A deep exploration of Taoist internal cultivation through movement, breath, awareness, and the development of healing presence.
The Ten Phases of Cultivating and Mastering Qi expands upon the Nine Phases movement practice by presenting a complete framework for lifelong cultivation. Rooted in classical Taoist qigong and informed by Roger Jahnke’s teachings in The Healing Promise of Qi, the system explores how vitality, awareness, emotional balance, and healing presence mature through movement, breath, meditation, and embodied practice.
THE CULTIVATION PATH
Nine Phases Practice
BODY • JING – Phases 1 – 3
Awakening Vitality
HEART-MIND • QI – Phases 4 – 6
Balancing Emotion
SPIRIT • SHEN – Phases 7 – 9
Refining Awareness
TRANSMITTING QI
The Tenth Phase
Healing Presence • Service • Compassion
Why This Practice?
The 10 Phases system describes cultivation not as rigid levels of achievement, but as interconnected dimensions of practice that gradually deepen through consistent experience and embodied understanding.
Beginning with grounding, vitality, and direct awareness of qi, the practice progressively explores the refinement and integration of cultivation through the three energetic domains of:
What begins as simple movement and breath may gradually develop into:
- deeper energetic sensitivity
- emotional steadiness
- calm awareness
- internal coherence
- compassionate presence
Rather than pursuing dramatic experiences or spiritual attainment, the practice emphasizes patient cultivation through regular, intentional practice and direct lived experience.
The Tenth Phase
The first nine phases cultivate and refine qi internally through body, heart-mind, and spirit. The tenth phase represents the outward expression of that cultivation through healing presence, compassionate awareness, and service to others.
Traditionally described as “transmitting qi,” this phase is often misunderstood as something extraordinary or mystical. In practice, it is usually experienced more quietly and naturally — as the ability to remain grounded, present, attentive, and regulating within relationship.
Rather than emphasizing dramatic healing experiences, the practice develops qualities such as:
- grounded presence
- calm and steady attention
- compassionate intention
- sensitivity and responsiveness to others
- the ability to support balance through one’s own cultivation
For many practitioners, the tenth phase emerges less as a technique to achieve and more as a natural expression of sustained practice, integration, and embodied awareness.
Mark’s Perspective
Over decades of clinical work, teaching, and personal cultivation, I’ve found that the deeper changes in qigong practice tend to arise gradually through consistency, patience, and continued returning to the fundamentals.
Again and again, students discover that simple practices — breath, posture, movement, relaxation, and awareness — begin to influence not only physical well-being, but also how they relate to stress, emotion, attention, and daily life itself.
In this way, cultivation becomes less about achieving special experiences and more about developing steadiness, presence, responsiveness, and integration over time.
For me, the 10 Phases framework offers a clear and grounded map for that ongoing process of Taoist cultivation.
What’s Included
The complete streaming program offers detailed instruction and guided exploration of the full 10 Phases cultivation system, including:
- all 10 phases of qi cultivation
- step-by-step movement instruction
- energetic principles underlying the practices
- cultivation of the three dantians
- breath, awareness, and meditation practices
- Taoist perspectives on healing and cultivation
- methods for refining and integrating qi
- teachings on healing presence, compassionate awareness, and service
Designed for long-term study and continued practice, the material supports both newer students establishing a foundation and experienced practitioners seeking deeper refinement and integration.
Deepen Your Practice
The complete 10 Phases program expands these principles through detailed instruction, guided practice, and deeper exploration of Taoist cultivation.
Whether you are beginning at the foundation or continuing an established practice, the system offers a structured yet accessible path for long-term development and integration.
You’ll be taken to a detailed page describing the complete streaming program.