Singing Dragon blog

Would you like to review one of our newest resources? Enter now to get a free card set of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches – TianGan DiZhi by Master Zhongxian Wu and Dr Karin Taylor Wu.

This complex calendrical system was created in ancient times to codify the patterns of life and of the universe itself, and is as relevant today it ever was. Through better understanding TianGan (Heavenly Stems) and DiZhi (Earthly Branches), you can deepen and expand your practice of Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, Fengshui and Chinese astrology, as well as internal cultivation practices such as Qigong, Bagua and Taiji.

This set of study cards decodes some of the fundamental messages from the 22 GanZhi symbols. The Chinese character and key characteristics of each Stem or Branch are shown, providing insights into their symbolic and numerological meanings. For calligraphers and those who want to draw the characters correctly, the stroke order is clearly illustrated on separate cards.

We have 5 copies to give away to anyone interested in writing an online or offline review.

If you’re interested add a comment to this post saying why you want to review this book. The deadline for submitting your request is May 31, 2013.

We will select 5 winners and get in touch after this date.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved

In these extracts Chungliang Al-Huang teaches us how to laugh at Taiji and enjoy being awkward. Taken from the classic Quantum Soup, these short excerpts highlight the author’s uplifting approach to Taiji practice, Daoism, and life, written with humour, warmth and insight.

Click here to read the excerpts.

‘Quantum Soup is a gourmet preparation of philosophical snaps and snails, sharks’ fins and puppy dogs’ tails to tickle the sophisticated palate and provoke happy, healthful belly laughs. Confucius say: “Number One good recipe!”‘

- Joseph Campbell

‘Quantum Soup is an elegant, wise and playful expression of Taoist and Zen Buddhist sensibilities in a Western setting – a philosophical entertainment with a collection of anecdotes, aphorisms and koan-like ruminations, all served up in appetizer portions.’

- Los Angeles Times

Chungliang Al Huang is the founder of Living Tao Foundation, an international cultural-arts network for lifelong learning, and the director of the Lan Ting Institute, a cross-cultural study and conference center at the sacred and historic Wu Yi Mountain, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the People’s Republic of China, and at Gold Beach on the Oregon Coast in the USA. He has written many classic books including Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain: The Essense of Tai Ji; Essential Tai Ji; and The Chinese Book of Animal Powers, all of which are published by Singing Dragon.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved

Anybody engaging with the internal practices of the Daoist tradition will no doubt encounter many difficulties along the way: many of the terms are written in metaphorical language, teachings are often contradictory and on top of that there is the crisis of faith often caused by the question, ‘is this experience real or is it my imagination?’ Even with the help of an experienced teacher there will be times when students will find themselves fumbling in the dark with practice yielding more questions than answers. These are challenges which any seeker of the way faces and it is the role of a concrete system of practice to help guide the practitioner through this darkness towards the state of conscious elevation which is the goal of all Daoist arts.

One aspect which can cause a great deal of confusion is around the meridian system. Is the idea of energetic pathways of Qi running through the body purely a conceptual framework or is it in fact an actual part of the human body-system? Whilst some may accept the concept of meridian pathways purely on faith others will disregard it on the basis that they have been brought up in a science-based society where logic prevails. In my opinion both of these stances have their own limitations. I have always sat somewhere in the middle; I am ready to accept that which has been a part of an unbroken lineage for millennia but I am also prone to retaining an element of doubt until proven through my own experience. It was this position I took when considering the meridian system.

I originally studied the meridian pathways in the conventional manner. As part of the Tui Na massage training I undertook alongside my martial arts training, I read textbooks on Chinese medicine and was guided towards locating the various points of the meridian system by my teachers. In this way I developed a working, theoretical understanding of the meridian pathways which I was utilising daily in my practice of Chinese medicine, Qi Gong and the martial arts. It was not until I was introduced to the Heavenly Streams practice of connecting with the meridian system and sending my awareness along their length that I began to understand with no doubt whatsoever that the meridians existed.  Through learning how to breathe in a certain way and direct my attention to specific ‘entrance’ points on the meridians I learnt to ‘retune’ the frequency of my mind. Like a radio switching between stations I was able to use the points to translate the energetic realm for me bringing the flows of Qi into the realm of direct experience. Now these pathways I had studied for so long could tangibly be felt. I experienced the flow of information along their length and began to feel the comparative differences between the different channels. I encountered blockages of different types along their length and found that I could move them through focused concentration; as a result I learnt how clearing these blockages had a knock on effect to the physical realm of my body and my health improved.

Further exploration led me to understand how various body functions could be controlled through these points, for example one point in particular started me sweating as soon as I put my mind onto it. I did not increase in body temperature but rather just felt as though the pores opened allowing fluid to escape them. Other points allowed me to change my body temperature, energy levels and even my mind-set; I had connected with and learnt how to interface with the energetic ‘control panel’ of my body. Over the years I have learnt to refine this until I am able to adjust the various functions of my body to help me rid myself of illness when in the early stages, change my mind if my moods are working against me or even to prepare my body for internal training. Progression has even enabled me to now see the meridian pathways during my practice; the information of the Qi being connected with is translated visually by my mind and through this ‘inner vision’ I am able to observe the various fluctuations of Qi taking place within my energy body.

When teaching, I encourage students to engage in the same practices. Through periods of sitting and connecting through the same entrance points I have taught my students to connect with their own meridian pathways. It is always rewarding to see the face of a student who, for the first time, feels their own energy body; especially if this is a student who has already worked on a purely theoretical level with the meridian pathways up until this point.

There are numerous benefits to experiencing your own meridian pathways. For those interested in improving their own health it is possible to change the very ‘energetic blueprints’ of your own body-system. Great insight into how your body functions and what causes it to move out of balance can be had from exploring the flows of Qi through your own body.

For Qi Gong or Nei Gong practitioners it is very important to feel your own meridian pathways once you wish to move beyond the earliest stages of development. Trying to work with your own Qi without being able to feel where it is flowing is like trying to find your way through the darkness without a light. I believe that many of the problems people have caused themselves through incorrect Qi Gong training could have been avoided if people had taken the time to learn to feel their own Qi flow before going too deep into their training. Any health problems from incorrect training can clearly be felt developing within the energy body long before they manifest as a physical or psychological imbalance. I was taught that students of the Daoist tradition would originally have spent much time studying the energy body before they moved past even the most preliminary of breathing exercises; these studies would have focused largely on experiential feeling of the meridian pathways supported by theoretical teachings and charts.

Perhaps some of the greatest benefits of connecting with your own meridian system can be had by those practicing Chinese medicine modalities such as Shiatsu, Tui Na or acupuncture. Is it possible to accurately treat somebody’s energetic imbalance if you have not experienced this Qi flow for yourself? It is possible to learn every function of every point in the body by memorising lists and developing a theoretical understanding but this should be secondary to actually experiencing what happens when the individual points are stimulated. It is my opinion that experiential understanding of the meridian points and pathways needs to be an integral part of any sincere Chinese medicine practitioners training.

The meridian system is the energetic connection between the energies of Heaven and Earth; it sits at the point between the physical world and the realm of pure consciousness. It is the pivot of human creation, development and eventual demise. In life we begin to learn about the physical body as soon as we are born. We learn how we can control this vessel we find ourselves within and through this vessel we explore our connection to the physical world. What we are not often encouraged to do is to explore the nature of our inner world, the world of our energy body and for this reason our minds are no longer able to ‘tune into’ the realm of Qi. Thankfully this is an issue easily remedied.

As a general rule of thumb I believe that a fairly high level of energetic connection is attainable within a year of daily practice. Obviously this length of time will vary from person to person but a year’s practice is what I have seen from teaching my own students. Over the first few weeks a student can begin to feel the easier parts of the meridian pathways which are generally the lengths of Qi flow on the forearms, fingers, lower legs and toes. From here it seems to take around a year of daily practice for the whole energy body to open up to your awareness. From here it is possible to use this foundation of feeling the meridians to be able to scan their length for imbalances and change their nature through controlled use of the body’s meridian points. The key is to progress steadily and slowly; do not rush anything. Take your time, persevere and most importantly: have fun with the process.

Damo Mitchell has studied the martial, medical and spiritual arts of Asia since the age of four. His studies have taken him across the planet in search of authentic masters. He is the technical director of the Lotus Nei Gong School of Daoist Arts, and teaches Nei Gong in the UK, Sweden and the USA. He is the author of Daoist Nei Gong: The Philosophical Art of Change, and Heavenly Streams: Meridian Theory in Nei Gong, published by Singing Dragon.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved

Damo Mitchell demonstrates some very basic Qi Gong exercises which can be used either to maintain health if you are new to Qi Gong or as a foundation upon which to build your Nei Gong practice.

For more information, and full instruction on these exercises, see Daoist Nei Gong: The Philosophical Art of Change.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved

In this video, Damo Mitchell Demonstrates the Wu Xing Qi Gong. These are five basic health internal exercises from the Daoist tradition, which follow the principles of Tu Na, Liang I and Yang Sheng Fa.

These are the five exercises also featured in Damo Mitchell’s forthcoming book Heavenly Streams. Find more information on this book on the Singing Dragon website, and for more on Damo’s work, see www.lotusneigong.com.

Damo Mitchell has studied the martial, medical and spiritual arts of Asia since the age of four. His studies have taken him across the planet in search of authentic masters. He is the technical director of the Lotus Nei Gong School of Daoist Arts, and teaches Nei Gong in the UK, Sweden and the USA. He is the author of Daoist Nei Gong: The Philosophical Art of Change, also published by Singing Dragon.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved

Robert Sheaffer has been a seeker all his life. He has been fortunate enough to travel extensively throughout the world and to witness numerous traditional spiritual practices. His time spent studying with the Adept Shun Yuan of the Heavenly Dragon sect was one of his most profound and lasting experiences.

- You describe yourself as a Seeker. What, in your opinion, does this mean?

I think it comes down to being curious. The imperative to know drives me. I can’t hear a question that triggers an interest without immediately needing to pursue it. It’s a lust for knowledge and learning. This isn’t simply about learning answers – you can go and seek things out and think you’ve got answers, but after this there’s a lot of internal work to come to a point where you feel true understanding of something. And with this understanding it really truly becomes a part of you.

I was initially propelled on this path in my early teens. I remember reading about phenomena of a certain kind – such as the psychophysiological effects and health benefits of chi-kung practice – and getting fascinated by them. Despite reading about how difficult it was and how much practice and effort was involved in realising these things for yourself, I seemed to stumble into them with no effort and no preparation at all. Although the ‘attainment’ of certain skills, such as an ability to feel and gain some control over one’s internal energy, didn’t come very hard to me, I’m still here, many years later, working on really understanding them properly.

The discovery and development of the self through the internal arts is a lifetime’s work. For many people, the physical aspect is the crux of this work, but for me it just didn’t turn out like that. My methods are very physical, but it’s understanding them on many levels, that’s what keeps me occupied day by day.

- Your book, Ten Methods of the Heavenly Dragon, is based on your own experiences. How did you find the writing process – was it difficult, or cathartic? Did you discover anything new about yourself with the distance offered by time?

Well, I think we should go back to a step before this book began. I was writing something else, entirely. And that piece of work was a real struggle. And then this ridiculous idea hit me – why not write something from personal experience?

It was then very obvious what I wanted to write about. And the book essentially wrote itself. I turned up at the library as soon as it opened, I started working, and they would throw me out in the evening. Everyday I had this weird distortion of time. It was not quite automatic writing, but it was as close as it gets to it. Everything I wrote about in this book came back in a full sensory technicolour replay in my head as I was writing.

There was one particular section which was so sad to read at the time, that I had to completely rewrite it. This was towards the end of the book when we go to visit another teacher, who was severely ill at the time. It just seemed to bring my whole experience down to a really sombre place, and I had to really refocus on the positive aspects of that visit, see it again from an entirely new perspective. This was not a good time to relive, but the rest of it was pretty good.

- Many key events in your story seem to be determined by chance. How do you view these circumstances – do you think there was an aspect of ‘fate’ involved, or is this just how you wanted to live out this experience?

I don’t like the word fate because it’s usually used in conjunction with an idea of predeterminism. I think that existence is far more random. The key question is that when opportunities, or chances arise, whether to take them and run with them, or to resist? Hard experience has taught me that if you resist you crash. As long as you keep going with it, it’s all good.

- You begin the book with a quote from the Tao Te Ching “…when the inferior man hears of the Tao | He laughs aloud at it| If he did not laugh, it would not be the Tao”. Why did you feel that this was particularly relevant here?

Lao Tsu was trying to provide a whole picture of the world, the way it works and how we can live in it. Here, he’s hoping to talk to everyone. So if people don’t have different reactions to what he’s saying, when he’s talking to everyone, what he’s saying must be missing something. This is a necessary aspect of this message – that it’s taken in different ways by different people.

My book is written directly from my personal experience, but I know that there will be people that read it and think it’s fantasy. And that’s fine, as long as they enjoyed it.

- What do you hope readers will take from the book?

Different people are going to be carrying different things when they approach this book. But I think that I’d hope it inspires people to follow their feelings and be able to let go and keep letting go of resistance. The moment you try and force yourself in a certain direction or resist your inner feelings, things become difficult. Even if you can see that the next few steps ahead are going to be really tough, however difficult that is, it’s better than resisting and going the other way. Once you’ve begun letting go you do feel quite quickly the benefit of that in your life, the smoothness of being carried along. My message to the reader would be that once you’ve started that, just keep it up and keep letting it go.

© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

Make sure not to miss Singing Dragon’s latest UK Complete Catalogue. If you have not yet received a copy, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll send a free one out to you ASAP.

Readers in the UK and Europe who request a copy of the catalogue before February 15th, 2013 will also receive a voucher for a 15% discount on the entire Singing Dragon list of books, with free postage and packing.

Take advantage of this opportunity to find new, forthcoming and classic books on Chinese Medicine, Holistic Health, Taiji, Qigong, Herbal Medicine, Yoga, Spirituality and more. Also, sample health-promoting recipes with The Functional Nutrition Cookbook, and Make Yourself Better with Philip Weeks’ books. Delve into the history of Ayurvedic Medicine and the Mudras of India, and discover the Five Levels of Taijiquan, Daoist Nei Gong and Chinese Medical Qigong.

To request your copy of our Complete Catalogue, please click here. To receive your 15% discount voucher, please be sure to click the checkbox for “Singing Dragon” under area of interest or else mention this offer in the “any further comments” section.

If you have previously received a copy of the catalogue, and would like to take advantage of the 15% discount, please feel free to request a voucher via email at post@singingdragon.com.

Richard Bertschinger studied for ten years with the Taoist sage and Master, Gia-fu Feng. A practising acupuncturist, teacher of the healing arts, and translator of ancient Chinese texts, he works and practises in Somerset, England. Here, he explores some key concepts of Qigong, showing just how universally beneficial the practice is, and how easy it is to pick up.

* Qigong can also be called Dao Yin which means guiding or leading the Qi. So many problems come from blockages inside the tissue, so the idea is that you keep moving the Qi to loosen these blockages. There’s a wonderful saying ‘Door hinges never rot and running water never goes stale’, which brings out movement as primary to health. When you read about the biology of modern science you see that this concept is also biologically important: it’s the circulation of fluids and gases in the cell that provides the conditions for life. The interchange at the boundary of the cell is so important for the release of oxygen, the oxygenation of the tissue, the internal respiration of the cell. Here, it’s movement which is conducive to life.

* Originally these exercises were taught master to pupil and from father to son. You learnt, as one might say, energetically, through your skin, just by watching and following behaviour, on a very deep level. Now, when teaching we have to approach this learning slightly differently because you might get a group of 20 new people in a class that you might never see again. The starting point is to move the body. If students move their bodies the energy and breath will follow eventually, and they will get the secret. The brain itself will begin to adjust of its own accord. And the mind follows.

* Everyone has a different path. No-one comes in and qualifies 3 years later. One of the main principles behind Chinese medicine is that you suit the treatment to the individual and the condition – which of course can change. So with these exercises we’re looking for appropriateness. People can take from the book what they need at the time. What is wonderful is that it is such a natural practice and can adapt to many conditions. There is not one orthodox way, so long as you are following natural forms.

Illustration by Harriet E. J. Lewars

* It’s important to have one particular space where you do these exercises and one particular time of day to do them. It’s difficult to just slip them in anywhere. However, I’m a great believer in us all being gifted amateurs. I think that people can very much take this practice home and do it themselves. I’ve seen students do most interesting things with exercises that I have taught them – you pick it up and pass it on.

* In Ezra Pound’s translation of the Confucian classic Da Xue, he highlights the saying ‘as the sun makes it anew, day by day make it new, every day make it anew’. My teacher Gia Fu Feng would encourage us to ‘rediscover’ the Qi everyday. We have to do this everyday or it gets covered over by the troubles, worries and issues of the world. I think it attests to the genius of the Chinese that they found a way to winkle out that health from our lives and to keep it there at a good level, keeping a good balance

* To have something that you can do under your own hands is just so valuable. Drugs are important but you don’t have to go down that route all the time – a lot is in our own hands. I’ve seen people come in with painful stomachs or painful knees, and if they do the rubbing exercises they improve. People with long-term conditions often respond well to Qigong as you are dealing with the smaller, finer (neuro-humeral) mechanisms in the body. When you practice in a gentle, conducive manner you actually have minute little chemical changes, which can make a great difference to overall wellbeing.

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

“A timeless tale of internal martial arts, wild medicine, healing and Daoist wisdom… the most interesting and thought-provoking book I have read for some years.”

- Alex Kozma, author of Esoteric Warriors and Warrior Guards the Mountain

Delve into Lindsey Wei’s personal story of Daoist cultivation with this reading from The Valley Spirit, interwoven with a visual documentary of the Five Immortal Temple, where the book takes place, and clips of the author herself training Ba Gua and Straight Sword.

The Valley Spirit with be available in early 2013 from Singing Dragon.

Lindsey Wei is a disciple of Li Shi Fu in a traditional Daoist lineage which stretches back thousands of years. She divides her time between living as a renounced practitioner in Wudang Mountain and teaching a select group of students in North America.

© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.

Singing Dragon was happy to return to the Building Bridges of Integration for Traditional Chinese Medicine Conference in Chantilly, Virginia, from October 18-21. The warm temperatures made it feel like spring but with the beautiful foliage in full swing, fall easily gave itself away. The changing leaves were the perfect backdrop to this year’s conference theme: Transformation: Consciousness and Quantum Medicine.

Our table was busy with attendees who were happy to see Singing Dragon’s newest titles. These included I Ching Acupuncture by David Twicken, Acupuncture for New Practitioners by John Hamwee, Fire Dragon Meridian Qigong by Master Zhongxian Wu and Dr. Karin Taylor Wu and Illustrated Chinese Moxibustion Techniques and Methods by Professor Chang Xiaorong, Professor Hong Jing and Professor Yi Shouxiang. By the end of our first day we had even sold out of Frog’s Breathtaking Speech by Michael Chissick!

Attendees enjoyed discovering their Chinese animal and happily donned our pins inspired by Chungliang Al Huang’s The Chinese Book of Animal Powers. Attendees also stopped by to pick up our new title Mudras of India by Cain and Revital Carroll. Here Kate practices her Mandala Mudra.

During the conference we encouraged attendees to drop their business card into our bowl for a chance at a free copy of Chinese Medical Qigong. We are happy to announce that Deborah Waring of Lake Success, New York was the winner of this book. Congratulations, Deborah!