55 minutes ago, spanda said:

Physically there is a very big difference in how the forms feel during practice. SF is much more pleasant and soothing, or even blissful. Not much happens when I practice Fragrant, sometimes some chills, but I notice it has a more optimistic energy as you say.

 

I do seem to be getting mental and emotional benefits from it and even a sense of increased intuition. I had similar experiences with SF, I noticed it seemed to be reshaping me mentally and emotionally (I was also meditating frequently at the time), but the energy of FQ feels a little more grounded or confident, if that makes sense. Not every day, but on many days after practicing, I have a strong feeling of everything being OK

which would you say is better? i have never tried SF, I am happy with Fragant

24 minutes ago, Vajra Fist said:

I practiced for a while and I noticed greater mental acuity, less stress and generally a more optimistic outlook.

 

The downside is that it made me ravenous. I couldn't stick with intermittent fasting while practicing, and gained about 10kg in about three months (thankfully since lost again).

 

Interesting that you experienced the opposite in weight loss, @Toni.

 

 

How long did you practice fragant dear @Vajra Fist? In the first weeks it made me hungry too, but after a while it changed

11 hours ago, spanda said:

I'm curious if some of the fragrant qigong practitioners here could share about their experiences with the system. I've been practicing for a little while and find it distinctive from Spring Forest. Are there any physical, emotional or mental benefits or changes that have been noticed, for example.

Do you prefer SF or fragrant?

yes, I have experienced many changes, some of them:

-more energy and vitality

-more optimistic

-i need to eat less (weight loss in consequence)

-i need to sleep less

-less tired

-better general health

24 minutes ago, steve said:

I agree that is most excellent advice!

 

Something I would add is to not let what happens inside dominate you either. If we pay attention, we sometimes see that the inner landscape can be every bit as turbulent, uncontrollable, and disturbing as the outer.

 

My primary practice is called Inner Refuge. Once discovered we work to stabilize and integrate it in our daily lives. It is a place of inner peace, strength, and resourcefulness where nothing from the outer, or inner, worlds can disturb us.

 

Sounds like you have a good teacher.

Would you share what type of qigong you practice?

I practice fragrant qi gong, as taught by John Dolic. The main practice of my first teacher is called wudang qi gong, and was brought to Europe by the french practitioner Yves Requena, who went to China to learn it. Many people in southern Europe practice this style since then. But I think fragrant qi gong is much better.

After a long time today I have talked with my first qi gong teacher. He influenced me a lot, as he was the person who made me love qi gong. I haven't seen him in the last 3 years because he doesn't live in Spain anymore. Today we were talking and he gave me an advice (he is the kind of person who always advises others):

"remember that the most important thing is not to let what happens outside you dominate what happens inside you. I hope I have helped you. And don't worry too much about anything, remember that what is important is your path".

Not too bad! He was also a very hard working person. He was specially good at ZZ, he loved to stand for hours every day. He trained a lot, and although he never went to the university he was clever (except when he talked about science lol).

For health I strongly recommend you fragrant qi gong, it can work wonders.

On the other hand, premature ejaculation is not a health problem. Are you sure this is a big problem for you? maybe you should think twice about this.

try to squeeze your forehead. Some time ago I became interested in reichian bodywork. For them to work with the eyes is important. They have exercises like frowning and tensing the forehead, opening and closing eyes, rotating the eyes, etc. They claim this can even improve your sight, but I didn't really feel much improvement.

I will follow this thread as I am interested in eyes work.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”

― John Milton, Paradise Lost

I agree with "moderation, not supression", although it may necessarily mean some repression after all. But without this moderation you can lose your mind. And believe me, I know this well

6 hours ago, Gerard said:

If it were not for the mighty martial art of Bagua Quan (Taoist circle walking + direct connection to ancient Chinese Medical Theory + connection to Spirit (Mind-Body paradigm), I would wear a mask today fearful of coronavirus like many humans are, eating bad food, having succulent dinners, getting drunk every now and then, enjoying casual sex, hating society and being rude...etc. you name it. 

 

From a sinner to a saint, this is what my teacher told me once.

 

There is a book that goes deep into this written by another Bagua practitioner, Dr. Michael Guen:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Saint-Michael-Guen/dp/0976384973

 

Big Thank You to ancient China and the Bagua masters of old (Dong Haichuan the modern founder of this  Chinese internal martial art, Yin Fu, Ma Gui, Cheng Tinghua and Liang Zhenpu) and my teachers Geoff Sweeting and He Jinghan.

 

Taoism and the Five Arts:

 

1. Divination. The art of obtaining answers from Heaven to your queries about the future. Techniques abound, from the prehistoric way of divining the future with the help of oracle bones to numeric exercises, often based on Book of Changes (I-Ching).

 

2. Destiny. The art of knowing your fate through your horoscope; Ba Zi and Purple Star Astrology are the most typical ways of analyzing and predicting your fate.

 

3. Physiognomy. Study of forms or appearances. Feng Shui, as well as Palm and Face Reading all fall under this category.

 

4. Medicine. The art of healing. It includes all forms of traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbal prescriptions.

 

5. Mountain/Warriorship. It is the philosophical art. It is about elevating yourself above the mundane through asceticism, martial arts, meditation and self-healing. 

 

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

 

I liked the quote from the movie

Conan the Barbarian (1982).

 

Conan got strong by doing circle walking too!  

so you are not enjoying casual sex now?

On 31/10/2019 at 12:36 AM, Naoto.S said:

Dear all

In order to improve my poor health, I have practiced Seokmun Breathing Meditation, which originated in Korea, for about a year.

But my health has not gotten better a bit, or rather, sometimes side-effects are caused.

Actually, I have tried various types of meditations and qi-qongs for 9 years but none of them work well for me.

Does anybody have the same experience?

 

Thank you.

You should try fragrant qi gong. This is the best qi gong for improving health

I am reading a classic of western thought: Spinoza's Ethics

What is said in this essay is probably true. But let state something, insecurity comes mainly from the mind, not from the body. So something more than martial arts is needed to overcome it.

5 hours ago, Gerard said:

 

So interesting that you need to nourish both Spleen and Kidneys like a newborn child.

 

This textbook is one of the most important ones of the entire Taoist scientific catalogue:

 

Treatise on the Spleen & Stomach: A Translation of the Pi Wei Lun

 

Diet & emotions indeed as the two most important factors but also Lifestyle as per the Yellow Emperor's medical book.

 

There are also other reasons like sexual activity, materialism...they will age you fast.

 

ok thanks, from now on i will never have sex

This is becoming a very interesting thread

1 hour ago, Taomeow said:

 

Human-made systems and nature-made systems don't seem to be on the same page though.  

 

In nature, aversion is a built-in survival mechanism that works even on the level of unicellular organisms.  Aversion to noxious stimuli is observed, e.g., in amoebae -- if you put a bunch of them in a dish with clean water, they will swim all over it minding their business, but if you add a drop of ink to one side of the dish, they will start swimming frantically to the other side, and as the ink expands and spreads, they will all crowd to the last remaining area of clear water.  And when that's gone, they will die.  In humans, aversion is built into our physiology in many ways that bypass our conscious mind and rely on our conscious body to make decisions about what to accept and what to reject -- e.g. the vomiting reflex (primarily to expel ingested or endogenic poison, and in the case of a horrible scene, emotional and mental poison), spontaneous abortion of a compromised non-viable fetus, and so on.    

 

Attachment is a built-in mechanism of caring for the young in all species whose young are born dependent on parents.  Sharks and reptiles don't have attachments because their young are born ready to survive on their own.  Birds and all mammals do because it is imprinted in them toward survival of the individual and the species.  In humans, likewise, attachment is secured by our physiology, in the form of, e.g., 'love hormones' -- oxytocin (which healthy women and healthy men close to them release in response to the presence of their baby), pheromones (in species reproducing sexually, they help target the most compatible candidates) and so on.   

 

Ignorance is in the eye of the beholder.   

 

I believe repressed emotions are the root of sickness -- but not just negative.  Repressed positive emotions can do as much damage, if not more.  Love is healthy.  Early deprivation of love is deadly.  Institutionalized abandoned infants tend to not survive past 6 months of age if they are adequately cared for in terms of food, physically adequate accommodations and hygiene but aren't held, caressed and interacted with in an attached, loving way.  Beyond this extreme, a plethora of deficient positive emotions born of love deprivation early in life sets the stage for a lifetime of health impairment, emotional, mental and, yes, physical too.  It's all connected.      

 

   

It is true, and not to love/be loved as a teenager is devastating. I mean with bf and gfs, not with family

10 minutes ago, Limahong said:

 

Hi Toni,

 

What is TCM?

 

Is it rooted in the philosophy of Taoism?

 

To perceive TCM better ~ we must understand its philosophy better?

 

 

 

Hi Gerard,

 

Strengthen/regulate this...?

 

 

 

- Anand

 

 

Hey

And what is taoism?

Do we know what is this philosophy called daoism?

24 minutes ago, Cleansox said:

And create vulnerability for disease as adults. 

It is important then to focus on improving our emotions and our thoughts

Many people care about their diet, at least in Europe, bc they know its importance for health. Very few care about emotions bc they don't understand its effects

7 minutes ago, Cleansox said:

Science is adressing that question, from various angles. 

Yes, it is true, but it is still something quite minority, that don't go to the general public

I read somewhere else that according to TCM negative emotions are generally the reason why the body gets sick. What is your view on that point?

I have always wondered why a previously healthy body then can develop something like a cancer or whatever other sickness without apparent reason. I think it is a very important question that science should address, as it could prevent a lot of suffering.

3 hours ago, Cleansox said:

Add anti-western medicine, and that would sum up the ones I know. 

Yes, correct

The majority of qi gong teacher I know are also anti-mask and anti-vaccines

Good text. Stillness of mind is a key thing that sages of all kind have always emphasized. The equanimity of the stoics is something similar to this, and many more sages have always preached it.

A few days ago I started a thread in which you can read another beautiful quote on stillness: