Chapter 1

WOMEN AND NEI GONG

At the spiritual heart of human existence there is no such thing as differentiation between genders. The higher states of spiritual awareness are neither masculine nor feminine in nature; both poles exist as a unified whole. This is a truth indicated by the depiction in the majority of Eastern traditions of deities who, though they may be declared as either male or female in form, are usually shown as being somewhat androgynous in appearance. These are the more advanced states of awareness that the majority of internal practitioners are attempting to connect with through dedication to a path of practice. In the meantime, while we flounder away in the lower vibrational states of existence, we must learn how to recognise and work with the differences that are inherent in male and female energetic systems.

The issue of gender impacts upon every facet of what we do and who we are. More than just a classification based upon biological differences, men and women have unique energetic and spiritual qualities that are a manifestation of the powers of Yin (陰) and Yang (陽). In the Eastern arts it has long been understood that men and women have individual traits that must be worked with in the correct manner in order to successfully progress towards a higher state of conscious transcendence. Although the ultimate aim of such practices was to rise above any sense of division, the path to this point was through embracing differences and learning how to work with them. For this reason there have long been individual nuances in the way in which men and women practitioners of the internal arts should approach their training.

Classically, Daoism was a tradition that did not relegate women into a secondary role, nor did it see female practitioners of the internal arts as any less likely to attain Dao (道) than their male counterparts. A whole pantheon of female immortals exists in philosophical and tantric Daoism. In religious Daoism (a later development) there are various female deities including such eminent beings as Xiwangmu (西王母), who is often known as the ‘holy mother of the west’, and Shengmu Yuanjun (聖母元君), who is the ‘supreme sovereign mother’. Both of these important figures were venerated by practitioners of Daoist Nei Gong (內功) and Nei Dan (內丹) as symbols of what was possible through consistent alchemical practice. Sadly, this situation changed over time and Daoism became increasingly male-orientated. This took place as society became increasingly steered by the actions and desires of men. As women were relegated to secondary citizens, they took on a more subservient role – a situation that still exists for many women today. There are numerous ancient accounts of women who had to practise their arts in secrecy so that their husbands did not find out and punish them. As a result, many of the female-specific practices were ignored in favour of male-orientated training and this situation is only just starting once again to turn around. Although it is often the case that a Qi Gong or Nei Gong class is made up of roughly 50 per cent female students, the vast majority of writings and teachings of energetic practices are written with men in mind. As women had to hide their teachings, they often had to rely on oral transmission of the techniques and consequently many teachings have been lost. This has resulted in a situation where the practices will still work for women but they are not as efficient as they could be for harnessing the natural energetic strengths that women inherently have within them. Thus the entire process of spiritual growth through the Daoist arts is slowed down for female practitioners who could develop more effectively if only they had more informed knowledge on the nature of their energetic makeup from a Daoist perspective.

When starting out in the Daoist arts, it is wise to look at what you hope to get out of your practice. Your individual goals will dictate to what level you will need to study the underlying theories of Daoism. If, for example, you wish to practise the internal arts to help relax your mind and body, then there is no need to look at the differences between male and female practice. These levels of attainment can be achieved through simply learning to breathe deeply, stand correctly and move the joints in a slow and gentle manner. The practice will be the same whether you are a man or a woman. If, however, you wish to move deeper into the internal arts, towards the stages of awakening the energy system and refining various energetic substances within the body, then it is wise to understand the nature of your own energetic system. Women especially should look to understand their own energetic nature because the deeper levels of training are often reached through methods quite different from those commonly taught – those that are generally purely from a male-biased point of view.

This book aims to give an overview of the nature of training in the Daoist internal arts as a woman. In particular, the focus will be upon Nei Gong, although, of course, many of these principles can also be applied to other aspects of the Daoist tradition.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QI GONG AND NEI GONG

Many people these days will have heard of Qi Gong (氣功) but fewer will have heard the term Nei Gong (內功). A simple translation of Nei Gong would be ‘internal skill’, but this is an overly simplistic view of what is involved in Nei Gong training. A more complete definition of the term might be ‘the process by which a person may condition their physical body, cultivate their internal universe and elevate their consciousness’.

If Qi Gong exercises are ‘tools’ – exercises with a defined goal – Nei Gong is the internal process inherent within Daoism if people choose to immerse themselves fully in the practice. Nei Gong is the energetic basis for the ‘path’ of Dao. Travel along this path is accomplished through the use of various vehicles including standing practices, moving exercises and sitting meditation.

Nei Gong teachings were classically held back from the general public and remained hidden long after Qi Gong became widely known. It was considered a higher-level practice because it effectively serves as a bridge between pure, energy-based practices and the alchemical meditation systems of the Daoists. It is worth noting here that teachers may use terms in different ways. Some may say they are teaching Qi Gong when in fact, by this definition, they are actually teaching Nei Gong and vice versa. One of the first important things you must ascertain when meeting a new teacher is how exactly they define certain terms because there is a great deal of variation from lineage to lineage.

The key process of development in Nei Gong training begins with working initially with the physical body, which provides the foundation necessary for moving towards working with the energy body. Once there has been a considerable amount of work with the energetic system, then direct work takes place with the consciousness. Classically, this was termed as working with the three treasures of Jing (精), Qi (氣) and Shen (神), as shown in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1: JING, QI AND SHEN IN NEI GONG

At each stage a solid foundation must be built in order to guarantee smooth and systematic progression towards increasingly higher states of development. Although this underlying theory is the same for both male and female practitioners of Nei Gong, it is important to understand the unique nature of these substances within both genders.

MALE AND FEMALE PRACTICE DIFFERENCES

The actual differences between male and female Nei Gong practice can be found primarily in the intermediate stages of training. At the very beginning of your practice, it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman, as you essentially have to work through the same body alignments and principles of learning how to breathe and relax. After this, the lower energy centre must be woken up and it is from here that the practice for men and women should begin to differ. Sadly, it has long been the case that teachings on the internal arts were recorded by men and passed on with a very male-heavy bias. Women’s practices are seldom discussed, and consequently many women are having a ‘glass ceiling’ placed upon their development simply because they do not have access to the same level of information as their male counterparts. Although this does not mean that women have not been able to progress in practices such as Nei Gong, they have been slowed down by not working as efficiently as they can with their own internal environment.

In brief, we can summarise the key differences between male- and female-based practices, as shown in Table 1.1. This table provides an overview of male and female internal differences. Many of the terms in the table will be discussed in greater detail throughout the rest of this book.

TABLE 1.1: MALE AND FEMALE PRACTICE DIFFERENCES
	Men	Women
Foundation built in	Sexual fluids	Blood
Quality of Qi	Forceful	Soft
Energetic movement	Centrifugal	Centripetal
Focal energy centre	Lower Dan Tien	Middle Dan Tien
Celestial energy	Solar	Lunar
Key hurdle	Base desires	Emotional leakage

Understanding the differences between these facets of male and female energetic anatomy enables us to see the differences between how the two genders should approach their practice. Each of these differences is discussed in brief below.

Sexual Fluids and Blood

The classical sequence for working through the key substances of the body in the Daoist arts is to begin with refining the Jing, working up to refining the Qi and then finally developing the Shen. Although there is a large degree of interdependence between these substances, it is understood that, in order to develop effectively, a solid foundation must be built at each ‘stage’ before moving on to the next. Consolidation of Jing to a certain level is required in order to ensure that a practitioner’s health is at such a stage that it can provide a high-quality base from which to begin moving deeper into Nei Gong. The Jing also serves as the primary fuel for the conversion of the three treasures into more refined spiritual substances.

It is the case for men that their Jing is lost through the natural life and ageing cycles, but also through the loss of sexual fluids upon ejaculation. This is why many classical schools of Daoism had guidelines that restricted sexual activity for male students or, in many cases, completely forbade it.

For women, their Jing is lost to a large degree through the monthly menstrual cycle. A woman does not lose Jing in the same way as a man during sex due to the more internalised nature of her orgasm. Although female Daoists still had guidance about the most efficient manner in which to engage in sexual intercourse in order to work with their Jing, the degree of restriction was not as high. Instead, women need to learn to refine the process of menstruation by aligning their energetic cycles with the phases of the moon. Once this foundation practice has successfully been worked with, it will ensure a solid foundation upon which to develop further.

Forceful and Soft Qi Quality

Of course, when discussing the relative qualities of Qi flow, there is a large amount of individual variation in each one of us. No two people have the same quality of energy; each of us has unique information stored within our energetic system which is made up of our life experiences, persona and countless other influences. That being said, we can generalise to a certain degree and understand that male energy tends to have a slightly more forceful quality to it than that of women. In the case of men, their Qi moves with a power that is directed by their naturally more Yang mind-state. Women tend to have more softly moving Qi that is directed by a more gentle Yin mind-state. What this means is that men will naturally use more assertion when they engage with internal arts such as Nei Gong, whereas women will have a tendency to come at their practice from a more passive direction. While both genders should adopt a gentle intention in their practice, men will be able to use more directed focus in their training to progress, especially in the earlier stages of working with the lower Dan Tien (丹田). By the time they move on to working with the more psychologically based middle Dan Tien, they must have learned how to soften the quality of their Qi; otherwise, they run the risk of damaging the fragile information field of the Heart, a common problem arising from Qi Gong training which leaves a practitioner with a feeling of depression and low energy levels.

In contrast, women’s energy tends to flow more softly, which is far more in line with the Daoist ideal. Women can actually develop much more quickly if they learn how to harness the natural softness of their Qi by directing it with a gentle but focused intention and then simply sitting back and observing what is taking place. In this way they use their intention as a sort of catalyst to start a process of change, but then allow the natural softness of their Qi to continue the work for them. If a woman tries to use an overly powerful intention or direct her energy too forcefully, she will find that instead of developing she actually hinders her progression.

Centrifugal and Centripetal Energy Movement

Male energy tends to rotate outwards from the core, which means that it tends to have a stronger effect on the surrounding environment. It is also the basis for the very male-orientated interpersonal qualities of domination and control.

Female energy moves in the opposite way; it tends to move centripetally inwards towards the core of the energetic system. This means that there are a couple of key qualitative differences in the way that a woman relates to the outside environment. First, women will find that they naturally have a higher degree of energetic sensitivity to what is taking place around them. Your energetic field exchanges information with the world around you, and Qi carries with it a great deal of information that is then accessed once it interacts with your Shen. In the case of men, their naturally outwards-moving energy means that they are usually giving information out into the surrounding environment, whereas women are always absorbing. If a woman is able to locate the stillness at the centre of her consciousness, she will find that she naturally begins to interpret that information, giving her heightened intuitive skills. The second key advantage of centripetally moving energy is that women can use the environment’s energy to fuel their practice to a far higher degree than their male counterparts. For women, there is a far greater benefit to practising in a healthy, natural environment because the Qi of these areas will bring her on in her practice very quickly.

Lower and Middle Dan Tien

Although both men and women begin their practice by working with the lower Dan Tien, women should be much quicker to move on to the higher-frequency energy centres. The lower Dan Tien is more physically based. It is connected to a person’s root, their motion and their centre of gravity. It is the Earth-based energy centre, which males use in their training to anchor the rest of their energetic system into the physical world. Even when male practitioners develop beyond the lower Dan Tien, they still return there, as this is always the basis for their skill. Women practise in a different manner to this, and once they have progressed past the foundation of the lower Dan Tien, they rarely return to work at this level. Instead, they move on to the middle Dan Tien, situated within the chest at the height of their Heart. This is the emotionally powered centre of Qi, compassion and connection. Once a woman has reached the stage of working with the middle Dan Tien, all of her focus is put here because this is the basis upon which her internal skill is developed.

Solar and Lunar Influence

Male energy is very much connected to the sun. There are many practices in classical Qi Gong for working with the energy of the sun. Some of this training involves performing exercises while facing the rising sun, whereas others are more meditative in order to help the student absorb and benefit from the sun’s energy. Although these practices are still useful for a woman, she will not gain anywhere near the same amount of energy from them as a male practitioner will. Instead, women should learn how to practise with the moon’s energy, as this is the main celestial body of Yin energy in our sky. The moon’s energy is primarily used to connect a woman to the Heavenly cycles and build a foundation within her menstrual Blood. Even when this has been accomplished and a female practitioner moves on to the more advanced stages of her practice, there is still a great gain to be had from practising any moving exercises or sitting meditation when the moon is high in the night sky.

Base Desires and Emotional Connection

The biggest hurdles to a person’s practice come at different stages for men and women. In the case of men, it is their base desires that prove a problem. Each aspect of a person’s psyche is rooted within either a physical aspect or an energetic element of their body. A person’s base desires are rooted in the Jing, particularly in the case of men. If a male cannot overcome his base desires and convert the nature of his psyche to a higher state, then he will never refine the Jing to a high enough state to move on. Sadly, this is the earliest hurdle a person can come across in their practice and the reason why so many male practitioners become stuck right at the beginning of their spiritual development.

Women do not have such a huge connection to their base desires. Although they obviously still have such desires, these are not such an overpowering aspect of their acquired mind. A woman’s natural state is to have desires arise but then fade into the background where they are not an issue. In contrast, the male psyche will have base desires arising but never fully fading away; this means that the desires are always there, influencing many aspects of the man’s behaviour and development.

Consequently, women can usually progress beyond work with the lower Dan Tien much faster than men, and so begin working with the Heart centre and the middle Dan Tien. On the other hand, women will usually find that they can lose a lot more of their Jing, the essence stored in the region of the chest, through emotional connection to others, mainly in the case of emotional connection that is not returned. Women require an equal emotional exchange with those they care about in order to ensure that their Heart-centred energy is not weakened.

THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS OF NEI GONG

Nei Gong is a very individual path of study. Although there are set steps that should be taken in a person’s practice, each practitioner will have their own set of experiences as they develop further through their training. In the early stages of practice it is generally the case that a person begins to notice physical changes to their health. As they go deeper into the process, there are clear signs of transformation in their psychological nature. At the higher levels there are various stages that can be quite surprising at first. These are the stages of moving into the alchemical transformation of Daoism. Below is a brief outline of a few of the key stages of development commonly experienced by students of Nei Gong.

•The earliest stages of change through the Nei Gong process involve the melting of tension from the body’s muscles. At first it is the large muscle groups that relax, but with time older, habitual tensions are released from deep within the connective tissues of the body. For many people, this brings a new-found level of bodily comfort as years of stored-up tightness begins to fade away. This largely happens early on through embodiment of a principle known as Sung (松), which can be understood as a form of energetic release based on increasing levels of relaxation.

•Old injuries can begin to repair themselves as the body is given enough ‘space’ to begin moving back into a healthier state. It is often quite surprising just how effective this kind of practice is at repairing old damage.

•The third stage of development involves the restoration of your internal health. As the transformation of Nei Gong moves deeper into the body, it is normal for organ-based imbalances to begin to improve. Conditions with a person’s lungs or digestive system, for example, begin to change as the flow of the person’s Qi becomes more efficient. This often happens as old toxins are removed from the energetic system. For women, there are often great changes with regard to their menstrual cycle if they have not yet entered the menopause. The timing of their periods usually goes through a large shift, and negative symptoms associated with menstruation begin to lessen.

•The more the body relaxes, the more a person’s mind begins to still. Many of us live in a constant state of mental hyperactivity, largely brought on by an over-preoccupation with the external world. By learning how to relax and develop the energetic system, a practitioner’s mind begins to grow increasingly quiet. This is an important foundational stage for further meditative training on top of having a positive influence upon a person’s overall wellbeing.

•The deeper stages of softening through Nei Gong usually involve large changes taking place in a person’s physical structure. The body is essentially a manifestation of the state of a person’s mind; as a greater level of balance is reached, this starts to generate transformation within the body. It is normal to start hearing ‘clicks and cracks’ coming from a Nei Gong practitioner’s body, even though they may not be making any large external movements. These are shifts taking place in the alignment of the bones as the body moves into better postural alignment. If this happens, do not worry; it is quite healthy for you. Most importantly, at this stage the spine starts to open up, creating more space between the vertebrae. This helps to ensure a healthy flow of energy up into the brain, but also has the added side effect of adding a little extra height to the majority of practitioners.

•Beyond here, practitioners of Nei Gong move into the more advanced stages of waking up the usually dormant energy system. This takes place through rotation of several key cycles of Qi through the body. Female Nei Gong practitioners have several important cycles that male practitioners don’t have. This is due to the manner in which Jing and Qi is shifted through the body, which is quite unique for women. As the energy movement starts to increase, it begins the purging of pathogenic Qi from the meridian system as well as various levels of emotional release. These stages are required in order to help develop the energy body to a high enough level to provide a foundation for direct work with the consciousness. Although the actual process of having an emotional release can initially feel somewhat unpleasant, it generally leaves a person feeling somehow ‘lighter’.

•The basic levels of Nei Gong training are complete when a person has moved through these stages. Beyond these are the more alchemical elements of Daoist internal training, which are explored in brief towards the end of this book. This list is included just to give a short introduction to what a person can expect when they start out along the path of Nei Gong.

WHO SHOULD NOT PRACTISE NEI GONG?

It should be recognised that Nei Gong training is really only for those people who wish to go deep into the transformational aspects of Daoism. It is a deceptively simple system but can be very powerful due to the strong shifts that can take place during the training. For this reason we advise that only those wishing to go beyond a ‘casual’ study of the internal arts consider working with Nei Gong. Those simply wishing for a form of relaxation should remain working only with Qi Gong exercises. In addition, there are several groups of people who really should not train in Nei Gong.

The first group is those who are under the age of 18. Children or young teenagers should never engage with Nei Gong training of any sort because of the powerful effect it can have upon a person’s emotional state. Younger people are still going through a period of emotional turbulence. Their emotions are still moving towards some kind of stability and so any internal work at this time runs the risk of preventing them ‘finding their own level’. This should also be the case for intense meditative or internal work of any kind. Simple sitting and breathing exercises are fine for children, but anything more intense should be avoided. It is more prudent to focus on external movements for younger people because this will help to establish a high degree of health at a young age – health that will stay with them as they grow older.

Women should never train in Nei Gong if they are pregnant. During those nine months the body is going through a great deal of energetic change; the last thing you should do is put yourself through the transformational process of Nei Gong as well. During pregnancy it is wise to focus on gentle stretching and breathing exercises in order to keep energy flowing, but powerful internal exercises should be avoided.

Those with a psychiatric illness should not train in Nei Gong as the shifting of the energy within the body can heighten extreme psychological states. In the same way, Nei Gong should never be started by anybody while they are experiencing an emotionally difficult time in their life. Periods of personal challenge are not good times to begin transformational work. Save it for when your life is more settled.

STAGES OF FEMALE NEI GONG

Although it is always difficult to fully systemise a process, it is useful to have a basic structure to follow. The modern, Western mind is particularly fond of having a set structure to work through. There is nothing inherently wrong with this at the beginning, but after a while such a structure can become somewhat limiting. For this reason the sequence below should be seen as a rough outline based around the order of stages that the vast majority of women move through when they engage with Nei Gong practice. You should find that you naturally begin to move around within this sequence in a more fluid manner once the foundation stages have been completed. The stages of development in female Nei Gong are as follows:

1.Conditioning and preparation of the physical body

2.Regulation of breath and mind

3.Regulation of the menstrual cycle

4.Extraction of Jing from Tian Gui

5.Awakening the energy system

6.Awakening of the Heart centre

7.Attainment of internal vibration

8.Conversion of Qi to Shen

9.Conversion of Shen to Dao

These nine stages are described below in brief and then explored in greater detail throughout the rest of the book.

1. Conditioning and Preparation of the Physical Body

The first thing to be taken into consideration is the health and condition of the physical body. As already discussed, the physical body is the workshop in which all of our practice takes place. Quite simply, if the workshop is in a poor condition, then we will only produce poor-quality results from our training.

A woman engaging with Nei Gong should aim to work on her alignments and the level of relaxation throughout her body, maintain a healthy level of flexibility and establish a healthy diet to optimise her physical health. It is only if we can build a solid base in the physical realm – by building as healthy a foundation in the physical body as possible in the earliest stages of Nei Gong – that we can be sure of moving effectively into the energetic level of our development.

2. Regulation of Breath and Mind

Regulation and control of our breath is a crucial aspect of any internal training. The quality of our breath is a direct result of the health of our emotions. By regulating the breath, we help to bring the mind towards a more centred point. In addition, our breath also directs a great deal of energy flow through our system. Improving the quality of our breathing therefore helps to smooth out the manner in which our Qi runs through the meridian system.

Because of the intimate relationship that exists between our breath and our awareness, it is possible to use the breath as a kind of intermediary between the three bodies (explored in depth in Chapter 2). By regulating our breathing patterns, we can literally adjust the frequency of the mind’s awareness so that tangible experience of the energy body can be had. This is an important skill, particularly for women, who should aim to develop their internal sensitivity once they begin working at the level of Qi. In Chapter 3 we explore breathing in Nei Gong and attach it to a sound-based practice, which can be particularly useful for female Daoists.

3. Regulation of the Menstrual Cycle

A unique aspect of internal work for women is the effect that the training has upon their menstrual cycle. Any energetic transformational work is likely to create shifts in a woman’s monthly cycle if she is below the age of menopause. A key concern for women should be to try to harmonise their menstrual pattern with the environmental changes taking place with the shifting of the moon’s phases. This will help to minimise premenstrual symptoms and lessen the decline of a woman’s Jing. There is also a powerful cleansing effect to be had from correctly managing menstruation.

4. Extraction of Jing from Tian Gui

The extraction of Jing from menstrual Blood is an important part of the ‘small water wheel’ training for female Nei Gong practitioners. In order to consolidate the Jing, female practitioners must learn how to cycle the energy in the Conception meridian along the front of their body. This begins to extract vital essence from the menstrual Blood, essence that would otherwise be lost through menstruation. This is one of the key stages of working with the rotations of the ‘small water wheel’ that are unique to female practice.

5. Awakening the Energy System

The process of waking up the usually dormant energetic system is a lengthy, but not particularly complex, aspect of the Nei Gong process. This is the stage of working through the various elements of the meridian system in order to purge pathogenic energies from the body and restore a healthy flow of Qi. This is a natural advancement on the earlier ‘small water wheels’ which will have been initiated through work with the lower Dan Tien.

6. Awakening of the Heart Centre

Once a solid foundation has been established in the previous stages of the Nei Gong process, a female practitioner of Nei Gong will find that she is naturally led towards contact with the Heart centre and the associated Dan Tien. This is the key energetic focal point for women engaging in the Daoist arts and the strongest stage that brings about transformation of the consciousness.

7. Attainment of Internal Vibration

This is the stage of uniting mind, energy and body into a single unit. It is here that a person can begin to experientially understand the deeper energetic aspects of human existence. It is here that the meridians are said to be ‘open’ as they transfer the vibrational force of the mind throughout the entire body.

8. Conversion of Qi to Shen

Although this conversion happens all of the time via the functional activities of the three Dan Tien, the Nei Gong practitioner begins to increase the efficiency of the process. At this stage, the practitioner has worked through a great deal of the beginner and intermediate stages of Nei Gong practice. The conversion of the internal three treasures, Jing, Qi and Shen, serves to nourish the mind and so bring a person closer to a state of conscious transcendence. Here, a person is moving beyond pure Nei Gong into the alchemical Nei Dan meditative practices of Daoism.

9. Conversion of Shen to Dao

The highest stages of internal development through the process of Nei Gong involve the conversion of spiritual energy back towards the original state of Dao. This is a complex stage which can only be achieved by the most diligent of practitioners. This is the point at which a female practitioner learns how to reconnect to the original spirit from which true human consciousness was born. To fully understand this stage of training, it is necessary to look at the practice of Nei Dan.

YIN AND YANG

When looking to understand the nature of existence through Daoist philosophy, it is important to understand the initial generation of the two poles of Yin and Yang. Collectively known as Liang Yi (兩儀), Yin and Yang are seen as two opposite, yet complementary, forces which are the basis for all of existence. They are two points of manifestation born from the stillness of Wuji (無極). This is the underlying philosophy for all of the Daoist arts as well as the rationale for the process of development inherent in practices such as Nei Gong. Figure 1.2 shows the process of Yin and Yang being born from the stillness of Wuji.

FIGURE 1.2: YIN, YANG AND WUJI

Wuji can be translated as meaning ‘without extremities’ or ‘without projections’. It is said to be the extreme emptiness that existed at the absolute origin of all manifested phenomena. Wuji is the state prior to the formation of the cosmos, as well as the still-point at the centre of human consciousness, which is said to have given birth to life. The importance of this stillness is greatly emphasised in the Daoist tradition, as it is the vessel of true potential.

An underlying tenet of Daoism states that stillness cannot exist for long without it beginning to manifest the opposite force of movement. This is the inevitable nature of change which permeates all of reality. In the case of the stillness of Wuji, a single point of movement came into being. This single point is known as Taiji (太極), which can be translated as ‘great pole’ or ‘great extremity’. Taiji is the motive force for the creation of reality, because through Taiji, which manifests in life as a spiral, the undifferentiated stillness of Wuji began to divide into Yin and Yang.

Yin and Yang can be understood as two points of extreme between which there is a sliding scale, as shown in Figure 1.3.

FIGURE 1.3: YIN, YANG AND EXISTENCE

The ‘shades of grey’ that exist between Yin and Yang give us the potential for movement of energy in cycles and developmental processes. These are the movements that create life, movements that are in general simply named Qi in Daoist literature. So if Yin is the darkness of night and Yang is the brightness of day, the shades of grey between these two extremes manifest as the cycling between night and day.

Because Daoism recognised the inherent importance of both extremes, Daoists traditionally placed equal emphasis on the reverence of both Yin and Yang. In the realm of humanity, Yin and Yang are primarily reflected in the energies of femininity and masculinity – women and men. Therefore, both sexes were seen as being of equal standing, both socially and spiritually. This was in contrast to the other great philosophical tradition of China, Confucianism, which saw women as inferior to their male counterparts in society. The Daoists recognised that both genders were required in order for balance to exist; a society that over-emphasised character traits usually associated with just one of the two genders would quickly fall into a state of disharmony. Sadly, this original ethos was lost in the Daoist tradition and so historically we can see a development over time of over-emphasising men and masculine traits. Male-based practices became the norm and women were relegated to being of secondary importance. Despite this, several key writings and traditions on women’s internal practice survived through to modern times, largely through the oral tradition kept alive by Daoist nuns across the generations.

THE DAOIST WOMAN

Daoism saw women as having several innate strengths over men, strengths that were important for their spiritual development. These are as follows:

•Women are naturally more in tune with their Heart centre and so therefore more in line with the vibrational frequency of Qi. This makes them naturally more sensitive to the fluctuations of energetic information within the cosmos.

•Women naturally find it easier to separate themselves from the base desires that tend to shackle male practitioners of the internal arts to the lower levels of attainment.

•Women are said to be able to attune themselves with the spiritual realms more easily than their male counterparts, making them effective channels for the teachings of the immortal spirits.

•Women are the manifestation of the ability to bring forth life. This brings them naturally closer to the state of the universe which serves to generate existence.

These aspects of female spirit mean that it is women who should be society’s natural mystics, spiritual teachers and guides. For this reason the majority of internal arts teachers should really be women. It is often said that men have to learn how to ‘become like women’ in order to progress in the internal arts. This refers to the requirement that men reverse the natural outward expansion of their Qi field and subdue their more masculine psychological traits. In alchemical teachings, it was said that a diligent female Nei Dan practitioner could attain realisation within six years, whereas a male would take nine years. The exact number of years is metaphorical – six being the sacred number of Earth or Yin, and nine the number of Heaven or Yang. What is important, though, is that women are said to be able to reach such a high state of awareness much faster than men.

YIN AND YANG IN WOMEN AND MEN

Although women are primarily a manifestation of the essence of Yin and men of Yang, both genders contain aspects of both poles. With regard to areas of the body, women are Yang above with Yin below, whereas men are Yin above with Yang below. This is shown in Figure 1.4.

FIGURE 1.4: YIN AND YANG IN WOMEN AND MEN

In order to understand the reason this is relevant to our practice, we need to look at a few of the key resonances of the terms Yin and Yang. As two comparative poles, they exist in relation to each other and manifest many principles which, at first, appear to exist in opposition to each other, but on further exploration are shown to exist as complementary forces. Table 1.2 shows some of the resonances of Yin and Yang.

TABLE 1.2: YIN AND YANG RESONANCES
	Yin	Yang
Gender	Female	Male
Movement	Decreasing	Increasing
Direction	Inwards	Outwards
Position	Lower	Upper
Power	Earth	Heaven
Temperature	Cold	Hot
State	Storage	Leakage

These resonances become very important for understanding the nature of Nei Gong training, especially with regard to building an effective foundation. If these resonances are developed in the wrong way, then a solid foundation cannot be built and so progression along the Nei Gong process will be slowed or even halted altogether.

If we want to understand the state of Yin and Yang in men and women physically, then it is fairly simple. In the case of women, their lower body is Yin, a quality that is manifested in the woman’s sexual organs which extend inwards. The upper body is Yang, manifested in the breasts which extend out from the chest. Men are the opposite: the lower body is more Yang than in women, an aspect of their being that manifests in the male sexual organ which protrudes outwards. The chest and upper body of men is Yin; compared with women, it is very flat and does not extend outwards.

Energetically, the important focal points for both women and men exist within the more Yang regions of their body. For women, the Heart centre of the middle Dan Tien is the key energy centre. It is here that the greatest advancements in their development take place. When women can reach the stage of working with the (more Yang) middle Dan Tien, they can bring about huge transformations in the state of their consciousness. For men, the focal point of their training remains with the (more Yang) lower Dan Tien. It is here, at this lower energy centre, that a large change in their nature has to take place. This shift happens when the Jing is consolidated and the base desires are therefore brought under control.

The greatest challenge to any practitioner of Nei Gong seeking to build a foundation in the Daoist arts is control of energetic leakage. This leakage takes place within the more Yang regions of the body because the nature of Yang is to move outwards, to disperse and to be difficult to store. As energetic leakage takes place, it has a draining effect upon the Jing, or essence, which in turn weakens the base upon which alchemical transcendence is based.

In the case of men, this leakage takes place within the lower aspects of the body, as Jing is lost through sexual intercourse. Male practitioners often receive a great deal of guidance about reversing this issue when they begin studying the internal arts. There are already a great many books discussing this issue from a male perspective, so we will not look at it here.

What is not considered so frequently is the nature of leakage for women. The nature of women’s sexual energy is such that they do not lose any great amount of Jing through sexual intercourse or orgasm. Instead, they lose Jing each month through menstruation, though nowhere near the amount that men lose through orgasm. It is said in the Daoist classics that ‘the loss of one drop of semen is worse than one hundred drops of menstrual Blood’. Curiously, one of the largest energetic ingredients of menstrual Blood is considered to be the Jing that resides in the region of the chest for women. This ingredient moves downwards into the Uterus just prior to a woman’s monthly bleed. This in turn draws essence down away from the Yang region of the chest. In addition, women have a higher degree of essence connected to their emotional centre than men. This means that excessive emotional states can be a lot more draining for women than they are for men. Although both genders may struggle with their emotional makeup, men will find that the biggest issue with this is that it further distorts the layers of the acquired mind, whereas for women it will result in a draining of their essence. These concepts are explored in greater detail when we look at working with the middle Dan Tien and the Heart’s energy in Chapter 8.

ALIGNMENT WITH THE FORCES OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

The ultimate manifestations of Yin and Yang energy are, respectively, Earth and Heaven. These are the two poles of manifestation between which all of existence takes place. Heaven resides above and Earth below. Heaven, according to Daoist thought, is a reference to the shifting energies of the planets, stars and other celestial bodies as well as the various immortal planes which a person can only visit once they have attained realised states of awareness. The Earth below is the planet we live on as well as the numerous energetic influences that it exerts upon us on a daily basis. The saying in Daoism is that humanity exists between Heaven and Earth and that we are an integral whole of the spiritual relationship between them.

The harmonious relationship between Heaven and Earth can only exist when both are in their right place. In order for human beings to rise towards spiritual elevation, they must become ‘conduits’ for these two forces and so align themselves with these two great poles. In the case of men, Yang is below and Yin is above. This is in direct opposition to the alignments of Heaven and Earth. Consequently, men must work to reverse this energetic state in the foundational stages of their training. Their essence must be conserved through elimination of their base desires and then the congenital nature must be brought forth. In the case of women, Yang is already above and Yin is below; this is directly in harmony with the power of Heaven and Earth, meaning that the foundation stages of Nei Gong for women do not involve such arduous attempts to change their nature. Consequently, the early stages of internal development can be attained much earlier, providing that women practise correctly. This will bring them into line with the powers above and below them fairly quickly. The advantage of this is that women can soon begin to use the surrounding Qi of the universe in their training, a stage that men progress to much later on in their Nei Gong training.