Tantric Qigong for Self-Mastery

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Qigong, T’ai Chi, and Menopause

Menopause is a natural change in a woman’s life cycle that afflicts all women at some time. And the men that annoy them. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “The symptoms of menopause are caused by changes in estrogen and progesterone levels. The ovaries make less of these hormones over time. The specific symptoms and how significant (mild, moderate, or severe) they are varies from woman to woman…A gradual decrease of estrogen generally allows your body to slowly adjust to the hormonal changes. Hot flashes and sweats are at their worst for the first 1 - 2 years. Menopause may last 5 or more years…As a result of the fall in hormone levels, changes occur in the entire female reproductive system. The vaginal walls become less elastic and thinner. The vagina becomes shorter. Lubricating secretions from the vagina become watery. The outside genital tissue thins. This is called atrophy of the labia.”*

Symptoms
“In some women, menstrual flow comes to a sudden halt. More commonly, it slowly stops over time. During this time, the menstrual periods generally become either more closely or more widely spaced. This irregularity may last for 1 - 3 years before menstruation finally ends completely. Before this the cycle length may shorten to as little as every 3 weeks.

Common symptoms of menopause include:
- Heart pounding or racing
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Skin flushing
- Sleeping problems (insomnia)

Other symptoms of menopause may include:
- Decreased interest in sex, possibly decreased response to sexual stimulation
- Forgetfulness (in some women)
- Irregular menstrual periods
- Mood swings including irritability, depression, and anxiety
- Urine leakage
- Vaginal dryness and painful sexual intercourse
- Vaginal infections
- Joint aches and pains
- Irregular heartbeat.

Lifestyle Changes
Women taking hormone Replacement therapy (HRT) see some benefits. But they also increase their risk for breast cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots. The good news is that you can take many steps to reduce your symptoms without taking hormones:

- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and spicy foods
- Dress lightly and in layers
- Eat soy foods
- Get adequate calcium and vitamin D in food and/or supplements
- Get plenty of exercise
- Perform Kegel exercises daily to strengthen the muscles of your vagina and   pelvis. (The Taoist and Tantric  versions of these exercises are more developed and so potentially even more helpful.)
- Practice deep conscious breathing whenever a hot flash starts to come on (try taking six breaths per  minute)
- Remain sexually active (the extended love making techniques of Tantra and Taoist sexology undoubtedly help)
- See an acupuncture specialist
- Try relaxation techniques such as yoga, tai chi, or meditation. Dr. Herbert Benson, author of “The  Relaxation Response,” suggests that Tai Chi is “…vitally important in PMS, infertility, hot flashes,  insomnia,…”**   He also says that “Repetition is key to creating the response.”***
- Use water-based lubricants during sexual intercourse.”*

Qigong for Abating Menopause Symptoms
While for most women menopause can be a difficult time, the Taoists consider menopause to be a “Second Spring” of life. It is certainly an opportunity to renew and deepen your T’ai Chi and Tantric Qigong practice.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the symptoms associated with menopause are caused due to the body’s chi being disturbed. By practicing Qigong and T’ai Chi, this disrupted chi can be more evenly distributed and some of the uncomfortable symptoms can be ameliorated.

Regular practice of qigong and T’ai Chi can alleviate the irritability and stress associated with menopause by creating pelvic health and balancing emotional and hormonal swings.  It has also found to help increase the bone density in women, thus reducing the chance of post-menopausal osteoporosis.

Qigong may restore a woman’s sex drive, which can be decreased during in menopause. The regular practice of qigong tends to increases the levels of sex hormones thus restoring a healthy sex drive. One study showed that after a year of qigong practice, hormones were restored to near normal levels.****

A study published in the Oxford Journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine on eighteen women measured the effects of regular Qigong practice on chromic fatigue symptoms and the menopausal symptoms of night sweats, restless leg syndrome, and sleep apnea. The results showed improvement in the areas of sleep, energy and well-being. Qigong improved these symptoms of sleep disturbances after three months of practice.*****

Bone loss of up to 2% per year in women may occur after menopause. Prevention of includes optimizing the intake of calcium and vitamin D, exercise, and the optimization of normal menstruation. Stretching, strengthening, impact, and balance exercises are effective. As Qigong raises estrogen levels in women, this can reduce osteoporosis and heart disease. Tai Chi Chuan has proved to be successful in decreasing falls, and may restore bone density.

Kenneth Cohen states that “A wealth of anecdotal evidence suggest that Qigong tends to delay menopause and can extend the years of fertility.” He notes that female qigong masters have even been known to conceive during their sixties.******  One woman in her 50’s began practicing Qigong and after about 10 days  said, “I was amazed that my period reappeared…I celebrated it as a clear indication of rejuvenation.”*******

Instruction and Coaching

Presencing: The Art of Being Present

References:
*www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000894.htm
**my.webmd.com/content/article/25/1728_57992.htm.
***http://www.webmd.com/news/20000530/mysterious-medication-of-meditation
****Ye Ming, et al. Relationship among erythrocyte superoxide dismustase activity, plasma sexual hormones (T, E2), aging and qigong exercise. Proceedings, Third International Symposium on Qigong, Shanghai, China.. 1990:28-32
*****Naropa J. Mike Craske, Warren Turner, Joseph Zammit-Maempe and Myeong Soo Lee. “Qigong Ameliorates Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue: A Pilot Uncontrolled Study.” Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Advance Access published online on August 1, 2007
****** Cohen, Kenneth S. The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing p33
******* B.G., Los Gatos, CA qinway.org/qigong_testimonial.htm

A  Taste  of  Tantra™

An evening of Tantric Bliss, joy, & rediscovering our essential selves.

“Tantra” means weaving together the Earthly and the Divine. By expanding our
consciousness, we stretch the boundaries of our self-definition & so discover our higher nature.

Jade Garden Tantra is a complete and systematic course in Taoist Tantric Kriya Yoga and an accelerated path toward mastery of emotional, physical, mental & spiritual energies. Experience a small taste of this powerful, joyful practice! Unite your sensual and spiritual selves!

This is both an introduction for beginners and sadhana for initiates.

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- Learn how you can Play your Way to Enlightenment!
- Learn techniques for generating & transmuting energy.
- Unfold the Divine in yourself & transform your relationships into Divine Communion.
- Open your heart to Infinite Love.
- Be introduced to powerful techniques for Evolution,  Empowerment and Spiritual Bliss.
- Experience serenity, & the joy of connecting your heart & soul with others.
- Use your primal energy to improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual well being

This workshop is for singles and couples and you will learn techniques that you can do at home. Non sexual.

Instruction & Coaching

Contact for info on instruction

A Woman’s Response Re: Ejaculation Control, part 4: Peng Zu

This is a continuation of the discussion in Ejaculation & Mental, Spiritual, & Physical Health Part 4: Peng Zu

Q. Julie: Your article was saying how we become healthier and more balanced WITH a partner and without we are also targets for demons…what (can) a person without a partner…do to protect themselves and to also be more in balance and healthier. I can’t just pick some random guy to balance myself with…lol… so what can I do? Thanks for the information.

A. I believe the quotation from Peng Zu (Peng Tsu, Peng Zu) that your are referring to is:

“To be solitary and long for intercourse shortens a man’s life and allows a hundred ailments.
Ghosts and Demons will take advantage of such a man to copulate with him”

First, you have to be aware that the proto-Taoist traditions of some 4-6,000 years ago contained both practical spiritual wisdom and also some superstition. Over the millennia, it has become more apparent which is which.

What Peng Zu refers to are nocturnal emissions. Obviously, he is talking about men, so I don’t think this going to be much of a problem for you unless, of course, your boyfriend has them every night! A woman’s “demons” are usually more emotional than ejaculatory in nature. Unless you are a woman with a high degree of female ejaculation skill. And prone to narcolepsy.

It is possible that some highly eroticised women endowed with some degree of Tantric skill might have such vivid sexual dreams that a genital orgasm could occur, but this is much more likely to be a more diffuse sexual charge than strictly genitocentric. Men however, produce semen continuously, and as will be discussed further in this series of articles, it is not entirely healthy to never ejaculate. If too long a time elapses between ejaculation, the body may tend to take control with the cooperation of the subconscious, hence the nocturnal emissions that gave the ancient Taoists such concern.

Forbidden Planet, Karmic Monsters from your Id

Doc Ostrow: …”the Krell forgot one thing.”
Commander Adams: “Yes, what?”
Doc Ostrow: “Monsters, John. Monsters from the Id.”
–Forbidden Planet

Awakening with the obvious evidence of some nocturnal sexual process could be confusing to a simple Yaoist living at the dawn of recorded history. Add to that the great length that Taoists go to avoid loss of semen through ejaculation control, and one can see how a superstition of demonic erotic possession aka “Monsters from the Id” could, well, “arise”.

In the Catholic Christian lineage, this loss of control over sexual fantasies and the resultant nocturnal emissions experienced by celibate monks is externalized as a succubus; a demon in the form of a seductive woman who visits a monk in a dream state. These demons were thought to arouse the sexual energy ( Jing, Shakti) of the celibate, then feed off the life force, much like a vampire. According to the Malleus Maleficarum, published in 1487 by the Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, a succubus would collect semen from men they had sex with and impregnate women with it for evil metaphysical purposes.

I, however, prefer my succubi to be incarnate in flesh rather than being ephemeral dream demons.
Just a personal preference.

The quote from Shang-ku-san-tai,

“Man and woman mutually complete each other, just like Heaven and Earth gave birth to each other. Tao nourishes the vital force (chi) in order that man may not lose his harmony.”

The Tantric Dakini Goddess Mae West

relates to the great energizing and balancing of life force that can occur through High Tantric Sex, and especially with lovers who are willing to sexually and emotionally surrender to each other on a significantly deep level. So, on the one hand, “some random guy” might not serve this process, however you might also consider reading some of what the great Dakini and early feminist Mae West had to say on this subject. Here was a woman truly empowered by her sexuality at a time when this was not supported at all by our “polite” society at the turn of the century (her play entitled “Sex” resulted in a morals charge and imprisonment in 1927.)

Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation - the other eight are unimportant.
–Henry Miller

Energetic balance ( polarity) can occur with or without a partner, you don’t need to wait for the perfect partner to get started. In fact, you are much more likely to attract a higher quality partner if you are willing to begin to use Tantric and Taoist forms to clarify your energy and burn your karma. Often Like attracts Like, so, to paraphrase Gandhi: “Be the lover you want to attract in the world…”

I am also reminded of the time that Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives fame appeared on the Jay Leno show with a Tantric Revelation: She was talking about catalogue shopping and mentions that she bought 5 (that’s right, five!) Kegel Exercisers.

Jay Leno: So, um, can you lift more than you used to…or….?

Teri Hatcher: I now have a very strong kitty cat.

Jay Leno: (!!!!!!)

Teri Hatcher: All the other ‘desperate housewives’ are married and stuff, but, like, when I get a boyfriend, he’s gonna hit the jackpot!

You gotta admire Ms. Hatcher’s commitment to personal growth. Like Mae West, she seems gratified by taking charge of her own sexuality.

Of course, in ancient pre-battery operated times, The Taoists and Tantriks developed a high sexual and spiritual technology. The Tantric Qigong (sm) exercises “Wag the Tail” and “Raise on the Toes” open the pelvis and stimulate the kidney meridian.

Wag the Tail (c) 1997 Keith E. Hall

raise on the Toes

Tantric Qigong (sm) , T’ai Chi, and some forms of Yoga are the best all around exercises for increasing, balancing, and applying one’s life force for karma burning and other spiritual purposes, with or without a partner.
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The yogic asanas known as The Goddess pose and The Butterfly pose also burn pelvic karma and resistance to your own Goddess Power while indirectly stimulating the kidney energy.

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Here is an exercise from our 10 Minutes to a Healthier You! (sm) and our Tantric Transformation (sm) courses that you can do on your own:

The Energy Pump

1. Contract and pump the anal sphincter and the muscles of the vaginal wall, pulling upwards. If possible, make this a relatively fast contraction and release (2-3 contractions per second.)

2. After you get the hang of this, begin a pattern of deep breathing through the mouth where you are exhaling while you contract the muscles, and inhaling as you relax the muscles.

3. Imagine that the fast, deep breathing and contractions are like a bellows fanning the fire of your life force. This can also be done with pelvic rocking or thrusting.

Doing a few minutes or more of this each day will increase your life force (Chi, Qi, Ki), sexual power (Shakti, Jing), and ability to receive pleasure while also toning the PC muscle (pubococcygeal muscle) and vaginal muscles.

There is a variation of this that is known to increase one’s sexual magnetism to an almost hypnotic level. I have seen men sweat and begin to lose control of their power to focus in the presence of a woman adept at this. Some pheromones don’t hurt either….

In summary:
–You don’t need to worry about demons or nocturnal emissions.
–There are exercises you can do on your own to increase your life force and sexual magnetism.
– You are The Goddess. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. all rights reserved.

Instruction & Coaching

Betty Friedan, one of the founders of the modern feminist did much to elevate the Feminine to coequality with the Masculine in American culture and politics. During the racial, political, and sexual conflicts of the 60s, Friedan promoted pro women positions on issues like equal pay, promotions, and maternity leave. Her work led to improving women’s lives worldwide.

In her 1963 best seller “The Feminine Mystique,” Friedan asserted that women could have identities independent of gender roles determined by patriarchal unilateralism, a revolutionary concept during the years of the baby boom. “A woman has got to be able to say, and not feel guilty, `Who am I, and what do I want out of life?’ ” Friedan said. Her book eventually sold 3 million copies.

At the same time, Friedan insisted that the women’s movement accept men as allies and that the family should not be rejected. “Don’t get into the…anti-man, politics-of-orgasm school,” Friedan told a 1970 college audience, “For a great many women, choosing motherhood makes motherhood itself a liberating choice.”

In 1981 her book, “The Second Stage,” was seen as a break with the feminist leadership that succeeded her. Friedan believed they pursued “sexual politics that distorted the sense of priorities of the women’s movement…”

In both Tantra and Taoism, balance between the Masculine (Yang) and Feminine (Yin), is essential for physical, mental and spiritual health. These complements are also expressed as Heavenly / Earthly, Active / Receptive, Power / Surrender.

Moreover, the path to achieving egalitarianism and enlightened planetary health necessitates that these energies reach equilibrium in a significant percentage of individuals, thereby achieving both Personal Awakening and by extension, Social Enlightenment.

On social and political levels, Ms. Friedan was the ‘Goddess Who Made it So,’ catalyzing gender equality in a multitude of ways through her efforts.

Adi Shakti Om.

Here is a very nice woman owned resource for toys, DVDs, and more for awakening your sensual Goddess nature! Mentioned in the New York Times and Forbes Magazine. These girls must be doing something right.

TANTRA: From Ecstasy to Enlightenment
Rev. Keith Hall

What is it with Americans and sex? We appear to crave it, are fascinated by it and simultaneously fear it with every fiber of our being. We use it in advertising to sell everything from automobiles to zucchini, yet often prohibit our children from learning about it, our teachers from teaching it, and ourselves from discussing it publicly in any truly meaningful way. Movies with extremely graphic violence and gore receive an R rating; depictions of erotic play between mature consenting adults often receive an X. Yet the fascination remains. What issue of Cosmopolitan doesn’t promise new ways to attract and keep your lover, to have bigger and better orgasms, to cook, clean, and dress for sexual success? What neighborhood bar isn’t rife with the boys alternately telling ribald jokes and creating a swaggering sexual mythos about themselves?

Shiva and Shakti in Yab Yum position for Tantric Kundalini Awakening

Our fascination and fear stem from the fact that the energy of eroticism is the most powerful primal force within ourselves. The Ancients of all cultures revered and worshipped this force particularly in the form of the Goddess. Lilith, Astarte, Parvati, Isis, Hecate, Mary Magdalene, Venus, Kerridwin, Freya, Ixchel, Tara, the Virgin Mary - all are Goddesses revered in antiquity for bringing forth life, divinity, and wisdom through the mystical power of sexuality. Historically, Tantra arose from the worship of these Goddesses and woman’s innate link with the energies of creation. As Tantra evolved in India, Tibet, Egypt, and China, adepts of yoga and meditation tapped into increasingly powerful and efficient techniques for safely accessing the cosmic forces inherent in sexual energy. What had begun in ancient times as awe and mystery, became a science. Schools arose to instruct initiates in precise methods to awaken this primal life-force and master it’s use for healing, ecstasy, and enlightenment. Later, as war and other forms of technological manipulation increasingly arose in civilization, patriarchal societies developed and Man’s awe of Woman’s fertility and cosmic sexual capacity turned to fear. Out of the desire to dominate rose the need to subjugate and control that which they could not understand - Woman’s overwhelming power to create the Universe as Goddess, her tremendous and mysterious connection to ” the starry dynamo in the machinery of night.”

Next: The Persecution of and Reemergence of Tantra

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