Category: Exercise

I have included ancient medicine philosophy because modern thinking now recognises that nature, exercise, breathwork, meditation, acupuncture and the gut biome, have an important part to play in our physical and mental health.

Daoist philosophy dates back to 500 BC and was founded in China. The Daoists followed their observations of nature and believed the world was made up of opposites and without these opposites, the world would not function. They viewed human existence as being no more important than any other living organism and for harmonious living there had to be a balance with nature. Life was seen as a journey similar to a river flowing, with a general idea that without any intervention most outcomes would be positive ones, therefore there was no need to overly worry about problems on the way. Qi (pronounced Chee) was the life force energy and had three centres or Dantian. The lower Dantian probably seen as the most important was in the centre of the body approximately 4 fingers width below the tummy button. The other two centres were in the chest near the heart and in the middle of the forehead between the eyebrows.

The Daoist symbol of Yin Yang has become a common icon of harmony and balance. The idea behind yin and yang is paradoxical. The black and white stands for two opposing forces that are also complimentary. This constant mutual attraction and repulsion causes contestant change, that manifests in what we call the universe. Phenomena like life and death, winter and summer, matter and emptiness are all physical manifestations of Yin and Yang. 

In the ancient masterpiece written by Lauzi called the Dao De Jing, he talks about the great mother, being the mysterious, receptive and passive force represented by the black part of the symbol, and the active force that is most visible and prominent, represented by the white part. The symbol has a black dot in the white area and a white dot in the black area, representing the idea that both parts carry the seed of one another. Day carries the seed of dawn and night carries the seed of dusk. 

There are no absolutes when considering what is Yin or Yang, it depends on the situation. This is what Lauzi wrote in Chapter 2 of the Dao De Jing:

• Being and non-being produce each other
• Difficult and easy complement each other
• Long and short define each other
• High and low oppose each other
• Fore and aft follow each other

Yin represents a series of characteristics that are – generally – passive, empty, low, cold and dark in nature. Things like passivity and emptiness seem of little value, but they harbour an immense power. Yang can be described as the active element, that’s generally found in things like light, warmth, height, fullness, aggression and speed. One cannot exist without the other, and whether one is Yin or Yang depends on the relationship between the two. An example is the functionality of a mug. Yang is the material the mug is made of while the emptiness in it is the Yin element. The mug cannot function without both parts. Without the space in our universe, the solar system would not function. 

Society’s Yin passivity is essential for every form of accomplishment e.g. After a hard gym session, muscles are built in bed when the body can rebuild the muscle tissue. Yin is receptive to flowers waiting to be pollinated. Lauzi described Yin as soft comparing it to water in relation to hard Yang rock but water can shape rock over time through erosion. An atom has a positively charged core surrounded by negatively charged electrons and the Yin Yang pattern is the essence of binary code, which solely consists of ones and zeros. Lauzi wrote that no movement is possible if an opposite movement has not occurred:

• If you want something to return to the source
• You must first allow it to spread out
• If you want something to weaken
• You must first allow it to become strong
• If you want something to be removed
• You must first allow it to flourish
• If you want to possess something
• You must first give it away

Yin and Yang complement each other, create each other, support each other, regulate each other and transform each other. Non-doing or effortless action, also called Wu Wei by the Daoists, is a practice that harvests the power of both Yin and Yang—knowing when to act and when not to, so our actions won’t be strenuous but more in a flow state. By embracing Yin we become more receptive to the natural course of the universe and in many cases, there is no need to act, many problems solve themselves and taking action can worsen a situation. By backing off we enter a Yin state but the key is knowing when to act or not. Too much passivity can be as bad as too little. No matter what you do there will always be a dark and light side to everything. Without opposites, there is nothing to support yourself in the hierarchy of things.

Qigong

Most forms of Qigong (pronounced chee gung) originated from Daoist practices focused on cultivating and maintaining personal health. Included in those practices were exercises made up of postures, breathwork, and intention setting. The exercises initially mimicked the movements of animals and then evolved as people gained a deeper understanding of human anatomy and physiology. 

Qigong follows traditional Chinese medicine principles, which claim that Qi flows through our bodies. Accordingly, people tend to feel their best when Qi travels freely, but health problems can crop up if the energy becomes stagnant or blocked in certain areas of the body. Through simple poses and patterned breathwork, Qigong can remove obstacles to promote a healthy flow of Qi. Physical movements are coordinated with breath through the repeated practice of exercises. Once proper form is achieved, work on turning those exercises into moving meditation or finding the change in energy within the postures, movements, breathing patterns, and transitions can be practised.

The slow, gentle movements are believed to warm up your tendons, ligaments, and muscles; mobilise the joints; and promote the circulation of body fluids (like blood, synovial, and lymph). Meanwhile, deep breathing, which plays a central role in Qigong, calms the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous system and activates the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) side of your autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary processes like breathing, heartbeat, and digestion. By tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system, Qigong can help reduce stress and anxiety, which has many health implications. From the traditional Chinese medicine perspective, Qigong optimises the flow of energy in your body to help mitigate or attend to any number of conditions.

Acupuncture

The practice of acupuncture grew out of ancient Chinese phylosophy’s dualistic cosmic theory of the Yin and the Yang. The first documentation of acupuncture that described it as an organised system of diagnosis and treatment is in The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine. Acupuncture points are believed to stimulate the central nervous system. This, in turn, releases chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These biochemical changes stimulate the body’s natural healing abilities and promote physical and emotional well-being.

The forces of Yin and Yang act in the human body as they do throughout the natural universe as a whole. Disease or physical disharmony is caused by an imbalance or undue preponderance of these two forces in the body, and the goal of Chinese medicine is to bring the Yin and the Yang back into balance, thus restoring the person to health.

An imbalance of Yin and Yang results in an obstruction of the life force, or Qi, in the body. Qi flows through 12 meridians, or pathways, in the body, each in turn associated with a major visceral organ (liver, kidney, etc.) and with a functional body system. Acupuncture is designed to affect the distribution of Yin and Yang in these channels so that the Qi will be enabled to flow freely and harmoniously.