13 Moons in Motion

By Paul Cavel

A hallmark of Taoist studies is a focus on living in accordance with universal flows and the natural cycles of Heaven and Earth, such as the four seasons, day and night, and the phases of the moon. Following The Path is about tuning into and following these rhythms as humanity and all living beings have done since the dawn of time.

The Best Time to Train

I’m often asked the question: when is the best time to train?

My initial response is: whenever you can! 

Many students receive this answer as a joke, but all joking aside, first you must do whatever you can, whenever you can to establish a practice. Once you have a rhythm of some kind, then you can consider adjustments to maximise efficiency. 

Traditionally, Taoists practised a couple of hours before dawn, when the psychic energy of the area where they lived was the most calm and quiet. When I give this answer, students look at me as if I’m mad. Most people wouldn’t even consider getting up before dawn to do a couple of hours of practice before getting ready and working all day. 

While practising before dawn is best:

• Practising at any point before work is great.
• Practising when most people are working is good.
• Practising at lunchtime or in the early evening, when there is a lot of activity, is not ideal.
• But clearly practising at any time is better than not at all!

Attuning to the “Moonth”

With a daily practice in place, you can start tuning into larger cycles, e.g. the phases of the moon and the seasons. There is one big ebb and flow every “moonth”; that is the waxing and waning halves of the cycle of the moon as it grows to its fullest and recedes into the dark of the moon, respectively. Of course the modern word “month” comes from “moon”, although months are now out of sync with the moon itself.

There are 28 days in a moon cycle, but all months except February include 30 or 31 days. For this reason, ancient people did not follow a 12-month cycle and instead followed the “13 moons in motion”. Personally, I became acutely aware of these cycles in my late 20s and early 30s, when I lived outside on the land for several years. I watched my practice morph with the cycle of the moon and the seasons, as I was bathed in the natural energies around me from the Earth (i.e. forests, meadows, hills, mountains, streams, rivers and seas) and the Heavens (i.e. sun, moon and stars).

During this period of my life, I immersed myself in deep neigong and meditation practice, which literally consumed my reality. Everything I did revolved around practice and anything else became secondary. I tuned into how the dark of the moon naturally drove my consciousness inwards, as there was far less light to see around the camp. As the full moon approached, I often became more active, as my mind was driven outwards to do things in my external environment. 

At times I would be in a group of people living as naturally as possible with a shared aim: to live with as little as possible and tune into the natural environment to the fullest. I watched how the camp would be lulled into silence during the dark of the moon and brought to a creshindo during the full moon, expressed through music, dance and lively conversation. I began to realise that the personal cycles I was experiencing were reflected in the people around me, even those who didn’t train Taoist arts. It was the unobstructed influence of the moon. I found this utterly profound at the time, but it is not so surprising when you consider how the moon affects the tides of the ocean and that human beings are made mostly of water.

These natural cycles, along with deeper aspects of Taoist arts training, supported development of my skill with qi, that is my ability to gain control over the systems and subsystems of my body to heal, awaken and engage with life more fully. 

TTCS Training Cycles

I consider it a no-brainer that students will gain more benefit from my ongoing online programmes in 28-day cycles, in tune with the 13 cycles of the moon, rather than the out-of-sync, 12-month cycle that has become the modern standard. This allows those of you who engage with my programmes to set a consistent four-week rhythm for studying and training the lessons, which is particularly important for women. (Of course, it does mean that, if you choose subscription billing, one month of the year you will receive two charges on your card, so please plan accordingly!)

Yin Energy Sets Your Foundation

Ultimately the foundation of Water Method training is in cultivating yin energy, a process of releasing and letting go in body, mind and qi. This does not mean that there is no place for yang energy in your training, only that tapping into the natural forces of yin energy – such as the moon, the cosmos which provides the space for galaxies, stars and planets, as well as the Earth itself, which holds the space for life as we know it – supports your ability to penetrate deep into your core. From a Taoist perspective, this is how you discover your true essence, that which is natural to you and enables you to reach your full potential.