In my initial blogs, I discussed some of the ways we lose bio-energy that is essential for healing. In this blog I discuss how to recharge your energy system…something that rarely discussed in western society.
Since the health of the body (and mind) is critically dependent on the amount of energy available for healing from our destructive lifestyle, one could imagine that without recharging the energy system, we would run out of energy pretty quickly; We do. It is the fundamental cause for chronic illness AND premature aging.
In the US, we believe that strenuous exercise is the key to recharging the energy system; Get to the gym, pound those weights, start running, participate in competitive sports, work out early, work out late, every weekend, every weekday, stop being a couch potato, pain is weakness leaving the body, more is always better at any age. However strenuous exercise causes damage to the body that needs to repaired. Too much exercise = a lot of damage. A lot of energy is required to heal this damage.
Recharging your energy systems cannot be accomplished by strenuous exercise alone; This may be the reason so many start out doing strenuous activities only to “fall off the wagon” within a few months…there may be some improvements but the body hurts all of the time.
Paradoxically, the benefits of exercise are found in the damage it produces in the body. As the body heals, it becomes “stronger” (“no pain, no gain”). However, constant exercise does not give the body time to heal and it becomes weaker. Recharging the energy system requires balanced activities. This is the reason for cross training. This fact becomes more apparent as we age.
The energy system of the body is composed of two equally important characteristics. One can be described as active, like exercise. The other is best described as docile, like meditation or measured breathing.
I believe that the best and easiest way of describing the balanced of the human energy system is in the Oriental concept of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are concepts of balanced energies and this concept is the foundation for all things in the universe. For example, night and day, hot and cold, every up there is a down, every illness a cure…balance.
- Yang is imagined as male, hot, bright, dry and active.
- Yin is conceptualized female, cool, dark, moist and healing.
- Neither one is stronger/better than the other. Both are needed for health and longevity.
Strenuous exercise is Yang. It always results in some level of damage. As the body heals, it usually becomes stronger and more resilient. However, if the exercise is over-strenuous, the body cannot heal completely and with continued strenuous exercise, becomes weaker and less resilient.
Age will define how much strenuous exercise the body can withstand and still heal. Older people cannot participate in the same intensity and duration of strenuous exercise as when younger.
Healing of the body is Yin. The magnitude of healing is determined by the specific Yin activity and the length of time in that activity. For example, if a broken arm is not rested it will not heal or will mend in an abnormal manner. Yin is the rigid cast for a broken bone and length of time its healing. In this culture, most people do not have a good reference point for Yin. It feels unnatural since most of their lives have been composed of Yang activity. Without healing, illness and premature aging is the only result.
How Yang and Yin activity affects our energy system
The energy layer most involved with our physical and mental health is called the etheric body. It is an exact duplicate of the physical body even down to the sub-atomic level. If it is healthy the body is hale and hearty…good health is the result. If it is damaged, there is a greater risk of organ dysfunction and disease. Damage to the etheric body can be felt…the skin may be abnormally cold or hot. Localized pain is the signal of energy loss through the etheric body.
Yang activities can strengthen or weaken the etheric body depending on the intensity of the activity. After strenuous exercise, if you feel good…energized…the etheric body has been made stronger. All illness, even mental illness, gets better with exercise in moderation because the etheric body becomes more durable. Too strenuous exercise causes disorder in the structure of the etheric body…like big waves in the ocean. This disorder leads to pain and indicates that the etheric body has been damaged. Any benefits of strenuous exercise are lost.
Yin activities help to repair the etheric body. Yin activity calms and focuses the energy in the etheric body. This process leads to repair of the damage caused by Yang activity. Yin can also directly make the etheric body more flexible and able to withstand Yang-related damage. Yin activities like gentle stretching after strenuous exercise positively impacts damage to the etheric body. Both Yin and Yang activities are critical for health and longevity.
The best way to recharge your energy system and foster resistance to illness and aging is through a combination of Yin and Yang activities.
| Yang Activity | Yin Activity |
| Weight lifting | Tai Chi, Hatha Yoga |
| Running | Qigong breathing exercises |
| Floor strength exercises (Pilates) | Meditation |
| Competitive sports | Sleep |
| High intensity swimming | Relaxing in water |
| Deep Tissue/Sports Massage | Relaxing Massage |
| Energetic Dance | Energy therapy – Reiki, Qigong, etc. |
| Vibrational therapy: Chanting, singing bowls | |
| Acupuncture | |
| Heat, Infra-Red Therapy |
All chronic illnesses are the result of un-repaired damage to the etheric body. Medications and supplements may temporarily help with the symptoms but the underlying damage to the etheric body must be repaired before health can be achieved. If you are taking a lot of medications, you are not healthy. You are barely holding on.
Recommendations
- It is essential that as we age, we participate in Yang activities to keep the body strong. Medical research has shown that muscle strengthening activities reduce the risk of falling and damage from falling. It also has benefit in reducing the risk of dementia, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and other chronic illnesses. However, exuberance in Yang activities like weight lifting/running results in accumulating unrepaired injury to the body = muscle, tendon, ligament and even bone damage. Therefore Yang activities alone are insufficient for long term health.
- Yin activities alone are also insufficient to maintain the physical body. Over indulgence in some Yin activities may result in actual physical weakness…muscle and balance loss, weaker immune system and mentally indecisiveness, lack of drive and fatigue.
- Whatever Yang activity is done, it should be balanced by Yin activity. For example, after I weights lift for an hour, I will spend 15-20 minutes with some form of Qigong breathing and/or meditation. The Yang activity increases energy and the Yin activity helps me calm and store it. Overall, I feel settled and my batteries are recharged and ready for the daily challenges of life.
- If I have had a stressful day…too much mental Yang activity…I do not then do a lot of physical exercise. Meditation and Tai Chi movements are the mental Yin activity I need in order not to feel exhausted and protect myself from physical and mental illnesses.
An example of the necessity of Yin and Yang activity can be found in the story of an Indian yogi named Bohidharma and the Chinese monks of Shaolin. It is too long to relay here but click here for the legend.