Taoist meditation practices for increasing and maintaining mental awareness, memory, and clarity • Details techniques to increase the level of chi energy in the brain • Explains how to synchronize the left and right brain by activating the body’s energetic potentials • Shows that by emptying the mind there is more energy to heal the body Wisdom Chi Kung teaches practitioners how to revitalize the brain: to repair function, increase memory, and expand capacity. Every day we use up so much of our brain’s capacity to function that we have very little left at the end of the day. By thinking or worrying too much, the brain can use up to 80 percent of the body’s entire energy reserve. Learning to stop the brain, to empty the mind from the ceaseless chatter of the “monkey mind,” and then recharge it with chi energy can increase our mental capacity, focus, and clarity. Using the Inner Smile meditation technique, practitioners learn how to recharge chi energy for the brain in a form that is most useful. Practitioners smile and empty the mind into the lower tan tien and the organs. The organs then transform this chi energy. When the mind is empty, the energy transformed by the organs is sent back to the brain to revitalize it. This process synchronizes the left and right brain by activating and tapping in to the body’s energetic potentials. As the mind continues to empty, receive, and also enhance the transformed chi energy, it is able to open itself to connect with universal chi energies and fill the body with enhanced life force.

Dr. Liu describes how he risked his life under the Communist regime in China to study Qi Gong and meet secretly with a master who lived in a mountain cave above Shanghai. If there is one concept that comes up in all forms of Chinese medicine it is that of Qi, or vital energy. Qi is the very backbone of the Chinese healing arts. It refers to the energy of the universe that is channeled from nature and runs through all of us. To have Qi is to be alive, while to have none is to be dead. Qi Gong relies on the manipulation of this vital energy, and Qi Gong masters can see this energy. This book explores the basics of Qi Gong to create a guide for greater health, the Chinese way.

Comprehensive overview of Chi Kung's theoretical background and more than fifty exercises for anyone, regardless of age of physical condition.

Unlike most t'ai chi books, which focus strictly on how to do the t'ai chi forms, T'ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom presents a personal, practical view of this intriguing martial art. Lehrhaupt shares illuminating stories from her own life and the lives of her students that show how t'ai chi can be a vehicle for profound self-discovery and spiritual growth. In learning to master each body posture, t'ai chi students often confront self-doubt, frustration, and the desire to compete and compare themselves to others—problems that also arise in daily life. Lehrhaupt shows how these and other obstacles provide valuable opportunities to deepen awareness and recognize the striking continuities between practice and everyday life. Each section of the book includes practical exercises designed to enhance students' understanding of t'ai chi movements, and a helpful appendix answers many frequently asked questions about t'ai chi training such as how to find a teacher and how to balance practice with family life. Full of useful insights and guidance, T'ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom will be a valuable companion for all students of this increasingly popular martial art.

A groundbreaking book, Emotional Wisdom reveals powerful ancient tools for transforming our painful emotions into happiness and health. So-called negative emotions are valuable messages that let us know we are out of balance. With compassion and humor, Taoist authors Mantak Chia and Dena Saxer explain the messages that anger, depression, fear, worry, and stress offer us. They present three easy-to-learn twenty-minute internal energy practices, with helpful illustrations, to turn these imbalances into harmony and joy. They provide unusual nutritional advice for emotional healing and a Taoist First Aid section with proven natural remedies for minor ailments such as insomnia, indigestion, headaches, and overeating. Relevant quotes from the Tao Te Ching add inspiration to this practical, life-changing book.

It's 1972 in the industrial city of Xiangtan, China. A frail child with a heart condition sneaks into a hotel boiler room and befriends the elderly yet vibrant attendant, who eventually reveals his true identity as a revered Qigong master. He heals the boy and, for the next 13 years, secretly teaches him the keys to unlocking the spiritual and healing dimensions of the Life Force. It sounds like a modern-day fable, but the story is true. And with The Master Key, that grateful student, Robert Peng, invites all of us to enter the next chapter of this empowering path. Here, Master Peng brings together the unique insights of his teacher with the moving account of his own journey to inspire and guide us into: The foundational methods for gathering, refining, and using the Life ForceA five-minute exercise to directly experience the reality of Qi energyAwakening the body's three Dantian centersThe Four Golden Wheels practices for strengthening your Qi reservoirsThe discovery of your True Self through Qigong's tools of self-inquiryEmpowering your relationships and sexual intimacyEntering the sea of compassion and happiness, and much more How do we open the doorways to authentic love, power, and wisdom? The answer lies in our inner Life Force—and The Master Key teaches us how to unlock it.

Qigong is an integrated mind-body healing method that has been practiced with remarkable results in China for thousands of years. The Chinese have long treasured qigong for its effectiveness both in healing and in preventing disease, and more recently they have used it in conjunction with modern medicine to cure cancer, immune system disorders, and other life-threatening conditions. Now in this fascinating, comprehensive volume, renowned qigong master and China scholar Kenneth S. Cohen explains how you too can integrate qigong into your life--and harness the healing power that will help your mind and body achieve the harmony of true health.