Reduce Stress, Defeat Body Pains, And Sharpen Your Mind With An Ancient Chinese Technique
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Long and stressful work hours leave us very little time for leisurely activities, let alone exercise! When we’re young we do not realize the amount of strain our body takes; however, as we age we find ourselves struggling to even walk a little distance without a headache or a pressing pain in the knee or in our back. And as time passes, our bones gradually start degenerating.
While we cannot do anything about growing old or our working hours, we can form good habits and consciously take care of our body. Like we ensure at work that the tasks assigned to us are completed without error, we must also respect the needs of our body – take care of it and see to it that we have the energy to do things we like, without having to go through pain.
An ancient Chinese exercise, using a cohesive style of combining the strength of mind and body, significantly reduces pain, increases flexibility, and improves muscle function. All of which bring back a balance to our body. Apart from acting like magic to our joint pains, these exercises are also known to reduce headaches, relieve mental stress, and depression.
These simple stretching exercises take only a few minutes and can be done even while you are at work.
In This Article
1. Mimicking The Crane
Crane, the bird, is considered the Chinese symbol of long life. This exercise strengthens the digestive system and improves balance and blood circulation in the body.
- You can begin this exercise by standing straight with your feet touching at the heels and toes pointing outwards.
- Now cross your hands over your chest. And as you do that, bend your knees outwards.
- Now, keeping your hands linked at the wrists, slowly move your hands to above your head with your palms facing outwards while lifting your right leg. Don’t forget to straighten your left leg so you can balance your weight on it.
- Now slowly move your hands to the side of your body at shoulder height, as you stand on one leg, mimicking a crane. Also, remember to breathe in and breathe out while following these steps.
2. Absorbing The Energies Around
In the hustle and bustle of life, we very often forget the pleasures of standing still and observing and absorbing. This exercise helps you achieve that! And it is fairly simple as well. All you have to do is:
- Stand straight with your hands stretched out in front of you. Ensure that they’re slightly bent at the elbows with the palms facing inwards towards your body, so it looks like you’re holding an imaginary tree.
- Now pull your hands inwards while bending your knees forward, followed by getting back to your original posture.
- Do this while breathing in and breathing out, so that it feels like your body is contracting and expanding. While doing this, imagine that you’re soaking in all the positive energies around you.
3. Recharging Through Spiral Hand Movements
Known as ‘qigong’ in Chinese, this movement was originally used as a warm up for martial arts practice. If you are a martial arts movie fan, chances are, you have seen this movement many times before!
- Stand with your feet shoulder-length apart.
- Begin with your weight on the right leg, while placing your left hand on your right collar bone.
- Now, in a nice circular movement, move your hand all the way around and bring it back to the collar bone.
- As your hand reaches your waist, shift your weight from the right leg to the left. As you raise it again, towards your right collar bone, move your weight back to the right leg. Do the same for the other hand as well.
4. Squats For Mental Well-Being
For Indians, this is not something new as we have traditionally been taught to squat – you know for what! This is not just a random posture but one that actually helps in improving your kidney function. Practice this every day for an elevated state of mental well-being.
5. Aping An Ape
This is something that was practiced by monks in the middle ages when they got very tired. All you have to do is imitate an ape and bend your knees while moving your arms up and down, bouncing on the sides of your body.
6. Imitating A Fruit Picker
This exercise is exactly what it sounds like. Pretend like you’re picking fruit from a tall tree. This helps in activating your pancreas, spleen, and kidneys.
7. Spiral Movements For The Whole Body
An excellent way to recharge your whole body! In this exercise, all you have to do is:
- Move your arms while simultaneously bending your knees.
- Make your palms face away from you and circle your hands away from your body in opposite directions.
- Now gently circle your elbows and shoulders, while you raise and lower your arms in tandem. Also, don’t forget to circle your knees slightly outward, but don’t move them past your toes.
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