Inner Quest

The Monthly Tao Journal Issue 10 | February 2013

In Tis Issue...
Five Element Teory:
Old Taoism's Cycle
of Transformation
By Paul Cavel
Learning from
100 Days of Practice
By Dan Kleiman
Paul Cavel, Editor
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
the most advanced Taoist qi gong ever de-
signed. So why then essentally work back-
wards to create what would appear to be an
inferior method, requiring a lot more chore-
ography to learn, and teach students via the
Five Elements?
The answer lies in a deeper understanding
of Gods Qi Gong, which integrates and pro-
vides the container for the other elemental
energies. Practcally speaking, Gods not only
integrates the Five Elements and everything
contained within each one, as it represents
the Earth Element, but also the entre 16 nei
gong. So it's fair to say that Gods could be a
tough nut to crack! Taoist adepts recognised
the challenges inherent to the learning
process, and therefore, through direct per-
cepton of the Five Elements, created a
comprehensive system for isolatng each
of the fve energies. Of course, what can
be teased out can also be recombined in
efort to understand the true nature of the
universe. So one of the purposes of Five
Element practces, is to directly perceive
the nature of each individual element and
the ways in which it behaves in tandem
with all others. Obviously, this experiental
knowledge can ofer a huge advantage for
the practtoner in lifewhether applied to
healing, medicine, martal arts, meditaton
or tuning into larger natural cycles on our
planet.
As one of the three key streams of Taoist
practce, Five Element Theory can be ap-
plied to understand the manifest world
in which we live, such as feng shui and
astrology, music and military strategy, mar-
tal arts and medicine, diet and therapy.
There are many schools of thought and many
dozens of systems available to work with the
Five Elements. The Creaton-Destructon Cy-
clesor Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water and
Wood-Earth-Water-Fire-Metal, respectve-
lywere popularised during the frst half
of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), and
remain wide-spread today. However, Old
Taoism's approach to the Five Elements is
primarily concerned with transformaton
in body, mind and qi. The Transformatonal
Cycle, which existed at least a thousand
years earlier, is represented as:
Water-Fire-Wood-Metal-Earth.
The Transformatonal Cycle is all about de-
veloping the human mind-body-qi energy
matrix and beyond. The nei gong system
as we know it today, which includes Ener-
gy Gates, Spiralling Energy Body, Heaven +
Earth, Bend the Bow and Gods Qi Gongs, is
built upon its principles; although Taoist nei
gong was actvely practsed before the Five
Element system. In fact, Gods Playing in the
Clouds predates the Five Element system by
at least 1,000 years, which is curious as it is
Five Element Teory
Old Taoism's Cycle of Transformation
By Paul Cavel

Page 2
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 3
Making Direct versus Indirect Contact with the Five Elements
The realm of the Five Elements is colossal as it engulfs the entrety of manifestaton. Two ways to
gain experiental knowledge of the elements are:
Directmaking contact with the elements themselves, which requires deep meditation
guided by a true adept. Both the transmitter and receiver must be adequately trained.
Indirectcreating specific weaves of neigong to uncover the underlying nature of
each of the elements, which amounts to a far less challenging taskalbeit requiring
dedicated practice over some years (and possibly longer).
To directly experience the elements, you must either develop and refne sensitvity to them, or
complete a good porton of the internal content available in the 16 nei gong. Otherwise, the
transmissions
1
will not have fertle ground from which to grow. Although you may have some
fantastc experiences related to the teachings, they really will do litle to help you grasp or engage
on any genuine level your ability to work with the Five Elements.
Whereas, you can basically start playing with nei gong weaves that yield specifc elemental
qualites from the moment you begin learning a qi gong set or applying your mind's intent in sit-
tng practce. This is possible because qi gong exercises bring alive certain neigong components,
which is also why each set has a very distnct, unique favour. Energy Gates should feel diferent
to Heaven + Earth, which should feel diferent to Gods and so on. Likewise, in sitng, you learn
how to tune into and release stagnant qi energy, which goes towards balancing the energy of the
internal organs and their associated emotons.
1.
Transmissions are the traditonal method used by Taoist masters to impart knowledge and understanding of complex
concepts to students. Carried by waves of energy generated by the adept, they contain the totality of any learning
experience, which, when intercepted by a student's energy feld, enables them to integrate the teaching into their
being over tme and with dedicated practce.
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
Te Five Energetic Principles
Water
Energy Gates Qigong
The cleansing principlethe downward fow
of energy clears blockages and initates the
root.
Fire
Spiralling Energy Body Qigong
The energising principlethe upward fow
of energy energises and amplifes all that it
touches.
Wood
Heaven & Earth Qigong
The expansion principlecombines the
upwards and downwards fows of energy to
create more internal space.

Metal
Bend-the-Bow Qigong
The condensing principleperiphery-to-
centre and centre-to-periphery fows of
energy, through the fve bows, generates raw
power.

Earth
Gods Qigong
The integraton principlethe spherical, pul-
satng fow of energy integrates and balances
the whole mind-body-qi matrix.
Then, when you com-
bine sitng and moving
practces, you can build
the momentum and ener-
gy required to see through
any goal. In the beginning,
health and healing are
the prime directves for
everybody because with-
out creatng a stable and
strong container for the higher energy work,
you'll simply shater your foundaton when
you make the jumpthat's if you're lucky
enough to tap into any greater energy fows
in the frst place.
If you tune into, focus and concentrate as you
train any form, slowly and steadily you will
begin to penetrate your body, access your qi
and wake up your senses. Eventually, you can
contact the subtle qualites of the elements
themselves. Once contacted, the elements
open doors to vast quanttes of natural
energies, and allow a merging with nature
to occur directlyrather than through any
mental construct. In fact, you may have
experiences that defy and supersede all
preconceptons.
Merging or blending with nature has always
been one of the tenets of Taoism as, through
this experience, you can directly perceive
natural law. From a Taoist perspectve, then
and only then can you truly understand what
goes with the fow and what pushes against
it. This recogniton is critcal to adaptng,
reconfguring and fne tuning your reality to
tap into the peace inside of yourself, where
the need to have or do fades and just being
is enough. This ability is at the heart of what
creates a harmonious life. When your insides
do not resonate with your surroundings, by
defniton disconnecton followsthe oppo-
site of blending or harmonizing. By looking
inside rather than outside of ourselves, we
can change the state of our being and there-
by reconnect to the natural world in which we
live. This is just one aspect of following Old
Taoism's path of transcendence.
~ Merging or blending with nature has
always been one of the tenets of
Taoism as, through this experience, you
can directly perceive natural law.

Page 4
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 5
All fve elements contain aspects of all
fve principles, it's just that each element
specialises in one partcular aspect. The
intrinsic nature of each element lends itself
to a specifc energy. Likewise, each qi gong
set in our system is predisposed towards one
element, but can also help you develop
aspects of all others. (If each qigong only
developed a single aspect of training, many
more sets would be required.) Names, ttles
and atributes really only act as signposts or
indicators to help you along your journey, but
they do help you step through the door.

Te Water Element
The Water traditon gets its name in part
from following the path of least resistance
because that's what water does: it collects
and descends from the sky in the form of rain,
which falls upon hills and mountains, feed-
ing streams and rivers that twist and wind
through valleys, seeking the lowest point.
Initally, through no will of its own, water
totally yields to the strong
yet overpowers the weak,
untl eventually enough water
collects in ever-voluminous
fows to produce a tre-
mendous force of nature.
You can see examples in the
greatest charging rivers,
crashing waves on sea clifs
or tsunamis that rip across
the land.
Naturally, Old Taoism starts
with the Water Element, the
clearing and cleansing ener-
gy, since it removes stagnant
chi and works like an earth
pin or a ground wire to root
and prevent energetc over-
load from short circuitng
your system. With the proper
safety net in place and your
root established, you can
begin mind-body-energy practces without
the mind wondering, any stability you fnd
giving way to anxiety, or blockages becoming
energised and creatng emotonal frenzy. The
Water Element allows you to cultvate chi in a
safe and efcient mannerfrom the outset.

Water governs the
kidneys, which gov-
ern bodily fuids. The
kidneys help eliminate
waste by-products and
regulate blood pres-
sure by maintaining a
delicate balance be-
tween water and salt.
From a Taoist perspectve, your kidneys are
supercharged with ancestral qi while in the
womb and serve as a batery pack for your
lifetme. When your bateries run out, it's
lights out! The good news is that neigong
practces are designed to recharge your
bateries, which is why they are sometmes
referred to as "longevity practces" in the
East.
Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body Qigong
Alet les Bains, South France
Venue of My Upcoming 2013 Summer Retreat

i
s
t
o
c
k
p
h
o
t
o
/
E
r
a
x
i
o
n
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
approach is not sustainable and you can
also literally fry your nerves. In the Water
traditon, Fire practces are therefore only
atempted afer some years of tuning into
and stabilising Water practces to ensure you
can redress any imbalances in mind, body or
qi. And, as you progress in your training, you
never develop the Fire energy more than that
of Water to maintain your root and stability.
The Fire Element governs the heart and
nervous system. Sensible use of the Fire
Element can clean out your channels, increase
the circulaton of blood and chi, and rein-
vigorate your body. However, when too much
energy overwhelms your system, you can
become agitated, anxious or unsetled,
which causes the heart to race. Water
quenches Fire and enacts one of the most
fundamental balances of life. If you want
to cook rice, too much water will prevent
the fre from cooking it, while too litle will
scortch the rice and cause the pan to dry
out and crack. Neither scenario provides
sustenance, so fnding the balance becomes
the quest for students of the Tao.
The ancient pictogram for
chi is a cauldron sitng on
a fre cooking rice, which
denotes the balance
between Water and Fire
to produce steam (or qi).
Photo courtesy of Cornell University Library

Te Fire Element
The nature of fre is to rise, and rising
energy invigorates the body, mind and chi.
Fire survives by consuming fuel: when the
fuel runs out, the fre dies. So fre will jump
from one fuel source to another in efort
to perpetuate its existence. Practcally, the
energy of Fire can therefore enliven practce,
making it fun and excitng. Fire also has the
power to change a solid into gas, which many
ancient traditons have regarded as symbolic
for transforming their insides into spirit. Like
the radiatng sun that allows life to fourish on
our planet, Fire enlightens, warms and heats
its immediate environment. These qualites
make Fire practces extremely entcing, but
there's a reason why you are not meant to
play with fre!
While it's true that the Fire Element can
help you generate abundant energy for
clearing blockages, excessive Fire can cause
burnout or, worse, energise any blockag-
es you have not totally eliminated in body,
mind or qi. The body's energy channels can
become deranged, which causes the mind
to run wild. You might feel invincible or
able to go on much longer than normally
possible but, underneath, your reserves are
being exhausted as you must burn up your
qi to maintain your output. Long-term, this

i
s
t
o
c
k
p
h
o
t
o
/
E
r
a
x
i
o
n

Page 6
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 7

Te Wood Element
Wood, in the living form of a tree, grows
by projectng roots down into the ground
(in search of water) and, equally, climbing
upwards in search of light (Fire energy) to
create photosynthesisthe source of energy
for most forms of life on Earth. In this way, the
tree, and all vegetaton for that mater, unite
the yin, sinking energy of Water and yang,
rising energy of Fire, holding the capacity to
balance both. When the nut or seed germ-
inates, frst the root is initated, then up
comes the shoot.
2
The energy of the Wood Element is all about
growth, expansion, generatng internal space
and balance. As the tree grows roots equiv-
alent to that of its branches and leaves, the
roots plunge yet deeper, while the branches
contnually reach higher and the trunk broad-
ens. Although the descending, yin energy of
Water and the rising, yang energy of Fire fnd
harmony in the Wood Element, it remains
predominately yang as the guiding principles
are growth and expansion.
2.
So again, this points to the elements beginning with Water, where the down initates the up. This principle comes into
play on many levels of nei gong practce, as dedicated practtoners will note.
Applied to the body, the energy of Wood re-
ally opens up every nook and cranny of your
physicality, creatng internal space for unre-
stricted blood and qi fow, as well as optmal
functoning of the organs and nervous sys-
tem. The more you can open up your body,
the more tension you can release, which in
turn strengthens circulaton of the life force
and bodily fuidsall that nurtures your
physical being.
The Wood Element
governs the liver,
which governs the
muscles, fascia, ten-
dons and ligaments.
Through highly re-
fned techniques that
target the sof tssues
of the body, you can
learn how to expand
the body to generate and maintain elastcity
and internal space in a safe, sof and sustain-
able way.
Marriage of Heaven + Earth Qi Gong
Greek Island of Crete

i
s
t
o
c
k
p
h
o
t
o
/
J
a
n
u
l
l
a
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Te Metal Element
The process of ore forming in the Earth's
crust and transforming into the metals we
tap into and use on a daily basis is all about
densifcaton and purifcaton. In the veins
and caverns that trap the fow of mantle,
metal deposits form, collect, sink and con-
dense into a variety of metal ores. In metal
producton, ore is crushed, metal deposits
are extracted and further condensed into
useable forms. The whole process, both nat-
ural and manmade, involves combining and
densifying mineral deposits (metals) into
their pure forms.
In contrast to the Wood Element's expand-
ing, yang energy, Metal is condensing with
the moton of energy moving inwards. So the
energy of Metal is yin by nature. When ap-
plied to physical exercise, signifcant internal
pressures are created in the body, especially
through the joints, spine and organs.
Care must be taken to:
Properly prepare the body before
any Metal Element practice via
prerequisite Water and Wood
practices.
Over a period of time, observe the
quality of Metal, and the way it feels
and influences your body; once you
have a clear understanding of your
parameters, you can gradually
increase the internal pressures in a
manner to which your body can
adaptwithout causing strain in
body, mind or qi.
All safety risks aside, the Metal Element can
develop incredible physical and energetc
strength, forming the essence of fa jin, the
martal technique for releasing condensed,
stored power in an instant to uproot and
send an opponent away from you. The re-
lease is created by the opposite, condensing
energy. So Metal practces develop the ability
to direct chi fow in the body from periphery
to centre and centre to periphery through
the fve bows (arms, legs and spine). Metal
practces are power-generaton techniques
at their fnest, creatng resiliency and core
strength.
The Metal Element
governs the lungs,
brain and spinal
cord, which is why
the energy of Met-
al is linked with
thought, or produc-
ing and refning a
focused and con-
centrated mind.

Bend the Bow Spinal Qi Gong
Generates Raw Power
Untl you have properly integrated the
three primary aspects of the spinal bow in
Heaven + Earth, Bend the Bow ofers litle
additonal beneft with a lot of added risk!
Did you know? All links in the IQ journal
are actvesimply point + click!

i
s
t
o
c
k
p
h
o
t
o
/
E
r
a
x
i
o
n

Page 8
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 9
Te Earth Element
The Earth, through its gravitatonal pull,
draws together, coheres and provides solidity
to our reality. Therefore, the Earth is the inte-
graton point for manifestaton and, without
it, there is no containment feld for life as we
know it. The playground we call Earth allows
us to live, grow, develop and evolve.
However, there are two aspects to Earth: the
crust is yin, solidifying and integratng, while
the core is yang, radiatng and energising. So
Earth is neither yin nor yang, and instead in-
tegrates the two. The Earth sits in the middle
of the Chinese compass, balancing the four
elements that lie in oppositon around it with:













Waterrepresenting winter
in the north;
Firerepresenting summer
in the south;
Woodrepresenting spring
in the east; and
Metalrepresenting autumn
in the west.
In this way, Earth balances the cooling energy
of Water with the warming energy of Fire,
and the expanding energy of Wood with the
condensing energy of Metal. Earth not only
balances, but integrates the four elements
within itself and the entre 16 nei gong into
one coherent whole, as a single piece of
woven fabric. The energetc movement
in Earth becomes a spherical pulse from
centre to periphery and periphery to centre,
throughout the whole body-energy matrix;
that is from the central channel to the etheric
feld and back. This work completes qi gener-
aton and circulaton.
The Earth Element governs the spleen, bones
and bone marrow, controlling and develop-
ing the deepest aspects of our physicality and
that which lasts the longest of our manifest-
ed selves afer our death. The bone marrow
produces: red blood cells, which carry oxygen
to the tssues; and white blood cells, which
support immune functon (together with the
spleen). So from this perspectve, Earth both
sustains and protects. Old Taoism regards our
bones as the house of the deepest aspects
of our beingnamely, our karma and our
essence. In the realm of manifestaton, the
Earth Element completes the human being.

i
s
t
o
c
k
p
h
o
t
o
/
E
r
a
x
i
o
n
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
3.
The system I teach originates from the Water traditon, described by Lao Tse in the Tao Te Ching over 2,500 years ago,
which has been directly passed down from teacher to disciple in an unbroken lineage to Taoist adpet Liu Hung Chieh
and from him to my teacher Bruce Frantzis.

Page 10
Studying the Five Elements
Every spring, Paul ofers a Five Element
Qi Gong retreat on the breathtaking Greek
Island of Crete. Typically, the retreat takes
place during the second week of May to take
advantage of the Bank Holiday Monday in the
UK.
Find out the specifc subject mater and
complete details by visitng:
htp://www.circlewalking.com/tao-retreat/
Transformation through
Study of the Five Elements
The Five Elements shed light on the fve-phase nei gong system of Energy Gates Spiral-
ling Energy Body Heaven + Earth Bend the Bow Gods Qi Gong, including the basis for
the learning progression and the safety precautons warranted when working with Fire and Metal.
This cycle of personal development and transformaton has stood the test of tme, and helped mil-
lions of people in all aspects of their life. The material has become the source of many spin-ofs, hy-
brids and, unfortunately, diluton. Ancient China (and what is now Tibet) was a meltng pot of Taoist,
Buddhist and Confusion thought, practce and philosophy, so most of what is available to us today
is a mlange of the three. The saying is: In China, everybody wears Buddhist sandals, Taoist robes
and Confusion caps! Even afer all that tme and all the comingling, we have been fortunate enough
to receive the gif of a pure Taoist stream of teachings,
3
which seems well worth pursuing consider-
ing just how rare, complete and potentally benefcial the lessons can be for ourselves, our fellow
beings and our planet.
We'll look at the ascending path of transcendence and practcal methods for
balancing your body in the March 2013 issue, available at
http://www.circlewalking.com/2848/taoist-energy-arts/
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 11
I'm 63 days into a 100-Day Practce Challenge.
In a 100-Day Practce Challenge, you pick one
practce and repeat it daily for a hundred
days. Depending on how much practce tme
you have, you might be
practcing other things as
well, but the point is to
repeat the same practce
day afer day, notcing
subtle shifs and chang-
es that you would miss
otherwise.
Now, it might not seem
like this is diferent than
normal practce. Ofen,
we do the same forms,
or same exercises all the
tme.
But there are three things
you to to make the 100-
Day challenge diferent:
Choose a very
small piece to
practice
Isolate it from
your other practice
Record observations about it, daily if
possible
For this partcular challenge, I chose to focus
on connectng my arms and legs to my spine,
through a spinal qigong bowing exercise. I
wanted to stabilize the feeling of the spine
leading the arms and legs, instead of all fve
parts moving independently.
Let me share some of my journal entries with
you and then I'll tell you what I think they
mean.
Day 1: Worked the bow, feeling each seg-
ment, botom to top in sequence, to actvate
each piece. Repeated sitng down, feeling a
sense of release from occiput down to sac-
rum, changing focus eve-
ry few bows.
I could feel the big undu-
latng wave through the
whole length of the spine
while seated.
Finished with whole-
body pump, playing with
arms and legs versus the
spine leading. Sometmes
needed to prime with the
limbs to actvate spine.
For future practce: open
lef side occiput, unwind
right forearm, internally
rotate right ankle to plant
right foot.
Day 3: Practced driving
into work today. Felt re-
ally interestng to try to
actvate the lower spine
in a seated positon. Played with single-hand
and double at diferent angles. Got some
good bowing going...now of to do a com-
plete practce.
Day 5: Really got the right leg connected
and notced, while doing Tai Chi form work,
increased sense of unifcaton in the legs of
opening and closing with tssue turning.
Also, seemed like the breathing I did during
bowing practce was loosening the guts more
today. Notced the kidneys during frst swing
and lower back really dropping during cloud
hands.
What's Your IQ?
Learning from 100 Days of Practice
By Dan Kleiman
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
Day 9: Notced today that the hands really
tense up, so while the whole bowing con-
necton isn't as strong at frst, if I focus on
keeping the hands/wrist relaxed, the overall
feeling is much beter.
Also monitoring achy upper thoracic/base of
neck as practce goes on. That's defnitely one
of the areas that needs to open up, but I end
up tred and sore there each day.
Right elbow is also opening, especially around
the joint capsule.
Day 14: Today, in additon to actvatng the
bowing with more sectons engaged, I'm start-
ing to feel the up/down and center/periphery
fows that become engaged with the bow. Not
trying to make anything happen, just seems
like they are move actve as a result.
Day 19: Started working with arms out at 45
degrees and it feels like there are new spac-
es that need to stabilize, like it was when I
started straight: lef side space between neck,
spine, and shoulderblade. That one might
need to be re-stabilized again.
The right forearm rotaton feels prety stable
at this point.
Curious to see if the new arm angle changes
what the spine feels like. Seems to, but it's
going to take a few days to see what that
actually does.
Day 23: Started focusing on the feet, going
into the bubbling well on the bend and back
to the heel on the opentough to run along
the line between them and organize every-
thing around that movement.
Day 31: Lately been focusing on the con-
necton through the legs, and evening out the
bowing around the sacrum/pelvis. Defnitely
some rotaton going on.
For the arms, there is an imbalance that is
more obvious when they are out at 45 de-
grees, height of the heart. Not sure what
the soluton is, but I'm working on letng the
movement go out the arms sofly.
Day 45: Been focusing on making the whole
body feel as smooth and even as possible
each tme I practce. The basic shapes feel
stable, so now I have to work on making the
insides feel comfortable.
Day 50: Got some feedback from a Senior In-
structor. Have to scale my movements way
back and focus on more integrated practce.
Frustratng, since the new level of precision is
making me feel more tense when I practce.
When I look back over the entries, I notce a
few paterns:
The observations tend to move from
external or more peripheral feelings
(hands, wrists, forearms) to deeper,
core alignments (winding in the
pelvis, connections through the
legs).
There are cycles of tension and
relaxationeach time something
new is introduced, I tended to hold
more tension. When it stabilized, I
could focus on relaxing into it more.
These are two surprising paterns that I'm
more and more convinced are only revealed
with consistent practce combined with ob-
servaton.
On our frst approach to any exercise or inter-
nal connecton, there is a lot of extra noise.
Your nervous system
is sortng out what
it needs and what it
doesn't to perform
the patern in the
most efcient way.
As the sortng is
smoothed out, two
things are revealed:
deeper internal
connectons and
subconscious motor
paterns.

Page 12
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013

Page 13
How You Get Access
to Deeper Layers
As you perform an exercise like this one, the
obvious layers of informaton are the move-
ments of the arms and legs. To start out,
you have to synchronize them. Once you can
coordinate the movement, you become more
stable, and can access deeper, more difcult
movement, in this case, the movement of the
spine.
At the second layer, you play with leading
and following. Do the arms and legs initate
or does the spine? We want to use the spine
as a driver, but you can't play with this con-
necton untl the arms, legs, and spine are
linked through rhythmic practce.
Finally, you start to uncover other internal
connectons, like threading the joints of the
legs so the spinal energy travels to the feet
or whole-body fows that are actvated by the
spine bowing.
What I was reminded of from this practce
challenge, though, was that the 3-stage pro-
cess outlined above is not only unfolding
developmentally. What I mean is, that every
tme you practce, you go back through these
stages.
As you practce, the speed with which you
move through the layers on any given day of
practce accelerates. In other words, you can
drop in to the deeper layers faster. I make
this point because we all have a tendency to
want to physically manifest deeper practce,
simply because we understand that deeper
practce exists conceptually. By practcing
consistently in this manner, you have the real
short cut to deeper practce.
What You Didn't Know
You Were Doing
You'll notce in the diary that many of the
observatons were about alignments. When
you do solo practce, your body either feels
well-aligned or out of alignment and the mis-
aligned parts can either feel stuck, collapsed,
twisted, strained, or otherwise damaged, or
they can feel like nothing at all.
In this practce series, I started to uncover the
nothing at all misalignments. The tension-
based misalignments are easy. You feel them
right now, because they hurt. But only when
you start to revisit a symmetrical, repeatable
movement on a consistent basis, do you have
a chance at feeling things that by their very
nature almost cannot be felt.
Normally, identfying and correctng these
alignments is done by someone else. They
can see them and you can't. But what I found
in this practce process was that clues were
lef, and by returning again and again to the
same territory, I began to pick them up.
Similarly, the energy fows that are actvated
by the physical movements can be hard to de-
tect. In fact, in most of our neigong practce,
the energy rides right along with the physical
movement. In my experience with a practce
like this, though, the physical movements be-
Dan Demonstrates the
Repulse the Monkey Tai Chi Posture
2013 Paul Cavel. All rights reserved.
IQ: February 2013
come so familiar, without becoming rote, that you can detect the energetc paterns more thor-
oughly.
Too ofen, we use the mind to direct the body. That's not the way it's supposed to happen in
qigong. Remember, the mind moves the chi and the chi moves the body. When you practce this
way consistently, you start to feel how this three step process of mind-chi-body really works.
Pick the Right Practice
If you decide to set out on your own 100-Day Practce Challenge, choose your subject carefully.
Here are a few I would choose in the future and some I would avoid:
Don't: I will practice Tai Chi every day
Do: What does it feel like when I practice 4 Short Forms in a row? Or 2 Long Forms in a
row?
Don't: I will Stand and Dissolve
Do: Can I stabilize my feeling awareness in my lower tantien when I do standing qigong?
Don't: I will work through my basic Taoist breathing routine from belly, side, and back.
Do: Can I activate my diaphragm over 20 minutes of breathing per day?
When you choose your challenge, pick something that has a narrow focus and give yourself pa-
rameters like tme or number of repettons. Then fnd a way to record your observatons. I used a
simple form atached to a spreadsheet so that I could make the daily entry without looking at past
entries and getng in my own head about it. Each observaton was fresh and to be completely
honest, untl I sat down to write this, I hadn't gone back through and really looked at all the data
and paterns. Observaton has its role, but don't turn it into a head game.

Page 14

Don't look where you fall,

but where you slipped.

African Proverb
Dan Kleiman has trained under the tutelage of Master Bruce
Franzts since 1998, and is a certfed qigong, tai chi and
bagua instructor in the Energy Arts System. Dan is also the
host of Qigong Radio. Check out his latest interviews at
www.DanKleiman.com.
www.PaulCavel.com
IQ
Tank You to:

My teacher, Taoist Lineage
Holder Bruce Frantzis, who has
openly taught me about the
depths of nei gong; Heather
Hale for editng, design +
photography; Gee Loose for
photography; and Elena Ray
for cover artwork istockpho-
to/elenaray; and the Tao Arts
School Members who made
this report possible.
Health + Safety Notce:
Any mind-body-energy exercise
may carry risks. Do not atempt
any exercises presented in this
publicaton if you have any
physical, emotonal or mental
conditons that may make you
susceptble to injury without frst
seeking the advice of your health-
care professional.
2013 Paul Cavel
All rights reserved. Reprintng or
sharing any porton of this publi-
caton without expressed writen
consent is strictly prohibited.
Tao Arts London
(Trading as Internal Energy Arts Limited)
+44 (0)7411 418018
chi@circlewalking.com
Did you know? All links in
the IQ journal are actve
simply point + click!
Tao Arts Membership
Become a Member of Tao Arts and receive course discounts
and training perks, including:
10 hours free seminar training
10% off seminars, retreats and private training
Curriculum planning tailored to Members

Terms and conditons apply.
Learn more at www.circlewalking.com/tao-school
"Im so happy to contnue my membership for another year"!
P.B., Germany
"I have really enjoyed being a member (with all its discounts
and great artcles), so I am happy to confrm that I will be
extending my annual membership".
E.M., Community Actvist, UK
www.CircleWalking.com