Healing Dragon
Steven Cardoza, M.Sc., L.Ac.
Qigong and Taiji in 2026
New in January, in person and live streamed over Zoom!
Preserving Original Essence:
A Water Element Qigong to Nourish the Kidneys and Promote Healthy Longevity
In the Five Element scheme of Daoist thought, the Water Element, comprising the Yin kidneys and Yang urinary bladder, flourishes during the Winter season. This half-day workshop will engage the energetic support provided by Winter, facilitating your ability to learn how to preserve original essence while amplifying other benefits associated with the Water Element.
• Storage
A primary attribute of the Water Element and Winter is storage, a gathering of all the preceding energetic phases of growth and development occurring throughout the year, and in a larger sense throughout the arc of our life. It requires a quiet, still inward focus to replenishing us at the deepest levels of our being, while preparing us for the next cycle of growth beginning with the emerging energy of Spring.
Storage also refers to the kidneys’ storage of our original essence, jing, housing our life’s blueprint. Jing essence is a fluid Yin substance that contains the energy of Yang qi, and is the focus of this workshop. Inherited from our parents, we have a finite amount of original essence. The source of our vitality, it can be depleted either quickly, causing more rapid aging with associated health problems, or slowly, allowing us to age gracefully, with abundant energy and few ailments. Depletion of kidney essence directly causes all of the common signs and symptoms of aging, including:
• brittle bones and dental problems
• problems with memory and concentration
• reduced hearing
• infertility, reduced sexual energy; reduced overall vitality
• diminishing creativity
• incontinence, other urogenital concerns; prostate problems
• back and/or knee pain
• dry, thinning, and prematurely gray hair
• dry skin
• a tendency to be more fearful
Conserving original essence and fortifying it with acquired essence is necessary if you want to slow the aging process, increase vitality and extend the healthy years of your life. Specific qigong practices are among the few things that can help you accomplish this.
• Flow
Another quality of Water Element energy is flow, associated both with fluid metabolism and the free circulation of qi. In nature, even when the surface of a lake, river or ocean freezes into its most condensed ice state, just below the surface it’s still liquid, flowing and moving freely to support all the life contained within it. Similarly, when we might get “jammed up”, frozen, stuck or restricted physically, emotionally or mentally, we want to access Water energy to contact and mobilize all the fluids within us and keep them flowing freely. These fluids nourish and nurture all of our body’s tissues while breaking down and removing the toxic accumulation of metabolic waste. This is required for optimal physical, energetic, emotional, and mental health at any age.
• The Practices
You’ll learn interrelated Daoist cultivation methods to open the kidney and urinary bladder meridians to enhance internal Water Element qi flows, strengthen kidney functional energy and conserve and replenish jing essence. Combined, they improve physical and energetic health, emotional balance and mental clarity, and provide a vigorous healthy longevity.
> Chinese Self-Care and Meridian Exercises
These address the more exterior part of kidney health, opening up the kidney and urinary bladder muscle-tendon meridians to allow for the free flow of qi through the more superficial parts of our body. This releases physical restrictions and sets the stage for fuller access to deeper qi flows.
> Kidney Breathing
Daoist Natural Breathing opens and cleanses all the internal organs. Today’s workshop places an additional focus on breathing directly into the kidneys to perfuse them with qi and blood, increasing their functional energy while dispelling toxic accumulations. This can greatly enhance your health when practiced on its own, and is layered into Preserving Original Essence qigong.
> Preserving Original Essence: A three-phase qigong practice to guide qi to the kidneys and urinary bladder.
Phase 1: The Qi Body. Learn to contact your qi body (etheric field) and create external qi flows that interact with the kidneys, urinary bladder, and connecting pathways through the daimai.
Phase 2: Opening and Closing (kai he). Pulsing targeted joint and body cavities to bring qi deeper into the body, amplifying internal qi flows within the kidneys and urogenital system.
Phase 3: Directing qi through the Kidney and Bladder Meridians. As the deepest medical qigong aspect of this practice, you’ll learn to feel and guide qi exactly through the kidney and bladder acupuncture meridians, and directly into those organs to maximize their health and functionality.
DATE: Sunday, Jan. 25
TIME: 1-4:30 PM EST
LOCATION: The Arlington Center
369 Massachusetts Ave.
Arlington, MA 02474
If you’d like to attend but can’t make it in person, this workshop is available in a live stream format over Zoom, no matter where you are in the world. You may also just purchase a copy of the workshop recording to download and view at any time.
TUITION: 160 dollars. If paying at the door, cash or check only.
Discounted to 145 dollars if paid by Jan. 18.
TO ENROLL: Send tuition payment through Zelle or Paypal
Zelle: daoist2@dslextreme.com
Paypal: daoist1@dslextreme.com
Early registration is recommended. Your tuition payment reserves your place in class.
Please include your name, email address, and the name and date of the workshop so I can contact you and send Zoom links for online attendance and class recordings.
All participants will get a link to a recording of the full workshop within 24 hours of completion, available for download and review. No refunds after enrollment.