Wednesday 28 February 2018

YE&T-12: 3-Point Massaging


28 Feb 2018

As part of the renowned yangsheng expert Zhu Zongxiang's '3-1-2 Meridian Exercise', 3-point massaging can be performed alone or separately. More specifically, you can finger-press or massage these three meridian points - higu, neiguan and zhushanli (as shown in the following pictures), each for about five minutes, twice every day. This exercise is particularly helpful becausey by masaging these three key points, you can maintain a robust meridian system as a whole or your general physical well being.

Image result for 合谷穴
hegu point

Image result for Image result for 内关穴
neiguan point

足三里穴的准确位置图
zushanli point




Monday 26 February 2018

GYH-12: Eating a Rich Breakfast

26 Feb 2018

For one reason or another, many young and working people either eat an overly simple breakfast or do not eat anything at all. However, because our body needs much energy to function well in the morning, we should habitually eat a rich breakfast - rich in nutrients. While anything oily, fatty, sweet and salty ought to be avoided, such breakfast should include an egg, some lean meat, whole wheat bread and (soy) milk or rice pudding. For elder people who have enough time, it is more helpful to eat 'yangsheng porridge', an boiled egg and vegetables.  As a chinese saying goes, a breakfast good enough for an emperor helps make one happy and healthy for the whole day.

Saturday 24 February 2018

WTY-11: Zhu Zongxiang and His Yangsheng Secret


24 Feb 2018

Zhu Zongxiang, born in 1923, is one of the best known and most achieved yangsheng expert in China today. Despite his old age, he not only looks like but 'is' a young man as well: almost every test result of his physical condition is as perfectly normal as that of a healthy 30-year-old.

His secret is the so-called '3-1-2 meridian exercise,' which he himself invented decades ago, and has been practising twice daily ever since then. (For more detail, we will introduce it briefly in our wednesday postings in due time.)

More important,  to find or even 'invent' an exercise most suitable to you and do it persistently is one of the keys to your long-term physical well being.


Thursday 22 February 2018

YR&T-11: Rice Pudding

22 Feb 2018

- ingredients:
1. peanuts;
2. red beans;
3. black rice;
4. semen coicis;
5: taro;
6. dates;
7. mung beans;
8. glutinous rice;
9. millet

- methods:
1. wash well a half-handful of each ingredient (except dates and taro);
2. soak 10 or so dates for about 10 minutes;
3. peel off about 100 g of taro and cut it into small pieces;
4. put peanuts, red beans, semen coicis and black rice in about 1000 ml of water and cook them together for about 30 minutes;
5. add the taro, dates, glutinous rice, mung beans and millet to the pot and
6. continue to cook everything together for another one hour or so.

This pudding is particularly conducive to health for ageing people, and thus should be part of daily diet.


Image result for 八宝粥做法



Tuesday 20 February 2018

BHH-11: Bathing Too Often

27 Feb 2018

In terms of personal hygiene, it is undoubtedly a good habit to take a bath or shower every day or even twice a day. However, from a yangsheng perspective, it is a bad habit because taking a bath/shower too frequently would do more harm than good to one's skin and energy system (or qi and blood circulation). For seniors, who has ageing skin and whose qi and blood system has become increasingly weaker, it is particularly unsuitable to take a bath/shower daily. To maintain personal hygiene,  it would be better for elders to do so only when it is necessary or just once (or twice at most) per week.

Friday 16 February 2018

WTY-11: Dialectic Perspective for Yangsheng Practitioners

16 February 2018

If you were not 'born' with a cheerful personality or do not have a strong and sincere religious faith either to help equip youself with a positive mentality, you can certainly try to develop a dialectic outlook to do so. Indeed, the wisest and most mature way of looking at what is happening to and around us right now is to see it in terms of constant change: bad things can turn good, and vice versa.
No one likes suffering or hardship, be it physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual, and it takes a saint to enjoy it in the moment. However, once you are ready to see and believe that everything we are experience is changing, you already have a basically positive mentality which is essential to yangsheng.
Since good things can turn bad, you should remain on alert and take preventative steps. If you are going through something really bad, remember it is coming closer to an end every minute, while you can always turn it for the better by learning something from it at least.
A dialectic world outlook is the best and strongest philosophical foundation for a positive mentality. For those yangsheng practitioners with a 'negative' temperament or without a religious faith, such outlook is particularly helpful. To adopt this outlook is to convert one to true wisdom.

Wednesday 14 February 2018

YE&T-11: Massaging Yongquan Point

14 Feb 2018

Of all the 365 meridian points in the human body, the yongquan point on the feet is one of the most important. Massaging this point with a thumb tip or any other hard pointed object is a good way to maintain good health. In particular, those with high blood pressure, deficiency of the kidney (or weakened sexuality), bone problems and too many toxic elements in the body should practice such self-massaging on a daily basis.

Rubbing, pressing or massaging the yongquan point for 3 to 5 minutes, once in the morning, once before bedtime, you will find this exercise very helpful after you do it persistently long enough.

Monday 12 February 2018

GYH-11: Defecating Every Morning

12 February 2018

As our large intestines begin to work actively between 5 and 7 in the morning, the best or most natural time for defecating falls within this period. That is to say, it is a good habit to make a bowel movement after getting up or before breakfast every morning. If you can do so once a day without any difficulty, you are in reasonably good health. 

Saturday 10 February 2018

WTY-10: Simple Ways to Examine One's Own Health Condition

10 Feb 2018

According to yangsheng experts, one does not have to go to a doctor for a physical check-up every year. Actually there are five criteria to tell if you are a 'normal' or basically healthy person::

1. Eat well - you have a good appetite and no few food taboos;
2. Sleep well - you can fall asleep relatively in an easy manner and have few nightmares;
3. Discharge well - you have no trouble pissing, shitting, sweating;
4. Move well - you can walk, jump, run as you would like;
5. Sense well - you can see, hear, smell, taste, feel like everybody else does.

Thursday 8 February 2018

YR-10: Fungus-Doufu Soup

8 Feb2018

- Ingredients
1. doufu (200-300g; cut into small peces);
2. black fungus  (20-30g; soak in water for a couple of hours before washing it well);
3. green onion (cut into small pieces);
4. garlic oil (garlic cut into small pieces and fried well in oil)

- Steps
1. boil water in a pot;
2. add doufu and black fungus into the boiling water and boil them together for 5-8 minutes;
3. right after adding green onion, garlic oil and other spices of one's preferences, turn off the fire



木耳豆腐汤的做法

Tuesday 6 February 2018

BHH-10: Eating Too Fast

6 Feb 2018

Probably because they have a good appetite, many people eat very fast. Without chewing it really well, they swallow their food as if they cannot wait for the next mouthful of it. However, this is a very bad habit. Eating too fast for too long definitely does much harm to your digestive system. As almost every yangsheng expert has pointed out, chewing each mouthful of food at least 20-30 times before swallowing it is not only necessary but also helpful to maintain good health.

Friday 2 February 2018

WTY-10: The Ambivalence between reason and feeling

2 February 2018

Life is full of contradictions, dilemmas, pitfalls, setbacks and ambivalences. The biggest ambivalence is that we fully understand and even decide to do something good for the sake of our physical or psychological wellbeing, namely, yangsheng, but find ourselves simply unable to do so in practice. More specifically, everyone of us may desire to have a positive mentality, but just cannot help feeling lousy, depressed, worried or afraid when experiencing something bad in reality. 

This ambivalence between reason and feeling is the biggest one for the yangsheng practitioner.  
Indeed, who would really feel thankful and celebratory when s/he is going through an ugly divorce, losing a legal battle, falling into a victim of accident, getting a pink slip, or becoming hopeless of recovery? Who would and could feel good about suffering?
To overcome such ambivalence, there are three major approaches:
1/ To convert ourselves to God - That's why those with a religious faith usually live a healthier, happier and longer life;
2/ To convert ourselves to wisdom - By really subscribing to, and habitually practising (folk or philosophical) wisdom;
3/ To convert ourselves to 'pragmatism'- By exploring various practical methods and techniques.
Those having an optimistic personality are really lucky in terms of yangsheng, but people who may have been 'born' as pessimistic, cynical and introvert as me can also gain a positive mentality through active learning and conscious practice.