TLB

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  1. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hello, Jorge, I don’t mind at all but I’ve only really been at this for a little over a month! I studied Tai Chi with Sifu Terry years ago and we did some Chi Kung at that time – but it was not the full FPCK system that you have on the DVDs, and I didn’t get very far into it. I’ve kept up the Tai Chi (sporadically!) throughout the years and only just started back to classes about 6 weeks ago, so I don’t have a fraction of the experience that some of the other people in this thread have. So I’ve been doing the FPCK 4-5 times a week for maybe 6 weeks. Most often, I do all the standing meditations in Vol. 1 and just the first 4 in Vol. 2 (which is up through the first Monk Serves Wine exercise). I plan to get those last 2 exercises of Vol. 2 added in and then just stay with that group for a period of time. In the most general terms, I am already stronger and better-aligned physically. I’ve never had the best alignment, and in recent years it has become harder to find it – but now my spine is straightening and becoming more flexible again (this has to be partly from the Tai Chi as well, though). I have an increased sense of well-being that stays with me virtually all the time – it’s a lighter, younger feeling, as if I’ve wiped off a decade or two. I’m sleeping much better, and more deeply. I had a surgery late last year that left me feeling rather “disconnected,” and in these last 6 weeks that feeling has finally disappeared (okay, I’m still a bit of a space case but at least I no longer have the sense my body’s on one plane and my mind another…certainly time has been a factor but I attribute the bulk of the reconnection to FPCK). I’ve experienced some of the dramatic movement and spiraling energy that others have discussed in the thread; but generally what I’ve felt has been been much more subtle, and also more shapeless. By “shapeless” I mean I feel energy just sloshing around like an unruly ocean and moving me about with it. Those random movements are the bigger ones for me, and at first I fought against them, thinking I lacked stillness and balance. Now I relax into them. I’ve felt a lot of “spontaneous realignment”: a sudden jerk followed by a loosening/resettling into a more natural position. “Monk Gazing at Moon” brings on the most alignment shifting, I think. “Monk Holding Peach” brings on the most movement; “Monk Holding Pearl” brings on the most heat. “Wind Above the Clouds” feels like a massage at the end (I have wanted to move that one to follow the seated meditations, actually, for the leg stretch – I haven’t done so yet but Sifu confirmed it’s okay to make that change). The seated meditations seem to be more dynamic for me, even though I haven’t gotten through the entire set. That came as a surprise, because the first time I did them I really thought I couldn’t handle the sitting, due to standard old inflexibility and a hip problem. I still only do a cross-legged position, not the half-lotus. But the first time I could barely get through the first breathing sequence. The second time I could already do each full exercise, although I still had to stretch out between each one. Now I can get through 3 or 4 before I have to release and I can get quickly back into position and continue. (I should note this is using a small meditation pillow – not 2 inches thick. When I don’t use that pillow I have more trouble again.) As I’ve been able to hold the seated position longer, I have been increasingly feeling some distinct energy flows. Through my hips and legs on all of them, and also some realignment moments similar to the standing exercises. What I feel in my upper body and arms is more distinct and varied than in the standing exercises: in the first one it’s all through my arms and hands, and by the time I get to the end of it my hands are heavy, and feel as though they’re moving through something like honey or glue. I’ve had an ongoing problem with one of the nerves that runs from the neck down the arm to the wrist – in this first exercise I’ll feel a hot fire through the whole length of that nerve, and then afterward it not only doesn’t hurt but feels improved. In the second seated position my upper body rocks backward and forward from the hips, in shorter arcs as my hands lower. In another – can’t remember if it’s the first or the Monk Serves, now! – my body will move in a circle, and as it does so my hips loosen further. Again, in my case these are small, subtle movements! The inability to remember precisely what happens in which exercise…that, to me, is one of the more significant things. All these sensations, including pains, roll through me as I’m doing the meditations but the specifics don’t necessarily stay with me when I’m finished. I consider that all just “healing process” and I really am more interested in the after-effects. At first I wanted to evade the painful parts but now I think some of those are where the most healing is occurring. All that pain and release in the seated meditations has resulted in a major change for me at my job. I’m at a computer all day and before I started this, I’d go to stand up and be immediately jerked into a crouch, my hip having locked up; I’d have to straighten slowly and painfully, then limp for awhile, and then finally I’d be back to “normal.” That has not happened since my 3rd or 4th seated session!! You’ll find if you read through the thread that I’m not the first person who has asked if one can work up to the seated meditations by starting out in a chair, or some other variation – I’m extremely glad that I didn’t do that, and am still amazed at how quickly the exercises made so much difference. All that energy sloshing about and the random movements, etc. – that stuff is interesting, and fascinating in the moment…attention-getting in a way that makes it easier to hold in the positions longer. But the value is in the after-effects (for me). If I do Tai Chi after FPCK, my form is much stronger, more balanced, more focused. I’m not only sleeping more deeply, I’m dreaming more vibrantly and remembering more dreams. Little health issues that I thought I was just going to have to resign myself to living with are clearing up. I feel years dropping away. I have to emphasize again that most of these things are subtle, and I absolutely still am feeling pain in those seated meditations! But I’ve seen a lot of positive change and a lot of reduction in those pains...ALREADY! I’ve gone on and on and haven’t even mentioned the spiritual development side of all this. Although that’s a major attraction for me, I can’t yet say a lot about it. Except that I’ve done a fair amount of wandering around and searching, and I’ve found FPCK to be a more direct route inward than anything else I’ve tried (including TM – there’s some discussion of TM in the thread from “Tao Mist,” who has had much more experience with it than I, but for me the FPCK is far more powerful). Hard to describe but it seems to take one all the way inward and all the way outward – build a solid bridge from our earthbound selves to our spiritual selves. I hope something in all this rambling is of help or at least interest! All best wishes, tlb
  2. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hello, Jorge, I cannot answer this for Sifu Terry but until you hear back from him, I wanted to at least tell you that, as one of his female students, I've never heard any mention from him about making any changes for females, in either forms or FPCK. The women in class do exactly the same things the men do; and the same was true when I took classes from him years back. As detailed as he has made the FPCK series of DVDs, and as many female students as he's had as well as contact with female masters, I'm sure he would have included differing instructions for women if there were any. If your girlfriend is interested in trying it out, I would say to her that she should have no reservations. (by the way, I haven't gotten through the whole thread yet myself, so I don't know if this question has been raised before - if I see something I'll let you know!) Best of luck, tlb
  3. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hi, All, The first time I did the seated meditations I sat cross-legged; I barely got past the first breathing sequence and couldn't stay there longer without unwinding, stretching out, standing up. I thought that meant I "couldn't do" the seated forms, at least not without a good long time of practicing the standing exercises and maybe doing the seated ones in some "easier" way. By the time I got to my second session I'd decided I had to try again - and even though the first one had seemed such a failure, this time I could already hold the cross-legged position through each full seated exercise - I only had to stretch out between meditations (didn’t have to stand, though - just stretch and shake out a bit while seated, pull back into crossed legs and go on with the next exercise). Now I can get through 4 of the seated exercises (i.e., up through the first "Monk Serves Wine") with only one stretch-out after the 3rd one. And this is only a matter of 5 or 6 sessions with the seated exercises. I was so certain I "couldn't" do crossed legs but I did it anyway and now I "can." It still hurts - but the unwinding and stretching out afterward is a much shorter process, and there's no lingering/residual pain. The issues I have with being at a desk all day are fading. I'm starting to feel hints of the energy flow during those exercises - as opposed to feeling nothing but pain. All this after so few sessions!!! There are moments when I can consciously relax areas that are tense and painful, there are moments when "locked" areas suddenly let go, I can sit straighter with much less back pain. I haven't tried to move on to half-lotus yet, but it'll come. tlb
  4. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    So THAT'S where all these quakes come from
  5. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hey, Tao Mist...I'll find it!! You've hit on why I live in L.A.! And practicing with Sifu Terry in a beautiful park in Santa Monica can't be beat. (Route 66, eh? Lived on it, in Amarillo, when I was a kid...) But, all gushing aside, I'll go out on a limb here and bet that he might say the Flying Phoenix energy rocks, no matter where you practice. tlb
  6. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    I gave up the idea of trying to avoid the cross-legged position, and even the second time through the seated meditations, the hip pain was much less and my hip didn’t lock up. That hip has habitually locked up even at my desk at work – it has been that I’d stand up and immediately crumple into a hunch, unable to stand straight without a slow and painful unwinding followed by a bit of full-body shaking and vibrating; and even then I’d limp for 10 or 20 steps. After the 3rd session of seated meditations that situation has not occurred again. Peace to y’all, tlb
  7. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    A humble update...one more session and I'm on a different planet! I did all of Vol 1 and then the first 3 of Vol 2 - and was able to stay cross-legged throughout. Amazing. This isn't a new problem - that hip often locks up just sitting at my desk through the day - I'll get up and be unable to straighten up or walk immediately. Today I feel only the palest hint of that, and it's been going on for a couple of years! The Phoenix is flying indeed... Steve, re my cat seeking the energy...I didn't mean to sound as if I was contradicting you, I think you're quite correct. I'm curious why the TM folks recommended you not pet your animals right after meditating. Why would that energy not be good for them? Keeping on, tlb
  8. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Steve and Jeramiah, Great to hear both of you confirming the animals' reactions! I've been fascinated with my cat's - she's normally a rather frenetic little critter even though she's not young. As to her coming in for "energy" vs. "affection" - I guess I'd say that the energy factor is influencing her style. The difference is in her staying back until I've finished, and then coming to me so calmly: if I'm doing some form of workout - or anything else - she's under my feet, meowing and demanding, when she's ready to be noticed. With FP she sits back and watches and waits, then comes in close and will sit quietly with me as long as I'll sit. I learned TM in the 70's, too - interestingly enough, none of my cats has ever reacted to those meditations. Purrs to all, tlb
  9. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Thanks, Jeramiah. I don't disagree at all, and perseverance is the key...I'm just trying to get to the point where I'm even capable of holding that half-lotus through a whole exercise - I can barely get through the breathing sequence before the "bad pain" kicks in, and it doesn't seem right to interrupt at that point in order to shift. Therein lie my questions. But again, even with all the distractions and pains, I still feel better the day after...I can't imagine a better proof of the power of these meditations! tlb
  10. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hi, Fu_Dog, Tao Mist and Sifu Terry, Thank you all for your responses, and Sifu, for the articles also. Tao Mist, I wonder if you’ve read anything from Amit Goswami? Theoretical physicist who has written several books about quantum physics and spirituality. Very good stuff. Fu_Dog, I relate to your leg distress! However, I have much more pain with the seated meditations so I’m struggling there.* Time will bring progress; I will be glad when I can relax into those in the way you do. I fully agree with you about physical and spiritual health being one – it just seems to facilitate discussion to separate the two sometimes, most especially in these early stages when there are such distractions from the physical side. (Physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological…they’re all one…but modern thinking and language structures like to try to chop humanity into all these little chunks…as long as we remember to never BELIEVE they’re separate we can learn from them…) In response to both of you mentioning those quiet moments post-FP…one of my cats has taken to sitting at my feet throughout the standing meditations. As soon as I’m done she moves in for affection. I’ll stretch out on the floor and she’ll stretched along my side…there is profound clarity and peace when the world comes down to fur and purr and breathe in/breathe out. Of course that has always been an element of relationships with cats; but there’s a significant change with the addition of the FP. This is the only thing I’ve ever done that has brought her (or any other cat) to not only sitting there with me throughout the exercises, but also recognizing the moment I’m done and so politely but enthusiastically wanting affection afterward. One might think that closing any individual exercise, with the 3 breaths and eyes opening, would bring her up…but she sits unmoving until I’ve finished the last one and then she’s immediately on her feet. (Interesting to note that she’s a Bengal – a breed still very close to the wild. My Siamese is oblivious…) *I’ve done the seated meditations only once, and only the first 3 exercises. I couldn’t hold even a loose cross-legged position past the breathing sequence and at that the unwind through the hip pain took longer than the breathing sequence. I have no doubt I’ll be able to improve that but I’m not sure of the best way to proceed. I thought at first to sit as long as I could each time, but then I’m breaking up the exercise to stretch out that pain and shift position. I’m guessing it’s better to use a position I can hold through the entire exercise, even if I have to sit in a chair, as opposed to having to disrupt the exercise in order to change position. ??? Even with those distracting issues, and being new to the seated exercises and doing only 3 of them…STILL I felt a positive change in myself the following day! I'm not yet practicing "enough" and yet I'm feeling the increased clarity, lightness, energy, simple well-being. I do hope to bring more specifics to the conversation as I progress. P.S. Another thanks to Sifu…for that succinct phrase, “vehicle for personal evolution” ! Onward… tlb
  11. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Hi, All, The movements I mentioned experiencing during meditations aren’t anywhere close to so dramatic (yet??) as those that some of you describe! They’re small and subtle, many of them apparently simple alignment adjustments and my body seeking its own levels of comfort and balance. A few spiralings, some clockwise and some counter-clockwise, but so subtle that I don’t know if they’d be visible to an observer. Just enough to let me know there’s more to come, and also a trust to be learned – trust that I’ll hold position and not get knocked off my feet, maybe! But before reading some of the other posts I assumed all this was faulty balance, and I resisted it, tried to correct it. Now I’m relaxing into it and letting that tree-dancing feeling come on – stay rooted but let the body flow with the breezes. (Sea plants come to mind also – solid there on the ocean floor but fluid with the movements of the water...but both of these are responses to external forces so I'm letting my comparisons get away with me again!) Some pleasant moments in “Monk Holding Pearl” the other night have me pondering my way into something other than the physical aspects of these practices, though. This is a spiritual quest for me as well as a health quest – and my spiritual path has been a meandering one to say the least! But returning to Chi Kung and Tai Chi after such a long absence is giving me a sense of…call it “returning home,” “getting back to business,” or “bullseye”! I spent a bit of time recently with a spiritual group that emphasized meditation and going inward to find our own answers, our own connection to [the source/the tao/the universe/god/whatever term you prefer]…so far so good, I’ve always been aligned with that approach. (I may have erred on the side of not aligning myself closely enough with a guide who can correct me when I stray or get sidetracked!) The group offered brief teachings in different meditation practices so people could find the one that best suited them. I tried out only a couple, and it wasn’t my first delving into such things, but nothing moved me. I’ve no doubt we find our answers when we go inward, but that can be a vague notion when you get right down to it, even if you’re accustomed to the concept and have done some experimenting with various methods. But FPCK seems to clarify it all and provide a direct fast track “inward.” I’m reminded of one of the first lessons I took from Tai Chi “way back when” – that’s when I learned that relaxation is not a passive thing. Flopping down on the couch in front of the TV is one form of “relaxation,” one that so many people take for granted (and I’m not yet immune to it!) – but it just doesn’t cut it. True relaxation is an active endeavor. In a similar way, the other forms of meditation to which I’ve been exposed seem passive in comparison to FPCK. It seems whatever questions we ask are questions to which we already have the answers “somewhere deep down.” What that means, I think, is simply that we are all the creators/ god/inseparable from the tao, and if a question arises in our minds we have the ability to dive into the primal goo and put together the elements that form the answer, whether it’s a new computer design or the answer to a question in our personal lives or a profound bit of cosmic understanding. (Thus the expanding universe.) FPCK seems to be a powerful method for reaching that primal goo. I may be way out of step with the rest of you (it wouldn’t be the first time!), but to me this is as important on the FPCK path as are the health benefits. I haven’t personally approached the martial aspects, although I have a glimpse of understanding of their importance in the overall balance – but I can’t speak to that line of the conversation. But maybe I’m not the only one focusing on this spiritual side of it, given the power FPCK apparently has in this realm. tlb
  12. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Fu_Dog...looking forward to next June, then. But it's a very very pale shade of Yoda you'll find, I think.
  13. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    I want to add a huge thanks for all the discussions and teachings regarding the involuntary movements and swayings that occur while doing the meditations. Letting go of the attempt to hold a "perfect posture" is turning the standing exercises into something akin to dancing with the trees. (I've only just come back to this in the past couple of weeks, so I'm sticking with volume 1 for awhile...or until Sifu Terry tells me I should move on or expand.) What a joyful experience it becomes. tb
  14. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    Dear Fu-Dog, Thanks for your note! I don’t feel I have much to contribute to these discussions, at least not yet, but it’s very good to be back in classes…and yes, I, too, recognize my luck in being able to make a 20-minute drive and be in Sifu Terry’s class! Of course that means I can’t hide my stumbling about: Saturday I replied “yes” to a question whether I knew a particular exercise…and then I proceeded to mix together the movements of two different exercises. But I remember those clownish moments well from previous years of study, and they actually provide good memory triggers – the next time I’m more likely to do the movement correctly. Laughing at myself has always been a valuable element of training for me (in all other areas of life as well). I did have a breakthrough Saturday, though, some few hours after class. Yang Short Form, the only form that I remember fully; Sifu took us through that with his “checking points,” which I always did find agonizing…and I finally figured out why! “Balance not strength,” he kept saying, and I understood but wasn’t getting it. Finally realized I was putting my foot out and leaning into the step forward simultaneously – rather than staying rooted on the weighted leg while I put the foot out and THEN shifting forward. All the difference in the form – and significant difference in life as well. Man, it only took me 30 years to get that…at this rate I’ll be blasting into masterhood in a flash! By the way, Sifu Terry mentioned on Saturday some discussion in this thread about sensitivity to the sun and/or cancerous skin cell production decreasing or disappearing after some time practicing FPCK…I think he said you were part of that discussion - ? Can you tell me more? ADDED NOTE - FOUND THAT DISCUSSION! I’m making may way through this string slowly, and enjoying how much I’m learning from it; my thanks to you for getting it going! I absolutely look forward to meeting you – when’s your next visit? tb
  15. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    A bow to Master Lew, in honor and in gratitude for his teachings that continue to come through to us.
  16. Flying Phoenix Chi Kung

    (Sorry, this one is merely evidence of my stumbling around trying to figure out how to do this!)
  17. a mistake on the poster's part
  18. Hi

    Essentially a newbie...my training is so far back and practice so sporadic since that I must count myself a beginner. Greetings...