The Healing Tao System (also Universal Healing Tao, Universal Tao, or previously Tao Yoga) was founded by Master Mantak Chia
The son of chinese parents, he grew up in Thailand and was introduced to Buddhist meditation as a young child. Later as a student in Hong Kong he was taught by the Taoist Master Yi Eng in the Taoist philosophy. From that time Master Chia began practicing these intensive Taoist exercises, circulating his Qi, as well as refining and strengtening his Qi. Master Yi Eng guided him through successive levels of Taoist inner alchemy and authorised Mantak Chia to teach and to heal with his acquired Taoist skills.
The Healing Tao System has multiple branches.
In the beginning we work with postnatal Qi on a physical level. In the basic exercises we learn to make our body more flexible and more permeable to the flow of Qi. We clear, clean and strengthen our body and mind, and our spirit becomes more calm and relaxed. We do this with love for ourselves. Only when we stop fighting ourselves, judging ourselves, and rejecting ourselves is it possible for deep harmony and love to awaken in us and grow.
The basic practices like the Inner Smile, the Six Healing Sounds, and the Microcosmic Orbit reconnect our physical existence with our mind and spirit. We create a moment that makes it possible for us to be loving and positive toward ourselves, and in that moment healing can take place. This has an effect on our physical condition. When we are able to see ourselves, in our mind, positively and lovingly, we set up a resonance that can be felt in all the cells of our being.
There are multiple branches in the Healing Tao, such as Iron Shirt Chi Kung, Tao Yin, Tai Chi Chi Kung, Hitting, and Breathing techniques in which we learn more about different manifestations of Qi – the qualities and aspects of the Five Elements within us.
When we are well arrived in ourselves, and the Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal) are nice and familiar inside us, we can proceed to the first level of inner alchemy. Here we are going to the junction of prenatal and postnatal Qi. In the Fusion of the Five Elements, we are not just working with the purely physical aspect of the five elements within us. We are also connecting with the five energy bodies of the elements, the five Shen. Energy channels, in which the Qi was flowing in the prenatal state, are opened with a condensed Qi pearl and become permeable. With this practice it is possible to raise our consciousness and effect a deeper transformation or opening in ourselves. For many years now the year-class Fusion 1, 2, and 3 is my favourite class to teach. Gradually in the course of one year we go through the different meditations and Qigong of the Fusion levels – this is, for all, an intense process of transformation.
After Fusion there are further levels in inner alchemy to explore – Lesser Kan & Li, Greater Kan & Li, and Greatest Kan & Li. In these practices we create our own Qi for self-healing.
Besides the self-healing arts, there are also therapeutic branches of the Healing Tao, such as belly massage, called Chi Nei Tsang, for detoxifying and clearing the internal organs. The belly is our second brain and has a direct influence on our life and actions from a subconscious level, similar to how the head-brain influences us mentally.
The branch of Cosmic Healing effects energetic healing for oneself or for others. Here we get connected to the Qi forces from heaven and earth for resolving physical and energetic blockage. Very sensitive healers and clients can with Cosmic Healing reach very deep levels of our life (past life memories, prenatal issues, incarnation issues, and so on).
For the branch of the Healing Love, Master Chia is well-known worldwide. In this branch we teach different exercises for men and women to get in touch with their own sexual energy. The goal of this practice is to refine, transform, and preserve our sexual energy, making this strong life-force energy available for our whole system. This works especially well if we meet ourselves lovingly, and if we are able to be in positive touch with ourselves in the basic practice.