Taoyin: what does it mean?

"Dao" originally means "way" and became the central concept of Chinese philosophy: the principle underlying and pervading everything — origin and union of opposites, ultimately beyond words.

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." — Laozi

Yin and Yang stand for polar, mutually related forces: light and dark, movement and rest, activity and stillness. They rise and fall in eternal alternation — after every peak comes transformation. In Daoism this interplay explains the processes of nature and of life: a cycle, never a standstill.

Tao Yin — sometimes called "Taoist yoga" — is a series of exercises in lying, sitting and standing positions to cultivate the qi. The practice preceded Qigong, was cultivated in Taoist monasteries for health and spiritual development, and lives on in Tai Chi Chuan.