Foundations of Internal Alchemy: An Introduction to Body Cavities

An introduction to body cavities in Neidan:

When: Sunday mornings in April from 8-9 AM EST,

Where: ZOOM classroom with recordings available for review and for those who can't make it to class,

How much: $100 USD/person,

Media included: live ZOOM classes, recordings, translated documents in PDF each week.

Course Introduction:

Are you interested in learning Internal Alchemy and don't know where to start?

There are multiple styles of Internal Alchemy and even though there are practical differences between them they all use body cavities to generate, store, and act as transit points for internal energy.

An introduction to body cavities in Neidan is a course about the main cavities used and how they relate to the generation and movement of Qi during the Neidan first phase of refining essence and transforming Qi.

Rather than taking a style specific perspective, we will look at the physical locations from the perspective of how they relate to the Jing, Qi, Shen, fluids, and meridians of the body.

We will also discuss the various ways that people begin Neidan practice according to different styles with an emphasis on understanding what the most popular methods are and why they are practiced.

Although the course is officially about body cavities you will see that it goes much farther than that since we also need to talk about the use of the mind, management of Qi and Shen, and the core basics that make Neidan work.

Some things you can expect to learn in this course:

• The relationship of the Middle and Lower Dantian and the three most important cavities of the abdomen,
• Why it is commonly understood that the Lower Dantian is used for refining Jing and Middle Dantian is for refining Qi,
• The Three points from the eyes to the center of the brain and how they are viewed as points of focus and energetic collection in Neidan,
• The Hui Yin and Bai Hui as Heaven and Earth and the points of the circuit of the Small Heavenly Orbit,
• The importance of the “Yin Qiao” Cavity and its role in connecting the Small Orbit and “refining the body,” practice, as well as Li Hanxu's special method of using this cavity to begin Neidan practice,
• The Spinal Dual Gate and how they are used to develop Qi in the Du Meridian and achieve Embryonic Breathing,
• and much more.

It isn't possible to cover every school of Neidan (nor can I claim to know every school) so we'll especially focus on the Middle School, Wu Liu School, and Western School as well as the modern Immortality Dao approach practiced by people like Chen Yingning and Li Leqiu.

This course will be good for total beginners to Neidan, people coming from a Qigong or Martial Arts background, and intermediate students who want to deepen their understanding of the physical infrastructure of the energetic body to deepen their practice and perspective.

If you are interested in this course please contact me at immortalitystudy@gmail.com