Cultivating Qi

While Chinese acupuncture and herbalism enjoy widespread popularity in the West, traditional Chinese exercise techniques—with the exception of qi gong—have rarely been taught outside China. This book is designed to change that. Written by Jun Wang, a doctor of Chinese medicine, Cultivating Qi draws on classic Chinese texts to introduce these body-mind healing exercises to Western readers. In simple, accessible language, Wang presents three specific qi exercises: the Yijin Jing, a popular form of calisthenics associated with both Chinese Buddhist and Daoist traditions; Taiji Neigong, a series of 34 movements adapted from the Wu-Hao style of Taiji Quan; and the “Six Healing Breaths,” which combines spoken sounds with movements associated with the six major vital organs of Chinese medicine. Written for beginning students of Chinese medicine as well as laypersons, healthcare practitioners, and martial artists, Cultivating Qi includes clear explanations of Chinese medical terminology—and provides the original Chinese characters for more advanced students—as well as step-by-step instruction in the three exercises. Accompanied by 100 photographs, these exercises are suitable for all ages and activity levels, and most of them take no more than 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

How can Qi offer you the means, tools and will to live a life of balance? Explaining what Qi is, where it comes from, how we use it, and how we can cultivate it in order to achieve wholeness and balance, this much-needed book combines knowledge and practice to explore all aspects of Qi, including its modern, everyday implications. The book not only covers the history of Qi, but also demystifies the vital philosophies and practices surrounding it. Filled with valuable information on how to recognise and cultivate Qi in order to increase your energetic capacity and return to a more efficient physical, emotional, and psychological state, it also illustrates Qi's central importance in meditation, Taiji, Qigong, and other Internal Arts practices that focus upon its vitality. The author also offers instruction on a number of methods for opening the energy gates of the body to cultivate Qi.

Practiced by millions of people the world over, Qigong is actually an approach to life itself. It is a state of mind characterized by complete relaxation and complete acceptance, and deep meditation; it is open to the healing energy of the universe, and it offers healing for the whole world. Qigong practice not only aligns your own body, mind and spirit, but also aligns us with the universal body, mind and spirit. By regulating our minds through meditation, deep breathing and gentle movement we can facilitate a smoother and stronger flow of energy throughout our bodies, giving us greater health and freedom of movement throughout our lives. This unique book will familiarize you with the cultivation and healing concepts of Qigong. This book is beautifully illustrated with over 370 photos and more than 80 drawings. "We must practice Qigong with the intention of not only healing ourselves, but becoming a healing influence on all those around us."- Dr. Michael Steward Sr.

A must have if you are interested in Qi or Universal Energy. The Power of Qi for Health & Longevity is accessible to both new and advanced students. It is the result of over 20 years of dedicated study into the dynamics of cultivating Qi with two wonderful and highly qualified Grand Masters of Qi Gong: Weizhao Wu of Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Tsu Kuo Shih of Connecticut, USA. The powerful tools offered in this e-book will help you discover and enjoy the immense healing powers of Qi Gong. Featured are an extensive explanation of body's energy anatomy, the secrets of longevity according to Professor Huang Zhanhuan of China, founder of the Dadao style of Taiji Chuan, the nine steps to mastering Qi Gong, the six healing sounds and more. Learn Dragon Qi Gong, my signature style, and four Medical Qi Gong styles for Respiratory Disease, Depression/Anxiety, Digestive Issues, and High/Low Blood Pressure.

This book explores Daoist philosophies of qi and virtue through inquiry into their potential as technologies for cultivating good among individuals and society within educational settings, as well as in the modern world. The first part of the book, authored by Jing Lin, examines Daoist cosmology, axiology, and epistemology. She illuminates qi cultivation’s reliance on the accumulation of virtues, leading to transformation of the body and even—extraordinarily—the abilities of Daoist masters to transcend physical limitations to achieve health, longevity, and immortality. The second part of the book, authored by Tom Culham, establishes an understanding of qi and virtue as a technology within the Daoist paradigm, outlining the benefits of its cultivation while illuminating how contemporary Western philosophy and science support this paradigm. Both authors explore new forms of education to incorporate Daoist wisdom in schooling.

An internationally respected doctor of Chinese medicine and author of the bestselling "The Healer Within" clearly and simply explains the concepts of qigong. 125 illustrations. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Learn all about the origins, theories, fundamentals and therapeutic effects of medical qi gong in this unique, practical textbook. As the first qi gong book designed especially for Chinese medicine practitioners and their patients, this book will teach you how to practice common qi gong forms to boost the health and combat illness. Common Chinese medicine disease patterns and their appropriate treatments using qi gong exercise are described in detail. We are sorry that the DVD content are not included.

This book, written for a Western audience, explains the essential theories and strategies of Taijiquan and Qi Gong in an insightful way. It expounds their value in our daily lives as an effective means of combating stresses, strains and illnesses, positioning these disciplines as comprehensive strategies for health, happiness and rejuvenation.

Samurai are best known for taking life—but here is a samurai doctor's prescription for how to preserve life, and to make yours a long and healthy one. Unlike other samurai of his time, the samurai Kaibara Ekiken (1630–1714) was concerned less with swordsmanship than with how to maintain and nurture the healthy mind and body upon which martial techniques and philosophy depended. While serving as the chief medical doctor and healer to the Kuroda clan, he came to a holistic view of how the physical, mental, and spiritual lives of his patients were connected. Drawing from his medical practice, the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, and his life experience, Ekiken createdthis text as a guide to sustaining health and stamina from youth to old age. Ekiken's advice regarding moderation, food and drink, sleep, sexual activity, bathing, and therapeutic practices is still amazingly intuitive and appropriate nearly three hundred years after this book was written.

Details and ancient Chinese practice that uses simple movements to accomplish the same chi balancing as acupuncture, with the aim of strengthening immunity, recovering from stress and illness and improving mental relaxation, in a book with 150 step-by-step illustrations of the movements. By the author of Tao of Letting Go. Original.

The Record of Great Doubts emphasizes the role of qi in achieving a life of engagement with other humans, with the larger society, and with nature as a whole. Rather than encourage transcendental escapism or quietism, Ekken articulates a philosophy of material force as a basis of living a life of commitment to the world. In this spirit, moral cultivation is not an isolated or a self-centered preoccupation, but an activity that occurs within the dynamic forces of nature and amid the rigorous demands of society. In this context, a vitalism of qi is an emergent force, not only providing the philosophical grounding for this vibrant interaction but also giving a basis for an investigation of the natural world that plumbs the principle within things. Ekken thus aimed to articulate a creative and dynamic milieu for moral education, political harmony, social coherence, and agricultural sustainability. The Record of Great Doubts embodies Ekken's profound commitment to Confucian ideas and practices as a method for establishing an integrative ethical vision, one he hoped would guide Japan through a new period of peace and stability. A major philosophical treatise in the Japanese Neo-Confucian tradition, The Record of Great Doubts illuminates a crucial chapter in East Asian intellectual history.

Clear explains beginner to advanced practices regarding Chi/Qi/Ki (Life-Force) activation, cultivation, and flow that allow an individual to personally experience, build, and work with Chi energy.

In many old martial arts films you often see a master capable of extraordinary supernormal feats such as being able to move with the speed of wind, throw incredibly heavy objects, destroy them with a strike, stride over water, or even fly through the air. Are such things possible? The Chinese Taoists say "yes" if the master practiced special exercises to cultivate their inner energy, or yang chi (qi). These practices to cultivate inner power are called nei-gong, or the internal martial arts, and are related to the mastery of the kundalini energies cited in Indian yogic and Buddhist literature, which also explains the various superpowers that become possible with its cultivation. Many people today want to be able to attain such supernormal skills, or they simply want to understand why and how these skills were cultivated so they might be duplicated as best possible. Some practitioners of Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing-Yi, Ba Gua Zhang, Five Animals, Aikido, Karate, Judo, Northern Shaolin, and other Kung Fu Wushu traditions have alternatively damaged their bodies from their practice, or have reached a training plateau, and want some sure methods to break their current limits and bring their martial arts skills to the next level. This book explains the major practices on how to properly cultivate nei-gong safely to achieve all these objectives. The information provided, because of its advance nature, was usually considered the high "secrets" of martial arts lineages made available only to the top students who also practiced breathing methods and meditation. It explains how to cultivate the mythical martial arts through the initial practice of qi-gong, and then inner nei-gong exercises involving anapana, pranayama, one-pointed visualization, kasina meditations, and sexual cultivation. It provides training information applicable to Iron Palm, Iron Shirt or Dim Mak techniques, which though incredible in themselves still fall far short of the special supernormal achievements possible after a martial arts student successfully opens up their chakras and chi channels, in particular their sushumna central channel and the macrocosmic chi circulation within the body. This is the only book in English offering detailed instructions on how to cultivate the Taoist concept of shen, which is the stage of awareness attained after cultivating your chi to a high level. For purposes of attaining inner gong-fu (kung fu), it also teaches how to cultivate the Six Yogas of Naropa and the Tibetan tantric mantras for opening up the body's central chi channel. In terms of specific long term nei-gong methods, it stresses visualization and anapana practices which are explained in conjunction with more advanced techniques for dissolving inner energy blockages. Rather than just focusing on internal martial arts kung fu, the authors go even a step further also bring forth many rarely discussed modern training principles for peak athletic performance that can be applied to martial arts, and provide practical information on various vitamin-mineral supplements, detoxification routines, and bodywork therapies that can help heal martial arts injuries and lead to improved skills even if the nei-gong route of internal martial arts energies and gong-fu is not mastered. This is a truly unique book, quite different than what's normally available for the martial arts tradition, because it provides full materials on topics raely covered elsewehre, and reveals not one, two or three but a plethora of inner training practices, even for qi-gong, along with what are normally considered their secret training details.

Authentic qi gong as practiced in the Shaolin Temple where this discipline originated centuries ago • Reveals the fundamental spiritual principles and includes both a short and long form of the daily exercises • Explains the benefits of mastering energy in the body, such as organ strengthening The great teacher Bodhidharma is credited with the creation of Shaolin Temple qi gong and kung fu in the 6th century CE. Motivated by the terrible physical condition of the monks who spent all their time meditating or copying scrolls, his two-part system promoted physical as well as spiritual fitness and became the basis for all the martial and meditative arts taught in the Shaolin Temple. These ancient practices increase physical health and vitality, enhance creativity, and can be practiced well into old age. Author Shi Xinggui, a Shaolin monk, explains the fundamental principle of qi gong--the art of mastering energy (qi) and moving it through the body--and provides clear demonstrations of all the positions and movements. In order to develop qi attentively, it is necessary to cultivate the art of slowness in both movement and breathwork. Shi Xinggui provides both a short form and a long form of the daily exercises, with lessons on heart centering, organ strengthening, and balancing the energy using the three dantians--the three energy centers of the body.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the ancient Chinese meditation practices teaches the calming, energy enhancing movements essential to this exercise while extoling its positive effects on health and state of mind.

Nurture the flow of Qi energy in your body for a life of vibrancy, balance, and wellness. In Pathways of Qi, Chinese Medicine expert Matthew Sweigart shows how to use touch therapy, meditations, and gentle Qigong exercises to clear away blockages and open up to energetic nourishment. Based on ancient wisdom traditions, these hands-on assessment and treatment techniques have been cultivated to heal the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Explore the channels of energy in the body—known in Chinese Medicine as the meridians—and for each one, discover the limb position, yin/yang properties, corresponding elements, functions, affirmations, and more. With illustrations to help you master the physical postures and gestures, Pathways of Qi will guide you through gentle practices for a life of improved awareness, connection, and health. Praise: "Pathways of Qi exemplifies the essence and beauty of the Ohashiatsu modality in every way. I highly recommend this book."—Ohashi, author of Do-It-Yourself Shiatsu and Reading the Body "Matthew Sweigart's new book provides a fresh look on a subject too often taught using only boring charts and lists. In Pathways of Qi, Matthew takes the reader along on his own personal journey. Although it reads a lot like a novel the text includes an in-depth presentation of the subject. Matthew explains both the scope and the details he has discovered and become familiar with inside the body's electromagnetic field. A very worthwhile read for students, professionals, and even potential clients of Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) and acupuncture."—Cindy Banker, Founding President of the American Shiatsu Association and Director of the A.O.B.T.A.'s Council of Schools and Programs "Pathways of Qi is an empowering manual on Meridian Therapy providing practical ways to heal yourself and others. If you're interested in healing, this book is vital for tapping the source of your life force."—Michael Reed Gach, author of Acupressure's Potent Points "A gifted Shiatsu and Qi Gong teacher, Matthew Sweigart harmoniously combines his passion for the healing arts with his lifetime experience with the theories of ancient Chinese philosophy. Written in an easy to understand, refreshing way, Pathways of Qi is a valuable compendium for practitioners and instructors of different traditions."—Nilsa Eberhart Diaz, owner of Zen Shiatsu Caribbean Institute, San Juan, Puerto Rico "Matthew Sweigart's clear illustrations and instructions are enhanced by his wisdom stories that bring these teachings to life. The stories and teachings open your eyes to the Qi that is the source of Life, energy and healing. Pathways of Qi is a reference tool, a collection of wisdom, and a gift to humanity. Thank you for taking the time to record your wisdom for current and future generations. A masterpiece!"—Bonnie Jean Miller, MDI, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern Universit

"Qi Cultivation and Manipulation" is a self guided instructional manual on learning how to cultivate and manipulate your inner energy called qi. This book starts from the basic idea and mindset one must need to cultivate qi to some of the most difficult practices, delivering knowledge for beginners to understand how to tap into their own abilities and manipulate qi like a true practitioner. For those who embark on this inner spiritual journey, you will learn about qi, how to cultivate and manipulate it through your body, and learn how to tap into the pineal gland to assist with many other qi manipulation exercises. From this, you can learn how to expel qi as heat out of your palms, create real constructs and witness concentrated qi, relax and heal muscles, perform kundalini, and much more. Learn how to pull energy at will to keep energetic during the day or find inner peace, or use qi to enhance yourself and your life. If you are looking for real magic, if you are looking for the way to explore the interior of your mind, and if you are looking for a long lost art and tradition that is sewn into every human heritage, this is the hermetic journey for you.

Detailed discussion of the history and philosophy of Chi Kung and simple routines to help combat common ailments.

Qigong Empowerment is the most unique and complete volume ever written in the English language on qigong (Chi Kung). This volume can be used for attaining better health, for healing, for gaining extraordinary power, and for spiritual development. This volume consists of five books which covers: - Traditional Chinese Medical theories and qi cultivation methods. - Taoist methods to foster Essence, Qi, and Spirit. - Buddhist Esoteric Abilities of the Body, Speech, and Mind. - Emitting, Absorbing, and Healing Qigong. - Wushu (martial arts) Iron Shirt training. Qigong (Chi Kung) has been an integral part of Chinese culture since ancient China. High level qigong masters have always been respected and held in high esteem in Chinese society. Qi is a Chinese term used to refer to all types of energy. It is the intrinsic substance or the vital force behind all things in the universe. It is the medium between and within all material substances. We are all immersed in it. The term gong refers to the power to produce an effect, an attainment of, or an accomplishment that is achieved with steady practice. Loosely, qigong can be translated as the attainment of qi. Healers and the medical society use qigong for healing and preventing illness. Martial artists use qigong for developing incredible strength and abilities. Others use qigong to attain a greater consciousness.

A guide to the foundational practice of “smiling to the organs” to promote deep relaxation and internal health • Presents exercises that dissolve the physical and mental tensions that can cause energy blockages and unhealthy chi flow • Shows how to recognize illness at its inception on the organ level and how to balance the emotions to heal it The Inner Smile is a practice that focuses gratitude and joy on the internal organs to resolve the physical and mental tensions that can lead to illness. In Taoism negative emotions--anger, sadness, depression, fear, and worry--are seen as low-grade energy that causes chronic disease and steals our major life force by creating energy blockages. Master Mantak Chia shows that the internal awareness produced by the simple yet powerful Inner Smile meditation practice flushes the organs of poisonous negative energy that may be blocking chi energy flow in order to nourish the entire body. Just as a genuine outer smile transmits positive energy and has the power to warm and heal, an inner smile produces a high grade of energy that promotes powerful internal healing, deep relaxation, happiness, and longevity. Smiling to the organs and thanking them for the work they do helps to reawaken the intelligence of the body, which, once activated, can dissipate emotional imbalances and inner disharmony before serious illness manifests.