The whole sphere and orbit of Neidan yoga circles about standard practices of energy medicine—especially traditional Chinese approaches such as acupuncture, medical qigong and Daoist alchemy. Other important sources of guidance include Ayurveda, shamanic work, and modern tools such as body-centered and object relations psychotherapy, cranial osteopathy and visceral manipulation. Rounding out the lineup, we have the time-honored traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and Hindu Yoga, both of which have incredibly rich insights and techniques for inner and outer transformation.

When a client shows up at the clinic door, the first thing to address is “what’s up?” That is: “what do you want some help with?” Health and fortune along with the sun and weather simply come and go so what’s important now may not be so later. Nevertheless, it IS important now. In medicine, we call this an acute condition. Acute simply means the situation is on top—it needs attention now. So, the symptoms a client reports as the problem or goal may or may not be the real cause of the situation. The first goal in treatment therefore aims to patch up whatever needs fixing while at the same time seeking to better understand the deeper more relevant reasons for the situation. Although there are many situations where what’s wrong can be clearly identified and appropriate therapy commenced straight-away—say, the patient has a sprained ankle—it just ain’t so for the deeper work of living and growing spiritually.