stevepster

Hi from England. I am new to this forum. I was encouraged to make a post after having an experience which very few other websites seem to satisfactorily explain. Perhaps you guys can help. I do not do Nei Gong or any other spiritual exercises, yet a physical "Qi" effect happened last week. I awoke about 5:30 am with an insistent nagging feeling in my abdomen. The feeling was strongest on my back between tailbone and kidneys. It felt like some force was circulating and trying to get out. Unfamiliar with the sensation I fought it off. After about 5 minutes I went back to sleep. Some 30 or 40 minutes later I reawoke. The feeling was even more insistent. I 'watched it' to see if it would subside naturally. Eventually I decided to let 'it' have its own way. It was as if a switch in my head had spoken up saying "go on then force, do what you have to do". Immediately I felt a roaring in my ears, the force in my abdomen started rising through my body like a wind. It was not hot nor electrical. The roaring in my ears increased until the rushing 'wind' was in my upper chest where it started to recede. At this point it felt like my whole body began to rock gently to the left and to the right. I could tell it wasn't my physical body as it was far too comfortable and easy. My brain was FAR from comfortable and easy, I was on the verge of panic (What the hell is going on here?). I kept it all together and continued to note the experience. The rocking bacame more extreme. Not violent, merely the rocking 'angle' extremities. Suddenly it seemed like I had dropped off the edge off the left and side of the bed. I half expected to find myself outside my physical body, like an astral projection. (I have never had any OOB experiences). What surprised me it a feeling of relaxation which gradually brought me back to a sense of my surroundings. I was in my physical body and completely relaxed. Not elated or blissful, just relaxed physically and mentally as if the world and all its obligations were of no importance. Was this Qi, spirit, Kundalini, trapped wind or my imagination? I went back to sleep then made notes about the experience when I woke up at 08:30. I have added more notes to my initial observations since then, but as this is my first post, I thought it best not to drone on too long.

First of all, like all good (Tao) bums I am basically lazy. Much as I would love to say this 'awakening' was as a result long-practiced Nei-gong, I have to admit no such dedication. Some years ago I had a short-lived interest in Karate. I joined a weekly group to practise "Mushindo Kempo" (from the island of Okinawa). Apart from the kata and the sparring, our sensei taught us a visualisation to make us stronger. At that time, I had no idea about parallel ideas in Tai Chi or Chi Gong but the 'practice' stayed in my mind for 2 decades. Recently, having reached a point at the end of last year, when I felt rather stale, I decided to research the old visualisation technique. I eventually dicovered the discipline [that appeared closest to mine] was the Taoist microcosmic orbit. The practises are not identical but close enough. Recently I started doing the 'Kempo' visualisation again. It wasn't regular practice and did not involve anything physical like Karate does. The odd thing is, if I had taken the 'physical'/kung-fu route, I probably would not have had the health problems that caused me to seek out a TCM doctor. Without Dr Wang's special herbal tea, I am convinced the recent experience would NOT have happened. Similarly, had I not been doing fairly regular visualisations, the herbs wouldn't have had the effect they did. I'm writing this to suggest that it seems Qi/Kundalini (or whatever it was) need not be a sweaty/forced affair. Perhaps the old Tao masters who advocated "living effortlessly, according to your nature" were in fact referring to all aspects of your life including Nei Gong? Perhaps The more you strive, the less likely it is you'll find what you need? I have had no such recurrence of it since my first post last week, and yes, my energetic state has returned to normal. Perhaps this is partly because I am now (over the last 3 weeks) doing a job I dislike and it makes me withdraw socially. It may be a mistaken belief, but I imagine a much more expansive/magnanimous approach to life would be more conducive to spiritual awakenings such as yours (Astraic). There's little I can do about the lousy job until the contract expires next month. However, inspired by all your encouraging remarks, I am about to join a Tai Chi class. (Gently does it). I know the teacher there advocates the Mantak Chia approach. So long as I don't let my idleness overcome me, and stay the course, I should be doing the iron shirt (etc) within a few months. If nothing else it should improve my fitness and make me feel better. Does this sound like a reasonable way to advance? Oh, one other thing. Before my spontaneous 'whoosh', I was physically and mentally VERY relaxed. I put this down to the 4 pints of fine English ale I had drunk the night before. It was good quality stuff that promotes vigourous and lively conversation in the pub without clouding the mind or leaving the drinker with a hangover. I took my queue from an honorary Tao bum by the name of Tom Hodgkinson who published a very worthy book called "How to be Idle" in 2004. In it he maintained he had been living by a diet of ale (4 pints every night) followed by a breakfast of bacon (plenty), and had never felt better! Maybe he's hit upon the magical missing ingredient in raising one's Kundalini? Whilst I've never had the good fortune to meet the fellow, he certainly appears to lead the idyllic life of a scribbling Taoist bum.

To Mokona ...perhaps not quite "IN", but I may have sneaked past the big bouncer at the door and am now fumbling about in a darkened lobby without a ticket. By no means do I feel I have created perfect circumstances. Even optimised circumstances are some way off. I get stressed and angry just like anyone else. I worry about money - probably completely uneccessarily, but life is pretty good generally. London is no easy place for those seeking peace of mind, but its how you handle the incessant noise and rushing about that matters. I try to get out into the mountains as often as I can (OK, so they're little more than hills in the UK, but it's all nature isn't it?). Drink plenty of fluid, get enough sleep and don't hold on to your frustrations. Kids are really good at flipping from 'upset' to joy in a fraction of a second. Adults brood. Apart from that...if only there was a magic formula..... I do think you're right though. The TCM herbs were a 'big push' but lifestyle etc must play an enormous part To Cat No big secret about Dr Wang. If have no idea if he's well respected in his field, I picked him at random. There's a Chinese TCM centre in Camden, north London that's been there since the seventies (so I believe). It reeks of strange biological substances (probably a good sign). It wasn't too far to travel and it's easy to book an appointment slot as they have about 8 TCM doctors working there. Dr Wang was the first of the 8 names that popped up on their computer. He told me he's been practicing TCM for 10 years having only spent 18 months at TCM college. I think the Chinese prefer you to learn your craft "on the job" as it seemed to me the Doc treated his profession as an ART as much a science (ie not sticking to charts and formulae). I got the impression he thinks deeply before he devises a suitable prescription. Here we go (for anyone who really needs some foul-tasting tea tainted with stale North London air)... Acu-medic centre 101-105 Camden High Street London NW1 7JN UK Tel : +44 (0)20 7388 6704

Hi Ansijia. Many thanks for your reply. Your profile says you like daydreaming and climbing sacred mountains. I like both ideas and am considering visiting Yunnan Province in the autumn, the exercise will do me good. Are there any special sacred mountains in Yunnan that you could recommend? Given that this is a Taoist site, I think it would be appropriate that the mountains were ones revered by Taoist masters. Daydreaming seems to be a dying art in today's busy world. Keep it going while you still can. My best accomplishments all began with a powerful daydream.

Dear Basher, I didn't tell the whole story as I'm still trying to condense the story to eliminate the boredom factor. Ok, so over the last month I have had some health problems. I went to my GP and she said "Get some rest and take these 3 times a day". I knew it wasn't the answer but took the antibiotics for 10 days. Things were not improving so, after a chat with a friend (who is a bit new-age/alternative) I decided to visit a Chinese doctor. Dr Wang (yes that's his name) gave me an enormous bag of roots of the forest floor and told me this is powerful medicine to improve my 'spleen qi', 'liver yin' and 'kidney yin'. I took the strange mixture of bark and buds home with me and made tea with it. It tasted foul. I made 1/2 litre of tea everyday, split it in 2, drank half in the morning and the remainder before I went to bed. Slowly, very slowly, I began to feel less foggy, the persistent headaches went away, energy and libido improved and at the end of 15 days on the 'tea' I felt about 60% better than I did a fortnight earlier. I saw Dr Wang again, and he said my improvement was palpable and I had to concur. About 2 days before I returned to Doc Wang, I felt occasional tingling in my abdomen. The effect was subtle, but I remember the occasions so it can't have been that subtle. Strangely, the event above took place just 4 hours before my appointment with the good doctor. There was a definite build-up to the event. Naturally I related the tale to Dr Wang (it was mightly fresh in my memory!). He said not to worry about it. I am the curious type so I pressed him further. He said the build up of Qi energy was normal, would I like some acupunture? Well, hell yes, if the herbs alone had such a dramatic effect, let's go the whole hog! After the pin-session, I asked him more about Qi. His answers were terse to say the least, however I got enough TCM terminology from him to start poking about on the web. I was particularly interested in his descriptions of "Dan Tien" and shoved them into google. Two more weeks on and my health goes from strength to strength, and my enthusiasm is hugely improved. Nothing perfect - yet, but hey even my nails have stopped splitting. Dr Wang may have started me off on a whole new voyage of inner adventure. Exciting times!