Taoist Meditation and Breathing: Tai Chi, Qigong and Sitting Still
Published 3 min read
Taoism isn’t only something you read. For centuries Taoists have also practised it with the body: sitting in stillness, regulating the breath, and moving slowly. Here’s a beginner’s overview of Taoist meditation, breathing, tai chi and qigong, and an easy way to start.
A note before we begin: this is an introduction, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, check with a doctor before starting a new exercise practice.
Taoist meditation: sitting and forgetting
Taoist meditation has many forms, but two ideas from the classic texts run through most of them.
Emptiness and stillness. The Tao Te Ching says:
The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour.
Tao Te Ching, ch. 16 · tr. James Legge (1891)
The fasting of the mind. In the Zhuangzi, Confucius (playing a Taoist teacher) tells his student not to listen with the ears, or even with the mind, but with the spirit, which is “free from all pre-occupation”. He calls this freedom “the fasting of the mind” (Zhuangzi, ch. 4). Elsewhere Zhuangzi describes zuowang, “sitting and forgetting”: letting go of the body’s busyness and the mind’s cleverness until you are at one with the Way.
Unlike some forms of meditation that focus hard on a single object, Taoist sitting often emphasises letting things settle naturally: “Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear” (ch. 15).
Taoist breathing exercises
Breath is central to Taoist practice. The Chinese word qi (氣, older spelling ch’i) means breath, air and vital energy all at once. The Zhuangzi already mentions people practising breathing exercises, “exhaling the old and taking in the new”, and stretching movements named after bears and birds, as a way to seek long life.
Traditional Taoist breathing styles include slow abdominal breathing (breathing low into the belly, around a point called the dantian) and “embryonic breathing”, an advanced practice of extremely subtle, quiet breath.
Tai chi and Taoism
Tai chi (太極拳, taijiquan) is a slow, flowing martial art, now practised worldwide as gentle exercise. Its name means “supreme ultimate fist”, and the “supreme ultimate” (taiji) is the same idea pictured in the yin-yang symbol.
Legend credits tai chi to the Taoist immortal Zhang Sanfeng, though documented history traces the main styles to the Chen family village in the 17th century. Either way, tai chi is full of Taoist ideas: yielding overcomes force, softness overcomes hardness, movement flows between yin and yang. It is wu wei you can practise with your whole body.
Qigong
Qigong (氣功, “breath work” or “energy skill”) is a broad modern term, popularised in 20th-century China, for many older traditions combining posture, movement, breathing and focused attention. Some forms are medical, some martial, some Taoist or Buddhist in origin. A typical session is a sequence of gentle standing movements coordinated with slow breathing.
A simple Taoist practice to begin
You need no equipment and about ten minutes.
- Sit comfortably with a straight but relaxed back. Feet flat, hands resting on your thighs.
- Breathe into your belly. Let the abdomen expand on the in-breath and soften on the out-breath. Don’t force the rhythm.
- Count ten slow breaths. If you lose count, start again without judgement.
- Then stop counting and simply sit. Thoughts will come, like mud stirred up in water. Don’t chase them or fight them. Let them settle.
- End by reading one line from the Tao Te Ching, slowly, and sit with it for a few more breaths.
Then, if you like, stand up and move slowly: shift your weight from foot to foot, raise and lower your arms with the breath. That’s the seed of qigong.
The obstacle: the phone in your pocket
The hardest part of any stillness practice is the device that buzzes the moment you sit down. A few Taoist breaths before opening a feed is a good habit in itself, and it’s built into Taoism: Doomscrolling Blocker: when you reach for a distracting app, you get a passage of Lao Tzu or Zhuangzi and a moment to breathe before you decide.
For more ways to bring Taoism into ordinary days, read How to Practice Taoism in Daily Life.