Xiu Yang: Self-Cultivation for a healthier, happier and more balanced life

by Mimi Kuo-Deemer

"A beautiful and timely gift." — Sifu Matthew Cohen, Founder, Sacred Energy Arts Founder

For centuries, Chinese sages, rulers, and spiritual seekers have embraced a simple yet powerful principle that enables them to live in harmony with the source of nature and all life. The art of self-cultivation or xiu yang (pronounced "sheow yaang") is based on the concept that we can nurture our capacity to be fully human and awake, finding balance and peace in our home, life, and community. Author Mimi Kuo-Deemer leads readers through a combination of practices from meditation and mindfulness to yoga and qigong, offering ancient wisdom to help with contemporary challenges.

"Exquisite ... for anyone interested in building a sustainable life that is imbued with vibrant healthy, mental and emotional clarity, and the most basic human need of all: happiness." — Donna Farhi, author of Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit

"A treasure chest for the heart and mind, a potent tonic for body and breath, and a vibrant life essence for the spirit." — Simon Low, Principal of The Yoga Academy

"Kuo-Deemer doesn't simply write about these ancient teachings, she shares the fruits of practicing them, processing timeless truths in her own heart and mind and body, so that we can do so in ours. Xiu Yang gives glimpses of her own transformational self-cultivation, while showing us a path for our own." — Martin Lylward, Co-Founder, The Mindfulness Institute

"Profound and powerful." — Norman Blair, author of Brightening Our Inner Skies

"Almost lost in China over the past century's onslaught of modernisation, xiu yang is now at the centre of Chinese people's search for values and belief — a tribute to the enduring power of these ancient practices. In this slender but powerful book, Mimi Kuo-Deemer unlocks xiu yang for the modern reader, de-mystifying it without losing the eternal, timeless qualities that have made it one of Chinese people's most potent ways of living a good, honourable, happy, and healthy life." — Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao

Genres: Nonfiction, Buddhism, Health, Self Help, Philosophy

Audible Audio

Published September 26, 2019

About the author

Mimi Kuo-Deemer is dedicated to living, sharing and evolving the art of self-cultivation through yoga, qigong and mindfulness meditation. She champions the balance of playfulness and precision as the best way forward in life, and never underestimates how sitting, breathing and conscious movement can provide the clearest and most compassionate perspective on the messy, complex and often unpredictable job of being human. She is a teacher of both students and of other teachers having practiced and taught meditation and the movement arts for over 20 years in China, the UK, Europe and the United States. In 1994, she graduated from Stanford University and in 2016, she received an MA with distinction from SOAS in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, she lived in China for over 14 years where she worked as a photojournalist as well as acted as co-founder and co-director of Yoga Yard, Beijing's first and leading yoga studio. Mimi now lives in the UK, where she offers classes online at Movement for Modern Life and teaches classes and trainings at triyoga, London's pre-eminent centre for health and wellbeing.
(taken from Amazon.uk)

Reviews

[Viv JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I enjoyed Mimi's gentle wisdom, a mixture of Daoism, Buddhism, qigong and yoga.

[Gaurita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big step up from some of the other books written about lessons to be learnt form other cultures. It’s a simple and well researched book. It felt like a good crash course in many Chinese teachings the most prominent of which to me was not to fight life in a negative way but to embrace life and proceed to make changes in a positive way.

[Trudy Bodwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read quite a few books about Chinese Medicine over the years. This is by far the best of the ones I have read. I also highly recommend her Qigong DVDs.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her writing. If you practice QiGong you will love this book. It's light and engaging. She offers wonderful exercises, meditations and stories. Love her.

[Nori Fitchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wonderful take on life mixed with many different philosophical principles though it is a little confusing to follow in just the audiobook format

[Rachel Kaloh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could only describe this book in one word, I would say: “powerful”!

If I’m being honest, I once doubted myself that I’d enjoy my entire time finishing this read. The reasons are:
1) This read is apparently not a hype, never appeared in my explore nor have I discovered other non-fiction readers doing a review about it.
2) True story, I was in the middle of a hurry when I decided to add this book to my cart since I was told to find a replacement to apply discount at #BigBadWolf2024.
(3) I did CHOOSE THIS BY THE COVER! Didn’t expect too much, little that I know it’s just as good as the cover, even beyond my expectation, so, yeay! 🥳

So, basically Xiu Yang is the ancient Chinese art of self-cultivation, and through 15 chapters you’ll get to know all the essential parts (and tools) to get a happier, healthier and balanced life. And if you know me, I always love self-improvement topic and always excited to know more about it from different perspective (this time, it’s based on historical, ancient principles).

From body clock to breath, meditation & mindfulness, freeing the inner critic (from self-concern to self-cultivation), to sustainable happiness, you’ll find the better understanding on cultivating life’s essentials.

There’s much to tell but here I share some thought-provoking parts that for me felt so powerful.

________

[Payton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful little book with some great points. I've actually used a couple of techniques mentioned and they've been incredibly helpful. There were some parts that seemed unnecessarily included, but most of it was very enjoyable.

[Amelia Sun Sign · Rating 5 out of 5]

WUNDERSCHÖNES COVER & ANLEITUNG FÜR HARMONIE & GLÜCK
Hier muss wirklich erwähnt werden, dass das Buch wirklich ein originelles Cover hat, es ist modern gestaltet, das Papier ist ebenfalls sehr hochwertig. Vermerkt ist ein Hinweis darauf, dass das Buch aus ökologischen Gründen nicht in Folie eingeschweißt wurde. Bravo!
Viel fundiertes Wissen über fernöstliche Weisheiten, genauer gesagt handelt es sich hier um chinesische Heilmethoden - der innere Harmoniekompass. Aber nicht esoterisch geschrieben, eher von medizinischer Sicht. Man findet immer wieder kleine Vermerke und Mantras und Zitate, die zum Nachdenken anregen. Die knapp 300 Seiten sind flüssig zu lesen und bieten viel Stoff zum Selbststudium... mit einer Beschreibung der Aufgabe der inneren Organe, sowie einer Anleitung von körperlichen Übungen zur körperlichen Fitness und Regeneration. Natürlich sind einige Ansätze nicht neu, aber da die Erstausgabe von 2020 ist, finde ich dieses Buch für die heutige Zeit und den Augenblick hilfreich, da das Thema modern bleibt und für das Hier und Jetzt geschrieben wurde. Themen und Wissen vertiefen sich noch, wie z.B. : die innere Balance finden, Achtsamkeit, die Suche nach dem Glück im Alltag, denn die sind genau wichtig für ein gelungenes Leben und können hier nochmals verinnerlicht werden.

[Liou Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

It´s a useful book if one already is determined to change some things or if has already some experience with using methods like movement practises. I found the book interesting but it didn´t speak to me as I wished it would have. I guess it´s a good fit if someone is already up for starting something new and has the time and resources to focus on that. The author mentions socioeconomic realities and their impact on the capacity to implement new health practises etc on a few occasions, but in general I felt the book is directed towards a privileged audience. What I liked: The author shares practical physical exercises with depictions of how the movement is supposed to look. What I didn´t like: It could have offered an annex with an overview of all exercises to make it more accessible. I imagine it can be a good fit for others.

[Max Jung]

I like to go for walks at lunch, helps give me space between classes. Stumbled upon a little second book shop and this got my attention as soon as I walked in, what a great £4 to spend!

Some wonderful wisdom in here. Will definitely return to and recommend to many

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm taking notes on this one as I go, I think it's helping me understand the work more effectively.

Finally finished: Took me almost a year to read and take notes on this work. I'd put it aside when I felt I needed to take a break. This was one of those "take notes for twenty minutes then let yourself put it aside" books. Lots to absorb, and much that was new to learn.

Now that I'm finished, time to review my notes to see if they make sense, then make more notes, LOL!!

Edit: Really glad I made time for this one. She's got a lot to say and has given me much to think about.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the ideas presented in this book. I was interested in learning about Taoism and liked learning some of the philosophy and gentle practices. Many of the concepts made a lot of sense to me, such as living seasonally as well as observing the daily clock for best times for which activities. There is a lot in this book on breathing, and good pointers on mindfulness. Overall this book was very calming to read and loaded with tips on rejuvenation for your body, mind and spirit.