Positive Health Online

Chi Nei Tsang, a branch of Taoist medicine, was introduced to the West by the Taoist Master Mantak Chia. It is a method for releasing the toxic winds of emotional energy, which can be either the cause or effect of sickness.

Energy blockages arising from organ obstructions and congestion in the abdomen can result in knots and tangles at the centre of the body's vital functions, impeding the flow of Qi, the life-force or bioelectromagnetic field described by Deepak Chopra as energy-intelligence. Emotions such as fear, anger, anxiety, depression and worry are related to different organs. When the Qi of an internal organ is in a state of imbalance, it emanates toxic wind. Diagnosing the energetic condition, the Chi Nei Tsang practitioner uses intention and touch to influence the participant's Qi and 'chase the winds'.

Wind is an energetic vibration which, whether toxic or the vital source of life, enters the being through the 'mountains', which include the pointed bones of the nose, coccyx, fingers, toes, knees and elbows. Winds drain out through 'marshes' such as the anus, vagina, eye of the penis, pores of the skin, mouth, armpits, backs of knees and fronts of elbows. The mouth, navel, palm, sole and perineum are among the two-way conduits. A practitioner disperses or directs winds through marsh or mountain, often using supplementary meridians or points.

How your emotions affect the body's Qi

When obstructed the internal organs store unhealthy energies that can overflow into other systems and manifest as negative emotions and sickness. In search of an outlet these toxic energies create a cycle of negativity and stress, festering in the organs and overflowing into the abdomen, the body's garbage dump. The energetic centre of the body at the navel becomes congested and cut off from the rest of the body.

Experiment: sitting upright, relax shoulders, and relax posture so the abdomen is soft. Place the tip of your middle finger in your navel. Gently, and very slowly, keep the finger rigid and push inwards towards your spine. How far can you comfortably go? When the finger can penetrate to the front of the spine, without pain, you are clear, free of the physical residue of long-past emotions.

Where do you feel your emotions? The knot of worry, the slithering eel of fear, the ache of desire, the heat of anger, the butterfly of anxiety? They are intensely physical feelings, are they not? In and around your belly. What is happening? Your being is energetically convulsed. The Qi, linking mind and body, rushes through the channels like a hot torrent or a sliver of ice, the feeling as quick as thought, energy-intelligence in action. Nerves twist and tighten, cells react, connective tissues writhe, distorting the fasciae of capillaries, veins and arterioles, muscles and organs.

Such intensity of feeling cannot be sustained. Storms blow over, leaving after-effects. Knots, tangles and lumps remain in the abdomen – long after the rational self has 'dealt with' the emotional condition – reinforced by repetition, layer of distortion upon layer, added to by every feeling, the older the deeper, impeding the Qi, stagnating.

By working in the centre, the practitioner addresses the core of a condition in its deepest hiding place, the junction of the meridians' internal routes; the points of energy infusion; the vortices of the abdominal energy-centres; and the residence of the deities of the internal universe: the major organs in their membranous sacs of protective and connective tissue, attached to and suspended from the spine and edged by ribs, hips, pubis and sternum, and beating with life.

The great arterial aorta runs through, bifurcating at the centre, pumping blood out to the distal parts while a cavernous vein passes the other way lifting used blood back to the heart for recycling, and the vagus nerve runs the communications. A mass of tubes, bladders, reproductive organs pack the spaces, attachments and connections with mesenteric arteries, arterioles, veins and capillaries, lymph nodes and nodules, tendrils of nerves, endocrine glands, muscles in broad sheets near the surface and the deep chunky psoas providing a tensile connection between spine and femur. Fatty tissues like rows of sweetcorn and bunches of small grapes cling to the sides of tubes and organs, and the whole and each part down to the smallest cell is protected and connected by webs of fasciae – the connective tissue, from the diaphragm to the perineum, from the centre to the limbs, from the navel to the wrists and ankles. Connective tissue is the common network for bodily systems and energy pathways.

Experiment: grab a handful of material of the clothes you are wearing, around the navel area, and twist. Feel where the tension goes. See where the material distorts – what is the most distal point? Imagine the turmoil inside, when just the surface tension is so dramatic – traumatic?

Treatment requires preparation: 'opening the wind gates'; centring, balancing and flushing the circulatory system, and detoxifying the lymphatic system. Toxic winds are thus provided with both physical and energetic escape routes. These preparatory processes may be spread over a series of treatments as clinical experience has shown it counterproductive to detoxify in one session more than the body can eliminate – the healing crisis can be too severe.

Escape-routes clear, work can begin on the organs themselves or any knots, tangles and lumps found in the abdomen. Treatment includes visual diagnosis of the navel centre for signs of pulls towards areas of congestion, scanning with the palm (PC8) the winds emanating from the organs, use of intention, focussed massage, and specific therapeutic meditations such as the Healing Sounds which help cool and detoxify. Visualisation by the participant helps the profound effect of this combination of
physical, energetic and spiritual therapy.

Focussed massage to points in the navel area slightly melts the gelatinous coating around local cells, releasing suspended toxins into the lymphatic system and enhancing conductivity of the connective tissue, enabling pain-relieving messages to spread through the embryonic meridians radiating out from the navel centre. Knots, tangles and lumps, the aftermath of forgotten emotion, begin to loosen, ready to be unravelled or dissolved.

Toxic winds released are dispersed or directed out through marsh or mountain, combining other, supplementary, points and channels for specific purposes:

Stomach Channel, elimination route from the front points either side of the navel (ST25 in combination with other Front-Mu or Bo points), particularly useful for disturbance of the spirit – emotional – digestive, reproductive, back pain, cardiovascular conditions, stagnation, distortions of the fasciae;

Gall Bladder Channel for the sides, at the point of the 12th rib (GB25) for liver and pancreatic conditions;

Urinary Bladder for the back (UB23 in combination with other Back-Shu or Yu points) for depletion and kidney conditions; UB51 – particularly effective for tumours and other deep abdominal conditions.

Opening the Gates and Chasing the Winds

As always, the question arises: how many treatments do I need? As always, the answer depends on the condition, the participant, the practitioner and the homework. Homework encourages participants to share in their own healing and might include self-massage and meditations such as the Inner Smile to strengthen the Qi of the organs and aid in adjustments to self-perception and life-style, and the Microcosmic Orbit to harmonise energy-flow.

It would be unusual for less than four or more than twelve treatments to be needed, to reach the point where the finger can reach the spine and the participant is free of the physical residue of past emotion, or internal distortions, lesions and adhesions of past surgery; or the symptoms of presenting conditions have been addressed and, more often than not, relieved.

Practitioner homework includes the Healing Tao practices to generate, conserve and project their Qi and protect themselves from depletion and contamination. The main difference between a Chi Nei Tsang practitioner and other therapists is the practice of the Healing Tao. Chi Nei Tsang can be integrated with beneficial effect with such therapies as Acupressure, Acupuncture, Aromatherapy, Bowen technique, Chiropractic, Cranio-sacral work, Lymphatic drainage, Massage – Ayurvedic, holistic, remedial, Swedish, Thai; Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Reflexology, Reiki, Rolfing, Shiatsu, Trager, Tuina, Western Medicine.

References

Chi Nei Tsang, Internal Organs Chi Massage, Mantak Chia, Healing Tao Books 1990.
Hara Diagnosis, Reflections on the Sea, Matsumoto & Birch, Paradigm Publications 1988.
Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture, Foreign Language Press, Beijing 1979.
Body Mind & Spirit, Deepak Chopra, Quantum Publications. 1997.

Further Information

Chi Nei Tsang practitioner certification courses run once a year at present. Level 1 requires 350 hours training. Prior learning in Acupuncture, Acupressure, Shiatsu and Tuina is accredited.

The Tao Master Mantak Chia who introduced this healing system to the west is a 60th generation Taoist healer. He is paying a rare visit to London on Wednesday 13th October 1999 for a one-evening seminar on the Healing Tao. For further information please contact the London Healing Tao Centre & Chi Nei Tsang Institute 188 Old Street London EC1V 9BP Tel: 0700 078 1195 email: healingtao@sprynet.co.uk, or www.healing-tao.co.uk.