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I’ve studied various forms of Chi Kung on and off for some years, from books and videos as well as the occasional teacher. Every teacher I studied with/under had a laundry list of bad things about the system(s) taught by Chia and his students (Winn, Yudelove, et al.). Back in the bittersweet days before 9/11, I was pretty flush financially, and acquired a good sized Chi Kung library, including several of the early Chia books (Awaken Healing Light/Energy, Chi Self Massage, the one with Inner Smile and Healing Sounds, Taoist Secrets of Love, and Iron Shirt), as well as books by Lam Kam Chuen, Wong Kiew Kit, Stephen Chang, Ken Cohen, and several others. I also picked up a year or so ago the ‘100 Days’ book by Eric Yudelove. It looks good, but I worry it might be a little slow to hold my interest, and of course, the illustrations leave (for my tastes) a little to be desired. I feel a need to learn and practice Chi Kung (after a recent serious illness), but am not sure where to start, with my financial situation being not what it once was ($100 a shot for courses is right out of my range).
Suggestions?
I think that maybe you have run into what a lot of people run into. A rut. I hate to break it to you but really try to understand this … reading all the books in China and NOrth America and India is not going to do it for you. Do you know what will. PRACTISE! Every day for at least 3 months. EVERYDAY. No stopping. Not even once. That will raise you to a new level of understanding. And quit worrying about what other people think and do. That is all smoke and mirrors. Those are not the true issues at all. What is the true issue is what is within YOU! Once you find that center then all will fall into place. I promise this – it is truth. So pick a form, and yes my dear friend – any form – and use white light energy in its purest form and connect to the core of the earth and after that practise your form every day, thru all things of emotional upheaval, of “things getting in the way”, of loss of time (stay up all night if you have to to get that 45 minutes or an hour of practise in). Just do it. And you must be steadfast in this. For it is this that will bring strength to your spirit. And money, well I still have a few issues with that myself, but it is also smoke and mirrors. The reason why you do not have money now resides inside you. And once you “fix” that, you will again have abundance. Think of yourself as this fantastic complex creation of the universe and you just need a little tweaking to get to the next level of creation. Just a little. We are such fantastic beings – honour that.
All the games that you play “with yourself” and others is to aide your spirit and physical self in its evolution. So please quit fighting what your heart tells you and give to your spirit what it requires. Sit down quietly with yourself and listen to your heart. That is where the truth resides. And for each person it is different. That is why some types of qigong work very well for some and not so well for others. That is why some of us just resound and thrive with some teachers and others do not. It is what is required of YOU that is important. And there is no easy way past that. It is up to YOU to find YOUR way. And what is true to YOU. That may include white crane sytem, or hunyuan system, or taichi, or yoga or weightlifting (YES!! – physical exercise is very, very important) and it may involve moutain climbing or hiking or painting landscapes or photography or volunteer work with addicts or just being nice to your grandmother and visiting her. This is your life and your lessons so quit trying to find the answers within someone else. They are in you. What you see out there are only tools. And remember that. Just tools. This journey is between you and God, you and the creator. It is your essence. (the trick is we are all one, but individual in its self) What we do affects everyone. We are all energy together – each bug, each animal. If you do not believe this to be so, go and watch a colony of ants for a few hours or a butterfly or watch your cat all day. Just quit reading and start living. Reading is for inspiration only, it is not to be all of our life.Many rainbows in your heart!!
Hi,
I agree with Rainbowbear that you sound like you’re in a rut, and it is hard to get moving. And, the solution is not to find the ideal, but to just get moving. So, I offer three suggestions.
1. Use Yudelove’s book. I worked through it all a few years ago, and it was really nice in getting me to do many different practices. Sometimes the instructions aren’t the clearest, but just post on here and I, or others, can try and clarify things.
2. Download and read Michael Winn’s inner smile free ebook. It is way full of sweetly detailed meditations that may help activate a self-loving smile. There is duplication between this and Yudelove’s approach to the inner smile, but I resonate more with the loving energy in Winn’s description. Ideally, you will take this sense of smile into the qi gong practices in Yudelove’s book.
3. Practice everyday (unless you’ve been out late partying etc. – no need to worry yourself about missing after that), if even for 5 minutes. This will help these practices become part of your way of being.
best of luck,
Chris> I feel a need to learn and practice Chi Kung (after a recent serious illness) >
The Fab Four is a safe helpful little set.
> with my financial situation being not what it once was >
Alchemical Taoism.com is a free set of online essays, some people like it.
Thanks…
Found a question, not from ‘100 Days’, but in ‘Chi Self Massage’:
How does one acquire the muscular control over the areas (regions?) of the anus as described in the book? The book just says to do it, but (for me at least) its not that simple. Is it a matter of merging intent with the movement?Hi,
Two things often engage the anus: stopping the flow of pee, and squeezing out a crap. The former is probably easier to play with by noting how your anus may contract a bit as you stop the flow of pee.
From there you can start to isolate the anus from the penis. Next you can explore how to isolate parts of the anus by noting how different areas of your stomach contrach when you squeeze the anus. Shifting your body weight around by arching or slumping your back slightly or shifting the weight left and right on your buttocks may also help feel different parts of the anus.
Contracting the anus and straightening while arching the back can give a nice little energy boost.
I hope that helps,
Chris
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