Taoist-style routine: how they maintain youth in China by dedicating 1 hour a day to it
Anna Vladimirova April 21, 2024, 15:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
These practices will help restore vital energy and regain strength.
doctor, specialist in Chinese Taoist medicine
“Taoism is a philosophical and religious movement in China. Supporters of this worldview, Taoists, believe that our body works on Qi energy. By replenishing it daily, you can significantly improve your quality of life and maintain youth for many years. Followers of this idea insist that the time spent maintaining the body should be reduced to a minimum – about an hour a day. What is your daily routine like?
What we will tell you
Morning ritual Evening routine
Morning ritual
Upon waking up, the first thing a follower of the Taoist tradition does is drink a glass of warm water with lemon. This is a ritual that starts metabolic processes in the body.
After that, start light training, for example doing 10 squats or push-ups. However, the main activity of Taoist practices is authentic breathing, which corresponds to the breathing of a three-month-old child. It is simply done:
lie down on the mat, bend your knees, relax your lower back and press it into the floor; place a light object, such as a book, on your stomach, inhale, expanding your stomach, as if pushing the book towards the ceiling; breathe like this for several minutes, directing your attention to the stomach; repeat the exercise in a sitting position, placing your palm on the lower abdomen;
This breathing practice relaxes the abdomen, lower back and pelvis, improving the circulation of energy in these areas.
Photo: istockphoto.com/Dobrila Vignjevic
After this, the Taoists take a shower. Next, they perform a self-massage with patting: with their palms they pat the entire body, not forcefully, but noticeably: from the feet to the stomach, from the hands to the chest and then from below to the stomach and chest and back where you can reach. If breathing replenishes the supply of Qi, then this procedure normalizes energy circulation and activates the immune system.
Women perform an additional procedure – facial massage with a gua sha scraper. This is a stone plate that creates an upward flow of Qi: it is used to massage from the base of the neck to the chin and further along the massage lines of the face, lifting it slightly upwards. It is believed that in youth energy flows like a fountain from bottom to top, and with age, the vector of its movement in the body changes: Qi begins to flow downward. Guasha massage restarts this process, giving us back our youth.
Also read:
What is Qigong and how does it help improve mental health?
Night treatments
According to Taoist ideology, it is important to release the tension accumulated at night to return flexibility and mobility to the body. To do this, nighttime practice must include the Sing Shen Juang technique.
Photo: istockphoto.com/freemixer
This set of exercises works the active points of the spine. Each of them causes a cascade relaxation of all the muscles. In this case, the practice is done very slowly, focusing on relaxation.
One of the basic exercises includes the Dragon Head element, which relaxes the area of the seventh cervical vertebra, the largest vertebra at the base of the neck.
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly; place your palms on your waist, with the top of your head stretched up, begin to turn your head with a small amplitude, as if describing a small circle; with the top of the head; repeat 10 times in one direction and the other.
Photo: istockphoto.com/Funkey Factory
After completing the exercise, Taoists spend five minutes meditating before going to bed. To do this, you need to sit down, return attention from the outside world to the body, find inner silence and ground yourself. This will normalize the psychological state and improve cognitive functions.
Also read:
20 Taoist wisdoms to relax and start enjoying life
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