Taiyi is a natural method of harmonizing and balancing the body’s complex mechanisms through qi; high-frequency resonant energy that flows throughout the human body. With over 2,000 years of practice, practitioners have used this discipline to create, restore, and maintain the healthy balance of a free flow of qi for optimal patient health. Unlike modern medicine, which focuses on pain and symptoms of a disease, Taiyi looks at the flow of energy between organs to identify blockages that may be causing ill health. I talk to The Tayi Institute, the world’s leading research, educational, and healing center for the practice of Taiyi, about this ancient Chinese philosophy and its place in a modern city.
Firstly, can you explain to our readers what Taiyi is?
Many of your readers will be familiar with the concept of Qi; Taiyi is the original, primitive Qi found in this universe. It’s an innate energy that can extend our longevity if kept in balance.
Taiyi is a philosophy that has existed in China for thousands of years, approaching health and wellbeing through conscious and active management of lifestyle choices. This is mainly done by supporting the flow of energy – Qi – throughout the body.
The goal of Taiyi is to restore and maintain the body’s natural balance through guided practice and healing based on an individual’s unique needs. This balance is achieved simply by improving the flow of Qi in places where it may be blocked.
What are the benefits of doing Taiyi healing?
Taiyi healing is primarily done through Qigong exercises, which can improve the body’s immune system. It can even facilitate anti-aging processes by unblocking the many meridian points found in the human body. Taiyi practitioners also report that Taiyi healing has helped improve sleep quality, improve general energy levels, and reduce pain.
The Taiyi Institute provides systematic teaching for these exercises through online healing classes and one-to-one healing services. While the technology and delivery are modern, the practice is an ancient one, now protected in China as the intangible cultural heritage of Taiyiquan. More than just Qigong, this supernatural therapy also incorporates “five sounds” elemental healing, which can solve physical, mental, and spiritual issues.
The Founder of the Tayi Institute, Master Xunhua “Jack” Zhang, is a thirteenth generation Taiyi Master – can you share a bit about his family history?
Zhang Xunhua is not just a thirteenth generation Taiyi Master. He is also the provincial representative inheritor of Taiyi Boxing, or Taiyiquan, which was included in Henan Province’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Unlike western boxing, Taiyiquan is an ancient form of Chinese boxing that combines Daoism, Zen, martial arts, medicine, and art as passed down by Zhang Sanfeng.
Zhang Xunhua has practiced boxing for decades and believes that Taiyiquan contains the “profound and inclusive spirit.” One illustration of this comes from an old legend:
During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, authorities arrested a Taoist priest, imprisoning him for hiding a leader of the rebel army in Wudang Mountain. The priest, despite imprisonment in terrible conditions, had a ruddy complexion and boundless energy.
People were surprised at his hardiness, and news spread that the priest had found the key to good health and longevity, even in the worst of conditions. Before long, this talk arrived at the Emperor’s ears. Intrigued, he called for the priest, eager to discover the secret recipe for a long and healthy life.
Brought before the Emperor, the priest smiled and answered the question, telling the Emperor that there was no secret recipe: just a need to practice Taiyiquan daily. From this day forward, the practice of Taiyiquan was valued by the royal family and enjoyed daily in the Chinese court, which caused it to spread to the common people as well.
Master Xunhua has breathed new life into this traditional healing practice – how did he manage to do this?
Zhang Xunhua has worked hard his whole life. Before 60, he practiced clinical acupuncture and moxibustion (a heat therapy in TCM). After 60, he focused on networking and industrializing Taiyi healing to modernize access to thousands of years of acupuncture and moxibustion.
During his 40-year career, he observed that many people feared the pain that naturally comes with the needle of acupuncture and the heat of moxibustion. He called together a team of scientists to research and develop non-invasive treatments that could deliver the traditional benefits of acupuncture and moxibustion without the pain.
Today, thanks to Xunhua Zhang’s foresight and initiative, people worldwide can now get all the benefits of traditional acupuncture and moxibustion. So, one need not fear pain when trying to improve the flow of Qi through their meridians.
What is your unique approach?
The Taiyi Institute focuses on finding the source of a health issue. While the body perceives pain in one spot, the actual root cause may be an emotional blockage or Qi deficiency elsewhere in the body. We take a holistic approach that focuses on the individual’s unique issue to find the best solution.
In general, we follow a principle of “let yourself be your best doctor” and facilitate this through an online healing platform that provides easy and approachable access to healing and exercise materials. We have also recently launched TYQA, a pain-free, needleless device that can be placed directly on acupuncture points to influence blockages in the body.
Can you please share some tips on how our readers can adjust Taiyi healing to a modern lifestyle?
The Taiyi Institute has made all of its materials available online so that anyone can access natural healing from anywhere at any time. So, first, all your reader must do is find some time in their day to practice.
We also work proactively to help people start a Taiyi habit. When COVID-19 first hit New York City at the beginning of 2020, a vibrant city was plunged into unnatural isolation and quiet. This also led to a lot more free time than usual; we decided to create a broadcast to help New Yorkers improve their immunity from home.
The broadcast was a live channel called Zhen (True) Qi Practice and went out from 8:00 to 9:00 nightly for three months. The fact that New Yorkers had a predictable activity that they could do from home, combined with the immune-boosting qualities of the practice, drew a lot of people.
After two months, over thirty people told us that they felt their immune system was better and that they felt healthy and strong mentally. After six months, everyone reported that they believed that Qigong was a healthy, enriching way of life.
All of this was done remotely; the Taiyi Institute makes all of its materials accessible for anyone with an internet connection. All your readers need to do is decide to start – and stick to – a routine. The rest will follow naturally.
During this unpredictable period of Covid-19, can our readers do Taiyi healing online? Why is it more important now than ever?
Like so many other businesses, COVID-19 made us look at our business and reevaluate how to provide our customers with access to our services, even during a lockdown. Before the pandemic, Master Xunhua Zhang had provided a mixture of one-on-one physical healing services together with online healing.
Of course, at the beginning of the pandemic, one-on-one healing was no longer possible. Many people were contacting us, and all were requesting online healing. After some careful consideration, we decided to move fully online so that we could deliver our services to everyone.
First and foremost, we believe that healing should be focused on prevention, closely followed by integration into a daily lifestyle. The Taiyi Institute makes it easy for people to boost their Qi daily using our sound waves and exercises. By controlling your energy balance, you can slowly start to take control of your body and mind – and it all starts with a simple lifestyle choice.
You offer a unique pain-free device called TYQA to optimize energy healing, can you explain how it works?
The TYQA acupuncture device essentially enables needleless acupuncture treatment. Physical needles have been replaced with energy needles, energy rings, and bone conduction equipment for a pain-free experience.
TYQA is also very accessible and easy to use, thanks to its use of Bluetooth – it connects to your smartphone or computer easily. Just open the Taiyi Institute website, find the healing sound wave you need, and the TYQA will start to transmit the programmed sound waves, unblocking meridian points in your body.
Can you please share a success story?
We have so many that it is hard to choose! One of my personal favorite success stories comes from this year, early on, when the coronavirus pandemic was just starting out and nobody really knew what was going to happen.
A friend had recently returned to New York from Europe. Unfortunately, he had also come home with a fever. Tests confirmed he had COVID-19. At this time, there was no medical solution. My friend suffered; weakness, a tight chest, excessive coughing – all the signs of coronavirus. Yet, little could be done to help him.
I introduced him to the sound waves then available on the Taiyi Institute’s website. I told him to listen to the immune-boosting sound waves using headphones. The next day, he told me felt better, but the coughing was still bad. I recommended lung Qigong, again available on the website, and told him to continue listening to the immune-boosting soundwaves.
This was just day two, and by the end of that day, he told me his weakness was getting better, and his mood was lifting. By the end of day three, his chest felt less blocked and his fever was subsiding. Day four passed with similar improvements to his condition; he was finally discharged from the hospital on the fifth day.
He is now fully recovered – but he is still practicing Qigong daily and working with the Taiyi healing plan. In fact, he uses it for more than six hours daily! Today, he has excellent mental health, and his physical vitality is continually improving.
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