Links
If you'd like to link another website with Alchemical Taoism.com, click here for information.
TheTaoBums.com - Taoist Discussion Site
Taoist, Buddhist, Non-sectarian cultivation. Transcendent, mundane, talking through the middle.
Many long time participants of the HT-USA discussion site found that they were, increasingly, not aligned with the HT context. (Even in acknowledge of the very broad - nearly unlimited - latitude of posts that the HT admin allowed on that site.) In late 2004, the HT site went down for a short period, and TheTaoBums was initially created as an interim place for discussion participants to meet and discuss... However, for many, it became a more appropriate place altogether: a place to discuss that did not have the implicit context of any particular system.
Free online lessons and support forum, books for sale. Good reputation amongst the online community. Surprisingly clear descriptions of advanced yogic methods.
TraditionalTao.com
and Foundation Training Forum
David Shen Verdesi's site, and discussion site. Connected to a number of high level authentic Taoist teachers, including Wang LiPing
(the main character in the book Opening the Dragon
Gate). Within this discussion forum you will find some of the most
honest, experienced, and authentically well informed discussions regarding
"sex: illusions and potentials - the reality of the sexual
practices". Let me say that it is extremely rare to find such
frank discussions on this topic, despite everyone talking about it. The broader context of this site is serious spiritual study and
practice under the guidance of Genuine Lineage.
The official English blog of Shen Laoshi, who is a student of Daoist Master Wang Liping of the Dragon Gate Sect (Longmen Pai). Astounding! Impressive posts on the microcosmic orbit ("small heavenly orbit").
Sun Do Mountain Taoist Breathing Meditation
Preserved in the mountains by hermits, this authentic Taoist system re-emerged into Korean society in 1967. Contains extensive training of the lower tan tien (referred to as "tan cheon" in this system). Now being taught at a number of centers in North America, Europe, and Asia. Highly recommended.
Sun Do's breath technique, in a single cycle of breath, both massages the physical and concentrates into the deep-center: a key combination that gradually results in sound foundation, profound development, of the lower tan cheon. The breath changes through stages of practice, the details of which you get by staying in good communication with an instructor, as you progress.
Dr. Jampa MacKenzie Stewart's Healing Tao Institute, in Austin, TX.
The Chi Nei Tsang Institute, in Berkeley, CA.
More information about women's sexuality.
Liz Koch's educational and informational resource focused on the psoas muscle. Articles, workshop schedule, and books available on the Psoas muscle and related subjects.
Alternative Fitness Resources - body-weight exercises, at-home fitness, strength, stretching, joint-mobility. Several resources seem to be popular with the qi gong crowd; details at linked sites.
Scott Sonnon (Intu-Flow is the essential product.)
Scott Sonnon has a unique approach to the physical form that focuses on the unraveling of what he dubs “fear reactivity.” Fear reactivity is the memory of physical, emotional and “psychic” trauma stored in the body (especially at the layer of fascia) and made manifest via a lack of range of motion in the joints. One could say: “flexibility is a snap-shot of life, while range-of-motion is life itself.” Coach Sonnon hypothesizes that dissolving fear reactivity allows one to reach one’s true potential—on many levels. His students have practically turned his hypothesis into a law. They can be witnessed taking range-of-motion exercises and evolving them into full-body “flows” called kinetic chains, and wielding the modern version of the gada (weighted club) in a circular strength program that most closely approximates real-world stimuli. By far the best part of Scott’s world is his discussion board: when one signs up, one officially becomes part of “the tribe” which boasts some of the most sophisticated and supportive “seekers” on the Internet.
[Webmaster's notes:
In Taoist internal martial arts, the connective
tissue, fascia~tendons~ligaments~joints~marrow, is a continuum through
which integration occurs. Scott Sonnon's work taps into that spectrum, not in
exactly the
way as the Taoist internal martial art's do, but still in a way that is very beneficial.
A very unusual system, and highly recommended. His Intu-Flow
product is the foundation of his system.
WARNING RE: THE NECK - See Neck Isometrics
page.]
Stadion.com - Thomas Kurz's website. Includes his dvd, Secrets of Stretching (easily worth the $50) and his book, Stretching Scientifically. Kurz takes the approach that leg strength is a necessary complement to stretching in order to get good flexibility (splits), and so he includes a really comprehensive set of leg strengthening exercises, from many different angles, using a variety of modalities. As you can see from Kurz's pictures, his approach results in strength and stability leveraged deeply into the pelvic region. Obvious benefits to jing gong.
Thomas Kurz demonstrating strength and flexibility.
Matt Furey is considered the greatest fitness marketer of the Internet age. His claim-to-fame is a course entitled “Combat Conditioning.” Combat Conditioning revolves around three body-weight exercises that he learned from the legendary wrestler Karl Gotch who picked them up during his travels in India many years ago. Daily performance of these three exercises (called the “royal court”, of which, bridging is "the king") can whip a person into functional shape VERY fast. [WEBMASTER'S NOTE: Breathing into the lower tan tien while bridging can be an effective tool for relieving bound up sexual tension (a common difficulty for men, and that goes triple if practicing semen retention).]
(Thanks! again to Plato Rosinke, for recommending and writing up the above two resources.)
Also, see the bottom of the stretching essay for Taoist yoga resources.
Vibration Platforms
Originally researched by Russian and U.S. space programs to help astronauts maintain bone density, vibration platforms have
recently (circa 2005) entered the physical therapy, fitness, and professional sports markets.
Vibration platforms send minute vibrations through every layer, tissue, organ of your body.
Various companies make them; soloflex's model seems to be the least expensive.
NOTE: If you don't have stagnation issues, if things flow smoothly for you and resolve, it could be that the vibration platform will do nothing for you. It's definitely a good product, and the cat's meow for some people, but it's expensive - and people do vary.
INTERNAL LINKS: healing love dangers, iron shirt packing breathing, lower tan tien breathing, pilates / tao yin, squats, balance training, stretching, massage tools. EXTERNAL LINKS: NASA article, YouTube video, wikipedia entry, plenty of other articles, videos, if you search for "vibration platform", "whole body vibration".
An excellent place to learn some of the fundamentals about Traditional Chinese Medicine, online (and for free).
Another site about Traditional Chinese Medicine.
online Acupuncture Research & Resource. Points, meridians, abstracts, links, palm-pilot version.
Another online graphical reference of channels and acupoints.
Qi: The Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness magazine and website.
All sorts of online articles about Taoism, various Chinese cultivation systems, Traditional Chinese medicine (a good place to hang out and read an article if you have a few minutes). It also has a good links section, with categories, and rated sites.
HealingPalm.com - information on acupressure.
Website-home of The Empty Vessel hard-copy Taoist quarterly magazine. Also: herbs, books, message board, seminars, and more.
If you're interested in Chinese Medicine (and many related topics), this is sort of the place that sells all the books that you'll find at colleges of oriental medicine. Use their online catalog, or request a mail order catalog.
An additional source of excellent books on Chinese Medicine.
Specializing in Chinese herbs, the live plants! Grow your own Chinese herbs. (Of course, additional sources available, if you search.)
Lycium barbarum, shrub that produces "gou qi zi" (lychi berries, goji berries).
A resource for Chinese herbs. Has an 800 number, you can call and talk to an herbalist (for free) and purchase their quality (I've tried 'em) herbal products, or get their free catalogue. If you're ill, you should see a doctor local to you, in person. However, if you're basically healthy and want to explore Chinese herbs to promote an increased level of health, then this is a good resource.
The Lin Institute: Research Center for Multiple Sexual Orgasms the website of Newman K. Lin, Ph.D., PE.
Dr. Lin's methods for semen retention are generally considered (by the participants at the HT-USA Discussion site) to be clearly superior to Mantak Chia's methods. (Though various other aspects of cultivation are not part of Dr. Lin's system.) Additionally, Dr. Lin's methods result in a love-making style that is far more satisfying for the majority of women.
Much of his material can be read right on his website (above), for free. However, there's quite a lot of material, and the presentation of his material is more clearly organized on his CD, which is highly recommended and can be purchased from the order form at his site.
Introductory links to his theory, methods.
Kundalini Resources A very important topic. These sites speak for themselves, provide their own reading references, and - perhaps most informative - provide personal experience stories online.
"Intentional Community" is an inclusive term for eco-villages, co-housing, residential land trusts, communes, student co-ops, urban housing cooperatives and other related projects and dreams... Site provides access to crucial resources & info for seekers of community, existing and forming communities, also clarifying/creating community where one already lives: Communities Magazine, Communities Directory (including an amazing interactive map of ic's - with a satellite to see terrain!) & Online List, Books by Category, E-Newsletter, too many other resources to list.
Urban permaculture. Many of the organic-farming and alternative-community models are... more rural, and more alternative, than a lot of us will practically get to. This excellent website chronicles the transformation of a single-family house in Los Angeles. "Our objective is to live as sustainably as possible in an urban environment". Online articles, links, blog, discussion forum, online store, and lots more.
I think that, particularly in an urban environment, organically growing some of your own food, and sharing surplus produce amongst neighbors... is good for body, house-hold, community, nature. (For most of us who are already living in an urban environment...) Its not so much about moving to an organic farming community, as it is becoming one.