I would like to know what people would recommend as their 2 favorite things to do to raise one's vibrational state from their own personal experience. These could be practices, behavioral changes or whatever one thinks works best for them. Obviously this is a personal opinion based on something that is experienced and not measured, so just 2 best things that have served you best. Please be as specific as possible. For example, if one is mantra meditation, which mantra vibes you up?

for me, longevity breathing (BKF's milestones he mentioned in the energy gates book gave me the idea to try...30 sec being the first) was one big thing - just doing embryonic breathing that I learned from yang jwing ming and focusing on longevity. cool stuff happens when you get to 30, 40 second breaths. I've jump started my metabolism 3 separate times using that technique.

and kunlun 1. simple & easy

It sounds pretty basic but, practicing acts and thoughts of loving kindness. And keeping the mind quiet.

Michael


as Joey Buddha once said; feedeth the monkey mind bananas til it barfs and goes comatose. Then sweepeth it away and enjoy the silence

Hey Joe,

Would you describe these 30 to 40 second breaths you speak of? Are they abdominal, reverse abdominal etc? Is one focusing one's attention in the Dan Tien etc?

Many thanks!

(1) Vegetarian diet and lots of water; (2) no toxic thoughts, emotions or food and drink; (3) celibacy of thought, speech and sexual expression; (4) long consistent stillness meditations, and alchemal breath and energy work; (5) avoid too much contact with people and attempt to spend some time with those of a high vibration. (4) being the best, supported by (1) through (5).

More than two I know, but we really are addressing the question holistically and on multiple levels.

In kind regards,

Adam.

What are longevity and embyronic breathing?

www.ymaa.com for embryonic breathing

Sexual abstinance QiGong and Taiji. Jogging and working out.

energy goes through the roof. I haven't learnt to control it at the moment though

It is easier to stop the mind than it is to change the mind. And by stopping the mind, the natural, high vibration comes back automatically.

I've found that to be very true... any sort of stillness meditation you can get into even for just 10-15 minutes is super effective. Personally, I like mantra meditations like ayp's iam or affirmations like 'love' or 'bliss' used like a mantra (say it mentally once every 10-60 seconds while lying down with the head towards the south and ear mufflers on. And sometimes a mindfold on if I really need to be 'gone'.)

Ideally, I'll have two such sessions a day to stay nice n groovy.

If I'm negative, I reach for stillness meditation every time, if possible.

If I'm already happy, then I'll do other things like Kunlun, stretching, etc. just for fun.

I'm not sure about this.. What do you mean with changing the mind?

Adam, I did that using natural abdominal breathing. Although reverse builds qi more quickly, natural has always seemed more calm to me. I've learned to calm my reverse breathing down substantially since then, but still not as much as natural. My mind's focus is usually just on the physical feelings and sensations of executing the perfect breath for your given state (e.g. you need to work your way to longer breaths and the mechanics seem to differ very subtly from a shorter to a longer.) Really, once you hit ~40 seconds it doesnt even feel like you are breathing any longer - its more just calm respiration, all movement is abdominal and everything above the diaphragm is totally relaxed. Lungs, bronchi, trachea, sinuses - when they are all completely relaxed and not 'adding anything' to your breath, then turbulence in your breath all but disappears.

Vortex, Embryonic Breathing is the foundational qi building breathing practice that Yang Jwing Ming teaches. He's the first author I was exposed to on the subject of qigong, bout 4 years ago. I picked up The Secret Of Youth and after reading halfway through it I discovered why it said 'an advanced regimen for the serious practitioner' on the front I thought I'd be able to hop skip and jump through shit like I have always done with stuff. I started from the beginning after that one! I read about longevity breathing in BKF's Opening the Energy Gates of the Body and applied the concept to Yang's EB, quite happy with the results of those two simple things.

smiling, martial arts and qigong.

Thanks Joe, that was very helpful indeed! I am always very interested in other people sharing their insights and success stories.

In kind regards,

Adam.

Taking a walk in the woods.

Sitting on the earth.

Immersing yourself in a favorite pastime, and allowing yourself to play for a while.

Works for me.

Anytime, Adam! ditto on that

just that if you find yourself thinking negatively and feeling bad just changing your thoughts on the spot to feel happier and more loving etc... the raindrops on roses approach.

At least for me, it's easier to just meditate for a bit than to dust off my inner Julie Andrews.

2 things, 4 levels

physically, fast and drink a lot of water

emotionally, smile and sing!

mentally, let go and focus

energetically, dissolve and circulate

dissolving as in the central channel dissolving methods described by BKF and circulating being the various micro cosmic circulations described by Chia and others