The Body Ecology Guide To Growing Younger

Today, the wisdom of the ancients has merged with ingenious, constantly evolving energy therapies. Along with pure water, sun, and air, age-defying techniques make it easy and fun to restore our precious jing.

By the time we reach our 40s, many of us have strongly ingrained habits that are often harmful. For example, women often get stuck in the “caretaker” mode and feel guilty when they spend money or time on themselves. Many of us, both men and women, have become true workaholics and can’t simply just “be here now.” Many of us were far more fortunate than our parents and grandparents, and we still have an almost programmed, unquenchable desire to experience and have it all. This has cost us dearly in terms of our precious prenatal jing energy.

Now you’ve arrived at the time in your life when you must start to find therapies to restore that gift given to you at birth. When you begin to search for rejuvenation treatments to increase your life-force energy, you’ll quickly discover that there are an overwhelming number of therapies available now, and many more will be emerging in the future. When the choices become confusing, always remember that your time and money are best spent on those that will replenish your prenatal jing. This chapter features a few favorite options pulled from ancient traditions.

So, how does one choose the therapies that are best for your unique brain, body, and spirit?

The Principle of Step by Step is your road map. It teaches that before you can restore your prenatal jing, heal from anything, or even look and feel younger, you must first and foremost create energy. With it, your body will have the vitality to consistently eliminate physical and emotional toxins. With more energy, you will digest your foods better, and your cells will no longer be craving vital nutrients. More energy provides the immune system with the power it needs to overcome fungal, viral, and bacterial infections. And, as each of these causes of aging is overcome, you’ll find you once again have more energy. You will be creating a “benevolent” cycle … quite the opposite of a vicious cycle that spirals downward, causing you to grow old far sooner than you should.

The Principle of Balance is also about energy. As you practice this universal principle, your goal will be to increase your core energy by creating balance in your body, in the foods you eat, in your relationships, and in the way you structure your time. All of these should be carefully nurtured. Are they making you feel more alive? Or are they draining your inner essence? So it is time right now to begin seeking out those therapies that add more energy, and carefully evaluating those things around you that take away from your constitutional life force.

No other practitioners of health and healing have focused on creating energy in quite the same way as the great sages of Chinese medicine. For thousands of years, these brilliant healers, who used acupuncture, acupressure, and herbs as natural daily routines, understood that if you “tonify the chi” or create a sufficient amount of energy on a day-to-day basis, your body will take any surplus energy and replenish your prenatal jing while you sleep.

Those of us with more of a Western mind-set might find the concept a little easier to understand if we think in terms of money instead of energy.

Remember your rich “Uncle Freddie” in Chapter 2? He gifted you with $5 million when you were born. Well, let’s say that your parents, who were very wise, added to this great inheritance. As you grew up, they taught you to replace any money debited from your account with new deposits as quickly as possible. For example, perhaps you did odd jobs (babysitting or cutting grass or lifeguarding) to make the spending money you needed each week so you didn’t have to tap into your inheritance. Even better, you might have often added a little extra to your account knowing that you might need it in the future—to go to college, perhaps, or to buy a house or have a baby. Nevertheless, you didn’t touch your precious inheritance unless it was prudent and farsighted to do so.

Now reread the above paragraph and replace money with energy. Your ancestors gifted you with energy. By creating at least enough to use each day, you were careful to never deplete it. At night your body stored what it didn’t need. You were mindful to create a way of life where you could often increase your energy. At times when you needed to expend extra (to create a baby, or if you were traveling, changing jobs, or moving), you always had enough in your energy account to never deplete your original inherited stores.

Usually, by midlife and beyond many of us become more focused on creating, conserving, and saving money. That’s great and usually necessary. However, because of the number of decades we spend literally depleting our constitutional energy, we must now also start accumulating more energy than we spend each day to create a reserve.

It’s never too late to start saving and restoring your jing. Whatever you do to replenish your original prenatal energy will enhance the quality of your life. It is also the secret to longevity.

The sun on your skin; the air you breathe; restful sleep; stress-management techniques; the quality of the water you drink; a probiotic-rich, sugar-free diet; the right supplements; and doing exercise that you enjoy will all become important tools to replenish that life-force energy. But can there be anything more? Absolutely yes! Special herbs; fetal sheep cells; stem cells; restoring youthful hormone levels; and even an active, loving sex life can also be powerful tools. So keep reading.

Chinese herbs have always had a prominent place in Asian cultures. They are associated with long life, slowing the aging process, radiant health, physical energy and vitality, mental acuity, and sexual vigor. Entirely natural, these herbs provide special nutrients for physical and mental health, and can be used to treat a variety of conditions, from anxiety to weight problems.

In a conversation with my friend the herbal master George Lamoureux, he gave this advice on restoring prenatal jing:

“In Chinese medicine, there are two organ systems that must be ‘tonified’ or strengthened as you restore your prenatal jing—your digestive system and your lungs.

“Healthy digestion is crucial for obtaining the nutrients we need from our food, while healthy lungs are crucial for acquiring ‘nutrition’ from the air. These two energies together create our daily chi—our bodies live and move on them. Create more than enough daily chi and you begin to restore your prenatal jing.”

Chinese herbs used to increase our day-to-day vitality are tonic herbs. Examples of chi tonics are ginseng, American ginseng, white Korean ginseng, cordyceps, codonopsis, and astragalus. Eleuthero-coccus root is known to increase oxygenation of the blood. When you increase oxygen, it reaches the mitochondria, those microscopic energy factories in each cell, and this increases chi.

Finding that Yin/Yang Balance

In Western medicine it is well understood that the adrenals produce our energy and sexual hormones. Chinese medicine views these organs slightly differently. The kidneys/adrenals are understood to house two separate yet interwoven energies. One is a cooling energy, and the other is warming.

The cooling energy (called yin/water essence) controls the fluids in the body, including the saliva; blood; sweat; tears; sexual, lymph, and spinal fluids; and overall moisture. When this adrenal/kidney cooling or yin essence is compromised, you tend to exhibit more sensation for “heat,” with depleted body fluids, and dry skin, hair, and eyes. You are most likely often thirsty and become agitated easily and are more inflexible. Three Sisters is an example of a liquid herbal blend from Jing Herbs (www.jingherbs.com) that was created to nurture balance by providing herbs that are cooling and nourish the fluids.

The warming energy (called the yang/fire essence) is responsible for sex drive, physical vitality, skeletal structure, willpower, courage, and overall energy. This warming energy enables all organs in your body to function; and when it is depleted, you are lethargic, tired, and introverted. Your immune system will be weak, and you will feel cold all the time. You will be very pale, will have a frail voice, will not have a lot of spark in your personality, and will be more withdrawn in character. Urinary incontinence is a sign of weak adrenals or an adrenal/kidney yang deficiency. For this problem, Jing Herbs created what they call the Deer Antler Essence. As you might suspect from the name, it contains deer antler, which is considered very “yang” or strong. To create a balanced formula, two anti-aging herbs, he shou wu and lycium (goji), were added.

Take a look again at the symptoms you experience when your adrenal/kidney yin and adrenal/kidney yang essences are depleted, described in the two paragraphs above. Add the symptoms together and you have the perfect definition of an aging man or woman. It becomes clear, then, that restoring your adrenals is vital to rejuvenation! (To tonify or strengthen both essences in your adrenals, you would take both formulas.)

Three Brothers is a liquid herbal supplement from Jing Herbs that combines three tonic herbs, each a superstar in its own right. The first of the three herbs is cordyceps (a favorite of martial artists and athletes). The second is astragalus (a premier herb that increases lung function and builds immunity by increasing white blood cells and natural killer cells). A study at the University of Texas showed that it prevents shortening of the telomeres on the end of DNA strands, greatly lengthening life span. The last is codonopsis, which supports digestion and helps keep lungs moist and protected. You could slip several droppers full of Three Brothers into any breakfast drink to wake you up instead of that morning cup of caffeine.

Most of the tonic herbs are considered adaptogenic. To be called an “adaptogen,” an herb must strengthen and provide energy. Examples of some of the most popular adaptogens are panax, Siberian and American ginseng, ashwagandha, shatavari, tribulus, maca, suma, mucuna pruriens, muira puama, rhodiola, schisandra, and mat-cha green tea.

While adaptogens energize, they also work by calming down negative energy. They help restore your sexual vitality and are excellent for your adrenals. Adaptogens and Chinese herbs work best when combined with the food and lifestyle changes recommended on the Body Ecology anti-aging program.

As we begin to have an even greater appreciation for how valuable adaptogens are for restoring youthful vitality, we’ll probably seek out and discover more of them growing all over the Earth—especially in the Amazon rain forest—a potential “Garden of Eden.”

My favorite ginseng is Ginex, a white Korean ginseng, grown for four years (not six, as traditional red ginseng is). A simple and very effective way to take Ginex is to add one small packet to a liter of water. Drink this slowly throughout the day. It consistently gives your adrenals and thyroid a shot of energy, which they will love (www.ginex.net).

Two other very special herbs worth singling out are holy basil and ashwagandha. Holy basil, also known as tulsi, is not related to the herb basil often used in cooking. It is revered in Tibetan and Indian medicine. It brings down elevated cortisol and sugar levels. It is highly recommended to take one or two capsules from Gaia Herbs if you feel your cortisol levels are too high, especially if you are having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb that has also been shown to restore prenatal jing energy. To be effective, take 1,500 milligrams in the morning and again at bedtime.

As effective as tonic herbs and adaptogens can be, it is a waste of your money to take them while continuing to eat a high-sugar diet, overindulging in caffeine or alcohol, and failing to manage the stress in your life. Also, please understand that herbs are not substitutes for minerals and vitamins. They do different things in your body.

We know all about stress, and we tend to take on a lot more of it than we can handle. Because we want to pack as much living as possible into a 24-hour day, we often ignore the toll stress and an overextended lifestyle are taking on our bodies. We forget to take time to decompress and honor our need for quiet and rest.

Stress weakens the immune system, making us more susceptible to a wide range of illnesses, from heart disease to depression. Unmanageable stress often leads to other unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating, drug and alcohol abuse, and destructive relationships.

A little stress is okay. Small amounts can increase the intensity of a good experience and heighten creativity and mental focus. But unmitigated stress—when it persists without the body having a chance to return to its resting state—may be what ages us most quickly. When the famous fight-or-flight response is on overdrive, we start to feel high-strung, irritable, and run-down.

What is happening to us in medical terms? Well, when we find ourselves in a highly demanding situation or an emergency, our bodies are flooded with cortisol, which boosts our immune response. However, cortisol must then inform the immune system that the emergency is over so that it can return to normal. Stress that doesn’t die down keeps cortisol circulating in the body for too long, causing our immune cells to become sluggish and opening the door to infection.¹ Interestingly, cortisol also determines where the body will store fat, locating more of it on the belly, rather than on the hips and thighs, where it would be less harmful.

There are many stress-management techniques, but the most important thing to remember about stress is that we create a lot of it ourselves by trying to be superwoman or superman. Much of our anxiety can be alleviated if we choose to do less and delegate more. When we say, “I don’t have time to exercise,” or “I don’t have time to relax,” what we are really saying is “I am not a valuable person unless I am always busy.”

Make quiet time for yourself a priority. Actively pursue those activities that support you emotionally and spiritually. This might mean keeping a journal; working on a photo album of your grandchildren; listening to a little Mozart before you go to bed; taking a short, meditative walk in the early morning; or painting a watercolor. Set aside some time each day to do something nice for you.

When life becomes too overwhelming, turn to family and friends for support. Even if they can’t solve your problems for you, sharing how you feel with an empathetic listener always helps you feel better and arrive at new perspectives and options you might not have been able to come up with on your own.

There are many kinds of massage, from Swedish and deep tissue to hot stone and craniosacral. All have a wide range of benefits. Below is a discussion of a special kind of massage called Ohashiatsu®, which is a unique combination of touch and acupuncture.

Developed by a Japanese man named Ohashi who came to the United States in the early 1970s, Ohashiatsu is a special method of touch derived from traditional shiatsu, exercise, and Zen philosophy. Ohashiatsu manipulates the energy within the body, but places an emphasis on the special synergy between giver and receiver. When you receive Ohashiatsu, your posture, mobility, and overall well-being are improved, and it is an excellent way to relieve stress and enhance range of motion. When you give Ohashiatsu, you are energized and rejuvenated by your body’s own dance-like movements and the meditative quality of your work. This massage involves deep but painless pressure applied to the acupuncture meridians, along with gentle stretches and limb rotations.

People practice meditation for any number of reasons—to improve concentration and focus, to reduce stress, and even to overcome an addiction. Research reveals that meditation can literally “reshape” the brain and transform the body.

Meditation has been shown to reverse the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries and to increase antibody levels in the bloodstream, boosting the immune system. It is often used to mitigate and manage pain associated with chronic health problems such as cancer, high blood pressure, and AIDS. Even more astonishingly, new research is showing that meditation and other relaxation techniques actually turn off the genes that are associated with inflammation and cell aging.²

Gone are the days when you had to be a mystic to meditate. More and more people are doing it! In 2008, data was released by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine that showed that 9.4 percent of adults surveyed in 2007 had tried meditation at least once during the previous 12 months! Simply sitting in silence for 10 to 30 minutes and concentrating on your breath, a word, or an image can clear away the cobwebs and shift the activity in the prefrontal cortex from the right hemisphere to the left, reorienting you from the typical fight-or-flight mode to greater acceptance and equanimity.³

Meditation can be divided into two types: concentrative and mindful. In concentrative meditation, you fix your attention on a particular object (a repetitive prayer or mantra), and empty your mind of all other thoughts. As you do this, you try to minimize distractions, continually returning to the chosen object. In mindfulness meditation, you can also focus on your breath or a word or an object, but in this case you keep your focus open. Distractions are not considered intrusions, but rather something to simply observe without judgment or analysis. The emphasis is on staying in the present.

There’s a meditation practice to suit every need or disposition. Here are just a few of the options out there today:

• Mindfulness: Beginning and ending with the breath, mindfulness practice teaches an evenhanded awareness toward whatever thought arises, by simply acknowledging it and returning to the breath.

• Compassion meditation: The aim of compassion meditation is outward, designed to foster a feeling of loving-kindness toward a cause or person.

• Movement meditation: An example of movement or motion meditation is “walking meditation,” which involves walking very slowly, with deliberate and conscious awareness of every step. T’ai chi and qigong might also fall in this category.

• Transcendental Meditation (TM): If you’re in your 50s, 60s, or 70s, you may remember TM from the 1960s. This type of focused meditation often involves repeating a mantra over and over. Dr. Herbert Benson, author of The Relaxation Response, was doing something truly radical in 1967 when he ran various tests on a group of 36 TM practitioners to measure heart rate, blood pressure, and skin and rectal temperatures. He found that when they meditated, they used 17 percent less oxygen, lowered their heart rates by three beats a minute, and increased their theta brain waves (the brain waves that dominate during periods of deep relaxation).⁴

• Visualization: This technique involves generating a mental image (a cross, a mandala, a journey, a safe place, or what have you); and can revolve around the achievement of a specific goal, such as losing weight, running a marathon, or curing a disease. This self-aware type of meditation often includes the repetition of an affirmation or intention.

Any discussion of energy would be incomplete without the mention of acupuncture, an ancient Chinese practice (dating to the 2nd century B.C.) used for a variety of physical and psychological issues. Acupuncture and herbs work hand in hand. The herbs can also stimulate the acupuncture points, especially when combined into formulas, but both together is ideal.

Acupuncture utilizes touch and very thin disposable needles to stimulate the body’s own healing mechanisms. In a similar way, acupressure uses pressure from the palms, fingers, and thumbs to heal, but without the needles.

The last chapter talked about detoxification pathways in the body that must be unblocked in order for cleansing to occur. We also have energy pathways, called meridians, which are routes through which chi energy moves and flows throughout our bodies. Acupuncture points are specific areas along these routes where chi energy collects, which makes them especially significant for healing. These critical points on the body can be accessed through gentle pressure, heat, and more commonly, acupuncture needles.

Anti-Aging on the Cutting Edge

Qigong: Lower Your Blood Pressure with
This Time-Honored Energy Practice

We know that stress ages us. It tires us out and weakens the immune system. Eventually, chronic stress will start to show up in our joints and aging skin. This makes qigong, an ancient energy practice from China, an especially effective anti-aging remedy, as it directly impacts our energy and replenishes our blood.

In China, qigong is the name given to the study, practice, and cultivation of chi, which we already know to mean “created energy.” The word gong comes from gongfu, which refers to energy and time. Although there are different ways to perform qigong, most practices involve breathing exercises and a series of carefully choreographed movements or gestures designed to facilitate the flow of chi. A consistent qigong practice has the ability to strengthen physical power, increase mental alertness and endurance, and promote long life.

As it relates to longevity, qigong is especially important because, in addition to restoring and moving lost chi, it also replenishes the blood. As we age, our blood supplies dwindle; and our bodies become dry, brittle, and less elastic. In both Western and Chinese medicine, it is our bone marrow that maintains healthy levels of red and white blood cells—the fluid that protects and nourishes the body. Certain qigong exercises restore the suppleness of this marrow, which in turn strengthens the brain and enhances our mental capacity.

In addition, medical studies have found that qigong practice reduces sympathetic activity (the fight-or-flight response that is activated under stress) in the central nervous system. At the same time, qigong increases parasympathetic activity, which is restorative and most active during periods of rest. Qigong is considered a viable therapy for protecting the heart, lowering blood pressure, and reducing anxiety … all without the need for drugs!ⁱ

ⁱJohn Seim, “Qigong Reduces Stress in Computer Workers,” Natural News website, February 25, 2008, http://www.naturalnews.com/022718.html (accessed 6/20/11).

Some people have likened chi meridians to a system of pipes through which water flows. The energy in these pipes can get stagnant, impeding or even stopping the easy movement of water. Just as our cleansing pathways must be open and unobstructed, so must our chi pathways be unblocked to allow the free flow of energy. When we are ill, one might say that a pathway has become dammed up somewhere. Acupuncture breaks up the dam.

Shown to increase energy and alleviate pain, acupuncture can also be used to address a variety of other conditions in which the body is in disharmony, such as hormone imbalances; sleep disorders, including insomnia; weight gain; chronic fatigue; anxiety; depression; jet lag; or susceptibility to illness.

The Five Tibetan Rites (also called the Five Rites of Rejuvenation) are another “must-have” in your growing toolbox of anti-aging remedies. Developed by Tibetan monks who condensed 21 yoga poses into 5 yoga movements, these rites were designed to stimulate our energy centers (also called chakras) that correspond to the endocrine glands in our bodies.

The “Rites” were first brought to American readers in a 1939 book entitled The Eye of Revelation: The Original Five Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation, by Peter Kelder, who said he learned them from a wide-traveling retired British army colonel who had lived and studied with Tibetan monks. Subsequent editions of the book have brought these ancient “youthening” rites into the popular mainstream. They are believed to be Tibetan in origin because Tibetan yoga focuses on continuous movement (Vinyasa) rather than static poses. Each of the five movements is done 21 times because 21 is a mystical number in Tibet.

The rites lay a good foundation for any yoga practice and should be practiced with a focus on synchronizing the breath. Typically completed in about 15 minutes, the Five Tibetan Rites do not take as much time as a traditional yoga flow series. In a sense, they are the “best of the best.”

Anti-Aging on the Cutting Edge

Yoga Nidra

For some of us, it can be nearly impossible to unwind after a stressful day. Our minds race, and our limbs feel restless and jumpy. Yoga Nidra is an ancient practice that means “yogic sleep,” and it can be very calming for even the most frustrated insomniacs. When you practice Yoga Nidra, you are brought to a state of conscious deep sleep that is between wakefulness and dreaming. Although you are deeply calm, you are still awake and aware. During Yoga Nidra, the brain is at the delta brain-wave level, which is much slower and is the frequency of deep sleep. An excellent biofeedback practice, Yoga Nidra can involve breathing exercises, body surveys or “scans,” and mental points of relaxation. It is ideal for stress reduction, insomnia, asthma, imaginative reveries, and even spiritual explorations.

You can find out more about this unique practice at: www.holisticonline.com/Yoga/yoga_nidra_home.htm.

• They help detoxify and move the lymph system. (In fact, you may feel a little dizzy when you first start doing them as they move toxins around.)

• Many report that daily practice soon even eliminates an unattractive symbol of an aging body, the double chin.

If you do an Internet search on these exercises, you will discover that there is a lot of variation in how the poses are done and the speed at which they are done. If you are out of shape or unaccustomed to yoga, you might want to do the movements quite slowly at first. Many practitioners report struggling with the poses when they first try them, but then becoming stronger and more adept at them with practice. The important thing is to do them every day. It would be wise for any new practitioner to learn the proper way to do the movements so as to avoid injury. You might try Dr. Dariah Morgan’s DVD, which shows the proper way to do the poses and offers modified poses depending on your level of fitness. It offers a warm-up and breathing exercises as well.

The Five Tibetan Rites are described below, with explanations taken from The Eye of Revelation.⁵ Remember, each one must be done 21 times.

—The First Rite (spinning) strengthens the inner ear for balance. “Stand erect with arms outstretched, horizontal with the shoulders. Now spin around until you become slightly dizzy. There is only one caution: you must turn from left to right.”

—The Second Rite (leg lifts) is for core (abdominal) strength. “Lie on your back full length on rug or bed. Place your hands flat down alongside your hips. Fingers should be kept close together with the finger-tips of each hand turned slightly toward one another. Raise your feet until the legs are straight up. If possible, let your feet extend back a bit over the body toward the head, but do not let the knees bend. Hold this position for a moment or two and then slowly lower the feet to the floor, and for the next several moments allow all of the muscles in the entire body to relax completely. Then perform the Rite all over again.”

—The Third Rite (camel) activates the spine, opening the heart and solar plexus. “Kneel on a rug or mat with hands at sides, palms flat against the side of legs. Then lean forward as far as possible, bending at the waist, with head well forward—chin on chest. The second position of this Rite is to lean backward as far as possible. Cause your head to move still further backward. Your toes will prevent you from falling over backward. Your hands are always kept against the side of the legs. Next come to an erect (kneeling) position, relax as much as possible for a moment, and perform Rite all over again.”

—The Fourth Rite (table) stimulates the sacral area and is excellent for building arm, leg, and gluteal strength. “Sit erect on rug or carpet with feet stretched out in front. Your legs must be perfectly straight—back of knees must be well down or close to the rug. Place your hands flat on the rug, fingers together, and the hands pointing outward slightly. Chin should be on chest—head forward.

“Now gently raise your body, at the same time bend your knees so that your legs from the knees down are practically straight up and down. Your arms, too, will also be vertical while your body from shoulders to knees will be horizontal. As your body is raised upward allow the head gently to fall backward so that your head hangs backward as far as possible when your body is fully horizontal. Hold this position for a few moments, return to first position, and RELAX for a few moments before performing the Rite again.”

—The Fifth Rite (up dog and down dog) focuses on your upper-back muscles and is excellent not only for an immediate elevation in energy but for alleviating stress and depression. “Place your hands on the floor about two feet apart. Then, with your legs stretched out to the rear with your feet also about two feet apart, push your body, and especially your hips, up as far as possible, rising on your toes and hands. At the same time your head should be brought so far down that your chin comes up against your chest. Next, allow your body to come slowly down to a ‘sagging’ position. Bring your head up, causing it to be drawn as far back as possible.”

These ancient traditions are invaluable tools for restoring your prenatal jing. In addition to these lifestyle changes, however, it is important to look at the health of your endocrine system—your hormonal health—to make sure you are nurturing your energy most effectively.