Sometimes called sexual kung-fu, Taoist Healing Love is an age old practice of lovemaking that transports its practitioners to states of euphoria. It has helped many people develop a more soulful bond with their partners, as well as enhance their energy and relaxation outside the bedroom. The Healing Love technique involves a variety of daily relaxation exercises to promote better health. Through meditation, strengthening and breathing exercises, practitioners become aware of their own sexual energy, and how it can be expanded during sex and in their daily lives.
Healing Tao is one of the oldest and largest Tao institutions in the West. The association oversees the certification of Tao instructors, allowing them to open their own centres and schools using the name. It was founded in 1981 in the United States by Mantak Chia and a small group of students that included Michael Winn. The founder and director of Healing Tao University, Winn describes Healing Tao as a way to promote self-cultivation. An authority on Taoist practices, he has edited seven of Chia’s books and is co-author of.
When people take courses at Healing Tao, they first learn all the basic techniques and principles of the Tao before they get to learn Healing Love.
The main selling point for Healing Love is that it is about better sex, but sex is only part of a much bigger picture.”
Universal Tao is the international branch of Healing Tao. Saida Désilets, a Universal Tao instructor in Vancouver, teaches Healing Love to “bring beauty and sacredness back to sexuality.” She has worked to develop the female side of Healing Love and has presented her findings to Chia. Based in Vancouver, she now teaches seminars all over the world, and runs a corporate wellness consulting business to help people with stress relief.
Désilets’ seminars and private consultations are hands off and clothing on. They begin with the foundation practices of Tao—deep breathing, meditation and understanding of the importance of relaxation in everyday life. Ancient Chinese medicine mapped out the paths that energy, or Chi, travels in the body. Healing Love promotes knowledge of these paths and teaches people how to find their sexual energy, or Ching Chi.
“This is not a path for those seeking a pill formula,” says Désilets. “It is not a path for people who want to follow somebody. It is a path of self mastery, so it requires investment in yourself.”
Harnessing Sexual Energy For A Better Life
Both men and women are given exercises to help them prolong and multiply their orgasms. There is a lot of focus on multiple orgasms for men because they open the door for much more fulfilling experiences. Once people are aware of their Ching Chi energy, they are taught how to mentally focus that energy and circulate it, which can help them experience the euphoria of a full body orgasm.
Sexual energy can be used to heal ailments and emotional scars, or just achieve balance. A similar concept to acupressure, Ching Chi removes blockages as it rushes through the body. Energy flows into damaged areas, prompting a speedy recovery. To reach these heights of awareness, one must first be in control of the body and mind. That is where a teacher like Désilets can help.
Ken Grossberger, a New York businessman, has done several private sessions with Désilets. “I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years,” he says, “but every once in a while you run into someone who has studied their craft well and has a gift. Désilets is one of those people.” Grossberger described his sessions as being very meditative, focusing on basic relaxation and presence of mind. “Even though I was only with her for a few hours, whether she removed a mountain or a pebble, the path was certainly now clear.”
About 85 per cent of Désilets’ private clients are business people. She finds that impotence and other sexual problems are common among people in stressful jobs. “Part of what happens when our body is under a lot of stress is our sexual energy, or vital life force, is redirected to the vital organs to keep us functioning,” she says. Désilets has had positive results helping people in these situations regain their vitality. Her clients find they have more energy in their everyday lives, require less sleep and report getting sick less often.
Désilets has witnessed many of the more visible transformations in people who have worked with her. “Even after an hour,” she says, “their eyes are brighter, their face will be softer and more open.” Over time, people tend to become more grounded and relaxed.
Taoist sexual alchemy is thought to be about 3000 years old. The Chinese text, “the oldest medical sexology text in the world,” says Winn proudly, dates back 2500 years. It was once very popular and was taught mostly by Chinese Taoist monks. It is thought that over time, Confucianism wiped out most of the Taoist sexual practices, driving sexual alchemy underground where it was taught only in secret societies. Some of these societies kept their traditions alive by training women to be concubines and consorts. However, many women in these sects were captured, imprisoned and killed for their sexual ideology.
While China may have experienced a lack of sexual freedom in the past, Winn reports that the future is looking brighter. Since 2001, several sex therapy clinics have opened up and a few are teaching Taoist sexual alchemy again. Though, says Winn, there is still a lack of good teachers in China.
The main selling point for Healing Love is that it is about better sex, but sex is only part of a much bigger picture. Learning to breathe and getting your body in balance is part of a lifestyle. “This is about everything, not just sex,” says Désilets. People who come to her for private consultations often think they’re going to have a sexual class, but she explains that the first few classes are just about achieving balance. “If people can connect with their body and breathing they will have a lot of success. Even five minutes a day can make a difference,” she says.
While the health claims associated with Healing Love can seem far-fetched, practice makes perfect, and faith enhances results. Thousand of years of testimonials show that there must be something behind these exercises. With the rising popularity of Chinese medicine and eastern philosophy, and the high-stress lifestyles of today, Taoist Healing Love might be just what the doctor ordered.
For more information on Saida Désilets and her seminars, visit The Succulence Revolution.
