Steven

if comfortable and not distracting, go for it

Yes. But only if it is comfortable for you.
If it is too difficult or distracting, just let go of this need to have the tongue in a certain location. Just focus on the actual practice.

S

Let your body do what it wants to do and don’t fight it.
If you still have this problem when doing the orbit meditation, you might try to do the orbit in the reverse direction.

S

What you choose to do with your life is your own business.
But in 100 years–maybe less–you are just as dead as everyone else, likely to never exist again, with a record of perhaps less actual enjoyment in the life you did have.

It concerns me not how many notable fools there have been that were ascetics and were respected. In the end,…[Read more]

This is very important information and should be made more readily to the masses . . . S

My personal view is that ascetics miss the mark. They are over-controlling through their relentless insistence and/or drive that things should a go a “certain way” (decided by some ego-based mental idea), in contrast to natural impulse. In my view, it is a rigidity and inflexibility of ideas that is characteristic of an earth imbalance.

The…[Read more]

I noticed that you described your peace as “terrible”.
Are you feeling a sense of loss from a prior “holding onto” of “fear/suffering”? 😉

Step forward and don’t look back. 🙂

Qi,
Steven

>>>Do you use visualisation too … like driving the pearls troughout the pathways?

Yes, and in fact that is how Michael teaches it currently when he teaches it live. He then uses that as a warmup for doing the sitting meditation practices.

S

No fixed breathing pattern that I’m aware of . . . just relaxed comfortable breathing throughout. That said, if you have found a breathing pattern that you feel works for you and enhances the form, then no harm in adding it.

S

While it is true that you should do a reasonable approximation of the form to get the intended benefits, it is not a rooted structure-based form like tai chi. It’s more of a qigong form than a tai chi form, and so I consequently prefer the name “Primordial Qigong” to the name “Tai Chi for Enlightenment” (or its variants).

Learning anything…[Read more]

A few of the movements this guy does are slow, semi-rooted, movements not unlike what we do in the Five Animals. These are sort of fine. But the other ones where he is walking around at casually at some normal pace in a posture or some other meditation . . . they suffer from the problems I mentioned earlier. Do at your own risk.

All of what I mentioned–from Five Animals on one end, to simple walking meditation on the other–can be done in nature while hiking. I’ve done all of these.

Unless you are meaning that you want something where your lower body is relatively free to be on its own while you move your arms coordinated with your breath. To be honest, most qigong…[Read more]

My sympathies.

But you get these quirks whenever you have a sweetie. 🙂
Best if you just laugh internally . . . if you know what’s good for you, lol

Depends on what you mean by “walking qigong”.

If you mean just walking–as in Zen–then you can do this without much instruction. Just walk. Keep your breath and attention in your lower dantian. When your mind wanders off, bring your attention back to your breath in your lower dantian. That’s it.

If you mean that you are doing some other…[Read more]

For those that find bigu too much, this instruction should prove useful 😉

Internal alchemy meditations become more effective with good visualization, and visualization is one aspect of these meditations. Thus by simply doing alchemy practice regularly and consistently, visualization ability naturally tends to improve. In other words, you are already getting training in it by simply doing the Healing Tao…[Read more]

I would say no, unless you are doing so much that you are exhausting your qi to extreme fatigue levels (which ultimately works at cross-purposes toward trying strengthen your qi reserves via qigong/alchemy).

Done to moderation, it shouldn’t be an issue.
For some, it is a way to engage in a fun cardiovascular exercise.
For many, however, the…[Read more]

It sounds to me like you are experiencing and noticing the positive expression of your heart shen—previously triggered by certain environments or people—but now freely expressing itself in a vibrant way of its own accord. Heart shen is what connects us to others and is the best lubricant to the collective; it is also the ruler of the body, so…[Read more]