Interview with Sarina Stone

Sarina Stone is a registered Universal Healing Tao (UHT) Practitioner, a Certified Medical  Qigong educator, practitioner and consultant. She specializes in Taoist (Natural) ways of attaining and maintaining optimal health and extending longevity.  From the Tao Garden in Thailand, she offers a regular health and wellness podcast.  She and her guests share insights on alchemy and the evolution of human consciousness.

Similar to William U. Wei, Sarina is a long-time student of Master Mantak Chia.  As the result, both have grown into teachers who offer unique guidance in areas of Tao healing.

 

Thanks Sarina for responding to this interview conducted as you lead up to your upcoming UHT -Australia CNT course on the Gold Coast.

 

For those unfamilliar with your life and background, please share key experiences that led you to connect with Master Mantak Chia. 

About 28 years ago, I had severe scoliosis.  The double curvature in my spine impeded organ and gland function such that by 5 PM each day I had to lie flat on my back or I was too exhausted to function.  Digestion was horrible and my fascia and lymphatic systems were constantly inflamed or overtaxed.

At that time I was the fairy god manager for a small theater company in Minneapolis. The artistic director came to the studio one day with the garage sale find… he paid $0.50 for a book and a cassette tape by a man I’d never heard of, Master Mantak Chia. The book and tape spoke of bringing the smiling mind inside the body to facilitate change on a molecular level. We, the artistic director and I, begin to incorporate these techniques into massage therapy sessions directed at straightening my spine. About seven months later I was sitting by myself on a stone bridge that overlooked a waterfall and realized I had been sitting up straight, without effort, for about 10 minutes. I wept.

Love synchronicity! As it happens, I had a scoliosis, though not as severe as yours.  Part of growing aware of energy flow certainly changed by relationship to my body. Tears are like peeling the layers away of what we no longer need in order to grow conscious of the next step of our destiny, is that not so? 

It was at that moment that I had an epiphany . I had to meet this master. I had to incorporate these practices into my life. Within a few months I found myself in New York City sitting feet away from Master Chia as he taught the same practices contained in the book and cassette. I asked him how he became so good at Medical QiGong, so powerful. And his reply was,” I became a teacher. I have to practice every day.”  

Daily acts of self-love change how everything is created and experienced. Is this encounter with Master Chia the turning point that prompted you to become a certified UHT practitioner?

All of the above are the key life experiences that lead me to connect with Master Chia and become a certified Universal Healing Tao (UHT) practitioner and educator by 1995.

How have the practices you teach changed the way you see and feel within yourself?

My own digestive issues, my own body aches were the greatest motivators for becoming specialized in the healing arts.  We tend to teach that which we need to learn J

What simple yet life-altering message! We teach what we are meant to learn. Master Chia himself also offers a wealth of insights, such as those during a recent London Real interview on How to strengthen your Chi. It resonates that we draw into our lives exactly what we need with perfect timing.

Your sharing here Sarina, reminds us of the power beyond, how we orchestrate exactly what the Soul needs on its unique path of growth.  When we permit it, intuition is the reliable guide for going with our feelings, embracing the unforeseen shifts in our life purpose and directon. 

As you are returning to Australia for upcoming workshops to follow up on your 2016 and 2017 visits, why is it especially useful for massage therapists and other healers to take this training?

As interest continues to grow in Chi Nei Tsang (CNT), I am coming in July to offer a unique 3 day course.

This trainig is the perfect adjunct to any healing practitioners repertoire. It addresses 70% of the clients immune system, ability to digest, absorb and eliminate, muscular tension and pain, inflammation, organ health, mental health and emotional health…all with one modality!

Let's begin with the basics: what is Chi Nei Tsang (CNT)?  Why do people do it or benefit from it?

CNT abdominal massage is a combination of hands on visceral massage and energy work (QiGong, Chi Kung). Technically, it is a healing branch of Medical QiGong (medicinal energy work). Medicine deals with the health and well-being of the body. Balance and rebalance are important when people feel less than optimium.

Taoist nature is also symbolic, about being without force.  It is the way of allowing.  Please expand on this intelligent energy.

The Soul and Spirit are intelligent energy. They condense energy to incarnate into a body to interconnect, grow and develop the energy. 

Think of Qi (Energy) in its simplest form as “electromagnetic energy”.  The same stuff that sparks throughout the brain and nervous system.  If there is a clear pathway to each part of the body the electromagnetic energy will bring information via that pathway to every organ, gland and cell.  If the pathway gets congested, we simply do not have the energy required to facilitate fullest function or the information the body requires for the constant state of self adjustment and self healing.  If electromagnetic energy is cut off long enough, systems begin failing. 

CNT can assist the body in removing emotional and physical blockages to allow for maximum energetic flow.

And unhindered flow is the natural state of being. The impact of emotional blockages is so often unrecognized and underestimated.  Your Intro to Chi Nei Tsang (CNT) recognizes the flow of energy, how it affects health and points people to learn practices to help localize issues and heal. Many people can appreciate and benefit from the such teachings. 

This said, how does this relate to the flow of Chi and healthy sexuality?What impact does it have on Anti-Aging, cellular regeneration, Restorative energy? 

It takes energy to orgasm.  It takes energy to self heal and stay young.  It takes energy to live fully.  

Ah-ha! mastering energy is key to mastering emotions and mastering oneself.  So many paths available to us.Reminding people sexual energy is simply another channel of flow that can be blocked or open is itself illuminating about so much more happening in and around the body.

On this note, some of our visitors ask if you can expand on the Jade Egg practice. 

This is an exercise tool that will be discussed during the course. Over 5000 years ago, it was understood that women create energy with their menstrual cycles and do not have to lose that energy (outward).  Jade Egg practice can be used to pull energy upward (in particular, energy in the ovaries and the uterus). The upcoming course will introduce this technique as a step one can move into in more depth as boundaries, use of space and energy are mastered.

What does the upcoming 3-day course curriculum in July 2018 involve exactly?

The Ultimate Training for Massage Therapists-  Items covered for Gold Coast CNT Level One Certification Workshop

Diagnostic tools
At least 2 fascia and skin clearing Chi Nei Tsang protocols
Seated Medical QiGong (Inner Alchemy organs meditation)
At least 3 colon detox Chi Nei Tsang protocols
At least 2 small intestine Chi Nei Tsang protocols
1 Nerve Activation technique for improving organ function
1 psoas release technique
Basic nutrition for intestinal health education
1 acid reflux technique
1 spine release technique (erector muscles)
Multiple abdominal self-massage techniques
Introduction to the Jade Egg exercises for women (men have opportunity to learn as well)
You will leave this course with specific Medical QiGong and Chi Nei Tsang abdominal massage protocols and exercises to activate and detoxify the body. You will understand why optimal organ, brain and spine function are the secrets to radiant health and longevity and have a clear understanding of what Chi Nei Tsang and seated Medical QiGong can do to improve physical and mental health.

That sounds jam-packed. I hear Adam Gokmen is also offering some pre-course UHT exercises.

By the way, can you expand on the idea of Tendon power?

We will not be addressing that in depth this time (in the upcoming course).  However, it should be known that electromagnetic energy travels through the nerve and skeletal systems, through the tendons and in to each muscle.  If the tendons are hard and blocked, muscle tissue does not get the signal to respond fully.  Over time the tissue reacts by shortening due to lack of use.  This REALLY hurts J We all need good tendon health to stay young and strong. 

Ultimately, Tendon Power is one secret to strength, youth & suppleness.  If the tendon is too hard, the energy signal cannot penetrate so the muscle will not fire at full capacity.  The muscle will become stiff and this hurts!  Also, hard tendons increase the chance of over stretching, which causes hypermobility or tearing.  Different massage techniques exist to work out the knots.   

Knots do occur in other part of the body as well.  Digestive issues arise for many people that are often poorly understood.  How can a person use abdominal massage to loosen food in the belly (release undigested food) as an option to/ if not doing a colonic?

Daily self-massage, done a particular way, literally breaks up and moves stuck fecal matter in both the large and small intestine.  Done weekly or more, Chi Nei Tsang abdominal self-massage can also induce peristaltic action in the large intestine thus moving food for a lifetime with no unnatural or invasive action. 

Furthermore, Chi Nei Tsang abdominal massage is an educational experience that includes conversation that will guide a person to “feel” when something they ate did or did not “agree” with them.  If we avoid foods that inflame the intestines and are conscious about maintaining healthy gut bacteria, we are more likely to digest, absorb and eliminate effectively each day and forego the need for outside sources to clean out.

Your encouragement to feel the way through health and wellness is so powerful. 

Please share some practices to circulate energy to help release tightness in the diaphragm, heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen and pancreas or other organs you view as significant. What can people do to stabilize and eliminate recurrent energetic imbalances?

I will do that and more in class J However the list below has links to specific practices, in a specific order that will energize and detoxify the organs as well as stabilize energetic imbalances over time.

Basic Medical QiGong practices that train us to send smiling energy to the organs, transform negative emotional energy in to positive vitality, circulate, refine and store our own life force are:

The Inner Smile Meditation

The Six Healing Sounds Meditation

The MicroCosmic Orbit Meditation

What would you recommend for people to feel more physically free and clean in their bodies? 

Come to class and begin your Medical QiGong training now.  Don’t wait.  Every day you spend emotionally or physically out of control is a day less appreciated. 

 Whether you are a therapist looking to integrate this into your practice or just looking to improve your own health, this course is for everyone interested in taking health to the next level!

Come learn methods of combining the power of the mind with 5,000 year old techniques (abdominal massage) for improving digestion, relieving toxic illness and opening channels in the body so we may improve the flow of blood, oxygen, cerebral spinal fluid and vital energy to the brain and organs.

If you truly cannot create a space to study with a living teacher, then begin study on line.  Eventually, you will master your thought processes and manifest your living teacher.  Master yourself, master your life.

What is the Healing Love practice?

Healing Love is the name Tao Master Mantak Chia gave to the art of cultivating, refining, circulating and storing reproductive energy for men and women. 

The title is exclusively used by Universal Healing Tao certified educators across the globe and their students.

The Gold Coast course will touch on this briefly as we discus why the Jade Egg practice for women helps strengthen the urogenital diaphragm and the importance of doing so.

How do Chi Nei Tsang and Medical QiGong practices revitalize physical and mental health? 

Since Chi Nei Tsang abdominal massage is a branch of Medical QiGong it, like most QiGong forms, addresses the physical, mental and energetic parts of ourselves.  The nature of this particular practice at its root is to simultaneously energize and detoxify.  The practice proves that electromagnetic energy is influenced by human emotion and indeed, human emotions generate their own Qi (Chi). 

Chi Nei Tsang supports not only the body to stay clean and energized, but offers tools to transform negative emotional energy in to positive vitality for health and longevity.

What can people do regularly to strengthen the relationship between humanity, the planet Earth and the universe?

Remember the Law of Attraction is in play 24 hours a day.  The Universe mirrors back what is in your heart and mind promptly…positive or negative.  If your desire is to be connected to your community, your planet and your self, then visualize this daily and make it happen.

Smile.  Accept the things you cannot change…and remember that nine times out of ten the patient on the operating table is ourself J 

What do you see as the connection between humanity and the universe?

What I see and what I have felt is an intrinsic relationship between humanity and the building blocks of the Universe.  At some point, unconditional love becomes the most important healing factor.  This is The Way of Nature.  Perhaps, this connectivity is the feeling of spirituality?

What would you like to leave as advice or a vision with our readers?

The secret ingredient to having a great life and a radiant body is love.  Find something to love, respect and appreciate in all situations and you have unlocked the door to paradise on earth and beyond.

Sarina, it is a joy to connect with you.  You can hear more about her extensive work on her website and during interviews such as on Lilou Mace's Juicy Living Tour Chi Nei Tsang and sexual energy of the Tao.

 

Interview with Adam Gokmen

Adam Gokmen is a Universal Tao Healing Instructor,  Healing Tao Australia manager and national coordinator for diverse healing events.  He brings Professor William U.Wei, Grand Master Mantak Chia in for extended workshops.  He invites instructors of healing arts and other serious students to develop or update their skills and spiritual practices in different areas.

I connect with Adam after reading books by Mantak Chia and William U. Wei, and discover colleagues have attended some of their training events. Its exciting to offer glimpses of ways to explore subtle energies, see universal philosophies are gaining momentum and taking root.

Thanks Adam for taking time-out to share some insights.

Which life events prompted you to develop an interest in Tao healing practices? 

Coming from kung fu martial arts background, i could relate to the eastern practices. My kung fu style had a number of internal practices.  As i was advancing in them, i got onto master chia's books to fine tune my practices and help me correct and guide my chi energy more efficiently.

Notable is how frequently martial arts students shift and recognize connections between streams. Aikido and Qigong introduced me to unifying with life energy and were also the stepping stones to explore other eastern traditions and practices.

What prompted you to switch from kung fu and become a Tao Healing Instructor? 

After 6 years of reading all master chia's books and self-teaching myself, i knew it was time to go over to train and get certified by the grand master as my vision was to do so and then bring the Universal Healing Tao system to Australia were we can have access to the wealth and power of the ancient taoist practices made simply to follow and practice by master chia.

Good on you for actualizing that vision to deepen self-understanding and also to serve and empower others.  How has this process affected or changed you?

Qigong, inner alchemy, tai chi and other powerful practices (Tibetan and Indian) are what i have practised.This has changed my life in many ways; my energy and internal strength, work & business, the  different ways one views life and balances me emotionally and spiritually.

Just as the 2Cellos I Will Wait , it is like we are each inviting the experience heaven within (and on Earth) at our own pace, though whatever we are intuitively drawn to create.

This said, its common for martial arts teachers to have muliple income streams, or, to teach healing arts part-time and generate income from other activities.  Do you notice a trend to balance more than one holistic job or healing practice?

  As The Tao is limitless, never closed- or single-minded, same goes with different practices.  We believe you can get the goodness out of all the holistic arts and practices, what works for one may be opposite or different for others as we are all different internally. At the end of the day, its all the same energy and force were working with.

Many people relate to Bruce Lee who viewed himself as an ambassador of chinese martial arts. He offered lectures about the wisdom of masters.  In  A Warrior's Journey, Lee explains "water is the softest substance in the world yet it can penetrate the hardest...water also is insubstantial, you cannot grasp water, cannot punch or hurt it every martial artist is aiming to be like that, soft like water an adapt himself to his opponent."  A warriors journey explains the states martial artists goes through in evolution from ignorance to enlightenment. Bruce Lee echoes, The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. What is the taoist view?

Taoists believe there is an intelligent, guiding force, Tao, permeating the universe. Taoism is a natural philosophy more than a religion, and one that cultivates a keen awareness of the cycles and forces of nature, as well as its myriad and nuanced interrelationships. In Taoism, the forces of the world and those within us are an expression of the binary opposites called yin and yang. Cultivating a clear and empty mind and a body that moves like water are the goals of practice. Indeed, in a very real sense, Taoists worship water as the ultimate example of precisely the spontaneous, relaxed quality they want to see in themselves.

As the world is expanding consciousness, the West is seeing an influx of Eastern healing teachings and related wisdom.  Some say it is part of a process of integration. What stands out to you about Healing Tao Australia? 

The universal healing tao system is a practical system of self-development that enables people to complete the harmonious evolution of there physical, mental and spiritual bodies through a series of ancient Chinese meditative and internal energy excises. Not many ‘systems’ can offer this, as were working with real energies ( internal and external we know its real , we know there’s a force there and we can FEEL it.

Why not get involved in another martial art or healing practice?

Intuition. Our vision is to give the concept of the Tao creating the desire to manifest and practice the Tao in those students who are sincere, humble and deserving to practice the Tao. The humble can only perceive the truth and the truth will set you free. These four practices below will open up your Emotional, Physical, Mental, Energetic- Spiritual bodies if you are wisdom enough to practice them.

Tell us about different styles of tai chi.  
 
There are hundreds of tai chi forms. Master chia put many forms into just a handful to cover most yin and yang elements. His books illustrate tai chi literally means Yin & Yang energy (Duality).

Why are people drawn to this practice? 

The energetic purpose of tai chi is cultivate the qi or life energy within so it flows smoothly and powerfully through the body.  People are drawn to what they are ready for.  Sometimes people are sick and wish to get well.  Other times people are well and wish to sustain or build on this. Different forms of exercise maintain strength, flexibility, and balance.  Different tai chi forms are all versions of meditation in motion. Meditation is a process of re-balancing that goes on.

Right! It is like a conscious re-calibration or shift in vibration when one feels things energetically.

So, while walking through parks, its increasingly common to see older people practicing Qigong alone or in groups. People also gather outside in cities.  Where is it most natural to practice? 

Outdoors in nature is more energetic, but as your energy gets more refined and strong, it doesn’t matter where you practice.  You will feel the energy inside of you spinning and flowing through your meridians and channels.  Inside is your temple, your cave, your universe, so that’s when you can feel one with the great force. I started outside for the first year of my practices.  Now. I can do it anywhere, any time and for as long or short as I wish.
 
Tai chi and Qigong offer many mental and physical benefits.  Tell us about those and share some examples you have witnessed as an instructor.
 
Seeing students more balanced, more healthy and with more chi is most rewarding, turning tired depleted eyes into bright strong balanced energy windows and unbalanced organs clogged up in emotions into energy centres that produce and store energy is the way.  Some examples include; better mood, with lower levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. greater aerobic capacity and muscle strength. more energy and stamina. enhanced flexibility, balance, and agility.

In a similar light, Harvard Medical School Women's Health Watch offers a thorough article on tai chi benefits. 

 What kind of connection do you see between Tao healing practices and promoting immortality? (reintegrating this idea from possibility to reality into our conscious awareness)

The Immortal Tao is the Highest Inner Alchemy Practice in the Universal Healing Tao System. This is the process of transforming the Physical Body into the Spirit Body. It is a steam process of transformation from the physical form into the spirit form. Once this is completed you can materialize and dematerialize at will, having the ability to travel beyond time and space moving beyond the North Star (Center of our Galaxy) and breaking the Karmic Wheel so you never have to come back into time and space.  The Immortal UHT practices are broken down into Two Levels. The First Level is the Kan & Li Meditations: the Kan & Li (Water & Fire) meditations of Lesser Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Navel), Greater Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Solar Plexus), and Greatest Kan & Li Enlightenment (Cauldron at the Heart). The Second Level is the Sealing of the Five Senses (Cauldron at the Crystal Room), Congress of Heaven and Earth, and the Reunion of Heaven and Man.

What are some changes you notice in yourself (energy, perception, behaviour) as the result of practicing Tao healing arts? How long have you been practicing?  

The benefits there’s to many to list. more internal energy and stronger organs and kidney energy, also slowing down the aging process are all benefits I have personally experienced with balancing my emotional state and opening channels to the higher plane and receiving and sharing energies. I have been doing Qigong for 17 years and the secret is to do just a little bit every day, give yourself 10 -15 mins a day.

Do you see a link between the length of time you practice consistently and the nature of awakening or expanding perception?

As were going deep and changing our DNA through inner alchemy practices we are constantly changing and shifting, perception, behaviour and realisation are shifting to higher planes while securing your love and respect and connection with mother earth.

If you had a piece of advice, something to offer, what would it be?
 
At the start of my practices I was full of questions always constantly asking for external help and support (which is good when your starting off) but I learnt through the years if you just look within and close the monkey mind off (ego) and connect with you true self (consciousness).  All the answers are here and they become available to you to use and learn from. Once you connect with the universe and earth energies you download wisdom, intuition, and power to strengthen your soul and sprit bodies. Trust in yourself, trust in the great force (tao) and feel and watch your life transform. To do this you need to practice , it doesn’t just come from wishful thinking you have to do the hard work and push through the barriers and obstacles like that saying ‘see the light at the end of the tunnel’ well with the tao we can see and feel that light anytime you just have to make that conscious decision when you want to activate it and feel it in this life time. Only through training in meditation can we still our minds to make conscious choices which is not only beneficial to yourself but also others because we are the whole and what affects us affects others. We are the most helpless creatures on the planet when we are born and have to be taught and learn to do everything. By training in the UHT practices, you start to rediscovery what you already know but are not conscious of it. Taoist practices give you time to become conscious. Freedom is the right to became without infringing or hindering anyone else’ right to become. Everyone has a right to be; that is our free will, which is our Divinity. With Freedom we take on great responsibilities for ourselves and our actions. The greatest freedom is discipline. In order to accomplish everything in life you need to focus and discipline yourself to achieve it and without discipline it will never happen. The Tao with its practices teaches you spiritual independence, which is not to be depend on anyone else, or thing for your existence and evolution. It takes great courage to be free and to experience consciously your freedom being divine. You let go of all your conditioning, institutionalization and physical limitation to be free and self-sufficient. All the bodies are just levels of consciousness.

Know that in the tao we are our own healers, own gurus, own doctors, own psychologist and own masters!

Its significant to notice Master Chia is widely respected for his sharing and teaching healing Tao work. As you say, all who are drawn to masters are seeing reflections of what is dormant in themselves.  We each invite ourselves to accept and actualize all we are. All roads lead to Rome. Thank you for offering some insight into what draws you to awaken and share reflections.

Please share any event updates.

We have an upcoming Chi Nei Tsang Workshop in Brisbane, and events with William U.Wei and Master Chia on the horizon.  For more infomation on future events & seminars in Australia please see www.healingtaoaustralia.com/events