Qigong or “Qi Exercises” describes a group of practices highly popular in China and

increasingly well known the West. They involve slow, gentle body movements, breathing
exercises, self-massages, and the mental circulation of qi, with the aim to open the body’s
inner channels, provide a free flow of energy, help in healing, and in general create a sense of
greater well-being and openness of spirit.

Qigong as a modern system of healing goes back to the 1940s. In 1947, the communist party
cadre Liu Guizhen (1920-1983), suffering from a virulent gastric ulcer, was sent home to
recover or die. He went home but refused to die—he was only 27 years old at the time!
Instead, he took lessons in gymnastics and breathing from the Daoist Liu Duzhou. After 102
days of faithfully undertaking these practices, he was completely cured. He returned to his job
and described his healing success to the party, which appointed him as a medical research
leader in Hebei province with the task to study the effects of breathing on healing. In 1948, he
created the term Qigong to indicate the methods which focused largely on breathing at the
time. He then began to teach party officials and repeated his success with various ailments
(see Chen 2003).

As this beginning of the practice documents, contemporary Qigong tends to focus on medical
goals and the improvement of life quality with the help of methods transmitted by Daoists. It
is practiced both in the medical community and actively pursued among Daoist followers and
successfully combines techniques that go back to both medical and Daoist sources. The most
obvious and direct forerunner of Qigong is Chinese gymnastics, known as daoyin, which
literally means “guide [the qi] and stretch [the body].” Using the same four basic methods as
Qigong today, daoyin teaches practitioners to move the limbs and torso in a particular way
while exercising deep breathing and mentally circulating the qi within. Through this, the
body’s qi-flow is regulated and pathogenic elements are expelled. Gradually the body not
only becomes supple and flexible but health improves and longevity is attained. Gymnastics
for many centuries have been described as a valuable tool to prevent old age and cure
diseases. They nourish the qi, refresh the body after hard work, help fasting and other spiritual
practices, and open the body for a long and joyful life. How, then, did daoyin relate to Daoism
in the course of Chinese history? To begin, let us look at the early documentation and role of
the daoyin tradition.

THE DAOYIN TRADITION

The earliest documents on daoyin are found in medical literature on healing and health
maintenance. Following the dictum of the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic that the best
physician is one who prevents diseases and never even has to treat a patient, gymnastic and
breathing exercises formed a part of traditional Chinese medicine that specialized in
preventative practice and was known as yangsheng or nourishing life. Practices used are
commonly called longevity techniques and include diets, breathing exercises, gymnastics,
massages, sexual practices, the absorption of solar and lunar energies, as well as various
forms of meditation. Used both for healing and enhancing health, these methods ensured not
only the realization of the natural life expectancy but were found to often result in increased
old age and vigor.

Our earliest sources on these methods, and thus also on gymnastics and breathing, are a set of
manuscripts unearthed at Mawangdui and Zhangjia shan in southern China. Written on silk,
bamboo and strips of wood, they date from the second century B.C.E. and present practical
advice on how to nourish life with the help of gymnastics, breathing, dietetics, and drugs.
Works include: Conjoining Yin and Yang (He yinyang), Discussion of the Perfect Way in All
Under Heaven (Tianxia zhidao tan), and Recipes for Nourishing Life (Yangsheng fang).

A text called The Rejection of Grains and Absorption of Qi (Quegu shiqi), furthermore deals
with techniques of eliminating grains and ordinary foodstuffs from the diet and replacing
them with medicinal herbs and qi through special breathing excercises. The text repeatedly
contrasts “those who eat qi” with “those who eat grain” and explains this in cosmological
terms, saying: “Those who eat grain eat what is square; those who eat qi eat what is round.
Round is heaven; square is earth” (Harper 1998, 130). The most famous and relevant to our
topic among the Mawangdui manuscripts is the Gymnastics Chart (Daoyin tu). It contains
color illustrations of human figures performing therapeutic gymnastics. Some of the
recognizable captions refer to the names of exercises already mentioned in the Zhuangzi, such
as “bear-hanging” and “bird-stretching.” The text, although fragmentary, shows the
importance of gymnastic exercises, used in conjunction with self-massages to dissolve
blockages, help circulation, and increase the harmony of qi in the body. It also documents the
early use of animal models for physical exercises, a practice that has been linked with ancient
shamanic dances (Despeux 1989, 237-38).

Another manuscript on gymnastics is the Book on Stretching (Yinshu), found among several
medical texts in Zhangjia shan, Hubei, about 150 miles km north of Mawangdui, Dated to 186
B.C.E., it begins with the description of a daily and seasonal health regimen, including
hygiene, dietetics, regulation of sleep and movement, as well as adequate times for sexual
intercourse. After that, the text details fifty-seven gymnastic exercises, including massages.
Some exercises are preventative, others more curative. The third and last part of the Book on
Stretching deals with etiology and the prevention of diseases. The most important factors that
cause diseases, according to this work, are climatic excesses such as the heat of summer,
moisture, wind, cold, rain, and dew. An unstable diet, excessive emotions and a lifestyle
inappropriate to the season are also named as possible causes of an imbalance of qi. The text
recommends various therapies, such as breathing exercises, bodily stretches and the careful
treatment of the interior qi. It says: “If you can pattern your qi properly and maintain your yin
energy in fullness, then the whole person will benefit” (Wenwu 1990, 86).

It is interesting to note that the text makes a distinction between “upper class people,” who
fall ill because of uncontrolled emotions such as rage and excessive joy, and lower ones
whose conditions tend to be caused by excessive labor, hunger and thirst. It further notes that
the latter have no opportunity to learn the necessary breathing exercises and therefore contract
numerous diseases and die an early death. Obviously longevity techniques were very much
the domain of the aristocracy and upper classes who could affort quality medical care and the
instruction by specialists of prevention (Engelhardt 2000).

Following these manuscripts, records on gymastics include mention in dynastic histories, such
as the biography of Hua Tuo, staff physician of Cao Cao under the Three Kingdoms in the
third century. According to his official biography, he created an integrated system of
gymnastic exercises known as the Five Animals’ Frolic. The text says:

The body needs a certain amount of movement. This movement serves to properly balance
right and left, it helps to redistribute and assimilate the various breaths that are issued from the
cereals, more than that it causes the blood to circulate properly and prevents the origination of
diseases.
The human body is like a door hinge that never comes to rest. This is why Daoists practice
gymnastics. They imitate the movements of the bear which hangs itself head-down from a
tree, of the owl which keeps turning its head in different ways. They stretch and bend the
waist, and move all the joints and muscles of their bodies in order to evade aging.

I myself have developed a series of exercises which I name the Five Animals’ Frolic. The five
animals are the tiger, the deer, the bear, the monkey, and the bird. The practice of the Frolic
aids the elimination of diseases and increases the functioning of the lesser members.
Whenever a disorder is felt in the body one of the Animals should be practiced until one
perspires freely. When perspiration is very strong, one should cover the affected parts of the
body with dust. In due course one will find the body lighter, more comfortable and a healthy
appetite will return. (Sanguo zhi 29.2a; Despeux 1989, 242)

Futher codification and development of gymnastic exercises occurred in various medieval

medical sources, such as the Compendium of Essentials on Nourishing Life (Yangsheng
yaoji). It summarizes early sources and describes longevity practice in ten sections: 1.
Strengthening the vital spirits; 2. Caring for the breath; 3. Maintaining the body; 4. Practicing
gymnastics; 5. Speaking properly; 6. Eating right; 7. Sexual moderation; 8. Right relations to
the common world; 9. Taking medicinal drugs; and 10. Observing protective prohibitions
(Stein 1999, 103).

The most important medical source on gymnastics in the middle ages is the Origins and
Symptoms of Medical Disorders (Zhubing yuanhou lun), compiled under the supervision of
the physician Chao Yuanfang and presented to Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty in 610. The
text presents for the first time a systematic treatise on the etiology and pathology of Chinese
medicine, distinguishing four major categories of diseases: inner, outer, women’s and
children’s. Each of these four main parts is then subdivided into sections that outline the
origin of the disorder in question, its process of development and its major clinical symptoms.
After this, the text does not prescribe phytotherapeutic or acupuncture prescriptions but rather
specific exercises of gymnastics, massages, breathing or visualization. This new classification
of the practices of nourishing life in accordance with a systematic etiology and pathology
represents a big step forward in the development of these techniques (Despeux 1989; Despeux
and Obringer 1997).

Further texts of the Tang dynasty continue this tendency, clearly identifying gymnastics as
part of the medical tradition and linking them with specific diseases. For example Master
Ning, one of the classic gymnastics masters, is cited in the sixth-century Gymnastics Scripture
(Daoyin jing) as saying:

We practice gymnastics because they make all the pathogenic energy evaporate from our
limbs, bones, and joints. Thus only good energy prevails and can become more pure and
essential.

Practice the exercises diligently and with care whenever you have time between work and
conversation. Either in the morning or at night is fine. Gradually your bones and joints will
become firm and strong. The hundred diseases will be eliminated completely.

Whether you have caught a chill [wind-attack disorder] in your chest or are thoroughly
fatigued and cannot rouse yourself;
—whether you have periods of deafness when you cannot hear or find your eyes going dizzy
and your mind turning mad on you;

—whether you have energy moving against its proper current and rising up violently or
experience severe pains in your hips:

—in all cases you can actively expel the disease by practicing these exercises and guiding the
energy to the place of trouble, following the proper charts and focusing it on the right spot.

By guiding the energy you will supplement the energy of your spleen and stomach systems;
by practicing gymnastics you will heal your four limbs. (2ab; Kohn 1993, 144-45)

How, then, did Daoists approach this medical tradition of gymnastics?

THE DAOIST PERSPECTIVE

From the earliest sources and throughout the middle ages, Daoists acknowledged the presence
of preventative medicine and the methods of nourishing life as a valuable tool but considered
it secondary. Even the very earliest mention of gymnastic exercises in the Zhuangzi of the
third century B.C.E., has a rather denigrating feeling to it. It says:

To pant, to puff, to hail, to sip, to spit out the old breath and draw in the new, practicing bear-
hangings and bird-stretchings, longevity his only concern—such is the life favored by the
scholar who practices gymnastics, the man who nourishes his body, who hopes to live to be as
old as Pengzu, for more than eight hundred years. (ch. 15; Watson 1968, 167-168)

The contrast made in the Zhuangzi is between the liberated master who has a direct
connection to the Dao and lives freely in its flow and the technical practictioner who needs to
study hard and work systematically at his attainments. A story in chapter 7 illustrates the
contrast. Here, a Daoist master named Huzi or Gourd Master gives in to the urgings of his
disciple Liezi and lets himself be analyzed by a fortunetelling shaman. The shaman comes
repeatedly, seeing a different personality or mind image each time. After coming for the third
time, he exclaims in exasperation: “Your master is never the same! I have no way to analyze
him! If he tries to steady himself, I will come back and examine him again.” The master, in
contrast, is unfazed and explains: “Just now I appeared to him as the great vastness where
nothing wins out. He probably saw in me the workings of the balanced energies. Where the
swirling waves gather there is an abyss; where the still waters gather there is an abyss; where
the running waters gather there is an abyss. The abyss has nine names and I have shown him
three. Try bringing him again.”

The next day, the shaman again joined Liezi to see the Gourd Master, but before he even
came to halt before the master, his wits left him and he fled—confronted by a vision of the
pure Dao at the origins of creation or, as the text says, “that which has not yet emerged from
the source—totally empty, wriggling and turning, not knowing anything about who or what,
now dipping and bending, now flowing in waves.” (Watson 1968, 94-97).

The same distinction between a level of existence that is completely at one with the Dao and a
more technical approach to cosmic harmony is also made in the Book of the Master Who
Embraces Simplicity (Baopuzi), an alchemical classic of the fourth century C.E.. It notes that
those who nourish life with herbal remedies, diets, breathing, and gymnastics may deem
themselves advanced practitioners of the Dao, but will never reach the higher levels, for
which an alchemical elixir has to be prepared and active communication with the gods be
established. First, the text clearly acknowledges the medical and long life benefits of the
practices. It says:

The ability to writhe like a dragon, stretch like a tiger, waddle like a bear, swallow like a
tortoise, fly like a swallow, twist like a snake, dilate like a bird, look heavenward and
earthward—all these will prevent the orange colored wax from leaving the Cavern Chamber
in the head. Then when you have climbed like a monkey and jumped like a hare 1,200 times,
your hearing will not deteriorate. The deaf may steam their ears with lizard. Or they may form
a packed of jujubes, sheep-turd cinnamon, and plumed sparrow cinnamon, and seal their ears
with it. All these procedures produce cures. (15.9b; Ware 1966, 257)

But then it notes that while these methods may help health, they will not reach to the higher
spheres, and that the truly marvelous alchemical recipes can reach much further, granting
practitioners states of unlimited immortality and oneness with the Dao. The text has:

Man’s death ensues from losses, old age, illnesses, poisons, miasmas, and chills. Today
people do gymnastics and breathing exercises, revert their sperm to nourish the brain, follow
dietary rules, regulate their activity and rest, take medicines, give thought to their inner gods
to maintain their integrity, undergo prohibitions, wear amulets and seals from their belts, and
keep at a distance all those who might harm their lives. In this way they may avoid the six
baneful things just listed that can cause death.

Physicians today have pills that activate and brighten the kidneys, powders that benefit the
circulation, roasted boxhorn for strengthening bone structure, and infusions of yellow
hedysarum as a general tonic. . . .Writings also assert that a certain Wu Pu received from Hua
Tuo the Five Animals’ Frolic as a basic form of gymnastics and managed to live to over a
hundred. If such are the effects of the humblest of medicines, just think what can be done by
those that are truly marvelous! (Baopuzi 5.4a; Ware 1966, 103)

This position is radicalized further in organized Daoism, where the relationship to the Dao in
the form of various heavens and deities superseded all other concerns and health was the
direct result of a pure and pious life. Communal Daoists of the Celestial Masters, founded in
the second century C.E., thus prohibited medical and health treatments in favor of religious
cultivation. For them, the world was populated by gods and demons—the latter appearing
everywhere and in every shape, from the lowly rabbit and the dirty rat to all sorts of natural
and supernatural creatures. A list of such demons has been excavated from a Han tomb, and
several others are found in the earliest surviving texts of the Celestial Masters. To combat
them, members had to fortify their houses and bodies with talismans, learn to recognize the
demons and call them by their proper names, and visualize themselves as demon-conquering
heroes.

If, despite such measures, someone was attacked by a demon, they would suffer sickness and
disease. Moreover, such an attack could occur only because the person had been careless and
had a moral failing. As a result, all healing of the Celestial Masters was undertaken through
confession, ritual, and magic. First the sick person was isolated in a so-called quiet chamber,
an adaptation of a Han institution for punishing wayward officials involving solitary
confinement. There they had to think of their sins going all the way back to their birth to try
and find a explanation for the illness.
Once certain sins had been identified, a senior master would come to write them down—in
triplicate and together with a formal petition for their eradication from the person’s divine
record. The three copies would then, in a formal ceremony, be transmitted to Heaven (by
burning), Earth (by burying), and Water (by casting into a river), whose officials supposedly
set the record straight and restored the person’s good health. Longevity techniques, such as
gymnastics and meditations, were permitted only in the larger context of the supernatural
universe and seen mainly as supplementary measures of purification (Kohn 2001).

The same also holds true for the major medieval schools of Highest Clarity and Numinous
Treasure, although their followers were lay based and thus not prohibited from availing
themselves of medical treatments. Still, their universe was dominantly characterized by their
relation to otherworldly entities with cultivation practices that involved visualizations of gods,
opening of divine palaces within the body, ecstatic excursions to the stars, and highly
complex ceremonies of communication, purification, confession, and the exoneration of
ancestors.

Methods akin to gymnastics and breathing were used mainly as purification measures in the
preparation of rituals. Thus the Introductory Explanation to the Daode jing (Daode zhenjing
xujue), a fifth-century text on devotional observances to Lord Lao discovered among
manuscripts found at Dunhuang, instructs followers who wish to recite the Daode jing to
begin by burning incense and straightening their robes, then bowing to the ten directions.
After this, while concentrating their mind and visualizing Laozi together with his main
disciples, they should open the sacrd text and recite an incantation of invitation and praise to
the deity that also places the practitioner into a cosmic context

In my room, the seven jewels come together,

Doors and windows open of themselves.Utter in my purity, I strive for deeper truth,Riding on
bright light, I ascend the purple sky.

Sun and moon shine to my right and left,

I go to the immortals and find eternal life.

Following this, adepts are to click their teeth and swallow the saliva thirty-six times, applying
long life methods. Then, however, they again move into the more religious spheres and are to
see themselves surrounded by the celestial constellations of the four directions: the green
dragon to the left, the white tiger to the right, the red bird in front, and the dark warrior
behind. Only when placed in such a cosmic environment can they recite the sacred book.

It is thus evident so far that medical gymnastics as the forerunners of Qigong were
acknowledged by medieval Daoists but considered potential hindrances or, at best,
preparatory and secondary measures to their main concern of attaining immortality and
oneness with the Dao.

IMMORTALITY

Looking further into the early tradition, however, it becomes evident that methods akin to
gymnastics, breathing, diets, and sexual control were also used by immortals—not as medical
methods to restore and enhance health, though, but as ways of transforming the qi-
constellation of the human body/mind and thereby attain a level beyond natural life known as
immortality. A state of having gone beyond the limitations of this world and ascended to a
higher sphere, this is a form of transcendence to a divine realm that is closely connected with
the origins of the universe.

To attain this state, practitioners live in separation from society, engage in techniques of
physical and spiritual control, have their mind set on interaction with the spirit world, and in
the process of their training acquire magical powers. They live in the wilderness, dress in
garments of leaves or deer skins, fast by living on pure qi or eat raw food they find in the
woods (Eskildsen 1998, 20-21). They are symbolically associated with birds in the lightness
of their bodies and their ability to fly (Kaltenmark 1953, 10). Being so close to nature,
moreover, immortals attain extended longevity and continuous vigor and eventually reach the
paradises, luscious mountains surrounded by extensive bodies of water, the most prominent of
which are known as Penglai and Kunlun (see Sōfukawa 1981).

Not many sources remain that describe immortals and their practices. They first appear in the
Han dynasty and are typically written by aristocrats and court writers—such as Sima Qian’s
Record of the Historian (Shiji) and the Immortals’ Biographies (Liexian zhuan), attributed to
Liu Xiang (77-6 B.C.E.). Additional information on immortals is found in later dynastic
histories (see Ngo 1976; DeWoskin 1983) and hagiographies, such as Ge Hong’s Biographies
of Spirit Immortals (Shenxian zhuan) and his work of The Master Who Embraces Simplicity,
both of the fourth century.

The key characteristic of immortals is the transformation that happens in and to the body of
the practitioner. Refining their inner qi to higher levels of subtlety, immortals become etheric
beings, feathery, sometimes hairy, with no need to eat or drink and completely invulnerable to
heat and cold, fire and water. Light as ether, they can appear and vanish in an instant, and
despite highly advanced years typically look young, fresh, and radiant.

The main techniques leading to this wondrous state involve the refinement of qi, which is
taken into the body as breath, food, or sexual energy. Immortals accordingly practice control
in these areas, using breathing exercises and gymnastics, dietetics and sexual practices in their
own unique way. Harnessing the breath through methods of “expelling the old and inhaling
the new,” they control breathing and reach high longevity, so that even at an age of several
hundred years they still look as if they were only seventeen: a face clear like peach blossoms,
a mouth of cinnabar redness, vibrant and smooth skin, and glossy black hair and eyebrows.
However, even here breathing is only the preliminary stage, and immortals need to complete
the elixir of immortality to fully ascend to heaven (Campany 2002, 357).

Food intake is another major way of achieving bodily transformation. Most commonly this
means the ingestion of only natural substances, such as roots, nuts, berries, or pine needles.
An early example for this is Chang Rong, who lived in the mountains and ate only ash
raspberry roots, thereby maintaining the complexion of a twenty-year old for several centuries
before finally being transported to the divine realm (Liexian zhuan 2.5b; Kaltenmark 1953,
152-53).

More famous than she is Yu Jiang, better known as Maonü, the Hairy Woman. A palace
woman under the First Emperor of Qin, she saw the collapse of the dynasty approach and took
refuge on Mount Hua. There she met the immortal Gu Chun, who taught her how to eat pine
needles and survive in the wilderness—thus gaining the ability to live without solid food,
become immune to cold and heat, and move as swiftly as if she were flying. After living at
ease on the earth for several hundred years, she ascended to the paradises of the immortals
(Liexian zhuan 2.7b-8a; Kaltenmark 1953, 159-60). Still a highly venerated and respected
immortal, she is depicted in a leafy gown and with hairy legs and still venerated today on
various Daoist mountains (Porter 1993, 69).

Another well-known immortal who used dietary techniques is Master Whitestone (Baishi
xiansheng). He would have liked to concoct an alchemical elixir, but his family was poor and
he could not afford to do so. Instead, he made it his habit to boil white stones and use them for
food, the reason why he came to be called Master Whitestone, in combinatin with bits of dried
meat. For the most part, however, he would abstain from all grains and solid foods and thus
reach an age of centuries. His account in the Biographies of Spirit Immortals says:

He was able to walk as far as three or four hundred miles in one day. Though hundreds of
years old, he still looked like he was about thirty. When someone asked him why he did not
wish to ascend to heaven, he replied: “I’m not at all sure I should enjoy myself as much in
heaven as I do in this world right here!” (1.17b)

A third major way of controlling qi as it enters and leaves the body is through sexual hygiene.
In many cases this means the practice of celibacy for the preservation of sexual energy and its
circulation and refinement within the body (Eskildsen 1998, 38-40), but it can also involve
work with partners. Men might have relations with numerous women in order to obtain their
qi so they could augment their own stock by guiding the precious substance through the body
for greater energetic refinement, but some women are also reported to have used sexual
methods for their attainment of long life and transcendence (see Wile 1992).

In all these cases, longevity techniques are used by religious practitioners for the attainment of
higher stages: first a level of complete health, then a transcendence of health in an extended
longevity, often over several centuries, and finally a transformation of the body’s qi to a more
spiritual level of oneness with the Dao. Unlike the organized religious Daoists of later
centuries, the early immortals acknowledged and actively used the continuity of qi to guide
them from healing through longevity to immortality. What, then, is the logic behind this
perspective and how can it be part of an integrated Daoist teaching?

LEVELS OF PRACTICE

The three levels of healing, longevity, and immortality can be seen as three different
dimensions of practice within the same greater universe of the Dao. The Dao can be described
as “organic order”— organic in the sense that it is not willful and order in that it is clearly
manifested in the rhythmic changes and patterned processes of the natural world. Not a
conscious, active creator or personal entity, but an organic process that just moves along, the
Dao is mysterious in its depth and unfathomable in its essence. But beyond this, as order the
Dao is also predictable in its developments and can be discerned and described in ordered
patterns. These patterns are what the Chinese call “self-so” or “nature” (ziran), the
spontaneous and observable way things are naturally. Yet while Dao is very much nature, it is
also more than nature. It is also the essence of nature, the inner quality that makes things what
they are. It is governed by laws of nature, yet it is also these laws itself.

In other words, it is possible to explain the nature of the Dao in terms of a twofold structure.
The “Dao that can be told” and the “eternal Dao.” One is the mysterious, ineffable Dao at the
center of the cosmos; the other the Dao at the periphery, visible and tangible in the natural
cycles. About the eternal Dao, the Book of the Dao and Its Virtue says:

Look at it and do not see it: we call it invisible.

Listen to it and do not hear it: we call it inaudible.

Touch it and do not feel it: we call it subtle. . . .

Infinite and boundless, it cannot be named;

It belongs to where there are no beings.

It may be called the shape of no-shape,

It may be called the form of no-form.

Call it vague and obscure.

Meet it, yet you cannot see its head,

Follow it, yet you cannot see its back. (ch. 14)

This Dao, although the ground and inherent power of the human being, is entirely beyond
ordinary perception. It is so vague and obscure, so subtle and so potent, that it is beyond all
knowing and analysis; we cannot grasp it however hard we try. The human body, senses, and
intellect are simply not equipped to deal with this Dao. The only way a person can ever get in
touch with it is by forgetting and transcending ordinary human faculties, by becoming subtler
and finer and more potent, more like the Dao itself.

The Dao at the periphery, on the other hand, is characterized as the give and take of various
pairs of complementary opposites, as the natural ebb and flow of things as they rise and fall,
come and go, grow and decline, emerge and die. The Book of the Dao and Its Virtue says:

To contract, there must first be expansion.

To weaken, there must first be strengthening.

To destroy, there must first be promotion.

To grasp, there must first be giving.

This is called the subtle pattern. (ch. 36)

Things develop in alternating movements as long as they live. It is the nature of life to be in
constant motion. It is the nature of things to always move in one direction or the other, up or
down, toward lightness or heaviness, brightness or darkness. Nature is a continuous flow of
becoming, whether latent or manifest, described as the alternation of complementary
characteristics and directions that cannot exist without each other. This becoming can be
rhythmic and circular or it can move back toward the source of life in the ineffable Dao,
which at the same time is a forward movement toward a new level of cosmic oneness

In this larger cosmic vision, healing and longevity involve either the recovery or the the
maintanance of harmony with the visible and tangible patterns of the Dao, while spiritual
attainments of enlightenment and immortality mean the overcoming of the natural cycles and
the ultimate return to the Dao at the center of creation, the uncreated void at the base of all.
The practice of Qigong and gymnastics can serve all three, supplementing, enhancing, or
transforming the qi that makes up both the body and the universe.

Seen in terms of the body’s qi, the three levels of practice involve different scenarios and
trajectories of qi management. As is well known, the body consists of two forms of qi: a basic
primordial or prenatal qi that connects it to the cosmos and the Dao; and a secondary, earthly
or postnatal qi that is replenished by breath, food, and interaction with objects and people and
helps the body survive in everyday life. Both forms of qi are necessary and interact constantly
with each other, so that primordial qi is lost as and when earthly qi is insufficient, and earthly
qi becomes superfluous as and when primordial qi is complete (as in the case of the embryo in
the womb). People, once born, start this interchange of the two dimensions of qi and soon
begin to lose their primordial qi, especially through interaction with the world on the basis of
passions and desires, sensory exchanges, and intellectual distinctions—the very same features
considered most harmful for cosmic interaction in the classical texts.

When people have lost a certain amount of primordial qi, they get sick and eventually die.
Healing, then, is the replenishing of qi with medical means such as drugs, herbs, acupuncture,
rest, gymnastics, and so on. Longevity or health enhancement, next comes in as and when
people have become aware of their situation and decide to improve their quality and
enjoyment of life. Attaining a basic state of good health, they proceed to increase their
primordial qi to and even above the level they had at birth. To do so, they apply various
longevity techniques, including diets, breathing exercises, gymnastics, massages, sexual
practices, and meditations. These ensure not only the realization of the natural life expectancy
but may even result in increased old age and vigor.

Immortality, third, raises the practices to a yet higher level. To attain it, people transform all
their qi into primordial qi and proceed to increasingly refine it to ever subtler levels. This finer
qi will eventually turn into pure spirit, with which practitioners increasingly identify to
become spirit-people and transcendents. The practice that leads there involves intensive
meditation and trance training as well as more radical forms of diet and other longevity
practices. Unlike healing and longevity, where the natural tendencies of the body are
supported and enhanced, immortality demands the complete overcoming of these natural
tendencies and the body’s transformation into a different kind of energy constellation. The
result is a bypassing of death, the attainment of magical powers, and residence in cosmic
realms, such the immortals’ paradises.

DIFFERENCE IN APPLICATION

Daoyin exercises as much as the other longevity techniques, therefore, can be used equally for
medical, health enhancing, and spiritual purposes. When done for therapy, the specific
direction toward which they are aimed does not seem to matter. When used to enhance overall
health, there are some instructions on geographical orientation and astronomical
constellations, with the east being the most common, as it corresponds to spring and rising qi.
Done as a preparation for higher spiritual attainments, the exercises are often conbined with
formal purifications and with rituals to the gods. However, their basic patterns remain the
same on all three levels, so that similar sequences of gymnastic exercises are used in all cases.

Still, the exercises are not entirely the same. Certain practices that are useful in healing may
be superfluous in the attainment of longevity, while some applicable for immortality may
even be harmful when healing is the main focus. Take breathing as an example. When healing
or extending life, natural deep breathing is emphasized, with the diaphragm expanding on the
inhalation. When moving on to immortality, however, reverted breathing is advised, which
means that the diaphragm contracts on the in-breath. Undertaking this kind of reverted
breathing too early or at the wrong stage in one’s practice can cause complications, from
dizziness to disorientation or worse.

Again, the point is made clear in the case of sexual practices. In healing, sexual activity with a
partner is encouraged in moderation and measured ways, with both partners reaching regular
orgasms. In longevity practice, sexual activity may still be undertaken with a partner, but
ejaculation and other loss of essence and qi is avoided and the sexual stimulation is used to
raise the awareness of the positive flow of qi in the body, which is redirected to relieve stress
and increase vitality. Through the practice, as Mantak Chia and Michael Winn state, people
“become more aware that all living things are one” (1984, 171).

In immortality, finally, sexual practices are undertaken entirely within one’s own body and
without a partner. They serve the creation of an immortal embryo through the refinement of
the sexual energy jing first into qi, then into cosmic spirit shen. Ni Hua-ching emphasizes
accordingly that in advanced attainment sexual energy should not be used to have fun or beget
children, but must be sublimated into spiritual energy, which will then give birth to the
spiritual embryo and help people to attain the immortal state (1992, 110).He says:

It is hard for people to establish the correct goal of life. Typically people are looking for
emotional happiness in the form of lots of pleasure, fun, stimulation or excitement. For
spiritual people, it is necessary to avoid pleasure, excitement, stimulation and fun. Actually,
those four things have a healthy and unhealthy level. In other words, some fun is all right,
because it does not harm your life being. However, even on a healthy level, if fun is
overextended, it can become negative and damage your energy being. (Ni 1992, 111)]

Immortality is thus the creation of an inner spirit being and means the avoidance of ordinary
joys and excitements. Practices associated with it are not only unsuitable (and probably
impossible) for people on the levels of healing and longevity, but may even be harmful if
attempted improperly.

The same point, that practices of a similar nature vary significantly among the three levels,
can equally be made for diets and fasting. Thus diets on the medical and health levels involve
abstention from heavy foods such as meat and fat, as well as from strong substances such as
alcohol, garlic, and onions. Instead, practitioners are encouraged to eat lightly and in small
portions. As their qi increases, they will need ever less food, until—in immortality practice—
all main staples can be cut out and food is replaced by the conscious intake of qi through
breath in a technique known as bigu or “avoiding grain.”

In all cases, longevity practices and thus Qigong and gymnastics serve to guide people from a
wasteful and neglecting attitude toward their bodies and minds toward a more wholesome,
healing, and caring way of dealing with themselves. Allowing the conscious bodily
experience of the cooperation among all body and mind energies, the practice increases the
mental awareness of oneself as part of the Dao, manifested as a flow of energy that rises and
ebbs, comes and goes, moves and halts. As one reaches a state of mental quietude and greater
stability in one’s heath, the practice leads on towards a more encompassing understanding of
self and world, which also includes a sense of wonder, of gratitude towards the natural world
and the greater universe. The tense, ego-bound self loosens and a sense of open qi-flow takes
its place. Healing moves on to longevity, and as cosmic awareness increases, even to
immortality.

Historically, organized Daoists changed their attitude toward the application of longevity
techniques after unification around the seventh century. Around the very same time when the
medical tradition began to systematize and organize long life methods in their classics,
Daoists integrated the practices of the immortals of old more actively and acknowledged their
value. Looking at the Daoist origins of Qigong, there is, therefore, both a distinction and a
continuity among the organized religion with its foremost focus on divinity and otherworldly
powers and the tradition of life-enhancing practices that can be used on all different levels. It
is thus not surprising that long life methods should be transmitted among Daoist texts and that
Qigong to the present day serves as a key part of Daoist practice.

DAOIST TECHNIQUES

So far, we have looked at daoyin as the key forerunner of Qigong—a practice that uses to a
large extent the same techniques and shares the same worldview, that similarly reaches from
health enhancement to spiritual dimensions. However, daoyin alone is not Qigong, and there
are a number of practices commonly undertaken today that have a different origin, that in fact
go back to more religious Daoist practices. In the last section of this presentation, I would like
to point out a few of those, focusing mainly on the transformation of the body into a cosmic
energy system, the visualization of animal nature and cosmic flow, and the impact of inner
alchemy.

One of these practices is the cosmicization of the body through the ingestion of the so-called
five sprouts, also known as the “method of mist absorption,” which involves partaking of the
pure energies of the five directions. Part of medieval Daoist cultivation and described
especially in the texts of Highest Clarity (Robinet 1989, 165-66), the practice begins with
swallowing the saliva while chanting invocations to the original qi of the four cardinal
directions. Then adepts face the direction in question, usually beginning with the east, and in
their minds visualize the qi of that direction in its appropriate color. A general mist in the
beginning, it gradually forms into a ball, sort of like the rising sun, then through further
concentration shrinks in size and is made to come close to the adept. Eventually the size of a
pill, the sprout can be swallowed and guided mentally to the organ of its correspondence. A
suitable incantation places it firmly in its new receptacle, and gradually the adepts body
becomes infused with cosmic energy and partakes more actively of the cosmos as a whole.

The sprouts, as Isabelle Robinet points out, are originally the “germinal essences of the
clouds” or “mist.” They represent the yin principle of heaven—that is, the yin within the
yang. They manifest in human saliva, again a yin element in the upper, yang, part of the body.
They help to nourish and strengthen the five inner organs/orbs. A Highest Clarity scripture
known as On the Code of the Dao (Daodian lun) explains that they are very tender,
comparable to the fresh sprouts of plants, and that they assemble at dawn in the celestial
capital, from where they spread all over the universe until the sun begins to shine. Turning
like the wheels of a carriage, they ascend to the gates of the nine heavens, from where they
continue to the medium level of the world—to the five sacred mountains ruled over by the
five emperors of the five directions—and finally descend into the individual adept. They thus
pass through the three major levels of the cosmos (Robinet 1989, 166).

The virtue of these sprouts is twofold. They are “emanations of the highest poles” and as such
full of the power of far-off regions, the fringes of civilization where the Dao resides in a rawer
state. At the same time, they are “tender like freshly sprouted plants” and as such contain the
entire potential of being in its nascent state. This growth potential, the small and
imperceptible qi in a state of pure becoming, is the main objective for the Daoist practitioner.
“Sprouting” means inherent creation, purity, newness, return to youth. It also implies the
prevalence of the soft over the hard and the power of yin over yang that Laozi describes in the
Daode jing . Here yin is represented by the saliva that adepts absorb. The practice is
undertaken at dawn, the time when everything awakens to life, yet another symbol of creative,
unstructured potential. By ingesting the sprouts, the Daoist partakes of the inherent power of
celestial bodies and feeds on the pure creative energy of the universe its most subtle form. It is
thus not surprising that the absorption of the sprouts is also used as a preparatory practice for
the “abstention from grains.” By and by the sprout intake replaces adepts regular nourishment
and allows them to identify with the germinal energy of the sprouts. They thus can become
lighter and freer, appear and disappear at will, overcome the limitations of this world, and
attain immortality in the heavenly realms (Robinet 1993).

Another Daoist practice that has made its way into modern Qigong is inner observation or
neiguan, the active, conscious introspection of one’s body and mind. As documented in texts
since the Tang dynasty, and in particular in the Scripture of Inner Observation (Neiguan jing;
see Kohn 1989), practitioners are guided to turn their perception inside and realize the
realities of body energies and consciousness movements within. Soon they begin to
understand how they function and react both physically and psychologically. With prolonged
practice, they become aware of the subtler energies of life and see themselves increasingly in
terms of qi-patterns than ego-centered actions. As the Scripture of Inner Observation says,
adepts come to see the body as part of Heaven and Earth, raised through yang and nourished
by yin, helped and guarded by the spirit and material souls, organized in accordance with the
five phases and the six musical tones, radiating with the power of the seven stars and the eight
luminaries.

They learn that beyond their tangible qi, they consist to a large extend of spirit (shen), the
primordial, formless, and ever-changing force, which in connection with the physical body
causes human beings to be alive. Manifested in the human mind, where it is often distorted to
serve egoistic and one-sided needs, spirit is brought back to a state of rest as the mind is
concentrated and relaxed. Adepts come to see that just as the Dao pervades the universe in
utmost perfection, so spirit working through their mind can govern their life perfectly—that
is, as long as it is observed and cultivated and not wasted on sensual amusements and the
exertions of the senses. From confusion and defilement, adepts recover the primordial state.

Doing so, they come to realize the impermanent nature of the ego-based vision of self and
body and replace this identity with one that consists of an assemblance of energy, essence,
and spirit. They realize in their own lives the dictum of Zhuangzi that “human life is a
coming-together of qi. If it comes together there is life. If it scatters there is death” (Watson
1968, 235). Human life is only one part of the continuous natural transformations of qi; it is
merely borrowed from heaven and earth but since it resembles them closely in its structuring
and undergoes the same transformations as all creation, it can be made just as perfect, just as
flowing, just as eternal. Realizing this inherent nature of life and themselves, adepts see that
there is no true master of body and mind and acknowledge how little conscious control they
have over life’s transformations. Increasingly able to let life and the body go on changing as
they please, they can forget themselves and dissolve into the higher patterns of the Dao.

This Dao, in the Daoist context, however, is not just a flow of energies, but populated by
gods, spirits, and other supernatural entities. As the practitioner becomes more attuned to his
life and body as the universe, he or she also comes to actively perceive the gods and spirits as
inhabitants of the human body. The body and thus the self becomes increasingly a
microcosmic replica of the starry heavens above, full of palaces and chambers, towers and
terraces, gods and immortals. The deities who reside in the paradises of the other world are as
much at home in the adept’s body, and again—as through the ingestion of the five sprouts—
the adept comes to cosmicize his or her self, expanding identity into a larger sphere.

Along the same lines, the Daoist transformation of the self in the process of inner alchemy,
reaching from essence through energy to spirit and the emptiness of the Dao, has become part
of modern Qigong discourse and many techniques of inner alchemy are actively applied in
practice. Not only perceiving of the body as an entity of qi-flow and a replica of the universe,
adepts of inner alchemy take active control of the energies and, through the systematic
circulation and collection of qi, transmutate the body into a cauldron for the growth of an
inner elixir. Starting from a tiny seed, it blossoms forth and gives rise to the immortal embryo,
which then, over ten months of intense meditation, grows to completion. A primordial light
begins to shine through the entire body, and adepts enter a state of deep absorption, allowing
the tenuously growing spirit embryo to grow to fullness and take on a life of its own—moving
about the heavenly realms in a new variation of the ecstatic soul journeys of Daoists of old.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, Qigong as practiced today has a long and varied history in Chinese culture.
Strongly rooted in the medical tradition, it has continuously over the past two millennia been
used for healing, curing, and health enhancement. By extension, it has helped people extend
their lives and improve their capacity for enjoyment and vivacity. Beyond its clearly visible
medical roots, however, Qigong has also been linked in various ways with the Daoist
tradition—notably through the qi-controlling practices of the ancient immortals and a number
of exercises adopted into the modern repertoire from religious Daoist cultivation and ritual.

The main distinction between health and longevity on the one hand, and advanced spiritual or
immortality practice, on the other, within the overall system of Qigong is the degree to which
the body is aligned with the flow of yin and yang or the Dao on the periphery versus being
transformed, transfigured, and energetically reorganized to a higher level—the ineffable Dao
of creation at the center of all. Are we practicing to enhance nature or to overcome it? Is the
goal of our efforts to become stronger, more vibrant, and more successful in this life or is it to
transform ourselves completely into a mystical dimension of existence that reaches far beyond
this body and this world? Whenever the goal of Qigong is transcendence, the practice has
passed into the realm of the Daoist religion—a passage, however, that cannot be undertaken
without first completing the medical curriculum and enhancing health to the utmost.
Today we will start talking about Primordial Breathing, which is a part of Static (Nei Dan)
Sitting Qigong. Primordial Breathing is also known as Embryonic Breathing, Fetal Breathing,
Stopping the Breath, Internal Breathing and by other names, but the original Chinese name
is 胎吸 (Tai Xi). Primordial Breathing is a very powerful practice that allows generating and
storing inner Qi efficiently in the body. However, learning proper Primordial Breathing
Qigong Meditation takes effort and time. There are several things you have to master first
before proceeding with the actual Qigong meditation. The most important one is training
your abdominal muscles through the practice of Normal Abdominal Breathing and Reverse
Abdominal Breathing.

Abdominal Breathing

Majority of people use their chest while breathing. This makes the breaths not as deep and
slow as they should be. When we breathe using our chest, more muscle power is utilized, as
we tend to take more breaths per minute. Abdominal breathing, on the other hand, is a much
more relaxing and effective type of breathing. It is the way human beings should breathe by
nature. During abdominal breathing, we use the contraction and expansion of our stomach to
take fewer, but much deeper and better quality breaths. This allows breathing in more oxygen
and releasing more carbon dioxide when we exhale.

Types of Abdominal Breathing

Normal Abdominal Breathing: Simple

If you have never practiced abdominal breathing before, start with simple breathing. Expand
your abdomen while inhaling and pull it in when exhaling. You can put one hand over your
chest, another hand over your belly and feel and observe the belly moving in and out, while
the chest stays still. Practice Simple Abdominal Breathing for a while, until you are
comfortable with it. Then, move to the next stage.

Normal Abdominal Breathing: Advanced

In addition to the stomach, Advanced Abdominal Breathing involves the movement of your
buttocks, lower back and diaphragm. As you inhale, gently push out your abdomen, while
relaxing the buttocks and the lower back and moving the diaphragm downwards. As you
exhale, move your abdomen inwards, while squeezing the buttocks, pulling in the lower back
and moving your diaphragm upwards.

It will take you time to learn how to do this type of breathing properly, and to train relevant
abdominal muscles.

Reverse Abdominal Breathing

Once you mastered Advanced Abdominal Breathing and really learned how to control your
abdominal muscles, you can start practicing Reverse Abdominal Breathing. As you inhale,
gently move your abdomen inwards, while squeezing the buttocks, pulling in the lower back
and pushing your diaphragm down. As you exhale, push out your abdomen, while relaxing the
buttocks and the lower back and moving the diaphragm inwards.
Once you have practiced these types of breathing techniques and become well-experienced
using your abdominal muscles, you can proceed with your first Primordial Breathing Qigong
Meditation. Detailed instructions on how to do this practice will be explained in the next blog
Qigong Meditation: Primordial Breathing (Part 2).

As you remember from the previous blog Qigong Meditation: Primordial Breathing (Part
1), Primordial Breathing is a part of Static (Nei Dan) Sitting Qigong, and is a very powerful
practice of generating and storing inner Qi energy. We have mentioned that before you can
proceed with this practice, you have to learn how to control your abdominal muscles and,
first, master Normal Abdominal Breathing, and after that, master Reverse Abdominal
Breathing. If you have done so, you are ready to practice Primordial Breathing Qigong
Meditation.

Primordial Breathing Qigong Meditation Instructions

Before starting the practice, make sure you have sufficient time for it and nothing disturbs
you. This practice should not be done on full or empty stomach. It is always good to wear
comfortable clothes when doing Qigong practices.

Primordial Breathing in Qigong can be practiced in two ways:

 Sitting – Sit comfortably on the floor in lotus pose (simple cross-leg or advanced
posture) with straight spine. Place your hands on the legs –

 For men – Put your left hand over the right hand and connect the thumbs.
 For women – Let your right hand go on top of the left hand with thumbs gently
connecting each other.

It is ok to sit on the chair with your feet on the ground for this type of Qigong breathing.

 Lying– If you are not comfortable with the sitting practice, you may lie down and
place your hands along the body with palms facing the ceiling. However, you may
find it hard to focus on your Lower Dan Tian in this position, and may also fall asleep
much easier, which will leave your Primordial Breathing Qigong Meditation
unfinished.

Once you are able to sit or lie down comfortably, you can start Primordial Breathing Qigong
Meditation:

Relax your body and close your eyes. Take several deep and slow breaths. Become aware of
your Lower Dan Tian and Upper Dan Tian. You should learn how to concentrate your mind
on these centers. Take several breaths using Reverse Abdominal Breathing, then switch to
Normal Abdominal Breathing. Normal Abdominal Breathing and Reverse Abdominal
Breathing allow generating extra Qi energy in our body (you can feel warmth or trembling
sensations in your stomach). Direct this energy between Lower and Upper Dan Tian while
you do the meditation practice.
You can continue switching between Normal and Reverse Abdominal breathing generating
more Qi. Once you feel you have generated enough Qi energy, you need to store it. For that,
you should keep your mind at the Lower Dan Tian and direct the Qi there. This can be done
with either Normal Abdominal Breathing, when you direct the Qi to the Lower Dan Tian
during inhale and leave your mind there when you exhale, or Reverse Abdominal Breathing,
when you compress the Qi on the inhale, and direct it down to the Lower Dan Tian during
exhale. Unite your mind and the Qi at the Lower Dan Tian, and the energy will be stored
there.

Adding Golden Elixir Qigong Practice to the Meditation

You can also add Golden Elixir to your meditation and use the healing power of saliva for a
better practice. For that, you should keep your tongue touching the roof of your mouth during
your Primordial Breathing Qigong meditation. This will help generate more saliva. Once
your mouth is full of it, inhale and swallow it. On the exhale, direct the saliva to the Lower
Dan Tian. Repeat this process while you do your meditation practice.

Benefits of Primordial Breathing Qigong Meditation

 Increased Qi energy levels

 Massage of Internal Organs
 Reduction of excessive heat in the body
 Body healing (lowering of blood pressure, healing digestive issues and other health
problems)
 Faster toxin removal
 Quality breathing – breathing in more oxygen and releasing more carbon dioxide
 Calm mind and many more

To sum up, before practicing Primordial Breathing Qigong Meditation, you should, first, learn
properly how to do Normal and Reverse Abdominal Breathing, as it was explained in Qigong
Meditation: Primordial Breathing (Part 1). In addition, you should be experienced with
calming the mind and using it to direct the free flow of Qi energy between Upper and Lower
Dan Tian. Improper practice may result in Qi stagnation. That is why, it might be better to
learn the practice with an experienced Qigong master first before starting to do it on your
own.

The deer is connected to the kidneys. In the 5 Elements, the element is water. The emotion of
fear is the emotion of that element. The deer can be fearful and cautious, but when it is using
its power, it has amazing willpower, grace and ease.

Balancing the Emotions of the 5 Elements:

To balance fear, we need courage and calm. The deer is alert and aware of danger. It has a
good system of warning fellow deer of danger by wagging its tail in a certain way. It is also
very fast and can run long distances. It is calm and confident in its abilities to be alert to
danger and outrun predators.

Deer Level II -缩脖鹿 Suo Bo Lu—Deer Peeks Its Head

Instructions:
Body: Step out with the left foot in front, bringing the right hand around in front of your face.

The back is bent forward, but not arched. The back of the left hand is on the Ming Men,
touching at the Da Ling point.

Staying focused on the Lao Gong point of your hand, extend your neck gently, then bring it
back to normal, then once again extend it gently to make 2 repetitions.

Turn the left arm outwards, while rotating the right arm and circling it behind you and rotating
the left arm in front of you, repeating the same process on the opposite side.

Qigong Breathing Instructions: As you bring the hand behind and one in front, breathe in
and hold the breath, then move the neck while holding the breath, before breathing out and
moving the hands.
Spirit: Have you ever seen a deer stretch its neck to take a peek for danger or out of
curiosity? Feel its curiosity, yet at the same time its cautiousness. The Deer always feels light
on its feet and graceful.

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits: Fascia/Anatomy

Deer Level II stretch, strengthen, and lengthen the neck. Clear front and back mobility creates
more space and fluid movement of the neck. This is especially good for people with neck
problems, and those spending time with their heads angled at a computer.

The Deer in 5 Animal Qigong really works the kidneys, but also goes a whole lot deeper. The
deer is connected to sexual vitality, since it is known to sit on its perineum, which is the pump
for the opening and closing of sexual energy.

To learn more about the benefits of Deer Qigong see the book Five Animal Qigong

Chinese Medicine Relationship:

The Deer is good for the Governing and Conception Vessel through the dynamic motion that
goes through the spine.

Meridians/Acupuncture Points Targeted:

The movements of the Deer open up various meridians along the legs, including the bladder
meridian, and work on the Ming Men Point and Xuan Shu Point.
Other beneficial functions:

 Strengthens the lower back 


 Alleviates diarrhea and indigestion 


*This article is an excerpt from the book Five Animal Qigong

You can also see it live in the Five Animal Qigong Online Course
Bear Qigong of 5 Animals Qigong = Earth-Spleen-Support

Bear is connected with the Earth Element and this is related to the emotions of worry and
anxiety. To balance worry, we need to relax and ground ourselves. The bear is solid and
rooted into the earth, which is connected to the spleen. You will see every Bear movement
gets deep and different compressions & expansions, and twists around the spleen to really
squeeze out dirty Qi and bring in fresh, vibrant Qi and circulation.

Bear Level IV – 刚臂熊 Gang Bi Xiong—Bear Strongly Shakes Off Its Paws

BEAR Stance:

Horse stance (Ma Bu) is done with the feet wider than shoulder-width. You can turn out the
feet so the knees are facing the same direction as the feet to protect weak knees.

Instructions:
Body: Step out into horse stance while bringing the fists up directly above the elbows and
facing forward.

Keep the shoulders in alignment with the elbows so that they are bent at a right angle.

Push with your right leg off the ground and bend to your left side, bringing your right fist over
your head.

Focus on stretching your right side and feel the compression on the left. This is expanding the
liver area and compressing the spleen.

Make sure to keep the right foot pointed to the ground. Put the foot down and repeat on the
other side.

For breath and spirit instructions see the book Five Animal Qigong

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits: Fascia/Anatomy

Bear IV’s sharp movements create elasticity in the fascia, and stability while at the same time
being on one leg. It is the lateral line that gets an elastic, dynamic stretch with side to side
balance and gives a dynamic elastic side stretch. The pulling up of the knee will also help
open the hips and psoas a bit.
Lateral Line and Psoas

© Copyright Anatomy Trains, Thomas Meyers

This Bear contains lateral dynamic mobility while balancing sideways on the inner and outer
leg quadrant of standing leg.

Chinese Medicine Relationship:

Lateral, direct, intense, and fast paced squeeze on the liver and spleen.

Meridians/Acupuncture Points Targeted:

Holding the fists holds the Qi in the hands until you release it at the end, sending a surge of Qi
to the fingertips, which contain acupuncture points from the major meridians in the arms.

Try doing at least 3-9 repetitions on each side of the body.

*This article is an excerpt from the book Five Animal Qigong

Study the Bear Qigong in February

You can also see it live in the Five Animal Qigong Online Course
Tiger Qigong of Five Animals Qigong = Metal-Lungs-Joy

In the 5 Elements, the Tiger is related with the Metal Element of the 5 Element Theory of
Chinese Medicine. The metal element is related to the organ system of the Lungs. The related
emotion is grief. Deep breathing is an integral part of the Tiger. There are several levels
which serve to open up the Lung Meridian quite deeply, Level I and Level III being the
deepest.

Tiger Level I: 上山虎 Shan Shang Hu—Tiger Climbs the Mountaintop

Stance:
Empty Stance (Xu Bu 虚步): Ensure that 99% of the weight is on the back foot, which is
turned outwards to a 45-degree angle. The front knee is straight and the front foot is directly
in front of you. By keeping the knee of the front leg straight and the foot flat, the leg is
stretched. The knees are also in alignment.

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits – Empty Stance (Xu Bu 虚步): During the Tiger, the
spleen and liver are compressed and squeezed out.

Tiger Claw (虎爪 Hu Zhua): Hold 30% tension in the hand as you curl the first and second
interphalangeal joints of the fingers and thumb. Keep the tension throughout the exercise. The
main tension point is across the middle Lao Gong Point. When practicing Tiger, it is
important to always hold tension in the Tiger Claw. Do not let go of the tension. This builds
pressure in the meridians and acupuncture points in the hand and in the Lao Gong point.

Tiger Claw

Read more about benefits of holding the Tiger Claw in Five Animal Qigong book.

Instructions:

Begin with Opening 3 times.

Body: With the left palm facing up in a tiger claw in front of the body, step out with the left
foot while the right foot is turned out to a 45-degree angle. The right hand is at the waist level
facing down.
Bring the right arm around in a circle until the hand is parallel with your shoulder and the
ground. From here, try to lift it higher until you reach your maximum stretch. Simultaneously
let the left hand and arm circle behind you in the opposite direction, going to your maximum
stretch in that direction. The head is facing down; bring the body down so that the back is
straight. You should feel a stretch in the kidneys and compression of the spleen.

Turn the right arm from the shoulder to the hand to the right to get a maximum twist. At the
same time, rotate the left arm to the left from the shoulder to the hand to get the maximum
twist.

Then rotate the left arm back to the original position and turn the left foot in a 45-degree angle
to the left.

Step out in front with the right foot, at the same time circling your arms in the opposite
direction so that the right arm goes behind you and the left arm is now in front of you.

The eyes should always be looking down at the ground. With each repetition feel as if you are
climbing a mountain. Do 6-10 repetitions.

Breath: Breathe in when you swing the arms and breathe out as you twist them. Breathe
naturally. Learn the advanced breathing technique from a teacher under supervision,
otherwise it can be dangerous.

Spirit: The feeling is as if you are a tiger climbing to the top of a mountain. In China, the tiger
is revered as the king of the animal world.

The spirit of the tiger is powerful, strong, confident, and can be fierce if needed. Feel all these
feelings coming through each movement. Become the tiger.

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits: Fascia/Anatomy

 Stretches the visceral fascia that surrounds and holds the kidneys
 Compresses and squeezes the visceral fascia around the spleen and liver
 The arms move in opposite directions so you get a dynamic cross stretch along the
back of the body.
Spiral Lines and Arm Lines

© Copyright Anatomy Trains, Thomas Meyers

To learn more about Fascia and Tiger Qigong see the book Five Animal Qigong

Chinese Medicine Relationship:

This motion is a metal-like movement – chopping and descending. Practitioners should also
be aware that beyond all physical extension and contraction of the movements, it is the
internal impact of these movements that brings the long-term healing benefits. In particular,
the bending and flexing movement on the Spinal Column will help to activate the meridians
along the Du Mai (governing channel), which extends along the posterior midline, and Ren
Mai (conception channel), which extends along the anterior midline, which keeps it blockage
free, ensures the smooth flow of Qi and blood and promotes the balance of Yin and Yang.

Meridians/Acupuncture Points Targeted: All Meridians of the Arms

 How it works – the twisting of the arms dilates the meridians in the arms. The secret
breathing technique helps further intensify the dilation for further pumping and
opening.
 Dilates the meridians of the arms (lungs, heart, pericardium, triple burner small
intestines, large intestines). Opens up the Ren and Du Mai (Governing and Conception
Vessels).
 The flat-footed empty stance stretches the Stomach Meridian particularly at the ST-41
(Jie Xi) point, which is the point that activates this meridian and calms the spirit. This
point is also good for problems in the lower leg and ankle.
Try doing at least 3-9 repetitions on each side of the body.
Monkey Qigong of 5 Animals Qigong = Wood-Liver-Forgiveness

The Monkey is related to the Wood Element and is connected with anger. The playfulness of
the monkey can transform even the angriest people.

The twisting in Level II of the Monkey gets a nice compression, followed by expansion of the
sphere that the liver and spleen reside in. Not only do some of the movements of the Monkey
target the liver, but the character and spirit too. The playfulness of the monkey relieves anger
from the liver. Who can be angry when they are playful? Someone who is cunning does not
have to be angry; they focus their energy into intelligence – they will find a way. Be light like
a child, and playful.
Monkey level II: 望月猿 Wang Yue Yuan—Monkey Turns to Look at the Moon

Make sure the Yin Bai acupuncture point touches the ground. It also connects to the spleen
meridian. All the weight is on one foot.

Instructions:

Begin with Opening 3 Times.

Body: All 4 fingers touch the thumb, which activates the acupuncture points in the fingertips.

Two hands touch at the index fingers.

Move the left foot, circling outwards and stepping forward. Then move the right foot,
dragging it and circling.

The left hand comes behind you to rest with the back of the hand on the Ming Men at the
Xuan Shu point, while the left hand is above your left ear.

At the same time, rotate deep to the maximum twist, looking up at the sky. With the fingers of
your left hand, tap the acupuncture points above your ear on your head. Untwist and step out
to the opposite side. Repeat this sequence on the other side.
Breath: Exhale as you twist and tap and inhale as you step.

Spirit: Feeling the agility and motion of the monkey, stop and look up at the beautiful moon.
Tap your head as if trying to remember something.

For more detailed instructions see the book Five Animal Qigong

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits: Fascia/Anatomy

There is a side to side shift of legs and hips, and a need to stabilize through the outside leg
with a deep rotation. This helps create a stable and dynamic balance in your legs and hips.

The rotation around the spine is highly beneficial. This Monkey twist has a deep torso
rotation, which opens all four lines in upper body.

Neck Fascia and Connection to the Eyes

Chinese Medicine Relationship

Make sure the Yin Bai acupuncture point touches the ground. It also connects to the spleen
meridian. It is good for the heart and eyes as it helps them relax. The playfulness of the
Monkey form relieves heart fire. It also stretches and improves stiffness in the neck, and
increases neck mobility.

Meridians/Acupuncture Points Targeted

 Stimulates meridians and acupuncture points in the wrist. Meridians in the wrist get
flexed when you tap.
 Acupuncture point GB-9 Tian Zhong
 Acupuncture point GB-8 Shuai Gu
 Memory and sleep are improved by tapping these acupuncture points.
  Improves heart-playfulness and relieves heart fire.
 Utilizes a spinal twist, which is a good stretch for the spine.
 Good for kidneys 


*This article is an excerpt from the book Five Animal Qigong

You can also see it live in the Five Animal Qigong Online Course

This is one of my favorite Qigong forms from the Five Animal Qigong.

It is the last Qigong form of the Winter Road, which is also called Level IV, although you can
do it at any level. The way the Five Animal Qigong was designed was to be done either as
part of the complete form or each individual Qigong exercise could be practiced on its own or
as part of a prescription of exercises as is common in Medical Qigong.

Check below the video for instructions and benefits of this Qigong.

CRANE LEVEL IV: 长飞鹤 ZHANG FEI HE—CRANE SOARS AND DESCENDS

Instructions:

Body: Bring your left leg forward (foot faces forward) and put all your weight on it while
bending at the knee and bringing your back foot directly behind the front foot.
Just touch your toes of the back foot to the ground. The arms are crossed and in front of your
body. Use the same finger position from the other Crane levels. Now bring your back leg
behind you, straightening the knee of the back leg and pointing your toes behind you. Bring
the leg as high as it can go while maintaining a crouched position.

At the same time, raise the arms outwards with the hands slightly in front of the shoulders.

Spread the arms as far and as high as they can go. You should now feel a stretch in the chest
and shoulders. Then step with the back leg in front of you and begin the same sequence on the
right foot.

On the 9th repetition (or 2nd to last) hold it for 20 seconds and on the 10th (or last) repetition
hold it for 30 seconds. Keep the breath natural in this phase.

Qigong Breathing Instructions: Exhale as you spread your wings and inhale as you bring
your arms in.
Spirit: As you open your wings, feel as if you are soaring. As you bring your arms in, feel as
if you are descending.

Anatomical and Physiological Benefits: Fascia/Anatomy

This promotes forward/backward balance on the standing leg while the body is in a horizontal
alignment. This indicates we are toning and holding all the muscles along the back, which
includes the neck, along the spine and the legs and along the arms. Everything is held up
against gravity.

© Copyright Anatomy Trains, Thomas Meyers

It is therefore a back of the body toning exercise, which keeps the fascia on the back of the
body strong and engaged to balance all of the forward movement.

To learn more about Fascia and Qigong see the book Five Animal Qigong

Chinese Medicine Relationship:

The Crane is associated with the element of Fire, which is related to the organ of the Heart.
Joy is the emotion of the heart and as Chinese Medicine teaches us, excess anything even joy
can be detrimental. Thus, the Crane helps relieve excess and brings peace.

Meridians:

Particular to this animal, as you stretch out, the Qi goes through the meridians of the arms and
legs.

Other activities this is beneficial for is:

 Stiff shoulders, neck and back from working at a desk

 Tight chest
 Leg strength and balance
  Stretches the biceps
 Stretches the psoas which effects the entire body

Try doing at least 3-9 repetitions on each side of the body.

Four Gate Qigong Breathing has been widely used throughout the history in China for
different purposes of Qigong practice. In martial Qigong – for energizing the hands and feet
for martial power. In Outgoing Qigong – for drawing the Qi energy to the Two Gates i.e.
palms and fingertips for outgoing healing and greater ability to sense the patient’s energy. In
Medical Qigong, this breathing practice is used to promote a circulation of the Qi energy
through the meridians and the body for healing and energizing purposes. Regardless of what
Qigong you are practicing, you can benefit from this breathing technique by doing it on its
own or together with other Qigong forms and movements.

Four Gates

Four Gates are palm centers (Lao Gong points) and the centers on the bottom of the feet
(Yong Quan points). The Yong Quan points are also known as the “Bubbling Wells”, as it is
believed that the Qi is flowing from them like water from a well. By regulating the Qi
circulation to these four gates, we can improve our mental and physical health.

Four Gate Breathing Practice Instructions

Four Gate Qigong breathing practice can be done when you are lying down, sitting or
standing. If you prefer sitting position, sit on the edge of the chair or put your legs straight out
in front of the body. Legs should not be crossed, as this can prevent a free circulation of the
Qi.

Once you are in a comfortable and relaxed position, you can start the practice. Do few breaths
through your nose using normal abdominal breathing – expand your abdomen while
inhaling and pull it in when exhaling. Once you are comfortable with this practice, you can try
doing it with reverse abdominal breathing.

Focus your attention on the lower Dan Tian and visualize four gates on your palm centers and
the centers on the bottom of the feet. On the inhale, imagine the Qi energy moving in through
your palms and, at the same time, through the soles of your feet up the meridian pathways
(inner side of the arms and legs) and then merging in the lower Dan Tian. On the exhale,
imagine the Qi flowing back from the lower Dan Tian all the way to the palms and the soles
of your feet.

This practice is great to do before going to sleep. Simply count your breaths until you fall
asleep and wake up in the morning feeling energy vibrations in the Dan Tian and limbs.

Four Gate Breathing for Removing Energy Stagnation

We can also combine Four Gate Qigong Breathing with various Qigong movements. This will
make the practice more powerful. It will also help to remove blockages and energy stagnation
that we have in our body by pumping the Qi through the meridian pathways through pulsing.
To learn more about it, you can relate to the article we have posted about Removing Energy
Stagnation with Pulsating Qi Energy.

Each of the forms in the 5 Elements Qigong system is associated with an organ. The five
powerful Qigong forms named after five animals – Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Snake and Crane
target five internal organs – kidney, lungs, liver, spleen and heart to boost the Qi circulation,
and help develop strength, balance and flexibility. These forms also symbolize five elements –
Water, Metal, Earth, Wood and Fire.

By targeting the organs, the five forms address various health troubles and provide the
practitioner with a healthy, positive and synchronized mind, body and spirit. In order to learn
and master these forms, you need to take part in a comprehensive and advanced 5 Elements
Qigong training course which is offered by only Tevia Feng at his White Tiger Qigong school
nestled in the lap of nature in Thailand.

Kidney (Dragon Form)

The centre of Jing, one of the Three Treasures, kidneys are affected by the emotion of fear.
Good kidney health contributes to physical strength and stamina. On the other hand, lower
backpain, premature aging and bone diseases are the results of poor kidney Qi. The Dragon
form involves the twist of the spine that stimulates the circulation of energy in the kidneys.
Regular practice of this Qigong form fortifies the body to preserve Jing, the basic life force.

Lungs (Tiger Form)

The centre of grief, tension and stress, lungs are considered to be the first organ affected by
any disease. Poor lung health blocks the flow of Qi and thwarts the release of oxygen in the
body. It results into dry and damaged skin and hair, and speeds up the aging process. The
Tiger form with its fierce, strong and fluid movements opens the lungs. Starting with the
expansion of the chest with the inhale, the Qi flows throughout the body, expands the
breathing capacity and drives out all the stress, grief and tension with the expulsion of the air.

Liver (Leopard Form)

This organ is associated with anger, stress and depression. Poor liver health gives rise to
digestive problems and affects blood circulation. Our body is purified of all the toxins through
liver.
The Leopard form squeezes the organ by twisting the side body. This frees the Qi into the
liver and speeds up the detoxification process.
Spleen (Snake form)

Spleen is linked to both digestion and circulation, and is connected to the emotion of anxiety.
This organ builds blood in the body and directs blood circulation and muscle function. Since
spleen is susceptible to stagnation and prone to become damp, it can cause the formation of
mucus, and develop digestion problems and anxious state of mind.
The Snake form addresses this susceptibility. It opens up the organ deeply to soak in the fresh
Qi.

Heart (Crane Form)

Sleeplessness, hypertension and chest pain are the symptoms of heart problems. The heart is
where the spirit rests and strong heart health can make the body immune to various diseases.
The Crane form is one of the most graceful, fluid and flexible forms in Qigong. In the 5
Elements Qigong training course at White Tiger Qigong, the practitioner is instructed to
maintain a perfect coordination while opening the arms, bending the back and opening up the
rib cage.The correct posture helps in alleviating chest pain and pain in the arms, upper back
and rib cage.
We welcome you to take part in the White Tiger Qigong Winter workshop starting this
December to explore the Dynamic Five Animal Flow- Wu Qin Xi Complete Medical Qigong
System. Register now and avail early bird discount.
Healing Sounds to Release Negative Emotions Within the Organs

Lungs are associated with Metal Element and White color energy. They hold grief and stress,
and are assigned Si (pronounced as Ssss) sound to release these emotions.

Kidney – Water Element and Blue energy – retains fear, and the sound to relieve it is Chui
(Chuuu).

Liver – Wood Element and Green energy – keeps anger and frustration, and has an associated
sound Xu (Shhh).

Heart – Fire Element and Red color energy – holds hate, cruelty and impatience, and the
sound to release these negative emotions is Ha (Haaa).

Spleen is associated with Earth Element and Yellow color energy. It retains hurt, closeness
and mistrust, and is assigned Hu (Whooo) sound to relieve these emotions.

The last sound Xi (Hiii) is called Triple Burner. It aims to clean the whole body from all
diseases you have and anything you don’t need.

Healing technique

Relax your body. Align your Crown Point to the sky, and feel the unity between the sky and
the earth. Gently breathe in through your nose and feel fresh Qi filling the organ with related
color. As you breathe out, make the relevant healing sound and feel all negative emotions
being released from the organ.

Each healing sound should be practiced three to six times.

Practice of Six Healing Sounds in Medical Qigong Training

White Tiger Medical Qigong Teacher Training courses have incorporated Six Healing Sounds
into Qigong exercises. When the sounds are integrated with the movements, it allows
releasing negative energy and congested Qi more effectively. Some of the Medical Qigong
forms that we teach with the sounds include 5 Elements Qigong and Organ Qigong. For
example, the Dragon form in our Medical Qigong training clears the kidney, the Tiger form –
lungs, the Leopard – liver and so on. Integration of the sounds with the practice makes
Qigong training complete and enhances the benefits it brings, such as the following.

 Healing of organs
 Elimination of toxins
 Gaining emotional balance
 Rejuvenation
 Improved mental and physical health

If you want to learn more about the healing sounds and, most importantly, how to incorporate
them into your Qigong training practice, join Qigong master Tevia Feng for the next intensive
Medical Qigong Training.
Qigong is the art of self-healing through the cultivation of vital energy by practicing breathing
exercises, movements and postures. People of all age groups can learn Qigong. Teenagers as
well as elders can attain mastery in this ancient Chinese health practice that offers
innumerable physical and mental health benefits. As a beginner, you can perform some
simple, but very effective Qigong exercises to self-heal and benefit from reduced stress levels,
renewed vigour and positive outlook.

In this blog post, I am going to share two Qigong exercises for beginners that I learnt. Take a
look at the following.

Rolling the ball movement

Ball rolling or rolling the ball movement is done while sitting. You have to imagine that you
are holding a ball in between your palms and start rolling it with your hands. It improves your
mental and physical well-being by stimulating internal energies and improving the strength in
hands.

Flowing or Moving Qigong

Moving or Flowing Qigong is done while sitting. Sit on the edge of the chair with your body
forward and feet firmly on the ground. Now, picture in your mind that your body is above the
ground. Imagine that your head is moving above your neck. Inhale and raise your arms to
your shoulder height. Exhale and move back your arms. Continue with this until you
experience the energy within you prompting the movement of your arms.

Flowing Qigong is immensely helpful in alleviating pain, reducing stiffness and eliminating
the stumbling blocks in the mind. As you exhale, the obstructions in the mind are cleared out
and the movement of arms gives relief from stiff muscles and pain, and soothes the whole
body and mind.

Among the many Qigong exercises for beginners, these two exercises are taught first.

Here are the 7 Qigong Treasures to Self Mastery:

1. Meridians

 How to coil and uncoil

 How to feel the meridians
 How to pump Qi through the meridians through pulsing

Once you can do this, then we try to feel the connection of the organs. Most beginners who
attend my Qigong retreats or trainings never had felt their organs before. One of the huge
benefits of Qigong is being able to sense your organs.

2. Organs

 Squeeze out toxins and emotions out of your organs like a sponge
 Sense your organs
 Send healing and loving energy to your organs
 Utilize specific colors for your organs
3. Bones

 Sensing your bones

 Squeezing Qi/energy into the bones
 strengthening the bones

Once we can begin to sense and reshape our body’s makeup then Inner Alchemy becomes
quite an in depth practice. Inner Alchemy practices are more still practices that rely on
specific breathing techniques combined with visualizations to move Qi/energy through even
deeper, more subtle parts of the body. We also learn to pulse energy from the 3rd eye.

4. Spine Pulsing

The spine contains a huge amount of nerves along the side of it. It also has fascia that
connects it all the way to the brain. The major organs all have a connection to the spine. For
example, the fascia of the lungs connects directly to the spine. We need spinal movements to
open the lungs more deeply. We use the Wave Qigong from our Bagua Organ Qigong form (a
specific spinal undulation) in order move, squeeze and expand the bags of fascia
encapsulating the organs

5. 3rd Eye Pulsing

 Essentially we are finding where our spirit resides. From an anatomical perspective
this is about where the pituitary and pineal gland are.
 We learn to condense and contract this area.

Now I could always feel that I could actually contract and condense this area. From a fascia
perspective, the brain has a bag of fascia that encapsulates it. We can actually contract that
area and relax it bringing circulation to the brain. We use breathing in conjunction with
contractions and relaxation in order to send deeper circulation and also recalibrate the nervous
system.

As we focus more deeply and concentrate, we develop the spirit. Please note this is different
than religious Qigong.

6. Dan Tian Pulsing

We discover how to pulse energy from the deep core of the lower abdomen. This is where our
center of gravity lies, digestion and elimination also occurs. It is a powerful area of energy.
Dan Tian is literally translated from Chinese as Elixer Field.

7. Connecting to Heaven and Earth

The Chinese character for person is 人 “ren”. As you can see it is like a mountain or a tree.
Rooting into the earth and growing up to a single point to the sky. Humans connect between
heaven and earth. This is taught first in simple Standing Qigong practices such as Zhan
Zhuang, but later goes into more complex stances and practices. To feel rooted into the earth
and connected to heaven is a feeling that I crave daily.

The 7 Qigong Treasures to Self Mastery are topics we will be covering in depth in our
upcoming Qigong Teacher Training. For this training we will focus particularly on the organs
although we will also go into meridians, bones as well as the 3rd Eye Qigong Meditation:
Primordial Breath.

Now a-days I see many Qigong schools in the west teaching basic standing Qigong exercises
and basic breathing exercises. They will never get to experience the depth of a powerful, real
Qigong practice that incorporates deep stretching and stances to drive the Qi deeper into the
body. Through applied pressure on the skeletal structure through deep stances such as horse
stance, Bow stance and more along with the deep twisting unique to the White Tiger Qigong
system the Qi is able to drive deeper into the layers of muscle fascia, through the meridians,
into the organs and finally into the bones. After you have finished this dynamic practice, there
is a more secret practice that I usually do not teach the beginner student and that is the Bone
Marrow Breath Qigong. Through this special Qigong breathing technique we are able to
breath Qi through the hands and feet, spiraling it around the bones and then absorbing it.
Check below for the exercise instructions.

Why is Bone Qigong is so important?

 Stronger Immune System

 Increased sexual energy
 Deeper relaxation
 Increase bone density
 Stave off Osteoporosis

In Chinese Medicine the Bone Marrow is related to the kidneys and the immune system. By
strengthening this through Bone Marrow Breathing Qigong, you will have a stronger immune
system to ward off sickness and disease. It can also increase your sexual vigor.

Benefits of Bone Marrow Qigong From a Western Perspective:

Both red and white blood cells are produced in the marrow of the bones. They are vital to the
body’s defense system. Through doing Bone Qigong we are increasing the amount of these
blood cells by increasing deep circulation, deep into the bones. There has been modern
scientific research that has proven you can increase the density of the bones through putting
pressure on the skeletal structure. Thus, Bone Qigong is a great solution. Why would you
want to increase bone density? Well, when you get older nobody likes to think of
Osteoporosis, but it is a reality for many when the bones become more fragile and are easier
to break.

If muscle fascia can generate electrical charges through coiling and uncoiling, and the muscle
fascia connects all the way into the bones, then the coiling combined with the deep stances
will drive the circulation or “Qi” deep into the bones. Once you have completed these
exercises doing the Bone Marrow Breathing Qigong is like having a cherry on top of your
dessert. It will give a final push of Qi deep into the body. After I do it I can feel my whole
body vibrate all the way to the core, literally. It is an amazing feeling I wish I could share with
everyone.
Basic Bone Marrow Breathing Qigong Exercise Instructions:

Standing in Zhan Zhuang (Standing Post) Qigong stance or horse stance holding your palms
at chest level, breathe into the palms and visualize white energy coming in through the Lao
Gong points (palm centers) and fingertips spiraling around the fingers, up the hands, around
the arms and up to the spine. As you breathe out, imagine the Qi energy absorbing into the
bones. Once you have done this for some time, now draw the breath from the Yong Quan
points (center of soles of the feet). Imagine a white energy spiraling up and around the toes,
around the bones of the feet, up the legs and up to the spine. As you breathe out, imagine the
Qi absorbing into the bones.

Zhan Zhuang

Bone Marrow Breathing Qigong with Packing:

Once we have gotten the feeling of Qi spiraling around the bones, the next stage is to pack it
by using a special squeezing method, which packs it into the bones even more intensely. To
do this, follow the same instructions as above. This time, after you reach your peak inhalation,
hold the breath and squeeze the muscles around the bones to pack in the Qi much more
deeply. As you exhale, imagine the Qi absorbing into the bones.

Please keep in mind, these are basic instructions. There are much more detailed instructions
that can only be passed down verbally by a qualified instructor. I can teach this method
through an online Qigong training session or come to one of our Qigong Retreats such as
February 21 in Tao Garden and or at our upcoming Qigong Teacher Training in April.

The Bone Marrow Breathing Qigong is most effective when you have finished other Qigong
exercises such as the 5 Element Qigong, Circle Walking Qigong and or other intensive
dynamic Qigong exercises. It should also be combined with the Bone Marrow Cleansing
Breathing Qigong exercise. In the most advanced practices we do practice the Bone Marrow
Breathing in the 8 Stances. It is quite an intense practice for the experienced practitioner only.
I want to share this special Qigong exercise with all my students so I hope that they can
experience what an amazing feeling it is and the benefits that result after continued practice.

he ancient Chinese knew a long time ago the direct physical connection between the meridian
channels of the body and the emotional state and even the diet. Emotions are recorded in the
physical body, especially in the meridian channels. I wrote detailed information about the
meridians in an older blog post Meridians and Muscle Fascia. Each meridian feeds a related
organ. When there is too much stagnation in a particular meridian, it will then cut off proper
circulation from the organ to the body parts that that organ feeds and vice versa.

For example, someone who has a lot of anger or eats a lot of heavy, rich foods may get
soreness, tightness in their Gallbladder Meridian. If we look at this from a western
perspective, the muscle fascia lines in this area of the body may tighten or knot. As you can
see the Gallbladder Meridian flows from the foot, up the side of the body, over the hip,
crossing the oblique’s, up the side of the neck and eventually over the head. When someone
has excessive anger or eats a lot of heavy, rich foods it may effect the Gallbladder meridian or
muscle fascia line that crosses this area of the body. The symptoms could be a tight neck and
headaches as we can see the Gallbladder Meridian crosses over the head. What is happening
the fascia around the neck is tightening which then pulls on the muscle fascia line going over
the head, causing a headache.

Treatment and Healing the Meridians

There are two ways we can treat and heal this area. One is obviously diet, move to less rich
and heavy foods. The second way is Meridian Qigong. Through Meridian Qigong, we can
stretch and gradually work out the knots that the tightness has created, thus freeing your Qi
and circulation throughout your body.

Meridian Qigong Exercises

One Meridian Exercise I like to use comes from the 14 Meridian Qigong Exercises, which are
the Heavenly Pillar exercises. These Qigong exercises focus on the neck area. The particular
ones I would focus on are Neck Tilts and Twists. Here is an excerpt from my book 14
Meridian Qigong Exercises for Health and Longevity

Meridian Qigong Instructions:

Neck Tilts

With the head centered, breathe in, then tilt your head to the left, breathing out.

Bring your head to center while inhaling, then tilt to the right, exhaling. Again feel the
connection in the muscle fascia from your feet to your neck as you stretch in this exercise.
Neck Twists

Inhale, filling the Dan Tian.

Look left and back over your shoulder while exhaling. Even stretch your eyes gently, by
gently looking to the left. The mind should be focused on the Yong Quan point (K11) on the
left foot.

Bring your head to center, inhaling into the Dan Tian

Turn your head to the right, exhaling. The mind should be on the Yong Quan point (K11) on
the right foot.

If you are interested to learn more about Meridian Qigong and theory don’t miss our Meridian
Qigong Teacher Training starting January 5th in Bali.
The Taoist masters of China have practiced Fajin for hundreds of years if not thousands.
Bruce Lee with his famous one-inch punch popularized it. Fajin was made famous by The
Magus of Java John Chang who could release Qi in the form of electricity powerful enough to
start fires. John Chang, the Indonesian Chinese from Indonesia first began to use Fajin in his
early years as a form of self-defense. Later he used Fajin to heal people in his healing
practices. You can watch John Chang release Fajin here

What is Fajin?

Fajin is an explosive release of Qi that circles or spirals from the Dan Tian (lower abdomen)
to the limbs or body parts such as the head, shoulders and elbows.

Fajin in Qigong

Fajin is used in Qigong as an invigorating method of bringing powerful circulation to the

extremities. It is also used to release emotions including anger and frustration. It can be used
to express happiness even. If someone is too Yang, too much energy, they need Fajin to
release pent up energy. If someone’s energy is lacking, they use a Yin, water method of
Qigong to build up the energy and then release it with the Yang, fiery Fajin method. I go into
more details of training Fajin for Qigong in my book Meridian Qigong.

Fajin For Martial Arts

It is used in the internal martial arts a method of striking an opponent to cause internal
damage. Bruce Lee’s one in punch popularized the method of Fajin in martial arts proving
significant internal power could be generated with micro movements of the body. Some say
his power came from Wing Chun, but if you look at Bruce Lee’s movements there was waist
action indicating it was an internal art. In the 2010 television show, Stan Lee’s Superhumans,
a Shaolin monk demonstrated his one-inch punch on a crash test dummy. The testing showed
it was 1.7 times more injurious than a 30mph car crash with modern safety features.

There are a variety of methods to generate Fajin otherwise known as Fali. Fajin is used in
Baguazhang, Tai Chi, Xing Yi and other martial arts. In Baguazhang we have the 8 Mother
Palms, which teach us how to generate Fajin in 8 different directions. These palms are trained
for 4 years in total (6 months each) in order to generate maximum Fajin and from each palm
and full integrate it into your body.

The Secrets of Fajin

The secret of Fajin lies in the motion of the Dan Tian. It requires a loose, supple body that is
flexible, yet strong. The legs are like the handles of a whip and the hands and fingertips are
the ends of the whip. If any part of a whip is stiff it won’t work. I have trained Fajin methods
with a variety of martial art and Qigong schools around the world. Each method varies
slightly. Some focus on a specific rotation of the hips, while others combine a shaking of the
body like a dog when it shakes off water from its body when it is wet. From my own
experience, the secret of powerful Fajin Qi releases requires a variety of external and internal
body movements to combine and harmonize at the same time. It takes specific motions of the
pelvis, hips and Dan Tian, combined with a forceful exhalation, which pumps the Qi from the
Dan Tian to the extremities. It combines shaking the body with specific rotation of the hips.
Releasing Fajin in different directions requires different rotations of the hips. It takes many
repetitions and a lot of correct practice under a qualified instructor to have a good Fajin
release. This all requires a lot of body conditioning and training.

The mysterious and beautiful methods of Fajin are a life long study. It is all worth the effort,
as I would not have wanted to live a life without feeling Fajin, as you can see by my poem
from below. It is extremely addictive as you discover a new found sense of inner power of
what this amazing human body is capable of.

The magical Feeling of Releasing Qi Through Fajin

“I wouldn’t want to have lived without feeling this incredible feeling.

Like lightening surging through your body.

Feeling the power from heaven and earth merge into your body, pull into your Dan Tian and
then surge out in a whip, rippling effortlessly out to your hands and feet.

Loosening my body with every move. As I finish my organs feel deeply relaxed, my emotions
are as calm as still as a lake in the early morning. Feeling soft, yet strong. Supple and flexible
my body feels so good!”

-Tevia Feng

If you want to experience the beauty and power of Fajin and are in Bali, I highly suggest you
come to our Qigong and or Baguazhang classes here in Bali.