Relaxing Into Your Being, A Review and Recommendation

 Relaxing into Your Being is one of two books on Taoist Meditation that Taoist Lineage Master Bruce Frantzis published in the late 1990s.  This book, and The Great Stillness, introduce how to apply the water method when one meditates.  This method uses the breath and a technique called "dissolving" to help connect one's intention with energetic blockages that can be sensed in the body.   Dissolving practice helps release and relax physical and emotional  blockages, and it subsequently deepens inner awareness to deeper levels.

Meditation Exercises in the Book

In the twelve practices provided in the Relaxing book, the first nine prepare the mind and body to develop continuous awareness and the ability to feel within the body.  Dissolving practices are introduced before the fifth exercise so that practitioners can begin to clear and strengthen their energy channels for deeper work that releases repressed emotions.  This processes could be called "clearing the Red Dust."

Intermediate practices involve breathing with the kidneys, upper back breathing and breathing energy into the dantien.  Being able to advance to this stage requires diligent practice in learning how to sense and relax internally.  At this stage, you can encounter and neutralize attachments (positive or negative), traumas and your internal demons.  Stillness comes, making it possible to see where these polarities are produced. 

Other exercises introduced in the book are standing meditation and awareness exercises for the lower half of the body.  One of the exercises is the introductory or commencement move of Wu style T'ai Chi.  These exercises are used to help increase body awareness and they complement the static meditation exercises.  I highly recommend doing all of the exercises.

Consequences of Taoist Meditation

A stream in Northern Costa Rica.

These meditation practices develop conscious awareness to the point of being in the "now," or being aware of that slippery thing known as consciousness.   Reaching this point, you can develop an awareness of the Mindstream which contains subtle manifestations of the seven energy bodies.  Intermediate and advanced practitioners then practice inner dissolving to release these subtle energies which manifest by creating gaps in awareness of the Mindstream.  Inner peace nurtures one intermittently during the process and can help motivate you along the way.

Frantzis talks about the deeper challenges of meditation near the end of the book.  The fear of ru ding, or loss of the ego, occurs when one is in the deep into advanced stages of their practice.  One has to be tenacious to surmount this obstacle.  Also, a form of spiritual egotism can manifest when one develops knowledge of energy manifestation.  If one can maintain inner strength and not give in to power trips, these problems do not get in the way of enlightenment, or the unification of your being with the Tao.

A Testimonial for Relaxing Into Your Being

Jane Alexander wrote a review of this book that ended saying, "The practice of the material within its pages totally changed my life around and gave me a reason to live."  One cannot give a better recommendation than that.  In the web article, she outlines some of the contents of Frantzis's book and even wrote a book about her recovery from PTSD and depression, Possessing Me: A Memoir of Healing.
 

Yahoo Group Qiresearch for Science Updates

An ancient character for Qi

About a year ago, I joined a Yahoo group that has updates on scientific research regarding the use of qigong, Tai chi and medical qigong for healing. This group is called Qiresearch, and it includes some members of the research community.  Join the group if you want to get updates on the research results. A lot of studies are ongoing in the United States and Europe, and it is great to see the results as they come in.

This testing is an important step in assessing the validity of qigong techniques for overcoming specific health challenges, because many of the past studies were not well-designed trials.  As a scientist, I appreciate the more robust methods that are being used, which lends greater credibility to the numerous personal testimonials of the healing power of qigong. 


Namaste.

Qigong Postures and Postural Alignment Correction with the Egoscue Method

	SQ
PR: n/a  I: 29,600,000  L: 0  LD: 215,636,682  I: 791,000  Rank: 5  Age: October 12, 1999  I: 0  whois source Robo: yes Sitemap: no  Rank: 1841  Price: 749670

	SQ
PR: n/a  I: 29,600,000  L: 0  LD: 215,636,682  I: 791,000  Rank: 5  Age: October 12, 1999  I: 0  whois source Robo: yes Sitemap: no  Rank: 1841  Price: 749670 Info Links: 13|3 Density

The development of good qigong posture and alignments can be aided with cross-training using the Egoscue Method, developed by Pete Egoscue. His method can be adapted to people that have various body types and pain experiences. The exercises and stretches emphasize correct alignment and are based, in part, on your current posture.

I have used this method in the past and have incorporated various of the stretches and exercises to help correct postural mis-alignments that occur due to bad habits (like sitting too long in front of the computer writing articles). It is a method that definitely works, which is why I keep going back to it on a regular basis. I highly recommend looking at the video produced recently. A link to that video is given to the left.

Qigong standing meditation postures will reinforce correct postural alignment, starting with the wu wei posture where the hands rest at the sides. In this regard, I suggest looking at a recent post on Master Lam Kam Chuen's videos for various standing postures. This is a 10-video series on Youtube that includes some of the Eight Pieces Brocade qigong.  The series is meant to be practiced over a 10-day period to familiarize yourself with various standing postures and their benefits. All of the exercises are discussed in further detail in the blog post and in the book by Master Lam, "The Way of Energy."

Doing both methods simultaneously is a slam-dunk for improving your health. Poor postural alignment is the cause of many different health problems that people experience as they get older.  Doing both as an exercise routine can also increase your total body awareness and help correct long-term bad habits that prevent you from functioning at an optimal level.  So, if you want to live longer and with more vitality, correct your posture! 

Final exercise recommendations:  Be conscious of your breathing and follow the Taoist water method of doing exercises, which means to go into the exercise routine being gentle on your body.  Doing excessive repetitions of the exercises is not for everybody. Doing the full exercise routine should only be done as your body strength allows.  So, do the number of repetitions that you can do, but do all of the exercises in the routine to get a rounded and complete set.  "No pain, no gain," is a ridiculous phrase that has no application when you are using qigong for improving health.