Hi

I have tried a lot of Qigong and healing visualization in the 3 last years and I have come up with this little exercise that it's very helpful.  I call it Shutdowning the brain (or the matrix). 

I was someone that used too much his mental energy and I found that over brain activity caused a lot "feedback" in it.  The brain was never "relax", always in action, causing lost of energy and chemical imbalance.  Also, I think the brain is a bidirectional interface between our soul/consciousness and our body.  I think that the brain feed back had an effect on the body (causing bioelectric stress in it) and also released uncontrolled energies in my consciousness field causing static energy blockage. 

So I think it's very important to relax the brain for a good health and also to have deeper insight and deeper meditations. here my exercise:

1- With eyes closed, and after few long and deep breath, feel your brain cortex.  Breath through it.
2- After your feel it, imagine your brain the way you want.
3- Imagine that you touch your brain with your hands, and FEEL it.  It will bind the feeling to the visualization creating a strong connection.
4- Now, see the brain activity the way you want.  For exemple, I like to see interconnected vectors  with light going through it, or sometime, I just imagine a big city that I see from the sky that has a lot of traffics and lights in it.
5- Imagine now, that you push the shutdown button, that will end all this activities.  See the lights going off, see the activity slowly going down.  If a thought happen, see light going "on" and shutdown it again.
6- Do this layer by layer. Do not force it.
7- When most of the brain activity is down, see the Shinning in the middle of your head that was always hidden by the activity and light.  Feel it, feel your pure consciousness without the "distortion" of the brain activity and layers of beliefs.
8- Rest in peace with It and let it grow.  Don't force anything

Enjoy!

Greetings,

" see the Shining in the middle of your head that was always hidden
by the activity and light.  Feel it, feel your pure consciousness ...."

This is wonderful that you have found a path to quieting the mind! 
You mention that you had two traditions that perhaps influenced you.
Recently another site member tried  a personal new technique whereby the light spot was put  outside himself, and that about ripped him apart. It brings up a slight but very important aspect that we ARE a spot of light, and we can call to or appeal to the All-Pervasive God-Light to ask that it comes to us. But we cannot create or command the great all-pervasive light.
These lights must be more than symbols and must be our direct perception of Life energies, the source of all life.
There was a reason I believe that past spiritual practices were taught only to those monks who adhered to strict orders, and that was to keep them from experimenting without knowledge of the power of such energies.

I'm grateful to people like you, Phantasy Man, who are   e x t e n d i n g   our spiritual knowledge from what we can learn from past masters.
Please put up with my caution, PhantasyMan. I love you guys and don't want you harmed.

PUL, Bets

What just comes to my mind when I read Bets' post was, I once had headaches, and of course wished they might go away. So I tried something, in my mind I went from the top of my head where the aches were concentrating, up about one or two feet above my head and concentrated on that point. The result was, the headaches decreased noteable, but I felt really detached, sick and ill. With some training though, and caution, I've come to believe that there is some sort of additional energy knot, like an additional chakra there. Ever heard of something like that?

Spooky

Phantasy man,
normally, in my case, fears, worries, concerns and such seem to affect the region in the middle of my body, which is often quite a problem; in the last time I pay much attention to this and don't allow that to happen. I act in two ways: One is an affirmation, like: "Don't be bothered by this. Focus on the here and now.", the other is, to de-center the stuck energy. Sometimes it expands in all ways, but sometimes it's more running in the vertical, feels like it runs right down my legs into the earth, while at the same time my point of awareness is much more focused higher, in the forehead and top of the head area. Sometimes it even feels like energy is discharged through the forehead and top of the head.

I have concerns to use this second chakra method you told of, because I would expect this kind of "bad energy" would just get stuck there, and I have had problems in that area, too, and got rid of it when thinking of circulation/discharging that area. What do you think?

Much thanks for the input!

Spooky

Yes PhantasyMan, that was a good example with the gunshot, and I understand your explanations. In fact, when I'm meditating, or half-asleep and something suddenly comes on my mind, or I hear a sound, it causes immediately a little shock in my solarplexus area. It's constantly under pressure, or feels like something is stuck in it.

I've tried various methods to ease my solarplexus area. All had success, but only for a little while, and sometimes one works, the other not.
--To imagine to expand the edges of "you" beyond the edges of your body. Sometimes like a stable ball around you (the diameter can vary greatly), sometimes ever-expanding limitless.
--When "expanded", sometimes it helped me to imagine what is inside my expansion is belonging to me, instead to the outside-world; in extreme, to imagine everything is you.
--To imagine to widen the opening in the body middle (that is probably chakra-work); I see-imagine the chakra there as more or less disc- or plate-shaped, and it is quite big, wider than my body. I then widen this chakra, and it's opening largely with the intent to let the disturbing energy out of it, in front direction. The widening action direction is most effective when thinking I would pull this chakra-disc and it's hole with my hands to the left and the right.
--To imagine I was permeable like air, and nothing could touch me
--To imagine my body was empty
--To imagine my legs, and feet would be "open" and the blocking/tensioning energies would run down my legs into the ground
--To imagine the energy flow is always in move, never stopping, running out and in again through the top of the head and the feet.

One time I felt so expanded, like I had encompassed the whole universe, that I felt absolutely relieved and eased, healed of all my pain, not only that, even enlightened to the max, but it lasted only half a day. Heck!!!

Spooky

Yes recoverer, reminds me of Chi Gong and Tai Chi- I think these exercises would have an effect even if you'd do it only in your mind, not moving physically.

Spooky