Taoist & Yogic Practices.

Tantric Qigong
Tantric qigong (chi kung)  can be so ideal in the winter. Even though the earth is cold and hibernating, one can draw on the Earth’s deep Yin while willfully stimulating the Heavenly Yang.  Tantric Qigong includes gentle movement, conscious breathing, and stretching. It takes only 10 minutes and can be practiced either indoors, or outside in the natural light for additional benefit. In the winter, Tantric qigong helps you to fire up your Heavenly Chi while drawing on the deep stability and steadfastness of the Earth’s Yin.

Here are some tips for practicing  Tantric Qigong in wintertime:

–Increase the number of repetitions of the 8 Treasures.
–Focus on directing the chi inward. Pay particular attention to Chakras 2, 3a, 3c, 4 and 6.
–Do “Raise and Lower Hands Alternately” to stimulate and balance the immune system while drawing in and balancing the Heavenly and Earthly Qi.

Tantric Qigong: Raise Hands alternately

Here are some additional exercises from the Advanced Tantric Qigong curriculum that may be helpful. Some of these 8 Treasures Tantric qigong forms balance yin and yang, some permeate the body with energy, some balance the pineal gland. If you’ve taken the courses, you know which does what.

–Golden Serpent (Tantric Qigong Level 2)
–Heavenly Chakra Qi Gong (Tantric Qigong Level 3)
–Transmuting Breath (Tantric Qigong Level 4, part 1)
–Transmuting Breath 2 (Tantric Qigong Level 4, part 2)
–Heart Breath 3 (Tantric Qigong Level 5, part 3)
–Tumo meditation (Tantric Qigong Level 5, part 4)

See also: Winter Meditation for Collecting Life Force

Qigong and Immunity

Qigong, Immunity, and Influenza

© 2006 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved. Part 3: Some simple suggestions

Presencing™

See how the change of the seasons affects your Qi and Life Force:Tantric Taoist Sexology & The Seasons.

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Instruction & Coaching

Ejaculation Control: Peng Zu

Peng Zu

During the time of The Yellow Emperor, there was a remarkably young looking man named Peng Zu, who was rumored to be over a hundred years old. Some texts claim he eventually reached an age of over nine hundred years, though this is likely to be a bit of hyperbole. His specialty was the link between sex and health and certain Taoist Breathing techniques. I give a lot of credence to this linkage personally, as my T’ai Chi master, Yung-ko Chou, was seventy years old when I studied with him, but looked like he was in his forties. He had dark hair, was remarkably flexible, quick witted, and walked every where since he did not have a U.S. driver’s license!

The story of Peng Zu, his life and disciplines, was written down in a treatise called Peng Zu Ching, around 2700 B.C. Peng Zu claimed the secrets to longevity lie in sexual practices that strengthened both the Yang and Yin energies. Some of Peng Zu’s precepts I find to be somewhat manipulative, even misogynistic, however there is much truth in his more general and nonsexist health practices.

“Man cannot be without woman, and woman cannot be without man.

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.

Jing lost in this way is a hundred times worse than the normal way”

–P’eng Tsu

According to Peng, there are four courses of sexual action that promote longevity in men. The two most important are:

Maximize contact.

–By this, he means regular, daily sexual activity of considerable duration.

Minimize leakage.

–Here he is speaking of ejaculation control.

Peng was also a big advocate of men having a lot of Taoist Tantric sex, and his preferred partners were mainly virgins. Though politically incorrect today, there is perhaps a grain of virginal truth here for a man who is too lazy to develop himself and master the unification of yin and yang within. However, I decline to extrapolate on the rationale and protocol for his disciplines in this particular Jade Arena. On a practical note, I do see a big problem these days with the supply side economics of Peng’s preference. I have traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands and even there it seems there is a currently a dearth of supply.

Peng called the leakage of semen (ejaculation) an injury to vitality. He said that clear thin semen was a sign of weakness and loss of vitality that could injure the flesh. Overly strong smelling semen indicated problems with the muscles and tendons, weak ejaculation implied weakness in the bones, and erectile dysfunction showed injury to the whole body. I suspect the routine prescription of Viagra inadequately addresses these underlying conditions.

Peng felt that these conditions could arise in part from crude, rough sex that resulted in ejaculation. Predating the Four Agreements by at least 4,000 years, Peng Zu states in his handbook (Peng Zu Ching) that man is harmed by dark emotions such as anger, and excessive expectation and poor communication between Yin and Yang. Furthermore, he explains:

“Many indeed are the things that harm man, but all of them have their root in the bedchamber. How people are deluded by this! 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. Heaven and Earth have obtained the Tao of sexual intercourse, therefore they are everlasting. But man has lost the Way of sexual intercourse, therefore he has become mortal. To be able to avoid all harmful things, and to obtain the art of Yin and Yang, this is the Way of Immortality.”

–Shang-ku-san-tai, Yen Kho-Chun, ed.

The implication is that in addition to ejaculation control, self-mastery and longevity depend upon emotional transmutation, harmony, balance, and unity between Man and Woman and within oneself. The sexual ideal could partly manifest itself as slow, gentle, loving sex with careful ejaculatory management, as is ideal in Tantra and neo-tantra.  Peng advised retaining the semen with the intention that it revert upward to the “Upper Vast Stream” in the brain. This sort of generalized kundalini yoga technique results in inner tranquility, peace, longevity, and can lead to enlightenment.

Peng Zu’s Guide to Ejaculation Frequency

Age… Frequency

20… 1x every 2 days

30… 1x every 3 days

40… 1x every 10 days

50… 1x every 15 days

60… 1x every 30 days

Comparing this to Su-Nu’s guidelines, Peng’s seem considerably more strict. Though if he did live to be 900, as he is alleged to, one might grant that he may have embodied some of the benefits of that which he prescribes. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.
Part 5: Ejaculation Control and the Seasons

Ejaculation Control and Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Health Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

See a woman’s question

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Ejaculation Control and Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Health

Wilma asks:
Q: During the winter season, the Taoists recommend less ejaculation for both men and women.
Why exactly do they recommend that?

A: I some times get questions from men about this issue, but rarely from women, so let me take a moment to set down some of the history and rationale about this.

There is quite a bit of controversy within Tantric and Taoist and Western medical circles about the relationship of ejaculation to physical and spiritual well being. The Tantriks seem more concerned with the effects in regard to spiritual progress, while the Taoists seem more focused on health and longevity. The Taoists in particular have codified this precisely, to an almost dogmatic level.

Both Tantriks and Taoists feel that the psychic and somatic essence of man is concentrated in the semen, thus ejaculation could lead to a decrease in mental and physical strength. Western medicine has not really looked very closely at this precept, other than in relation to prostate health. The Tantriks are highly interested in harnessing the sexual essence to activate Kundalini so it can rise to the higher spiritual centers to promote spiritual awakening and enlightenment.

According to the Taoist physician Sun Si-Miao (Sun Ssu-mo), circa A.D. 600, “A man may attain health and longevity if he practices an ejaculation frequency of twice monthly or 24 times in a year. If at the same time he pays careful attention to proper diet and exercise he will have a long and healthy life.” Thus, if a man can manage the energy of ejaculation, he would be able to enjoy sex while becoming very youthful. This may be, in part, because men’s sexual energy is linked strongly to the Kidney Essence. A woman’s energy is linked more to the blood. Therefore, an untrained man’s ejaculation decreases the vitality of the Kidney essence more strongly, though there is some loss for a woman as well. There is a school of thought that implies that since untrained men project their energy so strongly through ejaculation, there is a net benefit to his female partner if she can absorb his energy. Even a trained tantrika or Taoist can “donate” this energy to a woman if he chooses; though much is to be said for mutual cultivation and conservation.

“Do not expel your semen needlessly. Do not expel your semen forcefully, as if dashing something down from the heights. You’ll upset the five main bodily organs, injure the life-energy channels and give rise to every kind of ailment as a consequence.”
– Ishimpo

Sun Si-Miao’s Guidelines
Age… Recommendation

30… Give up masturbation and study the Tao of Yin and Yang

40… Ejaculation control becomes mandatory and should be mastered

50… 1 emission every 20 days

60… 0 emissions, but frequent intercourse.
Exceptionally hearty men may emit 1x every 30 days

70… If very healthy, once in every 100 sexual couplings.

Dr. Sun thought that for most men, celibacy and abstaining from emission of semen was just as harmful as profligate ejaculation, a philosophy now being validated by modern Western medical science. His thought was that abstention disrupts one’s harmony of essence, energy, and spirit. He also says that abstinence will lead to erotic dreams and uncontrolled, unconscious nocturnal emissions. These he declared to be a hundred times more harmful than an ejaculation during normal intercourse.

Sun Si-Miao also recommended certain Taoist breathing and massage techniques to build power and longevity. © 2008 Keith E. Hall. All rights reserved.

Ejaculation Control part 2: The Yellow Emperor

Ejaculation Control and Mental, Spiritual, and Physical Health Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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Nudes by internationally renown photographer Petter Hegre

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.