Simple Chi Kung_ Exercises for Awakening the Life-Force Energy - Mantak Chia [2]
HEALTH
Our health is our most valuable asset; without it, we can accomplish nothing in life. Taoists have always valued health and longevity not just for their own sake, but as requirements for spiritual development. Cultivating our spirit through virtue and wisdom takes time. Even the common Chinese people have traditionally honored the elderly, for they recognized that wisdom, like a strong tree, grows slowly over the years. Therefore the ever-practical Taoists of old developed many practices for strengthening, repairing, and conserving life-force energy in order to reap the many spiritual rewards available to one possessing long life and good health.
Health is an ongoing process, not a destination. Every day we are either getting healthier or unhealthier. Health is fluid—a process of nurturing ourselves a little bit every day, through the weeks, months, and years. In Chi Kung philosophy, pain and sickness occur from an imbalance of internal energy. If you think of chi like water, imbalance occurs when there is blockage. Water that is dammed up or obstructed pools up on one side and dries up on the other side. The pooled water creates stagnation, dampness, or murky energy. The area of dryness creates tightness, heat, or inflammation. The goal of Chi Kung is to create a smooth flow of healthy energy like a flowing river, bringing healthy energy to all parts of the body.
The History of Chi Kung
Movement and exercise have always existed in the Chinese culture, yet the specific history of Chi Kung is shrouded in mystery. The first written records of Chi Kung exercises are literally thousands of years old, dating from the period of the legendary Yellow Emperor, Huang Ti, who reigned perhaps as early as 2700 BCE. However, even before that, there were records of movements or special “dances” for warding off illness. Some speculate that these movements could date back five to ten thousand years. And certainly by the sixth century BCE scholars had already begun to classify various methods of exercise and breathing techniques for maintaining health—some of which seem to be depicted in jade carvings dating from this time. Later, during what is known by historians as the Warring States Period (480–222 BCE), we find the emergence of what are called Tao Yin (daoyin) disciplines—special exercises for health that may, in part at least, have been derived from the much earlier era of the Yellow Emperor.
Tao Yin was the name given to a set of exercises that helped to circulate life-force energy in the body. Later, these exercises became known as Chi Kung. Tao Yin means “energy directing,” or “guiding and directing” life force through the body by means of specific movements. Tao Yin also refers to the fact that physical movements are guided by the strength of the mind and in turn stimulate the flow of chi within the body. In this way, the flow of chi from the center (tan tien) helps to link the yin and yang meridians of the body before returning to its starting point. Tao Yin is a practice known as “nourishing the vital principle.”
During the Warring States period, special Tao Yin breathing techniques combined with meditation were also being introduced by Taoist philosophers. They claimed that these techniques were not only effective treatment for certain illnesses, but they were also capable of preventing disease. It is important to understand that in those times a philosopher was someone who meditated and probably also practiced medicine. All these subjects were linked, making up what we would today term a “holistic” approach.
From this point forward, individual styles of Chi Kung began to emerge—for example, the eighteen forms of health exercises attributed to the alchemist Ko Hung, who was active around 325 CE. And toward the end of the Han Dynasty, we have the famous practitioner of oriental medicine Hua Tuo advocating special regimes of exercise—called Wu Chin—again specifically