Over the last ten years I have been teaching Nei Gong. During this time I have seen a large increase in the number of women engaging in this powerful and fascinating practice. Initially, my classes had mainly male students, but then, as time went by, more and more women started on the path of internal change. Now, I am happy to say that in our classes and on our courses we have an even split of male and female students. This is how I like it to be. A class should be like a microcosm of the rest of life; a group is always the most satisfying to teach when there are people of all ages, cultures, backgrounds and of both genders.
With the even division of male and female students, it has become increasingly important for more information on women’s practices to be openly shared. Essentially, male students are well catered for; many teachers focus solely upon male methods of training, and almost all of the written sources of information, both contemporary and classical, are written from a male perspective. What writing there is on the Daoist arts for women is generally focused on the medical aspects of the arts. Although there is nothing wrong with this, we felt that we (my partner, Roni, and I) wanted to put together a book for female practitioners that focused more on the internal process of development than solely on how to be healthy according to Chinese medical principles.
It has been interesting to speak with women who have studied Qi Gong or Nei Gong for a long time. In many cases they have been to a number of schools and generally been taught from a male-based perspective. A great number of them have voiced their frustration about an intuitive knowing, which they have had for some time, that they have been practising in a slightly incorrect manner. Women are the natural sensitive ‘intuitives’ of our species and as such have often felt that their internal process should be different from that practised by men. In more than a few cases women have told me that they have stumbled spontaneously upon energetic processes that they are taught in our classes, only to be told by male teachers elsewhere that they are doing it wrong and they should go back to doing the same as the rest of the class. Of course, this is not the fault of the teacher either – you can only teach what you know – but the truth is that women should indeed be practising slightly differently from men due to the particular nature of their energetic systems.
In writing this book, I have been involved in the layout and structuring of the book as well as writing many of the more technical sections. For obvious reasons I have stayed away from writing any of the experiential sections of the book based upon how a practice should feel for a woman who is working her way through the Nei Gong process. My partner, Roni Edlund, who has been far more pivotal in the creation of this book than I have, has put these sections together.
I met Roni while travelling through Thailand in late 2007. We quickly became friends and then partners, and shortly afterwards she began her own practice of the Daoist arts. Since this time she has studied full-time with me in Europe and then with some of my teachers in Asia. She has spent long periods in retreats on mountains, in temples and in the forests of Sweden, developing her internal practice through Nei Gong, Daoist alchemy, Chinese medicine and the martial arts. Throughout this time I have watched her move deep into the internal arts, working her way through the various stages of internal growth inherent in the Daoist tradition. Her own internal process has been quite different from mine, even though I have been her primary teacher, as she has moved through many of the woman-specific practices outlined in this book. The first-hand experience she has drawn from this practice has placed her in a perfect position to introduce these practices to women in this book. I am nowhere near able to convey these teachings. I am stuck purely on the intellectual and theoretical level in the case of Nei Gong for women, although I do know just how much positive development I have seen in women switching to these methods in their practice.
When planning this book project, Roni and I looked at what were the most important elements of women’s practice that we thought we should discuss. After much deliberation we decided that we wished to introduce the individual nature of the female energy body, the concept of working with the moon, the life phases for women and then the importance of working with the middle Dan Tien. In doing this we have tried to produce a book that is accessible to beginners of Nei Gong training. For this reason we have attempted to stay away from any overly complex aspects of the practice as well as discussions that are only relevant to those with an in-depth understanding of Chinese medicine. An overview of female-specific training should help to inform those new to the practice, and those with prior experience should be able to see how this fits in with any methods in which they are already well versed.
In my opinion, even if female practitioners of the Daoist arts do not take on board anything else from this book, they should read closely the section on working with the moon. I never cease to be surprised at just how effective moon practice is for women and how quickly they connect with what at first appears to be a very esoteric and abstract practice. I have seen time and again how women’s naturally intuitive nature gives them an ability to connect with environmental energies such as that given off by the moon, whereas the majority of men take a long time to reach a stage of being able to do the same. The connection between the moon and women is often drawn upon in Daoist art and folklore, as in the case of the moon deity Yue Guang Pu Sa (月光菩薩), who is shown here holding the moon itself.
THE MOON DEITY
I hope that this book will serve to answer many of the questions women may have about their practice and guide them in their training. I also hope that many male teachers of the internal arts who have women in their classes (I would guess most of them) may find something useful in this book which will help them to enable women fully in their school.
Damo Mitchell Sweden Retreat Centre, Linköping