Five thousand years ago in China there were people who wanted to understand nature and the universe. We now call them the Taoist masters. You can call them the first scientists. Only unlike scientists of the West, who believed they had to take things apart in order to study them, Taoists studied things as they were: in life and motion.
They would observe a flowing river and notice, “Oh, look — when the flow is abundant and strong, the water tastes fresh and sweet.”
They would look at a stagnant pond and notice, “Hmm, the water tastes foul and unpleasant. It breeds illnesses. It lacks freshness and vibrancy.”
And they would make a connection between the flowing, playful, sparkling energy of a young person, and the stagnant, sluggish, lifeless energy of an old or sick person.
They would notice the wind blowing through the trees and think, “We cannot see the wind, but we can feel it on our skin. We can see the trees and the grasses move when the wind blows through.”
And they compared it to an invisible force flowing through a human body, giving it vitality and life.
They would observe how a pile of wood can be transformed by fire into light and heat.
And they speculated in living tissue there must be a process of converting materials of the body into the fire of life. In young people this fire burns lively, bright, and strong. It shines through their eyes, it illuminates their skin, it gives power and passion to their thoughts and emotions. In older people, this fire starts to die out, until all the burning coals are covered with ashes.
They noticed that women’s bodies are like earth. When they are replenished with the life force — rested and nourished — they blossom. When their body is depleted and exhausted, it withers and falls apart.
When we are young and healthy we have the luxury of energy wealth. Some amount of neglect and depletion can be easily tolerated. When we get older the body needs to pay its energy bills. The repair cost skyrockets.
A 4-year-old bounces off the walls, opens every drawer and generally delights in own body and movements. However, as we grow old, the body gets colder, slower, weaker and generally becomes a source of various pains and aches. A 70-year-old may prefer to sit or lie down, rather than explore a new environment.
The ancient masters wanted to continue their studies until a very old age, so they started developing practices and ways of thinking which could keep their river of life, which they called Chi, flowing abundantly rather than becoming stagnant, depleted and polluted.
Today, we know that Chi, which ancient Taoists discovered thousands of years ago is bio-electromagnetic energy, which flows through every cell in our body. The same bio-electromagnetic energy flows through every tree, blade of grass, insect, bird, bacteria or worm. Everything which is moving and alive has Chi. The difference between the electromagnetic energy which illuminates our houses or powers up our cell phones is that bio-electromagnetic energy is produced by living cells.
Just like a puppet moved by a hand of the puppeteer, your body moves when it is animated by bio-electricity running through every cell, every nerve, every tissue. Your mind is a puppeteer which directs and control this bio-electricity. Yet, the mind itself is made of a special form of electromagnetic energy, which is called conscious electromagnetic energy.
Your body is not just a physical structure entrapping your spiritual essence – it is a container for your energy, it is the media, through which your energy flows and it is a receiver and a generator for energy, which animates it.
Many health and spirituality practices make a mistake on focusing either solely on the physical body or disregarding the body entirely and dealing with spiritual essences only.
Some spiritual practices go as far as to advocate “mortifying” the flesh and beating the physical body into submission through pain, starvation and hard work. Most spiritual practices condemn and forbid expressions of sexuality, especially feminine sexuality, considering it “dirty”, “shameful” and “sinful”. The Taoist masters discovered another way. Through embracing the wonders of the physical body, with its blood and sweat, its pains and imperfections, its emotions, cravings and desires, they discovered a new way of living and being in their bodies, which still fascinates scientists and medical doctors.
Through experimentation and observation, even before modern scientific discoveries, Taoist masters developed surprisingly effective practices for maintaining and enhancing health and resilience of the body, while developing and expanding mastery of the mind.
Dr. Anna Margolina is a certified instructor of Taoist energy practices. She combines them with hypnotherapy to accelerate your progress and help you work through any possible energy blocks.
The 6-month private program includes initiation, basic meditation techniques, energy moving meditations, basic Qigong, Healing Love (Taoist Sexual Energy Alchemy) and basics of self-healing using nature and cosmic energy.
Reach out to Dr. Anna to schedule your free consultation to learn more.
