Cultivating Chi

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

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

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

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

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

Chi is the invisible energy of life that flows in and around us throughout the universe. Used skillfully, it can have a remarkable effect on health and vitality—to the degree that you’d be tempted to call it magical, if it weren’t so completely natural. Here is a perfect introduction to chi that explains in a direct and simple way what it is and why it is essential to a healthy and vital life. It provides an easy-to-understand explanation of chi, and then helps readers recognize, develop, and strengthen their own chi through specific breathing techniques and basic exercises, all demonstrated by the author. There are many books on chi development through t’ai chi and qigong practice, but this one goes deeper to enable you to understand the fundamental principles as you cultivate it. This book is a reference for alternative health professionals such as acupuncturists and shiatsu therapists and their patients, as well as for anyone who practices t’ai chi, qigong, aikido, and other chi-based martial arts. To learn more about the author, please visit his website at www.taichitaocenter.com.

In this classic text, wing chun master William Cheung unravels the mystery behind the elusive energy of chi. He provides exercises to increase and direct the flow of chi and explains how chi affects the body, the philosophy behind the famous yin-yang symbol, pressure points and the 32 meridians, the principles behind dim mak (the often misunderstood “death touch”), and more. This book is a must-read not only for kung fu practitioners but also for anyone interested in Eastern philosophy.