Eastern Wisdom

Chinese medicine has been hugely informative in my life. I have been working with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for nearly 30 years, and have developed qi gong, dao yin and daoist meditation for the last 15, gradually understanding more and more deeply how it is possible to heal ourselves from the inside.

I am lucky enough to have found the British Daoist Association, and the daoist view of meditation. It is extraordinary how simply sitting cross-legged in meditation posture and not getting up can cause all sorts of things to happen inside us. It is not easy.

The essential practice is simply to sit and allow what arises to arise. In the Daoist tradition, this is called Tranquil Sitting. What arises could be a thought, or a feeling, or a physical pain, or sometimes a storm of thoughts or feelings or pains. It can also be unusual sensations, or lights, or images, or it can simply be peace. Whatever arises, we do not do anything. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we simply let it arise and do not interfere with it. We simply watch it, then watch what happens next.

Meditation is similar in some respects to chanting, or dropping into improvised voice or poetry or song, but is one step nearer to peace.

Moving the body with awareness of energy is massively useful when we are exploring improvised sound and releasing internal tensions. There are two aspects to qi gong and dao yin. The first is gentle movements that can be learnt, that work in specific parts of the body to help free the qi and create flow. The second is spontaneous movement that simply begins to happen on its own as we learn to allow the body to release its internal tensions by itself.

Qi gong literally means working with the qi, and is a name that was coined in 20^th century China to refer to a combination of movement and energy work or healing (qi gong healing). We usually know it as slow, fluid movements in space, usually performed standing up. We stand between heaven and earth, our feet rooted in the earth while our head touches the heavens, and allow the flow between. These movements are similar to tai ji, but are individual exercises rather than a long sequence of movements, so the emphasis is less on learning a form and more on feeling the qi.

Dao yin literally means guiding and stretching, or to lead and to guide. The Chinese characters show a bow drawing us a little more towards the Dao. These beautiful movements share the softness and energy awareness of qi gong, and include exercises on the floor, both lying down and seated.

Qi gong and dao yin powerfully combine movement, breath and energy. This is an important part of my work, and you can read more about it on the breath, qi gong and dao yin page.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine treatment are key aspects of Chinese medicine. I have practised acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for many years.

Visit my acupuncture website to learn more and to book an appointment.

I run the School of Classical Chinese Herbalism aimed at qualified acupuncturists. We offer two learning streams to enable students to learn Jing Fang Classical Herbalism.

Visit my SCCH website to learn more and to enrol as a student.