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utilize this innate power that we all have within. The methods of working with chi recommended here are part of the practice of Chi Kung, a form of energy-enlivening exercise that emerged from Taoism, China’s oldest philosophical system. An integral part of the Universal Tao practice, Simple Chi Kung is a series of revitalizing exercises that develop flexibility, strength, resilience, and suppleness. Through their integrative principles, these exercises create harmony within the body, mind, and spirit. This sense of harmony leads us to discover balance within nature and a way to move freely within the ebb and flow of life’s ceaseless current. Practiced by millions around the world, Chi Kung delivers a complete body/mind/spirit workout. There are literally thousands of Chi Kung forms ranging from dynamic stretches to stationary standing postures, from healing sounds to bone breathing, from meditations that circulate internal energy to standing flowing movements.

With so many forms, it is difficult to decide what to learn and what to practice on a daily basis. This book is intended to give you a condensed Chi Kung practice that will strengthen your body, mind, and spirit in a simple but powerful way. Simple Chi Kung is the foundation of Taoist practice, opening and preparing the body to move and cultivate more internal energy. Simple Chi Kung will give you the inner resources to transform stress into vitality, to cultivate more internal energy, to clear constriction and tension, and to feel connected to the life force that flows within you and all around you.

In today’s highly competitive, fast-paced world, Chi Kung’s versatility has tremendous practicality. The exercise world is full of props, gizmos, tricks, music, classes, machines, fancy outfits, and competition. If the goal is to “get in shape,” exercise our bodies, and get our blood moving, Chi Kung is a fantastic alternative. In fact you don’t need anything, just you and your chi! You can practice Chi Kung almost anywhere, wearing anything, and in a short amount of time. Simple!

Modern life requires a completely different kind of energy than the years past. In our complex world, Chi Kung’s utility as a personal resource—for promoting productivity, preventing disease, balancing emotions, and calming the mind—has greater potential for the individual than it has ever had before. By clarifying the direct relationship that each individual practitioner has with the creative power of the universe, Chi Kung will foster a renewed sense of creativity and power—one that enhances the individual and the natural world simultaneously. Perhaps that’s what Chi Kung is really all about—empowering individuals to take care of their own health, to transform self-destructive behaviors into a positive relationship with the self, and to restore our own personal connection with the primordial wisdom of nature and the Tao.

A HISTORY OF HARMONY

Since prerecorded history, men and women in China have studied the essential harmony between humans and nature. Led by the principles of this harmony, Taoists through the centuries have seen humans as living organisms within a larger living organism—nature—which itself exists within an even larger living organism—the universe. Tao means “the way”: the way of nature, the way of humans (human nature), the way of the universe, and the way to flow with the essential harmony of all things. Taoists place their attention on an invisible energetic force that gives all of these organisms life. They call this invisible energy “chi.”

The earliest Taoists discovered that there is no separation between the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual selves; whatever happens to us on any of these levels affects us on all other levels as well. The body, mind, and spirit are intimately related, as they are all unique aspects of the same source of energy. Thus, by exercising the body and its energy system, all aspects of the self are benefited. The Taoists asserted that a healthy body is the foundation for emotional balance, emotional balance leads to clarity