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[Sir Darius the Clairvoyent]

well worth a Watch in my opinion 

[Neirong]

19 hours ago, Sahaja said:

The other day I was doing a seated  practice in the park and a gentleman in his 80s, originally from Hong Kong it turns out, randomly approached me and told me to insulate myself from the ground (bring a mat to sit on) or I will lose my yang qi. He seemed genuinely concerned for me. 

 

This is the same view in the tradition I follow (I guess I was getting a friendly reminder!)

 

Practicing near willow trees is supposed to be good for the digestion and to calm the mind. Different types of trees are supposed to connect with different organ systems in the body. 

 

It’s the yin magnetic field of the earth that interacts with the electrically charged  yang qi in the body that is supposed to create the grounding. There are some practices that take advantage of this effect, like doing prostrations,  that can have benefits. So I think the topic has some complexity to it.  I do now wear shoes when I practice outside out of respect for the teachings. 

What kind of tradition/teacher you follow? What are the positive results of the training after years (if any)?

From the sound of it, this is dangerous misguiding that will lead to negative consequences.
Going long time without grounding is bad not only for energy development but for the overall health.

[Taomeow]

On 1/22/2024 at 8:04 AM, Sahaja said:

The other day I was doing a seated  practice in the park and a gentleman in his 80s, originally from Hong Kong it turns out, randomly approached me and told me to insulate myself from the ground (bring a mat to sit on) or I will lose my yang qi. He seemed genuinely concerned for me. 

 

You cool your lower body too much if you SIT on uninsulated January ground.  It doesn't matter if you're doing a seated practice or not -- if you sit on a cold surface, it is considered unhealthy and leading to trouble, in many parts (including the parts of Asia familiar with cold) it is common knowledge.  Chinese and Eastern European moms will yell at their kids from an early age to not sit on cold ground, on any cold surface for that matter, and girls are particularly warned that they will have trouble with their reproductive and urinary systems down the road if they do.  Has nothing to do with touching or not touching the grass, only with cold surfaces not advisable to sit on for any purposes.  If one wants to make it fancy by calling warmth you do lose from the internal organs of your lower body "yang qi," fine, it's not entirely unrelated.  There's various ways to put it -- "accumulating too much Cold in the lower abdomen/back" is the common one.   

[SirPalomides]

Can confirm that I heard from a woman who lived in Moscow that she was yelled at by babushkas for sitting on concrete curbs or other cold surfaces- "you'll hurt your lady parts." 

[Sahaja]

This one has a lot of energy  to it for some reason, not just here on this forum. . I think many people get confused by it - grounding vs leaking.  I think it is a thing in some Daoist traditions to avoid leaking yang qi that they have built up and mobilized through their practice by insulating themselves during practice by wearing shoes/standing on a mat or sitting on mats/pillows (and no grounding wires attached to the perineum. -haha!). However it’s also a very important daily practice and probably more of an immediate concern in these same traditions to ground the energy  down away from the head that has been mobilized at the end of each practice session. Also there are processes designed to connect directly with di qi (the earth’s yin energy) as part of the development process usually via the yong quan point in the foot that are very important. Sinking and release are also extremely critical to the practice and there are even specialized practices  for connecting with nature like ping heng gong or connecting with trees like shu Liao fa. I personally spend a lot more time and energy on sinking, grounding, releasing and connecting than on worrying about insulating during practice though I  try to follow the guidance, particularly  for long practice sessions. 
I am just sharing some background on this topic from one tradition’s viewpoint  not that it is the right or the only view. Suggest you follow your own tradition/teacher/experience on this.

 

 

[Master Logray]

The title is touching grass - lose Chi.   Is the grass an important element in this question?  How about touching other things?   Touching doesn't mean grounding.   We can touch tree leaves above us too. 

 

Yang Chi's property is fire-like, and often described as fire.   It is hot, dry and going up.  So it is in the alchemy to direct it down to mix with the cold damp water in the lower body, heating up to finally become the Dan, long story short.   By its nature, Yang Chi is not easy to do downward, even if we want to.  This theory is applicable generally.  Yet I do encounter a method to send Yang Chi into the ground to create better quality Chi.  It is of course the exception.  When the downward flow of Chi is discussed, it is normally refer to expelling the sick Chi.

 

For martial arts, the issue of losing Chi to the ground, depending on different Kung Fu, sometimes makes sense.  In fighting, the fighter needs to gather all the available Chi inside the body, to lessen incoming damages and to send it out in 1 go.   So martial arts schools would try to close the Yong Chun (point underneath the feet) by grasping the toes.   It is contrary to alchemical mode when the cultivator is expected to open the toes to facilitate draining of the sick Chi.

 

 

 

 

 

[blue eyed snake]

21 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

You cool your lower body too much if you SIT on uninsulated January ground.  It doesn't matter if you're doing a seated practice or not -- if you sit on a cold surface, it is considered unhealthy and leading to trouble, in many parts (including the parts of Asia familiar with cold) it is common knowledge.  Chinese and Eastern European moms will yell at their kids from an early age to not sit on cold ground, on any cold surface for that matter, and girls are particularly warned that they will have trouble with their reproductive and urinary systems down the road if they do.  Has nothing to do with touching or not touching the grass, only with cold surfaces not advisable to sit on for any purposes.  If one wants to make it fancy by calling warmth you do lose from the internal organs of your lower body "yang qi," fine, it's not entirely unrelated.  There's various ways to put it -- "accumulating too much Cold in the lower abdomen/back" is the common one.   

 

 

the western European doctor that tended to me as a kid was a firm believer in keeping warm too. He admonished me not to sit on cold surfaces. I also remember warm but itchy woolen underwear. My esteemed teacher told us to keep the body warm and regarding going  barefoot he judged that it's mostly to cold were we live. 

[Summer]

Edited January 28 by Summer