The Five Spirits, Poisons, Thieves & Beauties

 

Unveiling the Layers of Shen

The Five Spirits, Five Thieves, Five Poisons and Five Beauties offer a rich framework for exploring the different qualities and patterns that influence our perception, emotions and consciousness.

Through Shen Gong practice, you’ll explore these four aspects of Shen and the ways they can be recognised within your own experience. The practices invite a more refined awareness of what supports clarity and vitality, what disturbs or depletes us, and the qualities we can cultivate through conscious practice.

Alongside the theory, you’ll learn The Way of the Breath and Daoist Pore Breathing, bringing these teachings into embodied, experiential practice.

 

What this develops

  • A deeper understanding of the Five Spirits, Five Thieves, Five Poisons and Five Beauties

  • Greater familiarity with the relationship between Shen and the different qualities of our inner experience

  • A more refined awareness of the patterns that influence perception, emotion and consciousness

  • An understanding of how these patterns can be recognised through practice and lived experience

  • A foundation for deeper exploration within the Shen Gong stream

 
 

The Many Shades of Shen

The Five Spirits, Five Thieves, Five Poisons and Five Beauties offer four different ways of understanding our relationship with Shen and how it is expressed through our lived experience.

The Five Spirits describe the aspects of Spirit housed within the organs and their relationship with the Five Elements. The Five Thieves relate to the senses and the way we perceive and engage with the world. The Five Poisons explore the emotional patterns that can disturb the clarity of Shen, while the Five Beauties offer principles for how we might live with greater awareness, integrity and alignment.

Together, these teachings create a rich map for exploring the relationship between body, senses, emotions, perception and the way we live. Through The Way of the Breath and Daoist Pore Breathing, these ideas move beyond theory and into direct experience. You begin to notice how these different aspects of Shen reveal themselves through your own practice and everyday life.

This module sits within the Shen Gong stream of practice, building on the foundations established in Shen Gong & Heart-Mind Development. If you're drawn to exploring the nature of Shen more deeply, this module offers another layer through which to develop your relationship with Spirit, perception and the way you meet the world.

Nicole Lee practising Qigong outdoors with her arms extended in front of her body.

Study the Five Spirits, Poisons, Thieves & Beauties

The Five Spirits, Poisons, Thieves & Beauties is available as a self-study module for $99.

Study the practice at your own pace, return over time, allowing your understanding and experience of the form to deepen.

Purchase the Five Spirits, Poisons, Thieves & Beauties

A place to begin

If you're newer to Qigong, I recommend beginning with Establish Your Practice. It gives you time and support to establish the foundations and develop a regular relationship with Qigong.

Explore Establish Your Practice

  • You will come to love it and seek its refuge every day.

    This is a practice you can engage in any time and any place. I have especially found it beneficial in a physical healing and emotional settling way. I attribute this to the excellent, educative and insightful way Nicole imparts her experience and considerable knowledge. Highly recommend the practice for all age groups and most levels of mobility. You will come to love it and seek its refuge every day.

    Jennifer Phillips

  • Inspiring and motivating

    Absolutely loved the Introduction to Qigong class and am resolved to take the next step — a commitment to learning more. Nicole’s passion, knowledge and experience are inspiring and motivating. The online programs cover a range of modalities and Nicole's expertise is praiseworthy. I highly recommend the practice of Qigong as taught by Nicole Lee. In expert hands.

    Amanda Apthorpe

  • I feel a deep sense of peace come over me

    I have a wonderful experience of awakening to my internal spirit and connecting to my whole being when I do Qigong with Nicole. I feel a deep sense of peace come over me. I find Nicole's style of teaching to be clear, informative and interesting. There's so much to learn — it's great.

    Bronwyn H