Natural Health System
and Taoist Principles
Healing methods
Whole body breathing
There may be as many as one hundred different breathing methods available in various healing systems. It would take a lifetime to learn them all. I am a heavy advocate of learning the so called 'whole body breathing' and tan tien ( lower abdomen ) breathing. It means that with each breath, you will absorb energy to your whole body, not just the lungs. By practicing whole body breathing, each in- and especially outbreath also moves the blood in your organs, and so blood stasis and blockages ( due to cold ) can be cured. Usually when the body is weak, the organs ( mainly spleen and heart ) are unable to push the vital substances through your whole body naturally. By learning the whole body breathing, we can emulate this function and keep the vital substances flowing smoothly until the health is restored.
Here are the instructions for the whole body breathing practice:
1. Take a standing position and keep your torso straight. Hold your hands in front of you like you would hold a big ball in your hands.
2. Start the whole body breathing from your toes. Move your mind to your toes, and breathing through your nose using the deepest parts of your lungs, start gradually 'breathe' to your toes. Feel the warm energy packing on that specific part of your body.
3. Next, move your mind to the other parts of the body and repeat the process. Good body parts to give attention includes at least knees, pelvis, spine, hands, elbow-joints, neck and top of your head.
4. When you have repeated the process to each of the body parts, try to breathe to your whole body takind deep breaths and being aware of your whole body at the same time. When outbreathing, feel how the energy and blood is circulates throught your hands, legs and whole body. The idea is that you can move your body fluids and substances with your breath this way and help the body to heal and transform nutrients and fluids. You should feel your body getting warmer while doing the exercise and also feel how the blood starts flowing smoothly.
5. Afterwards squeeze all your muscles at the same time vigorously, this will pack the energy to the bones. It is very good for the muscles and spleen also.
6. Practice this every day to ensure maximal healing rate. Make a regular habit to take deep breaths ( no surface breathing ).
Lung qigong every morning
Often people use only small portion of their maximal lung capacity. Lungs are extremely important source of energy and they also control water/nutrient metabolism in the body. Lung qigong is an effective practice to increase the lungs capacity. Grief, sorrow, low self-esteem or chronically bad posture can weaken the lung capacity. It is extremely important to realize that proper breathing and strong lungs means more free energy and good food metabolism. Basically you hold your breath as long as you can to help your lungs to trap more carbon dioxide. Read the following page for further information.
http://shouyuliang.com/index.php/2002-December/January/Lung-Qigong.htmlAnother practice is good for building a powerful warm chi ( energy ) and increasing courageousness. Avoid practicing near others since people may start to think you have become very aggressive.
Take a straight standing posture, become as tall and straight as you can. Begin to open and pull your chest to each direction very powerfully, almost aggressively. Try to "open up" your chest completely and spread your awareness. At the same time, feel all the feelings of guiltiness and sorrow to disappear. You may start to feel postive signs right away, such as feelings of hunger, breathing becomes easier and you become more courageous.
Yet another powerful practice to increase lung strength and open blockages( if feeling something is stuck in the throat, crying easily ) is to imagine oneself to roar like a tiger. You do not need to make any sound, but do the required internal work to produce such effect.
6 Healing sounds
6 healing sounds is an ancient taoist method to solve energetic/emotional blockages in the body and transform negative and stressful energy into healing and positive energy. Healing sounds are the basic exercises to transform stress into vitality and should be done at least every evening before going to sleep. Especially good is the liver sound (pronounced SSSHHHH or SSSHU! vigorously), since liver get easily blocked due to anger, reading negative texts, gossiping, looking bad things out of others. When the organs become blocked due to emotional or physical causes, their functions gradually starts to slow down and many illness arises. Digestive problems usually indicates emotional blockages or lack of relaxing. You can make the sounds very loud, this will increase their power.
http://www.drfeely.com/PatientCare/exercises_G1_zang.htm http://www.universal-tao.com/article/six_healing.htmAgnisar Kriya - increasing the digestive fire
This practice is very effective for cleansing the stomach and increasing the digestive fire. You basically breathe out ( hold your breath as long as you can ) and then pump your stomach muscles in and out, and you will feel the warm energy circulating all around your body. It is very good when there is blockages in the stomach/bowels and lack of digestive fire. I recommend doing it every morning and evening. Here are better instructions:
" In this, while standing bend slightly forward from the waist while keeping the back straight. Take support by resting your hands on your knees or just above so that the back is not strained. Please make sure the arms are straight. Now, breathe in deeply. After this, exhale fully contracting the abdomen and lugs so that all the air is expelled. While holding breath in this position, contract or 'flap' your abdominal muscles in and out. Note that this should be done rapidly while holding the exhaled position WITHOUT inhaling. Do this as many times possible and then take a slow, deep breath inside. This is one round of the practice. Beginners may find that they lose control of the abdominal muscles and are unable to coordinate the flapping movement. These muscles must be slowly developed over time. Therefore, in the beginning three such rounds, each of 10 flapping cycles are more than enough. This should gradually be built up to 100 inward-outward flapping cycles in each round."
http://www.jalanetipot.com/clean_agnisar.htmlCrane exercise...rubbing your stomach
Our abdominal areas tend to get easily stagnated and blocked due to bad posture and weak digestion. One exercise to overcome such stagnations is the crane exercise
Start by lying down on the floor on your back.Then start rubbing your palm over your abdominal area in circular fashion and feel the stomach getting warmer. Repeat this motion as many times you wish, at least 50 times. Then do the same process with your left palm, except that move your palm on opposite direction than before.
Take this yoga position ( halasana ) and massage the abdomen, it is extremely powerful exercise to solve blockages in the stomach and small intestine.
If you are using lots of computer, you might want to prevent the pressure on your wrists where flows very important energy channels like lung channel.
