Water Method Blog

 By Paul Cavel

In ancient times, internal arts training often started just before dawn and was usually done outside. Taoists found that morning practice not only warms up the body’s systems by circulating blood and chi, but also wakes up the intuitive aspects of the mind. Starting the day on soli...

 By Paul Cavel

I began studying the Taoist Water tradition in the late 1980s and quickly dedicated myself to my training because of life-debilitating injuries I needed to address to maintain any decent quality of life. At that time, I felt as though I had looked everywhere for answers, but nothin...

Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body Qigong is the foundation of all Taoist meditation and energy arts practices, specifically developing the qualities of the Water Element. Water is all about clearing and cleansing the body and its qi, which ultimately affects the mind.

As an introductory q...

By Paul Cavel

In Part 1, we discussed how breaking the reciprocal-inhibition habit and using moderation are essential to healing. Now we’ll look at how consistency and personal factors also play key roles.

Healing Requires Consistency

Drilling down into the mechanics of how exactly you will app...

 By Paul Cavel

If I were to summarise the vast majority of enquiries I receive in a single question, it would be,“Can qigong heal X”? – you name it.

First, to answer the question, yes, generally qigong supports healing for a wide array of specific ailments and injuries, and has been doing so as ...

Heaven and Earth Qigong is a gift from the ancients, a self-healing practice that has a 3,000-year-old history. Traditionally being reserved only for disciples, this two-part exercise spans the first 12 of 16 internal (neigong) components.

Its many threads of internal (neigong) techniques are...

By Paul Cavel

The goal of all Taoist movement arts is to move energy (qi) in the body, which can be done through direct or indirect methods.

• Direct movement of qi occurs when a practitioner's mind connects and merges with specific layers of energy within their flesh, and then mobilises that

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The most advanced of the Taoist neigong systems, Gods Playing in the Clouds Qigong is recommended for students who already have experience training the Taoist Neigong set, Dragon & Tiger Medical Qigong and/or Heaven & Earth Qigong. The Gods form can serve as a container that makes it possible to ...

By Anna Price

In this especially bleak midwinter, many of us will be hauling Christmas Trees into our living rooms and festooning them with lights and trinkets to help gladden our hearts. We all seem to love a bit of fir - its dark green and resinous smell closely associated with seasonal festi...

By Paul Cavel

In Part 1, we explored the peaks and plateaus in training both external and internal forms of exercises, and why you should not be discouraged when you recognize you have reached a plateau.

The Taoist Principle That Saves the Day

When you hit a plateau, that is the time when you m...

 By Paul Cavel

In the manifest realm of duality, if there is an action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: an opening is followed by a closing, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum. In Taoism, the directive of all closing phases – both during practice and in life in general – is to let go and...

By Paul Cavel

Separate and Combine is a Taoist principle for deep learning that has been used for millennia. The principle states that once a basic movement, set or form has been absorbed or established, the practitioner seeks to tease out the individual components before moving on to study that...

By Paul Cavel

See Part 1

Stress can lodge in various parts of the body, causing tensions that can eventually shape your daily routine and overall health. In this day-and-age, eye stress has become prominent due to the increase of screen time albeit for work or pleasure. This week we focus on ea...

 By Paul Cavel

Many events in life close people down in some way or another, especially because repetitive, micro-tasks on devices have become standard practice. They can leave your body and mind feeling condensed, hard and tense, especially at the end of the day.

Learning how to make space in y...