3. Living to Your Perfect Health
For a Taoist, the cultivation and restoration of Jing is the first priority and urgency. Since Jing is a matter of Yin compared to Yang, one needs to gather Jing in the most Yin environment—in fact, the more or deeper Yin one can get into, the more life essence he can obtain. This is the reason one needs to reach a stage of true peace and tranquility—a truly Yin state to obtain the ultimate health benefits. This is the core of all Taoist practices, even though the Taoist practices are wide-ranging and involving many aspects of energy or life-force harvesting. The other aspect of these practices is the idea of natural detox through daily activities—which is vastly different from the detox methods on the market. In this chapter, I will introduce to you a few simple techniques you can use to obtain a high level of health without the need to go anywhere. You can do these simple practices in your bedroom, living room, or in your garden.
Sleeping the right hours for perfect health
Sleeping is one of the most important things in life. You might miss a meal or two without a particular dreadful feeling, but try doing anything without a night’s sleep. In Taoism, sleeping provides a higher level of energy than food, and most importantly, sleeping provides the mechanism to expel toxins and poisons from the body. A lack of one night’s sleep may cause weeks of discomfort in certain areas of the body. This is the reason TCM places sleeping as the most important matter to recover and repair the body.
The Taoists separate a day into twelve time units so that each unit represents two hours. Each time unit represents a period during which a defined meridian works its best to perform its daily functions. For example, the 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. period is the most important period for detoxification, when the gall bladder meridian is in charge. This is the period the bone marrow starts to make blood for the body. The second important time period for night is 1 to 3 a.m.—the period when the liver works best. When you lie down, blood returns to the liver, and the liver repairs and detoxes the body. If you do not sleep during these two time periods, pretty soon you will find yourself with a pale color on your face, which suggests that your liver system is not working properly, and toxins have accumulated in the body.
The third most important time period is the 3 to 5 a.m. period, when the lung is in charge. Upon the finishing of this period, the most energetic period of the night is about to finish, and the daytime is about to start. Most people will wake up at or after 5 a.m. These three periods are also called the three Yang periods in Taoism. In the deepest hours of the night (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.), Yang Qi starts to fill the body, and it is called the first Yang period. Many Taoists start meditation at this period to cultivate the Yang energy. The 1 to 3 a.m. period is called the second Yang period, and the 3 to 5 a.m. period is called the triple Yang period, which is a “full blossom” period of the Yang energy, or Qi, in the body. After 5 a.m., it is more difficult to cultivate the life force by the body in the way of natural sleep, and thus the reason why most people wake up.
A lot of the above you can feel vividly if you start to practice Tao, and then you can feel the truth of the matter yourself with regard to the energy status during the night. For a layperson, one needs not to remember all the details—just remember that the best time for sleep is between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. If you must sleep two hours a day only, the 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. period is the best, and if you have to sleep four hours a day, the 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. period is the best, and if you have to sleep six hours a day, the 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. period is the best. Depending on your own situations, you may need to sleep six to eight hours a day. If you need to sleep eight hours, the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. period is the best for you, particularly if you suffer from sickness. In fact, the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. period is my recommended sleeping time for the weak and invalid. There is a lot of wisdom in a child going to bed early and sleeping sufficient hours to his or her full development. For adults, a little more sleep can usually do you a lot of good, particularly if the body needs it.
Some people claim that they only need a few hours of sleep a day, say three to five hours. Be very careful with this, as this is often caused by a busy lifestyle, and once you have developed such a habit, you can no longer sleep more than the few hours stated unless you are sick. In most cases, these people actually take the life essence from their bodies on a continual basis in place of sleep. This situation can last a very long time before being noticed, and nothing may be wrong before that. The final result, however, is often a collapse of the body function out of blue, a sudden death or a serious sickness as a result of the exhaustion of the life essence in the body. So do not be fooled by the body and the lifestyle of certain people—aim for the protection of your body and mind over the long term, and avoid the serious erosion caused by modern life and lifestyles.
Almost all traditional cultures promote the “early bed, early rise” approach to sleep and work, which has a lot of truth in it and is a truly time-tested great way of living. It has effectively ensured the good health of people over millennia among different cultures. These days we challenge this time-honored approach with all sorts of “science,” but do we really understand what we are doing? Perhaps not. We do things that violate the natural rules and the time-tested way of living only at the peril of our own!
Sleeping on the right beds for perfect health
We all sleep on some sort of beds, whether it is a futon, an innerspring mattress, or another. Traditional beds in China have always consisted of a hard surface made up of brick, mud brick, or timber on top of a supporting structure. A flat mattress, made of a fabric exterior and stuffed with cotton, is also the norm. Woven straw and loose straw and animal skins were also used as mattresses in the past. Even the Emperor’s bed is just a timber bed with a mattress of silk cover and cotton stuff, which has been consistent for over two thousand years in China, even though the quality of the timber and decoration may be the best in the country.
The hard-surface bed with a thin mattress akin to a quilt underlay has a lot of merit that is yet to be recognized by most people. This is much related to the Taoist understanding of the purpose of sleep, which is not just relaxing and recuperating energy lost during the day; rather, it is a key mechanism for detoxing. We all know that acupressure and massage are good for health and can relieve or even cure many illnesses or diseases of various kinds. These practices are generally done on acupoints along certain meridians. Acupuncture is another way—a more aggressive way—to reconnect the blocked meridian so that the Qi—energy flow—can be relinked and the illness dissipated. Sleeping on a hard surface actually provides the same, or an even more effective, result as acupuncture and acupressure without the pain and hassle of going to an acupuncturist or a massage therapist.
The body is supported by the bones, and when you lie down on your back on a hard-surface bed, your body weight exerts a natural force on the sacral bone at the lower end, which is fundamental for detoxing the whole spine. On the upper end, your body weight applies a natural force on the shoulder bones, including the scapula, as well as the upper spine. These two areas on the upper and lower spine are among the major back pain centers along the main body trunk. A pain in the back is very much related to the backbone, and if it is not caused by an external force, it is often a sign of blocked energy flow and retained toxins in the spine. Sleeping on a bed with a hard surface will mitigate much pain in these two areas and help to detox the backbone on a continuous, daily basis.
When you turn around to lie on your side, your body applies a natural force to your hip bone (femur), which is the uppermost end of the leg bone sticking out to either side of the body. On the upper part of the body, the force is applied to the shoulder bones, where there are a number of bones with complex structures forming the shoulder joints. This side-sleeping pattern is the most fundamental sleeping style of Taoist training, because it is the most detoxing pattern, as sleeping on your sides actually puts the whole body weight on the gall bladder meridian, which is the foremost meridian for detoxification of the body. Many Chinese actually follow a method of hitting the gall bladder meridian on the thigh to get rid of toxins, which has proved to be a very effective way for detoxing. Sleeping on your sides actually does this detoxing in the most natural way for a few hours every day, as long as you sleep on a hard surface. The Taoists call this side pattern of sleep “dragon sleep,” which emphasizes its benefit to the mind—in other words, this pattern of sleep allows the Qi to move along the spine unrestricted to the brain, thus nourishing the head and the mind.
If you like to sleep on your stomach, you will also detox your chest and knees. The Taoists call this pattern of sleep “tiger sleep,” which emphasizes its benefit of harvesting Qi, or life force. This pattern of sleep should not be used for more than one or two hours, as it might restrict the flow of Qi in the front of the body. It is good when you want a nap or just want to catch an hour more of sleep before getting up.
Sleeping on a hard surface will take a few weeks for you to get used to. You can use planks of timber to build your own bed by just putting them on top of your existing mattress; or more easily, you can buy some MDF boards of 19 mm thick to fit into your bed and a plank of timber to support the gaps if it is not wide enough. Once your bed is done, you need some underlay or a blanket to cover the bed, and then a quilt or two on top of the underlay to lessen the hardness of the bed’s surface. Then you just sleep on it to effortlessly detox yourself. If you have back plain, knee pain, or shoulder pain, the timber bed is your best friend. The timber bed can also relieve many other illnesses, whether they are related to your bones or not, as the body trunk and leg bones detox progressively. In addition, if you are overweight, the timber bed may help you reduce weight as well.
There will be people questioning the validity of my hard bed detox idea, particularly those manufacturers of modern innerspring or sofa beds claimed to be built on best “science.” My answer is to just try it, and the truth will speak for itself. To keep with the Taoist tradition, an argument will not be used to settle the matter. Traditional Taoists have a way of telling the truth of a matter by simply looking at the matter. We only need to look at the bulkiness and softness of our most fashionable beds and sofas to realize why our bodies are growing to be similar in shapes and sizes. The modern bedding science of trying to sink the body curve into the bed mattress lacks wisdom on the matter, and time will tell the truth. This is a good example of the saying that the way we live defines the way we look. It is also a good example that science can be readily misused, and misused science can cause a lot of damage to the body.
Sitting to your perfect health
Similar to sleeping on a timber bed, you can detox your pelvis by sitting on a timber stool of about 30 to 40 cm high, depending on your height. By sitting on a hard timber stool, your lowest bone at the bottom, the ischiopubic ramus, will help you to detox the most important area for waste disposal and discharge in your body (feces and urine). More importantly, this is also the area for reproduction. If you have reproduction or related problems, you need a low stool to help with the detox of this very important area. A low stool is aimed so when you sit on it, your upper and lower leg will form an acute angle of less than ninety degrees, which is conducive to cultivating the Qi energy. If you sit too high, like sitting on a normal chair, your upper and lower leg will form an obtuse angle, which is conducive to releasing energy. In addition, when you sit on a low stool, your upper body will likely form an acute angle with your upper leg, thus creating another angle for energy—life force harvesting. Furthermore, if you keep your two feet close to your stool when you sit, your feet and lower leg will create a third acute angle. These triple acute angle formations can be formed simply by sitting on a low timber stool, creating one of the most powerful sitting patterns for cultivating life force. In addition, if you put your hands on your knees when you sit on a stool, it will add extra life force and benefits to the sitting. In fact, many martial artists use this form of sitting as part of their body practices.
You can buy the stool from children’s furniture shops, or modify a regular stool. Timber material is better than plastics, and a stool is better than a chair, as with the chair you tend to lean on the back, which will block the energy flow through the spine. When you have small kids, you can read together with your children, sitting on similar height stools or chairs. And you can all have solid health benefits from this activity, in addition to the materials or books that might have benefited your children.
If you like watching TV, how about sitting on a low stool rather than on a sofa to watch your favorite program? You will need to sit regularly on the stool—a few hours a day—to benefit greatly from it.
The pelvic area is of foremost importance to women. Sitting on a low timber stool is the best, most effortless way to get rid of all the toxins from the lower part of the body trunk, where they tends to accumulate more for women than for men. The fact that women have the job of bearing children and have regular periods requires that women take up the habit of sitting on a low stool as soon as possible to detox naturally.
Sitting on a timber stool will require a little bit of getting used to, just as will sleeping on a hard timber bed. However, it will be worth every bit of the effort. Once you get used to it, you will have an effective way of harvesting your life force as well as detoxing one of the most important areas of your body.
Sleeping will not get rid of the toxins in this area, as the bed does not touch this part of the body. Sitting appears to be the best and only way to detox the pelvis effectively. This is a good example that demonstrates that each activity we carry out daily has its own purpose and meaning and cannot be replaced by another activity in general. In addition, the traditional way of living, such as sleeping on hard surfaces and sitting on hard, low stools, has specific meaning in life, which we have so far ignored. As a result, we suffer enormously as we bulk up like never before.
Kneeling to your perfect health
If you want to get more benefits than just sitting on a low stool to watch your TV, how about kneeling on a cushion to get even more benefit out of watching TV? TCM has a saying that we grow old from the bottom up, which means that we grow old from the feet and knees or the lower legs that can no longer support us. Our knees are the number-one weak spot as we grow older, and we should make every effort to combat a weak knee if we still want to walk around in our eighties and nineties. Kneeling is the best physical way to improve the knees. You do not need to “walk” on your knees; all you need to do is kneel quietly for five or ten minutes initially, moving on to a half hour and then one hour progressively. Soon you will have stronger knees, and once you have strong knees, you do not need to worry about your walking problem anymore. In fact, if you have strong knees, you do not need to worry about other problems in your body as well, because your knees can be the best indicator for your general health.
Kneeling requires a bit more effort than sitting on a timber stool, but the benefit is also greater. I used to have a knee problem for many years, and with the practice of kneeling, I can comfortably do an hour of kneeling without feeling much pain. Once you can comfortably kneel for an hour, you will never worry about your knee or leg problem again.
When kneeling, you can keep your upper body upright; when you feel tired, you can sit on your heels for a while and then return to the upright position. You can alternate between these positions until you can no longer do them. Sit on your stool for a while to rest your knees and then walk a little if you’d like. With the combination of kneeling and sitting on a stool, you will quickly feel the improvement in your health by doing nothing more than watching TV in a different way!
Instead of sitting on a low stool in front of a TV, you can do it in front of the sun for an even better outcome. Many people know the importance of the sun to their health, but they do their sun exposure in the wrong ways. Try to be in the sun according to the seasons and the time of the day to get the most benefit from the sun and avoid the dangers of the sun. I see many people surfing or exposing themselves under the most hottest and dreadful sun in the middle of a peak summer day. This is not the right way to get any benefit from the sun; rather, it is harmful and looking for trouble.
In summer, our exposure to the sun should only be in the shade, under the cover of clothes, or in the early mornings and very late afternoons. I prefer to be in the sun only under cloth cover in the hot summer and in early morning. This way, you can get a lot more exposure to the sun without the damage associated. Many adults and children do not get enough of the sun these days, even in Australia—the most sun-drenched continent in the world, particularly those working in an office, which is typical in the lifestyle we live. If we follow the traditional or Taoist way of life, we can get up early and get a lot of exposure to the sun when it is harmless.
In winter, you can practically get as much sun as you like without any damage. For ordinary people, two to three hours of sun exposure a day can do you a lot of good, while older people need even more sun exposure. The winter sunshine is healthier compared to other seasons according to the Taoist teaching, mainly because stronger energy or life force can reach the earth in a cold environment, similar to the belief that the highest energy comes from most Yin environments. In fact, the internal Yang life force is strongest in winter, which can be clearly felt if you practice the Tao.
For other seasons, you can decide for yourself on when and how much sunshine you should have. If you feel a burning sensation on your skin, then the sun is too strong for you. If you feel the sunshine is very comfortable on your skin, then enjoy it to the fullest. In general, one to two hours of sun exposure a day should be sufficient for most people.
I have found the best way to get sun exposure is by using a sun lounge, upon which you lie facedown and expose the bottoms of your feet to the sun. Even though the sun may be very hot, with only the bottoms of the feet exposed to the sun, so the damage, if any, would be quite limited. Yet the benefit can be very high or even overwhelming at times. This is because in TCM, the feet connect to all the organs of the body, and by exposing the feet, you actually nourish the whole body with sunshine. The sunshine is the energy source for practically all energies on earth, although for ordinary people, it is said the body cannot directly harvest the sun’s energy, but for a person well trained in Taoism, it adds a lot of energy to the body, and with sufficient sunshine, there is much reduced need for food.
When you get exposure to the sun, do cover yourself by wearing clothes to avoid exposure to wind and other environmental factors that can damage your body. Details of how to avoid damage from the environment and the modern lifestyle are found in a later chapter. I do not promote sunbathing in Western style to expose the entire body to the sun; rather, I advocate a limited exposure of your skin, when there is little danger of sunburn or shaded exposure. Exposing the entire body adds to the potential for wind and cold to damage the body.
The first half hour or so of the early-morning sunshine may contain a higher level of high-energy particles going through the atmosphere. Therefore, it is good to have some sun exposure at this time. This is easy to do if you follow the early bed and early rise lifestyle, which is one of the healthiest ways to start and finish the day. The reason that high-energy particles pass through the atmosphere is because when the sunshine (photon particles) starts to trike the air molecules at the top of the atmosphere, it needs time to build up an electric shield, which blocks subsequent high-energy particles from passing through the air. The process perhaps requires about half an hour to establish—anyone interested in this matter can look for the scientific support on this subject. Be careful to wear warm clothes and avoid exposure to the wind in the early morning and to avoid cold winter mornings, as the potential for cold damage can be much higher than any benefit of the early winter morning sunshine.
Most modern-day health experts recommend fifteen minutes of sun exposure or less on a summer day—too little for any overall benefit for the Taoists. Using my way of exposure to the sun, which is using shading, and by choosing the best time, you can increase your exposure time to one to two hours a day without any real danger of overexposure. This way, the sun truly becomes your best friend, providing numerous health benefits you can feel readily in time. If you can increase your sun exposure to two to three hours a day in winter, you can probably keep many diseases away in a simple yet effective way! If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, an hour’s sun exposure a day can keep the doctor further away!
About 30 percent of Australians are vitamin D deficient even in summer, and it increases to 40 percent in winter. This effectively means a lack of sun exposure all year-round. Food and tablets may increase the vitamin D level, but the best way is still good old sun exposure, particularly in winter. Vitamin D deficiency is not only related to bone weakness, but it’s also linked to many cancers and diabetes, as well as high blood pressure. If sun exposure can prevent all these potential diseases, why not change your lifestyle, follow the above advice, and try it?
The moon is your best secret friend
Many people think that the moon is a useless celestial body, as it practically does nothing. Wrong! If this is true, why do we have the words “lunatic” and “lunacy”? It obviously links to mental activity, as many would tell you that a full moon is conducive for love and somehow related to sleeplessness. The Taoists regard the moon as a conduit for high energy that supplies the brain. The moon is a high energy source to be cultivated. My own study of the matter lead me to believe that the moon not only shines out general light rays, it actually shines out X-rays, which are a high-energy source, but at very low intensities so that not only does the moon not hurt the body, but it helps the body and mind in significant ways. Previous studies have shown that very low-intensity X-rays are actually very healthy for the body—unlike strong X-rays, which can damage the body. The Taoists have a principle of moderation on everything—the balance of Yin and Yang—so that benefits can be obtained and harms avoided. I believe that the moon plays a vital role in body mechanics, particularly on the mind side. Without the moon, life could be completely different on earth.
The feeling of the X-ray chest examination is very much like the Qi flowing into your chest if you’ve ever practiced Tao and experienced a feeling of life force moving in your body. The Taoists see the moon as the Yin celestial body, which produces high energy—this very much fits with the Taoist principle that you find high energy in the Yin place, not the Yang place. The reason could be that the high energy from the sun, which is produced by the corona—the external flames and flares of the sun, at temperatures of about two million degrees—is blocked by the atmosphere when the sun is shining, which creates numerous particle collisions in the upper atmosphere. However, during nighttime, these particle collisions are no longer there, so the X-ray can pass through the atmosphere and reach the earth through the moon’s reflection of the sunshine. What a perfect way to sustain life here on earth! And how could anyone know that without Taoist training? This is a typical example that many of the Taoist views and beliefs that arise out of their practices can be explained by modern science if only we know where and how to look for them!
One should prepare to be in a peaceful and relaxed state when the moon is shining; perhaps enjoy a slow walk in your garden in the evening or night. That way, you can get a better feel of the moon and obtain a lot more energy from the moon. If, on the other hand, one gets stimulated and excited, the only thing he can easily obtain is a lot of sleeplessness. If you think nourishing your brain is a harder task than nourishing your body, take the moon as your friend and treat it as your best secret friend with soft kindness and gratitude.
You will know a lot better what I am talking about once you start practicing Tao, and at some stage, you will hardly get any sleep during the full moon, even if you try your very best. This may occur in the last full moon of the last winter month using the Chinese lunar calendar. The fact that the Chinese use the lunar calendar also suggests that there is something to the moon that most do not yet understand. My explanation above should help you to better understand the moon and its vital importance to life on earth so that we no longer see the moon as lifeless and playing no role in our life.
Simple changes in living can lead to lifetime health benefits
By simply changing your bed to a hard-surfaced one and following the traditional “early bed and early rise” principle, you can effortlessly detox yourself over time. Rather than sitting on a sofa, sitting on a low timber stool can further detox perhaps the second most important area of your body—the pelvis. Kneeling will make your knees stronger and strengthen your legs in time. Increasing your sun exposure in the right way will further boost your body’s defense system. Treat the moon with full respect. Preparing yourself in a quiet state for the full moon will increase your mental health and capacity. These simple and almost effortless measures can totally transform your life. Do not just read my writings—do them and show yourself whether these are time-honored truths that have been passed on for millennia or just some hearsay that has not been tested or proven by the “modern science.”
When your body and your internal energy is boosted to a certain level through various Taoist practices, including the ones I have described in this chapter as well as those in the subsequent chapters, your body will start a process of detox that is observable and easy to recognize. Once this process starts, you will no longer worry about any diseases you might have as long as you keep practicing and keep the process going. These signs of detox include but are not limited to regular watery stools, more frequent farting, regular yellowish and smelly urine, sticky sweating, and occasionally skin rashes upon scratching. By this time, you will know that the Taoist practices are not just talking but come with clear and well-defined physical signs that are observable all the way through your practice until you reach a very healthy state. In fact, this is a process that reverses aging in the most fundamental way, and it is reserved only for those who believe it and practice it persistently.