A powerful but easily learnt series of health qigong exercises based on images on ancient silk paintings excavated in China. The book provides instruction on the movements, and includes a brief account of the origins and guidance for practice. It also includes online content which provides full resources for learning and practising the form.

First published in 1998. This study uses the Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts to form a basis for information about early Chinese medical literature. Since the 1970S there has been a succession of manuscript discoveries in late-fourth to second century B.C. tombs in several regions of China, the provinces of Hubei and Hunan being particularly fertile ground for manuscripts. The medical Mawangdui manuscripts are part of a large cache of manuscripts discovered in 1973 in Mawangdui tomb 3, situated in the north-eastern part of the city of Changsha, Hunan.

Daoyin, the traditional Chinese practice of guiding the qi and stretching the body is the forerunner of Qigong, the modern form of exercise that has swept through China and is making increasing inroads in the West. Like other Asian body practices, Daoyin focuses on the body as the main vehicle of attainment; sees health and spiritual transformation as one continuum leading to perfection or self-realization; and works intensely and consciously with the breath and with the conscious guiding of internal energies. This book explores the different forms of Daoyin in historical sequence, beginning with the early medical manuscripts of the Han dynasty, then moving into its religious adaptation in Highest Clarity Daoism. After examining the medieval Daoyin Scripture and ways of integrating the practice into Tang Daoist immortality, the work outlines late imperial forms and describes the transformation of the practice in the modern world. Presenting a rich crop of specific exercises together with historical context and comparative insights, Chinese Healing Exercises is valuable for both specialists and general readers. It provides historical depth and opens concrete details of an important but as yet little-known health practice.

Chinese Shamanic Cosmic Orbit Qigong is an advanced form of Qigong from one of China’s esoteric traditions. Never before written about in the West, this form offers great cumulative benefits from regular daily practice. Master Wu describes the practice in detail, including the meaning and significance of the Chinese names for each movement, with its shamanic roots, and provides the mantra, visualization, and mudra for each as well as explaining the therapeutic benefits and talismanic aspects. The book is fully illustrated, and there is a handy reference quick guide at the end showing the entire orbit. This unique book will be essential reading for advanced students and practitioners of Qigong and anyone interested in Daoism, or the ancient wisdom traditions of China.

Catherine Despeux’s book Taoism and Self Knowledge is a study of the Internal Alchemical text "Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection." It begins with an analysis of pictographic and symbolic representation of the body in early Taoism after which the author examines different extant versions of the "Chart" as it was transmitted among Quanzhen groups in the Qing dynasty. The book is comprised of four main parts: the principal parts of the body and their nomenclature in Internal Alchemy, the spirits in the human body, and the alchemical processes and procedures used in thunder rituals and self-cultivation. This is a revised, expanded edition of the original French edition Taoïsme et connaissance de soi. La carte de la culture de la perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Paris, 2012.

An easy-to-learn but very extremely effective 12-movement qigong form taken from over 50 routines of Daoyin health qigong developed by Professor Zhang Guangde. The book provides fully-illustrated instruction on the 12 movements for both standing and seated positions, and downloadable verbal instruction and demonstrations the form.

Within the context of a larger discussion of Dao Yin, Damo Mitchell teaches and explains the Dragon Dao Yin exercises, a set of four short sequences designed to work with the subtle energies of the spine and lead pathogenic energies out of the body. More 'Yang' in nature than Qi Gong, Dao Yin focuses on outwards movements and strong internal cleansing. The book highlights this important distinction and covers the theory, history and development of Dao Yin exercises, as well as the relationship between Chinese medical theory and Dao Yin training. One chapter is devoted to problems related to stagnation and the flow of Qi, and explains the different causes and forms of stagnation. Later chapters look at breathing patterns and the extension of Yi, opening the joints, and rotating the bones and spine. Damo Mitchell also discusses stillness as the source of movement, the philosophical significance of the Dragon and the pearl, and the means of hardwiring Dao Yin exercises into the energetic body. Central to the discussion is the concept of the spine, and how to wake it up. For the first time in the English language, the Dragon exercises – Awakening, Swimming, Soaring and Drunken – are described in detail, with photographs and step-by-step instructions on each of the exercises as individual therapeutic exercises and as a form.

Alternative health.

The book explores an unusual and exciting Taiji Stick qigong form. The book provides fully-illustrated instruction, and includes a brief account on the origins and guidance for practice. It also features online content which provide further resource for learning the form and understanding the roots of practice.