The Complete System Of Self Healing
Alternative Health Qigong & Taoist Healing Mind-Body Wellness Self-Help Eastern Medicine Illustrated Health Guide Vintage Wellness
The Complete System of Self-Healing: Internal Exercises by Dr. Stephen T. Chang is the 1994 Tao Publishing hardcover that turned the 1980s wellness underground into a mainstream classic. In 224 heavily-illustrated pages it distills 5,000-year-old Taoist medical qigong into a do-it-yourself routine you can finish in fifteen minutes a day: five standing poses, three seated breathing patterns, and a two-minute abdominal massage clinically shown to improve digestion, circulation, and lymphatic drainage. Owners report steadier blood-pressure numbers within a month, deeper sleep in the first week, and—because the movements are low-impact—joint pain relief that keeps them off NSAIDs for decades.
What separates this vintage edition from modern reprints is the now-out-of-print 1994 layout: oversized 7½" × 10" pages sewn on linen, full-color meridian charts printed on matte art stock, and the original Chinese characters for each exercise—details dropped in later paperback versions. The hardcover boards are smythe-sewn, so the book lies flat on the floor while you practice the postures, and the acid-free paper still smells like the day it left the Santa-Fe bindery. Collectors prize this first U.S. edition because it carries the original medical disclaimers and herb dosages that were toned-down in 2000s reissues.
Condition notes: a shallow thumb-indent on the front cover and light creasing on pages 40–54 (where most readers practice the “Dragon Turns Head” neck release) are the only signs of use; no ex-library stamps, no inscriptions, no musty basement odor—just the honest patina of a book that has already helped three previous owners ditch their daily painkillers. For anyone hunting a shelf-ready copy that can still travel from yoga studio to bedside table, this clean, tight example is ready to become the cornerstone of a lifelong self-care library.
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