johndoe2012

The irony is that the link does not work behind the Great Chinese firewall taichimania.com does not work either, Sifu Terry. Just posting here while on a business trip and cannot sleep due to the time difference

I used calibre to convert that ebook to another format, I never got a warning it was secured. Maybe you can try that program?

Good book, it contains good exercises for basic qigong warm-ups - which it what I used it for. The eye exercises in it are also good.

The method you described seems very similar to Mahasi vipassana noting. In that tradition you give the thought a label and go deeper in your labeling as you progress. Though there are also some who say that in their experience it is only necessary to note the thought "noted" and not give it any value or description. In Michael Lomax' book he writes (p. 90) so yes, we need to disengage from the thoughts to actually do Taoist meditation.

If we look at dharmaoverground and Daniel Ingram's book Masterering the Core Teachings of Buddha, it could be a good model for Open Taoist Alchemy. Setup a book / site with all the stages of alchemy, the practises and so on and let people discuss online. That is, if internal alchemy is as safe as vipassana. So I wonder why this hasn't happened yet? A teacher is sometimes important but my experience it is the YOU that is most important. System + YOU = results.

Well one of these masters is Wang Liping as I read Opening the Dragon Gate. Whether he is really a high level master, that's a good question. When do we know that someone has attained something other than believing in it? I guess that was the point of the maps created. An experience of such and such, that's more or less level X. So what happens when we move outside the map? Who says that everything has been mapped?

It seems Taoists historically did not have the culture of debating compared to Buddhists so that may be why people who do qi practises tend to prefer to do more practise than talking - it might have something to do with Chinese culture as well. There are some Taoist sects who have defined enlightenment in their terms which differ from Buddhist awakening in terms of experience, while other sects do not even speak of this issue. So there is not consensus in Taoism regarding that point. Even in Buddhist circles there are still disagreements on the awakening/enlightenment experience (Mahasi vs others and so on) so maybe one shouldn't take it so seriously? It seems more common for high level masters to see the similiarities rather than the differences between the teachings while it is the laymen who see the differences and claim superiority. At this point I still think there are differences. I agree with this The meditations you speak of seems to me to be more in line with the Mantak Chia stuff and not jing-chi-shen and shen work so I think Taoists would agree to that.

EDIT: What precisely makes our civilization immature?

The DVD is out http://www.wbbm.se/

yes, true. I'm not sure how to respond to this, other than I believe in both-and, not either-or. Many medical s-m practioners have a massage or tui na background. I think somatics + medical qigong / taoist medicine could be a good combination. It is all about being versatile. Anyway, my neigong routine is where I spend most my time. 1½ hour vs 15-20 min somatics. EDIT: also wanted to say that it seems to be a good way to study anatomy from the inside rather to study in a textbook, or sit down and listen to a teacher.

don't go into the pain, make the arch very small if you have to. And don't force your back into the ground. One could come with many definitions of Somatics, from http://painandmobility.com/

when I had the release in my lower back muscles I felt either blood or qi flow through that area. didn't feel any engine start-up (in the dantien if that's what you mean). I've added a 5 min somatics warm-up in the morning before going to intu-flow. Previously my neck would always be very stiff when doing the intu-flow movements. After somatics, the body is very awake and the neck is not stiff at all, so the intu-flow movements don't seem that necessary anymore

After doing Thomas Hanna Somatics exercises for about a week I've had a big release in my lower back muscles, so my posture has changed. Also I have become aware that I clench my teeth during the day, which is the source for tightness in my jaw - and probably also neck. I've found Somatics to be very profound and best of all, non-forcing compared to other "systems" out there, like stretching and so on. I have become aware and suddenly think about the various movements and the static positions I hold throughout the day in a different way than previously. The point is clearing sensory motor amnesia and get the muscles to release their contraction. Links for people interested Somatics book Martha Peterson's blog Audio CDs with somatic exercises

Lately I have been giving thought to the piracy thing, eg. downloading content from a site where the author has not given prior consent. What's your opinion on this? On one hand I see the ego show up as in "man, I really want this, and I can just download it here". On the other hand it also makes sense as a more efficient form of distribution, no physical media, no transport to create CO2, no DRM to irritate you and take rights away.

VCDs with GM Feng can be bought here Plumpub although they are out of stock right now. At $12.95 they are not so expensive...

Good post, snowmonki. Changing the relationship to the body, yes, much more important than changing the shape. I'm doing Stillness-Movement and that takes care of many of my 'holdings', martial arts is not really my focus any more. The flowingbody link looks very good, will try the lessons. Thanks.

There's the issue with respect. By downloading without the author's consent you are not respecting their wishes, even if they would contradictory to generating profit and easing things for the customer. However, if not for piracy, would we have had the pay for downloads options we have today?

who would have thought that the real enemy was right in your backyard? I wonder why there isn't more awareness on the GMO thing in the US. Here in Europe organic, natural, non-GMO stuff is way more easy to get nowadays.

My interest right now is joint mobility, conditioning by bodyweight exercises and also releasing tension by moving "more natural / conscious", like somatic and feldenkrais exercises teach you. Also general tension release exercises interest me.

I guess that this particular qi has a higher vibrational frequency than other forms? One of the misunderstandings I had when beginning qigong was that I thought qi more or less was the same or had the same effect in all forms and that all paths lead to the same destination. Based on my experience, I no longer believe that.