Talk:Daoyin

Is Tai Chi mag a reliable source? --Simon D M (talk) 18:57, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I have added a definition of Tao Yin and a quote from a book with a chapter on Tao Yin published by HarperCollins. Chuangzu (talk) 08:57, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Poor information; Too Few/ Poor References
"Tao yin (sometimes referred to as Taoist yoga) is a series of exercises (mainly in lying and sitting positions, but also in standing positions) practiced by Taoists to cultivate ch'i, the internal energy of the body according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.[1]"

I guess things could get complicated, if someone were to claim "in this ancient tao yin text most of the exercises are lying and sitting; therefore most tao yin exercise are lying and sitting". I don't know if that is true, but even if it were, it would, at most, a secondary consideration, largely beside the point.

Dao Yin is a living tradition with some very ancient exercises, such as 5 animal play, being practiced in parks in East and West. Ask teachers, and I think they will tell you that dao yin exercise are performed standing or walking, or at least the most typical and representative ones.

Also, cultivating chi can be described as a secondary concern. The main focus is on gently lengthening physical tissues, which in turn improves chi flow through the medridians and, as the tissues slowly become unbound and able to move with greater coherence, this generates increased chi flow at a deeper level. Moving this chi with the Mind/Intent is not the focus; softening the body enough that chi is generated there in the fist place (which can then be moved about with the Mind/Intent if if this is required for a particular purpose), is the focus.

So the information in the article is not very good.

Perhaps some of the confusion comes from things such as, in choosing Tao Yin exercises to present to the West, people such as Mantak Chia may have focussed on sitting ang lying exercises. On page 18 of "Energy Balance Through the Tao", Destiny Books, 2005, (previously published under the title "Tao Yin"), Mantak Chia explains that "while there are wonderful standing and moving sequences of Tao Yin practice", he chose to present only lying and sitting positions because he felt that better complemented the standing and walking Tai Chi and Chi Kung exercises that he presented elsewhere as part of the system he teaches.77.98.32.90 (talk) 12:18, 4 June 2015 (UTC)