Taoist Yoga

Daoyin is a series of cognitive body and mind unity exercises practiced as a form of Taoist neigong, meditation and mindfulness to cultivate '' jing'' (essence) and direct and refine '' qi'', the internal energy of the body according to Traditional Chinese medicine. These exercises are often divided into yin positions, lying and sitting, and yang positions, standing and moving.
The practice of daoyin was a precursor of qigong, and was practised in Chinese Taoist monasteries for health and spiritual cultivation. Daoyin is also said to be a primary formative ingredient in the well-known " soft styles" of the Chinese martial arts, of Taiji quan. and middle road styles like Wuxingheqidao.

The main goal of ''daoyin'' is to create flexibility of the mind therefore creating harmony between internal and external environments, which relaxes, replenishes and rejuvenates the body, developing in its practitioners a vital and healthy spirit.

In the West, ''daoyin'' is sometimes mistakenly equated with "Taoist yoga" or "yin yoga" as "''dao''" () and "''yin''" () are mistakenly read as ''Dao'' (), as in "Taoism", and ''Yin'' (), as in "''Yin-Yang''".

The Daoyin Tu

A painted scroll on display at the Hunan Provincial Museum and known as the Daoyin Tu found in tomb three at Mawangdui in 1973 and dated to 168 BC shows coloured drawings of 44 figures in standing and sitting postures performing daoyin exercises. It is the earliest physical exercise chart in the world so far, and illustrates a medical system which does not rely on external factors such as medication, surgery or treatments, but utilizes solely internal factors to prevent disease.

The images include men and women, young and old. Their postures and movements differ from one another. Some are sitting, some are standing, and still others are practicing Daoyintu or exercising using apparatuses.

Translation of the texts covering the document show that the early Chinese were aware of the need for both preventive and corrective breathing exercises.
The exercises can be divided into three categories:
# Postures of bodily exercises such as stretching arms and legs, leaning over, hopping, dancing, breathing exercises and using various equipment such as a stick and a ball.
# Imitating animal behaviour such as dragon, monkey, bear and crane.
# Exercises targeted at specific diseases.

Effects

A typical daoyin exercise will involve movement of the arms and body in time with controlled inhalation and exhalation. Each exercise is designed with a different goal in mind, for example calmative effects or expanded lung capacity.

According to Mantak Chia the practice of daoyin has the following effects: harmonization of the qi, relaxation of the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm, training of the "second brain" in the lower abdomen, improvement of health and structural alignment.

See also

* Chinese alchemy
* Dantian
* '' Huangdi Neijing''
* Internal alchemy
* '' Jing, Qi & Shen''
* Qigong
* Silk reeling
* Taoist meditation
* Taoist philosophy
* Wudang Mountains
* Yangsheng (Daoism)
* '' Yellow Court Classic''
* Yin Yoga
* '' Yinshu''
* Zhang Sanfeng

References

External links

Entry on Daoyin from the Center for Daoist Studies

The origin of Daoyin
Inscription from a Warring State Period cultural relic - neigong.net

Theory of essence Qi and spirit
- neigong.net

Entry on Tao Yin at the Seahorse Mediawiki


(Virtual tour of the Mawangdui Han Tombs exhibit at the Hunan Provincial Museum).

{{Qigong

Chinese philosophy
Chinese words and phrases
Meditation
Qigong
Tai chi
Taoist practices
Physical exercise