Before getting to the main thrust of this post, allow me to share a video excerpt from a recent “A Wee Bit of Alchemy with Rick Barrett.”
“A Wee Bit of Alchemy with Rick Barrett” has been meeting Tuesday evenings at 8 Eastern for over a year now. We go into the lab and see what is cooking up on the Bunsen burner that week. We also entertain any and all questions people have about taijiquan, Chinese internal martial arts, qigong, meditation, consciousness, and how to make them all work a bit better for you. The format is relaxed and conversational, with plenty of exercises and meditations. Please join us. Just contact me for the link. If you can’t make it live, the classes are recorded and published on YouTube.
Which brings me to the topic du jour: We cover a lot of different subjects and they aren’t clearly identified on the YouTube videos. You could start at #1 and binge watch them all, but that’s a little more than some folks are up for.
What to do?
Dennis McBreen has been reviewing the YouTube videos of “A Wee Bit of Alchemy with Rick Barrett” for meditations, exercises, and explanations. In the process, he has recorded the start times for significant sections in individual videos and he sent me the first six months to share with you.
I hope you find this helpful.
Thank you so much, Dennis. This is terrific!
Here is the letter he sent me:
Hi Rick, I’ve been reviewing classes from last year and made a list of links for each clas36 and noted the starting times with a brief description of the various exercises.
I’ve find it useful just to pick a exercise at random to do it as a meditation.
I find by reviereviewing past classes I’ve made great progress over the last year, and find things I missed the first time around.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #1 with Rick Barrett 5/6/2020
Topic Learning to control internal state and enhance the immune system and get more in control of the autonomic nervous system. Adrenaline and cortisol response.
Meditation @10:45 Feeling to get energetically coherence.
Standing Meditation @18:00 Feeling to get energetically coherence.
Meditation @40:00 Working with wood Chi
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #2 with Rick Barrett 5/13/20
Shifting awareness/state of being
First feel then do.
Using touch to quiet the mind and enter the space between thoughts and whole brain coherence.
Know without thinking.
Exercise @7:45 Feeling with the conscious/super conscious mind. Elbow Jing.
Exercise @18:02 Setting Elbow/ward off.
Exercise @20:00 Reclaiming lost territories.
Exercise @33:19 Poles of opposition
Exercise @39:40 Hands over head activating elbows whole body awareness
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#3 with Rick Barrett 5/20/20
Exercise @01:25 Reclaiming lost territories.
Exercise @20:15 Thumping Chi points
Exercise @28:40 Taoist Tai Chi Foundation Exercises
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #4
with Rick Barrett 5/27/20
Exercise @0:00 Releasing the Kua
Exercise @5:14 Taoist Tai Chi Foundation Exercises
Exercise @11:00 various Chi Gong exercises
Exercise @40:30 applying earlier lessons into a Tai Chi form
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #5
with Rick Barrett 6/3/2020
Topics Substantial and insubstantial
Exercise @19:53 activating elbows doing Taoist Tai Chi Foundation Exercises.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#6
with Rick Barrett 6/10/2020
Topic using the insubstantial to activate the substantial.
Exercise @16:00 using the insubstantial to activate the substantial using Reclaiming lost territories. Thumping Chi points.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#7
with Rick Barrett 6/17/2020
Topic Feeling to change your state of being.
Exercise @12:00 feeling to find the insubstantial doing Reclaiming lost territories.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#8
with Rick Barrett 6/24/2020
Topic Song kua
Exercise @9:00 using a prop to hold you knee against to learn proper position of leg and knee. Working opening kua in both directions.
Exercise @39:07 wait for the feed back when feeling.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#9
with Rick Barrett 7/1/2020
Topic: More Kua work. Protection of joints and connective tissues in taijiquan.
Exercise @1:00 working with a prop and stopping to feel what Song feels like.
Demonstration @17:37 Ideal power zone of joints.
Exercise @41:32 Superman posture and elbow jin.
Exercise @49:37 Taoist Tai Chi Foundation Exercises
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#10
with Rick Barrett 7/8/2020
Topics Q&A on substantial and insubstantial, energy gates and various topics.
Exercise @40:20 One minute standing, two minutes standing Superman posture, stand elbows apart compare how different postures felt.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#11
with Rick Barrett 7/17/2020
Topic Triple warmer smoothing. Review the 3 pillars.
Exercise @13:00 Review of the 3 pillars and feel the effects on various postures
Exercise @29:25 Taoist Tai Chi Foundation Exercises with 3 pillars.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#12
with Rick Barrett 7/22/2020
Topics Homolateral and Hemispheric Synchronization whole body experience
Exercise @6:05 Homolateral and Hemispheric Synchronization
Exercise @10:25 Interlacing fingers.
Exercise @18:50 feeling knees with hands
Exercise @43:31 Stand in 3 pillars and feel various points of body.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#13
with Rick Barrett 7/29/2020
Topics Wei chi kua Exercise
Exercise @5:20 Stand in 3 pillars crank up Wei Chi.
Exercise @17:14 Separating wholeness into energy.
Exercise @43:54 Kua Exercise
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #14 with Rick Barrett 8/5/20
Topic Review universal post, unkinking the hose
Exercise @30:20 Standing in central equilibrium releases muscles and building Chi
Exercise @42:40 Building Chi from the post stance
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#15 with Rick Barrett 8/12/20
Topics: Review reclaiming lost territories exercises and unkinking the hose.
Exercise @ 4:50 reclaiming lost territories exercises and unkinking the hose.
Exercise @47:15 Maria tapping acupuncture points
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#16 with Rick Barrett 8/19/20
Topic: Attitude and energy flow via three pillars
Exercise @6:30 Song kua
Exercise @ 19:12 Using chair as a tool to keep hip from jutting out during kua exercises.
Exercise @ 21:45 Jade pillow gate
Exercise @ 30:10 Elbow jin, Superman posture.
Exercise @42:05 cloud hand exercise using the three pillars.
Exercise @ 46:50 clearfication of roll down exercise in reclaiming lost territories.
Tapping with Maria @ 51:20
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#17 with Rick Barrett 8/26/20
Topic: Creating energy through poles in opposition.
Exercise @ Foundation exercise and creating energy with intention to move while staying still.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#18 with Rick Barrett 9/2/20
Topics: urinary track, enhancing energy in the lower abdomen and earth Chi.
Exercise @ 4:20 Sitting deep abdominal breathing
Exercise @ 13:40 Deep abdominal breathing standing in central equilibrium.
Exercise @ 19:40 Deep abdominal breathing and slow motion kua exercises.
Exercise @33:10 Earth chi. Bear Qi Gong.
Exercise @50: 30 Feeling the differences in energy in different positions.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#19 with Rick Barrett 9/9/20
Topic: The myth of shifting weight
Exercise @ 11:10 shifting weight in a bow stance from your kua.
Exercise @ 20:25 Cloud Hands without hands
Exercise @ 34:10 Turning from the Yao.
Discussion on imagery @43:27
Exercise @ 47:47 Shifting weight side to side.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#20 with Rick Barrett 9/16/20
Topic: The myth of shifting weight relating to substantialty and insubstantialty. And the Yao
Discussion@ 0:55 The Yao
Exercise @ 6:00 Shifting weight side to side.
Discussing@ 8:35 Substantialty and insubstantialty.
Exercise @24:00 Distinguishing substantialty and insubstantialty.
Exercise @ 37:27 Shifting bow stance.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#21 with Rick Barrett 9/23/2020
Topic: Creating energy with poles of opposition and the myth of shifting weight in the Tai Chi form.
Exercise @ 0:30 Holding poles of opposition.
Exercise @ 7:43 Myth of shifting weight.
Exercise @28:00 White Crain Spreds Wings form
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#22 with Rick Barrett 9/30/2020
Topics: The exploration of the Qua. The myth of shifting weight. Integration of the Qua with the Yao and elbow jin.
Exercise @ 0:55 Reviewing myth of shifting weight
Exercise @ 25:12 Turning with the Yao.
Exercise @ 31:00 Turning with the Yao and elbow jin.
Demonstration @ 46:43 Push move
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY #23 with Rick Barrett 10/6/2020
Topic: Substantial and insubstantial.
Exercise @11:10 moving substantialty from one leg to the other side to side.
Exercise @ 17:38 Silk Reeling.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#24 with Rick Barrett 10/13/2020
Topics: Central equilibrium, elbow jin and song into silk reeling exercise.
Exercise @ 0:30 look knee and foot placement in bow stance.
Exercise @ 8:30 Central equilibrium, elbow jin and song into silk reeling exercise.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#25 with Rick Barrett 10/20/2020
Topic: Metal energy
Exercise @ 11:25 Metal energy.
WEE BIT OF ALCHEMY#26 with Rick Barrett 10/27/2020
Topics: Taoist Tai Chi Foundation exercises with emphasis on the substantial and insubstantial, elbow jin, mindfulness and grounding negative energy.
Exercise @ 3:00 Taoist Tai Chi Foundation exercises.
