Learning Small Circulation from the book

[Yue]

I'm sure this has been discussed before somewhere and my apologies if I am causing someone to repeat themselves, but I still have to ask: IS IT SAFE TO LEARN SMALL CIRCULATION FROM DR. YANG'S BOOK?

[Lo Han]

Hello there Yue,

Welcome to the forum. You can train from the book, and no one is going to stop you, BUT if you run into any trouble, and you don't have a teacher to guide you, some bad things can happen. Such issues have been addressed before on this forum. Check out the "tricky gates" thread. Someone left a whole set of examples as to how you can hurt yourself if things go wrong for you.

Best of luck,
Lo Han

[joeblast]

imho - if you're going to learn from a book, you might as well make it bookS, DVDs, hit it from as many perspectives as you can to get the clearest picture possible; establish a roadmap for yourself going forward. One of the caveats of going solo is that its easy to get ahead of yourself, therein lies the problem(s). That's not to say its necessarily dangerous to learn without a master, but a master will have that ever-so-advantageous outside perspective and will be able to teach you what you are ready to learn and can provide a clear path forward. I've been learning without a master and can attest to the challenge of having to put the puzzle pieces together. I think my biggest issue thus far has been just figuring out a regimen that works for me...I've read a lot about the whole picture and its tough to objectively look at yourself and determine when you are ready for more advanced techniques...or when you have mastered techniques you are presently working on, for that matter. Usually the problems arise from practicing things in too forceful of a manner that are meant to be very subtly practiced, or if you practice advanced techniques without having mastered the fundamental underlying techniques that provide the foundation for the advanced. Basics, basics, basics. They're basic for a reason!

Definitely get the Embyonic Breathing book if you want to learn small circulation. Personally, I've found that if there's a book and a DVD, get both because even though its ostensibly the same material, you pick up things in one format that you miss in another.

One thing I found strange is that the EB book didnt contain any mention of small small circulation (CV4-CV1-GV4) and SC contained that bit like halfway through the book. I'd think that would have been a good addition to EB, even if toward the end, in preparation for progressing on to SC. (in Mantak Chia's sitting meditation DVD he goes through small circulation and starts with small small and says to work on it for 2-3 weeks before progressing any further...made sense to me. I still want to get Dr Yang's DVDs though...just got Chia's because I found a good ebay deal on the lot of 'em! I love Dr Yang's presentation of theory and look forward to more.)

[Yue]

Thank you both for responding to my question. I have the Embryonic Breathing book and I think I understand the theory well enough, and I am beginning to grasp the theory taught in the Small Circulation book, so I think I am ready, but I just wanted to be sure I'm not guaranteed to hurt myself if I train without a master. I would train with a master, but there are none in my area.