Exercises

I am hosting the second volume of the qigong and Energy arts forum.

Anmol Mehta posted the article Free Online Yoga Video – Breath of Fire Yoga Breathing Exercise
This king kong of pranayamas helps you detoxify your system, oxygenate your blood, magnify the benefits of the Kundalini Yoga exercise you are doing and generate terrific energy within. If you suffer from heat related issues or high blood pressure, you should use caution when practicing Breath of Fire.

I want to add my article Top 5 healthy relaxation techniques to the list, where you’ll learn 5 of the best relaxation techniques I know of.

This concludes the second edition of Qigong and Energy Arts Forum. You may submit your article for the next edition, to be published in a few weeks’ time.

Today I present another article by drew hempel who often published here several other articles on the subjects of qigong, music and healing.

How Qigong or Taoist Yoga Explains Gurdjieff

by drew hempel, MA

(anti-copyright, free distribution).

THE FOUNDATION OF THE LAW OF THREE

"'Before examining these influences,' began G., 'and the laws of transformation of Unity in Plurality, we must examine the fundamental law that creates all phenomena in all the diversity or unity of all universes.'" -- In Search of the Miraculous (p. 78, emphasis in original, and source for below Gurdjieff quotes).

I continue to see a lot of serious confusion about the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, a very influential source for people exploring paranormal healing powers.  First of all there was Gurdjieff's focus on the truth of his teaching, not on the kundalini energy effects.  This is one reason people reject Gurdjieff.  For example a famous person, Katherine Mansfield, came to Gurdjieff shortly before her death from tuberculosis.  Some people think that Gurdjieff just accelerated her death because he focused on the truth instead of on healing.   Secondly there's the problem of Gurdjieff's lineage.  Some state Gurdjieff was a Sufi but since he didn't have a particular Sufi master he's not credible.  Gurdjieff does name a very important Sufi teacher who doles out amazing secrets in Gurdjieff's excellent book Meetings with Remarkable Men. 

Most importantly Gurdjieff didn't pass on and develop his powers in someone else -- i.e. create another energy master.  Gurdjieff doesn't have a replacement yet many people think that Ouspensky was necessary to help Gurdjieff or that Bennett or Orage or others can better continue Gurdjieff's teachings.  For example, because of this conflict, the famous NYC literary critic Edmund Wilson made fun of Gurdjieff based on Orage's attempts to teach Gurdjieff.  The best book on Gurdjieff's teachings, In Search of the Miraculous, is only hindered by Ouspensky's extended yet confused commentaries while Gurdjieff's longest book was the cause for Gurdjieff considering suicide.  Beelzebub's Tales is not a reliable source since his publishers forced Gurdjieff to change the meaning of his teaching, as Bennett reports.

What is clear is that Gurdjieff's teaching is based on harmonics or what some term "psychic music," the central secret of my 2001 U of MN masters thesis, linked at http://nonduality.com/hempel.htm and focus of my subsequent research, including my previous articles here.  I discovered that the Pythagorean Perfect 5th or 2:3 music interval, C to G, and the Perfect 4th or 3:4, G to C, are the same as yang and yin in Taoism.  Gurdjieff also relies on the Pythagorean teachings based on harmonics or what Gurdjieff called the Law of Three, the fundamental law.   (as quoted above)

Western science converted complimentary opposites, yin and yang, or the Pythagorean Tetrad of 1:2:3:4, into a symmetrical system through the same diatonic scale that Gurdjieff presents in his teaching, thereby forever confusing the West's understanding of Gurdjieff.  

For example the major third diatonic music interval of Gurdjieff, 4:5, was converted into 5:4 as the cube root of two while the Pythagorean diatonic minor sixth, 5:8, was converted into 8:5 as the Golden Ratio.  In fact the extension of the Tetrad, 1:2:3:4 (Perfect 5th/Perfect 4th complimentary opposite harmonics as the Law of Pythagoras) into symmetric-based ratios (i.e. Gurdjieff's 4:5 into 5:4 as the cube root of two) was the product not of Pythagoras but of Platonic math from Archytas' creation of the geometric mean (a "one-to-one correspondence of letter and number").  I give the technical details in chapter four of my blogbook, http://mothershiplanding.blogspot.com.  Math professor Joe Mazur recently stated that my compilation of this information is "very valuable" and he recommended that I have it published in a peer-reviewed academic journal.  

I’ve written before about my first qigong lesson. Nowadays, I still go the classes and am much more knowledgable on the subject.

But first, what is Qigong, anyway? Qigong (pronounced like chee-kong) is an ancient Chinese system of working with the Qi (Chi) energy. The translation from Chinese is something in the lines of “energy cultivation” or “Working with energy”. It is a system of exercises involving postures, movement, breathing, meditation and mind body interaction. Qigong was the basis both for the Chinese healing and to martial arts. As such there are many variations to qigong and some are more relevant to combat while others to healing.

I’ve learned that the specific form of qigong that I study is called YiQuan qigong (pronounced e-chuan). This specific form of qigong was founded in the 1920ies by master Wang Xiangzhai, who developed it out of another martial arts system, xingyiquan. Although it started as a form of martial arts qigong it is now studied mostly for health benefits. In many places it still learned as a martial arts qigong, similarly to kungfu. At the end of the post I attached two videos of master Yao Zongxun (1917-1985), who was the formal successor of Wang Xiangzhai. In these videos one can see the exercises.

As I wrote before, there are several types of exercises in the Yiquan. One type is call Shi li and they are motion exercises. The motion is usually slow and has many aspects to mastering it, including body control, relaxed and diaphragmic breathing, synchronous movements of various joints and energy control. You can see many Shi Li performed in the first video of Yao Zongxun starting with around 2:43 minutes.

I wanted to write about Psi-wheel for some time and now that Pete sent his Jar and pendulum exercise and asked me to write about the Psi Wheel exercise, here some info on that.

I first mentioned Psi-wheel a long time ago in the post Telekinesis videos and instructions. Now, I’ve searched the internet once again to see if I can find something new that’s interesting.

But, first, what’s the psi wheel and why it’s interesting. So, psi wheel is a simple construct that can be built by anyone at their home using just plain paper and a needle. What makes it special is that its design makes it very light. And the general presumption is that it easier to influence light things using telekinesis than heavy things. In that sense psi wheel is even better that the pendulum in jar that Pete proposed, since it’s even easier to move. And this is one of the reasons why telekinesis proponents and want to be’s like to use it. The problem with it, though, is that it’s too easy to influence a psi wheel using regular means, like air currents, and that’s what I personally don’t like about it.

The instructions to construct the psi wheel are as follows (from Wikipedia entry on psi wheels):

A reader, Pete, has sent me the following psychokinesis exercise, including the image and the accompanying instructions. He had suggested that I post it on the site. This exercises requires a simple construction, described both in words and in the image and a dedication in order to achieve success. Pete says about 2 weeks of daily practice is needed for success. I’ve seen this exercise before but Pete’s image and instructions are really good. So, learn and practice the Jar and Pendulum exercise using the instructions below, note the warning Pete gives in the first paragraph:

There is a training exercise I started using a while back and I was wondering if you were familiar with it and if you had any pointers. Feel free to post it, however it may not be wise because of the massive headaches rookies can suffer if they push themselves.

I’m glad to announce that the results of the second Psi Experiment are now available. The results are at results of the second psi experiment. I've not performed much analysis on the results, since the second experiment also had design flaws which made psi detection impossible.

This is also an opportunity to remind you to take part in the third psi experiment if you have not already done so. Tell your friends to participate as well.

Discuss the results in the comments.

The ability to relax at will is an important ability that everyone should possess, in my opinion. Today’s life in the western world is very tense, stressful, both mentally and physically. This is true for high-tech and computer workers, who sit long hours in front of the screen, creating constant tension in some muscles and joints, for many hours a day. This is also true for other workers, such as those who drive a lot, especially in dense traffic, when the mental pressure is high. Stress is a very common word these days, as people blame stress for many of their problems. People have a hard time to relax. In this article I'd like to summarize the best 5 ways for a healthy (and legal) relaxation, in my opinion.

Relaxation technique 1: Breathing to relax and to calm down

The most basic skill you need to allow yourself to calm down quickly and relax is controlled breathing. Taking your breathing under conscious control for some time distracts from other stressful thoughts you might have. Some breathing techniques have fast tranquilizing effect. I suggest the following breathing exercise:

• If possible, lie down or at least sit comfortably.
• Close your eyes and concentrate your attention on your nostrils, where air enters the nose.
• Take a slow and deep breath in through your nose. Notice how the air is cold, entering your nose.
• Hold your breath for a seconds holding your attention on the same spot.
• Breath out slowly and quietly through the nose. Notice how the air is warm on your nostrils on the way out.
• Do this for a few minutes, until you let disturbed thoughts go and feel relaxed.

The above exercise uses several techniques to calm you:

• Closing eyes and getting in a comfortable position already induces a little relaxation.
• Slow breathing with a stop in middle reduces the heard rate. It is especially useful when you feel agitated for some reason and need to calm down fast. You might do this at times of pressure, without all the preliminary steps, if there’s no time or place for them.
• Concentrating on the cold and warm air moving through the nostrils occupies the mind and distracts you from other, negative thoughts, you might have. See also technique #8, Thought substitution for calming and relaxation.

Mind-Energy.net is proud to announce the launch of its third Psi Experiment. In this experiment, several measures were taken to make the results of this experiment more credible, after the experiment design issues of the first two were taken into account.

In this experiment you’ll be shown with a photograph of a random playing card on a table and you’ll need to answer which color is the card’s suit – red or black. You can see it as a simple game.

Each time you play this game, the computer reshuffles the cards and you’re presented with another photograph of another card. So, you can play as long as you want. After each 20 trials, you’ll be immediately able to see the statistics of your trials.

So, don’t wait and go to Third Psi Experiment.

I am a big supporter of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). An important part of the TCM is the concept of the energy meridians and acupoints. These acupoints are active points that have effect on the body or the mind, when stimulated. The usual form of stimulation in the Traditional Chinese Medicine is inserting very thin needles into the points and leaving them there for about 20 minutes. This is called acupuncture and it can be very helpful in many conditions where modern medicine still struggles.

A simpler form of acupoint stimulation, which can be practices without studying TCM, virtually by anyone is acupressure. In acupressure, the same acupoints are stimulated using pressure instead of needle insertion, which makes it more accessible to general population. There are guides for when to stimulate in specific conditions. One of the best guides I’ve seen is available on the site of Stanford Stanford University School of Medicine, called PointFinder. For example the points for treating anxiety are shown below (captured from the above site):

You should stimulate those points by pressing on them for a about a minute on each side of the body. More conditions can be selected from the site and another set of points will be shown.

Thought substitution is a simple technique to understand but might be difficult to master. I first learned them from reading a Brian Tracy’s book, who is a known motivational speaker and writer. It is based on the fact that a human mind can only hold one thought at a time. Thus, if you have negative thoughts in your mind that continuously stress you, it is possible through conscious effort substitute it with another thought, i.e. think of something else instead.

As you do not think of the problem, you reduce your level of stress. Of course, pervasive negative thoughts will try to return to your mind. You should take notice of them and immediately return to your substitute thought.

Examples of this technique can be seen in Relaxation Technique #1 – Breathing to relax and calm down – where the concentration on the air flow through the nostrils should substitute the previous thought you’ve had. Of course, you can just substitute your negative thought by thinking about your loved ones or reliving joyful memories from your past.

So, the next time you have troubling thoughts, take notice of them. Recall the fact that you can substitute your thoughts with better ones and start thinking positive ones.

If you think that your life is full of stress and you find it hard to cope with it, you might need to take more action with larger dedication on your part. One of the things that can help with reducing the stress from your life in the long run and teach you how to relax is meditation. Meditation is a practice of the mind where you train yourself to control your thoughts, willpower and emotions.

Some meditation are still – you meditate while sitting, closing your eyes and clearing your mind of distractive thought. Usually, you’d try to concentrate on something specific and hold that thought in your mind. Incorporating visual imagery into the meditation practice is also quite common. Technique #3 – Calming Visualization – is an example of such meditation technique.

Meditation requires dedication and setting time aside for its practice. Its positive effects are both short and long term effective. You will feel better, more relaxed, after a meditation session and in the long run you will behave in a more relaxed manner overall.

Scientific studies have shown meditation to be positive as well. For examples, see:
Benefits of meditation
Meditation and neuroscience research
Meditation leads to happiness research shows
Yoga and meditation help sleep better
Transcendental Meditation helps the heart

Another form of mediation involves movement. Tai Chi, Qigong and yoga can be seen as forms of meditation involving movement. In these practices, the concentration of the mind on the movement and inner body feelings provides the relief from everyday thoughts, thus enabling meditative benefits. Even long running can be seen as a form of meditation.

Invest the time to learn meditation and the yield will be your piece of mind.

Continuing the subject of the previous Relaxation Technique 5: Inducing alpha and theta levels using audio programs, it is also possible to learn and enter the alpha state of mind by yourself, without the aid of special audio recordings. Of course, it requires some learning but has the benefit of allowing you better control over your brain. Jose Silva¹ has dedicated his life to develop a technique to better utilize the human potential. His work is based on knowledge to enter and stay in the alpha state of mind. There are several ways to induce alpha state. Here’s one that works well for me:

1. Sit comfortably or lie down, closing your eyes. Perform a number of deep breaths.
2. Visualize the number 3 and say to yourself “Three” 3 times.
3. Visualize the number 2 and say to yourself “Two” 3 times.
4. Visualize the number 1 and say to yourself “One” 3 times.
5. Visualize the number 10 and say “I’m relaxing”
6. Visualize the number 9 and say “I’m calming down”
7. Visualize the number 8 and say “I’m relaxing more and more”
8. Visualize the number 7 and say “I’m calming down more and more”
9. Visualize the number 6 and say “My consciousness is clear and tranquil”
10. Visualize the number 5 and say “My whole body is relaxed”
11. Visualize the number 4 and say “I’m so relaxed so that I can’t feel the weight of my body”
12. Visualize the number 3 and say “I’m totally calm”
13. Visualize the number 2 and say “I’m totally relaxed”
14. Visualize the number 1 and say “I’m totally calm and totally relaxed. I’m at alpha.”

When you get to this point, you’ll be at alpha and should feel very relaxed. Note, that if you perform this while lying in bed and a bit tired, you can fall asleep even before your reach the end of this exercise. If you have trouble falling asleep, this is a good exercise to do every time you lie down and intend to sleep.

¹ Jose Silva