Taoist principles of wellbeing, and wellness through exercise, diet and the four seasons.
Health-nurturing standing meditation is simple, easy to learn, and needs little space, suiting frail people who should “replace big movement with subtle movement.” This article covers the basic posture and details for the hands, head, and tailbone, the sensations of practice, and which direction to face morning and evening.
The Xuanmen Rejuvenation Exercise is a Taoist practice that has become popular among ordinary people in recent years; long-term practice lightens and strengthens the body. This article describes its steps—the preparatory exercise, abdominal deep breathing, whole-body shaking, and shoulder rolling—with their movements, breathing, and repetitions.
This Taoist daoyin and qi-circulation method, drawn from the Seven Slips from the Cloudy Satchel, uses simple movements centered on regulating the breath. Its nine steps combine facing east, breath-holding, massage of the ears, eyes, and nose, teeth tapping, and various lying postures.
Taoist health cultivation includes three methods of swallowing in qi: the qi of heaven, the qi of earth, and the qi of mountains. This article explains the stance for each, how the mind draws their qi into the mouth and swallows it into the belly, and where to practice.
Opening the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, also called “Regulating the Eight Vessels with Ten Breaths,” uses ten breaths and the mind to lead qi through the eight vessels in turn. This article gives the method's verse formula and explains its uses and key points of practice.
Four Taoist lying exercises for health—the sacral exercise, the lumbar exercise, the abdominal-organ exercise, and supine shaking—each with its effects, preparatory and starting postures, repetitions, and cautions, suitable for people of all ages and constitutions to practice in bed.
The Eight Pieces of Brocade is a traditional health exercise of eight movements, concise and moderate in effort, that clears the meridians and regulates the internal organs. This article explains the purpose and key points of each of the eight movements, from “Holding Up the Sky” to “Drawing the Bow.”
This article presents Chinese medicine, the practice of inner alchemy, and the internal martial arts as three ancient paths of health cultivation, traces the internal arts' roots in Taoist inner alchemy, and identifies common misconceptions: performing routines without real training, mistaking strength for inner force, studying books without a teacher, and misunderstanding softness and hardness.
Four Taoist “heart–kidney communication” health methods: sounding the heavenly drum, massaging the Tingwen point, rubbing the soles with the palms to replenish kidney water, and covering and rubbing the ears. Each is explained with its technique and cautions, for tinnitus, deafness, sleep, and rising deficiency fire.
Drawing the inner-skill lines is an entry-level practice for cultivating one's nature, traditionally attributed to Lü Dongbin. This article first explains the key sites involved—the Three Passes, three fields, six lines, and four planes—then describes how to cultivate the nature line, reflection line, life-cultivation line, strength line, and severing line.
The Sinew-Changing Classic activates the twelve sinew channels through specific standing postures, thereby clearing the twelve meridians. This article gives the general principles, “leading with the head” and “relaxing the body,” then explains the twelve postures, such as Weituo Presenting the Pestle and Nine Ghosts Drawing the Sabre, in four sections.
The “Eighteen-Form Qigong Massage” was devised in 1987 by the traditional Chinese medicine health expert Yan Bozheng to strengthen the body and extend life by harmonizing the nutritive and defensive qi and clearing the channels. This article lists the whole sequence and details four of its forms.
The Taoist Longevity Health Exercise derives from Taoist cultivation methods and is especially suited to older people. This article covers its postures; exercises for the head, abdomen, hands, legs, spine, and waist and hips; relaxation guidance; breathing methods; benefits; and practice precautions.