THE INTERNAL ARTS
Qigong, Neigong & Neidan.
The internal arts turn our attention towards what is happening within the body and mind.
Through movement, posture, breath and stillness, we explore tension, internal connection, awareness and increase our sensitivity to our energetic body, what Eastern traditions describe as Qi (field).
Ancient traditions and modern science may use different language to explore our internal world.
But ultimately, these practices are there to be experienced.
Understanding can guide us, but the real learning happens through practice.
WHAT IS QIGONG?
Working with Qi.
Qigong (氣功) is commonly translated as “energy work”.
Qi = energy. Gong = Work/Skill/Practice.
It can include movement, standing, breathing, meditation and stillness. Some practices are physical and flowing, while others may involve very little visible movement at all.
Through practice we learn to connect to our energy (qi) and release unnecessary tension, improve posture and internal connection, regulate the breath and nervous system and develop greater sensitivity to what is happening within us.
Qigong isn't something we need to believe in. It is something we can explore and feel.
WHAT IS NEIGONG?
The work within.
Neigong (內功) is commonly translated as “internal work” or “internal skill”. Where Qigong may describe the wider field of practice, Neigong often refers more specifically to the internal processes and qualities being developed through that practice.
Rather than simply focusing on the external shape or a movement, Neigong turns attention inward — exploring structure, relaxation, breath, awareness, intention and using gestures and hand seals as a password to access and connect to the deeper levels of primordial qi.
This is often seen as a bridge between Qigong and Neidan with more Yi (intention), Stillness, Awareness and Qi cultivation.
Stillness on the Outside, while there’s movement on the Inside.
WHAT IS NEIDAN?
Internal alchemy.
Neidan (內丹) is commonly translated as “internal alchemy”. It developed within Daoist traditions as a system of inner cultivation concerned with transformation rather than simply physical movement or exercise.
Neidan practices traditionally work with concepts such as Jing, Qi and Shen — often translated as essence, energy and spirit — alongside breath, awareness, stillness and meditation. Different Daoist traditions describe the methods and stages in different ways, so Neidan is better understood as a broad family of internal cultivation traditions rather than one single technique.
Compared with much of what is commonly called Qigong today, Neidan generally turns the practice further inward. Movement may become less important while stillness, awareness and increasingly subtle aspects of internal practice take greater emphasis.
If Qigong can be thought of as working with the practice, and Neigong as developing the work within, Neidan takes us further into the process of inner cultivation and transformation.
A WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE PRACTICE
Empty. Repair & Refill. Transform.
Imagine the body and its energy system as a container of water.
Over time, the water can become stagnant, the container can develop leaks, and we can continually expend what we have without properly replenishing it.
One way of understanding the internal arts is as a process of tending to that container.
1· EMPTY
First, we begin by letting go of what we don't need.
Unnecessary muscular tension, restricted breathing, habitual holding, excessive effort and mental noise.
Before trying to add more, we create space.
This is an important part of Qigong: releasing, regulating and allowing things to settle.
2 · REPAIR & REFILL
Next, we begin improving the container itself while replenishing what has been depleted.
We develop posture, structure, internal connection, breath, awareness and sensitivity, creating better conditions for conserving, gathering and cultivating Qi.
There is little value in continually pouring fresh water into a container that cannot hold it. As the container becomes more integrated and less wasteful, we become better able to cultivate and retain what we develop.
This takes us deeper into the internal work of Neigong: strengthening the container while cultivating what it contains.
3 · TRANSFORM
Eventually, the purpose isn't simply to have a better or fuller container.
At deeper levels of Daoist practice, what has been cultivated becomes the basis for internal transformation.
This takes us towards Neidan, or internal alchemy, where the emphasis moves beyond regulation and cultivation towards transformation.
These are not strict classifications. Qigong, Neigong and Neidan are better understood as overlapping practices than separate categories with fixed boundaries.
Qigong can also repair and refill. Neigong can release and transform too. Elements of all three may exist within the same practice.
Think of them more like a Venn diagram than three separate boxes.
The analogy simply gives us a useful way to understand how internal practice can deepen, while recognising that the boundaries between Qigong, Neigong and Neidan are rarely clear-cut, can overlap and contain each within.
Qigong as a direct translation of Energy Work can also be an umbrella term that houses all the arts under its roof - even Tai Chi, Bagua, and Xing Yi.
THROUGH PRACTICE
What begins to change?
Internal practice develops awareness, sensitivity, energy and stillness.
We learn to notice and release unnecessary tension, become more sensitive to the signals of the body, reduce mental agitation and develop a greater capacity to move between activity and rest.
This can create better conditions for the body's own processes of recovery, regulation and repair.
The body is continually renewing itself. Cells turn over, tissues repair, the nervous system regulates and countless processes work continuously to maintain us. All of this requires energy.
Rather than continually exhausting our resources, internal practice asks a different question:
Can we conserve, cultivate and better use the energy available to us?
When there is less unnecessary tension, less mental agitation and less wasted effort, there is more available for the processes that sustain us.
Awareness. Sensitivity. Energy. Stillness.
Creating better conditions for the body and mind to do what they already know how to do.
Less thinking. More practice.
EXPERIENCE THE PRACTICE
The next step is practice.
Practice is fundamental.
You can read everything there is to know about swimming, but eventually you have to get into the water. And if you want to learn properly, it helps to have someone experienced there to guide you.
We live in an age with almost unlimited access to information. The danger is spending more time reading, watching and absorbing other people's knowledge than actually developing our own experience.
Qigong is no different.
Theory can provide context and understanding, but practice turns information into experience.
Whether you're completely new to the internal arts, looking to deepen an existing practice or interested in learning to teach, there are different ways to practise with Following the Moon, press one of the buttons below: