A Breakthrough!

I want to share a happy breakthrough that came as a result of attending the Heaven and Earth Alchemy Retreat last summer. First, a little background. I started practicing yoga in 1965 and practiced various forms of it until 1982 when I met Gunther Weill who introduced me to the healing tao. I also learned Bruce Kumar Frantzis’s system and practiced Dzogchen, as well. I am a fairly serious practitioner – since the 80’s I have devoted over three hours a day to chi kung, tai chi and meditation. About five years ago I ran into a stubborn problem in my practice. Although tai chi was supposed to make me strong, it made me exhausted instead. Ditto for ba gua and even the healing sounds. I would wake up at night in a sweat, the tissue around my eyes was red, and my body felt like lead – the kind of fatigue where you don’t even want to inhale, because it requires too much effort. Meanwhile, Dzogchen seemed like the best answer for me. Maybe I could just abide in non-dual awareness. And it did make me feel better emotionally – more kind and detatched. The problem was my body seemed to be checking out. When a physician read my pulses, she told me that they were quite faint. Then, at the suggestion of my wife, I returned to the Kan and Li practices. I had learned the Lesser and Greater from Master Chia. This time I got Michael Winn’s home study courses and relearned them. I went on to study Greatest Kan and Li and Star Alchemy. Star Alchemy really made a difference for me and then the Heaven and Earth Alchemy added the final piece I needed. After the summer retreat I found I could do tai chi again! First, just a little, but gradually I began spiraling the energy body within the wu style form and the effect was dramatic. I feel like I have reclaimed the jing aspect of my being. My bones feel more dense. I feel physically strong and energetic. So, what do I practice these days? I still wake up early and do inner dissolving in bed (down my spine, usually for 1.5 hours). Then I do standing chi gung to get my energy body open and the energy sprialing freely through my body. I combine the spiraling with a smile (a “smiral”) so the energy has a compassionate, rather than a martial quality. I make sure when I spiral in and out I am aware of the open, yuan chi presence all the way through the in and out movement of energy. Then I sit and do whatever form of alchemy seems appropriate (mostly H&E, these days). So, I am enjoying myself and amazed that a particularly vexing problem has vanished. I am grateful for this. Thank you Michael, for your guidance all these years in helping me figure this out.