Hello Everybody

[sl23]

On 23/11/2018 at 4:05 PM, Victor said:

 I was also wondering what's your opinion on yoga?

I have practiced Yoga for many years, though only at a basic level. I find I cannot go to bed without practice now as it is so good at relieving aches and pains in the joints and muscles. I personally chose around seven postures for a sort of complete personal system and it seems to work, for me at least.

 

I followed BKS Iyengars system from his book Light on Yoga. Impossible to fault that book as it contains everything you need to know about practicing and plenty on the philosophy too. Highly recommend it.

[Victor]

@Sora thank you very much for your experience, it was really useful and confirmed me the best way to follow while practicing Qigong. When starting, I choosed only the 8 pieces of brocades and Xiang Gong as they are regarded as the safest and most simple. Since I've found a Tai Chi master near my house, I will go to him to learn; my main interest is in learning Zhan Zhuang as it seems to have all I'm searching now in Qigong. I was really fearful of experiencing Qigong deviatons so I'm avoiding to try these exercises alone; 

 

Reading about how the issuses you had also affected the family, I would like to talk about the acceptance of family and generally of all people of Qigong. As for now, my health problems are really minor and I think that they will disappear as my practice progresses; instead, as my family has some quite old members (grandma and grandfather being over 80, my father beign 65 and so on), they are experiencing some aches and pains due to age and a life of manual labor. I would really like them to practice and learn Qigong, even the most simple ones like Xiang Gong. But I think that they would never believe and let alone practice constantly, because they've grown up in a really closed Italian culture and do not believe in any of this. My idea was to show it to them and then start a sort of 'challenge', like 'do it for three months diligently and if you do not feel any better stop', but they are really closed and stubborn, so I do not think they'll do it. If any of you had some issues on this theme, I would really like to hear more. 

Instinctively I think that standing meditation, if presented like a western exercise of breathing and relaxation could be easily accepted, but just mentioning Qi energy and channels to my family really makes me laugh internally for the possibile reaction

 

@sl23 I will check that book, thank you very much. (As a note,  when I train I use some basic yoga postures as stretches, and they really feel good after a good workout)

Edited January 7, 2019 by Victor

[Sora]

Hi @Victor maybe we can start with some TCM healing tricks😉. If your family can see their ailment cured or remitted (sometimes instantly) just by pressing some acupuncture points and something else(Called 祝由术. It's a part of the TCM invented thousands of years ago by the Chinese ancesters but not as commonly used anymore as other forms of TCM like acupucture or herbs, and is connected to Taoism as well.), it can be a good hors doeuvre before introducing the qigong related stuff. I'll have some translated and send to you within these days.

[sl23]

Victor, I should add that Iyengar's book is based solely on Hatha Yoga, ie postures and breath control. There's a small section on Meditation but it's focus is on health, strength and preparation of the body for advanced pranayama (breath control) and then for Meditation.

 

His path is based on 8 stages

1. Yama - Self control

2. Niyama - Self discipline

3. Asana - Postures

4. Pranayama - Breathing

5. Pratyahara - Control of the senses

6. Dharana - Concentration

7. Dhyana - Meditation

8. Samadhi - Union/Nirvana/Oneness

 

Here's a link to 'his' website:

http://bksiyengar.com/modules/FAQ/faq.htm

 

[alleniverson]

Hello VIctor!

 

Great to hear you are practising are obtaining solid results!

 

That`s awesome!

 

Never heard of that style of Qi Gong before.

 

Could you share some more details please?

 

Thank you!

[Victor]

@alleniverson Hi! I can link a video and a pdf going around the internet, but I suggest you to search someone who can give one to one lessons (in person or via skype ecc.)

 

 here is the video

 

https://www.qi.org/fragrant/frag1.PDF   and here's the PDF

 

http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/fragrant_qigong here there are others informations and the contact of a Master of this form 

 

These are the first level, in the same places you can find the second level as well! Have a good evening

[escott]

Hi Victor, it seems like you and I have some things in common (although I'm 48 and in the US). My degree is in computer engineering. I've played guitar since I was 15, about 5 years ago I started the switch to Bass. I've been a weight lifter since I was 12. I love just going to my basement, putting on some music, and focusing on the movement. It's always been a kind of meditation, my happy place. Recently I've made sandbag training my primary mode. I love how it lets me hit the transverse and lateral planes better than iron weight movements which typically only target the frontal plane.

 

I came to Qigong because I was attracted to the standing form of meditation. As an engineer I sit in front of a computer all day. After 25 years of it my hips are wrecked. Between work and a family with 2 kids I'm left with little time to exercise, so I have to be efficient. I've gone through periods with no exercise or meditation and those have been the darkest times in my life. I injured my back really bad doing kettelbell snatches 13 years ago. I've had back pain issues ever since.

 

When I became determined I that I really needed to do something to improve my mental state and well being I did a lot of research. I experimented with Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn practices, Kriya Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga. I ultimately decided that Qigong was the best for me. In your entries I see that you are getting restless. I too, easily get attracted to the new, bright, shiny object and want to chase after the next cool thing. I think it's just a characteristic of the engineer mindset. We're curious people by nature. With all that said, I have been doing Zhan Zhuang as taught by Lam Kam Chuen. I'm up to 15 minutes now. I really enjoy it. Everything I read, see, and hear seems to say that this is "the secret" to greatness.

[Zork]

Fragrant level 2 is significantly stronger than zz.

Nevertheless zz is very good (almost mandatory imho) as a foundation to energy work.

[Victor]

Hey people, it's been a while since my last visit on this forum. @escott I completely agree that sometimes we, (I mean we as engineers) tend to always look for a new technique/shiny new thing. I thought a lot about this, and basically I've decided to restrict all I do to basic things, each and every day for what has been a year now. So it's 'meditation' along 'the presence process' instructions, followed by 8 pieces of brocade and zhan zhuang, along the instructions from 'the way of energy'. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not writing to compare routines or anything like that, but I would like to have a discussion about the need to have a teacher in these disciplines. Is being 'self-taught' only delusion and laziness? 

I hope we can get an interesting discussion about this! Anyway, a nice evening to everyone 

[ReturnDragon]

3 hours ago, Victor said:

I'm not writing to compare routines or anything like that, but I would like to have a discussion about the need to have a teacher in these disciplines. Is being 'self-taught' only delusion and laziness? 

I hope we can get an interesting discussion about this! Anyway, a nice evening to everyone

Hi Victor:

Self-taught is fine. You just need to know and understand the basics and concepts. I meant a real thorough understanding. Don't just follow along with everybody's saying. Such as jumping from one system to another or mixing the systems. It is better to know what you are looking and how to get there. Then, stick with it. People have different idea about Qigong, Yoga and breathing. Some people say the breathing has nothing to do with Qigong. That is one thing I cannot agree with. It is because that is not the Chinese definition of Qigong. The people in the west called anything Qigong. This is sad news for me.