So many things, what do do first

[Scadder21]

I've been on this board for awhile, reading about all of the practices here and I'm a little overwhelmed. I found this board through a friend and am looking mainly for physical mental and emotional health. Ive looked into at least 50 practices so far but don't know where to start. Can I get some input on where each of you started and what you would recommend as the best practice to start with.

 

Andrew

[shontonga]

I've been on this board for awhile, reading about all of the practices here and I'm a little overwhelmed. I found this board through a friend and am looking mainly for physical mental and emotional health. Ive looked into at least 50 practices so far but don't know where to start. Can I get some input on where each of you started and what you would recommend as the best practice to start with.

 

Andrew

 

 

As a child

(long,long,ago ... back when the dirt was still mountains!)

if anything was wrong

my Mom

would send me outside to sit under a tree.

(Yes. She was probably OVERWHELMED

by a bunch of kids/animals running around driving her crazy!!!)

 

Still works well and recommend it a lot to folks that come to me.

Get some good feed back about it.

 

Great stillness practice.

 

Just sit.

 

simple.

 

when you start something like that

the rest will fall into place.

 

You might find yourself getting lost in your thoughts?

Or paying attention to all the noise around you!

or within you?

or to what you feel.

or something different each time.

 

Some folks like things much, much more structured,

there is a place for that also!

To do something around the same time every day

can make it much easier to do and sometimes "stronger".

To practice the same technique again and again

may make you learn it inside and out.

... but watch it, there is also the chance of letting it become a dead technique.

I.E. a Habit void of "energy"... empty.

So to keep feeling things, pay attention, use intention,

and to enjoy your emotions in all that they are

is a part of it all, i think.

 

that make any semblance of sense?

 

Others can say what i would like to better so I'll let them!

 

Just sit/stand/lay and have fun!

Just be.

 

... just watch yourself be!

 

Peace!

 

Shon

[EagerMind]

I've been on this board for awhile, reading about all of the practices here and I'm a little overwhelmed. I found this board through a friend and am looking mainly for physical mental and emotional health. Ive looked into at least 50 practices so far but don't know where to start. Can I get some input on where each of you started and what you would recommend as the best practice to start with.

 

Andrew

 

I'm actually on the same page as you! The only thing I know that I want to do is meditate, obviously there are tons of different styles of meditation to choose from but I'm kind of fond of Taoist and Buddhist. I would suggest to try things out that you're interested in one by one. A good place to find a meetup group in your area is www.meetup.com , just type in your area code and then search for whatever your looking for: tai chi, ba gua, meditation! I think it's a lot easier to start a practice if you meet with people that have the some of the same interests as you, it helped me a lot with learning meditation (but you never stop learning!). Also read as much as you can, the library is your friend!!!

[kingfred]

I've been on this board for awhile, reading about all of the practices here and I'm a little overwhelmed. I found this board through a friend and am looking mainly for physical mental and emotional health. Ive looked into at least 50 practices so far but don't know where to start. Can I get some input on where each of you started and what you would recommend as the best practice to start with.

 

Andrew

 

This is what I did, and it worked out amazingly for me, and the sequence of practices that I went through, without me knowing, was exactly what my unstable body-mind needed. I had and have no money so first, I found Chunyi Lin's Spring Forest Qigong Level 1 practices via Torrent. This meditation is easy, simple and active. It will open up two of your main channels, Functional and Governor. This will set the groundwork for all of your goals, improving your emotional, mental, and physical health. Than I moved to Mantak Chia's Microcosmic Orbit. This has empowered my body, while further clearing those channels. While in the same time frame of me doing the Microcosmic Orbit I also started performing yoga practice. Kundalini for my third chakra, which contributes to willpower and confidence, which will overall contribute to practicing diligently. also general yoga for hips, so i can progress towards sitting in Full-Lotus. This is where i'm at, and I'm feeling great noticing improvements in the three said health areas. Well, i'm off to practice.

[.broken.]

I've been on this board for awhile, reading about all of the practices here and I'm a little overwhelmed. I found this board through a friend and am looking mainly for physical mental and emotional health. Ive looked into at least 50 practices so far but don't know where to start. Can I get some input on where each of you started and what you would recommend as the best practice to start with.

 

Andrew

 

There is much to be overwhelmed by from the large pool of cultivation techniques. Ultimately the answer lies in why you want to take up cultivation practices in the first place. From this information, myself and others of this forum would be able to help more accurately - as opposed to telling you how we started, as this could overwhelm you even further.

 

However, I shall not disappoint. I started with standing meditation from Master Lam's book, The Way of Energy. From this I branched out into Dr Yang's tai chi warm up and some seated meditation focusing on my chakras. I also took up Kum Nye (see Stephanie Wright's book... if it's still in print). Later, I decided to take up Chen style tai chi which I continue till this day. I have dabbled with many other seated meditation techniques, finally having settled on Yogani's Deep Meditation and his Spinal Breathing Pranayama.

 

The most joyous practices I've had are the Kum Nye, the standing meditation and the Yogani's stuff. All for very different reasons. The most important thing for starting would be to have the dedication to practice at least for 20 minutes every day. Preferably twice a day. It's the cumulative results of daily practice that produce the best outcomes - arguably, regardless of the cultivation method.

 

All possible joy,

James