This extremely well written article is one I just had to share with you all. It was sent to me by Josie at the Art of Living Retreat Centre and written by Sejal Shah, E-YRT 500 Sri Sri Yoga Teacher, YACEP, Art of Living Teacher, NYU Post Graduate Medical School approved Yoga-CME retreat facilitator, Mind-Body Wellness Writer and Homeopath. Below are listed 25 reasons to meditate.
Take a look at the list below and see how many reasons you can find to start meditating!
Meditation, simply put, is nothing but mental hygiene: clearing out the daily mental garbage and junk so that you can get in touch with your real Self and tune up your talents and skills. Think about it–you shower every day and clean your body, but do you ever shower your mind? An unshowered mind can smell as filthy as an unshowered body, maybe even more. But if you shower your mind with meditation, you’ll feel clearer and see things with a wider perspective and spread peaceful vibes.
Although meditation has been around for centuries, it is
becoming increasingly popular as more and more people discover its wide-ranging
benefits. Meditation does everything from improving your health, helping you
sleep better, and improving your mood to increasing emotional resilience and
sharpening your focus. The purpose of meditation can be different for different
individuals.
In today’s fast-paced, modern world, when you already feel
short of time, you might wonder why meditate, and whether meditation can help
you. If you have been feeling in low spirits, or nothing seems to be going your
way, your mind and body could be trying to tell you that meditation is needed
in your life.
Listen to your mind and body. If you’re receiving any of
these 25 signs, it may be time to start, ramp up, or recommit to your
meditation practice.
1. You feel exhausted and tired all the time.
‘Why am I so tired?’ was one of the 10 most-Googled health questions in 2017. This hints to just how many of us feel dogged by fatigue. A few minutes of meditation can leave you feeling more energised and rejuvenated.
2. You have repeated attacks of colds and the flu.
If you’re suffering from a lot of colds and flu, it’s a good
indication that your immunity is low. According to research, meditation can
help strengthen your immune system to help you fight infections better.
3. You’re constantly achy.
Constant aches and pains without any pathological basis is a
sign of tension and stress. You may not find relief from over-the-counter
medications, but a few minutes of regular meditation can help you become
pain-free.
4. It feels like you’re always short of time.
If you keep feeling that you have too much in your hands,
your calendar is always full, your day begins very early and ends too late, and
there is very little time to do what you really want to do, meditation can help
you find balance. While finding time to meditate may seem like an extra burden,
the boost that meditation gives to your mental well-being may help you get
everything else done faster and better.
5. You scowl a lot.
“A child smiles naturally 400 times a day, an adolescent
smiles 17 times, and an adult does not smile at all,” says meditation Guru Sri
Sri Ravi Shankar. This is because babies are stress-free. The purpose of yoga
and meditation is to put a smile on our face, in spite of all the stress and
tension we face in our day-to-day life.
6. You cry often.
If you find yourself tearing up at the slightest
provocation, small failure, or setback, work pressure, or somebody’s minor
opinions or criticism of you, meditation can help you become more emotionally
resilient. You might be wondering why certain people are always smiling and
laughing when you seem to be sad all the time–maybe they’re practicing
meditation!
7. You either brood and analyse or plan and fantasise too much.
You find yourself caught up in past regrets or making future
plans, either feeling bitter, angry, or anxious and worried. Overactive mind is
a sign of stress. Meditation is known to bring the mind into the present moment
and give you the ability to enjoy the moment as is.
8. You struggle even to make simple decisions.
When you find yourself asking either your spouse or friend
to take small everyday decisions like what to wear, which restaurant to go to,
which coffee to order, or what food to make, meditation can help you become
more confident in what you want.
9. You feel overwhelmed for no reason.
Small things start overwhelming you, and you’re always
worrying about how you’ll fit in everything you need to do today! Meditation
helps calm your mind, organize your thoughts, and tackle your day with
confidence.
10. You feel that there is a never ending workload.
Every morning you wake up dreading your workload, and the
pile of work on your desk or in your home seems to multiply no matter what you
do. Your deadlines start scaring you and you feel that you can’t cope.
Meditation can help improve your ability to multitask, and also improve your
observation, perception, and expressions, helping you be more efficient and
effective in what you do.
11. You experience too many mood swings.
You find yourself seated in the roller-coaster ride of your
mind, rapidly going up and down, feeling very happy and excited and then
suddenly sad and depressed the next moment. Meditation is great for emotional
regulation and can help you manage your mood swings.
12. You’re easily distracted.
In this era of social media, it is very easy to get
distracted, and remaining focussed is a great challenge. If you find yourself
having no control over your social media or any other such distractions,
meditation can help you remained focused and centered. Meditation improves your
focus to help you manage your life with peace of mind rather than pieces of
mind scattered here and there.
13. You experience bouts of depression.
If you very often feel a generalized low feeling, this could be a sign of non-clinical or clinical depression. Meditation can help alleviate symptoms of both.
14. You are anxious and worried most of the time.
If you’re constantly being told that you need to calm down
or relax, meditation can be a great chill pill to help you bring that nervous
energy down a few notches.
15. You make quick judgments about people.
It’s common courtesy to not judge others, but sometimes,
even though we know that, it’s hard to put into practice. Meditation helps to
keep your mind open and increases your empathy and compassion, so that you have
better control over your instincts to quickly judge people.
16. You find that you’re lacking problem-solving skills.
Meditation improves your ability to be creative and think
outside the box. It also helps increase your self-awareness, and keeps your
mind calm and collected, so that you can find new perspectives to look at your
problem and solve it effectively.
17. You keep wondering “What’s the point of all this?”
Life is complex and sometimes it feels like a constant
struggle and you have no enthusiasm left. You start wondering whether all your
painstaking efforts are even worthwhile! This is exactly a time to shut down
everything and pause and just be and allow meditation to help bring back the
spark and the joy.
18. You keep looking for a change.
Do you find yourself bored with your daily routine? Add a
few minutes of meditation to your day, and you may find that your schedule is
more refreshing than ever before.
19. You get angry for no reason.
Meditation puts you in better control of your anger and
enables you to respond to triggering situations with mindfulness, rather than
to impulsively react.
20. You’re stressed out beyond your imagination.
Sometimes you are put in a situation that demands that
you’re on your toes constantly, and you’re just plain stressed. One of
meditation’s most famous and well-researched benefits is reduced stress. Making
sure to spend just a few minutes meditating and taking care of your mind, body,
and spirit will allow you to be more happy and energetic.
21. You have high blood pressure.
Meditation has been proven to lower your blood pressure,
says Joel Kahn, M.D.cardiologist and best-selling author.
22. You suffer from insomnia or sleeplessness.
If you can’t get to bed on time, or find that you can’t fall asleep until late, or that your sleep quality is poor, you may want to start meditating. Meditation can help relax your body, releasing tension and placing you in a peaceful sleep.
23. You feel lonely.
You may think meditation is a solo activity. It may be
solitary (unless you are meditating in a group), but it actually increases your
sense of connection to others by nurturing emotional intelligence and social
connection, improving your social life.
24. You suffer from PMS.
90% of women during the days leading up to their menses
report experiencing challenging physical and emotional changes, from increased
irritability, difficulty concentrating, and appetite changes, to full-blown
depression, fatigue, and anxiety. Luckily, meditation has been found to help
women manage their symptoms.
25. Your sex life needs a boost.
By improving empathy, meditation can help you to connect
with your partner at a deeper level and thus improve your sexual relationship
too.
Meditation is something everyone can do to improve their physical, mental, and emotional health. No wonder meditation retreats and meditation meetups are increasing in popularity every day. There is a great variety of styles, too, each with different strengths and benefits. Trying out a style of mediation suited to your goals is a great way to improve your quality of life, even if you only have a few minutes to do it each day.
Make meditation part of your life, and start reaping the
physical, mental and emotional benefits. Science says it takes only 40 days to
develop new habits. For the next 40 days, commit yourself to daily meditation
and see the difference for yourself.
Happy Meditating!
What Do I Do Next?
So there you have it; 25 reasons to meditate listed above. How many signs did you identify as being aspects of your life which could do with rebalancing?
If you would like to start using Qigong to help you on your meditation journey there are a number of things you can do:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. These three lessons will give you the perfect introduction to Qigong. They only take 5 minutes to perform and are very easy to learn. Also, scroll to the bottom of my homepage where you can sign up to receive a free audio meditation called “Calm Your Busy Mind in 8 Minutes“. I talk you through this simple breathing method in order to help you feel calm, relaxed, clear and focused in your mind.
2. Go to YouTube and subscribe to my channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Here I post articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
4. Janice’s Video Blog If you would like more information and access to many free video demonstrations of Qigong then head over to my video blog. Some videos of particular interest to you are listed below. Please feel free to browse through some of the others on the blog page.
In this blog post I’m sharing information from the Art of Living Retreat Centre’s page written by psychiatrist, Dr Judith Orloff. Many of my clients tell me that they are an empath and feel so drained and anxious as a result of this. If you suspect that you are then take the quiz below to find out to what extent and then read my tips below to find out how you can use a simple method of Qigong for empaths to help you rid any negative energy you may have absorbed from someone else.
Here’s the article below (for the full article click here)….
Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” or need to toughen up? Do you feel exhausted and anxious after being in crowds or around certain people? Do you have a sensitivity to light, sound, and smells? Or perhaps it takes you longer to wind down after a long day at work? If you answered, “yes” to these questions you may be an empath.
To determine how empathic you are take the following self assessment test.
Empath Self Assessment
1. Have I’ve been labeled as “overly sensitive,” shy, or introverted? 2. Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious? 3. Do arguments or yelling make me ill? 4. Do I often feel like I don’t fit in? 5. Am I drained by crowds and need alone time to revive myself? 6. Am I over stimulated by noise, odors, or non-stop talkers? 7. Do I have chemical sensitivities or can’t tolerate scratchy clothes? 8. Do I prefer taking my own car places so I can leave early if I need to? 9. Do I overeat to cope with stress? 10. Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships? 11. Do I startle easily? 12. Do I react strongly to caffeine or medications? 13. Do I have a low pain threshold? 14. Do I tend to socially isolate? 15. Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions, or symptoms? 16. Am I overwhelmed by multitasking and prefer doing one thing at a time? 17. Do I replenish myself in nature? 18. Do I need a long time to recuperate after being with difficult people or energy vampires? 19. Do I feel better in small cities or the country than large cities? 20. Do I prefer one-to-one interactions or small groups rather than large gatherings?
To calculate your results:
If you answered yes to one to five questions, you’re at least partially an empath.
Responding yes to six to ten questions means you have moderate empathic tendencies.
Responding yes to eleven to fifteen means you have strong empathic tendencies.
Answering yes to more than fifteen questions means that you are a full blown empath.
More Information About Empaths
Being an empath is different from being empathetic. Being empathetic is when your heart goes out to someone else. Being an empath means you can actually feel another person’s happiness or sadness in your own body.
In empaths, the brain’s mirror neuron system – a specialized group of cells that are responsible for compassion- is thought to be hyperactive. As a result, empaths can absorb other people’s energies (both positive and negative) into their own bodies. At times it may even be difficult to tell if your are feeling your own emotions or someone else’s.
There are different types of sensitivities an empath may experience. Physical empaths, for example, are especially attuned to other people’s physical symptoms and absorb them into their own bodies. Emotional empaths pick up on people’s emotions and become a sponge for their feelings, both happy and sad. Food empaths are another type of empath who is attuned to the energy of food and may even experience sensitivities to certain foods.
Being empathic has incredible benefits such as greater intuition, compassion, creativity and a deeper connection to other people. But living in this state of high sensitivity also comes with its challenges such as becoming easily overwhelmed, over-stimulated, exhausted, or absorbing the stress and negativity of others.
If a person isn’t aware that he or she is an empath, everyday interactions that others find tolerable could be causing and empath stress. Those who are not aware of their empathic abilities may be inclined to use food, alcohol, and drugs to unconsciously numb their emotions.
Empaths are the medicine the world needs and they can have a profound impact on humanity with their compassion and understanding. As you learn to identify your special talents, you will find that you not only enrich your life but you can enrich the lives of others too. The key skill is to learn how to take charge of your sensitivities and learn specific strategies to prevent empathy overload.
Qigong For Empaths-How To Discharge Negative Energy You May Have Absorbed
Click here to read how to perform a simple 5 minute method of Qigong for empaths whereby you can rid any negative energy you may have absorbed from someone else due to your empathetic nature.
By discharging waste Qi in this way you will feel:
-much more energised
-relaxed
-able to sleep much better at night
This Qigong (Chi Kung) method feels almost like you are “taking a shower on the inside”. The removal of waste Qi from deep down makes you feel much cleaner on the inside which makes this the perfect method of Qigong for empaths.
This is a short extract from the full exercise of “Discharge Waste Qi With Vibration”. If you are interested in learning the full exercise then click on my Space To Relax homepage. At the top of the page you can sign up for a free 3 part Qigong video course which will be delivered to your e-mail. The exercise featured here is Exercise 3 in the FREE course. The first exercise shows you how to breathe much more efficiently so that your mind becomes instantly calmer and more focused. The second exercise shows you how to quickly increase your energy levels in the space of only 5 minutes!
Also, if you head over to my free group on Facebook, “Space To Relax Free Group” you can leave any questions for me there and I’ll be happy to answer them.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button when you head over there. When you do that you will receive my videos which are packed full of useful health enhancing tips and some additional useful methods of Qigong for empaths. Also, please give this video a “Like” if you learned something new here today. Got questions? Just pop them in the box below and I’ll be happy to answer.
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Josie at The Art Of Living Retreat Centre, Boone, North Carolina, USA with a suggestion that I might like to share some of their articles to do with Qigong and health. As most of you already know, I love sharing knowledge so how could I resist? Here’s the first article from them, written by Dr Roger Janke about Qigong for the heart and mind……
At the Nine Clouds Mountain Qigong Sanatorium near the Six Harmonies Pagoda in Hangzhou, Zhu Hui, a medical doctor and master teacher of Qigong from Tian Tai Mountain, told this Three Treasures story one morning during a tea break. Master Zhu had been practicing Chinese medicine for nearly 50 years, and his teaching was always a rich mix of medical, Daoist and Buddhist influences.
The Road To Unity
A young monk felt he was prepared to deepen his cultivation practice and his master gave the assignment to cultivate inner quiet and discover the secret of the source of life and its application to the preservation of health and vitality. He gave the suggestion to focus on the Earth Elixir Field (Di Dan Tian). After some months of practice, the young monk reported to the master that he felt sure that the most practical answer regarding the secret was nourishment, rest and the conservation of Qi and inner resources. The master encouraged the young monk, “You have found the secret to preserve the Jing and sustain the body, but you have not found the source of life.” The master teacher asked the young monk if he was still interested in pursuing the deeper secret. The monk nodded and the elder gave him the suggestion to focus on the Heart-Mind Elixir Field (Xin Dan Tian).
This time it was considerably longer before the monk visited the elder. When he returned, now older, he responded that the secret of the source of life and its preservation were associated with accepting what naturally arises and bringing love and compassion into the world. The master agreed and encouraged the monk to continue his good work of compassionate service. The monk said to the master, “I know that I have penetrated to the secret of highly refined interactions of the Qi and the opening of the Heart-Mind. It has inspired me to be of service to my fellow humans. It is clear that this sustains life, my own and others. But I have not determined the secret of the source of life.” The master suggested, “Focus on the Celestial Elixir Field (Ling Dan Tian), the entry place of Heaven in the living human being.”
Some years passed. When the younger monk returned he was older. The elder monk said, “Tell me in one word”. The younger monk said, “Unity”. They both smiled quietly, knowing their was nothing more to say. They parted, both knowing that even though they would not meet again, they were always together at the Source.
The Power Of Qi
When people turn to Qi cultivation, like the young monk, the focus is usually on health and the preservation of the body. When people discover the magnitude of the power of the Qi (after all it is the energy that runs the entire universe), body health and longevity frequently become secondary benefits of attaining peace of mind and heart.
In the tradition of Qigong, it is believed that once you taste or experience one of the treasures that you are destined to pursue the cultivation of that treasure. As you begin to deeply understand and experience your Body Essence (Jing), your Heart-Mind (Xin) or your Spirit (Shen), you will likely be inspired to cultivate them because the promise is so great. When we cultivate Body Essence it leads to vitality and physical healing. When we purposefully access the Heart-Mind and cultivate the treasure of Heart-Mind Elixir it nourishes peace of mind and emotional healing. It is a rare person who does not become attracted to having peace of mind once they have begun to experience it.
What If You Were Already Whole?
The Spirit does not require healing; Shen is inherently and supremely well. Shen resides with in the Heart-Mind longing to be revealed, expressed, and radiated. When the Heart-Mind is cleared of its typical restraints including fear, judgement and all sorts of trauma, Shen expresses as radiance. The cultivation of the treasure of Spirit can trigger the release of miracles.
The Heart-Mind is the secret gate through which thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitudes are cleansed and purified. The sincere deepening of Qi cultivation practice requires that intention and will become major focus areas in practice and in life. In ancient traditions, retiring to a cave in the mountains or going to the desert, to disassociate from the material world were primary ways to pass through this secret gate. That is why it is often called the “Mysterious Pass”. It was also called the “dark feminine” in many translations because the Heart-Mind gate operates more on surrender communication and collaboration than on conquest or control. The legendary Bodhidarmha, who many revere for having brought Buddhism to China and who was legendary founder of the Shaolin Temple, faced the wall of a cave in deep meditation for nine years. The intensity of his Heart-Mind purification burned his image into the cave wall.
Clearing The Heart-Mind
In modern times, however, most people find it difficult to clear the Heart-Mind, even with years of meditation practice. The intensity of the busy and confused world constantly challenges and activates the nervous system, the heart and the mind. If distraction, busy-ness, constant list making or worry and judgment (of self and others) challenge your Qi cultivation, consider integrating holistic mind/body medicine and group support or counseling along with Qigong and Tai Chi, as complementary tools for helping to clear the Heart-Mind.
In other words the fire of intent that is required to change Heart-Mind integrity (behavior) is so dynamic that it radiates a profound heat. This suggests that changing the habits of the personality (Heart-Mind) will require rigor and discipline – Heart-Mind fire.
Purifying The Heart-Mind Qi
Intentful mind leads the Qi. You can combine Qigong practice with meditation, purposeful declaration, and visualization into powerful imagery and focus that can be used in either stillness or movement. In the relaxed state, mind (intent) with directed visualization or inner affirmation combined with the body movement and purposeful breath practice purify the Heart-Mind Qi.
When you make the choice to “let go” of a grudge or forgive someone who has been unfair, you are removing a factor that may have been depleting or stagnating your Qi — inner resources. The grudge or withheld forgiveness is not hurting the begrudged or the unforgiven one. Instead, the damage is done to the one who holds the grudge or withholds forgiveness. Holding these kinds of feelings constrains the Heart-Mind, exhausts the Qi and overshadows the incredible but buried splendor of the radiant Shen spirit.
Click here for the full article on The Art Of Living Retreat Center’s website from Dr Roger Janke.
I think all of us have at one time or another lost someone who is close to us and suffered the consequent grief associated with that loss. Grief can leave us unable to function on a day to day basis. We may feel exhausted, be unable to sleep and be so emotionally fragile that we feel unable to cope with even the smallest inconveniences or difficult situations. As with any emotion, from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) point of view, it is never healthy to bottle up grief (which leads to stagnation) but rather allow it to be felt and expressed in a healthy way without opening the floodgates so much that the person is left even more devastated. In the video on this page you’ll be learning helpful methods of Qigong for grief.
Please head to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel and clicking the red button so you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
What Impact Does Grief Have Upon Us?
In serious cases the effects of grief may lead to suicidal thoughts, nicotine, drug and alcohol use, depression and an inability to complete simple daily tasks.
The emotional effects of grief include:
• Increased irritability
• Numbness
• Bitterness
• Detachment
• Preoccupation with loss
• Inability to show or experience joy
Grief can also affect our physical body and common symptoms include:
In TCM terms grief is the associate emotion of the Lung system. Therefore we need to nourish and strengthen the Lungs in order to help us process and let go of grief in a healthy way. Obviously there is no timetable for this as it depends on the individual and the degree of loss which they have suffered.
3 Methods of Qigong For Grief
Any Qigong methods which help us to get rid of or “Discharge” grief and nourish or “Tonify” (build up) the Lung system will be helpful.
The three methods below are a good starting point for you to let go of grief in a healthy way.
1. Lung sound of the Six Healing Sounds. This method is shown in the following clip and is method of discharging waste Qi (including the emotion of grief) from the Lungs using a specific sound.
2. Discharge Qi With Vibration Method. This is Lesson 3 in my free part video series. In the short clip here you can see that the movement is very simple. Be loose, allowing the knees, wrist joints and neck to be relaxed. As you do this think of “sifting” the emotion of grief up to the skin surface with the vibration of your body. As you breathe out release the grief from the skin surface, like raindrops moving away from the body. Continue with this for as long as it takes you to feel more comfortable.
3. Qigong Standing Meditation. Hold your hands in front of your chest, palms facing each other, like you are holding a ball. Feel the energy between your hands. This is a ball of Qi. You may want to visualise it as a white light penetrating into the lungs and energising them.
You can use one of these methods of Qigong for grief either alone or practice them in the order I’ve listed them, finishing with the meditation. It is always better to discharge or let go of what you no longer want in your body before you bring healing energy in with a method such as the Qigong standing meditation above.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you would like to learn even more benefits of Qigong for grief then:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective methods of Qigong for grief, along with other emotions too.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you learned from this video.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Are you are exhausted in the mornings? Do you have to take a nap in the afternoon to recharge your batteries? Do you want to sleep all the time? Are you listless and lacking in energy? Do you crave carbohydrates and sweet foods? Do you find that you just don’t have the energy to carry out your usual daily tasks? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes” then you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue. In the video on this page I’ll be showing you some methods of Qigong for adrenal fatigue along with a few other Chinese medicine tips to help you on the road back to feeling revitalised, re-energised and healthy.
Please go to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will also help you prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
What is Adrenal Fatigue
In terms of conventional Western medicine, adrenal fatigue occurs when you are excessively stressed at home or at work to the extent that your adrenal glands go into overdrive and produce too much of the stress hormone cortisol as a result of the body’s fight or flight response. This then prevents your adrenal glands from secreting the other hormones that your body needs and results in the symptoms I listed at the beginning of this article.
In terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) adrenal fatigue is due to a kidney system deficiency. From a TCM and Qigong perspective we can address adrenal fatigue by “tonifying” or building up the kidneys.
Methods of Qigong for Adrenal Fatigue
Simple Abdominal Breathing. Focus the mind on the kidney area as you inhale and exhale. In your mind’s eye see the kidneys. Feel them pulsating or vibrating like the beating of your heart but less pronounced. Feel the Qi (energy) entering and energising the kidney area as you inhale. Relax as you exhale. If you’re not sure how to perform abdominal breathing refer to a previous video I made by clicking here.
Kidney Massage. This is a very quick and easy method of Qigong for adrenal fatigue. Place your hands on your kidneys and rub vigorously up and down feeling the heat generated by your hands moving deep into the kidney area. This method is part of one of the exercises in my Space To Relax Online Programme of Qigong video lessons.
To strengthen the Kidney system follow along with the Looking Back Over Shoulder method in my previous video about Qigong For Back Pain.
Dietary Tips
You can make a significant impact on reducing the symptoms of adrenal fatigue by making changes to your diet. Instead of eating three big meals per day, eat small meals spaced out more frequently. Also you can include foods which benefit kidney in your diet. These include pork, sprouts, eggs, beans, barley, sardines, cheese and blueberries, kidney beans, black sesame seeds, walnuts, asparagus, sweet potato, string beans, celery, parsley, grapes and plums.
In terms of what to avoid, you will be best to cut out heavily sugared soft drinks, alcohol, and highly salted foods. Smokers should try to stop or at least cut down on their intake of tobacco.
Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs
It is worth seeking the help of a TCM practitioner as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can also help you if you have adrenal fatigue. TCM practitioners will stimulate key points associated with the kidney. In some cases, you can use acupressure just inside the ankle between the medial malleolus (ankle bone on the inside of the foot) and the Achilles tendon. Massage the area in a clockwise motion for five minutes on each side of the foot and repeat daily for best results.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you would like to learn even more benefits of Qigong for adrenal fatigue then:
Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective methods of Qigong for adrenal fatigue.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you learned from this video.
Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Gas, bloating, alternating constipation and diarrhoea, pain, mucus, an uncomfortably full feeling and abdominal cramping. Some of you will be familiar with these symptoms which can develop over time, with no structural or anatomical change that can be detected as cause. And for those of you who are familiar with them, this could mean a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS. This is a distressing condition which nobody should have to endure. If you are someone suffering with this digestive problem then you’ll learn from the video on this page how to use Qigong for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Don’t forget to head over to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
What Causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
1. Stress
In Traditional Chinese Medicine a “liver-spleen disharmony” due to stress is one of the most common causes of IBS. Normally, the liver is in charge of the free flow of energy (or Qi), blood and oxygen to the spleen and stomach. Stress, frustration, anger, moodiness and tightness in the body (the liver is sensitive to these emotions) can cause stagnation of the “free flow” of Qi through the digestive organs. This can cause acid, belching, nausea, abdominal distension and bloating. Diarrhoea, constipation and irregular bowel movements can also occur.
2. Food sensitivity
There are some foods which can trigger IBS symptoms. You may already have identified them but if not consider what you may be eating from the list of trigger foods below:
Cold, raw vegetables: Eating too many cold, raw vegetables dampens the digestive fire and leads to malabsorption of nutrients.
Wheat and gluten.
Cruciferous vegetables and legumes: They can cause gas and bloating in sensitive individuals.
Dairy: Lactose intolerance can lead to digestive ailments.
3. Time and Manner of Eating
This is as important in Chinese Medicine as what you eat. Eating “on the run” or too quickly, while angry or hurried all impede healthy digestion. When you eat or drink quickly, you might also be inhaling too much air and eating too much.
The Solutions
1. Reduce Stress With Meditation and Qigong For Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Easing stress would be the most important aspect of your plan to treat the root cause of IBS, or any other digestive problem for that matter. Qigong for Irritable Bowel Syndrome management is ideal as it is very effective at relieving stress.
Research carried out at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on meditation and IBS found that women who practiced mediation had around a 38 percent reduction in symptoms, according to U.S. News. Click here for the full article.
Meditation focuses on deep breathing and staying in the moment to relax the mind and body.
For an explanation of Qigong meditation go to a previous video I made – click here.
Practice simple Abdominal Breathing. Breathe in and out through the nose. As you breathe in the belly expands. As you breathe out the belly shrinks. For a full explanation and to watch a previous video click here.
2. Movement and Exercise
Massaging the abdomen (9x clockwise, 9x counter-clockwise) can be very helpful. Also, exercises to move things around such as moving Qigong exercises or Tai Chi can relieve stagnation of Qi and promote its free flow to the digestive organs.
3. Eliminate Trigger Foods From Your Diet (see the list above).
4. Eat In A Relaxed Environment Without Rushing
5. Other Treatments
The inclusion of probiotics to increase good bacteria in the stomach, herbal teas such as fennel and peppermint, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can also be of great help in the management of IBS..
What Do I Do Next?
If you would like to learn even more Qigong for irritable bowel syndrome management then:
Head over to my Space To Relax homepage where you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. These three lessons will show you just how easy it is to get started with Qigong. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods which you can use to manage many digestive issues, including Qigong for irritable bowel syndrome management.
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