does smoking increase or decrease chi flow

[eccentric215]

Grrr another topic where i couldnt find a proper place to post..... Anyways im a smokker trying to quit.... Ive done it befoore several time but i always seem to pick it back up.... Anyways i walked into my yoga class smelling like an ashtray and my yoga teacher cornered me and said we need to work on your smoking.... She was very friendly about it and we had a short talk about how she used to smoke..... She said that smoking will decrease your chi..... I started thinking about it during our workout and thought to myself..... Smoking increases adranaline flow and thats why you get a cheap high from it..... It spikes your adrenaline flow...... So my question is does a cigarette oncrease chi flow or congest it...... Not that its a habbit i wanna keep.......

[Soar]

Of course it will decreae you chi, it is gradually killing you.

 

What it does in the short term, I'm not sure, a chinese doctor once told me something useful to know . He said in small amounts it has a soothing effect on the emotional centre of the brain, but then after that it just acts as poison. But this is just the nicotine effect, there are plenty of other things going on when you smoke, maybe the nicotine keeps you hooked and the other posions and carbon monoxide and tar etc slowly kills you. Also I think it acts like a relaxant and a stimulant at the same time.

 

Basically really try to stop using some basic psychological understanding, willpower and some practical techniques (read Allen Carr). But, if this fails you need to start becoming aware of why you need or crave the effect you get from smoking, which can take you into deeper issues inside of yourself. Personally for me, smoking had became so entwined with other things inside of me it took me 10 years to stop smoking and lots of help from various teachers and buddhism and taoism to uderstand and work through enough to be able to stop. Now I have been 100% free for ~2 years, and it just isnt even an issue, I dont miss anything about it what so ever. My practises and life develop so much more because smoking and having a mental crutch like that really interupts your spiritual or chi development. You just cant work through various processes if they get interupted by wanting a cigerette, or should i stop smoking or shoudn't I etc..

 

In fact the very fact that you are smoking usually means you are not aware of whole chunks of your inner world and your relationship with you body or else you just wouldnt do it. As complicated as it can get, it really comes down to if you actually really feel what it is like to smoke, and then what the after effects are etc, then it is rubbish and the body doesnt like it so why bother. Which is Allen Carrs conclusion, some people jsut need a lot more help to get to a point where that is obvious.

 

A lot more I could say about it becasue I struggled with it for so long.. but you dont sound like you will have to go through all that, I hope not anyway,

[hydrogen]

So my question is does a cigarette oncrease chi flow or congest it...... Not that its a habbit i wanna keep.......

 

It increases the chi flow temporarily. The indians used to set up a smoke tent to induce "vision".

 

In long usage, it damages the lung, and less chi. You can find that information everywhere.

[Flolfolil]

cigarettes? vasoconstriction.

[ChiDragon]

You guys have said it all......

[rex]

Discussion here on the deleterious physical and spiritual effects of smoking from the Nyingma viewpoint:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=4050

 

 

[RongzomFan]

Breathing hot smoke into healthy pink lungs can't be good regardless of the substance.

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Ignoring the benzopyrene which causes cancer; ignoring the tar and carbon which clog your alveoli; ignoring the chemical which stops production of alpha-1 anti trypsin (therefore causing emphysema as the elastin in your lungs dissolves); ignoring the nicotine which makes your teeth shit; ignoring the carbon monoxide which reduces your blood's affinity for oxygen; and ignoring the financial cost...

 

 

It's an addiction. Even if it was good for your chi, I would tell you to STOP! Trying to cultivate to nirvana at the same time as stoking cravings and attachments is like trying to swim with a bungee cord holding you back. You have to overcome this addiction if you want a calm, clear, and sharp mind, or a hope in hell of unlocking enough prajna to realise Tao.

 

 

I advise more cultivation, and stopping smoking cold-turkey this very second. Go right now, get your cigarettes, write a letter to tobacco about stopping, burn the letter, bury the death sticks (like a funeral). Go to the shops you normally get smokes from and tell the owner to bar you for a month if you try to ask for cigarettes. Take up jogging as a new habit, which will give you a tangible sign of how your health improves over time for motivation.

 

 

Best of luck. Keep us posted.

Edited May 12, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[eccentric215]

Thanks and I know smoking is bad..... Tonight I'm going to attempt to quit... Im going to have to muscle it.... the withdrawls are going to be a son of a trucker.... good vibes please and thank you...

[Seeker of Wisdom]

That's great! Deciding to stop is when you start winning.

[silent thunder]

I used tobacco briefly at a point in my life when I was quite depressed and processing dark emotional patterns. Looking back I can see that I was using cigs as an emergency relief valve. But it's a double edged, short term fix, with a hammer-ass-back-hand-retaliation effect that leaves you worse off than you were when you sought its relief.

 

For me, the first rush of a cig would give that good climber high while simultaneously, dampening the heart field and give the impression of relaxation via dampening all emotions, thus it feels like it's relaxing... as that wave crests and recedes, then the real effects become apparent, mainly increased tension and anxiety.

 

The real addiction for me was not the cigarette, but the cascade effect that broke the emotional/thought pattern that was 'causing' my suffering.

 

Emotions are far stronger than crack and at the time, the cigarette was the lesser of two evils. They served a purpose.

 

The 'cascade effect' in the system is what I sought, really just that first puff is all I needed, the rest of the drags on the cig were rather pointless, but it was a great interrupter to the signals I didn't want to deal with at the time. I just had another signal to deal with instead of the ones I was escaping. My mind knew I could break a signal pattern with a drag, so in certain 'trigger events' my mind would remind me I had a craving to interrupt a signal.

 

Not long after taking up qi gong and meditation daily, I began to get similar cascades. I call them 'body pings'. It's much like someone taking a mallet and striking my inner energy being like a bell, with a subsequent wave that can roll outward, inward, up, down, etc... They have a similar effect of interrupting signals/thought chains and emotional clouds, but these are linked to the breath and true relaxation and leave me vibrating higher and clearer.

 

Emotions are now the real addiction for me. Thought/emotion trigger chains, Shenpa clouds I call them. Meditation, Qi Gong are my new signal interrupters.

 

Congrats on your desire to release them, but don't kick your own ass if you fall off the wagon. There are plenty of others willing to do that, just see it in the moment for what it is, really take the moment and be present in it, I think, soon you'll see it's not serving the purpose you are conditioned to believe.

 

Cheers!

[Marks of Glory]

cigarettes? vasoconstriction.

 

Actually, as soon as ou some it, it expands the alveoli...

 

thus, when you are quitting you feel choked and as if you could not breathe properly, but it subdues in few days

[Raine]

And to think, I read this while on a cig break XD

[Tibetan_Ice]

does smoking increase or decrease chi flow

 

 

 

Why don't you ask Nisargadatta? (check his right hand in the picture at this link)

 

http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Nisargadatta_My_Recollections.html

 

 

Tonight the Maharaj confided to us that, though he has quit smoking cigarettes, nevertheless, in spite of the doctors' advice, he is still chewing tobacco.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Tibetan_Ice

[Songtsan]

Ever try E-cigs? I hear it's a good way to quit. I am trying to talk my mother into it. You still get the nicotine, but none of the crap in your lungs......its cheaper than tobacco too...try doing some research on it.

[Raine]

I have researched, and tried it but it gave me a headache for some reason. There is a tea a chinese herbalist gave me though and its supposed to help

[Songtsan]

I have researched, and tried it but it gave me a headache for some reason. There is a tea a chinese herbalist gave me though and its supposed to help

 

I have heard of that...supposedly the different brands are made with different stuff (the base chemical that is), so one can keep trying until one finds the right brand that doesn't cause any problems..I am not a smoker though - i was just researching it to try to get my mom into it. Yeah, i remember when I smoked at a hookah bar I would get a headache...it something in the sugary chemical I think.

[Raine]

I have heard of that...supposedly the different brands are made with different stuff (the base chemical that is), so one can keep trying until one finds the right brand that doesn't cause any problems..I am not a smoker though - i was just researching it to try to get my mom into it. Yeah, i remember when I smoked at a hookah bar I would get a headache...it something in the sugary chemical I think.

 

That might be it; I have a sugar sensitivity but, I also am sensitive to most common chemicals too so, it could be that. I was told that sensitivity makes quitting that much harder.

 

The tea isn't very good but its what I got, atm. Maybe I'll mix it with juice.

[Marks of Glory]

I do not want to make propaganda of cigarette smoking, i myself was a heavy smoker same years ago, and quit

 

but it is a fact that tobacco is widely used by "cultivators" of alot of differentent religions.

 

For example Xamans, Hopi Xamans, and other xamans all over the world, and Voodoo, Candomble, Umbanda are a few I know about. It also appears alot on Gustav Meyrink`s classical Theosophical novel "The Golem".

 

It is interesting to add too that J R R Tolkien, who started involving himself with the Occult and secret wisdom from a very young age used it alot on his pipe, and mentioned, very specifically, on "The Lord of The Rings", it`s importance. Of course, he did it indirectly. his quote on the beginning of the book goes more or less like this "I do not know precisely what herb they smoked but it surely was of the nicotiana family (...)" one of the uses probably is to hold back some anxiety attacks which are common on "kundalini" awakenings (dispersed Shen (?). Taoists instead learn how to hold their intent on their Lower Dantien, for example). this is my guess. But I think there are other reasons too, i think it is quite a powerful herb, that actually opens some gates.

 

But not at all necessary, and very harmful.

 

For it`s spiritual purposes, I sometimes give a few puffs on a pipe, without breathing it in, whilst in my closed room, so the smoke stays in the atmosphere and breathe I breathe it in not so concentrated, and meditate.

[Marblehead]

"Does smoking increase or decrease chi flow?"

 

Yes.

[FokusFyre]

It increases the chi flow temporarily. The indians used to set up a smoke tent to induce "vision".

 

In long usage, it damages the lung, and less chi. You can find that information everywhere.

Ill second that. Smoking sometimes dramatically increases energy shortly. Sometimes it will decrease right away. But it almost always reduces it long term as the body gets slightly sicker after each cig.

 

Nicotine itself isn't a terrible chemical, its an acetycholine agonist, so protective against brain damage and memory loss and alzheimers, being pro-relaxation(parasympathetic). Its also very immune suppressant but that effect doesn't last very long. Immune suppression goes hand in hand with it being anti-inflammatory so that can be a good thing sometimes. From theory I'd like to say that chemicals that act directly on the CNS can be good or bad but my experience is that they are ususally more bad than good. Thats from (limited?)experience not belief.

[FokusFyre]

I used tobacco briefly at a point in my life when I was quite depressed and processing dark emotional patterns. Looking back I can see that I was using cigs as an emergency relief valve. But it's a double edged, short term fix, with a hammer-ass-back-hand-retaliation effect that leaves you worse off than you were when you sought its relief.

 

For me, the first rush of a cig would give that good climber high while simultaneously, dampening the heart field and give the impression of relaxation via dampening all emotions, thus it feels like it's relaxing... as that wave crests and recedes, then the real effects become apparent, mainly increased tension and anxiety.

 

The real addiction for me was not the cigarette, but the cascade effect that broke the emotional/thought pattern that was 'causing' my suffering.

 

Emotions are far stronger than crack and at the time, the cigarette was the lesser of two evils. They served a purpose.

 

The 'cascade effect' in the system is what I sought, really just that first puff is all I needed, the rest of the drags on the cig were rather pointless, but it was a great interrupter to the signals I didn't want to deal with at the time. I just had another signal to deal with instead of the ones I was escaping. My mind knew I could break a signal pattern with a drag, so in certain 'trigger events' my mind would remind me I had a craving to interrupt a signal.

 

Not long after taking up qi gong and meditation daily, I began to get similar cascades. I call them 'body pings'. It's much like someone taking a mallet and striking my inner energy being like a bell, with a subsequent wave that can roll outward, inward, up, down, etc... They have a similar effect of interrupting signals/thought chains and emotional clouds, but these are linked to the breath and true relaxation and leave me vibrating higher and clearer.

 

Emotions are now the real addiction for me. Thought/emotion trigger chains, Shenpa clouds I call them. Meditation, Qi Gong are my new signal interrupters.

 

Congrats on your desire to release them, but don't kick your own ass if you fall off the wagon. There are plenty of others willing to do that, just see it in the moment for what it is, really take the moment and be present in it, I think, soon you'll see it's not serving the purpose you are conditioned to believe.

 

Cheers!

Very interesting.

[silent thunder]

Very interesting.

Yea, it took some weight out of my self punishment when I realized what was happening.

 

I've also noticed a similar cascade effect from various foods, sugar, caffeine as I've become more sensitive. When I drank coffee, just the thought of getting a really strong cup of Turkish Mud, would be enough to start the cascade, before even a sip was taken. It's present in my reality every day all day long and most strongly influenced now, by the breath.

 

I used tobacco briefly at a point in my life when I was quite depressed and processing dark emotional patterns. Looking back I can see that I was using cigs as an emergency relief valve. But it's a double edged, short term fix, with a hammer-ass-back-hand-retaliation effect that leaves you worse off than you were when you sought its relief.

 

For me, the first rush of a cig would give that good climber high while simultaneously, dampening the heart field and give the impression of relaxation via dampening all emotions, thus it feels like it's relaxing... as that wave crests and recedes, then the real effects become apparent, mainly increased tension and anxiety.

 

The real addiction for me was not the cigarette, but the cascade effect that broke the emotional/thought pattern that was 'causing' my suffering.

 

Emotions are far stronger than crack and at the time, the cigarette was the lesser of two evils. They served a purpose.

 

The 'cascade effect' in the system is what I sought, really just that first puff is all I needed, the rest of the drags on the cig were rather pointless, but it was a great interrupter to the signals I didn't want to deal with at the time. I just had another signal to deal with instead of the ones I was escaping. My mind knew I could break a signal pattern with a drag, so in certain 'trigger events' my mind would remind me I had a craving to interrupt a signal.

 

Not long after taking up qi gong and meditation daily, I began to get similar cascades. I call them 'body pings'. It's much like someone taking a mallet and striking my inner energy being like a bell, with a subsequent wave that can roll outward, inward, up, down, etc... They have a similar effect of interrupting signals/thought chains and emotional clouds, but these are linked to the breath and true relaxation and leave me vibrating higher and clearer.

 

Emotions are now the real addiction for me. Thought/emotion trigger chains, Shenpa clouds I call them. Meditation, Qi Gong are my new signal interrupters.

 

Congrats on your desire to release them, but don't kick your own ass if you fall off the wagon. There are plenty of others willing to do that, just see it in the moment for what it is, really take the moment and be present in it, I think, soon you'll see it's not serving the purpose you are conditioned to believe.

 

Cheers!

[Raine]

Intetesting stuff. The difference between using tobacco for spiritual and habitual is moderation, of course. Anything is okay in moderation but, habit forming, addictive or intoxicating substances break down the natural flow, which may serve a purpose in the short run only. Disruption of any sort can cause problems if natural flow ceases entirely. All poisons have medicinal qualities in small doses. Besides, most who overuse (like me) are avoiding things, have some sort of attachment issue, and have a weakened system in general.

 

Again, I find it funny to be reading this thread while habitually and addictively smoking. I should drink some tea...

[silent thunder]

Intetesting stuff. The difference between using tobacco for spiritual and habitual is moderation, of course. Anything is okay in moderation but, habit forming, addictive or intoxicating substances break down the natural flow, which may serve a purpose in the short run only. Disruption of any sort can cause problems if natural flow ceases entirely. All poisons have medicinal qualities in small doses. Besides, most who overuse (like me) are avoiding things, have some sort of attachment issue, and have a weakened system in general. Again, I find it funny to be reading this thread while habitually and addictively smoking. I should drink some tea...

That is some delicious irony