Tao In You

You will have to know what Chi (qi) is when performing Taoist excercises, from Tai Chi, chi kung to Taoist meditation.

Chi internal energy in our body. 

By practicing Taoist exercises, we learn to harness the chi, allowing it to circulate freely within our body and exercise our internal organs, from intestines to the liver and the lungs, making them healthier.   It also helps our mind to focus, become more alive and nimble, making us stronger inside out.

A simple way to feel the chi is to place your two palms against each other, before your lower abdomen.  Relax your palms, and you will feel a current moving between the palms.  This is the chi.

You can then play with it, as if an invisible ball, like what you see in the Taoisit Exercises video below.

Play With Chi of Tai Chi

Free video tutorial:

How to do Abdomen Breathing

 Abdomen breathing is used in Taoist exercises like Tai Chi and Qigong. 

Even if you do not practice Taoist exercises, it is good to know how the breathing is done.   

Most of us breathe in a way which is shallow and short, because we inhale the air to only the chest. Abdomen breathing, in contrast, inhales the air all the way to the belly.  It is a better way to breathe, as it allows more oxygen to work in our body.

To understand how breathing is conducted, lie down on your back at somewhere comfortable — in your bed or on the floor: 

1. Put your hands on your sides;
2. Breathe gently: 
3. Focus your attention on how the air move in your body.   Ask yourself, “where does the air go to?”
4. Let the air go to your belly, rather than your chest, when you inhale!
5. Feel the natural rise and fall of your belly.
6. Your belly expands when you inhale, and contracts when you exhale.

Congratulations!  You are doing the abdomen breathing!

When you are doing Taoist exercises, you could do your abdomen breathing in this way, or the reverse way.  When you are reversing the breathing, feel the belly contract when you inhale, and expand when you exhale.

Find out how this is done in the free video tutorial:

How to do Abdomen Breathing

Free video tutorial:

Play the Chi of Tai Chi like an Accordion

The moment you start learning Tao exercises like Taichi Chuan, qigong exercises and standing meditation, you’ll begin to hear about chi.

The Tao exercises can help us to stay healthy, very much of it is due to the regulation of chi in our body.  Without the process, the exercises are less effective.   Chi is, therefore, basic to the Tao exercises.

If you are taking up the Tao exercises, it is useful for you to feel the chi in your body.  This does not mean that without the feeling of chi, your Taoist exercises are not working.  What I am sure, nevertheless, is that w ith the feel of chi, you will definitely enjoy more of the exercises. 

Here, I’ll like to share with you a very simple way to feel the chi in your body.

What you’ll have to do is simply to place your two palms facing each another, leaving a distance between them, and hold them in front of you lower abdomen. and then, relaxed. If you can be truly relaxed, you will feel a current of energy between the two palms. The feeling varies from one individual to another. Some of you may feel warmth and strong sensation, other only mildly. In some cases, there’s a tingling feeling, or even numbness.

They are all signals that the chi in your two palms are interacting.

You can play with the chi between the two palms, as if playing with an invisible accordion. See how the chi exercises are conducted in my video tutorial:

Play the Chi of Tai Chi like an Accordion

As part of the Nature, you should sleep while the earth is asleep, and wake up when the earth is awake — in order to stay healthy.

Based on the Chinese traditional beliefs, there are four seasons in a day. The Spring of a day starts at 3 a.m., and ends at 9 a.m.. So the earth rises at 3 a.m. as the Spring begins. Even when you are asleep, your cells — in tandem with the vibration — get up at these hours.

Since 6 a.m. is in the prime of the Spring of the day, it is better that you have awakened by then.

For this consideration, if you wake up at 3 a.m., there is no point for you to go back to the bed. Not only is the sleep not effective, it may make you feel more tired.

Similarly, if you go to bed late, you should still wake up at around 6 a.m., rather than remain sleeping till noon. Catch a nap later in the day to make up for the lost sleep! Sleeping late is an act of exhausting your yang energy, while waking up late is a way to kill you yang energy. It is ‘double deprivation’ of your yang energy — if you sleep late and wake up late. This can badly affect your health in the long run.

The best time to be sound asleep in a day is between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.

Based on the traditional Chinese beliefs, this is the time when the earth is asleep. Following the rhythm of the Nature will make your sleep deeper and more effective.

Unfortunately, many of us are unable to be asleep during these hours.

There are two major reasons that deprive you from sleeping during these hours. First, you find it difficult to fall asleep, even if you want to. Second, you postpone the sleep for other reasons. It could be that you’d have to rush a report, or simply to stay on for your Internet chats. It could also due to health reasons, such as muscle pains.

If you find it difficult to be asleep, one thing you may do is to observe the pattern of the day to plan your activities. While there are four seasons in a year, the same rhythm can be found in a day. The autumn of a day begins at 3 p.m., and ends at 9 p.m.. Beginning from 9 p.m., it is the winter, and it should be the time that you’re getting ready for your slumber.

For those who have problems falling asleep by 11 p.m., you may want to review what you do during the autumn of the day; i.e. from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Since it is the autumn, it is the time for harvest. If you do something fluttering during these hours, you may find it difficult to lower the chi of yang, thereby allowing the chi of yin to take over and lead you to a sound sleep during the winter of the day.

If you do not sleep by 11 p.m. because you choose not to, it could be that you are unaware of the importance of living in tandem with the rhythm of the Nature. Unless you can’t do it due to reasons beyond your control, for your health sake, it is worth the while to review the ways you plan your daily activities.

Time your sleep, so that you can benefit the most from every slumber.

Let your sleep hours be in harmony with that of the Mother Earth.

In the Chinese traditional belief, maintaining a rhythm in harmony with the Nature is critical to health. While there are four seasons in a year, there are four seasons in a day as well. You must do the right thing in the right season to stay healthy.

The spring of a day begins at 3 a.m., and ends at 9 a.m. The summer is between 9 am and 3 p.m. As for the autumn, it begins at 3 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. The winter is meant for hibernation. It begins at 9 p.m. and ends at 3 a.m.

By 9 p.m., as the day goes into the ‘daily winter’, the Mother Earth goes to sleep. If you do not slow down, and get ready to sleep during these hours, you are acting against the rhythm of the Nature. Whatever you do is counter productive. On the other hand, if you can slow down and get ready to sleep, you are in harmony with the Nature. Whatever you do can be more productive. In this case, your body functions in the rhythm of the Nature, and it is a boon to your health.

While it is most productive to sleep between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., it is especially important for you to sleep deeply between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. it is said that during these hours, chi in the gall is very powerful, and it is better that you are asleep to store the chi.

So do more than just sleeping, Time your sleep!

One of the questions that I’m often asked about tai chi chuan is, “am I too young to learn?”

For those who have been practicing the martial art form, it is a rather amusing question.

Of course, tai chi is an excellent exercise for the elderly, as it is gentle, and allows one to do it in a non-strenuous manner. This is, nevertheless, only one facet of the sport. The exercise can be as demanding as any other sports! It needs not be slow, and the blows can be extremely powerful.

See how this young boy of 10 years old enjoys the exercise, and you will have no doubt that tai chi can be equally delightful for the young.

The style he practices is Yang style – one of the five major styles of tai chi practiced today.

Staying healthy begins from your mind.

How you see the values in the things that you have can make the quality of your life very different.  When you can be truly at ease with what you own, you are relaxed, and ‘chi’ begins to flow smoothly throughout your body.  This will lead you to a healthier life.

The following verse of Lao Tzu is useful in this aspect.

Which is more important, your renown or your life?
Which is more valuable, your possessions or your being?
Which is more harmful, gain or loss?

So deep love leads to great expense
and heaping wealth leads to greater loss.

Be contented and you will not be disappointed,
He who knows when to stop can stay clear of danger
an thus endure long.

Lao Tzu (44) (Translated by Tekson)

One thing many people do not know is that our legs are more important than our hands, as far as health is concerned.

This is easy to understand.  We use our hands to perform myriad tasks, from typing on the computer, cooking a delicious meal to waving goodbye.  It is our hands that make us distinctive from other animals.

The fact is:  Legs are more crucial than our hands.  In the Taoist tradition, it is believed that aging often begins with our legs, rather than our hands.  Problems with the legs can signal the beginning of aging.  On the other hand, there are creatures in this world that are born with only legs.  None of them are born with only hands.

One way to stay young and healthy is, therefore, to walk more.

The importance of legs is stressed in the practice of tai chi.  Strengthening of legs is fundamental in the exercise.  Hands are important, but they are secondary when in comparison to legs.

Because of the modern convenience, we tend to walk less and less.  So do yourself a favor.  If you cannot spare time for any exercise, do not forget to walk!

As the Chinese saying goes,  ‘walking five thousands steps a day leads you to longevity’.

A secret for good health is to breathe like a baby.

Known as natural breathing, it is the way we breathed when we were born.  Observe how an infant breathes, and you will understand what I mean.  The basic principle is to breathe with your belly, rather than your lungs.

If you are not breathing this way, try the following exercise.

Lie on your back at somewhere comfortable — in your bed or on the floor.  Put your hands on your sides.  Breathe gently.  Focus your attention on how the air move in your body.  Ask yourself, “where does the air go to?”   You will notice that the air goes to you belly, rather than your lungs, when you inhale!  Feel the natural rise and fall of your belly.

Congratulations!  You are doing the natural breathing!

Your belly expands when you inhale, and contracts when you exhale.

It is so simple, because this is the way we should all have been breathing anyway.  Many of us have lost the habit as we grow older because of problems like stress.

It is a better way to breathe, and vital to our health.  As you inhale the air to the belly that has a bigger capacity than the lungs, you take in more oxygen with every breath.  Since we breathe every second, the increased amount of air from every breath will affect your health eventually.

Don’t lose this precious habit endowed by the Mother Nature!  It is so simple.

If a baby can do it, so can you!