Energy Balance through the Tao: Exercises for Cultivating Yin Energy Book by Mantak Chia

An introduction to the ancient Taoist exercise system of Tao Yin

• Includes 45 fully illustrated exercises that promote flexibility, strength, and balance in one’s physical, mental, and spiritual energy

• Addresses the health needs of the musculoskeletal system and the unique physical stresses of a modern urban lifestyle

In the Western world, exercise focuses mainly on physical fitness and developing muscular strength. In the East, exercise systems balance fitness practices for the body, mind, and spirit. This balance is strongly emphasized in the Taoist system of Tao Yin, one of the oldest and most diverse forms of exercise in China. Tao Yin focuses on creating balance between internal and external energies and revitalizing the body, mind, and spirit with a combination of strength, flexibility, and internal energy exercises. Its ultimate goal is for the practitioner to become pure, responsive, and full of energy, like a child.

In Energy Balance through the Tao, Master Mantak Chia introduces 45 fully illustrated Tao Yin exercises to Western readers. He explains the history behind the practice and its connections to other complementary Chinese exercise forms, such as tai chi. In this book Chia focuses on the lying and sitting positions of Tao Yin, which improve health and structural alignment and, once mastered, strengthen movements and postures in standing positions. The benefits of these remarkably simple exercises include harmonizing chi, developing strength and flexibility through tendon stretching, relaxing the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm, releasing toxins through the breath, and training the "second brain" in the lower abdomen to coordinate and direct these processes.

About the Author:

Mantak Chia is also the author of Awaken Healing Energy through the Tao (co-author Michael Winn), Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy, Taoist Ways to Transform Stress into Vitality, Chi Self-Massage, Iron Shirt Chi Kung I, Healing Love through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy (co-author Maneewan Chia), and Bone Marrow Nei Kung (co-author Maneewan Chia). Master Mantak Chia is the creator of the Healing Tao System and Director of the Healing Tao Center in New York. Since childhood he has been studying the Taoist approach to life as well as other approaches. Born in Thailand to Chinese parents in 1944, he was first taught at age six by Buddhist monks how to sit and "still the mind." While he was in grammar school, he first learned traditional Thai boxing, and was then taught Tai Chi Chuan by Master Lu. When he was a student in Hong Kong, he began his studies of the Taoist way of life with Master Yi Eng, who authorized him to teach and heal. He later studied Taoist Yoga and the Buddhist Palm with Master Meugi in Singapore, and studied the Shao-Lin Method of Internal Power with Master Cheng Yao-Lun, who combined Taoist, Buddhist, and Zen teachings in his system of Thai boxing and Kung Fu. To understand the mechanisms behind healing energy better, Master Chia studied Western medical science and anatmoy for two years. After training a network of teachers in the Healing Tao system, he established the Natural Healing Center in Thailand, before moving to New York to open the Healing Tao Center in 1979. Maneewan Chia was born and raised in Hong Kong, moving with her parents to Thailand where she received a B.S. degree in Medical Technology. Since childhood, she has been very interested in nutrition and Chinese health food cooking. She assists Mantak Chia in teaching classes, including Taoist Five Element Nutrition, and managing the Healing Tao Center.

224 pages