Interview: Jesse Lee Parker Talks about Tao Yoga in Japan

Interview by Dylan Robertson.
Edited by Kresta Painter.

While HelloYoga.com is a website serving Tokyo’s yoga community, we’re by no means limited to yoga that originates in India. In India, Chinese “qigong” (literal translation: “energy cultivation”) is often referred to as “Chinese yoga.” Similarly, in China, many people refer to Indian yoga as “Indian qigong.” As the countries are neighbors, it’s natural that there has been a lot of cross-fertilization of ideas, techniques, and knowledge over thousands of years.

Jesse Lee Parker is a master of Tao Yoga, a term he uses to describe the wide range of practices that he learned from various Chinese masters over many years. Having recently appeared in local magazines and television, Jesse is rapidly gaining a strong following in the greater Tokyo area, and so I thought to interview him to expose him to Tokyo’s international yoga community.

Could you tell us a bit about your background and training?

As a teenager, I was attracted to Chinese martial arts and began training in Austin, Texas, in 1985. The same teacher also introduced me to the meditative and healing arts that are a part of Taoism.

After a few years, I began looking for a deeper level of instruction and ended up moving to San Francisco. By luck, I was introduced to a Taoist Master who was close to eighty years of age. He was raised in the Huashan Mountain Monastery from the age of nine during the early 1900s and had left China after the Cultural Revolution and relocated to America. The time spent with this master was very influential, and I would say he was the first teacher who introduced me to Taoist Yoga.

From California, I moved to Hawaii to study with a sixty-fourth–generation Taoist Master from the Dragon and Tiger Mountain school and began formal studies in Chinese medicine, massage therapy, Taoist Yoga, and qigong. I was also very fortunate to have been taken on as a formal student of a local martial arts master at this time, who trained me intensively in the practice of Xingyiquan (Mind Body Harmony Boxing). After five years of study in Hawaii, I was invited by a friend to visit Japan. In Japan, I continued my studies and was fortunate to meet an esoteric healer who was a direct relative of the last emperor of China. He took me on as an apprentice and after extensive training in his system, he certified me as a teacher and healer.

I then made my first trip to China to continue my studies and exploration. In China, I studied Tui Na massage at Tianjin University and also internal martial arts with a famous elder master. I then went on a journey through the sacred mountains, seeking Taoist teachers, taking part in self training, and learning along the way. I feel as though this first trip to China opened my eyes to the root and spirit of these arts, which is the land, mountains, and nature of China itself. Over the years, I made a few more trips to China and spent an extended period of time studying Tui Na Massage at the Traditional Taoist Therapy Association of Taiwan, where I received my license as a Doctor of Tui Na Therapy and Qigong Healing. I then returned to Northern China for an internship at the Tui Na Hospital of Beijing. After finishing my internship, I had a chance encounter with a Taoist, and was invited to take part in an intensive training program deep in the Mountains of the North, learning the traditional practice of Inner Alchemy Meditation. This training was a catalyst which deepened my understanding and gave me direct experience of internal development, cultivation of energy, awakening of spirit, and self-transformation.

In 2007, I relocated to China for intensive training in the sacred mountains. I had many different experiences and met various Taoist teachers. I was fortunate to learn from a senior Taoist of Huashan Mountain who taught me practices such as Taoist Dream Yoga, prayer, energetic fasting, Inner Alchemy Meditation, and how to gain harmony with nature. This culminated in being allowed to spend an extended period of time training in the Dragon Gate Cave in a remote area of Central China. It was a magical and special place, with elder Taoists, mysterious ceremonies, powerful herbal elixirs, and temples built into the vertical cliff side. To pray, you had to climb up vertical chains hanging down the cliff face—not for those faint of heart! The Dragon Gate Cave was a deep sphere in the middle of a cliff behind the temple, and to enter, you first climbed up a small chain, and then you had to crawl on your hands and knees up a small tunnel which led to the meditation chamber, which was a dome-shaped room, big enough for only one person. The cave was carved at such an angle that almost no sounds from the outside entered, and it was a completely dark and silent place. Many generations of Taoist Adepts had practiced in this cave, and it is the place where the founder of the Dragon Gate School spent nine years in constant meditation over eight hundred years ago. It was a very sacred, life-changing, and magical experience for me, and the experience instilled in me the wisdom, spirit, and essence of the Taoist tradition.

In June of 2009, I relocated back to Japan and now concentrate on sharing my experiences at our school, Tao Yoga Kamakura.

What are you teaching here in Japan?

We teach a program that develops balance, harmony, healing, vital health, and regaining our connection with nature. We teach a wide range of stretches, breath training, energy development, meditation, and even Taijiquan (Tai Chi). Our system is split into three different levels. Students start with the Body Level, then advance to the Breath and Energetic Level, and finally enter the Heart-Mind or Spirit Level. By cultivating these aspects of self in a systematic manner, one may gain a complete balance and harmony with all aspects of their being from the physical and energetic to the spiritual.

Are there any comparable practices native to Japan?

I think many aspects of Japanese culture have directly evolved from ancient Taoist culture. For example, look at the layout of Kyoto; it is highly influenced by Feng Shui principles, which is the Taoist art of geomancy. Things such as acupuncture, herbology, the Five Elements Theory, and Yin Yang theory—all of these have been imported from Taoist culture into Japan. Also, you can find Japanese Do-In practice, and this practice shares the same root from the Taoist yoga practice of Tao Yin.

What kind of students have you been teaching so far?

The majority of our students are Japanese women and a few men. In my opinion, most are seeking health improvement and reduction of stress, due to the demands of their jobs. There are specific practices designed for each gender that allow people to find harmony with their emotional state, and balance their hormonal and reproductive systems.

Are you teaching the martial arts as well?

Martial arts are great for health, and people can learn courage, overcome fear, and gain self-confidence. But I feel that martial arts training often makes people overly aggressive and competitive, something I don’t want to be part of. I would rather contribute to people gaining an awareness of nature and the power of self-transformation, healing, and development of spirit.

I suffered a broken spine a few years ago. I was in a body cast and didn’t know if I was going to ever walk again. I began to question my life and the value of martial arts training. In order to restore my health, I turned to the Taoist self-healing arts, and they have since become my lifework.

What age groups do you teach?

We mainly have students from mid twenties to just over forty; however, Tao Yoga arts are easy for people of all age groups and fitness levels. The practice is very simple to apply, and yet gives deep lasting results of self-healing, clarity of mind, relaxation, transformation, and also improves fitness.

Why did you decide to be based in Japan?

I see a lot of Taoist influence in Japan and also Neo-Confucianism in the way that Japanese people behave and think. I also love Japanese temple architecture, and Buddhist statuary, which is why I am so happy to live in the Kamakura area.

What challenges do you face teaching in Japan?

There are language and cultural barriers here in Japan. I think many Japanese are very interested in foreigners, but then there’s also a little nervousness or apprehension. The biggest challenge is the limited knowledge of the Taoist healing, meditative, and yogic arts. However, the growing popularity of Indian Hatha Yoga is laying groundwork for what I want to share from the Taoist tradition and gives students a very clear understanding that you can have a physical or a meditative discipline, which can also offer transformation of health, healing and inner growth.

What do you hope that your Japanese students will take from your courses and workshops?

I hope to empower people with the knowledge that they can transform and improve their lives by engaging in some very simple practices combined with spending more time in nature. Eventually, every aspect of their life will improve; they’ll have more fun with their friends, and they’ll enjoy their job more. My mission is to make a positive difference by helping to create happier and healthier people through the practice of Tao Yoga.

For more information about Jesse Lee Parker and Tao Yoga, please see his website, www.TaoYoga.jp.