edited due to arguing

[fredhedd]

well i like to argue.  maybe you could start a contraversial thread so i can give my brain a stretch.  you could even just make something up or take a standpoint on something that you don't necessarily agree w/.  i do it all the time.

[fredhedd]

i did not put that smiley face at the end of that last post and i don't know how it got there.

[skips29]

blue]Feeling & Seeing
Your Chi
by Sue Benton
and Drew Denbaum
Remember high school science class? We learned that everything in the world is made up of atoms. Our bodies, the trees, the chair that you are sitting on are all made of the same stuff, organized in different patterns. An atom is made up of particles in its center (protons and neutrons); particles revolving around its center (electrons); and the energy in between, which keeps the electrons in orbit and prevents the nucleus from flying apart. The atom is 99.9 percent energy, and at the atomic level we are 99.9 percent energy.

Chi is your life force energy. It is already within you. There is no trick to feeling it or seeing it. It only requires attention and practice to do so. The following exercises illustrate ways to experience chi physically.

Chi Ball Exercise
1. Stand with your feet about hip distance apart. Straighten the spine by lifting up through the crown of the head and gently pressing down through the tailbone. Notice that when you straighten the spine, you automatically take a deep breath as you create more space in your body. All the joints should be soft and relaxed: knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, and ankles.

2. Bend the knees slightly over the toes.

3. Draw your hands up to waist level with the palms facing each other. Relax your fingers and bring your awareness to the palms of your hands. Imagine that you are holding a ball of energy.

Keep in mind that it is important to maintain a state of relaxation. This is not a test. It's an exploration. It should be fun. After a moment or two, you will feel a tingling sensation, heat, or perhaps a vibration between the palms of your hands.

If you are not perceiving any of these sensations, try moving the palms of your hands toward each other, then away from each other, in a gentle, pulsing motion. Soon you will begin to sense the chi between your hands. Visualize it as a ball of energy.

As you become increasingly aware of this chi ball, look at the area around your hands. If you place your hands over a darker surface, you may begin to see an outline of energy. Relax your gaze; don't use a hard stare. Sometimes, you can see what looks like white smoke between the fingers of both hands. Some people can even see colors. These are aspects of your aura.

The aura is the energy field that surrounds all matter. If something has an atomic structure, it will have an aura. If it is alive, the auric field will be more intense. The size and shape of your aura, as well as the colors and clarity of the colors, signify different things about your physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being.

As you're learning to see the aura, it's important to remember not to stare because what looks like an aura around an individual could be an optical illusion. When you stare fixedly at an object, your eye muscles become fatigued. The resulting shift in focus can cause you to see an after image that looks like an aura. Relaxing your gaze will help you see the energy of another person.

Here are some additional ways to perceive energy:

Try doing the Chi Ball Exercise in front of a full-length mirror. If you wear darker clothing, this exercise will be easier. As you sense the energy between your hands, look in the mirror. You may see the ball of energy in the mirror as well as between and around your hands.

Have a friend stand in front of a blank wall and look at him. Soft focus your eyes and try to see the energy surrounding him. Don't discount what you see. Energy is a palpable experience, and seeing it is fully within your power.

As you look at your friend, you may see just an outline around him, white light, or colors. Keep in mind that you may be the kind of person who feels energy more readily than seeing it. On the other hand, you may have the experience of seeing energy, but not specific colors. Some people never see colors. Other people always do. Others see colors sometimes. It depends on what you are sensitive to. Practice will sharpen your skill, so keep trying. (Remember to soft focus your eyes and relax.) Certain people learn better visually, some aurally, and others somatically. One way is not better than the other. Whatever way you sense chi is the perfect way for you.

Colors in an energy field close to the body reflect your physical health. Colors perceived farther away from the body have to do with emotional and spiritual states. There are many different ways to interpret the meaning of particular colors. It is widely believed that the clarity and vibrancy of color are indications of the energy's intensity. Dull or washed-out color can indicate energy imbalances or depletion. Keep in mind that just as modern physics recognizes the effect that any observer has on an experiment, your own state of being will undoubtedly affect your perception of anyone else's aura. In addition, these colors can change repeatedly, indicating variations in a person's physical, emotional, or spiritual state of being. Ask questions of the people you are studying to gain insights about their state of being and trust your intuition.

When you have an extra moment, practice the Chi Ball Exercise to enhance your awareness of chi. As you go through your day, try to see the energy of other people. Practicing your newfound awareness of chi increases your skill at sensing energy.[/blue][

Also  this

The Twenty-Four Rules for Chi Kung Practice
In this section we will list the twenty-four rules which have been passed down by generations of Chi Kung masters. These rules are based on much study and experience, and you should observe them carefully.

1.Don't be Stubborn about Plans and Ideas
This is one of the easiest mistakes for beginners to make. When we take up Chi Kung we are enthusiastic and eager. However, sometimes we don't learn as fast as we would like to, and we become impatient and try to force things. Sometimes we set up a schedule for ourselves: today I want to make my Dan Tien warm, tomorrow I want to get through the tailbone cavity, by such and such a day I want to complete the small circulation. This is the wrong way to go about it. Chi Kung is not like any ordinal-v job or task you set for yourself -- YOU CANNOT MAKE A PROGRESS SCHEDULE FOR CHI KUNG. This will only make your thinking rigid and stagnate your progress. EVERYTHING HAPPENS WHEN IT IS TIME FOR IT TO HAPPEN. IF YOU FORCE IT, IT WILL NOT HAPPEN NATURALLY.

2.Don't Place your Attention in Discrimination
When you practice, do not place your attention on the various phenomena or sensations which are occurring. Be aware of what is happening, but keep your mind centered on wherever it is supposed to be for the exercise you are doing. If you let your mind go to wherever you feel something "interesting" happening, the Chi will follow your mind and interfere with your body's natural tendency to rebalance itself Do not expect anything to happen, and don't let your mind wander around looking for the various phenomena. Furthermore, don't start evaluating or judging the phenomena, such as asking "Is my Dan Tien warmer today than it was yesterday?" Don't ask yourself "Just where is my Chi now?" When your mind is on your Chi, your Yi is there also, and this stagnant Yi will not lead the Chi BE AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING, BUT DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO IT When you drive a car, you don't watch yourself steer and work the pedals and shift gears. If you did, you'd drive off the road. You simply put your mind on where you want to go and let your body automatically drive the car. This is called regulating without regulating.

3.Avoid Miscellaneous Thought Remaining on Origins
This is a problem of regulating the mind. The emotional mind is strong, and every idea is still strongly connected to its origin. If you cannot cut the ideas off at their source, your mind is not regulated, and your should not try to regulate your Chi. You will also often find that even though you have stopped the flow of random thoughts going through your mind, new ideas are generated dung practice. For example, when you discover your Dan Tien is warm, your mind immediately recalls where this is mentioned in a book, or how the master described it, and you start to compare your experience with this. Or you may start wondering what the next step is. All of these thoughts will lead you away from peace and calm, and your mind will end up in the "Domain of the Devil." Then your mind will be confused, scattered, and very often scared, and you will tire quickly.

4.Hsin (Shen) Should not Follows the External Scenery
This is also a problem of regulating the mind (Hsin). When your emotional mind is not controlled, any external distraction will lead it away from your body and to the distraction. You must train yourself so that noises, smells, conversations and such will not disturb your concentration. It is all right to be aware of what is happening, but your mind must remain calmly, peacefully and steadily on your cultivation.

5.Regulate your Sexual Activity
You should not have sexual relations at least 24 hours before or after practicing Chi Kung, especially martial or religious Chi Kung. The Essence-Chi conversion training is a very critical part of these practices, and if you practice Chi Kung soon after sex, you will harm your body significantly. Sex depletes your Chi and sperm, and the Chi level in the lower portion of your body is lower than normal. When you practice Chi Kung under these conditions, it is like doing heavy exercise right after sex. Furthermore, when your Chi level is abnormal, your feeling and sensing are also not accurate. Under these conditions, your Yi can be misled and its accuracy affected. You should wait until the Chi level regains it normal balance before your resume Chi Kung. Only then will the Essence-Chi conversion proceed normally and efficiently.

One of the major purposes of Chi Kung is to increase the Essence Chi conversion and use this Chi to nourish your body. Once a man has built up a supply of Chi, having sex will only pass this Chi on to his partner. As a matter of fact, many Chi Kung masters insist that you should not have sex three days before and four days after practice. During sexual relations the female usually gains Chi while the male loses Chi during ejaculation. The woman should not practice Chi Kung after sex until her body has digested the Chi she has obtained from the man. There are certain Taoist Chi Kung techniques which teach men how not to lose Chi during sexual activity, and teach women how to receive Chi from the man and digest it. We will leave the discussion of this subject to Chi Kung masters who are qualified and experienced in it.

6.Don't be Too Warm or Too Cold
The temperature of the room in which you are training should not be too hot or too cold. You should practice in the most comfortable environment which will not disturb your mind and cultivation.

7.Be Careful of the Five Weaknesses and Internal Injuries
Five weaknesses means the weaknesses of five Yin organs: the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, and spleen. When you realize that any of these five organs is weak, you should proceed very gradually and gently with your Chi Kung practice. Chi Kung practice is an internal exercise which is directly related to these five organs. If you do not move gradually and gently, it is Like forcing a weak person to run 10 miles right away. This will not build up his strength, instead it will. injure him more seriously.

For the same reason, when you have an internal injury your internal Chi distribution and circulation is already disturbed. If you practice Chi Kung your feelings may be misled, and your practice may worsen your problem and interfere with the natural healing process. There are certain Chi Kung exercises which are designed to cure internal injuries, but to use them properly you need to have a very good understanding of the Chi situation of your body.

8.Avoid Facing the Wind when Sweating
Don't practice in the wind, especially facing the wind. When you practice Chi Kung you are exercising either internally, or both internally and externally. It is normal to sweat, and since you are relaxed, your pores are wide open, If you expose your body to cold wind, you will catch cold.

9.Don't Wear Tight Clothes and Belt
Always wear loose clothes during practice because this will help you to feel comfortable. Keep your belt loose, too. The abdomen is the key area in Chi Kung practice, and you must be careful not to limit the movement of this area because it will interfere with your practice.

10.Don't Eat too Much Greasy and Sweet Food
You should regulate your eating habit while you are practicing: Chi Kung. Greasy or sweet food will increase your Fire Chi, making your mind scattered, and your Shen will stray away from its residence. You should eat more fruit and vegetables, and keep away from alcohol and tobacco.

11.Don't Hang your Feet off the Bed
In ancient times the most common place in Chi Kung practice was sitting on your bed. Since most beds were high, if you sat on the edge of the bed your feet would hang off the side of the bed above the floor. When you practice Chi Kung your feet should touch the floor. If they do not, all of the weight of your body will press down on the lower part of your thighs and reduce the Chi and blood circulation. Furthermore, when you practice you should nor put your feet up on the table, because this position will also stagnate the Chi and blood circulation.

12.Don't Practice with a Full Bladder
You should go to the toilet before you start your practice. If you need to go during practice, stop your practice and do so. Holding it in disturbs your concentration.

13.Don't Scratch an Itch
If you itch because of some external reason, such as an insect walking on you or biting you, do not be alarmed and keep your mind calm. Use your Yi to lead the Chi back to its residence, the Dan Tien. Breathe a couple of times and gradually bring your consciousness back to your surroundings. Then you may scratch or think of how to stop the itching. However, if the itching is caused by Chi redistribution in the Chi Kung practice, remain calm and do not move your mind there. Simply ignore it and let it happen. Once it has reached a new balance, the itching will stop. If you scratch this kind of itch it means that your mind has been disturbed, and also that you are using your hands to interfere with the natural rebalancing of your body's Chi.

14.Avoid Being Suddenly Disturbed or Startled
You should avoid being suddenly disturbed or startled. However, if it does happen, calm down your mind. You must absolutely prevent yourself from losing your temper. What has happened has happened, and getting mad cannot change anything. What you should do is prevent it from happening again. Most important of all, though is learning how to regulate your mind when you are disturbed.

15.Don't Take Delight in the Scenery
It is very common during practice to suddenly notice something that is going on inside of you. Perhaps you feel Chi moving more clearly than ever before, or you start to sense your bone marrow, and you feel elated and excited. You have just fallen into a very common trap. Your concentration is broken, and your mind is divided. This is dangerous and harmful. You have to learn how to be aware of what is going on inside you without getting excited.

16.Don't Wear Sweaty Clothes
This happens mostly in moving Chi Kung practice, especially in martial Chi Kung training. When your clothes are wet from sweat you will feel uncomfortable, and your concentration will be affected. It is better to change into dry clothes and then resume practice.

17.Don't Sit When Hungry or Full
You should not practice Chi Kung when you are hungry or when your stomach is full. When you are hungry it is hard to concentrate, and when you are full your practice will affect your digestion.

18.Heaven and Earth Strange Disaster
It is believed that your body's Chi is directly affected by changes in the weather. It is therefore not advisable to practice Chi Kung when there is a sudden weather change, because your practice will interfere with your body's natural readjustment to the new environment. You will also be unable to feel and sense your Chi flow as you do normally. You must always try to remain emotionally neutral whenever you do Chi Kung; even if you are disturbed by a natural disaster like an earthquake, you must remain calm so that your Chi stays under control.

19.Listen Sometimes to True Words
You need to have confidence when you practice Chi Kung. You should not listen to advice from people who do not have experience in Chi Kung and who are not familiar with the condition of your body. Some people listen to their classmates explain how they reached a certain level or how they cured a certain problem, and then blindly try to use the same method themselves. You need to understand that everyone has a different body, everyone's health is slightly different, and everyone learns differently. When the time comes for you to learn something new, you will understand what you need. Play it cool and easy, and always have confidence in your training.

20.Don't Lean and Fall Asleep
You should not continue your Chi Kung training when you are sleepy. Using an unclear mind to lead Chi is dangerous. Also, when you are sleepy your body will not be regulated and will tend to lean or droop, and your bad posture may interfere with the proper Chi circulation. When you are sleepy it is best to take a rest until you are able to regain your spirit.

21.Don't Meditate When You Have Lost Your Temper or are Too Excited
You should not meditate when you are too excited due to anger or happiness. Since your mind is scattered, meditation will bring you more harm than peace.

22.Don't Keep Spitting
It is normal to generate a lot of saliva while practicing Chi Kung. The saliva should be swallowed to moisten your throat. Don't spit out the saliva because this is a waste, and it will also disturb your concentration.

23.Don't Doubt and Become Lazy
When you first start Chi Kung, you must have confidence in what you are doing, and not start doubting its validity, or questioning whether you are doing it right. If you start doubting right at the beginning you will become lazy, and you will start questioning whether you really want to continue. In this case, you will not have any success and your practice will never last.

24.Do not Ask for the Speedy Success
This is to remind you that Chi Kung practice is time consuming and progress is slow. You must have patience, a strong will, and confidence to reach your goal. Taking it easy and being natural are the most important rules.

From the book entitled "The Root of Chinese Chi Kung, The Secrets of Chi Kung Training", YMAA Publication Center, Jamaica Plain.
grindsman
Registered User
Posts: 1
(8/1/02 12:25:41 pm)
Reply Important principle for chi kung

The most important rule for chi kung is very simply: Relax.

This is the single biggest obstacle that prevents people developing in chi kung/tai chi/kung fu


relax your body
relax your breathing
relax your mind.

you should be able to develop and feel a chi-flow in days, not years - but it *will* take years if you aren't in the correct state. (The correct state is as above, body, breathing, mind relaxed). If you've done chi-kung / tai chi for a while and never felt a chi-flow then you'll really benefit from reading the rest of this.

To relax your body simply relax your back (feeling your back/chest/ribs/stomach etc sink slightly as they get released), relax your shoulders and arms (elbows should feel heavy and shoulders might even feel uncomfortable at first since they're not used to it) - relax your legs (you'll feel all the muscles around your leg release) and finally relax your hips (they should sink a little and you spine may straight a little). keep repeating this check every so often to keep your muscles in a relaxed state. It's not so much to remember: back, shoulders, legs, hips. - the order doesn't matter although that is a good order - also shoulders isn't really as important as the others, but as most chi-kung centers on arm movement, I thought I'd put it in.
Aim to keep all of your muscles as relaxed as possible all the time - if you keep your arm relaxed now and squeeze its muscles with the other hand – that's how you want your muscles to stay all the time.
If moving an arm, move it into the desired position using absolutely the minimum amount of effort to do so. aim to keep all your arm muscles completely relaxed and untense as you do so. more than this be careful to keep the shoulder relaxed as it has a tendency to tense when the arms move and check your whole body just in case any muscle tension has crept in anywhere. This is extremely extremely important.

Relax your breathing basically means don't breath forcefully. extending your arms and blowing air out is incorrect and potentially damaging if you do it for long enough (the problem is by forcing you're creating tension in your neck & lungs - which will ultimately cause a blockage. - blockages are only really a problem if they are there a long time - so not much risk for beginners). Your breath should gently roll in and out. You can guide it, but you should never force it. I hope the difference is obvious. breathing at a normal rate, you shouldn't be able to hear your breath *at all* - if you're making blowing noises you are almost definitely doing it wrong and
A) risk damaging yourself and
B)   won't get much chi absorbed or flowing.
Also Breathing gently doesn't necassarily mean breathing slowly - if required you can gently guide the breath in or out at a rapid rate - but you have to guide it there, not force it. and its pretty rare you'd want to do this. I hope this breathing section makes sense.

Lastly, and most difficulty  this is to relax the mind. Relax the mind, means that it is in all senses relaxed. If you concentrate on relaxing, then you're not relaxed. For example: if you're happily thinking about what you did yesterday or some discussion you had, then equally your mind isn't relaxed (it's uncontrolled). aim to relax and release your mind, calming it. If you are supposed to 'concentrate on your dan tien' don't literally intensely focus all of your mind onto your dan tien - allow your mind to be calm and clear and as an afterthought gently put your attention to your dan tien. Equally when you're supposed to visualise energy flowing down your arm, don't intensely follow a path down your arm - have a relaxed and calm mind and gently guide your mind to the thought of energy flowing down your arm.
Equally if you catch yourself thinking of something else completely, don't jump and block the force out and concentrate on nothing, gently release the thought and relax your mind so it settles thinking of nothing.

If your mind is active and going everywhere then chi-flow will not be so good - equally when you are concentrating intensely chi flow will not be so good.

Its important that all thought, breathing and movement are gentle. and that the mind, breath and body are constantly relaxed.

A very good idea is to pause for a few minutes before your do your chi kung exercises and just stand - just upright with hands by sides is fine, and relax your body systematically, then check your breathings calm and then gently release and relax your mind (to be honest, you'd more likely just do them all at once or certainly overlapped). When you feel you don't have the time or the patience to pause for a few minutes is exactly when you need to most. Doing the exercises when your body is not in the correct 'relaxed mode' like this will yield little and more likely nothing, and the movements you do will have little effect other than stretching your muscles a little.
Equally here, I say a few minutes - you're not checking your watch - if you stand for 10 minutes great, and if you stand for 1 minute and feel thats fine then thats fine too. the important thing is you being in a relaxed state, not the length of time you relax, and if you're sitting watching your clock or trying to estimate how long you've been waiting - your minds not relaxed. hopfuly the pattern of relaxedness and gentleness is quite apparent now...

When the whole-self - mind,body,breathing is relaxed like this, chi can flow very easily. You should be able to get a chi-flow extremely quickly if you follow this and relax correctly. Think days, not years in getting a chi-flow (although it won't be very strong - when you're developing a strong flow, thats when the years comes into it). If you haven't experienced a chi-flow in a month then something is very wrong and it'd be worth stepping back and re-evaluating and checking what you're doing - you may be tensing your waist or you may be concentrating and certain imagery or something that is inhibiting flow.

(lastly a quick note on posture - aim to keep your head up and level and your feet parallel - keeping your feet parallel is very important as when they're straight forward, your legs can relax completely (they cant if your feet are pointing out. Also, its important to keep your back straight, and not lean back when you're doing this. getting someone to check you is the easiest way. Also, having your back flat is good - to do this you need to relax your hips 'under' a little bit - don't worry about forcing the tailbone/hips under etc. - just relax them gently into that position).

Phew.
Hope this is a help to someone.

That's what I was  originally going to post  ENJOY []

[gerble king]

skips I am a senior majoring in physics and I can tell you that in fact we are 100% energy.  Recall E=mc^2. This tells us the mass and energy are equivalent.  In fact it is believed that mass as we experiences it is a result of the kinetic energy of the quarks that comprise sub-atomic particles.

[skips29]

I edited  this, because   I dnt want people to get intoa fight because of it or to argue.   I believe in Peace and  will do  what I can to Maintain it. [^]