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I will intdoduce my shelf to all of you again after being absence long time from the martial arts and nei kung forums... I was taught the system of five animals and hard chi kung in the period 1992-2000 by Antonios Iatrakis in Heraklion Crete and I reached a teacher level (In 1997 I was given a black belt and the first Dan). This system is genealogy of Shu Pui Cheung, based in Philadelphia's China Town. The kung fu of this kind includes movements in combination with breath, such as the tiger associated with the bones, the crane associated with the nervous system, the leopard associated with power and speed, the snake associated with controlling the chi-prana (animal power) and finally the dragon, who combines all four previous animals into one and symbolizes spirit-perfection. On the journey of my internal search until 2008 I was taught, I received influences and guidance from several teachers, some of which are: Kostas Vrettos (wu taiji form and sword) Panayiotis Kontaxakis (chi kung of the sun, chi kung of the spine, iron shirt and opening the microcosmic track.) Master Don Ankut (Korean based in New York, from whom I taught iron shirt chi kung twenty-four animals and tai chi chi kung, dan tien chi kung) Wang ting jun (Xing Shen Zhuan) In the last ten years, I have practiced beside master Kenneth Bone (the only personal student of BO MA, a high-grade Buddhist monk and teacher at Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai), from whom I fully taught the following: 1. Chen taiji chuan 3 frames (new, old, small). The main feature of chen tai chi is the switching of slow and fast spiral movement as well as the explosions at the end of the movements, of course, if we choose it. Some of the benefits of the proper tai chi execution to health are the following: Due to the very slow and constant speed of movement (we can only choose slow motion, if our goal is health) the body muscles are stimulated at the cellular level while the heart pushes the blood even to the smaller capillaries. This makes tai chi an excellent cardiovascular exercise. At the same time, the muscular and neuronal control capacity is gradually increased at a more sophisticated level. During the exercise of tai chi, the soles of the feet as well as a part of our intent, our mind are rooted in the soil with consistency in addition to the external stability to gain emotional balance. In addition, during the execution of the form, alignments of some parts of the body are made, while others are symmetrically arranged in relation to specific axes and points. This makes the contribution of tai chi to the prevention and treatment of orthopedic problems decisive. Because of the spiral movements combined with the intent, chi is driven to the joints and from there to the bone marrow where the blood is produced. This helps to strengthen the bones, to clean the bone marrow and thus to better oxygenate and revitalize the body. It is, therefore, an excellent anti-aging exercise. The constant intention of pulling from the earth and the top of the head from the sky dilates, strengthens the spine and exalts the spirit. Finally, all our moves should be guided by our intention, with the consequence of pushing the chi to the various parts of the body.This is meditation in movement, which strengthens our macrocosmic orbit. White crane (white crane from the lineage of master wee kee jin perfrected in my opinion by the great buddhist monk BO MA). The feature of this system is the combination of breathing exercises, tendon nei kung and bone- chi vibrations. Wild goose if the execution is done by the secret method, it is one of the most effective energy practices that combines stretching exercises and light vibrations to open energy meridians as well as detoxify the body. It includes two forms for opening the microcosmic and macroscopic track, respectively. Each "move" of this form can be used individually as a separate exercise, aiming at specific benefits. Swimming Dragon.. Form with the main aim of exercising the kidneys and opening the third eye. Mara qigong This form deals entirely with the spine and with the opening of all acupuncture points left and right. It looks very much like yoga on the move with the palms of the hands united. Mo pai the proper one not the ritual and demonic one LOST KUNG FU SUSTEM iam also train a system of a series of 12 spiraling forms very old and very very rare !!!! when I asked my sifu to tell me the name of this system, told me that he did not knew the name and that his teacher never mentioned from where come from. I believe that these forms are arcetypes for pakua, taichi xing yi system

Hi there My name is Alex, 27 years old. I really enjoy reading taoist literature and after discovering Mantak Chias books I aim to take the written knowledge and create some experiential understanding. Hoping along the way that can find some junior bums on this forum to start up on the path with and make use of the experience already gained by those who have kept up the practice for a long time. I have experience with meditation and completed a 10 day vipassana course with S.N. Goenka,.. I had known about Mantak for some time after a friend of mine had explained how he had been to Tao Garden 20 years ago and loved it, a few months after I went to vipassana and then on my first day back into normal life Mantak Chia had done an interview with on my favourite youtube channels called 'London real', it was literally one of the first things I saw when booting back up my phone. Tao Garden have given me contact details for one of Mantaks instructors who is sometimes in Bangkok (my current place) and willl start some work with her when possible. I am focusing for now on the inner smile which I find to be a relaxing and rejuvenating exercise and with the teachers guidance I hope to open the micro cosmic orbit. During that time I have started to do some of the exercises in multi orgasmic man. Mainly just the PC pull ups as am using the time to calm my mind away from quite strong sexual urges. It's been 23 days since that started and have been quite strong is resisting the urge and thoughts. This is welcoming and surprising as have had previous attempts in life which never seemed to go past 10 days, this process seems to be much more about the ease and think that this will help the Qi Gong journey. Not directly linked Taoism/Daoism? but am also doing breathing exercises from a book called 'The oxygen advantage' which is about retraining the body and mind to breathe calmer, slower and deeper through the nose at all times even when sleeping and even though he goes about things in a much more western scientific approach he quotes Lao Tzu and Taoist literature once or twice. He has also attended vipassana retreats so I believe he is well into this kind of stuff but for marketing purposes has chosen to position his books in a certain way. However anybody who is interested and would like to try the exercises please send me a message and I look forward to assisting where I can. Thank you for taking the time to read and look forward to this journey.

Hi XingLik here. It's great to join Dao Bums. I've looked through the forums from time to time over the last few years and certainly found information and discussions that interest me. About me: I've been fascinated by the potential of human energy from an early age. I started martial arts at 8 and have been studying Shaolin (internal) and Daoist arts since late 1993. I have successfully been using Daoist healing techniques and teaching DaoYin TaijiQuan and QiGong since 2003. I am most interested in developing my understanding the practical wisdom of the sages, cultivating qi energy, improving my TaiJiQuan and becoming a helpful, balanced human being.

Good day folks! I tried to look into common history of qigong and yogic asanas (the physical bit of yoga), and so far has had no luck with google. I have just two pieces of information. -- Qigong seems to have been fairly evolved by 2nd century BC. That's the dating of the silk scrolls depicting qigong practice. -- Around the same time period, there is the earliest written mention of asanas, albeit without specific examples. That's all I've been able to find. The google search of a common history keeps leading me to yoga and qigong comparisons, but I'm not interested in that. I want to learn about their common history, if there is one. Perhaps they have a common ancestor? Perhaps they originated completely separately? Perhaps we know nothing? Best wishes, Anton

Nearly four years ago, my best friend came across a Daoist master while backpacking across South America. He demonstrated his power by throwing him to the ground without even touching him and even saw a glowing green and blue energy substance emanating from his fingers during evening Tai Chi practice. His stories of this man ignited a flame that has consumed my entire life. After vigorous training and continuous research of the origins, roots and different sects of qigong I finally managed to fly out and train with the legend if a man that ignited my passion in the first place. My life is now completely entwined with the path of the Tao and training to achieve the highest level of power I can achieve in this lifetime. Humans were meant to be so much more than we are today, I hope to rediscover what we once were and be an example of what we can actually become if we dedicate the effort in training and meditation.

Hi, I would like to aks if someone here has experience with both the prostrations as they are done in tibetan buddhism and qigong. I am quite interested in how you view the benefits of prostrations on the body and etc They seem like a quite good exercise and probably encourages flow of chi through the body, can anybody here support it from experience or from the teaching? Also if you have done prostration what did you notice that happened with your body? What about muscles that are used in prostrations, can doing them help me against my slowly growing beer belly? Any kind of opinion is welcomed.

Hi all I'm from Ireland, i'm an acupuncturist and work with tuina tai chi and qigong. been deep diving the i ching in relation to a style of acupuncture recently and would like to know a bit more. not even sure which questions to ask yet! This seem to be the place to big wave from Ireland

The essence of this story is one of destiny. I was being called to The Art and I had the courage to listen and act even though the people closest to me thought I was crazy. The gift I received for my courage and willingness is beyond all compare. I would love to hear your stories of coming to this ancient art that calls out to so few. Thank you in advance for listening. I have a wonderful story to share about how I came to apprentice with a Grand Master. For anyone who is interested, grab a cup of tea! As my sifu was fond of saying, but never really doing, "to make a long story short..." I had been living and working as a healing therapist in Rhode Island (US), for 19 years when I became overwhelmed with a sense of impending dread. I am not one to be fearful, but I was beginning to feel like maybe a huge tsunami was coming. The first glimmer of understanding came at a spiritual workshop I attended in the southwest, when a complete stranger, Cindy, kept following me around and introducing me to people as though I lived there. I turned to her and said, "I don't know what you know, but I live in RI and don't see myself moving here any time soon." She looked right at me and said, "Maybe not, but you are moving." Hmmmm. I returned home from that workshop with a new bug in my ear. Mind you at this time I had been a dedicated practitioner of meditation for years and believed that the answer lies within the silent spaces of our minds and heart, but I was overwhelmingly baffled! Unable to ascertain for myself through meditation or prayer why this foreboding feeling would not go away, I consulted a friend, Neri, who is a gifted intuitive and professional dowser. After an hour of the blind leading the blind, she received the message that all information was blocked because I first needed to commit to moving. My friend gave me advice on steps to take to mentally free myself for a move and then she invited me to the Northeast Dowsers Association annual Conference. Taking her advice I began telling people, " I'm moving; not sure where, just letting you know." You can imagine how that went over with family and friends. Still I was beginning to feel energy return and excitement at the prospect. Step 2: I drive to the dowser’s conference in providence, RI where I meet a famous dowser, John Wayne Blassingame. My friend, Neri, asked him to dowse a map for me because I felt too embarrassed to ask him myself. John let his pendulum twirl all over the map while he drew my energy out by asking me what I was looking for in a move. To be honest I didn't feel like I knew what I was looking for as much as I was surrendering to something beyond myself. I didn't feel like much help, but nevertheless his pendulum hovered over Arkansas. He relayed a few interesting facts about Arkansas and we left it at that. Inside I felt nothing for Arkansas and let it go for the time being. Later that night after an evening of dining and singing with my friend and many of the dowsers at the conference, I was saying my goodbyes when John Blassingame said, "Give Arkansas some thought." Damn, confused again. Remember the woman from the Southwest, Cindy, who divined that I was moving? She emails me extolling the gifts of a friend of hers who is an astrologer that helps people with relocation. I am aware that it must sound to the reader that I am putting important decisions about my future into the hands of strangers. Yet somehow it felt more like surrendering to a higher power that was working through these people. After looking at the particulars of my birth location, she charted the most beneficial or affirming places for me to live in the world. Melbourne, Australia was top of the list. I quickly informed her I was not prepared to leave the US as I have children and a limited budget. Really no budget. Taking my limitations into consideration, that left Texas, Arkansas, and southern California. Sorry, but Texas was out and southern California seemed so far away. OMG; that was 2 strikes for Arkansas. Soon after that the woman from the southwest, Cindy, who knows nothing of my investigation into a move so far, sends me an email. She is so excited to inform me that she is moving to stay with a friend of hers. Here is where we insert a drum roll. Yes she is moving to Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. When I read her email the walls came tumbling down and I was filled with wave of realization. Three strikes for Arkansas. Arkansas was it, that was where I was going to move and now I had a place and a person whom I knew there. If I sound nuts to you then you are in the company of just about everyone I know, whom I told, I am moving to Arkansas. Let me redeem myself by saying I first flew out to meet my southwest quazi-friend in Hot Springs Village to check out the area. Hot Springs Village is nestled in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. I arrived at dusk and woke in the morning to the beautiful sounds of nature. I went outside and took a short walk to get a feel for the land. My whole body felt so at ease energetically. OK, long story short, I had no real idea of what this place was, but it felt right and so during that stay I found a place to rent and put down a deposit for the following month and flew home to Rhode Island. This next part I really want to skip because everyone I knew thought I was insane, including my parents who would have preferred I said I was moving to the moon than Arkansas. There is a lot of prejudice out there for Arkansas! My children hated me and truthfully I could not provide any substantial reason for the move accept that I was being called. As for being called, from the moment I decided to move to Arkansas a wave of Grace descended that lasted throughout the entire move and well into our arrival one month later. Amidst much disapproval and disharmony, I packed our belongings into a 16' U-Haul and with the help of a friend who needed to clear her mind, drove with my children to our new home in Arkansas. Grace was with us and within a week I found a salon where I could practice massage therapy and my kids joined a youth group that they loved. A month had gone by and one of my clients at the salon invited me to go a local Karaoke Bar with her and a friend. Life up until then had been pretty uneventful because as it turns out I moved to a predominantly retired community. Yahoo, a night out! Later that night I met my new friends at the Karaoke Bar and enjoyed a glass of wine. An elderly man came up to us and began talking about himself and the restaurant he used to own in the village and everyone he knew. We had a couple of dances, and before parting I handed him a few business cards and asked if he might help me network since he obviously knew everyone. That is the last I saw of that man, whose name is Robert. I am going to leave the story there and skip to just shy of one year later when I get a phone call from Robert, who after asking if I remember him, invited me over to his house to meet a friend of his visiting from Chicago. He said his friend was John Tsai, a Grand Master of Kung Fu. That call came right about the time I was seriously questioning why a single, young, woman such as me had moved to a retirement village. I had to accept based on the grounds that it was the most interesting offer I had had in over a year. Well my patient listeners, if any of you made it thus far, that introduction and meeting with Grand Master Tsai was to be the ending of one life and the beginning of another. John Tsai is a 17th Generation Shaolin Kung Fu and Mei Hua Qigong Grand Master. He is a legend in Kung Fu in Chicago and the coach of many champions, including Arlene Limas, a gold medalist in the Seoul Olympics. GM Tsai asked me many questions about what I thought energy was that first day. He was friendly and unassuming, an easy person to talk to. Three hours passed quickly by and I left feeling curious and excited to have had a small adventure. Three days later I was invited back to Robert’s house to spend more time with GM Tsai if I was interested. He didn't have to ask twice; somehow being in the company of GM Tsai was stimulating and lively even though he was a man of 64 years. This time another woman was there as well and GM Tsai had both of us lie down on the floor and practice a breathing meditation he called Dantian Tu Na. After an hour or more of Dantian Tu Na he had us stand up. He called me over to stand near him and he placed his hand on my Dantian. Next thing I know my spine is moving in slow wave like motion. I was scared because I couldn't understand why my body wanted to move like that. Sensing my apprehension, GMT had me sit down and explained to me that what I felt was my own energy moving through me. I'd love to say that cleared everything up, but I was clueless although less afraid. He repeated the same technique on me and this time because I was less inhibited my spine moved in rhythmic waves that sent a lovely energy to my head. GMT seemed pleased and I felt great. Long story short; I somehow fell into a pattern of arriving at Roberts’s house nearly 7 days a week at 6:00 am to train with Grand Master Tsai for four hours. After greeting me with warm green tea he would ask me to sit down and take dictation while he spoke about Qi and the practice he was teaching me. I didn't understand what I was writing, but I wrote it down anyway. GMT would show me a new technique and then walk away for 45 minutes, leaving me to practice. Something was happening to me, I was changing from the inside out. I was experiencing a quality of energy and connection to life around me that was heightened in a new way. I began to feel ten years younger and had a new desire to challenge my physical abilities. Namely that resulted in climbing trees and wrestling with my teenage sons, What I was unaware of at the time was GMT's plan. He was grooming and training me to be his chief instructor for a Qigong school he was going to open in Arkansas. That is exactly what transpired. After giving a workshop we had a group of people interested in training and on the first meeting date GMT handed me a uniform and I became an instructor. I am a humble person and so at one point I questioned a promotion that GMT gave me saying I have only been practicing for a short while. He seemed somewhat offended and said, "you are training with a Grand Master. What I am teaching you takes some people a lifetime to learn on their own." That is why I call myself a master instructor. I do not have the years that many practitioners have, but I have a masters level of knowledge. I don't practice what I know, I know what I practice. And so it went on for 5 years until Grand Master Tsai moved on to teach others. I took over teaching at our school until I moved back to Rhode Island so that my children could have an easier relationship with their father. I continue to teach the techniques for building a Qi body that I learned from GMT and I continue to learn from the Daoist Classics and other Teachers of Nei gong. Thank you for your time, Leah

I've done some research but I've started to understand how this energy works. It has came to me mostly thru qigong, sexual kung fu and sexual yoga practices, the latter of which I've done with my current partner. I also should mention that I practice retention and cultivation and I have my own observations thru this, namely, when you don't emit semen often all of the energies seem reflected back into your body and everything gets more intense. I ejaculate once in awhile, i'm still young and my partner sometimes enjoys it, but when I'm older I plan to limit it even more; I've discussed this with her and she understands how we will ultimately move toward Karezza. Basically i believe that puberty / time naturally make a male more Yang and a woman more Yin, but because balance is quintessential in all things it's important to keep in touch with the other side. For some reason when I think of yang I think "upper" and yin I think "lower." Losing jing often seems to make the body more yang, and vice versa seems to help balance and dissipate. That's another thing, yin seems to disperse and yang to gather. Yin would be going for a walk or run, yang would be lifting weights. My experience has also been that one extreme causes a tendency toward the other in myself, I seem to have an internal sense when I am out of balance for my own health which is really what this is all about. Shooting in the dark a bit here, but any thoughts? Thanks

Kitty is looking for some scientific explanation of a linkage between doing qigongs and having strange dreams the following night. The OP is specifically interested when some random "people of the past" show up and some weird show is going on. Any thoughts or experiences? 1. What exactly is being triggered? 2. Why those "streams of consciousness" are interacting. 3. Is there any applied wisdom to this dimension? Meow...

Hello all, As a beginning martial arts practitioner (Northern long fist) who has been training for around a year and far less experienced in internal work, I have been trying to look for a proper teacher who'll be able to guide me in internal cultivation for martial arts - mainly for internal power development/control. From the numerous posts I've seen on these forums, there seems to be a lot of people who are very experienced in internal work and skill, whether it is for martial arts or spiritual cultivation (or both). However, I also feel like people with genuine, high level internal cultivation are extremely rare, so I come for your advice. I have an opportunity to learn Sheng Zhen Gong with one of Master Li Junfeng's direct students. From the information online, it seems that it is more of a spiritual-focused one, rather than a martial-focused one. However, some teachers in my area (Austin, TX) highly recommended me to learn from his system, as they informed me that Master Li is also very experienced in martial arts as well. Any thoughts?

Hello my fellow brothers and sisters, My name is Tim, and I am very excited to be apart of this wonderful community. I am from San Francisco, CA and I am practicing qigong under the Heavenly Essence Qigong System or also known as Zhang Gong as developed by Grandmaster Zhang Hong Bao. I am in search of other practitioners like myself and hope to build a community in which we could grow, develop our practice together, share our insights, and perhaps meet and collaborate with various ventures may it be in business, in workshops, or in practice! I am also curious if any others our there are practicing under the same lineage as myself? I wonder if anybody know my Grandmaster personally or could point me into a direction in which I could learn more as to what kind of person he was? There seems to be some texts, like Qigong Fever by David A. Palmer, but everything else seems to be biased or in Chinese... Looking forward to hearing from you! Much love and blessing, Tim

Flipped through my journal tonight and thought I'd share some notes I've taken over the years of various teachers from many diverse traditions. They're snippets. Some from books, some from videos. A lot of it is paraphrased but the gist of what was said I tried to make sure is accurate. This section of notes come from some (rather long if you have the time) Youtube vids of Shri Rohit Arya. (I've grown to like him as much as Master Nan Huai Chin and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) If even one person finds something of interest here I'm glad I came up from the depths of lurkdom. **************** On Money Shakti 1. Money shakti has a golden hue. The vibration enters through the Mooladhara and Svadhistara. Which is why if the 2 lower chakras are damaged you very rarely get money. But here is the extraordinary thing...if your heart chakra is closed or damaged or you've suffered a lot of emotional trauma the money shakti is blocked. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Money is not the same as abundance. Abundance shakti is not the same shakti as money. Lakshmi is the energy of abundance. Kubera is the shakti of money specifically. Lakshmi is bounty - overall abundance. Bounty/Abundance is known as "shri" (pronounced "shree"). When everything is at its peak, everything is going very well, (examples: you hit the jackpot at the casino, your business won the government contract bid) - that is Shri. Lakshmi power brings shri. Said differently Lakshmi is the energy/power of success. However, if money is what you are wanting specifically then that is Kubera. - Shri Rohit Arya On Mooladhara and Prana / Chi (Moola "core", adhara "foundation') 1. When one first becomes aware of prana (chi) most people experience a swirling movement. Clockwise, anti-clockwise, like a funnel. We feel certain movement and the feeling of tremendous heat. That is because there is resistance in the body to the flow of the prana (chi) and the resistance causes friction. Sometimes, if you are lucky, you feel a cold flow of energy but usually people feel the swirling and/or the heat. As you advance from doing your practices you can feel the cold flow of prana / chi and that is actually a very good sign. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Of all the chakras in the body the Mooladhara is the most important for life. Not for spiritual progress but for life and the processes of life and of being embodied it is. All the troubles that come in your life, all the troubles that are removed from your life - both come from the Mooladhara. The state of your Mooladhara determines 3 primary things in your life. a. it determines the state of your health b. it determines the state of your money (income, gross / net wealth) c. it determines how long you will live. - Shri Rohit Arya 3. Mooladhara needs to be a strong chakra since it is the Rupa (rupa "form") and prana / chi of life energy. Everyone wants to work on their higher chakras these days so many people have them developed. There's also the aspect that working on the lower chakras runs up against many Society taboos for the lower sections of the body. So most practitioners do all kinds of practices working on the higher ones. There's a lot of information on working with the upper ones these days freely available. But for most practitioners their 3 lowest chakras are usually still a mess. - Shri Rohit Arya 4. Very often you will see people have 1 or 2 of the 3 things primarily granted by the energy of the mooladhara but it is rare to find a person with all 3. It's because their mooladhara is not vibrating / functioning optimally. examples: the person has health but no money the person has long life but no health and no money the person has a lot of money but poor health There is a 4th aspect of the moodhara too. It also has an impact on the Mind. - Shri Rohit Arya On Karma Yoga 1. Nassim Taleb's book The Black Swan is one of the most astounding works on karma yoga ever written. He gets why you have "the right to the action but not the fruit" better than any Indian or spiritual person I've ever known. - Shri Rohit Arya 2. Gurdjieff's method (the 4th Way) was primarily based around karma yoga. Can you throw everything about your being into an action without clinging to a desired outcome. Only those who can let go of any outcome - positive, negative, desired, not-desired - only those who let outcomes in life become what they become from those actions and don't cling to either failure or success of those actions have the capability to grow. They do what needs to be done then move on. - Shri Rohit Arya On Focusing on the Breath 1. The underside part / divide between both nostril outlets has its own chakra. All the texts were actually talking about that chakra and getting you to become aware of it by focusing on the breath at that single point. Focusing on this chakra also is related to the root chakra Mooladhara. The texts were not telling you to go cross eyed focusing on the tip of your nose. They were trying to get you to become aware of the chakra that lies at the fleshy strip between both nostril openings. - Shri Rohit Arya On things forgotten about the Markandeya Mantra 1. Markandeya mantra is typically taught in books and videos as a healing mantra. This is incorrect. It's actually a karma-burning mantra and often the fastest way to burn karma is to go through a lot of suffering in a short amount of time. This suffering might be short to Shiva but not necessarily to you, the mantra chanter. Markandeya himself was a highly advanced being and this mantra was given to him by Shiva to burn the very last of his karma and he - that is, Markandeya, is now outside of space and time. This mantra got the reputation of being a healing mantra because in the old days village Indian tantric healers would use it as part of a series of actions done on behalf of a seriously sick person. However, there were many other things they did along with that mantra that are important and much of that knowledge has been forgotten and not passed on. But the thing the lay people remembered was the use of the Markandeya mantra and so it acquired a reputation as a healing mantra. That's what you see in all the books and videos. But anyone who is aware of the energy of that mantra's shakti knows it burns karma - and often times not in a way the chanter is prepared for (read: they slam headlong into a lot more suffering instead of being alleviated of suffering instead). - Shri Rohit Arya edit: typos

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Hello, I am a student and teacher at the Taoist Sanctuary in San Diego. I began studying qigong in 1984 and teaching in 1994. I'm delighted to join this band of bums on The Way.

Posted this vid in the off-topic section but there's more traffic here. Good documentary.

Hello everyone, I decided to make an account because I have a lot of questions and I was always looking at people's post on here anyway. I am a 19 year old college student. I currently do a basic qigong meditation with my hands hugging the air in front of me around my heart area. Since I spent a lot of time in my last few years smoking cannabis and even becoming dependent upon it, my energy body is not in great condition. When I do my standing meditation my hips and lower back sort of ache with in-breaths and I am able to crack my spine. I assume this means I am releasing stagnant chi. I recently was web surfing and came across semen retention. I instantly resonated with the idea of not wasting my seed. Im currently on the 7th day of not ejaculating. I had "blue balls" or tension in those lower chakras at times, but it was never that bad, and I always worked through it. I later came across a pdf about tantra which I found interesting at the time and then Mantak Chia's book Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Energy. I also immidiately ordered the Male Multiple Orgasm by Chia and its coming this week. I enjoyed "Cultivating Male Energy" at first, but soon found reviews of some of the techniques as being marked as dangerous. I read Id be best to start off with Awakening Healing Energy Through the Tao by Chia. I also read Inner Smile and 6 Healing Sounds are more beginner oriented. I am used to going to the gym 6 days a week, but I'm starting to think Qigong, meditation techniques, and Taoism should take priority in my life. I'm also struggling to figure out if i should be releasing my sexual energy or continuing to store it. I don't mind spending hours a day practicing techniques, I just need somewhere to start. I want to know if I should dive straight into the Multiorgasmic Man by Chia or perhaps start with something lighter. I have a girlfriend and I told her I want to be celibate so I can grow spiritually more. She's on board with it, but I'm not sure if I think there is a purpose if I cant transmute the energy into other places. PLEASE help me guys. I would love to gain more info on these subjects for I have no master.

Hello All, I am a newbie and have lots of questions about cultivation. While seeking for the answers I thought of asking experienced folks and hence the post... I have been practicing Ba Dua Jin, 5 tibetan rites and Zhan Zhuang for quite some time now with at least 30 mins of Meditation. I was wondering about the meridians. What exactly happens when the meridian opens? How to know that meridians are opening? At least what are the experiences you get when it happens. I will share mine. I am not sure if this experience is same as Meridian opening. For a while now I feel my body hot. Sometimes very hot. I sweat a lot due to this heat. When I meditate I can feel the pulse in my whole body. Its a nice sensation and quite good feeling... the whole body pulsating with every heart beat. I am wondering... am I on the right path? I haven't been going to any teacher yet. Any comments, experiences are welcome.

greetings. I'm joining this forum after 2 years of qigong practice. I've been increasing my commitment to physical practice, but I have a desire to learn more about Taoist thought and philosophy. give thanks, Stephan

Greetings Every One! I have been off the forum for quite a while now. Lecturing in China for a few years has come to an end, and now I am back in the states. Starting over in Pennsylvania, Milford. This January I have re-opened my cultivation school, and have classes in full force. Last year I have placed all my practices into two systems White Canopy Platform Cultivation, and Imperial Zong Huan. For a description of both, please visit Gui Zhen Society I hope every one is doing well. Peace and Blessings, Lin

I'm looking for some videos which build on Lam Kam Chuen's excellent series ( ) I want to increase the duration of my practice and also learn some more advanced postures/internal work. I am aware I could do this without videos/with a teacher, but I'm specifically interested in practice videos - either online or to purchase. Any suggestions/recommendations? It doesn't have to be the same exact system, but I like the overall style and approach.

I am going on a meditation retreat with Wang Li Ping on April 8 through April 18, 2016. http://longmen.eu/registration-longmen-2016/ Here is a Wikipedia article about him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Liping_(Taoist) What questions would you ask a skilled meditater? What questions do you have for Wang Li Ping?

In many different qigong meditations and sitting practice meditations, there are visualizations/movements to gather norht star or big dipper energy. What exactly is the energetic or psychic significance of polaris or big dipper? Does it give some unique chi that is better than the solar chi? Why not other stars or planets?

Mantak Chia talks about applying pressure to the lower dantian with your finger for one to five minutes and then place right palm over your left palm to mediate. I have found this useful and been using this mediation technique. He points out not to visualize or worry about your breathing but feel with intention, but I also know others talk about visualizing with intent to activate the lower dantian combineded with deep breathing through the nostrils. Do you guys feel that I should visualize at the same time I mediate on the lower dantian and apply breathing as well or stick to what I been doing? I know some talk about visualizing a golden light the size of a golf ball at same time breathing in qi to expand the qi in the lower dantian. Do you think I can add this to mantak chi technique I have been using?

Hey guys my xingyibagua sifu is wanting to do some seminars in the near future. What focus would you like to see? What kind of venue would you prefer? I'm probably going to have to organize all of this so I'd like input from you guys to see how we should proceed.