might help, then talk to a psychologist for help with the psychological issues if they are there. You might not be able to do any chi work for some time if it is a serious condition, so take it easy, this has destroyed peoples lives, so treat it seriously. You are welcome to PM me as I have experience in working with kundalini syndrome.

[freeform]

Hey Michael - I appreciate your advice to Greenchild (and I used to be a fan of that series!) However, any system that 'mentalises' energy movement/flow/structure etc, naturally elicits an upward flow in your system. (of course this isn't strictly true - it can be done without using the 'mind' but this isn't a 'normal' skill... let's just say someone able to do this without bringing energy up wouldn't have asked the original question)

 

Snowmonki's first suggestion is the only real way to tap the downward flow (relax, let go, realise it's already there and that a part of you can tap into it, then just get out of the way and let go more and more). Seems so simple right?

 

That first suggestion isn't necessarily 'rooting' or 'grounding' - (although it may have that as a side effect) Rooting and grounding may indeed help bring your qi down, but it's certainly not the same as 'the downward flow' or 'downward kundalini'.

[humbleone]

greenchild, this sounds a bit like Kundalini Syndrome, a serious condition in which practitioners drawing chi into the head chakras, create congestion and irritation of the Central Nervous System, the brain, and can eventually experience anxiety, panic attacks, delusions and paranoia. I sincerely hope that your condition is not that bad. It becomes a neurological issue.

 

If it is early days and not too bad then yes, definitely do the earthing / grounding exercises described here, train your chi to go downwards, never upwards, you cannot afford further irritation to the CNS. Taoist tantric and kundalini training is designed to start doing earthing and grounding exercises, learning to dissipate excess chi thru the feet and hands, it can take years to do this. They then move the chi slowly upwards over time, sometimes this happens unconsciously, thru dreams and astral travel, OOB, etc. When we rush to push chi into the top chakras we get problems.

 

So, talk to your teacher, and get some acupuncture it might help, then talk to a psychologist for help with the psychological issues if they are there. You might not be able to do any chi work for some time if it is a serious condition, so take it easy, this has destroyed peoples lives, so treat it seriously. You are welcome to PM me as I have experience in working with kundalini syndrome.

 

This is a really good reply astralc. You have a good grasp of the issues involved.

 

As someone who suffered from this for 20+ years, I have bad news. I agreee with you this is NOT easily fixable. The chances are quite remote that a student can fix this on his own.

 

What I don't understand is why this Kundalini Syndrome effects certain people and not others? I mean, I would imagine, that most people start out in a haphazard way, without proper guidance etc. I would appreciate if you or others could shed some light on this.

 

With me it started right away. In University, I joined my professor's Zen Meditation group, and right after the first session, I started getting sweaty palms, agitation, rapid heart beat....

[dwai]

Can anyone recommend specific practices for cultivating the downward flow of qi, and particularly nourishing the water and metal elements? This is asked in consideration of past "dead jing" damage from excessive kundalini type manifestations. Perhaps there is an expert you could recommend for help in this area? Would love the feedback of anyone who's familiar with it!

 

BK Frantzis' "Standing and Releasing" seems like a good fit for what you want to do.

 

http://music.yahoo.com/b-k-frantzis/albums/chi-gung-standing-dissolving-energy-gates--209516554

[de_paradise]

My approach would be more cure is better, and to keep it simple. If the problem is "dead jing", then that is relatively gross, fluid problem, and taken out of the body through detoxing organs and blood and arteries, colon, etc. How about a 6 month program of herbal detox? How about dancing as downward flow, an incorporation of bushman shaking and dancing to modern music. Like be that guy who's dancing kind of like a nut in the night club by himself for hours. Or dance alone in your basement for a few hours.

[astralc]

This is a really good reply astralc. You have a good grasp of the issues involved.

 

As someone who suffered from this for 20+ years, I have bad news. I agreee with you this is NOT easily fixable. The chances are quite remote that a student can fix this on his own.

 

What I don't understand is why this Kundalini Syndrome effects certain people and not others? I mean, I would imagine, that most people start out in a haphazard way, without proper guidance etc. I would appreciate if you or others could shed some light on this.

 

With me it started right away. In University, I joined my professor's Zen Meditation group, and right after the first session, I started getting sweaty palms, agitation, rapid heart beat....

 

humbleone, I am very sorry to hear that you experienced this, and on the first day too. Why some and not others? A good question, from my experience those of us who are very sensitive tend to experience rushes of chi into the head. This is particularly so if they are 'head' oriented, in other words, they think too much, or get headaches from congestion in the head.

 

Us westerners are very head oriented, while those who work in traditional ways, farming etc. working with their hands and feet, tend to be more in their body. We have trouble earthing and staying earthed and centered, while traditional working people tend to have trouble getting into their head. We think, they feel. To simplify, we get head congestion they get body congestion.

 

There are some conditions that put us at risk of rising chi into the head. One of these is hypothyroidism and those with an over aroused Sympathetic Nervous System, for example people who experience anxiety a lot can get symptoms too. Hypothyroidism is one of the most unrecognised cause of mental disorders, yet doctors and most others have almost no idea what it is.

 

Thyroid hormone is essential for the health of each and every nerve cell, when this hormone is under produced the nerves begin to misfire and Central Nervous System (the brain) issues can arise. If you have a low thyroid (hypothyroidism) and do extensive chi work moving it into your head, then you will get chi congestion in your head centres quite quickly. The brain slightly swells and is irritated, nerves misfire a whole lot more and soon issues of anxiety, panic, delusions, depression etc can appear.

 

By directing chi downwards we avoid this. However, let me also say that something like hypothyroidism can rigger delusions etc. without any chi being involved. Look up PubMed and you can see the link between hypothyroidism and Bipolar Disorder, its there black and white.

 

May I suggest that you seek a biofeedback treatment called 'neurofeedback', it directly trains brainwaves down to where they should be. Its one of the few effective treatments of Kundalini Syndrome. You can PM me if you want more info on this, its what I do every day with people with anxiety disorders and really is magic.