uroburro

Hi Nnonnth;

Yes, I’m in the complementary healthcare field. I work with a company called Celletech – celletech.com. We manufacture complementary healthcare products. Conceptually they’re similar to homeopathic remedies, but made using a more contemporary process and frequently using combinations of remedies to achieve the desired effect. Single…[Read more]

OK, testing on myself, taking the formula ~3x/day, I notice a deeper sense of space within myself and a nice calm rooted sensation. I am also taking the actual tincture once a day, so there’s probably some reinforcement happening there. I think there’s a good possibility that this formula will be a nice energetic supplement for inner work.

If…[Read more]

(Hi Jason)

Around here equating any type of tribal with bellydance is anathema. I am not familiar enough with the terms and the form specifics to ID the differences, but for the traditionalists, it’s a big difference.

Popular Egyptian-style is not held in high regard, too close to stripping. The classicists though are still very…[Read more]

Ahh, yes, OK. I’ve probably seen ATS performers. I have seen Rachel Brice on DVD, she looks great. Have you seen Nourhan Sharif and her husband Yosry? They’re based in NY. I wouldn’t say that she has the best form from a qigong perspective – I’ve seen a lot of joint locking out – but she’s an amazing performer. Her husband is considered one of the…[Read more]

There is one male dancer here in Madison, and there is at least one professional associated with Suhaila – one of the top bellydancers in the US/World. There are some great male BD instructors: checkout Zaza Hassan:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ReXdd7nAvFo

He looks like he’s having a great time.

-ML

Mona N’wal, the head instructor here, teaches classical style bellydance. Her mix includes Egyptian, Lebanese and Persian. The tribal forms I’ve seen don’t appear to focus too heavily on proper form, so I might not have exposure to the same ones you’re describing. Traditional Egyptian style can be quite different than contemporary. Alot of the…[Read more]

I’ve been watching my wife, daughter and some professionals bellydance for a few years. I note with great interest that many of their routines and techniques are about structural alignment; the particular application is also optimal for the flow of qi. Hands/arms are frequently held in embrace the tree/belt channel postures, the hips are tucked in…[Read more]

I’m brewing up a batch of a dragon bone tonic based on a Ron Teeguarden formula: Poria, Codonopsis, Jujube date, Oyster shell, Cinnamon, Dragon Bone in 2/3rds brandy and 1/3rd 100 proof Vodka. I recently discovered that a friend of mine is an amateur paleontologist and had a nice collection of bones and fragments from a dig in South Dakota (US).…[Read more]

Thanks for the thoughts. Intriguing!

I asked Michael this same question; his response was that it’s best to practice on an empty stomach, but that he had been practicing long enough that it didn’t matter for him. Michael’s response seems to suggest that once you have sufficiently established strong chi flow you do not have to wait to practice when there’s food in the belly.

I…[Read more]

My wife and daughter are bellydancers and my daughter is considering it as a profession. I have had many opportunities to watch a wide variety of bellydancers and I am also struck by the co-incidences between the two. I have a goal to develop a qigong for bellydancers, to make explicit the implicit connections between the two: Belly qigong. My…[Read more]

My wife and daughter are bellydancers and my daughter is considering it as a profession. I have had many opportunities to watch a wide variety of bellydancers and I am also struck by the co-incidences between the two. I have a goal to develop a qigong for bellydancers, to make explicit the implicit connections between the two: Belly qigong. My…[Read more]

From the tone of your message Wendy, it sounds like you have given plenty. The laptop, while useful, would not be an immediate necessity if shippable at a later date, and that’s only if the laptop is a real need. Also, the laptop doesn’t necessarily have to be a new one. Lots of good used ones available.

Though simplistic, an old training…[Read more]

The Swami is still smokin’ hot. The wordplay made my day.

A corollary:

Most of the food grown in the US is mono-cropped. As a result the soils are depleted of nutrients. Nutrient-deficient foods are less sweet when measured by taste or by refractometer. Foods that are grown in nutrient-dense soils have a natural sweetness with a complexity of flavors. In the US, up until the late 1800s to somewhere…[Read more]

Thanks for the link Michael.

The author’s – Michael Pollan – book, The Omnivore’s Dilemna is a great read. An atypical journey through the typical American diet. Interesting paraphrase of one his topics: We’re walking corn. It’s difficult to tell if the corn is cultivating us, or we’re cultivating corn.

If you are willing to take a rigorous approach Michael, I definitely think that Inner Alchemy can provide a genuine context to the Integralist worldview.

I also do not see/feel the embodiment, though do hear the talk. My sense is that there is a lot of becoming, and no being, in their approach to the body. I tend in this direction myself, so…[Read more]

Thanks for the big post Michael. I’ve read some of K. Wilbur’s books in the past. I greatly appreciate his rigor, but have found that he is soo cerebral that my body feels starved for oxygen when I pore through his texts. I end up feeling like I was the disembodied head from the movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Terry Gilliam.…[Read more]

Reading the Inner Alchemy|Is it safe to integrate Q/A, your (Michael’s) answer includes the following:

Getting Tao ultimately means “getting to the essence of oneself”. This requires diving deep into the Unknown Center of your chi field. Consider me a diving guide.

As I read ‘Getting Tao’, I wondered what you meant by choosing those words;…[Read more]

IMO, mission statements need to be clear and concise. Your proposed mission statements are vaguely worded and difficult to understand. If you’re trying to reach the general public, you can’t use jargon; the high school business school student as target reader sounds right to me also. If you’re trying to reach people with a background in the…[Read more]