Practicing Taoism
Organize your home according to the practice of feng shui. The practice of feng shui is the organization of space to create positive energy in your home. There are many guidebooks on how to use feng shui, and you can often find them at your local bookstore. Using feng shui in just one room is a Taoist practice.
Meditate. Sit on the floor with your legs in the lotus position (your legs crossed over each other at the calf). You can also sit on the edge of a chair with your feet flat. Sit with your spine straight and your chin slightly pulled in. Focus on breathing through your nose from your diaphragm. As you quietly sit in this position, imagine any sickness, stress, and pain leaving your body as you exhale. As you inhale, imagine healing, relaxing light entering your body. If it helps, imagine filling your lungs with air from the bottom to the top through your belly button. You should meditate in a clean, quiet space. Sit on the ground in a position that is comfortable to you and do your best to quiet your mind. If a thought comes across it, let it go.
Practice tai chi. Tai chi is a breathing and exercise practice where you match certain body movements with inhaling and exhaling breaths. There are five main schools of tai chi, each with different types of movements and goals, but they all focus on increasing your internal energy. Originally, tai chi is a very powerful and pretty intense martial art, but nowadays its simplified version is taught as a health practice. Your local gym or rec center may offer tai chi classes. You can also look for tai chi videos online.
Practice Qigong. Qigong is a combination of meditation and physical exercise that almost anyone can do. Qigong includes warmup and awareness exercises that help you meditate and connect to your body by directing your internal energy to different areas of your body with each move. You can practice Qigong at home by watching YouTube videos. You can also join classes at your local gym or temple. Qigong is different from tai chi in that qigong directs energy to different parts of your body in each move. Tai chi helps you connect to your internal and external energy, but it's not differentiated like Qigong is. The movements in Qigong are also less complex that in tai chi, and it doesn't involve much footwork, so it is easier to pick up and practice. Warm up by gently swinging your arms at the shoulders. Hold your arms loosely at your sides, and then twist at your waist, turning to the right and then the left. Your arms should swing naturally. As you warm up, keep your knees bent and let your hips sway. As you move, focus on releasing stress. Eventually, you'll be able to concentrate only on your movement and the internal energy it creates. One awareness exercise you can try is the accordion. Stand up straight, with your arms bent at the elbow and your palms together in front of your chest. Your fingers should point upward. Slowly pull your hands apart until they're about 12 inches (30 cm) apart, and then move them toward one another again. You can repeat this as often as you like.
Practice yoga. The practice of yoga requires that you understand how your bones (considered Yin) and your muscles and connective tissue (considered Yang) are connected and can move. Since Yin and Yang are a key concept in Taoism, taking any yoga class is a form of Taoist practice. You can find yoga classes at your local gym or rec center. You can also look for yoga videos online and through some TV providers’ on-demand channels.
Join a Taoist temple. Some Taoists attend temples for festival days. Some Taoists observe funeral rites or rites dedicated to ancestors at temple. Others observe festivals on behalf of local communities. You can search for Taoist temples in your area by performing a search engine search. Each rite usually follows a specific series of stages, including purification, prayers, offerings, singing of songs, and dancing.
Living According to Taoist Beliefs
Accept yourself. Taoism teaches that each person should live according to their own nature. By accepting yourself – your good and your bad qualities – you’re living according to Taoist beliefs. Accepting yourself also means acknowledging that sometimes your personality will change. Sometimes you’ll be loving and kind and sometimes you’ll be impatient and angry. Accept all of the aspects of your personality.
Follow your instincts. Taoism is about taking the time to learn about yourself and the world around you. The more you do this, the more your intuition will be developed, and you should listen to it. If something feels wrong, don’t do it. If something feels like a good idea, go for it. For example, if you're considering taking a new job, ask yourself if you feel good about the opportunity. If your instinct tells you that you should, do it. If your instinct says that you shouldn't, don't.
Open yourself up to new experiences. Being open to life and living it to the fullest is a big part of Taoism. That also means being open to new experiences. Go see a band you’ve never seen before, try a new restaurant or cuisine, or travel somewhere you’ve never been.
Embrace some quiet time. Sometimes, with social media and smartphones and the 24-hour news cycle, life can feel overwhelming. Practicing Taoism means taking some time, once in a while, to unplug and just sit in silence and observe the world around you. Sit on your porch, or in a coffee shop, or in your favorite room, and just be.
Practice in the ways that make sense to you. Every person who practices Taoism practices it differently. If you like to meditate, do that. If you prefer studying texts, you can do that, too. Or you can do it all! Taoism doesn’t have a set belief or practice system, so there's no wrong way to be a Taoist.
Follow a Taoist diet. Classical Taoist teaching suggests that adherents avoid certain things in their diets. Abstain from alcohol, and avoid eating meat, beans, and grains. You don’t have to follow this diet to be a Taoist, but it is a more classical way of following Taoist teachings.
Reading Taoist Texts
Read the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power) is the original Taoist text, and it was published in the 3rd century. It’s divided into 81 chapters and has short verses with advice on life and the nature of the universe. Reading it and drawing your own meaning from it is the first step you should take toward becoming a Taoist. The Tao Te Ching is all about teaching you how to connect with the universe. One of the main teachings of the Tao Te Ching is that there are just some things you can't understand, and that's okay. If you come across sections of the book that don't make sense, try your best to get meaning from them, but don't get hung up on them. Some temples might offer study groups based on the Tao Te Ching. If you'd prefer to study with other people, you can look for those study groups and attend them.
Read the Chuang-tzu. Chuang-tzu is also a compilation of Taoist wisdom. You can read it alongside the Tao Te Ching or before or after you read it. The teachings in the Chuang-tzu focus on changing your perspective of the world around you. It also teaches that despite differences you might perceive in the universe, the entire universe and everything in it is one. If you want to read the Chuang-tzu with others, look for study groups at nearby temples.
Use other Taoist texts for meditation. There are a lot of books out there that you can use to meditate on Taoist principles. Some of them will be focused on a specific theme, and can be useful to you at different points in your life. Your local bookstore should have a spirituality section where you can find these types of books. Any Taoist books translated by Thomas Cleary – a leading translator of Taoist texts – will be a good choice.
Understanding Taoist Principles
Focus on oneness. The first, and most basic Taoist principle, is that people and nature are not separate. Everything in the universe is part of the same system. As a Taoist, you can focus on oneness by being more selfless - pay less attention to your own needs and instead focus on others. For example, you can do something like serving in a soup kitchen. This is one way to remember that people with less than you are still connected to you.
See the dynamic balance in everything. Just because everything in the universe is part of the same system doesn't mean there aren't distinctions. Taoists believe that there are two basic distinctions - described as yin and yang - in all of nature. Dark and light are part of the same system because they can't exist without one another, but they are also distinct. The principle of dynamic balance can be helpful if you're struggling in life. Remind yourself that according to this principle, happiness could not exist without sadness.
Look for cyclical growth. The principle of cyclical growth is related to dynamic balance. Opposites balance each other out, but they don't usually occur at the same time. Instead, they move through cycles. So winter and summer balance one another, but winter is followed by summer and summer is followed by winter. Cyclical growth can help you understand where your life is going. If you're experiencing grief after the death of a loved one, remind yourself that happiness will eventually come. It might be a while, but grief will eventually give way to happiness.
Perform harmonious action. Taoists believe that because seeming opposites actually balance each other and cycle together, you can make one opposite from the other. A bamboo stick is a good example of this concept: In wind, bamboo bends, but doesn't break. By bending to the wind, the bamboo stick survives it, instead of staying straight and breaking in half. For example, if you're dealing with a difficult time, accept that it will be difficult and accept your grief or sadness. By doing so, you won't wear yourself out trying to be strong.
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