marcus2013

That would be correct if people did everything right, the way it was designed. In fact, a lot of people do it wrong. Even simplest exercises like walking in the park can be harmful if done incorrectly.

Are you serious ? I haven't heard anyone who damaged himself with SPFQ standing exercises. They were designed fool proof. So you can't damage yourself if you follow the instructions.

The orbit is another thing....

You are already calling for big trouble!

 

To avoid if your life is already too visual or mental. Make sure you focus on grounding work rather than sending Qi up. Damage will be irreversible or very difficult to repair. We already live in a too much thinking and worrying high-tech society.

 

Here's an interesting take from the Chinese Medicine perspective:

 

Ascending and Descending in Herbal Medicine: An Interview with Heiner Fruehauf, PhD

 

The relevant stuff starts in Part 2 of the interview.

 

My recommendation:

 

Foundation work (jibengong)

Bagua

Xingyi

 

Make sure you wear your shoes off frequenly if you follow a sedentary lfestyle, sit for long periods of time, do a lot of computer work, etc.

 

 

Gerard....Sometimes I think you are very exagerated.

How can one harm himself doing simple Qigong methods SPECIFICALLY created to not harm like Spring Forest Qigong ?

There are lots of people in this forum reporting good experiences using SFQ, Bruce Frantzis, and so on... you have them on this very same thread. Or in the one you recommend Walking Meditation.

Thank you all for your comments. I have a lot of more info now to work with. I'll made some kind of list with the possible therapists after your suggestions.

I'll let you know what or what not works for me.

I'm really grateful for all your comments and advice.

Thanks again.

I hope it will work. I don't want to be in a chronic emotional illness

Thanks for the advice!!! Good points. A few things :

I am not a fan of traditional psychoanalysis type models, as I feel they can be somewhat unbalanced.

You do mean Freud/Lacan/Jung/Klein/Winnicott/Adler etc ? If the answer is yes, I agree with you. Their TOO much on the mind.

Some of them I even think they can be dangerous. For instance I never liked any pure Freudian I ever met (not that I have met dozens but a few). They look greyish, boring, rigid, and somehow decrepit. A big no-no for me. In fact my TCM doctor suggested me a colleague of him who is a Freudian Psychotherapist and I have strong feelings against him even without having met him. Even seeing his picture on the internet (I found it) I don't like him.

Btw, would you include Reich/Lowen in that group ?

More modern approaches like mindfulness based CBT and core process mentioned above, can be more well rounded.

How can a CBT be more rounded if its COGNITIVE in nature ?

Thanks for the advice.

Two methods that I can recommend are kinesiology and family constellation. See if they're available in your area.I can write more about them if you like.

I didn't know kinesiology could be applied to psychotherapy. Can it ? How does it work ?

I've heard very good things about family constelations but I think it's not psychotherapy. It's just another useful workshop. It's something you do once, twice, whatever but you aren't with a therapist in a weekly basis for a few months to give some structure to everything. I feel more like I need the later.

Fwiw, I don't agree that a good therapist has to be someone you "feel" good about.

Somehow I agree with this but then what's going to happen if you don't feel good about him/her? You're going to treat core issues with someone who you don't feel good about ? Hmm... don't really see the point there.

  ...............................................

There is a good school of psychotherapy called Core Process Psychotherapy, which combines modern psychotherapy with Buddhist psychology and some body work. I can recommended it personally.

Thanks Jetsun. It looks quite good though there doesn't seem to be any practitioner of that therapy on my country.

Thanks for your answers guys.

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about starting a psychotherapy. Being thinking about which one. I think Reichian/Bioenergetics are good because they are much into the body, not so much into the mind. Things I don't like about this kind of therapies is that they (apparently) focus a lot on the past, your parents, etc...

For a long time I wanted to get over some some psycho/emotional/cognitive stuff on my own (related to liver qi stagnation) but I think I need some professional help in the form of therapy. I just need to talk about this problems with someone. Doing some workshops here and there, some meditation, shamanic works, breathings, random pieces here and there isn't helping me. In fact it might have created an "spiritual bypass". I somehow need a framework, a way to put some order into mundane internal/external life, so to speak. Plain emotions like anger, sadness, etc. Plain cognitions like worthless feelings, guilt, auto-boycot, etc. Plain stuff like where to live and where to work. Just normal issues, nothing related to higher conciousness/spirituality.

I somehow feel like in a psychotherapy supermarket ... all different products and flavours, horrendous sensation. Also I feel like there are loooots of therapists that can damage you more than can fix you. Specially now a days where everyone has jumped the bandwagon of "New Age" stuff, at least on my country. I'm overcautious. There's energy exchange, belief systems exchange, authority transference and so on... Or am I overworried about it?

My question is : How would you chose a therapist ? How can you spot if it's a good one ? How many sessions will you allow yourself to decide ? Would you go with your "gut" sensations ? Would you flip a coin ?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Dear bums,

I wrote these questions inthe "Emotional Obesity" thread and later realized it could hijack the thread, so I open a new one.

How exactly the energy of another person can interfere with yours once in an intimate relationship ??

I'm starting an intimate relationship with a girl I quite like. At one point while in bed making love we both felt that we were becoming each other, or melting together, or something like that. Can't really explain it better. Don't know if it was my imagination, but she felt it as well and we both were scared.

Is it potentially dangerous ? Is it only on my mind ? Coincidence ? Can it cause permanent damage to my aura or something ? I don't want to be picking up any negative traits she may have, and I don't want her to pick any negative traits I might have (I'm sure I do have). I have MORE than enough dealing with my own psycho/emotio/spiritual issues.

Do things like garlic or Tulsi (AFAIK they regenerate/keep foreigners out the aura) will heal/prevent this ?

I can understand that if you build an armour around yourself you won't be much affected, but isn't that limiting an intimate relationship ?

Quite lost about this topic, really.

.

I found this song very disturbing. Not healing or uplifting at all. If anything, it scared me. Sounded like voices from hell.

Don't really understand.

 

You don't need to think about protein at all, everything has protein. For breakfast/ lunch today I had 2 oranges and 12 bananas = 18.2 grams of protein in 1 meal.

 

The other week I had a meal of lentils and quinoa = 55 grams of protein in one meal... over the daily recommendation lol.

Lentils and quinoa aren't grains ?

What about the omega-3 that is in fish ? Most vegetable oils are high on 6 and 9 AFAIK.

 

You want natural sugars... most of the population is depressed (and "mind fog") because they are depriving their brains of sugar, the brains primary fuel source is sugars/ carbs etc

 

The high fat/animal protein diet is killing people, making them dull and miserable ... see the BBC doco Sugar V Fat http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mpbt3_bbc-horizon-2014-sugar-v-fat-720p-hdtv-x264-aac-mvgroup-org_news

 

I am not really sure of that, regarding the tremendous ammount of testimonies on internet about people regaining health (energy, clarity of mind, etc) on a paleo diet (high fat/protein, low carbs).

Also apparently lots of population have undiagnosed candida, that will grow much worse with the sugar from the fruit.

I'm not saying one is better than other. I don't know. I've always done a balanced diet.

The problem with diet changes is that if you are doing something wrong there are chances you don't notice the problem before many months/years and then it's gonna be hard to recover.

SunChild

 

I am going to make some assumptions here...

 

Stop eating meat, dairy, grains, alcohol, coffee and masturbation

 

Eat only fresh fruit, vegetables (as much as you want) and filtered water (3L per day) for 2 weeks ... don't cook the vegetables. Everything fresh.

 

Become the SunChild and eat only solar foods... + get some sun too and bed early.

 

Proceed at your own risk

 

Come back in 2 weeks and tell us if you want to die or not

Where are the proteins going to come from ?

Won't that much sugar from fruit be pernicious ?

Just asking.

Yeah, the problem being that unless it is a lived experience worked through over time it becomes just another mind idea or concept. Like Master Nan says most of us invert cause and effect, so we hear a teaching and think we have immediately got it before we have deeply experienced and embodied it in our lives.

Yes, I agree 100% with you. Not only that, it's even worst : once you read/hear the lesson, you get the idea/concept that it HAS to be like that because buddhists have been telling this for hundreds of years, hey, it must be true.

Then life goes on and you see yourself not following that teaching at all (not a surprise since you only got the concept, not the embodied insight), and then you start torturing yourself because you must be doing something wrong, because hey, it's been told by the buddhists hundreds of years ago. It's so easy (over the paper or videotape). I should be able to accept things. Why isn't working ?

It's dangerous because it can cause a lot of repression. It doesn't work. You have to have your own insights.

Please mind I am not referring to a buddhist practice with a master, in the proper place, with the proper guidance, and so on.

Plus buddhist is not easy to follow/understand by the western mind.

That has been my lesson also. Our ego wants perfection and for us to be our imaginary ideal self so when we get problems in life and personal issues we do all we can to try to get rid of them. After many years of trying to improve ourselves and make ourselves feel better the inevitable conclusion is that it doesn't work, it is just a futile exercise in resisting what exists. Then if we relax around our issues and allow them to be as they are without trying to get rid of them it can be seen that those issues which we previously despised are in fact the exact things which are leading us to reality, to real spiritual life, then we start to feel grateful towards them, everything is completely switched around 180 degrees.

I agree. I am slowly realizing that is true. Very sage words.

I recognize it's difficult because there's always the view that "ok, after the suffering and problems, I will emerge as a better person or with renowned energy". No, no, no. That is the heroic view. That isn't accepting, it's fighting. It's descending into the Hades subworld to fight, not to know and love all your being.

Thanks for your answer!

My own path has showed me that there is no way around the hand you are given. Actually, my greatest life lesson after 15 years of daoist practices is this; the problems, chaos, issues and baggage you have in and around your life IS the practice. Do not fall for escapism nor asceticism!

That sounds very Gurdjieff

Those are also common when you have an experience, and everything you thought was true dissappears.

 

If you think a spiritual experience will evaporate your issues, read "After the extasy, the laundry" by Jack Kornfield.

 

I´ve started to relax around my shortcomings. But before I could do that, I had to be honest.

 

I think that is pretty much what it´s all about; knowing myself instead of trying to feel good, or improve my life.

I had an insight the other day regarding that. If you are determined to feel good, healthy, cultivated, whatever ... at the same instant you wish this, you create the opposition. The fear of that not happening, or the fear that you lose it again after you've gained it. You become a slave. Slaves slaves slaves!!!!! What the hell??? That's what we become. "If I don't get rid of this mental fog life is gonna suck". SLAVES.

As you say, it's about knowing yourself and loving you exactly as you are, mental fog included.

After that, meditation became quite nice. Even if I was in pain.

My own "openings" left me unmotivated, unengaged, aloof, sad, longing, unrealistic and quite dishonest with myself.

I felt special, spiritual, and even indulged in my sense of disenchantment with the world. Most importantly, I did not realize I was avoiding an immense amount of unprocessed baggaged that my "opening" literally bypassed.

I did not realize that I was ruining my life, so life sent me a curveball. I became a parent.

Suddenly not so unengaged anymore.

I feel so much related to your experience. I kind of have felt the same before the "openings" but in a much lesser degree, after the "openings" they are much worst.

How does one heal that ? (besides being a parent which I don't think is going to happen anytime soon)

Or does it have to be healed at all ? At this point I don't know.

Hey, could you please explain the technique about focusing on LDT? Do you imagine something there like a light or a golden cauldron? You imagine it behind your navel? Thanks!!!!

Thanks Gerard!

Well lately I am experiencing what you describe as being so much affected by others emotions. I get easily "sick" if the energy of the person or place is in a big disharmony with mine. Yes quite annoying!! It happens also with my own friends, not only with strangers.

Clarity I don't understand what you are saying. Could you please elaborate on that??

Harmonious,

He gives all the medical and physiological reasons for fasting on his "Tao of Health..." to me the fasting thing sounds quite reasonable. Except maybe doing it so often. Well it looked reasonable until I saw him.

Hey Tao Bumers,

I am reading a book by Daniel Reid and I am not completely sure he got it right regarding the health advice he gives. I can also see that he is not a MD, TCM doctor, naturopath or anything related to a health profession. Not that this is strictly necessary to give good advice, but it's a plus.

I don't have ANYTHING against or in favour of him. I was just kind of shocked when checking his website and seeing his pictures. He doesn't look very healthy for being a 66 year old man. I've checked it on the pictures around internet or in a video like this :

Does he look healthy to you ?

When choosing someone to trust his/her advice, wether it's a martial arts teacher, spiritual guide, TCM doctor, or whatever, do you trust someone that doesn't look healthy to you ?

Best,

Marcus

Hey Tao Bums,

How are you doing ?

I have a question for you about one thing that's happening to me lately :

I am lying on bed (I haven't done chi kung or anything special before lying) I focus on my abductors for a few seconds, then visualize them melting. Disolving. Like a pleasant dissolution. I can feel my mind trying to disolve and the body resisting. But when my abductors surrender, then ... BAM! I instantly feel a stream of "energy" that goes up my spine and it makes my spine very straight. The whole "procedure" doesn't take more than a few seconds.

I don't feel anything else besides that. Not more physical energy, clear mind or anything. It's just fun and the sensation of having the spine straightened is pleasant, but I am wondering what is this ???

Does someone have an idea ? Or it's just my imagination ? But I can really feel how my spine gets straight and my chest gets pulled out. It's like uncontrolable.

I am not an expert on MCO but whenever I do it I try to put my tongue to the palate just in case it helps bringing the "energy?" down again.

All the best,

Marcus