Report from 1st Retreats at Heavenly Mtn (new Photos) SENT to ELIST

Posting this a bit late, for those not on my email list.

Inside Chi Flows Naturally:

1. Reports from our first summer retreats at Heavenly
Mountain. We’re more than half way through the eight weeks,
and its not too late to sign up for the last three weeks.
Short letter on the challenges of integrating Tao into a TM
meditation field. Testimonials from those who journeyed into
the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. A
brief summary of retreats still beckoning.

36 new (live action!) photos from our first retreats at
Heavenly Mtn at: http://www.healingdao.com/heavenly_mtn_2007.html

To sign up for a retreat, call 888-750-1773, email
retreats&heaingdao.com, or just signup on
http://www.HealingTaoRetreats.com. All the travel details are on
the site.

2. China Dream Trip 2007 was, as usual, a life-changing
experience. Each trip is novel and wonderful in its own
unique way. For me, it included being bitten by an excitable
monkey on Mt. Emei. Yep, he drew blood. All because I
wouldn’t give him a package of Chinese herbs in my pocket.
Will his monkey bite antidote my Monkey Mind??

Reflections on China and the nature of the Monkey Mind that
bit me coming in the next Chi Flows Naturally. Along with
new photos from China 2007 that I haven’t had time to post
yet.

Dear Lovers of Summertime Tao,

I hope you are enjoying summer as much as I am. The biggest
change for me was shifting our summer retreats from the
Catskill mountains of New York to the Blue Ridge mountains
of North Carolina. Heavenly Mountain has turned out to
be….heavenly. The consensus (see reports below) from both
newcomers and old timers is that the change is much for the
better. The Tao is so kind, giving us a new direction to
flow in at the last moment.

Of course, we’ve had a few challenges along the way. We
moved Taoist body-centered energy practices into a
Transcendental Meditation space where the focus for ten
years was decidedly more out of body. We are on what used to
be the “divine mothers” campus, where several hundred women
were meditating around the clock using mantras, focused n
growing world peace and love. The vibe was nice, but a
different field from what we cultivate using qigong and
inner alchemy and various transformational body-centered
healing therapies.

So there was a brief moment of confusion when the elementals
in the main meditation hall were asking, “what are we
supposed to do?”. For ten years they had been programmed to
hang out somewhere above the head, out of the body. Mantak
Chia, who taught the first week here, noted that he
initially had trouble downloading energy into the space. It
was like there was an invisible plane of energy focused
slightly above the head that was behaving like a separate
fixed field, not really connected to the earth. This may
have caused a few people the first week to have strange and
disturbing dreams.

After a few days these elementals (the essences of the Life
Force that hold the shape of all matter) woke up and began
playing with our new patterns. Taoists focus on the
continuous flow between Heaven and Earth, without favoring
either as a permanent or absolute destination. Tao is about
process, and about humans as mediators of change between
form and formless. If you are in a fixed state, whether in
Heaven or on Earth (a.k.a. “Later Heaven”), then you’re
probably stuck.

For humans Tao means the Way of creative unfolding of the
self and one’s natural virtue. When I taught the second
week, I re-arranged the feng shui in the spacious meditation
hall. I moved the mediation seats so no one was sitting
beneath the four story tower in the center of the room,
which dispersed chi upward. I approached the problem of lack
of grounding using a different tactic than Mantak Chia. His
group work on DNA and Immune System Qigong certainly made a
huge shift in the space, but it still didn’t feel complete
to me.

Rather than trying to get the slightly “floating, spacy
field” to move down, I did a primordial qigong ceremony and
invited the earth elementals to move up and ground the field
by occupying the entire space. It worked great – I felt an
immediate and powerful response. The energy in my legs and
torso became solid like a mountain, and I felt a kind of
sigh of relief from the TM meditative field as it rushed to
join with the earth force. Others who walked into the space
afterwards noted that it felt completely different. I felt
it became much easier to enter into my body’s spiritual
inner space.

The difference in attitude toward the human body was brought
home by a former TM meditator who attended my Qigong
Fundametnals. He had been living and meditating at Heavenly
Mountain before it was “decommissioned” by agreement between
Maharishi and the twin brothers who built it, Earl and David
Kaplan.

This student had been forced to quit TM meditation because
of health problems he had developed. He told me there was
not much sympathy in the TM organization for those with
health problems. It was considered “your personal karmic
problem” and you should solve it on your own. If you were
sick, you would be kicked out of meditation courses as unfit
to enter the higher causal realms.

This of course led to many in TM suppressing medical
symptoms, until they became serious and more difficult to
heal. I find this thinking typical of Fire paths, with a
focus on otherworldly spiritual ideals rather than embodied
process. It is why I switched from kundalini yoga to
“water-and-fire” alchemy path of the Tao. My body was
getting weaker from the yogic practice, my adrenals were
burnt out from too much “breath of fire”. I decided I
valued my body as an integral part of my spiritual path. I
discovered through Taoist internal alchemy and qigong
practical ways to marry my worldly destiny (ming) with my
spiritual destiny (xing).

If you want to cultivate your body and spirit together,
please consider coming up to Heavenly Mountain during the
last three weeks of our schedule, Friday evening July 13
thru Wednesday, August 8. We accept last minute signups –
our new space is big enough to accommodate everyone (see
great new photos at:
http://www.healingdao.com/heavenly_mtn_2007.html).

Tina Zhang has two weeks of teaching the classical Northern
Wu Tai Chi form (that I also practice), followed by a
Woman’s Earth Qigong retreet. She is a fabulous teacher, and
is co-author of a hot new tai chi book on the Fighting Art
of the Manchurian Palace Guard (available on Amazon,
co-authored with Frank Allen).
To read more about her woemn’s qigong retreat, see:
http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/prod_list.pl?rpage=DM07-8A

Frank Allen has a three part Bagua Zhang series, that covers
a spectrum of what is considered the pinnacle of Chinese
martial arts. He has nearly 35 years of teaching
experience, and in my opinion is at the top of his field in
his ability to combine the energetics of meditation with the
precision of application. He is great in teaching
non-marital artists (including women who may have fears
about fighting) and runs multiple tracks in any course to
accommodate different skill levels. He offers certification
in Bagua as well. A great opportunity to learn from a master
in an optimal environment. Read more about his top flight
training program at:
http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/prod_list.pl?rpage=DM07-6B

Karin Sorvik, a Healing Tao Senior Instructor, is teaching a
Chi Nei Tsang Deep Organ Massage course followed by Tao
Basics and Healing Love in week 7. She has a magical gift of
healing and knows how to get people into the practice they
most need to ground themselves. Her Tao Basics course can
also be used for certification:
http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/prod_list.pl?rpage=DM07-7A

Madame Wang Yan is flying over from Europe to teach her
famous Weight Loss Breathing Qigong method along with
various useful forms of medical qigong. She is the youngest
70 year old grandmaster you’ll find, and an international
tai chi champion as well as medical doctor. Please go online
to read the restimonials about her course – this is her only
appearance in the USA, and not to be missed!
http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/prod_list.pl?rpage=DM07-8D

Rob Renahan, the summer retreats registrar, is offering a
new approach to Taoist cultivation that integrates his
extensive training as a zen monk in Korea. He calls it Zen
Qigong; the Art of Meditation as Non-Doing. It involves
finding the effortless way (Tao) to stilling the mind while
doing any form of yoga, qigong, or sitting in meditation. We
are delighted to share his new skills with our audience. If
your Monkey Mind is bothering you, be sure to attend his
course! He’s writeen an article on his integration of zen
and tao, you can read it at:
http://www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/prod_list.pl?rpage=DM07-8C

Now, for the reports from students attending the first weeks
at Heavenly Mountain. It is always better to hear it from
the horses mouth…..:)

Subject: Wonderful Experience at Heavenly Mountain NC

I just returned from your Heavenly Mountain retreat (week
one) and I have to say it was one of the most wonderful
experiences of my whole life. The location is incredible,
the views of the mountains breathtaking, the accommodations
extremely comfortable, the teachings inspirational and I met
many new friends whom I will never forget….

I can’t wait to come back again. I have been dealing with
health issues for several years (myleodyspastic syndrome,
fibromaylagia, severe allergies and asthma)and cannot
remember the last time I felt so alive and healthy. Thank
you so much for creating the enviroment and opportunity for
me to be able to attend such a life changing program. This
is the first retreat I have ever been on, and was a little
apprehensive about what it would be like.

Heavenly Mountain is an apt description, and I feel blessed
to have been able to spend a week of my life REMEMBERING
just how wonderful it is to be alive. I can’t believe I
just spent a week tramping up and down a hill and several
flights of stairs without having to use an inhaler… I
slept like a baby when I wasn’t outside staring at the
stars.

Again, I THANK YOU greatly for the opportunity to have
shared in a wonderful week up there in the NC mountains, and
the Summer Solstice Celebration (I was standing in the
“West” 🙂 It was great fun and I will carry the positive
energy to as many others as I can !
Sincerely, Kelly Francies

Michael,

Taking the Fundamentals 1-4 at heavenly Mountian (week 2)
was a great experience. I’m very impressed with the energy
that was there, and what was generated by all our practice.
I wish I had known about Qigong 20 years ago. The food was
great, and the people there were quite interesting. It was
better than any vacation I’ve ever had.

It is had to pinpoint exactly what I liked the most, because
the experience got progressively better with each passing
day. I was so filled with Qi that I didn’t sleep long at
night, perhaps only 3-4 hours, yet I never felt better! The
Microcosmic Orbit started occuring spontaneously on its own
which was very interesting.

Some of my experiences include the opening of the Dan Tien
(with pulsations back and forth all over the place), the
hormonal and energy rush from the Bone Breathing, the
feeling of having a 6 inch bubble of Qi rush up my spine
after doing the Feldenkrais and back-neck stretching, doing
the most energetic 5 Animals (as a group) that I’ve ever
experienced, and the vast internal openness after doing the
Ocean Sky and Great Heart Breathing was awesome.

With all that said, I now think after looking back the the
Inner Smile Meditations were the high points. I have in the
past seriously underestimated the power of that meditation
form. When we did the Inner smile it was the most profound
Ive’ ever felt.

My Dan Tien opened up and I saw what looked like a worm hole
coming out of it, with a gold ball circulating around the
opening. As it continued to expand I saw the virtues coming
out from the opening, love, kindness, strength, integrity,
trust, etc.

The opening grew so large as to fill my field of vision, and
then two gold balls circulated about the opening. I could
see a field of stars in the portal, and then a deep black
emptyness. A very gentle and kind voice said, that I wasn’t
quite ready for the next level yet, but that after a few
months of experience, just a few, that I would be ready to
move on.

I think I’ll keep practicing the Fundamentals…….and I’ll
be back to heavenly Mountain next summer. Please share with
your staff that the retreat facilities, food, and energy was
great there. I couldn’t possibly give a higher
recommendation to someone, when I say that they should
definitely go to a Heavenly Mountain Retreat as soon as they
can.
Bob (Florida)

Date: July 2, 2007 11:36:03 AM EDT
Subject: heavenly mountain fundamentals

Hello Michael, I hope all is well with you and I am just
writing to thank you for an amazing experience. I just came
back a few days ago from the fundamentals 1-4 and I don’t
know if I should thank you because I really had a hard time
leaving.

I have studied taoist practices on and off for over 10 years
mostly reading of Daniel Reid and a few workshops in New
York but nothing compares to the total immersion of going to
a retreat in the beautiful mountains. What a great way to
spend a day, wake up at 6:30 do chi gung from 7:30-9 than a
healthy lunch 3 more hours of theory and work and great
lunch and break and than 3 more hours, it was like being in
spiritual training camp!!!!

The only bad part was that the food was so good I couldn’t
stop eating it.
The facility was amazing, it was gigantic, clean, and full
of energy. My room could’ve slept 4 people very comfortably
and the water up there was really clean.

I really appreciate your teaching style it is very direct
and yet very subtle. I am a massage therapist and a pretty
stressed out one, your technique is great because we don’t
know what’s coming next, I was so worried that I wasn’t
going to get to ‘feel’ anything that I was driving myself
crazy I was really afraid about not feeling the orbit or my
dan tien. The great thing about how you taught was that I
never knew what was coming so I couldn’t get tense about it.

The most incredible moments for me was the during the
Fundamentals 3 & 4 breathing exercises. When you focused on
the pauses, I thought it was a relaxation exercise to chill
out and take it easy. But at one point the pause came and I
didn’t feel the need to breath again! It was crazy and I
felt my dan tien open up and I saw colors and it expanded
more and more. I could have gone on for hours, when you
stopped us.

The week really opened up many things, I felt like my
eyesight improved, my kidneys felt renewed and especially my
lungs. My wife also noticed upon giving me a hug that the
bump on my C7 of my neck had straightened out!!!

Thank you so much and I plan on going to more retreats.
Chad Pilieri

Subject: Energy Body became Real for me

Michael,

My inner self told me that coming to Heavenly Mountain would
change my life. It has. When you talked about grounding and
opening a place inside that would be a spiritual center, I
understood intellectually what you meant but it had no real
meaning.

The energy body was an intellectual concept that I was
familiar with but I had no real experience of. I was so
blown away by what happened last week. It seemed like each
day the energy increased exponentially and got much more
solid. I feel so much more real and this feeling is
something that has changed me because I am not willing to
ever let that go.

I am doing a 45min to 1 hour workout (including the animals)
every morning before anything else. I break out
spontaneously with a smile when I talk to my organ spirits,
hug them, and tell then how much I love them. I want you to
know that saying I love you to myself is something I have
never done and writing this I almost break out in tears. I
can’t imagine starting the day any other way and I think
that that feeling will enable me to keep at it. I have never
experienced anything like when we did the seated orbit. I
was almost literally knocked out of my chair by the
experience.

I am so grateful for what you taught me and for the tools
you gave me. I can’t thank you enough !!!!!!!! Paul Zistl

Hello New Friends from Healing Tao,

The heavenly Mtn. reteat was an amazing experience for me.
A week of deepening awareness of my energy body and how real
it really is. The people were so great as well as the food !
It was just plain fun!
Warmly, Damon M. (Los Angeles)

Inviting you to come join the Tao Summer Fun,
Michael Winn