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Stale energy: how to stop it killing you

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Stale energy in our bodies is probably something we don’t like to think about very much. It has connotations of something old, smelly and going off. There’s more than a hint of decay in the expression “stale energy” that’s far worse than a mouldy piece of bread, say, or a biscuit that’s gone a bit soft. Yet we all have it in us and it can be responsible for aches, pains, illnesses and even an early death.

Stale energy is pathogenic

Xie Qi, or Pathogenic Qi, is energy that is stagnant or even stuck. For good health, our Qi needs to circulate easily and freely through the body. It does this mainly through energy channels, informing the body as it circulates. Energy patterns that are poor or out of  balance have a corresponding effect on the body. A major influence on the internal flow is consciousness – the way we think, feel and experience impacts on our energy enormously. If we resent something, for instance, or are frustrated, the flow of energy will suffer.

Move it to lose it

Stale energy can be the result of experiences from long ago, from our current lifestyle or from a mixture of causes. Fortunately, we don’t need to analyse the reasons. However, we do need to learn how to shift the Pathogenic Qi and expel it from our system. Usually this requires a combination of movement and specific intent, something we shall be learning at our next workshop. We can also learn a practice such as Dao Yin or seek advice from a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine or some other discipline of our choice. Whatever we do, though, it is imperative to keep moving.

Our next Staffordshire workshop, Healing with Qi is on Monday 16th September 2019. Details here.

Books available here.

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Movement: why listening to our body is vital for health

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Movement exerciseMovement and exercise feature heavily in magazines, newspapers and most other forms of media at this time of year. As soon as New Year festivities are over, out comes every piece of advice we’ve probably heard a hundred and one times before. Photos of svelte figures performing near-impossible postures or muscly ones with abs like washboards appear everywhere. Are they meant to inspire us or to drive home the message that we are hopeless cases? Either way, they can fascinate us because, deep down, we know that movement is a natural expression of life.

Movement – harmful or life-enhancing?

We undertake all manner of movement, even when we are sitting, but the modern advice that a sedentary lifestyle can cause harm seems irrefutable. Even if we are chair-bound, there are exercises to help us maintain or improve health. That makes good sense because we know that when the body isn’t moving much, energy cannot circulate well. If this is prolonged, the muscles and tissues weaken. But before we don our running shoes or head off to the gym, how do we know what level or amount of exercise is appropriate for our body? Indeed, perhaps something like tai chi would be better for us than pounding pavements or pumping iron.

Movement weight

Balancing yin and yang

When we are inactive, the body tends to be more yin, whilst exercise increases yang qualities. One should balance the other – gradually. By the application of yang through movement, we convert sluggishness into something lighter and more vibrant. How much is enough, though? It is easy to become over-enthusiastic and then strain can put us out of action altogether.

Movement child

The sweet spot

If we want to be healthy and balanced, we need to find our sweet spot. This is the optimum point between rest and activity. The sweet spot changes from season to season, and even with different times of day, as well as with age. It is different for everyone as body types and constitutions vary. As we increase our capacity for activity, it will change, too. There is no common prescription that suits everyone so we need to listen to our body. Intuitively, we can sense when we need to do more and likewise when the body has had enough. Increasing movement may generally be good for us but to get it right, listening to the body’s intelligence is absolutely essential.

For balance in life, there is a wealth of information in The Great Little Book of Happiness

Free guided meditations

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Longevity: seven secrets of ageing gracefully

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Longevity tai chi masterLongevity is a lovely word that beautifully conjures up images of a long and healthy life. Age merely becomes a number as the essence of youth carries us on its fragrance into the later decades of life.

But the truth is that although people are generally living far longer, longevity in our society doesn’t always match up to our ideal image. Most in middle age will say that they would rather be shot than end their days in a care home. In spite of that promise to themselves, too many end up where they dreaded being. Perhaps it needn’t be like that. Here are some things we can do to minimise the risk.

For longevity, breathe deeply and more slowly

Many of us breathe shallowly. Instead of using the diaphragm and filling the bottom part of the lungs, we fill the top and maybe a bit of the middle. Breathing more deeply reduces the stress responses in the body and can help to reduce blood pressure. It increases oxygenation and tends to stabilise the flow of qi or vitality, which we need to conserve more as we age.

Meditate or learn to sit quietly every day

There is a wealth of documentation on the benefits of meditation and quiet sitting on health and wellbeing. Imagine life like being on a train journey. We can choose to enjoy that journey, admire the scenery and stop off here and there. Sitting quietly with ourselves for five or ten minutes a day, longer if we wish, helps us to enjoy our trip through life. That really is what longevity is about.

Do something that engages both sides of your brain

Meditation helps to harmonise the left and right hemispheres of the brain. If we tend to analyse, use logic and intellectualise a great deal, the intuitive side of the brain can be underused. Drawing, gardening and listening to music, for example, if done with full awareness, will help to balance things out.

Aerobic exercise is good in moderation

If you like to run or go to the gym, great. It’s much better than sitting on one’s bottom all day. But longevity is about balance, too. As we age, the body’s energy changes and exercise that is very strenuous can be counter-productive. Walking, dancing, tai chi (taiji) and yoga are all good for promoting a long and healthy life.

Learn something new every day

Learning stimulates the brain and encourages the growth and renewal of neural pathways. If combined with physical activity, such as learning and practicing tai chi, there are multiple benefits.

Taiji and qigong

Think about looking into these classic exercise systems for longevity if you haven’t done so already. These are forms of physical exercise sequences, practised with a relaxed and heightened state of awareness. Both taiji and qigong work on the energy of the body as well as the normal physical aspects and emphasise promoting health in the vital organs.

Let go of the past – and the future

Clinging to memories of the good old days or to resentment of when they were bad causes negative energy patterns in us. Similarly, hoping for something to happen in the future takes us out of the present into an imaginary sphere. Let go of all this. It’s like junk in the attic. Clear it out and let yourself be free.

The Great Little Book of Happiness – A Guide to Leading a Happier Life looks closely at the various cycles of life and how to achieve balance for longevity.

An evening workshop entitled How to Eliminate Fear is coming up very soon in Staffordshire. A limited number of places is still available. More information.

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  4. Movement: why listening to our body is vital for health

Breathe! How to make yourself come alive

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Breathe in, knowing you are breathing in. Breathe out, knowing you are breathing out.

This injunction, said to come from the lips of the Buddha, is the instant recipe for bringing us, the mind and the body, together. It’s so simple. We know our minds are full of senseless chatter and we know, too, that we waste extraordinary amounts of energy chasing after rainbows – the gewgaws of modern existence. Yet we can cure much of that – all we need to do is stop and be still.

Breathe or not to breathe consciously

It’s funny, isn’t it? On the one hand, we can live without food for long periods and can even manage without water for a considerable time. There may be discomfort but there’s nothing life-threatening about short periods of hunger or thirst. On the other, breath is so vital that the absence of it can very quickly lead to unconsciousness, and possibly death.

In spite of that, we let our breathing take place in the background. “Breathing in, I didn’t notice. Breathing out, I didn’t notice that, either.” It’s an automatic process. So why should we bother to pay any special attention to it?

There are two main reasons:

  1. Being aware of the breath is good for your body and vitality
  2. Your mind becomes clearer and stronger

Conscious breathing strengthens the body

Few people breathe well. Most breathe in a fairly shallow way, where the air circulation is mainly in the top of theBreathe lung capacity lungs. As we age, there is a tendency for lung capacity to reduce year on year, unless we do a lot of cardiovascular training or practise an art such as yoga, pranayama, qigong or tai chi. Reduced lung capacity is often associated with weakening of the body and poor health.

When we breathe consciously, there is a natural deepening of the breath. It isn’t necessary to do deep breathing exercises as such (although they can be enormously beneficial) – just bringing the awareness onto the inhalation has an effect.

…and calms the mind

How we feel from moment to moment hinges largely on the state of our mind. If the mind is erratic or cloudy, we don’t normally feel brilliant. But when the mind is calm, our window onto the world is clearer. Inside, we are more settled.

When we breathe consciously, the mind is naturally more peaceful. It can take a while, but it happens. This is particularly so on the out-breath. The inhalation calms the body, the exhalation calms the mind.

Body and mind at home together

Much of our chasing about in daily life is a wonderful way of avoiding who we are. The body may be here but the mind is not at home. To reverse this, we simply have to stop for a few moments. Notice the breath. Breathe and enjoy the feeling. Enjoy being with yourself. A few breaths will work wonders – and then we can carry on.

Over time, we may notice that during activity, we are conscious of the breath most of the time. That’s a longer project. Every now and again throughout the day, with awareness we just stop and breathe. Then we become present in our body and we are at home.

Doing too much? Take a look at The Art of Not Doing

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Tranquillity: the body, mind and emotions

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The special relationship of mind and body in tranquillity

To enjoy tranquillity, it is helpful to understand the special relationship of the mind and thetranquillity body mind emotions body. In many respects, at least in theory, the two may seem quite distinct. But the mind is only experienced and utilised through the brain and the nervous system, which are most definitely aspects of the body. We know only too well from our own experience that if the mind is agitated, there is a feeling of disturbance in the body. It is also difficult to maintain a calm mind if the body is upset.

Sometimes the chemical balance of the body may be upset through illness, wrong food or exposure to pathogens, for example. This can strongly affect our thinking and our moods. Conversely, it is also true that if the mind is calm, the biochemical balance is much better, the immune system is stronger and our energy is better.

Meditation, yoga and t’ai chi

Tests on meditators have shown the very close relationship of a calm mind to reactions in the body. Within minutes of starting to meditate, the breath rate slows down, the blood pressure drops and there is greater coherence in the electronic waves produced by the brain.

People who take up arts such as t’ai chi and yoga, find a calming effect on the mind and improvements to health and well-being. These are just two examples but they help to reinforce the understanding and appreciation that there is more than just a tenuous link between mind and body. The connection is a very direct and close one.

The significance of this link is that it can be deliberately utilised to bring about serenity. If we do nothing, it is like piloting a rudderless ship. So we need to find a way of harnessing body and mind that is easy to do.

Kama-manas: the marriage of mind and emotions

If there is a link between the body and the mind, there is an even stronger tie between the mind and the emotions. In fact, they are so closely intertwined that some schools of thought regard them as one – kama manas  (literally desire-mind). For our purposes, we can think of the mind as the generator of thoughts and perceptions.

The emotions are feelings that rise up and influence our thoughts. Sometimes they can result from our thinking. Suppose, for example, we are angry about something. We experience the feeling of anger, and we are also have a stream of thoughts which are mainly negative in character. The two things, the sensation of the angry feeling and the stream of angry thoughts, are separately identifiable as feelings on the one hand and thoughts on the other. Together, they disturb our tranquillity.

Do feelings and thoughts have to go together?

We can certainly think logically, without being swamped by feelings, so thoughts in themselves do not depend on feelings or emotions. But can we have feelings or emotions without thoughts?

Probably we can but not for long. For example, we might have a vague feeling of anxiety or sadness for which we can’t pin down a reason. Within a very short time, though, that feeling will normally colour our thinking. Desires, too, can seem to come out of nowhere and suddenly we can experience a craving. Immediately, our thoughts run towards whatever it is we crave.

Conversely, thoughts can evoke emotions. We might be thinking about something that happened in the past or on some future event and feelings can arise based on the memory of past experience. Many of our thoughts are based on our beliefs and, though we may not care to admit to having any, our prejudices. Almost inevitably, these charge our emotions.

Intelligent tranquillity

The importance of all this is that it has a very direct bearing on serenity and tranquillity. If we want to experience peacefulness, we have to be able to do something about our emotions. We have to be in charge tranquillity emotionsof them rather than be ruled by them. This doesn’t mean suppressing our feelings but it does mean using our creative faculties and intelligence so that we can deal with feelings and emotions as they arise without being swamped by them.

As the mind becomes calmer this becomes easier to do for two main reasons. First, because the mind is clearer, fewer emotions are evoked by the way we think. Second, because mind and body are more settled, we are more aware of emotions as they arise and so more able to pacify them. This puts us on a firm path to serenity.

From The Great Little Book of Happiness

For online meditation tuition, my Meditation Course contains four approaches to inner peace and tranquillity.

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