Iskote

Hi A2345B. Don't worry about areas of tension too much. Over time you will start to feel more comfortable and relaxed and natural while standing. Relaxing doesn't mean becoming completely limp like a rag doll so that you start to collapse. Just relax as much as you can while standing naturally straight, with your knees bent a little bit and your toes facing forward. Feet are about shoulder width apart. As long as you are in that general posture, you should be fine. Make sure the armpits are open a bit so as not to restrict circulation through the armpit area. The exact posture is not super critical. You will adjust your posture to be more comfortable over time as you get more used to standing that way. Don't over-do the standing time either. Just a few minutes for one session for the first while is good enough. All the best. Edit: In my view, wuji zhan zhuang embodies the principles outlined in the dao de jing without adding anything.

Wow, very expensive! It must be really good. Just kidding. Full time teachers want steady income coming in to pay all their bills so they can do their own full time personal practice and travelling to China, etc., without having to work for a living. Is that ethical? You don't need to learn a more 'complex' system like neidan to work on jing - qi - shen development. In my view, you do need to be celibate to seriously start working on jing - qi - shen development. If you are not celibate, you can still get benefits from qigong, tai chi, etc., but you will be limited in what can be achieved. Wu ji zhan zhuang is a good simple practice which anyone can do at home to get started on this road. You can potentially go a long way on your own if you practice diligently and correctly (relaxed and natural). That's why I recommend it. It doesn't drain your bank account as well. Here is something to consider. If you are celibate, and If you are able to continue a practice such as wu ji zhan zhuang every day without fail, and slowly over time build your daily standing time to at least an hour continuous per day without straining, say over six months or a year, by then you should already be quite aware of your qi developing and probably see some improvements to your health. However, many people will drop out of such a regular daily practice in just a few weeks or months, just not having the self discipline, or they get in a sexual relationship, or they find it too 'time consuming', although they have time to do other recreational activities. Now compare to serious neidan practice where one should probably be doing practices for a minimum of three hours a day, every day, and probably longer than that every day as one progresses. Ask yourself if you have the self discipline and are able to make the daily time commitment to such a practice, and also remain celibate? My suggestion to people interested in such practices is to start out with something like tai chi (definitely requires a good teacher to learn properly) or zhan zhuang, and see if you have the time and self discipline to practice every day, even for just a half hour or an hour every day over a year or two. If you can stick to that, then you can start to consider if you really can commit to even much more practice time each day. IMO, then, and only then, should you consider something like neidan which takes a much bigger commitment. If you are not celibate, I would suggest a person not even waste any time at all on considering neidan. Neidan is not for you. Qigong or tai chi can still give good health benefits for 'ordinary' people, so that would still be something to consider for your average person.

Yes, it certainly can, but please read my comment above carefully, line by line, on how to properly practice. I have distilled the practice down to the key essentials and requirements. It doesn't get much more simple than that, but don't confuse simplicity with inferior. It's all contained in that one practice. If people would only just relax their monkey minds and practice daily.

My personal opinion is avoid any website/teacher that is selling neidan like it is a commodity. Real neidan practice is something like kriya yoga, or raja yoga. It takes a serious and lifetime commitment, and one really should be guided by an accomplished teacher. In my view, legit teachers will not sell such practices like a commodity, and real teachers do not seek publicity and money. They will only teach you if they feel you have strong ethics and show that you are truly committed to learning and putting in the daily effort required. There are no shortcuts which money can buy. However, for starting on the path of developing your jing, qi, shen, IMO, the following simple practice is one of the most effective and safe practices. This single meditation practice called 'wu ji zhan zhuang' can potentially take you a long way if practiced daily. Wu Chi the first position - Internal Strength - Energy Gates Qigong The knees only need to be bent a little bit. You should keep the body relaxed as much as you can manage. Shoulders are down and fully relaxed. Your back is naturally straight and relaxed. Not forced straight. Eyes can be open or closed. Breathing should be relaxed, natural and deep. The elbows should be held a little bit away from the body so that your armpits are open a bit. You don't focus on anything in particular with your mind. Just relax. Be aware of your body and try to relax any areas of tension. Check from time to time that your breathing is relaxed and natural and deep. The most important points are to relax as much as you can and keep everything natural. Do not force anything, including the stance. Standing in this way may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but if you focus on keeping it as natural and relaxed as you can, and don't continue standing when it starts to feel like a strain, you should be on the right track, and the stance will start to feel more relaxed and natural as you progress. You can start with just 5 or 10 minutes in one session, and slowly over time increase your standing meditation time. Best is to practice in the morning when getting up, and in the evening before sleeping. Once a day is fine though. If you are really serious about such a practice, you should ideally be celibate, or at least not have sex very often.

Why do so many people fall for the obvious blowhards and frauds? Promise super powers and the gullible and foolish will flock to you.

Do you really want to learn from a qigong teacher who is anti-reality? To each their own, however.

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brings us to the now on wings that do not flutter still as a mountain

Demonstration and explanation of 'song', 'tai chi fa jin', 'sticking energy', etc., by Liang De Hua (AKA Leung Tak Wah), from Thailand. He has learned from a few tai chi teachers over many years who have learned the traditional Yang family style tai chi curriculum deriving from Yang Shou Hou and Yang Cheng Fu., including forms such as "taiji big frame, taiji old frame, taiji long boxing, taiji small frame, taiji push hands, taiji sword, taiji saber, taiji spear, taiji long pole", and related Yang style tai chi training practices such as the various different tai chi push hands training practices and tai chi neigong practices. Liang De Hua says they practice tai chi fa jin practices such as demonstrated in the following videos to increase their tai chi martial arts understanding and internal power and skills. He explains that the tai chi forms and push hands plus tai chi neigong practices plus zhan zhuang practices are all important in developing these skills, but he has also mentioned that in old books by former Yang family tai chi students describing their training, he has not seen zhan zhuang practice specifically mentioned. So, not sure if zhan zhuang was really used much or at all in traditional Yang family tai chi training. When asked about the specifics of what he is doing when implementing tai chi fa jin as opposed to ordinary 'external' pushes and grappling, Liang De Hua has said he couldn't explain it clearly, but it involves using 'song' and 'yi' and maintaining an internal connection and employing all the tai chi principles. The ability comes from years of practice following the correct tai chi principles and training methods. Some people who do not have experience with internal arts may want to shout "that it is all BS, and it won't work in a real fight situation against a skilled fighter"; but, although I have not met Liang De Hua, he really appears to have developed some real tai chi skills with song, tai chi fa jin, and tai chi sticking energy, etc. How well his skills will work against someone who is not cooperating at all, I couldn't say, however. He does appear to me to have some legit tai chi skills however; but, again, I haven't met him. Liang De Hua's Youtube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TakWahLeung/videos Taiji Jin 太極勁 | Part 1/2 | Liang De Hua Taiji Jin 太極勁 | Part 2/2 | Liang De Hua Yang style Taiji Sticking energy

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A great sage once said: If you use mind altering substances, be prepared to live with negative consequences. Those who insist they have no negative consequences from using mind altering substances, are often those with the most resulting issues. - Lao Huli - pre Xia Dynasty A good balanced form of qigong practice should slowly bring one's qi more into balance. It is not necessary to focus on any given condition. Any imbalances in the body will naturally be brought more into balance through regular qigong practice. As with anything in life, there are no guarantees, but if you don't give something a fair try, there can not be any results. Different people will suggest different qigong practices as being 'the best for health', so do some research and go with what seems to have good reviews from various people and which resonates with you.

We can only perceive things the way we perceive things at any point in time. We can of course review and question our perceptions, but in the interests of practicality we can't be continually examining and questioning our perceptions or we risk becoming quite dysfunctional in our daily life. On the other hand, if a person is frequently getting negative feedback from a variety of different people in regards to their actions in some particular area of their interactions with others, then it would probably be a good idea for that person to take a closer look at their actions and think about whether they may possibly need some improvement, or at least consider if a new approach might bring better results, in that particular area. Dealing with other people is not always easy at all, but it does provide a person with feedback which can be useful in improving our self overall and helping us to re-examine our assumptions and beliefs.

From my perspective, you can't control how others will perceive things. People will form their own pictures in their mind no matter what, which may or may not be at all accurate to any given situation. We all have to work on improving our self in all sorts of ways, but we can't control at all if others misjudge us. As long as a person can honestly say to them self they have acted reasonably and appropriately in any given situation, that is all a person can do. How others may perceive things and react is not really much in our control.

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Steve, you might just as well ask if reality is even close to what each individual thinks it is... The picture we each have in our mind regarding most anything, is likely, more often than not, to be quite significantly different than the actual reality, assuming there actually is some underlying reasonably stable reality there at all...