Rating: 
Summary: Works Wonders
Review: I have been working with Mantak Chia's materials for the past 17 years. Originally I found few of his books ine one small Chinese store, and decided to give them a shot. I was thrilled when even my very first attempt resulted in noticing the difference. While the books were wonderful I did wish to have personal instruction, too. Lucky for me, about few weeks after I purchased the books, Mantak Chia was teaching a workshop in Toronto. Even though thsee initial practices are rather simple, it helped attending a workshop, too. I have attended all the workshops he came to teach in Toronto at the time. In the meantime, videos came out, so in time I got those too.
You may or may not want to attend a workshop, but if for any reason you don't feel comfortable proceeding on your own, you may consider getting Mantak Chias videos. I like them very much (I have just about all of them) Another excellent resource is the book Qigong Empowerment.
The focus of this book, Awaken Healing Energy Through Tao, is learing to circulate the energy through Microcosic Orbit. It is the essential practice for all future practices in Taoist Alchemy. The book also gives an overview of practices you can do if you wish to continue with your studies and practice.
It is not hard to do. It is really simple. If you are new to this, the more complex part than the practice may be the use of different names in chinese for different points and a lot of theoretical information behind the practice.The practice essentially involves guiding the energy with your imagination - generating it, circulating it and storing it in your body.
You can experience many benefits of this practice from the very beginning. What I experienced from the very beginning is a sense of calm. If I were ever upset and then begin doing microcosmic orbit, the upset would immediately disperse and dissolve. Doing microcosmic orbit practice had a centering effect. The practice is very, very simple but the benefits are far greater than may be initially apparent.
As you keep on storing the energy, whenever any part of your body (organs) need more energy, they can use the energy you have stored instead of depleting the energy from other parts of your body. This in itself contributes to health. However, if you choose to continue your learning, there are many more advanced practices designed specifically for healing.
Rating:
Summary: The Standard Text in the Field
Review: I read this book when it first came out. You can and will open the microcosmic orbit using this book. I went on to spend some time with Mantak Chia. He's a fine guy and an excellent teacher and communicator. No one EVER left one of chia's events thinking, "gee, I really don't know how to practice this." He's the best actual teacher of this sort of thing I've ever been with. The problem with some of these lousy reviews is as follows. There's something about spiritual subjects--maybe because they're so dear to people's hearts--that arouses a nasty levelof fanaticism in human beings, especially westerners, but it's pretty universal. No matter how good and sincere a teacher you are there are always people in the back row sneering and screaming that you are "doing it all wrong!" On top of that, and not to be at all discounted, is the fact that Mantak Chia is BY FAR the most succesful teacher of taoism in the west and there are a lot of people who are just plain old green with jealousy and envy and they hate him for it. It's an ugly side of human nature but one we all know all about. The only legitimate criticism of Chia's books is this--he is consciously writing for "the ages" and he makes them almost encyclopedic, and the result is actually more information than you may need to do the practice. Some people find this confusing. Lastly, Chia is one of the great modernizers and debunkers, doing basically for taoist spiritual practice what TCM in modern china tries to do for chinese medicine: sift it to find out what we actually can use and separate it from what we don't need because it is just superstition. There are some goofy people who seem to want the superstition and this also angers them, but for reasonable people like us it can save us lots of time in the future. Chia's energy practices will make you healthier and you won't need any study to prove it to you--you'll know it cause you'll feel two hundred per cent better. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book for martial artists.
Review: Mantak Chia has written a book that is easy to understand and practice. I am a student and instructor of internal kung-fu, and I use this book as a textbook for students as they study Chi Kung, especially solo postures. I practice the techniques in this book and find them extremely beneficial in stress management, health, and martial arts.
Rating: 
Summary: wheel without a hub
Review: The amount of information in this book offers a solid foundation, in these theories, and in energy work. Remember all of the precautions, and take it slow, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An understandable guide to a complex subject.
Review: This book clearly describes two meditation exercises to improve the flow of chi through the energy circuits in the body. The first involves sending positive energy to your internal organs and other structures so that they can function better. The second is the "microcosmic orbit," a very ancient practice which moves energy in a circular motion up the spine, over the head, down the front of the body, and back up the spine. At the end of this exercise the chi is then focused in the Tan Tien center, right below the navel. The microcosmic orbit differs from the Hatha Yoga practice of raising the kundalini energy up the spine in that in the Taoist practice you always bring the energy back down, thus grounding it. Much of the purported danger in these sorts of energy exercises comes from leaving the energy "raised," which sometimes happens in Hatha Yoga, or so I am told. Thus I don't agree with the warnings that these exercises are dangerous when not practiced with a master. Although I do have a Tai chi/Chi Kung teacher, I started these exercises years ago when I was working alone. The most notable change that I have experienced doing the microcosmic orbit is that I have many more lucid dreams than ever before, plus a sense of having a clearer energy field. It is important to note that Chia does not make any reference to Taoist yoga as a religious practice. You may do these exercises as a Taoist, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Wiccan, whatever. They are simply exercises to learn about and work with your own life-force energy. If you are working with a teacher, this book is a good adjunct as it has diagrams of the energy pathways and certain internal organs which you should know about. If you don't yet have a teacher, the book will introduce the subject in a straightforward, simple way that you can easily work with.
Rating:
Summary: An understandable guide to a complex subject.
Review: This book clearly describes two meditation exercises to improve the flow of chi through the energy circuits in the body. The first involves sending positive energy to your internal organs and other structures so that they can function better. The second is the "microcosmic orbit," a very ancient practice which moves energy in a circular motion up the spine, over the head, down the front of the body, and back up the spine. At the end of this exercise the chi is then focused in the Tan Tien center, right below the navel. The microcosmic orbit differs from the Hatha Yoga practice of raising the kundalini energy up the spine in that in the Taoist practice you always bring the energy back down, thus grounding it. Much of the purported danger in these sorts of energy exercises comes from leaving the energy "raised," which sometimes happens in Hatha Yoga, or so I am told. Thus I don't agree with the warnings that these exercises are dangerous when not practiced with a master. Although I do have a Tai chi/Chi Kung teacher, I started these exercises years ago when I was working alone. The most notable change that I have experienced doing the microcosmic orbit is that I have many more lucid dreams than ever before, plus a sense of having a clearer energy field. It is important to note that Chia does not make any reference to Taoist yoga as a religious practice. You may do these exercises as a Taoist, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Wiccan, whatever. They are simply exercises to learn about and work with your own life-force energy. If you are working with a teacher, this book is a good adjunct as it has diagrams of the energy pathways and certain internal organs which you should know about. If you don't yet have a teacher, the book will introduce the subject in a straightforward, simple way that you can easily work with.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent practical introduction to Taoist Chi Kung
Review: This book has clear easy to follow instructions on the practice of the Microcosmic Orbit, the fundamental meditation technique in Taoist Chi Kung. Mantak Chia was one of the first Taoist masters to impart this Taoist technique to the public. This book has been in print for over 15 years, an attestment to its contents validity and usefullness. I highly reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: The journey begins here.
Review: This book is essential in the practice of Healing Tao meditations. In fact its the first book you need to study and practice before moving on to the other techniques. This is the base...everything else you build on this foundation. I got to easily understand the inner smile meditations easily from this book...but i am aware that there is another book by Master Chia which concentrates on just this and also the Healing sounds...i think its Transforming Stress into Vitality book. You can include this book too to work on your foundation. Hope this helps and have fun in the journey on the quest for balance!
Rating:
Summary: The journey begins here.
Review: This book was my first introduction to qigong, and as such I found it a revelation. I had been doing Tai Chi for some time, but due to unique difficulties, I often had to go in for surgery, and by the time I was able to work again, I had lost both form & teacher. There is no such problem here. The technique can be practiced anywhere, any time and can be incorporated easily into one's breathing. This small, simple book contains one exercise. which can be learned very easily. Half the book, at least, is nothing but testimonials, which I thought were just to fill out the pages. Each of his small books can be read quickly, and takes about three months' practice to learn well enough to go on to another one. I appreciated the fact that he left out the philosophy, and got right to the technique. It makes it easily available to anyone. When these books first came out, I bought each one as soon as it was published, and bought multiple copies of this one as gifts. I admit that at one time, I tried Yoga without a teacher other than books, and got in immediate trouble. There were no available teachers at the time, and I found the books left too much out. This book solved, and made me understand my previous difficulties.
Rating: 
Summary: Good as a reference book, but be Warned!
Review: This book was one of the first books on a segment of the Taoist arts to reach the west and to that I give Mantak Chia high praise. The book deals with the energy circulation within the body. It is written in a easy to follow style (for such a subject). After studing the internal arts for years I find this book a good reference book. Unfortunately I believe this book is actually bad for anyone who is new to the subject. DOING ANY OF THE EXERCISES WRONG CAN HAVE TERRIBLE EFFECTS ON YOU. To any person who is new to qi gong/internal arts I say this book is not for you and you should first find a GOOD teacher to study under. For people who are already familiar with the study, this is a good reference book to have in your collection.
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