Taoist Exercises

A Taoist will practice Taoist exercises until they become (one with) the Tao. At this point there are no more exercises to practice. The practice itself disappears. In reality – there is no more Taoist.

When practicing a Taoist exercise – be aware that you are executing a program|pattern to remove earlier programming. Do not attach or identify with the practice or the idea of being a Taoist. This is labeling and has no merit as per TTC chapter 1.

Energetic Blockages

When I started a Taoist practice, my master suggested that I should begin by releasing the most obvious energetic blockages. Releasing these blockages would allow me to become more easily aware of the energy centers (dantian) and the energy field (qi) flowing inside and outside of the body. You could say that patterns from the past – such as interpersonal conflicts – can cause knots in the threads of a complex energetic web that contains our qi structures as well as all their interconnections. The  pattern of a knot is that of tiny loops – energy is just circling around at the same spot – essentially this energy is trapped and cannot feed the divine circuits. In this context – people talk about energetic leakage or drainage.  Some people talk about karma in this context, however that’s a loaded word you might want to stay away from. In the Taoist framework one can dissolve any energetic blockages themselves.

It is very easy to tell if you are experiencing significant energetic blockage. Take a deep breath, relax and feel what’s going on inside. If your body immediately starts buzzing with energy from head to toe — no major blockages. Otherwise – read on…

Interpersonal conflicts form just one of many sources of energetic blockages and leakage. Any distraction that pulls (attraction, craving) or pushes (fear, repulsion) you away from a neutral aware state of mind is feeding energy into a pattern that is not harmonious with the Tao. (At the same time – it is also true that everything is always in harmony with the Tao).

The Forgiving Exercise

The forgiving exercise allows you to release those energetic blockages caused by interpersonal conflicts and interactions. You know that a certain past event is causing blockage because you get emotional when you think about it. Some examples:

• Someone hurt you or you hurt someone
• Someone bothers you or used to bother you
• You said something to someone that you shouldn’t have
• You feel bad about some quality or characteristic you think you have (self)
• You have feelings of attraction towards someone or feel that they might have feelings for you

After completing the forgiving exercise, you will:

• Feel completely neutral about past events and about people that previously triggered emotional response
• have untied cyclic energetic and mental knots that drained your energy
• experience drastically improved energetic flow inside and outside the body

The forgiving exercise is very simple but can take a few iterations and a considerable amount of time (if that even means anything to you). I might have executed this exercise for a few hours per week during the first few years of my practice and sometimes I still come back to it after having created some new energetic knots through living my life..

Here it is:

1. Sit down and be aware. Set the intent upon honestly resolving some energetic blockages right now.
2. Let your mind walk through your event history and locate an event that causes emotional response (see examples)
3. Memorize what happened
   1. how it feels, get into the emotional response
   2. who was involved (actors)
   3. what their roles were in this event
   4. what caused everyone (including self) to do what they did
4. Forgive every actor from the heart and speak out loud
   1. yourself and the role you had in this event (“I forgive myself for … I realize … I accept … I dissolve any energetic knots that may have resulted from this event.”)
   2. every actor and the role they played (“I forgive <John|Tracy> for … I realize … I accept … I dissolve any energetic knots that may have resulted from this event.”)
   3. yourself in carrying this event with you for all the time between then and now (“I forgive myself for carrying this on my back for so long and release the weight off my shoulders.”)
5. Observe a release of energy inside the body.
   1. Usually there are sensations throughout the body and especially around the heart.
   2. Energetic waves or pulses are a good indicator of release
   3. If nothing is felt – then there was no forgiving from the heart that occurred. It might have been from the mind but that has no energetic benefit. Go deeper and be honest.. do not quit.
6. Back to 2 and repeat until you feel you’re done (time’s up).
7. Quickly run through the events that you cleared and check there is no more emotional response. You feel neutral about it.

Repeat this exercise whenever there is the need. Remember that it is better to use a personal space unless you don’t mind people hearing you talk to yourself (might actually help dissolve the ego structure).

Good luck and may you overcome some major energetic blockages with this exercise.