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Hi. I continue to have a problem that keeps reoccurring even though I have practiced daily for around 10 years now. I just want to clarify some things, as I’ve experienced them and wonder if others have a similar understanding of these terms as i do, or see them as meaning something different. Also I have some understandings in regards to the basic meditations and their fitment into TCM, and I am wondering if others see the same as me or something different also.
HEAT = metabolic activity – could be felt as a rise in temperature, or could also be felt as movement or energy in a number of different sensations.
Cosmic inner smile, bringing energy in from forehead and directing it to different organs can increases heat in a specific place. Using the inner smile you can also smooth and change the quality of the energy. But it adds energy, not discharges it.PRESSURE = Chi under pressure. Tension with Chi increases pressure. Tension need only be slight, if the body is full with chi when it is relaxed. Relaxing the legs and hips lets you store chi there, but with some tension chi pressure is readily available in the dantien. For me increasing pressure is easy and quick. Lowering it again is slow and more difficult.
RELAXATION = reduced tension.
The inner smile can relax organs and muscles. Relaxed muscles can seemingly reduce heat, however the energy is still there, it’s just got more room to move and so the pressure of the energy is reduced. By especially relaxing the legs and hips, you can store energy there and bring it to the upper body whenever you want increasing heat there when you want it.TRANQUILITY of mind = balance of organs energy and a happy spleen. This tranquilty has depth, depending on the amount of heat. Inner smile can balance and relax the organs, as can the MCO. Fusion also. However all seem to increase heat also, although sometimes may not be realised until later after a meditation session has finished.
GROUNDING – Being in the moment/now and feeling the physical. Also being stable and not too easily swayed by energy.
Iron shirt I or II or standing stillness meditation is good for this. A pure awareness version of the inner smile can be good also if you just concentrate on the physical aspects and not smiling or the energy. Tai chi is supposedly grounding but I find it too energizing and the grounding effect isn’t strong enough to overcome the energizing – It is more grounding when doing tai chi with legs almost straight and not too bent / down low.DISCHARGING HEAT – Releasing energy from meditation
This part has always been the hardest part for me. I can discharge the energy for exercise, physical or mental work. I can use the energy to increase heat and exercise or heal organs and parts of my body, which is all great, but sleep becomes a struggle and without yin getting replenished during sleep my yin burns out. Physical exercise seems one of the best ways to discharge energy, but it’s not efficient enough and I don’t have time for more than 40 mins a day.In Iron shirt I the energy is released down to the ground at the end of each breath so you practice discharging it. With the healing sounds you can discharge energy from each organ. These things can become quiet strong discharging methods, but not in comparison to the other formulas, they are weak.
I don’t understand why in healing tao there are the fusions 1-3 and kan & li, and similarly Iron Shirt III where the energy absorbsion is massive and can be very fast, a minute or less, yet there are only very basic discharge methods which are slow to take effect.
Bringing cool energy up reduces HEAT but doesn’t reduce energy or pressure. Grounding doesn’t reduce energy or pressure or perhaps it can but if so very slowly.
I tried using my own version of fusion and thinking of different coloured gems in the earth to absorb and extract energy from the organs, just like in fusion you can receive energy from the animals but the discharging doesn’t seem to work nearly as well as the charging. The 3 best methods I have found for discharging before bed is standing meditation where I just release all my energy into the ground, a bit like a mental triple warmer healing sound, stretching to release some tension and therefore chi pressure, or if all else fails having a few beers.
I have narrowed it down to the discharging of energy because I can lay in bed feeling like I’m in the moment/now, my mind is totally silent, my body is numb and asleep (like if its hard work to roll over because my body is asleep), yet I am not asleep, I am in subconscious tranquillity. The energy in my body is balanced, if I lower it then I just feel more pressure in my legs/hips, but it doesn’t help with the sleep. In this body sleeping state my yin can build but not nearly as well as it can in proper sleep where my mind and body are gone to the world, or even if I’m dreaming. I need sleep and I want sleep, but I also want the charisma, power, joy and peacefulness I get from Healing Tao.
Any ideas?
Thanks for your comments in advance!
Hi zoose,
I’m not going to address the big list of categories you have, because there are many things in there that I disagree with, and it would just take way too much time. Put simply, you raise too many issues.
So taking that as a caveat, let me skip to part of your question regarding what to deal with too much energy, etc.
One thing I will say, is this: if you have artificial stimulants in your life–namely coffee, cigarettes, stress from work, etc., then these will tend to keep your adrenal gland artificially stimulated to excess. It makes it then difficult to actually relax, because your body is biochemically wired. The rejuvenation that qigong and HT practices provide, can amplify your sensations of artificial stimulation, and be uncomfortable. A person can feel like they have too much energy and have trouble sleeping under those circumstances.
The solution is simple: Cut out coffee, cigarettes, and high-pressure stress out of your life. By the way, I’m not accusing you of this, but I’m merely pointing out that HT practices are not meant to be symptom relief from poor lifestyle choices. Honestly, one needs to make direct changes in one’s life, and it’s the HT practices that are often the necessary tool to develop the courage to do this.
But putting that aside, and that said:
If you are too stimulated and have too much energy, there are practices such as Tai Chi 2 (Fast Form) which activate the cardiovascular system and allow you to express a lot of energy. This form doesn’t take that long to do (about 3 minutes), so you do it 3 times in a 10 minute span, and get quite a workout in. In fact, the Tai Chi 2 fast form is sometimes called “the discharge form”.
Big Dipper form (without the alchemy) is another fast form that is good for activating the cardiovascular system in the same vein as Tai Chi 2. It’s actually one of the reasons that I love both of these forms, ignoring their other benefits.
But for relaxing and reducing stress, the best thing (other than eliminating the source of the stimulation) is to do rooted standing meditation ala Iron Shirt 1. Most Tai Chi isn’t very grounding, but Tai Chi 1–done properly–is VERY grounding.
In any case, without getting into a 20-page post, the short answer to your question is TAI CHI 2 FAST FORM. I recommend you learn this.
But why does my intuition tell me that you should address your lifestyle–namely coffee, cigarettes, or high-pressure stress–and that maybe one (or more) of these relate? Not trying to pick a fight, just something for you to self-examine in your own life.
S
Wow thanks for your fast reply Steven.
i don’t drink coffee but i drink alcohol on weekends and smoke about 20 cigarettes a month which i feel does effect me for a couple of days after drinking but the high pressure thing is the real killer i am certain, it gets me every time even when i don’t drink for a few weeks. It snowballs because i can push myself further with more energy.
And i do try to use meditation as a workaround. Trying to furfill my desires of building my clinic while working full time to pay the bills and support the family, and i don’t want to give up the dream of not working full time before im old. Maybe i just need to learn to control myself better and not overexert myself and strive a little slower. I really knew this already but thought you may know of a secret workaround.I have learnt tai chi for a year while i was in china so i might just try do that fast first and see how i go. Running definately helps too.
If you get time perhaps one day you could express your understandings of the workings that were different from mine. I certainly dont want to argue, but it would be interesting to have a different point of view from you Steven.
Thanks for your reply
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