Taoist Wellness: Qigong and Meditation

The term “qigong” originated in Taoism. Originally, it referred to a range of practices for cultivating and working with qi. These practices were practical and relatively easy to spread, so they gained widespread public attention and flourished.

In the Qing Dynasty, Yang Jianxing summarized Taoist qi cultivation methods in his book Zhi Dao Zhen Quan. He listed dozens of techniques: absorbing qi, drawing in qi, purging qi, regulating qi, swallowing qi, circulating qi, refining qi, yielding qi, holding breath, projecting qi, replenishing qi, discharging qi, external qi, internal qi, guarding qi, commanding qi, sensing qi, ingesting qi, guiding qi, harmonizing qi, receiving qi, gathering qi, welcoming qi, moving qi, and resting qi. All of these, boiled down, fall under the broad category of absorbing qi.

It was not until modern times that martial artists widely adopted breath regulation and qi circulation as internal training methods. Only then did the word “qigong” come into common use, as an umbrella term covering all ancient Chinese breathwork practices. These techniques all start with adjusting breathing, and include circulating qi, absorbing qi, refining qi, and fetal breathing, among others.

Qigong can be categorized in several ways:

• By movement: active qigong and passive qigong (static meditation)
• By posture: seated, lying, standing, and walking forms
• By physiological mechanism: external breathing and internal breathing
• By purpose: healing practices and longevity practices

Taoist qigong theory views movement and stillness as dialectically unified. The distinction between active and static qigong is relative, not absolute. Generally speaking, static qigong means keeping the body completely still throughout practice. Active qigong involves intentional physical movements. Each type has its own benefits; neither should be favored over the other.

Static qigong usually demands greater mental focus. Practices such as inner vision and visualization can be quite complex. Active qigong, by contrast, tends to be simpler to learn, often yields quicker sensations, and is easier to popularize.

Both active and static qigong use fundamental postures. The most well-known seated posture is the “Five Hearts Facing Heaven.” In this position, the soles of both feet turn upward; hands are stacked with palms facing heaven; the crown point (Baihui) on top of the head also points upward — hence the name. This posture comes from the Buddhist lotus meditation seat, which has full and half lotus variations. Full lotus means both legs are crossed; half lotus uses only one crossed leg.

Lying-down qigong is another ancient practice. During the Han and Tang dynasties, practitioners mostly used flat supine positions for breath training. The Seven Slips of the Cloudy Satchel, Volume 58, records: “Supine method: lie with a low pillow, draw shoulders and knees slightly inward, stretch arms alongside the ribs. Prone method: rest the belly on the bed, prop the chest with a blanket, extend hands and feet. When swallowing qi in supine position, guide qi down the left side of the body. When swallowing qi prone, guide qi down the right side.”

From the Song and Ming dynasties onward, side-lying methods became more common. The Essential Admonitions of Heavenly Immortals describes two lying practices: Xi Yi Sleep and Huan Yang Sleep. Each has its own subtlety.

For Xi Yi Sleep on the left side: lie on your left, rest your left hand under your cheek, separate your thumb and index finger so your left ear nestles in the space between them, keeping the ear canal open. Keep your back straight, bend your left leg, relax your abdomen fully against the mattress. Place your right leg beside your left foot. Rest your right palm over your navel, focus your awareness behind your torso. Visualize your whole body clear as crystal, as if resting on calm water with empty space beneath. Imagine your bedding transforms into an egg-sized white cloud of qi, and you rest peacefully within it. The right-side version follows the same pattern.

Huan Yang Sleep is not side-lying. Prop your upper body on padding 3 to 6 inches higher than your lower body, then lie supine. Clench your hands, extend arms outwards in a wide V shape; spread your legs similarly, leaving 1–2 inches between thighs and groin. Close your mouth and eyes, quiet your mind. After roughly a dozen breaths, visualize soft mist-like qi wrapping your entire body inside and out. Hold your awareness in the chest area.

From a physiological perspective, all living things depend on breathing. Metabolism — exchanging stale air for fresh air — is essential for life. Taoists recognized how breathwork shapes human vitality, and developed qigong systems centered on training the respiratory system. Through conscious control of breathing, a function normally managed automatically by the nervous system, practitioners seek to adjust internal bodily rhythms and organ function. The intended goals are recovering from illness, improving health, and extending lifespan.

Qigong includes many different forms, yet they share the same core principle: practitioners use breathwork, focused visualization and other self-training methods to nurture spirit and qi, so as to achieve physical and mental well-being.

In Treatise on Cultivating Spirit and Refining Primordial Qi, Sun Simiao wrote:

If you wish to calm your spirit, you must refine your primordial qi. When qi resides within the body, your spirit rests securely in the qi sea. Once the qi sea is full, your mind settles and awareness stays steady. If this stability remains unbroken, body and mind grow quiet and concentrated. When stillness and concentration merge, your body endures and your lifespan lengthens. Abide constantly at the source of the Dao, and naturally you attain profound realization. When qi flows freely, spirit reaches a refined state; when spirit awakens, wisdom and life become unified. Life abides and the body is preserved, aligning with your true nature. Your lifespan may match the sun and moon, and the cultivation of the Dao reaches completion.

This inward-outward training method — working first with spirit and qi, then nourishing the physical body — is a distinctive Taoist wellness practice. Volume 82 of Sun Simiao’s Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold from the Tang Dynasty records the Pengzu method, contemplation practice, qi regulation methods, and techniques for healing qi disorders of the five internal organs. Its contemplation practice centers on sitting meditation and visualization: imagine cosmic primordial qi pouring into your whole body to replenish your innate qi and strengthen health.

The detailed practice goes as follows: Close your eyes and focus your mind. Visualize pure universal primordial qi forming a purple cloud canopy, radiant with five distinct colors. This qi descends to your hairline, enters the crown of your head, and like mist drifting into mountains after rain, permeates skin, flesh, bones and brain. It then gradually sinks into your abdomen. Your limbs and five internal organs receive its nourishment, much like water seeping into soil. When the qi penetrates deeply, you may hear a gurgling sound inside your belly. Keep your attention concentrated and block out external distractions. Soon you will feel primordial qi arrive at the qi sea; moments later it reaches Yongquan points on the soles of your feet. Your body may vibrate gently, your feet curl naturally, and even your bed or mat may creak. This stage is called one pass. You may complete one pass, two passes, or up to three or five passes each day. After practice, you feel joyful and relaxed, your complexion brightens, hair and skin become moist, hearing and vision sharpen, appetite improves, physical strength rises, and many ailments fade away. If you keep practicing consistently for five or ten years and complete millions of passes, you will draw near to spiritual attainment.

Within Taoist tradition, fetal breathing (taixi) is the supreme core practice of qigong. What is fetal breathing? When qi cultivation reaches an advanced level, spirit merges into qi and qi wraps around spirit, uniting them as one. Nasal breathing becomes extremely faint, barely detectable. All eight extraordinary meridians open fully, and the whole body feels comfortable. It resembles a fetus living inside its mother’s womb, with only internal qi circulating silently. One who achieves fetal breathing no longer relies on nose and mouth for respiration, just like an infant in the womb — this marks the accomplishment of cultivation.

Taoist qi practices also contain many techniques for healing illness. Qigong healing works through several approaches: guiding qi toward affected areas to strengthen healthy energy and dispel pathogenic factors; moving qi to unblock meridians and balance yin and yang; exhaling and inhaling external qi to harmonize qi and blood. In short, its core characteristic is awakening the body’s latent capacity and mobilizing the body’s innate healing power to relieve sickness.

Qigong addresses a broad range of health conditions. Ancient records state it yields positive effects for cardiovascular disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, neurological illnesses and even tumors. It also offers benefits for syndromes caused by wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, dryness, fire, pestilence, phlegm, food stagnation, qi stagnation, blood stasis and bodily deficiency. Volume 5 of Records of the True Immortals Gathered at West Mountain preserves practices for relieving general pain, curing chronic illness, treating cold damage, and remedying seminal leakage. The Six Healing Sounds (Liu Zi Jue) system alone includes dozens of specialized methods: Tao Hongjing’s Six Healing Sounds, the Six Healing Sounds for Disease Removal, the Purple Subtlety Six Qi Method, plus separate Six Healing Sounds practices for the liver, heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen and gallbladder.

Collected Mysterious Discourses of Master Danting, written by Lu Danting in the Ming Dynasty, contains hundreds of qigong, fetal breathing and static meditation methods. The book categorizes ailments and matches each condition with targeted qigong training. Conditions covered include paralysis, consumptive disease, abdominal distension, cold patterns, phlegm disorders, spleen-stomach illnesses, hemorrhoids, malaria, dysentery, hiccups, belching, acid reflux, stomach discomfort, palpitations, internal masses, jaundice, cholera, vomiting, headaches, deafness, tongue disorders, dental issues, eye diseases, throat problems, nodules, goiter, lung abscess, heart pain, abdominal pain, pain in the ribs and lower back, arm and back pain, joint pain, leg qi pain, epilepsy, limb atrophy, wasting thirst, skin sores and more. For every ailment, the text first describes symptoms and root causes, then records corresponding practice formulas. This system is comprehensive, its language straightforward, and the practice instructions concrete and practical, giving it considerable value in traditional medicine.

One example is the practice for consumptive disease. Consumptive disease refers to a variety of chronic illnesses arising from depleted qi, blood and internal organs. Those suffering from it may practice this method: Find a quiet room, pay attention to diet and nutrition, maintain a reverent mindset, and calm wandering thoughts. Then sit or lie down, quiet your mind and release distracting thoughts. Focus your awareness on the lower dantian. First regulate breath and guide internal qi for three hundred and sixty cycles. When finished, touch your tongue lightly to the upper palate, keeping internal qi inside and external qi out. Although obvious nasal breathing ceases, still count one full inhale-exhale as one breath. Feel the length of qi and count silently with prayer beads. Once primordial qi accumulates, guide it with your awareness upward from the Weilu point through Jiaji to the Niwan point at the crown of the head, gently drawing qi upward through the nose. Qi transforms into sweet saliva in the mouth; rinse it with your tongue and swallow it in three portions down toward your navel. Resume breath regulation, and this completes one full cycle. If phlegm gathers in your chest, move internal qi from your navel to your chest, rotating left and right thirty times each (or twenty, or sixteen rounds, adjusted to your personal qi strength). After every thirty basic qi-regulating cycles, complete one full qi-circulation routine. If you suffer from cough and shortness of breath, perform one qi-regulating cycle followed by one qi-circulation cycle until coughing subsides. Keep counting cycles with prayer beads and practice daily. All inhalations and exhalations must be soft, slow and continuous, while your mind remains peaceful.

In summary, qigong is a unique mind-body practice: a form of self-regulation, self-repair and self-development that works on human physiology, consciousness and spirit. Traditional experience holds that qigong can strengthen physical health, prevent disease and sharpen mental faculties.