Daoist Meditation

[Da_Vid]

Hi, warm hello to one reading this,
my name is David.

I am wondering as I am traveling from Buddhist journey to the Daoism journey.

I am questioning myself about meditation when I came across various types and techniques of Daoist meditations.
As there is standing meditation, how to stand? What do you suggest? 

Breathing; when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

Please guide me towards meditation techniques as my first steps on the journey towards Daoism. 

[Cobie]

2 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

Hi, warm hello to one reading this,

Hi David. Thanks and a warm hello to you too. Welcome to the forum.    

 

2 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

… standing meditation, how to stand? …

 

Listen to your body. 

 

2 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

... when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

 

The body knows how to breathe; you don’t. Get out of the way and let your body get on with it. 

 

2 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

Please guide me towards meditation techniques …

Spontaneous Qi Gong

 

 

[Mark Foote]

8 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

Hi, warm hello to one reading this,
my name is David.

I am wondering as I am traveling from Buddhist journey to the Daoism journey.

I am questioning myself about meditation when I came across various types and techniques of Daoist meditations.
As there is standing meditation, how to stand? What do you suggest? 

Breathing; when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

Please guide me towards meditation techniques as my first steps on the journey towards Daoism. 
 

 

 

You can fault me for offering from Buddhist teachings instead of Daoist, but I think these teachings borrowed from each other in China.

 

In one of his lectures, Shunryu Suzuki spoke about the difference between “preparatory practice” and “shikantaza”, or “just sitting”:
 

But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. 

(“The Background of Shikantaza”, Shunryu Suzuki; San Francisco, February 22, 1970; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)
 

Suzuki said that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of “doing something”, and that “doing something” makes such practice only preparatory.
 

Although attention can be directed to the movement of breath, necessity in the movement of breath can also direct attention, as I wrote previously:
 

There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence.
 

There’s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the movement of breath can place the point of awareness in such a fashion as to engage a mechanism of support for the spine, often in stages.
 

(Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages)

 

 

[Da_Vid]

Thank you for your answer. The link you provided their mentioning ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Theravada, together which is little bit confusing. 

Never the less for a reason I do not want to practice Theravada Buddhism anymore...

Could you please tell me what is the difference between ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Daoism? Where in Daoism there is Chi? In which existence I believe, and in Daoism the way of living is the simple way if I am correct?

Edited July 14 by Da_Vid

[Da_Vid]

On 7/12/2024 at 7:08 PM, Cobie said:

Hi David. Thanks and a warm hello to you too. Welcome to the forum.    

 

 

Listen to your body. 

 

 

The body knows how to breathe; you don’t. Get out of the way and let your body get on with it. 

 

Spontaneous Qi Gong

 

 

Thanks,

 

the one teacher said that Spontaneous Qi Gong can be dangerous if there is not a teacher beside you to guide you how to do it....

[Da_Vid]

On 7/13/2024 at 1:50 AM, Mark Foote said:

 

 

You can fault me for offering from Buddhist teachings instead of Daoist, but I think these teachings borrowed from each other in China.

 

In one of his lectures, Shunryu Suzuki spoke about the difference between “preparatory practice” and “shikantaza”, or “just sitting”:
 

But usually in counting breathing or following breathing, you feel as if you are doing something, you know– you are following breathing, and you are counting breathing. This is, you know, why counting breathing or following breathing practice is, you know, for us it is some preparation– preparatory practice for shikantaza because for most people it is rather difficult to sit, you know, just to sit. 

(“The Background of Shikantaza”, Shunryu Suzuki; San Francisco, February 22, 1970; transcript from shunryusuzuki.com)
 

Suzuki said that directing attention to the movement of breath (“following breathing… counting breathing”) has the feeling of “doing something”, and that “doing something” makes such practice only preparatory.
 

Although attention can be directed to the movement of breath, necessity in the movement of breath can also direct attention, as I wrote previously:
 

There can… come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence.
 

There’s a frailty in the structure of the lower spine, and the movement of breath can place the point of awareness in such a fashion as to engage a mechanism of support for the spine, often in stages.
 

(Shunryu Suzuki on Shikantaza and the Theravadin Stages)

 

 

Thank you for your answer. The link you provided their mentioning ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Theravada, together which is little bit confusing. 

Never the less for a reason I do not want to practice Theravada Buddhism anymore...

Could you please tell me what is the difference between ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Daoism? Where in Daoism there is Chi? In which existence I believe, and in Daoism the way of living is the simple way if I am correct?

[Mark Foote]

16 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

 

Thank you for your answer. The link you provided their mentioning ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Theravada, together which is little bit confusing. 

Never the less for a reason I do not want to practice Theravada Buddhism anymore...

Could you please tell me what is the difference between ZEN (Mahayana) Buddhism and Daoism? Where in Daoism there is Chi? In which existence I believe, and in Daoism the way of living is the simple way if I am correct?

 

 

 

All I know of Daoism are the things I've read, Lao Tzu and Chuang-Tzu (Zhuangzi). I think in many ways Ch'an is a fusion of Buddhism and Daoism, but I haven't done the research to back that up, or to provide examples.

 

I learned part of a Tai Chi form, because that part was taught for free in a park near me.  I still practice that, and I sit zazen and practice kinhin (the walking that goes with the sitting).

Some material I've found useful, from the Tai Chi classics (and other places):

 

The classic literature of Tai Chi appears to identify the ligaments of the body as a source of activity.  The literature describes three levels in the development of “ch’i”, a word that literally translates as “breath” but in practice is taken to refer to a fundamental energy of the body, and each of the three levels has three stages.

 

The stages of the first level are:
 

“… relaxing the ligaments from the shoulder to the wrist”; “from the hip joint to the heel”; “from the sacrum to the headtop”.   

(“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78)

 

Unlike the contraction and relaxation of muscles, the stretch and resile of ligaments can’t be voluntarily controlled.  The muscles across the joints can, however, be relaxed in such a way as to allow the natural stretch and resile of ligaments–that would seem to be the meaning of the advice to “relax the ligaments”. 
 

The stages of the second level are:
 

“sinking ch’i to the tan t’ien” (a point below and behind the navel); “the ch’i reaches the arms and legs”; “the ch’i moves through the sacrum (wei lu) to the top of the head (ni wan)”.  

(ibid)

 

Tai Ch’i master Cheng Man Ch’ing advised that the ch’i will collect at the tan-t’ien until it overflows into the tailbone and transits to the top of the head, but he warned against any attempt to force the flow.
 

Omori Sogen cautioned similarly:
 

… It may be the least trouble to say as a general precaution that strength should be allowed to come to fullness naturally as one becomes proficient in sitting.  We should sit so that our energy increases of itself and brims over instead of putting physical pressure on the lower abdomen by force.   

(“An Introduction to Zen Training: A Translation of Sanzen Nyumon”, Omori Sogen, tr. Dogen Hosokawa and Roy Yoshimoto, Tuttle Publishing, p 59)
 

I would posit that the patterns in the development of ch’i reflect involuntary activity of the body generated in the stretch of ligaments. There is, in addition, a possible mechanism of support for the spine from the displacement of the fascia behind the spine, a displacement that can be effected by pressure generated in the abdominal cavity and that may quite possibly depend on a push on the fascia behind the sacrum by the bulk of the extensor muscles, as they contract (see my Kinesthesiology of Fascial Support). 
 

The final level in the development of ch’i concerns “chin”.  According to the classics, “chin comes from the ligaments” (“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78). 
 

The three stages of the final level are:
 

“t’ing chin, listening to or feeling strength”; “comprehension of chin”; “omnipotence”.   

(ibid)

 

Another translator rendered the last stage above as “perfect clarity” (“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, Douglas Wile, p 57). In my estimation, “perfect clarity” is “the pureness of (one’s) mind” that Gautama associated with “the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing” in the fourth concentration.
 

The Tai Chi classics emphasize relaxation. For me, calm is also required with regard to the stretch of ligaments, if “automatic movement” is to be realized.  The stretch of a ligament prior to strain is small (6%), and I would say that automatic movement is only initiated at the edge of the range. 
 

Cheng Man Ch’ing mentioned a Chinese description of seated meditation, “straighten the chest and sit precariously”–I think that also speaks to the necessity of calm (ibid, p 21).

 

(A Way of Living)

 

 

 

[johndoe2012]

On 12.7.2024 at 9:51 PM, Da_Vid said:

Hi, warm hello to one reading this,
my name is David.

I am wondering as I am traveling from Buddhist journey to the Daoism journey.

I am questioning myself about meditation when I came across various types and techniques of Daoist meditations.
As there is standing meditation, how to stand? What do you suggest? 

Breathing; when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

Please guide me towards meditation techniques as my first steps on the journey towards Daoism. 

 

Search for Primordial Qigong ebook on pdf sites. Copyright wise is ok since the original site is down. 

 

It has a description on wuji standing. 

[thelerner]

Daoism likes to keep things natural, the best breath is a natural breath, yet in the West unless you're a singer you're not taught to breath well.  We don't know what a good breath is, thus we tend to breath high in the chest and shallow.  

 

The youtube site Breathing mantra has dozens of great 30 minute breathing rhythms.  I'll play around with different ones but this one 7in-7hold-7out is a favorite for its relaxed ease.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0NORdNNI6Y&t=319s  As you learn to breath in longer rhythms your natural breath becomes deeper and longer.  I find breath is the connection between body and spirit.  

 

The last year I've been working on this style of breathing.  One where your attention is so focused on every facet of the breath that there's little room to think.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qXu-_sHy5Q&t=445s

 

 

[Da_Vid]

When I am focusing on the spot when I am breathing it tend to start to burn or to hurt, why is that? Could anyone explain what is happening? But when I shift focus on something else the pain goes away...?

It is more like a pain of cramp of some kind that the longer my focus in on it the pain gets stronger...

Edited July 18 by Da_Vid

[Tommy]

5 hours ago, Da_Vid said:

When I am focusing on the spot when I am breathing it tend to start to burn or to hurt, why is that? Could anyone explain what is happening? But when I shift focus on something else the pain goes away...?

It is more like a pain of cramp of some kind that the longer my focus in on it the pain gets stronger...

Sorry, I am not a Daoist. Explain what is happening? Probably not. But, I can guess at what is happening ... would that do?

When focusing mental energy, spiritual energy tends to follow. When combined, they do not flow easily with out guidance or practice.  So the spot experiences energy it is not accustomed to. Spend more time in such a state and the energy knots up and causes more discomfort. Shift the focus and the energy is dispersed. Allowed to flow elsewhere.

 

As silly as it may sound, pain can sometimes make focus stronger. Pain draws our attention. We find it may be impossible to ignore. Usually pain means that something is wrong. So, would not pursue unless one has a teacher.

 

When practicing meditation, one needs to pull attention together. The mind will flow and thoughts will constantly go on. When focused on breath, pull the attention together. So when observing the in breath, one says "in" and that is all there is. Do the same for the out breath. This practice will help to develop one pointed attention or concentration. Then when not just sitting, walking about, the mind must keep attention or remain mindful. This brings more control. Basically, putting the things in order and in their correct places. And when the mind is ready, stillness or emptiness or oneness or nothing at all can happen. 

[Da_Vid]

1 hour ago, Tommy said:

Sorry, I am not a Daoist. Explain what is happening? Probably not. But, I can guess at what is happening ... would that do?

When focusing mental energy, spiritual energy tends to follow. When combined, they do not flow easily with out guidance or practice.  So the spot experiences energy it is not accustomed to. Spend more time in such a state and the energy knots up and causes more discomfort. Shift the focus and the energy is dispersed. Allowed to flow elsewhere.

 

As silly as it may sound, pain can sometimes make focus stronger. Pain draws our attention. We find it may be impossible to ignore. Usually pain means that something is wrong. So, would not pursue unless one has a teacher.

 

When practicing meditation, one needs to pull attention together. The mind will flow and thoughts will constantly go on. When focused on breath, pull the attention together. So when observing the in breath, one says "in" and that is all there is. Do the same for the out breath. This practice will help to develop one pointed attention or concentration. Then when not just sitting, walking about, the mind must keep attention or remain mindful. This brings more control. Basically, putting the things in order and in their correct places. And when the mind is ready, stillness or emptiness or oneness or nothing at all can happen. 

Thank you.

Sadly I do not have a teacher, is it possible to have a teacher via Internet connection? 

[Da_Vid]

On 7/15/2024 at 12:20 AM, Mark Foote said:

 

 

All I know of Daoism are the things I've read, Lao Tzu and Chuang-Tzu (Zhuangzi). I think in many ways Ch'an is a fusion of Buddhism and Daoism, but I haven't done the research to back that up, or to provide examples.

 

I learned part of a Tai Chi form, because that part was taught for free in a park near me.  I still practice that, and I sit zazen and practice kinhin (the walking that goes with the sitting).

Some material I've found useful, from the Tai Chi classics (and other places):

 

The classic literature of Tai Chi appears to identify the ligaments of the body as a source of activity.  The literature describes three levels in the development of “ch’i”, a word that literally translates as “breath” but in practice is taken to refer to a fundamental energy of the body, and each of the three levels has three stages.

 

The stages of the first level are:
 

“… relaxing the ligaments from the shoulder to the wrist”; “from the hip joint to the heel”; “from the sacrum to the headtop”.   

(“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78)

 

Unlike the contraction and relaxation of muscles, the stretch and resile of ligaments can’t be voluntarily controlled.  The muscles across the joints can, however, be relaxed in such a way as to allow the natural stretch and resile of ligaments–that would seem to be the meaning of the advice to “relax the ligaments”. 
 

The stages of the second level are:
 

“sinking ch’i to the tan t’ien” (a point below and behind the navel); “the ch’i reaches the arms and legs”; “the ch’i moves through the sacrum (wei lu) to the top of the head (ni wan)”.  

(ibid)

 

Tai Ch’i master Cheng Man Ch’ing advised that the ch’i will collect at the tan-t’ien until it overflows into the tailbone and transits to the top of the head, but he warned against any attempt to force the flow.
 

Omori Sogen cautioned similarly:
 

… It may be the least trouble to say as a general precaution that strength should be allowed to come to fullness naturally as one becomes proficient in sitting.  We should sit so that our energy increases of itself and brims over instead of putting physical pressure on the lower abdomen by force.   

(“An Introduction to Zen Training: A Translation of Sanzen Nyumon”, Omori Sogen, tr. Dogen Hosokawa and Roy Yoshimoto, Tuttle Publishing, p 59)
 

I would posit that the patterns in the development of ch’i reflect involuntary activity of the body generated in the stretch of ligaments. There is, in addition, a possible mechanism of support for the spine from the displacement of the fascia behind the spine, a displacement that can be effected by pressure generated in the abdominal cavity and that may quite possibly depend on a push on the fascia behind the sacrum by the bulk of the extensor muscles, as they contract (see my Kinesthesiology of Fascial Support). 
 

The final level in the development of ch’i concerns “chin”.  According to the classics, “chin comes from the ligaments” (“Three Levels” from “Cheng Tzu’s Thirteen Treatises on Ta’i Chi Chuan”, Cheng Man Ch’ing, trans. Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo and Martin Inn, p 77-78). 
 

The three stages of the final level are:
 

“t’ing chin, listening to or feeling strength”; “comprehension of chin”; “omnipotence”.   

(ibid)

 

Another translator rendered the last stage above as “perfect clarity” (“Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on T’ai-Chi Ch’uan”, Douglas Wile, p 57). In my estimation, “perfect clarity” is “the pureness of (one’s) mind” that Gautama associated with “the cessation of inbreathing and outbreathing” in the fourth concentration.
 

The Tai Chi classics emphasize relaxation. For me, calm is also required with regard to the stretch of ligaments, if “automatic movement” is to be realized.  The stretch of a ligament prior to strain is small (6%), and I would say that automatic movement is only initiated at the edge of the range. 
 

Cheng Man Ch’ing mentioned a Chinese description of seated meditation, “straighten the chest and sit precariously”–I think that also speaks to the necessity of calm (ibid, p 21).

 

(A Way of Living)

 

 

 

Could you please recommend me books to read guiding me trough Daoism, I would appreciate very much if you would mark me with number in which order to read them... 

[manitou]

Hi Da Vid,

As I see it, the ultimate purpose of meditation is to still the mind so that there is no inner dialogue.  I don't think it matters which religious structure one is attached to at the moment.  Ultimately, you may disregard and transcend all religious structures.  The ultimate clarity seems to come when the mind is capable of being stilled, when needed.  It took me years to be able to do this, maybe there is a better system than just killing thoughts as they come into mind, as I did.  But regardless, it seems to have worked.

The other component of clarity, as I see it, is to remove prior conditioning that causes you to have opinions one way or the other.  Once these conditionings are removed, there is no need to react in negative ways. Things don't stick in your craw any more.

[Mark Foote]

11 hours ago, manitou said:

As I see it, the ultimate purpose of meditation is to still the mind so that there is no inner dialogue.  I don't think it matters which religious structure one is attached to at the moment.  Ultimately, you may disregard and transcend all religious structures.  The ultimate clarity seems to come when the mind is capable of being stilled, when needed.  It took me years to be able to do this, maybe there is a better system than just killing thoughts as they come into mind, as I did.  But regardless, it seems to have worked.
 

Something you might like, manitou:

 

What Shunryu Suzuki Actually Said
 

I recently had occasion to reread the lecture “Breathing” in “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”. Out of curiosity, I then looked for a transcript of the lecture in the Shunryu Suzuki archives set up by David Chadwick.
 

There are differences between the two versions. Here are the last three sentences from “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”:
 

So when you practice zazen, your mind should be concentrated on your breathing. This kind of activity is the fundamental activity of the universal being. Without this experience, this practice, it is impossible to attain absolute freedom.
 

(“Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”, edited by Trudy Dixon, Weatherhill 1971 p 27)

 

Here are the same sentences from the transcript, with the differences highlighted:
 

So, when you practice zazen, your mind should be concentrated in your breathing and this kind of activity is the fundamental activity of the universal being. If so, how you should use your mind is quite clear. Without this experience, or this practice, it is impossible to attain the absolute freedom.
 

(“Thursday Morning Lectures”, November 4th 1965, Los Altos; emphasis added)

 

The transcript is annotated, “(Not Verbatim) Los Altos box title: Swinging Door”.
 

There’s a sentence that’s omitted in the “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” version: “if so, how you should use your mind is quite clear”. The transcript may not be verbatim, but I would guess that Suzuki did say something along these lines.
 

There’s a particular transition in zazen that I believe Suzuki was referring to. Here’s a description I made of that transition:
 

The presence of mind can utilize the location of attention to maintain the balance of the body and coordinate activity in the movement of breath, without a particularly conscious effort to do so. There can also come a moment when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention at a certain location in the body, or at a series of locations, with the ability to remain awake as the location of attention shifts retained through the exercise of presence.
 

(Common Ground)

 

The mind is “concentrated in the breathing” when the movement of breath necessitates the placement of attention. If the presence of mind continues the placement of attention by the movement of breath, then the role of the mind is clear–that’s the way I read the transcript.
 

Chadwick later confirmed that the transcript was verbatim.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19 by Mark Foote

[Giles]

On 12/07/2024 at 4:51 PM, Da_Vid said:

Hi, warm hello to one reading this,
my name is David.

I am wondering as I am traveling from Buddhist journey to the Daoism journey.

I am questioning myself about meditation when I came across various types and techniques of Daoist meditations.
As there is standing meditation, how to stand? What do you suggest? 

Breathing; when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

Please guide me towards meditation techniques as my first steps on the journey towards Daoism.

 

 

A warm Hello to you too David! 👋🏻😊

 

In terms of Daaoist standing practices, I suggest that you buy a copy of "The Way of Energy" by Sifu Lam Kam Chuen.

 

I have checked its availability on amazon.com for dispatch to Serbia and, unfortunately, it will cost you over US$53.93  to buy it and to have it shipped to you ($14.95 for the book + a staggering $38.98 in amazon global shipping fees 😮). However, this is considerably cheaper than having lessons from a teacher directly, and, in my own experience, it was certainly an effective way to learn because when I actually eventually got round to attending Sifu's Lam's classes in person, he didn't need to correct my posture.

 

I should add that I used the book in conjunction with the videos of the practice that you can locate on YouTube. Here is Day 1 of the 10 day series:

 

 

As far as breathing is concerned, while doing this practice, it should be entirely natural.

 

I hope that this information is of use to you on your journey. 🙏

 

Warmest regards,

 

Giles

 

Edited July 19 by Giles

[johndoe2012]

For breathing you can also try the 'Resonant Breathing' app. 

 

It calms down the nervous system in a very effective manner. 

[manitou]

I find that just regulating the breathing and noticing the difference in temperature of the inner nostrils upon breathing in and breathing out.  That's the way I can get to the void (without thoughts), it's very effective and doesn't take but a few seconds until the mind is clear and still.

 

When acting in  Wei wu Wei,  it's important to remove as much of the ego as possible, and I find that getting there is also through this same process.  Stilling the mind, not thinking of self, realizing that everything around you, and everyone, is You.  Sitting in thoughtless meditation brings clarity to mind, almost like the inside of a beautiful crystal church with sunbeams lighting the altar.  That's what I see in my mind's eye, and any decision can be made from this place where ego has been transcended.  Once this place has  been reached (through practice in meditation), this is combined with the character having been purged of conditionings.  It takes a while.

[johndoe2012]

38 minutes ago, manitou said:

I find that just regulating the breathing and noticing the difference in temperature of the inner nostrils upon breathing in and breathing out.  That's the way I can get to the void (without thoughts), it's very effective and doesn't take but a few seconds until the mind is clear and still.

 

When acting in  Wei wu Wei,  it's important to remove as much of the ego as possible, and I find that getting there is also through this same process.  Stilling the mind, not thinking of self, realizing that everything around you, and everyone, is You.  Sitting in thoughtless meditation brings clarity to mind, almost like the inside of a beautiful crystal church with sunbeams lighting the altar.  That's what I see in my mind's eye, and any decision can be made from this place where ego has been transcended.  Once this place has  been reached (through practice in meditation), this is combined with the character having been purged of conditionings.  It takes a while.

 

It is a good method and a very important one.

 

Since this is the Daoist section, there should be an emphasis on jing also but standing takes care of that.

 

I did the standing from "The Way of Energy" a year everyday (1 hour) when I started my journey here and it did a lot of good things for my system.

 

Only "problem" is that you have more energy than your peers, energy enough for two people or lots of physical practice or any other endavour you pour your energy into.

[ChiDragon]

On 7/12/2024 at 7:51 AM, Da_Vid said:

Breathing; when breathing on what do we focus and how to avoid when mind wonders while meditating, are we saying words like "inhale", "exhale" or it is something different?

Welcome to TDB, David.
Yes, breathing is all about "inhale" and "exhale". What else could it be? It is a matter of how does one breathes!

 

On 7/18/2024 at 2:17 AM, Da_Vid said:

When I am focusing on the spot when I am breathing it tend to start to burn or to hurt, why is that? Could anyone explain what is happening? But when I shift focus on something else the pain goes away...?

It is more like a pain of cramp of some kind that the longer my focus in on it the pain gets stronger...

Would you please explain what do you mean by "When I am focusing on the spot when I am breathing it tend to start to burn or to hurt"? What and where is the spot that you are talking about? Thanks!

Edited July 21 by ChiDragon

[Giles]

On 21/07/2024 at 9:59 AM, johndoe2012 said:

For breathing you can also try the 'Resonant Breathing' app. 

 

It calms down the nervous system in a very effective manner. 

 

 

If you're referring to this:

 

 

I second your recommendation.

 

Resonant breathing, also known as coherent breathing, is an extremely powerful and effective practice.

 

You can also download the latest Heartmath cult app, which would allow you to try out their mechanically assisted biofeedback method for free using the camera on a compatible phone as a sensor if you don't want to buy one of Heartmath's (very expensive) sensors.

 

[Chang dao ling]

Authenticneigong

Lotusneigong

Sanctuary of tao

 

 

[johndoe2012]

Meditate/contemplate on each chapter in DDJ. 

[Thrice Daily]

There is a wealth of reading material available, I personally got a lot from

"Iron Shirt Chi Kung" by Mantak Chia, and

"Opening The Energy Gates Of The Body" by Bruce Frantzis 

 

They are two very different perspectives on standing and the associated practices that come with. If you happen upon these systems, Mantak Chia tends to arouse more side effects, if I'm looking for a more colorful experience of Taoist teachings I'll practice Mantak as I think he has a lot to offer. It arouses a lot of energy and is transformative in a very involving and active way.

 

If I prefer to practice with a more sensible and calm approach, with less mental and emotional reverberations, I'll follow more of Bruces method. Much more about letting go than adding on. Dissolving practices, externally and internally, as outlined in the book above. 

 

They are the two traditions I tend to stick with. They both have plenty of material available in books and video formats, Tai-Chi as well, Bruce has xing yi , i chaun and bagua experience and lots of explanatory material available on these to study and absorb should you want to... 

 

Very best thing you can do though is learn from a physical teacher, even if you have to travel to a workshop or two. Prepare well, respect the practices you learn and they will accompany you for life... I think its extremely important to connect with teachers...

 

The guys mentioned above have been my go to places for information though, but bare in mind I started 20 years ago so I'm sure there is a load of new/better? stuff too... Good Luck and do hope you enjoy your journey, relaxing early on is often easier said than done, but that really is the key...

[Thrice Daily]