In this article, I’m going to show you a little technique that will allow you to bring your body’s energy system back into balance, help you get rid of any emotional or physical pain that may be stuck in your body and just help you be in a relaxed, calm state. Many of the techniques that I share with you are from Chinese medicine philosophy. It just feels that your Chi or life force, which is the reason we’re alive and is because of our energy system our meridian system, which is like a super highway that runs through our body, brings energy to every cell, tissue and organ, similar to our arteries and veins, which bring blood to every organ, cell and tissue in our body.
So, seeing as it’s our life force, we want to find a way to keep it balanced because when it gets stuck, that’s the time when we end up with disease and illness. This is a simple way to do it.
The way I am going to teach comes actually from an Eastern philosophy called Jin Qin Jitsu. What we’re going to do is we are going to place our hands underneath our armpits and our thumbs will be resting right next our arms. Our arms are underneath our body and thumbs are resting. We are going to relax our shoulders and our whole body is relaxed.
Next, were going to be doing 36 breaths. What does those 36 breaths mean? A lot of Eastern medicine philosophies will have numbers attached to them. It may be for the amount of breaths you take or the number of times you do something. The thought behind it I can’t explain in detail because I’m not really sure. All of them have a certain meaning and for this one,it’s 36 breaths. I just follow that. I’ve done it for a while and it works great. If 36 breaths seem too much for you to start with, you could just break it down three times a day and do, for example, maybe nine breaths four times in different times of the day.
Do whatever feels comfortable for you because this whole exercise is supposed to help you feel relaxed and calm. So, our hands are under our armpits, we are breathing into our nose and laying that breath out. Remember that when breathing in, we take that breath all the way in and all the way down to our belly. When you take that breath in, I want you to think about any pain or tension you may be feeling your body,including any emotional pain or discomfort, and acknowledge that, and just let that breath that you’re taking in just flow or cascade over those issues.
And on your exhale, just pretend that you’re letting all of that discomfort and pain go, everything that doesn’t belong in your body, free them. While you’re doing this, concentrate while you’re counting 36 so the 36 will be one breath in and one exhale out, and then the next breath in and exhale, that’s two; so breathing an inhale and an exhale will equal one breath.
The other thing I suggest is you do this with your eyes closed. Eventually, if you practice this every day, several times a week, your body will start getting into that calm relaxed state as soon as you sit down and even start the exercise. This is just basically a way of retraining your brain. We live in a really fast-paced stressful world and we need to find ways to bring our body’s energy system back into balance. This is a simple way to do it. I hope you give it a try.
Jamie Catlett is a board certified and licensed acupuncturist and the founder of Jacksonville Acupuncture Clinic in Jacksoville, FL.