Of interest to me, I found two Bay Area NLP practice groups; the East Bay NLP Meetup Group and the San Francisco Bay Area Hypnosis and NLP Practice Group. In addition I found a Universal Healing Tao group. Just last night I attended the taoist group and was very impressed.

We did Mantak Chia’s “inner smile” Qi Gong set, and it was very pleasant being in this room with about 12 other people while spending the time to resonate with each of my five elements and their associated organs. I’ve discovered that doing any type of Qi exercise in groups can be very beneficial, because in addition to getting your own mind and body to harmonize, you’ve also got the other participants resonating with your energy, thus amplifying your strength, and improving the overall power and serenity of the result.
Attending this meetup were several students and instructors of Chi Nei Tsang, an abdominal massage system based on Taoist principles and taught by Mantak Chia.

Check out these other Mantak Chia Resources.

Oakland has a couple of great Taoist attractions: The West coast Chi Nei Tsang institute is located here. In addition, Dr. Alex Feng runs the Zhi Dao Guan – The Taoist Center which hosts a free Taoist Meditation class on the last Friday of every month.

If you live in the bay area, I highly recommend expanding your social circle by getting involved in any of the organizations mentioned above.

Another Frantzis resource is the Ancient Songs of the TAO: Music of the Spheres
which are ancient taoist liturgies which Bruce himself sings.
He actually has different songs for different parts of the body and different types of emotion.
I find it an unusually trancey experience where I can feel parts of my body resonating with his “overtone” singing.
I really enjoy getting into a nice open state while playing one of these songs while doing an afternoon round of tai-chi.

For almost 2 years I have wanted to take NLP practitioner training. I had studied many, many audio tapes and books, but I really wanted the experience of practicing with willing partners.

So last October I started an NLP Practitioner Training with nlpca.com, Tim Hallbom was my primary instructor. After 6 months of one 3 day weekend every month, I finally have my NLP practitioner certificate.

Some of the benefits I got from the program include:

1. I have an effective model of subjective experience. With a willing, open minded subject I can now catalyze major shifts in peoples perceptions, habits and illnesses. I didn’t really expect to be able to improve my powers of keen observation and subtle suggestion as effectively as I did.

2. I am much more aware of subtle modes of communication. This has changed my tai-chi, I now feel my Qi more strongly and directly. Best of all, my push hands is more sensitive, rooted, powerful and subtle.

3. I understand what motivates me in major areas of my life, and how to change them.

4. I now have a personal vision of building transformational communities online.

5. I have built really strong bonds with my class mates, I care about them in a ways which were totally unexpected for me.

5. I feel like my life has shifted in a fundamental way. My opportunities are limitless, my motivation is renewed, I feel centered and happy for most of every day.

Next Steps? I will be continuing with my Master Practitioner Training, 3 more months where we will focus on re-imprinting, language patterns and other advanced topics.

Since my last post, I’ve created a new morning ritual (These things should change depending on your need, don’t stagnate). I listen to an hour of holosync www.centerpointe.com while practicing Tai-chi Sword, Tai-chi open hand, Qi Gong and standing meditation. I try to do this 6 days a week (whenever possible) every morning at 6am.

This has been great! My Tai Chi has improved so much! my ability to percieve my surroundings has also expanded greatly. I now have a dedicated hour of practice and meditative activity every morning, and I don’t need to set any alarms, the one hour holosync session does my timing for me!

The Imagination leads the mind, and the mind leads the Qi

That makes imagination the root skill of both!
Both also encourage a kind of “trance state” where you remove the mental noise of the day and focus on just what you are doing now.After continued practice you will be able to “feel” the Qi flowing along the same path where you only “imagined” it earlier.

In self hypnosis, it is also common to “imagine” or “visualize” a positive outcome while in a trance state. This trains your subconscious and “retrains” your brain accordingly. By repeating this visualization with belief and intensity, you prepare yourself to allow the desireable outcome to occur.

Very similar underneath, don’t you think? I guess it’s not too suprising, since our brains seem to be hard-wired for it internally.