QA with Bruce

[Anonymous]

Hello Bruce,

First of all I want to say that so far I am very happy with the training circle and I have noticed a distinct shift in my practice as well as the frequency of my practice and my dedication to practice.

Other than Gods qigong being a container for the 16 Neigong and a bridge to Taoist Meditation what else is it that makes this such a unique and “premier” qigong set?

Are there some specific health benefits can one reap from this set that one might not get from the sets in the Energy Arts core Qigong programs or any other Qigong sets for that matter?

Also, I’m curious as to the origins of the name “gods playing in the clouds”. Is this it’s original name ?
Did you come up with name?

I’m very honored and grateful to be learning this Qigong set.

Kevin

[Anonymous]

Re: Songs of the Tao

What does “Music of the Spheres” mean?

Are the sounds in the songs actual words, purely sounds to work with the energy bodies or a mix of the two?

Have you ever considered making a translation of the Songs of the Tao available ?

Many thanks,

Kevin

[Anonymous]

Hello Bruce,
I have another question for you, one that is simple this time.
I tried to find the characters for “yi chen dantian” and I think I managed to work it out: 意沉丹田 “mind/intention sink/drop cinnabar/red field/farm”
Could you tell me if that is correct, if it is then I understand much more clearly what the Taoists are talking about as far as mind and Daotian. If you could, I would really appreciate it.
I have to say, knowing at least the little mandarin I do makes a big difference in small ways.
Thanks
-Michael

[Anonymous]

Hello Bruce, first I would like to thank you for the great teaching material.
It connects a lot of dots for me, and it opens doors I really doubted I would get to open in this life.

So my question is: In all material I have seen from you so far you never mention the hui yin in breathing. But I learned to use it in my breathing just as the sides, back etc. Is there a reason you do not include it? What are the implications of doing it or not doing it?

Thanks –

Markus

[Anonymous]

Hi Bruce

A question about Gods and Bend the Bow (I did your class in Brighton this year and have been building up my BtB practice since).

In Part 1 of the first movement of Gods, as you define it in your video, I find that I am opening up the posterior side of each of the vertebrae separately and sequentially from the bottom of the spine to the top, and only on Part 2 further opening up the posterior side of each vertebra simultaneously. On Part 3, I am slightly opening up the anterior side of each vertebra sequentially going down the spine until about the end of the thoracic section and on Part 4 opening up the anterior side of each vertebra simultaneously all the way along the spine. Is this a correct method of practice? If so, is it the most effective?

Kind regards

Geoff

[Anonymous]

Hi Bruce,

It is my intention to train with you one day and as much as I can manage in this lifetime as I’m sure the same can be said for many others.

Do you intend to continue teaching and certifying instructors for many years to come?

Much Gratitude,

Kevin

[Anonymous]

Foot F**king

Dear Bruce,

In your Bagua videos, you instruct to use the image of “fucking your foot” to get the right feeling when stepping.

The term “Fuck” troubles me. Not that I have any problems with profanity, but because of the violence and tension it denotes.

How about “Make love to your foot”?

Maybe I’m taking what is just a metaphorical pointer much too seriously ?

Erwan

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Kwa Squats in Gods movements.

Do we do kwa squats or only kwa bend in Gods Movements 1 and 2?
When I watch Bruce making bend in Movement 2 (December installment of Circle training) it appears that Bruce only bends in kwa without any bend in the knees. How should we do it? THe same question for Movement 1 Part 1 and Part 2 (part 1 with peng and ji, and part 2 with hands moving backwards and down).
Also, even though Bend the Bow is not taught in this Circle, just because Bruce mentions that Bend the Bow is a component of Gods movements, I’d like to extend the same question for Bend the Bow: do we do kwa squat or only kwa bend in Bend the Bow?

[Anonymous]

Hi Bruce

I had a question last month about Gods and Bend the Bow. Please ignore that question. With a bit more practice and experimentation, I realise I am “bending the bow” on parts 1 and 3 and “shooting the arrow” on parts 2 and 4. I do feel more on the posterior of the spine in parts 1 and 2, and more on the anterior of the spine in parts 3 and 4 but I guess this is just activating the yang and then the yin surfaces of the spine?

On this month’s practice, I feel that my legs carry my arms upwards to about 120° from horizontal. It feels good to use my arms to continue rising to 180° to help them rotate more before coming down. Is this the most effective practice or should I start coming down from 120°?

Many thanks for your help

Geoff

[Anonymous]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question last month, it helped to at least clarify how the path works in Tao.

I have another one for you. I have a lot of deep seated trauma in the emotional and mental bodies from many events over the years, but most currently from a job I can’t really stand. Just as a measure, it is bad enough to cause a “crash and burn” episode at least twice a month, sometimes not too intense, other times quite ugly.

I know in your tradition inner dissolving is the practice to work with this problem. Can you please clarify for me how that inner dissolving practice actually works? I have some experience in meditation, and it is the one thing I do the most of, but have not tried inner dissolving before.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the excellent learning material, Bruce!
My question is about reversed breathing. Normally, I practice direct breathing as I find reversed breathing somewhat dangerous for the area around the Lower Esophagus Sphincter (I’ve had my problems in the past). But sometimes when I practice, reversed breathing kicks in by itself, naturally; so I’d like to clarify so that I can practice safely.

On inhale. My understanding is that the diaphragm should work the same way as with direct breathing, namely go down with all its surface (front, sides, back) as a valve. At the same time, abdomen, midriff sides, and pelvic floor are sucked into the dantian (by 70%!). Is my understanding correct?

[Anonymous]

Four-points box turning.

Bruce:
Throughout your teachings there is a concept you encourage to implement from the beginning: keeping the four points of the body aligned in the ‘box’ without any distortion (2 kwas and 2 shoulder nests). By doing this we safeguard our spine.

But at some point in training, shouldn’t we start turning/twisting the torso? For instance, there is a short episode in the Bagua Mastery Program where you discuss this turning as a next step. So how do we start this? What would be some pointers in developing this twisting? Were you planning to teach this in detail?

[Anonymous]

Greetings,

I really enjoyed learning about vibrating qi to mitigate energetic influence.

It feels like when I go from a quiet vibration to attempting complete silence the vibrating in my spine stops. It seems like it is the sound that is making the vibrating happen and that without it there would be no vibration.

Im looking for clarification as to whether we are looking to go completely silent in this method. If so, Ive got some more experimenting to do.

Also, Bruce mentions the vibration originating in the central channel. Could this be a good practice to also increase our awareness of the Central Channel?

Cheers,

Kevin

[Anonymous]

Gods movement 3 question.

From what I see, when we do ‘Shoot the arrow’ phase in Movement 3, we do not straighten up completely but remain bend to a more or lesser extent. That is we open the kwa but remain bent.

Is this correct? And if yes, could you give some pointers as to why we do it this way? I mean what’s the point in staying bent?

Thank you.

[Author]

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