Daoist Winter practices

[thelerner]

Any Traditional Daoist winter practices we should know about? 

What do Daoist do during duh winter?  describe in detail?

[oak]

57 minutes ago, thelerner said:

What do Daoist do during duh winter?  describe in detail?

 

This can be a useful an interesting thread if interesting information is shared. It's hard for me  to think as a daoist in the winter as the usual advice I get is "reduce all activities as much as possible like nature"! Well, in the winter I need to exercise harder or I'll get depressed and to relax "harder" too as my body gets stiff as a board as it gets colder so,..

[Gerard]

I wish I could attach a PDF I got from NY Internal Arts International but I’m using a smartphone. It’s pretty much common sense —> train according to the seasons. 

 

If you don’t mind waiting for a few days, I’ll upload a link. No particular exercises mentioned though; it’s more about how we should behave energetically each season.

[rainbowvein]

Wake later and go to sleep earlier, I heard. Since the sun is shining less.

 

Maybe adding cocooning meditations under the blankets with your head facing north!  

[Gerard]

Training with the Seasons

[joeblast]

I have Bisio's bagua nei gung book, highly recommended for walkers of de circle

[寒月 Hanyue]

On 30/11/2017 at 3:55 AM, thelerner said:

Any Traditional Daoist winter practices we should know about? 

What do Daoist do during duh winter?  describe in detail?

 

There are two paths that you can get an answer from. One is irrelevant for most people. The other can be understood in several ways. For some it will lead to an esoteric study usually involving tables of correspondences and associations, as well as practices or methods that engage those correspondences and associations in order to align with the qualities viewed as relevant to winter (or the given season). 

 

Without knocking the above, as I mentioned it is not the only understanding. Another is more directly connected to the natural realm. This is about following the qi of the seasons, it's not the weather, that is only one part. The qi of the season has a terrestrial and celestial aspect, but as I've said it isn't about going into complicated calculations and potentially dogmatic tables of correspondences. Instead it is rooted in observation of nature, flora and fauna.

 

Winter is often touted as relating to our kidney system, which is true but easily misunderstood. It isn't really talking about the kidney organs, although they are an aspect of it. The Neijing provides suggestions that are based on not taxing the kidney system, physically, or mentally-emotionally. So, whatever you have in your life that uses the kidney system, you want to learn to back off from that (plausible), or even completely stop it (not so easy in todays society). The actual practices therefore should be the ones that emphasis or allow that, or that aspect of your practice becomes emphasised (not entirely the same thing).

While nature is going deeply yin heading into the peak of winter, it does not mean there is no yang. Reducing activity does not always mean no activity, or even less activity, it refers more to how you approach and do activity. You still want to encourage some circulation to maintain health and fend off the cold. The cold is viewed as driving things deep into the body, which is why the surface and extremities can become cold. We are advised that we want our qi to go deeply inwards, to store and nourish during winter. So why not let the cold do this for us? They are not the same.  In our practice we want to maintain some yang, this enables and allows the yin aspect of our practice to be better, deeper or more full. Losing the yang can lead to what is called 死坐 "dead sitting", a concept found in Daoism and Chan Buddhism. 

 

Another aspect is changing with the yin-yang changes of light (daytime) and dark (nighttime), maximising the time we have available light, and getting suitable rest. Another would be eating sensibly in accordance with seasonally available foods, as well as cutting back on yin foods (cold/cooling food etc), while emphasising yang foods (hot/warming foods etc), this includes what we drink and any teas we consume (which change seasonally).

 

So our food, practice, habits and activities fall in line with the nature and qi of winter, more than they do not. The caveat is that each person is unique, and given possible present pathologies what is best for an indiviual is always a balance between medical and seasonal considerations.

 

Just because you read somewhere "do X in ______ season", it does not mean it is appropriate for you. Learn to know yourself... and find those that can help you do so in the meantime.

 

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by 寒月 Hanyue

[Miroku]

My qigong teacher advices to stand longer in ZZ and also do bone marrow breathing in winter. Also strengthen the kidneys.

[Aetherous]

On 11/29/2017 at 11:40 PM, oak said:

This can be a useful an interesting thread if interesting information is shared. It's hard for me  to think as a daoist in the winter as the usual advice I get is "reduce all activities as much as possible like nature"! Well, in the winter I need to exercise harder or I'll get depressed and to relax "harder" too as my body gets stiff as a board as it gets colder so,..

 

I think the usual advice is to not break a sweat with exercise in the winter...but warming the muscles often is great, like with qigong. We definitely want internal warmth in the winter.

[liminal_luke]

Qigong-wise, I`d suggest anything that tonifies the kidney system.  Michael Winn has a whole DVD devoted to kidneys/sexual energy.  I`m choosing to do "swimming dragon."

 

 

Edited December 4, 2017 by liminal_luke

[Miroku]

1 hour ago, Aetherous said:

 

I think the usual advice is to not break a sweat with exercise in the winter...but warming the muscles often is great, like with qigong. We definitely want internal warmth in the winter.

Could you please give some examples how to generate the internal warmth?

[thelerner]

3 hours ago, 寒月 Hanyue said:

 

Just because you read somewhere "do X in ______ season", it does not mean it is appropriate for you. Learn to know yourself... and find those that can help you do so in the meantime.

 

All of it, Good advice.  Yet we can't begin to choose such winter practices as appropriate or not, until we've tried or at least been exposed to the ideas. 

[Geof Nanto]

On 12/1/2017 at 8:59 AM, Gerard said:

Training with the Seasons

 

Training with the Seasons    by Tom Bisio

 

In ancient China, physicians and Taoist sages made acute observations of the effects of climate, and other natural phenomena on living organisms. Rather than merely recording data, these individuals saw deeply into the patterns inherent in the natural world. This allowed them to both understand and articulate certain principles That could be applied universally to the fields of medicine and physical training.

 

In time a number of these principles became part of Chinese thought, and were adopted by martial arts practitioners (especially those of the nei jia or internal schools), because they had practical and effective applications to training and health.

 

Deng Xiu Shen was one of the great xing-yi boxers of his generation. Born in the late 19th century, he studied with many of most-famous teachers of the time, because as a doctor of Chinese medicine, he traveled all over northern China treating patients and studying martial arts. Deng's essay on the practice of martial arts in accordance with the four seasons links the principles of Chinese medicine with martial arts training. His essay describes one of the foundational principles of Chinese medicine: that the yang qi increases in the spring and flourishes in the summer and that yin increases in the fall and flourishes in the winter.

 

In Chinese medicine, each season is described in terms of its energetic signature. The spring brings the renewal of life and growth after the dormancy of winter. Living things are renewed and hibernating animals reappear. The world warms up and is full of life and energy. In the summer, life flourishes and plants reach their full flowering and bear fruits as the yang energy reaches its peak. In autumn, yin begins to grow and yang wanes, as the world grows colder. This is the time of the harvest when the earth and living things prepare for the winter. In winter, the yang energy is hidden and the yin is shown on the exterior. The energy of living things should be stored and nourished for the coming spring.

 

As human beings we are part of the natural world, no matter how much central heating and modern conveniences insulate us from climate and weather. The cycles of yin and yang that we observe in the natural world also occur within us and affect our health and well being. For this reason, Deng advised kung-fu practitioners to train in accordance with these seasonal fluctuations of yin and yang to preserve health and maximize the effect of training.

 

In the spring, getting up early and walking in nature allows the yang qi to circulate to the vertex (the DU 20 acupoint at the top of the head). This helps the liver qi to circulate smooth and unobstructed to the tendons and ligaments. Therefore, stretching and flexibility exercises will yield better results in the spring. Practice early in the morning when the sun comes up. Hard and vigorous training is appropriate and heathy for the body in the spring.

 

The heart qi is more active in the summer. At this time, the fire of the heart circulates with the yang qi in the exterior of the body. The summer is a good rime to rid the body of excess heat through hard training that causes perspiration. This will aid the heart qi and protect the body against autumn illness. Stretching and strengthening exercises are appropriate and more effective, because the muscles are warm and adequately nourished by the blood, which circulates more easily in the summer.

 

In autumn the balance of yin and yang is more equal. The yin and cold begin to grow as yang and warmth diminish. Practice should occur later in the day and be more balanced between "motion" (hard vigorous training) and "tranquillity" (basic skills, and lighter more inward directed exercises such as meditation, qi gong and yoga).

 

In winter when earth is cold and the yin prevails, it is important to avoid sweating too much to prevent wind and cold from penetrating the muscles and joints. Deng advises training later in the day when the sun is out and it is relatively warmer. During the winter, one should focus on storing and nourishing yin, while conserving yang. Therefore, more dynamic exercise is reduced and stress is put on quiescent exercises: meditation, standing post exercises or slow practice of basic techniques is appropriate.

 

These are guidelines, not hard and fast rules. Athletes and martial artists who compete in the winter may have to train hard, but they can still benefit from these ideas by not expending their energy needlessly in other areas. Clinically, I have seen people improve their health and athletic performance by adhering to these principles.

 

 

Tom Bisio's new book, A Tooth From The Tiger's Mouth, “How to Treat Your Injuries with Powerful Secrets of the Great Chinese Warriors," is available nationwide. For more information, visit www.tombisio.com or www.simonsays.com

 

[Aetherous]

1 hour ago, Miroku said:

Could you please give some examples how to generate the internal warmth?

 

I was basically just referring to movements that warm you up, which aren't vigorous enough to break a sweat.

For example, doing gentle circles of all of the major joints. Or most movement forms of qigong.

[thelerner]

4 hours ago, Miroku said:

Could you please give some examples how to generate the internal warmth?

A simple system would be standing in horse stance and breathing with a 7 count in, 7 count hold (w/ slight belly tension) and 7 count out.  That should produce some heat.  You can throw in the visualization of in breath adding fuel, the hold concentrating the heat, and the out breath a bellows and you should get even more.  Not a practice you want to over do, but not a bad one to have in your repertoire. 

 

After most seated meditations you should be able to rub your hands together vigorously and produce substantial heat between them.  Infact the better I meditate the hotter my rubbed hands seem to get.  Then I'll press my eyes gently and rub them on my face and around my head..etc., 

[Jessup2]

https://www.naturalnews.com/039851_core_temperature_breathing_exercises.html

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408084858.htm

 

Journal Reference:

1. Maria Kozhevnikov, James Elliott, Jennifer Shephard, Klaus Gramann. Neurocognitive and Somatic Components of Temperature Increases during g-Tummo Meditation: Legend and Reality. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58244 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058244

http://meditation-research.org.uk/2013/07/advanced-tibetan-buddhist-meditation-practice-raises-body-temperature/

 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/ettt/ettt13.htm

 

https://www.meditationexpert.com/meditation-techniques/m_9_step_bottled_wind_pranayama_practice.html

 

the diet and activities in winter should be adapted to enriching yin and subduing yang

https://bodyecology.com/articles/kidney-health.php

FOODS TO NOURISH YOUR KIDNEY JING:

• Fermented spirulina - try Super Spirulina Plus
• Miso
• Cultured vegetables
• Sea vegetables
• Millet
• Dark green leafy vegetables

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Jessup2

[beingnature]

Not a traditional advice, just an inspiration to go out in the snow.It was the first snow so i needed a little time to adjust...

 

https://youtu.be/fiMLBD3l9c8

[Miroku]

5 hours ago, Jessup2 said:

https://www.naturalnews.com/039851_core_temperature_breathing_exercises.html

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130408084858.htm

 

Journal Reference:

1. Maria Kozhevnikov, James Elliott, Jennifer Shephard, Klaus Gramann. Neurocognitive and Somatic Components of Temperature Increases during g-Tummo Meditation: Legend and Reality. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58244 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058244

http://meditation-research.org.uk/2013/07/advanced-tibetan-buddhist-meditation-practice-raises-body-temperature/

 

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/ettt/ettt13.htm

 

https://www.meditationexpert.com/meditation-techniques/m_9_step_bottled_wind_pranayama_practice.html

 

the diet and activities in winter should be adapted to enriching yin and subduing yang

https://bodyecology.com/articles/kidney-health.php

FOODS TO NOURISH YOUR KIDNEY JING:

• Fermented spirulina - try Super Spirulina Plus
• Miso
• Cultured vegetables
• Sea vegetables
• Millet
• Dark green leafy vegetables

 

Sorry for spoiling the fun, but I must advise you against sharing or practicing tummo or other vajrayana teachings without empowerment, explanation and permition from a qualified lama. Without it it won't work and if it does there is quite a possibility of hurting yourself or fucking up in some other way. If you do have those I must even more strongly advise you to not share such teachings openly even if they are online. Samayas are serious thing and secret teachings are secreat for a reason and should stay that way.

Otherwise thx, interesting info about food.

[Jessup2]

Lucky me I am not a slave to any master and am free to share free and clear. Nobody has given me any powers or made me make any promises. I think masters who keep secrets may have reasons to do this, but mainly it is just indulgence in being a master and trying to prevent monsters from progressing. They are not in charge of anyone, luckily, and the universe decides who gets what, as well as karma, but certainly not the ego of lamas who are not participating in healing this world, or blocking things that benefit the public in general. Keeping anything from the public that can help, heal, or promote further evolution is seriously messed up. And I hope they have a form of karma for that...

In any case, science will show that most of this is just hocus pocus thinking and needless worry. Ways of fright and control that keep the free food coming for fat masters that need to get a life... the same horrible mental issues that caused them to fight and destroy each other instead of sharing the knowledge and learning, advancing everyone's condition. So very egoistic, very self-centered, very silly practices if kept secret, they can take it to the grave with them.

Remember, it;s my opinion. I have no teacher. I have no attachment to school or private society. I am free, and fluid, and don't need to listen to anyone either....

[Miroku]

Hm, your post is quite insulting, but whatevs.  Have fun, use common sense and be safe. 

Sorry for trailing off and now back to the topic.  

[Jessup2]

Sorry for insulting you or the ways of any belief system. Humble apology. Perhaps a good place to practice being above offense to things others say?

 

In my opinion:

Those who know, real masters, are probably above my comments, and will simply ignore it.

 

Those who are not real masters and suckering people with "fake secret knowledge", will be offended and try to justify what they do in order to keep doing it. 

 

The exception being, not putting a loaded gun in the hands of a child. So if practicing something is so powerful and important that it either harms the student, or others around us... and in that case, they need to say that, and why, and not shroud it in mystery. Mystery, which just makes most everyone want to know what it is, and why. So instead of it being secret, it becomes something to find out, something to fight for, something to steal... that carrot dangling over people's heads to get them to clean, slave, cook and do many crazy things for someone else, thus slavery and forced coercion in my opinion. 

 

After all, these are the same folks that kill each other just to test who is more powerful. Very different cultures and beliefs...

 

I look forward to the day when quantum physics unravels most of this and shows that much of it is out of proportion to what is really going on... plus giving us sound guidelines that don't involve having to be slaves.

 

 

[Miroku]

17 hours ago, Jessup2 said:

Sorry for insulting you or the ways of any belief system. Humble apology. Perhaps a good place to practice being above offense to things others say?

 

In my opinion:

Those who know, real masters, are probably above my comments, and will simply ignore it.

 

Those who are not real masters and suckering people with "fake secret knowledge", will be offended and try to justify what they do in order to keep doing it. 

 

The exception being, not putting a loaded gun in the hands of a child. So if practicing something is so powerful and important that it either harms the student, or others around us... and in that case, they need to say that, and why, and not shroud it in mystery. Mystery, which just makes most everyone want to know what it is, and why. So instead of it being secret, it becomes something to find out, something to fight for, something to steal... that carrot dangling over people's heads to get them to clean, slave, cook and do many crazy things for someone else, thus slavery and forced coercion in my opinion. 

 

After all, these are the same folks that kill each other just to test who is more powerful. Very different cultures and beliefs...

 

I look forward to the day when quantum physics unravels most of this and shows that much of it is out of proportion to what is really going on... plus giving us sound guidelines that don't involve having to be slaves.

 

 

Thank you for your apology. And since I am not a teacher nor have I ever even pretended to be in anyway advanced, I feel welcomed to continue.  I do not feel insulted I just merely pointed out that what you write is insulting and disrespectful towards the same tradition you are sharing secret texts out of. It is like making a catholic mass at home without being a priest and saying that catholicism is full of fat pigs who crave only power and sex.

This is the exception I am talking about. Tummo is a gun and people without preparation are a child. 

Teacher student relationship is not about being a slave. You completely misunderstood the point of such relationship. It is about two equal partners who care about each other, however one having the wisdom and experience and the other aknowledging it and therefore respecting and following advice of the other one. Yes student might serve his teacher but teacher also serves the student. Ofcourse there are unqualified teachers and students and those should not go into a teacher disciple relationship. However, ofcourse sometimes there is a lot of curruption etc and people with common sense should stay away from such places and people. But saying all is like that is like saying democracy doesn't work because my state has corruption therefore all democrats are power hungry pigs. It can have its flaws, but done properly it is the best system we have.

Thank you tho for the advice on not being insulted by speech of others. I appreciate it and will make it a part of my daily practice. I would like to give you a tip too, perhaps next time you would like to show your wisdom by controlling your speech so you are not being unnesecarily disrespectful.

[Jessup2]

Will do! Thanks for the advice. 

That being said, new rant so you get my drift...

Love the mention of the Catholic sex pigs. I wouldn't pick that particular thing to crap on Catholics with, since the slaughter of millions of people in history should be enough to ban that farce. Also my opinion, but tragically fact. If any other organized group had done that much harm to the rest of the world, they would be hunted down and exterminated. The sex scandals and the abuse of power should be enough to ban that cult. Yet they have many followers that are very devout. And they still exist, and are allowed to practice. There are many things like this in the world today. And it IS MY PLACE to bring this up and to say what I think and feel about it. Ignoring them doesn't make any of it right, and people need to be aware of what it is they are promoting or joining in. If one in a thousand is a good priest, and one in ten is a good Catholic, that still doesn't fix the issue or make all the wrongs suddenly right. It doesn't give them the right to be behind closed doors with our sons and daughters without supervision. It doesn't give them the right to put a price on the stairway to heaven, or get involved in politics, or decide about birth control. So all in all, they really suck, and I'm saying so. And they are not alone in this. Most belief systems are now so convulted and full of crap that they have become this mix of legend and truth, and nobody has powers as promised, they are simply going through the motions in the hopes that this will give them solace and a place in heaven.

Fake masters and silly beliefs or practices, secret societies, non-science promotion with fake promises, all have to be exposed as what they really are. Anyone with a method or practice that is solid, should have nothing to fear, and nothing to defend, since the truth speaks for itself.

So it is in my nature to say that the king is naked and not go along with the flow. Since the public does not have the correct answer, and the more people that are awake to all forms of abuse, the better.

An great example, Reiki after a few seminars... c'mon. Not happening. Wishful thinking. Money making scheme. Yet people tend to believe the certificate on the wall and go there for actual help. The blind leading the blind.

Lucky us, we can now measure this. Chirp wave technology shows us that out of 35 "healers", only 3 actually produced chirp waves, which stimulate real stem cell production and real healing. The other 32 fakes are probably wishful thinkers, or fakers, and the public needs to know that.

You see, if I see my neighbor is killing everyone's pets, and burying them in his backyard or selling them for food to others, I don't care if he thinks it is fine because it is his belief or religion. I will say something, and stand up for other people's right to know where their pets have gone, and what a rotten person he is, and that he is making money from his fake crap relgion. I do not stay silent, since knowing and letting it happen anyway, makes me just as rotten.

Where, there may be a science form, where pets can be used to help science and save many lives, yet this may still be questionable behavior and practices. The use of cats and rats, monkeys and such is well known. But that doesn't make that practice right either...

Keeping that a secret, and only allowing the scientists who are students to participate, doesn't make it right either.

If I suddenly find a cure for cancer, but make it a big secret, only for the student that can jump over the thorn bush, I am wrong. Plain and simple.

So if you have something that can help people advance... There should be no secrets, no special stuff, instead there should be simple practices and methods. Secrecy is bullshit in my book, always.

 

 

[Jessup2]

http://www.ftexploring.com/energy/heatflow.htm

Science basics for winter and heat flow

 

[Jessup2]

Seasonal Empowerment Qigong is a simple yet effective practice designed to help you leverage the surge of Qi energy at the start of each new jieqi. The basic technique is this: each time a new jieqi begins you focus your attention on a specific vertebra and empower it. Why a vertebra? The spine is made up of 24 vertebrae and Qigong masters established a correspondence between the 24 seasonal phases and the 24 vertebra. Each Seasonal Empowerment targets a particular vertebra and over the course of the year, you empower your whole spine, one vertebra at the time.

Part 1 is the empowerment meditation. You can practice this meditation every day until the next Jieqi, but the golden time is during the first two hours of each new jieqi. You begin by concentrating Qi energy into the vertebra associated with the jieqi, and then radiate the energy that you collected throughout your body to nourish your internal organs.

Part 2 is a movement practice designed to strengthen your spine. The movement pattern changes with each jieqi and each specific movement targets the area around the vertebra associated with the current empowerment. Part 2 is not time sensitive. 

 

Qigong masters were keen observers of the flows of Qi energy. They noticed that during the first two hours of a jieqi a powerful wave of energy washed over the earth.

The start of a new jieqi is determined by the position of the sun. Every time the sun advances 15° on it's journey around the ecliptic, a new phase begins.

 

Winter
Start of Winter  Nov  7
Minor Snow  Nov 21
Major Snow  Dec  6
Winter Solstice  Dec 21
Minor Cold  Jan  5
Major Cold  Jan 19

 

Where here, I would be very interested in any backup measurements from the sun, space, wave technology, and/or other measures to verify this...