The Best Taoist Art for looking after the nervous system

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I am a highly sensitive person, which means that my nervous system easily gets overstimulated. I’m currently going through another burnt out.

I’m currently very busy and have very little time for practice. I look forward to the Summer when I’ll move back to my country and will have at least one hour for my practice, but at the moment I have 20 minutes max. Anyway, the duration of my practice seems to be naturally limited by the 70% rule.

If you had to choose one Energy Art practice to help the nervous system to recover, what would that be?

Many thanks
Jacek

[Anonymous]

Hi Jacek,

that’s not a simple question to answer

Without knowing more about how your nervous system gets overstimulated I would say dissolving would be the number one skill to develop. Many years ago Bruce taught how to dissolve the field around your body so that you could build up a permanent filter that reduced the amount of qi that would get to you. That has helped me many times over the years.

Last year Bruce taught a sealing the senses meditation where we learned how to close off the access points of your body – that also would be something to look at if you can find someone that can show it to you.

If you have access to the Training Circle material then Bruce did great sessions for healthcare professionals in the Gods Qigong Edition. Specifically, the Live Mastery classes in November 2014, December 2014, January 2015 and February 2015 cover things like recognizing influence and protecting your qi. You can see one of those videos on You Tube here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2pf0o-gvs4

Once you can use dissolving to lessen the impact of stimulation and recover from over stimulation I would add Dragon and Tiger to gently strengthen your nervous system.

Kind regards

Trevor

[Anonymous]

hello there- just to follow-on Trevor’s comments..

a suggestion I’d make is working on the feeling of “sung” going soft and “sinking” (not pressing or moving down, but rather as if a cat, or dog, relaxes so much they sort of slip-slump over, like ice-cream melting- oozing).. access via feeling front-top of chest going down, then starting a bit higher and including a bit deeper…
with the goal being to have the face- especially the forehead- hairline to browline just ease up and allow it to do whatever (not make it)..
but if you have a hand lightly touching skin face-neck chest you should even feel a slight movement (like a conveyor belt-tank track movement)
…….. ;the above just being an application of standing, and let-go, and gravity (but so easy to try and mentally-grasp hold and make it move-down, thus press-push it.. mess with it, vs being with it.. even dissolving (especially as try and figure out what it is) can frazzle the nervous system more, as gives room for the tendency to swirl the uncon.. but just concretely grounding in sensation-physically and being with it- whatever it does.. and (just as a shirt that you are holding) if you “let-go” things (if they aren’t a helium-balloon) with start to move down -even a paper of paper, or a leaf, that might glide and slide-side-to-side.. but opens up as it breathes and gets room.. until it finds a grounding connection.

(originally clicked for me when Bruce was teaching HsingI SanTi.. just a part of the process, but made a big puzzle-piece for myself and few others there that had a frazzly, migraney tendency.
(it layers in with other things that can all be done- part of standing, or a limited-slow moving.. but the biggest thing to watch might be the tendency to have a bunch of pts, as when the mind flits- and jumps here and there, and back over there.. that being a symptom and a cause of overstim..)

(above being HsingI, and the Bagua feel your feet, not a quick glance, not just in general, but every square cm, feel all the textures- even in shoes, but if barefeet further sense and grounds- all the weight changing, each moment, as you stand and breathe… (if shoes off, stand and feel, and scalp down melt- ice cream scoop-wipe on a window-glass.. takes a bit to warm and then oozes down.. and while you wait for it to warm and melt- just feel your feet, as if your soles where fingers that you were touching something with that you wanted to explore and learn about by touch (while you breathe, of course, but don’t try and breathe any way- I’d recommend– just remove any tension or holding in your stance that blocks breathing- so you don’t pass out and feel down face-front simul feel bottom of soles, let hip-socket, “back-pockets” ease…
do that with sense of let-go, not “doing a task” -fully present.. after 10-15 minutes one should free pretty different (especially if say two times spread-out, say once, then an hour or so later, do another..

……
in short- per the TaiChiChuan, or ‘martial’, classics “When there is a fault, look to the waist and legs.” (yao-kua centre/ lower dantian and lower body-feet-root, literally a grounding, electrically, as a plug-in)
– can see this as physical, but even more so as a wiring-diagram

-luck
(like carrying a bucket full of water from the “well” across to pour into a reservoir, then return, with empty bucket, refill and carry another pail.. fills up drop-by-drop, step-by-step).. “What you practice you become.” (thus beware your practice not only helps, but doesn’t itself ‘rpactice’/train in something you don’t want to have).

[Anonymous]

Hi Trevor,

Many thanks for this.

I watched the video with Bruce and it does sound very interesting. I’d love to study those techniques at one point. BTW, do you know if it’s possible to purchase past editions of the Training Circles?

I’m focusing on the Taoist Breathing at the moment, because I found it does calm my nerves very well, but I’ll add the dissolving to it as much as I can. I haven’t practiced it that much, but it’s probably my most favourite Taoist practice. Perhaps it’s because I need it so much?

All the best
Jacek

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