Chapter 12 excerpt:

Plugging In, Charging Up - Two Powerful Energy-Generation Exercises

"Before I learned the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and the Mentalphysics exercises, I was constantly fatigued. As I look back on my life now, I realize my energy level was always below average. As a teen and in my twenties, I tired easily, and my sex drive was not what it should have been for a young man at that age. As I took on the pressures of being a husband, a father, a physician, and a surgeon, I found my energy level even more difficult to maintain. After I learned the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and the Mentalphysics exercises and began to practice them regularly, though, my energy level exploded. They literally changed my life. I cannot recommend these energy-generating exercises highly enough."

- Eric B. Robins, MD

The last of the six steps to self-healing is a pair of energy-generation exercises that are the crown jewels of such exercises. The first is called "Tibetan Yogic Exercises," though it is also known as "The Rejuvenation Rite." The second is called "Mentalphysics" exercises.

There are better-known energy-generating exercises, including some forms of yoga, different types of breathwork, chi kung, and tai chi. But none offers the rapid prana-generating potential, or is as easy to perform as the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and Mentalphysics exercises. This isn't to say, though, that the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and Mentalphysics exercises are completely unknown. Both are practiced by people today, though knowledge of the Tibetan Yogic Exercises is more widespread. What isn't known, however, is exactly why these exercises are so effective. Very few people - and virtually no one outside those who have taken a special class from Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui - know that a series of simple modifications makes these routines even more powerful, easier, and quicker to perform.

Both the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and the Mentalphysics exercises are part of that larger body of ancient esoteric root teachings that spiritual masters and teachers throughout history, such as Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui, have passed on to their students. They are a powerful addition to your health routine because they drive prana from the lower chakras to the upper chakras, so that this energy is then more easily distributed throughout the body to help regenerate it. The Tibetan Yogic Exercises have the added benefits of drawing down tremendous amounts of spiritual energy and physicalizing it into the body, as well opening the body's two main prana pumping stations: the neck and the lower back.

Even though these exercises build upon pranic breathing, we present them to students after they learn pranic breathing because they are both higher-level practices that generate a lot of energy. As one practitioner reports, "After doing the Mentalphysics exercises, my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies are rejuvenated and energetically charged with clean, fresh energy. I feel balanced and am experiencing a more positive outlook on life." Additionally, students understand the energy involved in the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and Mentalphysics exercises more easily after theyâve been introduced to energetic hygiene and meditation, especially Meditation on Twin Hearts.

The Tibetan Yogic Exercises

The Tibetan Yogic Exercises are five simple postures whose benefits include greater overall energy, increased or recovered sex drive, weight loss, and even regeneration of hair. Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui taught them to his private students for years, but they've been popularized through two recent books, "The Five Tibetans," by Christopher S. Kilham, and the "The Five Rites of Rejuvenation," by Peter Kelder, the original book that introduced the exercises to the Western public and to which Kilham gives credit. The Kelder book has now been reissued under the title "Ancient Secrets of the Fountain of Youth." Kelder learned the routine from a retired British army officer, who had been taught them by a group of Tibetan monks in the Himalayas. There are Chinese and Indian versions of these exercises, as well, but the Tibetan form is presented here because it are the easiest to perform, while still retaining great energetic potency - especially with Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui's modifications.

Mentalphysics exercises

The Mentalphysics routine is a set of breathing exercises originally developed by Edwin J. Dingle, an esoteric scholar and cartographer who lived and studied in China and Tibet in the early part of this century. While on an expedition in the mountains of Tibet, he was robbed and then attacked by wild animals and left for dead in the wilderness. A Tibetan Lama saved his life with herbs and energy healing. The Lama also gave him a secret set of exercises to nurse him back to health, which Dingle introduced to his students as the Mentalphysics exercises. The original exercises by themselves are quite powerful and enable practitioners to increase their general prana supply substantially. The original routine is also quite lengthy: up to 49 breaths that take a full hour. The modified Mentalphysics exercises presented here can be performed in less than nine minutes with a tenfold increase in power.

The Power of the Mentalphysics Exercises

"When I first went to teach PRANIC HEALING in Chicago a few years ago, I was informed that there would be a 92-year old woman attending the class. I was concerned that she might not be strong enough to do all the practices for two full days. Two local workshop organizers laughed and said, "She can walk around the block faster than most 30-year-olds!" Then they told me the woman's story. Laura Appelgren was diagnosed with breast cancer five decades ago. Her doctors in Wisconsin, where she lived at the time, wanted to perform a mastectomy immediately. She declined. Shortly thereafter, she read an ad in a magazine that said, "Knowledge is power. Come and learn to breathe in the desert." It was an ad for the Institute of Mentalphysics. Against her husband's wishes, she took a train and "learned to breathe" in the desert for a week with Edwin J. Dingle. After practicing the exercises for a while, her cancer was completely gone. She continued the exercises for the next 50 years.

"I had Laura lead the class in the Mentalphysics exercises. Most of the class, which was much younger than Laura, couldn't keep up with her pace.

"At the time of her passing - in her sleep, peacefully - Laura still had all her teeth, and didn't need glasses to see or hearing aids to hear."

- Master Stephen Co

Energy-Generating Tips

These apply to both the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and the Mentalphysics exercises.

1. Perform the exercises in an open area with good ventilation. Performing them outside is ideal (but not in the sun; the solar prana is too strong). If you're doing them indoors, keep the windows open to allow fresh air in.

2. For comfort, wear loose clothing, and perform the exercises on an empty stomach.

3. Shower or bathe before practicing these exercises, not after; water washes away prana.

4. The optimum time for performing these exercises is following meditation, especially in the morning. After you meditate, perform your post-meditation grounding routine and exercises. Then, perform either the Tibetan Yogic Exercises or Mentalphysics exercises.

5. Practice good energetic hygiene. Beginners typically have energy bodies that are dirty and unaccustomed to handing as much prana as these exercises generate. Before you begin your practice of the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and Mentalphysics exercises, review the energetic hygiene routine at the end of chapter 10. At minimum, do the following:
- keep your diet clean and healthy
- keep your meditation and energy-generation practice area clean; clean it at least once a week with one of the methods in chapter 10
- perform the cleansing physical exercises and pranic breathing daily
- take a salt bath two or three times a week

6. It's best not to practice these exercises in the evening, at least until you see how you react to them. Because they produce a lot of energy, you might have difficulty falling asleep.

7. If the exercises produce physical discomfort, discontinue them until you speak to your physician. As noted, the exercises are simple to perform, but every person has an individual threshold for activity and discomfort. If you have any physical problems before performing them or experience discomfort during the exercises, stop and consult your physician.

8. If you feel jittery or overenergized, stop and take a break. Donât go any further in your practice. Perform general sweeping to clear away the excess prana, and take a salt bath, if necessary. Resume practice after your energy condition is stabilized.

9. Pick one of the two routines and become proficient with that one before going on to the other. Don't jump into performing both the Tibetan Yogic Exercises and the Mentalphysics exercises at the same time. Try both routines to see which feels better for you and to get the coordination of the movements down. But choose one or the other as you begin to practice in earnest. After you become comfortable with one exercise, incorporate the other into your daily routine.

10. You can perform the entire Mentalphysics routine immediately, but build up your practice of the Tibetan Yogic Exercises gradually. Begin with three to five repetitions of each exercise and add three to five more each week, until you're performing 21 repetitions of each exercise. If you feel you're making more rapid progress, you can accelerate your schedule. But this is a proven, safe, effective schedule for the Tibetan Yogic Exercises.

11. Many people like to perform the Tibetan Yogic Exercises or Mentalphysics exercises after their post-meditation exercises. Meditation provides a good energetic warm-up, and the cleansing physical exercises provide a good physical warm-up before beginning these powerful energy-generation routines. If, however, you are performing either of these routines on their own, we advise that you stretch for about five minutes to loosen your joints. The cleansing physical exercises are a good warm-up.

12. Students often inquire whether they can practice the "original," or unmodified, Tibetan Yogic Exercises and Mentalphysics. Absolutely. See the For Further Reference section for the books that include them. Our experiences has been, however, that once students practice both the original and modified versions of both exercises, they find that the modified exercises generate more prana and are easier to perform. Additionally, in the case of the Mentalphysics exercises, the modified routine takes about one-sixth of the time.