Home › Forum Online Discussion › Practice › GDV scan result – practice suggestions
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December 30, 2014 at 1:38 pm #43595nomadParticipant
I just did a GDV scan a couple weeks ago. It’s short for “Gas Discharge Visualization” and is a form of Kirloin photography… it scans your fingers and then the computer it is connected to prints out images of one’s aura and gives numbers for one’s energy field among other things. Then the therapist gives suggestions (subjective interpretations) based on what someone called “simple and primitive” data & images…
Anyway the scan showed that my aura is pretty broken up and my energy level is relatively low… a little under 6000, while most people in my country have energy levels at 17,000-19,000…
the therapist said that my goal for the next session should be to reach 7000….
at the time of the scan I had been doing Muay Thai for around 3 weeks, and had stopped for a week because I got sick. I might have overtrained. Anyway the therapist said I should stop Muay Thai for 3 months, because it was wasting too much energy. She said my goal for now should be to “conserve energy”, so she recommended Tai Chi, Yoga, Swimming, or HIdro-gymnasitcs. Of course qigong also fits into this so I have re-started my qigong practice.
Anyway, my question is, does this make sense energetically? does it make sense to stop intense exercise like Muay thai (1.5 hr classes 2-3 times a week) and do something gentler in order to conserve energy?
My father pointed out that I’ll never be ready for Muay thai just doing something like tai chi or yoga, that I need to incorporate aerobic training into my routine, but start slower, perhaps with a personal trainer, who won’t push me into overtraining… he said of course I got sick because I haven’t really done any heavy exercise in 2 years…
the GDV scan therapist said I was under a lot of stress and that muay thai was exacerbating this…
Finally, my other question is, what are some simple practices that can help repair my aura and raise energy levels? don’t want to get into anything advanced or complicated at the moment…
I have started 15-20 minutes of “standing in a tree” and 15 minutes of the 3 standing exercises Michael said he learned from a Beijing medical qigong guy… the one with arms to the side, to the front, and in a “prayer” position…
to sum up… again, does stopping muay thai make sense from an energetic viewpoint? and what exercises can help heal my aura and energy levels?
Thank you
December 30, 2014 at 3:50 pm #43596StevenModeratorSounds like you burned up your kidney qi reserves.
You probably need to work to build this back up.I think aerobic exercise is actually good, because it strengthen the cardiovascular system . . . it’s one of the reasons why I like Tai Chi 2 (Fast Form) . . . but the trick is, to not overdo the aerobic type exercises. There’s a fine line between activating and mobilizing your qi, and taking it to excess where you begin to exhaust your reserves.
It sounds like the latter is what happened. In particular, if you are under stress, stress attacks the liver, which starts the stress cycle. This follows the creation cycle of a toxic qi cascade through the organ systems ending at the kidneys. So the kidneys take the worst of it. Moreover, stress activates the adrenals, which are part of the kidney system, so as they get exhausted, they drain the kidneys. Your energy reserves come from your kidneys, as does your immune system (so you getting sick is a sign of kidney weakness).
Long story short: for multiple reasons, I think you burned up your kidney reserves, and you should focus on building this back.
The absolute best practices, bar-none, for building the kidneys are exactly what you are already doing, namely doing some standing meditation, ala Iron Shirt 1 or Yiquan (the 3 standing-in-stillness postures are an Yiquan set). Of course, like anything, you don’t want to overdo this either, as if you do anything to excess it ends up working against you.
I highly recommend for you to additionally get some kidney support products. In particular, if you would get two things, I’d recommend Goji juice (Michael sells it on his website) and He Shou Wu (you can get it on Dragon Herbs website). If you could only get one, I’d opt for the Goji juice. Drink several ounces a day for several days at first to give yourself a boost, and then back off to a more maintenance level of 1-2 ounces a day. Don’t be surprised if you feel more sleepy and want to sleep a lot at first. This is normal. When your kidneys start to rebuild, they leave the hyperdrive mode they are in, and they go into rest mode to repair.
Muay Thai, being a vigorous contact sport, means that–by its nature of having attacks coming at you–it is going to naturally break up your aura. This is not to mean that if you feel passionate about it that you can’t do it, but it just means that you have to recognize that if you pursue that, that you will likely need to give your body extra support . . . such as Goji and He Shou Wu, as well as not exceeding your limits and building up slowly. Your father is right; go slower and don’t overtrain. You might rest a bit from the Muay Thai until you get your strength back, but I don’t know that you need to wait 3 months either (unless you are excessively weak) . . . just get those supplements and do some basic standing practice. Then as you start to feel you have more energy start building up . . . don’t jump right into a 1.5hr class 3-days a week. I recommend that you continue with those two supplements even after your energy comes back as well as continuing with standing practice. Relaxing qigong to help reduce your stress levels will also be supportive.
Best wishes,
StevenDecember 30, 2014 at 6:44 pm #43598nomadParticipantHi Steven,
Thanks for the quick response. Your replies are very informative as always.I will get those 2 products…
When I get back from vacation in half a month, I might not get right back into Muay Thai, I am thinking instead of trying some moderate weight lifting and swimming for an aerobic and anaerobic combination. One of my goals in physical activity is also to lose weight, and I think this combo might be more effective than Muay thai, not sure but I will see. Does this sound right to you? Muay Thai is more aerobic and they say to lose body fat u have to build up muscle right
Plus swimming may be more relaxing….
I wasn’t getting into any sparring, just basic pad work and other intense exercise, so it wasn’t that that broke up my aura. It may be due to my personal history, the medication I’m on, and maybe too many osho meditations a few years ago such as the dynamic meditation which the Gdv therapist said is very energy consuming. I used to spar in jiu jitsu 10 years ago too, which is grappling not striking but still very aggressive, and remember feeling depleted after a while.
What relaxing qigong is best after the Yiquan? Ocean sky and great heart breathing? Or just ocean breathing? Any suggestions there?
Thanks again and happy holidays!
December 30, 2014 at 11:28 pm #43600StevenModeratorHi nomad,
When people try to lose weight, they usually either try to diet and starve themselves (doesn’t work, as it just shuts the metabolism down) or they work like a dog through exercise. The problem with the latter is that often you eat more to compensate for the calories that you burn and it can wear your body out.
Best approach is a moderate application of both. Add some light exercise to your day, such as brisk walking for say 45 mins to an hour, then eat like normal BUT simply stop eating when you “no longer feel hungry, but not until you are full”, i.e. eat enough so that you’ve gotten nourishment but not to full satiation, say 80% full. Just doing these two things will cause you to lose weight. It may not be fast weight loss, but it will be consistent, easy, and without wearing you down. I personally have lost almost 8 pounds in the last 4 months simply by doing this. I usually allow myself one day of the week to be indulgent, so I don’t feel deprived.
As for relaxing qigong, I would recommend just doing the Ocean Breathing–slowly, rhythmically, going in deep. Another good form that I feel is quite effective for de-stressing and relaxing is the Primordial Qigong. Often I find that it is even a more effective choice that say something like Ocean Breathing if I’ve been doing standing practice, because it allows my body to move a little bit more and to shake off any rigidity that may have come in to my body as a side-effect. In total, I would say those two: Ocean Breathing and Primordial Qigong, would be the top of the list. That said, most slow-movement qigong will help de-stress you . . . it’s all good.
As an added benefit, when you de-stress, it lowers the levels of the hormone cortisol in your body. The presence of high cortisol levels triggers the storage of fat.
Qi,
StevenDecember 30, 2014 at 11:56 pm #43602nomadParticipant“Often I find that it is even a more effective choice that say something like Ocean Breathing if I’ve been doing standing practice, because it allows my body to move a little bit more and to shake off any rigidity that may have come in to my body as a side-effect.”
do you mean “more effective Than” ocean breathing? just to make sure I understand what you’re saying… I want to keep my practice simple so if that’s true, i’d probably just do primordial…
I am interested in learning primordial…. it’s the same as “tai chi for enlightenment” right… I have the dvd somewhere at home (traveling now)… how much time a day should I spend practicing it? is 20 min ok?
I have another question about the yiquan. I read somewhere, not sure if on this forum, that a tai chi master’s master made him “stand in a tree” for 40 min the first day they met! I can only stand 15-20 minutes in this position but after hearing this I decided that my goal is to stand for 40 min (in this one position). In the meantime I’m standing 15 min in a tree and then doing 15 min of the medical yiquan 3 postures (5 min each).
Today I thought though, maybe I should just aim for 25 minutes of “tree” (or maybe even 30) and keep the usual 15 min of the 3 postures after that… for a total of 40-45 min…..
which would be better overall, to be able to stand 40 min straight in one posture or to combine them? maybe combining would be better so I don’t get bored also….
would standing longer in just the tree posture have better energetic effects?…. although the 3 postures do work different energy “spots” on the body (the sides, the middle, and front/back) as well…
finally, on losing weight, I will take your advice on eating. but I have also read that to lose fat you need to build muscle, not just do aerobics. I read a while ago that swimming is the best combination of aerobic/anaerobic, one of the few exercises that combines the two. I am also somewhat interested in crossfit but that might be too intense, at least for now. actually, definitely too intense for now.
many people say interval training is the best for losing weight. the latest studies show that training in intervals (sprints and little rest in between) increases cortisol for 24 hours, but after that time cortisol levels actually drop lower than before. and as I said before, it is said that’s the most effective weight dropping method.
I might just do some “light” interval training (if that’s possible) with swimming 2-3 times a week. I’m gonna try that and see what happens. with swimming, in my mind, it seems there is more room for flexibility, being an exercise which is harder to push oneself over the limit, and also relaxing while resting in the pool between laps.
I have been walking a lot this past year but without visible results, or at least not enough results as I would like…
I’m also taking omega-3’s and recently learned about omega-7 which i have yet to order… I’ll post a link to an article about omega-7’s later, it seems to be very effective for losing weight as well
December 30, 2014 at 11:59 pm #43604nomadParticipantsorry for some repetition in my post i went back and added some things after i wrote it and forgot to edit out those parts!
December 31, 2014 at 12:17 am #43606StevenModerator>>>do you mean “more effective Than” ocean breathing?
>>>just to make sure I understand what you’re saying…Yes. I had a typo.
>>>I am interested in learning primordial…. it’s
>>>the same as “tai chi for enlightenment” right…Yes.
>>>how much time a day should I spend practicing it? is 20 min ok?
Whatever feels right to you. Just doing the form once will only take 10 minutes, and can often be a nice way to rejuvenate . . . especially if you are doing the form specifically to relax, rather than doing it (or any qigong for that matter) simply to do it and get it down (like checking something off a list).
>>>I have another question about the yiquan.
>>>I read somewhere, not sure if on this forum,
>>>that a tai chi master’s master made him
>>>”stand in a tree” for 40 min the first day
>>>they met! I can only stand 15-20 minutes
>>>in this position but after hearing this
>>>I decided that my goal is to stand for 40 min
>>>(in this one position). In the meantime
>>>I’m standing 15 min in a tree and then
>>>doing 15 min of the medical yiquan
>>>3 postures (5 min each).Don’t overdo it with long marathon sessions. What you are doing right now is plenty. If you really feel like doing more, come back for another short session of Embracing the Tree. Do Some, but not too much.
>>>Today I thought though, maybe I should just
>>>aim for 25 minutes of “tree” (or maybe even 30)
>>>and keep the usual 15 min of the 3 postures
>>>after that… for a total of 40-45 min…..This is doable, but don’t go too nuts with it. The whole point you ran into before, and perhaps in other areas of your life, is trying to do too much and taking things to excess. Don’t try to correct your stressful life of taking things to excess by then taking things to excess in your downtime. 😉
>>>maybe combining would be better so I don’t get bored also….
Listen to your intuition as to what you wish to do.
>>>finally, on losing weight, I will take your
>>>advice on eating. but I have also read that
>>>to lose fat you need to build muscle, not
>>>just do aerobics.I’ve lost almost 8 pounds and I haven’t done any weight-lifting, focused muscle work at all. I think I’ve built some muscle as a consequence of doing some Tai Chi, but again, merely a consequence.
Some of these other ways that you mentioned may definitely be faster than what I suggested. My method is more of one of “effortless loss”.
>>>I have been walking a lot this past year
>>>but without visible results, or at least
>>>not enough results as I would like…The issue with eating is the key. You have to consistently apply what I said, over a period of time.
S
December 31, 2014 at 8:12 am #43608RichieRichParticipantThe absolute best practices, bar-none, for building the kidneys are exactly what you are already doing, namely doing some standing meditation, ala Iron Shirt 1 or Yiquan (the 3 standing-in-stillness postures are an Yiquan set).
Does standing benefit all organs equally or is it particularly good for the kidneys? If particularly good for the kidneys, what about standing has this effect?
December 31, 2014 at 11:30 am #43610StevenModeratorEverything is good for everything, but standing is selectively better for the kidneys.
When you stand, you press Kidney-1 (Bubbling Well) source point directly against the earth which not only activates the point but allows the qi from the Earth (which is water-dominated) to rise up into your body through this point. Your feet making firm contact with the ground means the bones also provide a connection, and bone marrow is regulated by the kidneys.Clearly, standing helps all the other organs as well, but if you had to pick a “type” of practice that is particularly suited to helping the kidneys, standing would be it.
December 31, 2014 at 12:53 pm #43612RichieRichParticipantEverything is good for everything…
Nice!
…but standing is selectively better for the kidneys.
Got it!
When you stand, you press Kidney-1 (Bubbling Well) source point directly against the earth which not only activates the point but allows the qi from the Earth (which is water-dominated) to rise up into your body through this point.
In the Yi Chuan postures with the weight on the heels, one is (presumably?) not pressing (as in actively pressing down) K-1 against the earth. But, presumably, the fact that K-1 is in constant contact with the Earth is sufficient to allow Earth qi to enter the body thru this point?
Given that the spleen is the Earth organ, does Earth qi also have a particular affinity with the spleen?
Your feet making firm contact with the ground means the bones also provide a connection, and bone marrow is regulated by the kidneys.
Just to check: you’re saying that, because the bones are also connected to the ground, Earth qi is entering the body thru the bones as well as thru K-1? If so, is it entering mainly thru the heel bones? How does the fact that kidneys govern bone (marrow) enable Earth qi to nourish/reach the kidneys?
December 31, 2014 at 1:05 pm #43614StevenModerator>>>In the Yi Chuan postures with the weight on the heels,
>>>one is (presumably?) not pressing (as in actively
>>>pressing down) K-1 against the earth. But, presumably,
>>>the fact that K-1 is in constant contact with the Earth
>>>is sufficient to allow Earth qi to enter the body
>>>thru this point?All points of the foot should be in contact with the ground, regardless of whether you have the weight on heels or not. In Iron Shirt 1, the weight is centered over K-1 not the heels. Yiquan is a different system. However, even though the weight is on the heels in Yiquan, the kidneys are still greatly affected because the qi comes in through the heels, and thus into the bones and bone marrow.
>>>Given that the spleen is the Earth organ,
>>>does Earth qi also have a particular
>>>affinity with the spleen?No. This is a common mistake.
There is a problem with language, where you need to pay attention to context.
Qi from the earth is not “earth qi” in the five-element sense.
The Earth is an energy body with all five-elements, just like the human body. The dominant element of the Earth is water. This is why in the bone-breathing you consider the Earth qi that comes into you as the color blue. When qi from the Earth rises into you, qi from ALL five elements come in, but it is the five-element water qi that is the most dominant (kidneys).>>>How does the fact that kidneys govern bone (marrow)
>>>enable Earth qi to nourish/reach the kidneys?It’s more of an indirect relationship. The bone marrow is supported by the fresh water qi from the Earth, so that the kidneys don’t have to do this supplying/support. Thus more kidney reserves can build up, and you have more kidney qi as a result.
S
December 31, 2014 at 4:43 pm #43616RichieRichParticipantThanks. Really helpful to understand that qi from the Earth contains all five elements and to understand the relationship between qi from the Earth, bone marrow and the kidneys.
Re yiquan, are the heels the sole route (just spotted the pun!) by which Earth qi enters the body – or are they the main route, with a smaller amount of qi also entering via K-1?
December 31, 2014 at 5:11 pm #43618StevenModeratorNo, some is still coming in through K-1 due to the contact with the ground.
December 31, 2014 at 7:07 pm #43620nomadParticipantYea that makes sense, not do too much…. I may have a tendency to do that sometimes…. Right now I’m on a really really long sabbatical, no work no study, just reading on my own, spending time w family., going to the braço…But still a lot of times I feel like I have no time and the days are too short!
I’m gonna try to get up to 20 min of tree in a few weeks, to a max of 25-30 min in a few months… And continue the 15 min of medical Yiquan…
Also gonna learn the primordial when I get back from travelling, it sounds like something I would really enjoy…
Finally I’m gonna go through with weights 2x a week and swimming 2x, something like that, and start slow…. That feels right to me right now… And continue with long walks of course
Those are my new years resolutions for physical and spiritual health activities!
Happy new year everyone! Gonna go celebrate now…
December 31, 2014 at 7:09 pm #43622nomadParticipantI meant going to the beach*!!!
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