jacklantegi

Parsley OIL is a fantastic remedy for bad breath. There is a popular mint (parsley oil geltab surrounded by mint) called "breath assure" or "mint assure", I can't remember exactly, but it really works.

Can someone recommend some specific exercises or meditations that focus specifically on activating, clearing and strengthening the ida channel? All I know is that certain breathing techniques (alternating nostrils) is one way, but how does one go about doing this? Thanks!

I just purchased it. I'll give an update.

I'm fairly positive that they are not central channels- all three are located in the back. One going through the spinal column, and the two on either side of it..

Well, as I developed a very tangible feel for the energy in the three back channels over the course of my practice, I started noticing that the energy flowing through the ida gets slowed down like as if there was a dam halfway through my back. So I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to clear out the channel to help it flow smoothly and evenly. But if the best course of action is to just wait it out, then that's what I'll do, I guess.

Are there any safe ones that I can practice on my own?

Hey guys, I've been practicing various methods of visualizing my chakras while meditating with varying results. The general consensus is that for males, the chakras spin clockwise. What is never mentioned is whether it's clockwise from your actual position, or someone who would be facing you. I like to keep things simple and simply focus on the general area, but I found my results to be more consistent while adding a spheric shape and color to that. I recently added the spinning which is a pain in the ass to focus on, but again, made the results a bit better. I feeling like saying "screw it" and going back to just focusing on the area, but I tried it again recently and the difference is pretty substantial if I don't visualize at all... Thoughts?

But what about when someone uses a pendulum to test your chakras? Say you are lying down on your back, and the person testing you is on the right side of your body, facing your head, and holding the pendulum in his right hand over your chakras. Doesn't that mean that the pendulum would have to spin counter-clockwise if your chakra is indeed spinning clockwise???!?

Yes, this is the common knowledge however, Is it clockwise, as in, from left to right like facing a clock or clockwise as in, from right to left with the clock facing away from you? When you think about it, the latter feels more "counterclockwisey" to me, but gives me smoother results... I have no idea..

Found another interesting one: http://www.aryabhatt.com/occult/kundalini/chakras7.htm

Although looking at that again more closely I just got confused.... The spinal vertebrae for the sacral chakra is located above the vertebrae for the navel chakra???? huh?? OR... it's the case of the sacral vs spleen chakra... and the sacral is actually where it says "sacral spinal ganglion". Does anyone actually use the spleen chakra???

Thanks for the advice! I focused on the chakras and located them on the sushumna instead of the central channel this time and holy cow! this was the most profound meditation I have ever done to date. Why do people always advise using the central channel? I know they're located on a continuum in the body but still... Anyway, what I did for my last meditation was simply take a look at the nerve ganglia locations in an imagine I found ( and imagined them swollen up and pulsating light and color for each respective chakra area. It worked fantastic and no need to spin!

Hey fellow bums! I had a very strange, enlightening and disappointing experience a few days ago. I have been practicing Master Lin's Spring Forest Qigong levels 1 & 2 every single day for many months now. The progress I have achieved is quite substancial, but although it has been remarkably effective for increasing my ability to develop, refine, and manipulate chi, I always felt that there was something missing or not quite right with the results I was having. So a few days ago after doing some research and debating whether I should give it a shot, I decided I would try doing an hour long guided Kundalini Yoga meditation, which basically consists of focusing on each chakra while listening to very trance-inducing chanting, and the meditation is ended with 25 minutes or so of Savasana. It's something I used to do fairly regularly in the past with little to no tangible results. However, for the first time ever, I felt some incredibly tangible and blissful effects during the meditation, which as I mentionned, I have never had before (prior to starting my Qigong practice, that is). After I was done, I felt INCREDIBLY peaceful, centered, energized, happy and emotionally stable. This single experience was more profound than all the hours of Qigong I have done, combined. The next day, I woke up feeling just as great as I did after my meditation, and resumed my usual Spring Forest Qigong practice. After 2 hours of practice, I started feeling HORRIBLE. Anxiety and depression started setting in, and I just felt like complete crap. I decided to do the Kundalini Yoga meditation again to see if there was any connection, and lo-and-behold, I was back to normal and then some afterwards. I know it is bad practice to combine different energetic practices, but I made sure to inquire with the SFQ staff if this would be safe to attempt, and I got their OK. So I'm at a fork in the road here. I don't know how to proceed. For all the effort Qigong requires, it is somewhat disappointing in terms of short-term well-being. By that I mean that after a lengthy Qigong session, I won't necessarily feel that much better than before I started. However, in the long-term, it is quite effective in that I am a much healthier and happier person than before I ever started my practice. However, after my experience with Kundalini Yoga, I am tempted to follow this path. I have no idea how or why any of this happened, but I am amazed at how great I feel when doing Kundalini Yoga/Chakra meditations. And isn't that what counts the most? Your daily wellbeing? Perhaps through all my time doing Qigong, I have unblocked and strengthened many channels and accumulated a decent bit of energy, which primed me for the Kundalini Yoga meditation and enabled it to be much more effective for me. I really don't know. What do you guys think?

But... that's exactly what I said.. or are you paraphrasing me? note: hormones are not "used up" to manufacture anything, in that they are not the building blocks themselves. They act as catolysts, triggering certain metabolic reactions.

As much as I am fascinated by Tibetan Buddhism. Their idea of the "6 realms" has always struck me as a more primitive pre-buddhist shamanic construct. It never made any sense to me at all. I take it all with a grain of salt.

But then you are still desiring not to desire. How do you explain that ?

I have asked about this topic numerous times, and have done a lot of personal research. I am an infertile male (by choice through hormonal meins- I can resume being fertile if I wish). From what I understand, from a scientific point of view, the liquid and sperm don't require much energy or nutrients (other than zinc) to be produced. Likewise, contrary to popular myth, ejaculation does not deplete nutrients, hormones or anything of that nature. Instead, the ecstatic blissful experience of ejaculating sets off a massive neuronal earthquake that might temporarily deplete or desensitize certain receptors and neurotransmitters. Kind of like the come-down phase after taking a stimulating psychotropic drug. What triggers the orgasm, is the sexual energy, which acts as a sort of capacitor. It gets depleted when you have an orgasm, but charges up when you don't. I'd be interested in seeing the results from guys simply ejaculating and ejaculating with an orgasm. I wouldn't be surprised if there were zero negative effects if the orgasm part is omitted entirely.

You go ahead and create whatever world you like, and please keep it to yourself. I, will continue to live my natural human desires. Not exploit them, just experience them. They are my birthright. I don't mean any offense to you, but you really come across as a sexually frustrated individual.

Thanks for the input. Yes, I have read Bruce's "Energy Gates" book and many topics about fire and water methods, although there is much debate as to what practices are primarily water-based. For instance, I would not be able to classify Qigong as either fire or water. Kundalini as fire, yes.

First of all, I am 99.99% certain that these "symptoms" you are describing, are not due to your frequent masturbation/ejaculation. I believe you are suffering from a psychosomatic illness and some form of hypochondria on one level or another. The root physical cause of some of your symptoms may be hormonal imbalances such as hypothyrodism and hypogonadism. Start eating well, working out, meditating and living a healthy lifestyle. Consult an endocrinologist. You're clearly overfixating on an imaginary cause to all your suffering, and it is simply a waste of time. This is the type of thing you don't want to hear and might disregard, but I urge you to take what I said into serious consideration. FYI, I am speaking strictly from my own experience, as I was much like you when I was younger. edit: To all the people that are prescribing this guy exercises to fix his "sexual exhaustion": STOP IT! You're just feeding his imagination and he'll just end up digging himself an even deeper hole due to frustration. It's no accident he posted this on this particular forum. He is looking for a particular kind of response.

UPDATE: I have replaced most of my SFQ practice with Kundalini Yoga and I must say that I am still getting very impressive results. If I had to compare the two, I would say that SFQ benefits the body more than the mind, and Kundalini is the exact opposite (in my experience, anyway). However, now that I have some physical healing to do, I am going to put the majority of my effort back into SFQ, and I'll let you guys know how that goes...

Maybe I'm a bit slow, but it seems like I have never seen a clear explanation for where the energy must be circulated in the MCO in relation to the locations of these two important channels. The front channel is often said to be in "the front of the body". Does this mean that the energy actually goes down on the front surface of the central channel, meaning on the skin, or even outside of the body? I've heard in other places that the central ligament located right under the skin is what actually conducts the energy. Elsewhere, it is said that the energy descends in the MIDDLE of the body, like when you are supposed to descend to the Dan Tien, we all know that the Dan TIen is deep behind (and perhaps below) the naval, right? So how can it be in front of the body??? Which one is it? Regarding the back channel: Same question. Does the energy ascend directly THROUGH the spinal cord, or behind (or perhaps outside) of the spinal cord? And the last related question: The third eye. Is it on the surface of the forehead area, or some distance behind it? I have been doing the Small Universe (which is Master Lin's version of the MCO) for 3 months now, and I still can't get a hang of it. I have almost never gotten any good results from doing the practice and its always a real chore for me to do (but the active exercises are VERY fun, though!). Another thing about the Small Universe- several of the "key" focus points along the back channel, are, in other MCO systems, "dangerous gates" where one is under no circumstance to focus their energy, because it is supposedly not only counterproductive, but may also be dangerous.. it's not something that I'm worried about, it was just surprising when I found out about it. Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Hey! Sorry I didn't check back here earlier.... this is exactly the information I was looking for. Most informative... you certainly know your stuff! I'm eternally grateful, my friend. Thank you!

Point taken... thanks! But what is the purpose of intensifying the "brightness" or what have you by pulling in the universal and master's energy? If doing that without the intent to make it brighter or more intense or whatever, then what would be the point?

What would you say is the most important factor regarding qi in the he Small Universe/MCO? From what I understood, the kinesthetic intensity level at any given area does not equate to better results, so what is optimal? Just getting in the most relaxed/empty state as possible and gently focusing on each area until you get some kind of a kinesthetic awareness response? On a similar note, if I simply visualize the energy, and make it as bright as I possibly can, then I lose all kinesthetic awareness. Mixing visualization and kinesthetic focus makes it a LOT harder for me, so I just leave the visualization part out of the picture completely. Also, is it important to still feel the energy while moving between each point, or is simply shifting your focus to the next point sufficient? I have read that it is necessary to feel the energy move to the next area since it clears the "path" between the two points as it moves through... I mean, it's not really clear the way it is described in the SFQ Level 1 program. Master Lin basically says to just "push the energy to the next location". That's about it. I know it's a very individual thing, but I've been practicing for a pretty reasonable amount of time now and I'm still not able to just "go with the flow", so to speak....