I am heading to California this week for Chi Nei Tsang training. This is a Taoist practice that facilitates full body healing and emotional processing through abdominal massage and chi energy movement. I am deeply inspired by the philosophy and methods of this healing modality.

The Chi Nei Tsang approach acknowledges that physical pain is easier to feel than emotional pain. Many of our ailments have an emotional component at the root. So we approach the navel area, the root of our body, to decode signs and symptoms, provide gentle and direct treatment, and allow for emotional processing so symptoms can be resolved at the root cause. This may be a gradual process as body and mind adapt to and integrate real change and thus lasting healing

Chi Nei Tsang practitioner Gilles Marin calls this Surrendering to the Cycle of Healing. In order to heal, six conditions must be met:

We need to feel safe.
Our mind needs to be quiet.
Our emotional self needs permission and support to feel.
All our feelings need to be recognized and validated to the highest degree of sacredness.
Our spirit needs to give us the green light for breakthrough and change.
We need to accept the changes and be supported and accepted while these changes are taking place. (From Marin’s book Five Elements, Six Conditions: A Taoist Approach to Emotional Healing, Psychology, and Internal Alchemy.)

Many aspects of the Chi Nei Tsang approach has been making its way into my practice, directly and indirectly for years. I have received this work myself, with a goal of healing digestive issues, and have been amazed at the results in my body and spirit. Stay tuned for opportunities to receive Chi Nei Tsang after my training!