healing sounds.

[Yoda]

Great post from HT forum:

 

 

 

I would suggest the best basic book to start with would be "Transform Stress into Vitality" by Mantak Chia. This "ancient" tome is one of M. Chia's first and probably purest books about the most basic of the healing tao practices.

As time went on, it seems layers and layers of complexity and theory were laid on top of some of this material. As evidenced by the appearance of the encyclopedic book "Awaken Healing Light" which is probably 2.5 times as large as that which preceded it "Awaken Healing Energy through the Tao".

 

This book can be found for sale on this website. Code B03 and ISBN 0-935621-46-6.

 

The material covered is concise and in my mind very clear.

 

What is covered is

1. The inner smile meditation

2. The Six healing sounds

 

The inner smile meditation is really the primary foundation practice of the healing tao system. It seems very simple, but in my opinion can, when practiced regularly be a fine method of relaxation and foundation for steady meditation practice. One of the concepts which is easy to grasp intellectually is that it is common in the modern world for their to be a great split between the mind and the body. Inner smile, with it's exploration of every part of the physical body does wonders in my opinion in bridging that split. This is one of the very important concepts of Taoist meditation, chi kung and , Nei kung practice, the establishment of consciousness deep in the body. the concept of making a connection with your center, your earth, being grounded. All of these flow from integrating your consciousness more fully with your physical body.

 

I suggest you get the book and learn the whole meditation by reading that section. Then, what I did, way back when I was a beginner was to record my voice reading the steps of the meditation. Then I could play it back and go through the steps myself. This is a good process tolearn and it will cement the practice in more thoroughly by hearing it in your own voice. Also, it fits with your budgetary considerations.

 

The second part of this book covers the six healing sounds. The healing sounds exist throughout chinese culture in a myriad of forms. I think that M.Chia and M.Winn have a distillation of this practice which will engage the various aspects more fully than other methods. Practicing the sound, with the movement, with the color and organ all combined are quite powerful once you learn to summon all the pieces together. I find that other systems are not as fully integrated. Many teachers approach this practice

as only sounds alone. I find the more you can incorporate simultaneously, the more will happen.

 

This practice is more akin to chi kung and the inner smile is more akin to meditation. They both take your attention into the body and take you to a level of integration with the body which are very beneficial.

 

I know you have particular issues which you have alluded to, including strength and stamina. I suggest learning the inner smile as I have described and this can be done while lying down, though one should strive not to fall asleep while practicing, it is not harmful at all in this practice. The six healing sounds can require a good deal more energy, but you can take it slow. emphasis on the meditative aspect of the resting phase between execution of the sounds will allow you to proceed at your own pace. Also, it may be helpful to you to practice the lung sound a lot at first and emphasize drawing down energy into your body to be stored in your kidneys. This is the activity which the lung controls and it can and should perform the function of charging your batteries (your kidney function) which have been taxed, by your own description of your situation.

 

IN addittion I would recommend Michael Winn's chi kung fundamentals as well. Especially the practice of Ocean breathing, which will help you connect and charge up your vital center of gravity - Tan tien.

 

These are simple practices, but they can be profound in their affect if you do them with committment and consistently. I think Chi kung teachers all emphasize the importance of the cumulative effect of daily practice, perhaps even more so than other teachers of healing methods. I agree with this as well.

 

Good luck.

 

Craig

 

 

Many great thoughts. So I dug up the book and re-read it. Good news: kidneys are associated with curiousity and desire to learn. My kidneys are quite the bookworms!

 

I have been skipping the postures and resting/smiling between sounds--so I'll add those in. Just did a session, then smiled at my balls for awhile, and it was great. Tonight was a no-nookie night, so the happy balls hit the spot.

 

-Yoda

[VCraigP]

Craig[/i]

Many great thoughts. So I dug up the book and re-read it. Good news: kidneys are associated with curiousity and desire to learn. My kidneys are quite the bookworms!

 

I have been skipping the postures and resting/smiling between sounds--so I'll add those in. Just did a session, then smiled at my balls for awhile, and it was great. Tonight was a no-nookie night, so the happy balls hit the spot.

 

-Yoda

6316[/snapback]

 

 

Thanks for the Kudos bro.

 

I have given away probably 1/2 dozen of these books over time. When making this post I was initially surprised to find that I didn't even own this book anymore!

 

My advice was particulary tailored to Karen who seems to have extreme low energy issues. Somewhere I absorbed the info that to do the sounds in rapid succession will have a very different effect thatn doing them with long resting periods between.

I think rapid performance is energizing perhaps. But, I thought for someone who has extreme fatigue that just to do the external sound and movement followed by resting would be best for starters.

 

The sounds can of course be done without the postures, and I have done that often as well, lying down, or driving...whatever. But as with most things the synergistic effect of drawing together all possible sensory inputs will create the strongest effect.

Sound, color, feeling, movement, emotion both positive and/or negative, internal weather (ie cool dry for lungs, cold wet kidneys, warm moist liver...). Did I leave any out?

 

It's easy to forget that this is a challenge for beginners to work with all of these simultaneously. I think one of the amazing things about Taoist work is the expectation that one can be aware of so many things at the same time, and work with them.

 

Just doing each healing sound once in conjunction with deep inner smile practice during rest phase are a great way of telling your shen, "hello there. I am ready to gather everyone together" and move on with fusion and other alchemical practice.

 

I am one in favor of simplicity and the elegant power of the basics.

 

How far can one go by starting with the inner smile and tan tien breathing and just let everything happen? Quite far I feel.

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[Yoda]

Craig,

 

That post really put together a lot of things for me.

 

Thanks!

Yoda

[Yoda]

Here's a cool application of healing sounds that came to mind after chatting with Lozen re: feeling tense after weight training.

 

I love training with heavy weights, but I get tense if I don't do a lot of cardio along side.

 

Right now, I'm trying a hybrid approach I got from googling "dragan challenge"--basically doing step ups while pumping 5lb weights a few times a week. And very gradually build up the weights. I've noticed while watching Survivor that the super buff weight lifters can't do jack out there.

 

Anyways, the idea is something I picked up from rereading the Chia transform stress into vitality the other day. He recommends doing a quick practice of the healing sounds after any sort of vigorous exercise to cool the organs and distribute the energy.

 

Very nice suggestion.

 

So what I'm up to, is either run or my step ups, then warrior wellness, then healing sounds then inner smile standing about an hour total in the morning.

 

Then in the pm, sungazing followed by healing sound standing then inner smile standing maybe 20-30 minutes total.

 

Then before bed, foot massage, healing sounds and inner smile while lying down. Maybe 10-20 minutes total.

 

A great come down practice, and soothing for the nerves.

 

-Yoda

[VCraigP]

Here's a cool application of healing sounds that came to mind after chatting with Lozen re: feeling tense after weight training.

 

I love training with heavy weights, but I get tense if I don't do a lot of cardio along side. 

 

Right now, I'm trying a hybrid approach I got from googling "dragan challenge"--basically doing step ups while pumping 5lb weights a few times a week.  And very gradually build up the weights.  I've noticed while watching Survivor that the super buff weight lifters can't do jack out there.

 

Anyways, the idea is something I picked up from rereading the Chia transform stress into vitality the other day.  He recommends doing a quick practice of the healing sounds after any sort of vigorous exercise to cool the organs and distribute the energy.

 

Very nice suggestion.

 

So what I'm up to, is either run or my step ups, then warrior wellness, then healing sounds then inner smile standing about an hour total in the morning.

 

Then in the pm, sungazing followed by healing sound standing then inner smile standing maybe 20-30 minutes total. 

 

Then before bed, foot massage, healing sounds and inner smile while lying down.  Maybe 10-20 minutes total.

 

A great come down practice, and soothing for the nerves.

 

-Yoda

6407[/snapback]

 

Right you are Yoda master.

 

I used to do very intense sparring training in Tae Kwon Do, when I was more of a puppy. 90 minutes to 2 hours of straight kicking and sparring. I would get so hot that my metabolism would stay revved into the next day. I would sleep with my feet sticking out from the blankets because they would just be burning hot.

I started studying the healing tao after several years of TKD training. I began employing six healing sounds to chill out after such workouts (which usually took place between 6pm and 8pm). The difference was very significant. That practice was kind of like putting oil back into a motor that had burned so hot that the coolant had all been dispersed. I attribute much of my ability to recover and not get significant injuries doing really hard sparring to my healing tao practices.

 

I have since chilled out on the TKD and have broadened my studies a great deal, but during that time, the healing sounds were crucial in cooling off my overheated engine. I always thought my practice was a bit of a dichotomy, extreme Yang TKD sparring training, combined with healing tao meditation and chi kung and Tai Chi.

 

Worked for me. Now I just do a little TKD once in a while with the attitude of "playing around" Also, no longer in the same state where I was practicing. The energetic effects are not the same on me as they once were.

Now I do some bicycling as my hard style workout. I work my body pretty hard doing that, and do incorporate a lot of conscious breathing, including healing sounds.

As a matter of fact cicyling is where I first began to play with breathing techniques for enhanced energy even before I was seriously into martial arts or had even heard of chikung. But that's another story.

 

Craig

[Yoda]

Not the first time I've brilliantly reinvented the wheel! Good to hear the results were so dramatic. It seems to make my morning cardio buzz last longer through the day.

 

-Yoda

[voice]

I was about to do the healing sounds this afternoon, but as I was about to wind up and take a big breath in to make a nice long sound...I paused. It all of a sudden felt like too much work, too much doing, too much invasion of the organ.

 

So, I just let my breath be natural, soft and small. And, big surprise, though my exhalation was small, soft and natural, the sound and energy vibrated outwards very strongly and expansively from the organs!

 

The sounds were done internally, emanating from the organ, so not so much breath is needed, I guess, as when doing them making a large sound with the vocal cords.

 

Chris

[VCraigP]

The sounds were done internally, emanating from the organ, so not so much breath is needed, I guess, as when doing them making a large sound with the vocal cords.

 

Chris

 

 

Chris

I am confused when you mention "as when doing them making a large sound with the vocal chords.

 

THe sounds should always be performed subvocally. THis means they should emanate from internal space and not involve real vocal chord activation at all.

 

I have noticed that the type of breath involved, on the physical level, changes from big and deep to more subtle breathing as you progress in a practice session. Sometimes it goes back and forth. Sometimes you get tremendous movement out of a very subtle breath. I think that moving towards smoothness in doing the sounds is important.

 

I think that perhaps you intuition of a sense of too much forcing or willful intervention upon a natural process was a valid sense. Eventually it is important to work towards a more natural state. Lung Shen doesn't like having the mind force it to work in an unnatural way. That is why all breathing practice should be a road towards freeing up space to a more natural way of breathing without having to consciously manipulate.

 

This is also the goal of healing sounds. To clear some of the furniture stowed in the basement in order to have more room to move around, to use an analogy of M.Winn.

 

Eventually healing sounds and inner smile should clear up enough stuff to allow a sense of peace and stillness.

This is an important piece of the practice which I think may be overlooked by those who emphasize "Stillness practice". The emotions and physical body holding patterns are the origin of distractions from still ness. it is necessary to clear the space before it can be still.

 

Craig

[Yoda]

To clear some of the furniture stowed in the basement in order to have more room to move around, to use an analogy of M.Winn.

 

Eventually healing sounds and inner smile should clear up enough stuff to allow a sense of peace and stillness.

This is an important piece of the practice which I think may be overlooked by those who emphasize "Stillness practice". The emotions and physical body holding patterns are the origin of distractions from still ness. it is necessary to clear the space before it can be still.

 

 

AWESOME SHIT!!!!

 

This is exactly what I've been approaching in my own practice but I didn't have the concepts in place.

 

Prior to the above post the closest thought I had on this front was from Osho who said that one shouldn't practice stillness meditation if they don't exercise and move much. You'll just sit there and ferment stale and stuck energy thereby feeding negative thought patterns. While I think there is benefit to stillness meditation on its own, adding physical exercise and drills like the healing sounds really helps.

 

I've had much experience with stillness sitting where I was either completely gone and blissful or was conscious and thinking negative thoughts. I really had to go far away from normal consciousness to find peace. Between exercising regularly and healing sounds, I'm learning to be consciously here-and-now peacefully and happily to a much greater extent.

 

Great posts, Craig!

 

-Yoda