A Brief History of Qigong
Meditation & Qi Gong
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Peter Deadman
Biography
Peter Deadman has been involved in the so-called 'alternative health' field for 45 years. In 1971 he co-founded Infinity Foods - a natural, organic and macrobiotic food store - in Brighton, England. He then trained in Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbal medicine) and practised for 30 years. He founded The Journal of Chinese Medicine in 1979 and has had a long career writing about and teaching Chinese medicine all over the world. He is co-author of the best-selling A Manual of Acupuncture and author of Live Well Live Long : Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition. He has practised qigong and other forms of the Chinese internal arts tradition regularly sine 1993 and has taught qigong for many years.
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Books by Peter Deadman
A Manual of Acupuncture
A Manual of Acupuncture
Once in a great while an extraordinary book is published that sets an entirely new standard in its field. A Manual of Acupuncture, published by Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications, is just such a book.
Painstakingly researched over many years by Peter Deadman, editor-in-chief of The Journal of Chinese Medicine, and colleagues Mazin Al-Khafaji and Kevin Baker, this book has become the primary reference in the West for the study of acupuncture points and channels.
With the subtle use of color to illustrate the acupuncture points and anatomical features, the new second edition of A Manual of Acupuncture is even more attractive and user-friendly than the first. Introductory chapters describe and illustrate the channels and collaterals, the various categories of points, and methods of selection, location, and needling. Ensuing chapters present each of the points of the 14 channels as well as the extra (miscellaneous) points, identified by their English and pinyin names, and Chinese characters.
Each point is located in accordance with the most exacting anatomical standards to be found in any Western textbook. For each point there is a dedicated drawing, followed by regional body drawings. The quality of the 500 drawings is far superior to those in any other TCM text.
There are also practical pointers for finding and needling the points, and cautionary information about what to avoid. In addition to point indexes by their English and pinyin names, there is an index identifying every part of the body reached by each of the channels, and separate indexes of point indications listed according to both TCM and biomedical symptoms.
Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition and Modern Research
Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition and Modern Research
Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition explores the wonderful Chinese tradition of nourishing life (yangsheng) and applies it to modern life.
Continuously developed over more than 25 centuries, yangsheng serves as a workshop manual for the care of the human body, mind, and spirit. Its teachings can help us improve our health and lengthen our lives through cultivating the mind, emotions, diet, exercise, sleep, sexual behavior and much more.
In addition to the traditional topics covered in yangsheng teachings, concern for social, global, and planetary health in the modern age demands the application of the wise principles of the yangsheng tradition to issues as varied as social justice, education, modern childbirth, climate change and environmental degradation, and agricultural sustainability.
All of these topics are covered in this meticulously researched book.
Qigong: Cultivating body, breath & mind
Qigong: Cultivating body, breath & mind
This is a book about qigong – a time-tested practice that blends skilful movement, mindful absorption and deep, slow breathing. While firmly rooted in the Chinese tradition, I hope that it will also serve as a manual for exploring the wider world of mindful movement.
My aim is to make this transformative practice better known. I have attempted to explain where it comes from, the philosophies behind it and the growing body of scientific research that illuminates it. I have drawn from my fifty-year experience of working in the field of Chinese medicine, my decades of qigong practice and my study of yangsheng — the 2,500 year old Nourishment of Life tradition. For those interested in learning more, my book Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition can be read as a companion to this one. Because trying to learn qigong from illustrations and written instructions is challenging, I have included links throughout this book to dozens of demonstration videos. I hope this will encourage readers to go ahead and try it out. Regular and committed practice will slowly reveal a treasure that keeps on giving – year after year and decade after decade, a treasure which can truly change our lives.
The cultivation and integration of body, breath and mind has been practised in China since the beginning of recorded history nearly two and a half thousand years ago. For some it was a way of improving health and lengthening lifespan. Martial artists practised to improve their fighting skills. Daoists sought transformation and a merging with the Dao, Buddhists with Sunyata (‘emptiness’) and Confucians with the Way of Heaven. Teachers of the art of yangsheng encouraged their fellow literati to rouse themselves from lazy and indulgent lifestyles, while for traditional medicine doctors it was a way of preventing disease and supporting treatment.
Some of its practitioners favoured quietness, stillness and deep presence. They practised breath control, visualisation, mantra recitation, sexual cultivation and internal alchemy. Others were drawn to the more physical rewards of a strong, aligned and balanced body, and especially to ‘internal’ martial arts such as taijiquan (tai chi) — the training of soft but powerful movement. Yet all of these practitioners, in one way or another, were working within the same tradition.
Given this variety of intentions it is no surprise that a host of different names was used throughout its history. Ever since the 1950s, however, the name qigong (or sometimes the ‘internal arts’) has largely supplanted most of them and serves as an umbrella term for many of these varied approaches.
Qigong needs no special equipment or special clothes, is free, and can be practised anywhere - from a mountain top to a bedroom. Its aim is better health, longer life, connection to something greater than ourselves and effective and compassionate action. It can enhance every aspect of our lives.
Those of us committed to its practice know what a rich gift it is. It is my hope that this book will go some way to explaining why slow, mindful movement is so good for us. I also hope to instil in others the same love of qigong that has inspired me for over three decades.