What’s your Story?

Written July 2018

It all began in the silence of a California redwood forest.  Healing from injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash, I found my situation became a catalyst of great transformation and a liberation I was secretly yearning for. While spending lots of time in nature, I was naturally drawn into Daoist philosophy and practice.

As I recovered I began to seek out sources where I could learn more and train in the Way. A good friend introduced me to Chien Lung Kung Fu in Santa Cruz, California, and my foundations commenced. I started rebuilding my body and mind with awareness that we as human beings have a vast and incredible potential inside just waiting to be awakened.

My study of martial arts, meditation, and energetic work eventually expanded and evolved as I went to the Daoist Retreat Centre of Lotus Nei Gong in 2013. There I met my current teachers, Damo Mitchell and Roni Edlund, as I fully immersed myself in their teachings from Eastern lineages. My studies began in Shaolin Kung Fu, Yang style Taijiquan, Nei Gong, Qi Gong, and Chinese Medicine.

In the next two years I traveled and lived closely with my teachers throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, furthering my studies to also include Nei Dan Gong (Internal Alchemy), Yang Sheng Fa, Baguazhang and other esoteric aspects of Daoism. The Daoist Internal Arts continued to nourish and unfold the potential I felt within from those early days in the redwood forest. 

Training became not just an activity but a way of life. I no longer had to keep it a hidden practice in the forest, as I found a community of fellow practitioners to walk alongside. Summer Retreats in Sweden became a normal part of each year. I assisted in the operations of the retreats while also training during them for seven consecutive years until the world shifted in 2020 with widespread illness.

My journey teaching began after I was given approval and encouragement from my teachers in 2015. I continue cultivation of this ongoing process of development through daily practice and visiting my teachers for more intensive training. Mountain Pathways is my school of internal cultivation, born from the study of the Daoist Internal Arts. May these teachings of ancient wisdom be preserved to a high quality and passed on through our embodiment and union of the Way.

-Nikolas Benedikt