Warm Up in the Morning

The Taoist tradition says to open your heart first before you open your eyes. (Fig. 8.1) When you wake up, do not jump out of bed and do not open your eyes. In the Taoist system we believe that all organs have souls and spirits. When we are asleep, the souls and spirits are at rest, too. They take a while to be awakened, and if you are too hasty, you can hurt them. As we say, when you are too hasty, you are hurting the energy of the organs. If you have a good morning warm up, the whole day will run smoothly.

Check your Energy Level each Day.

Do not open your eyes. Put your palm on the navel area. (Fig. 8.2) Men, put the right palm on the navel with the left palm over it. Women, put the left palm over the navel and the right palm on top. Concen­trate on your navel until you feel it become warm.

Start with the Inner Smile

(Fig. 8.3)

If you can, get in touch with the Inner Smile; feel the flow of it; and guide the smile all the way down from the face to the neck and through the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, spleen and sex organs.

Smile into the Second Line, the digestive system, and the Third Line, the nervous system and spinal cord. Smile to them and sense when the smile can get through. Keep on smiling until the pain and tension go away.If one day it is hard to get the smile energy flow­ing, that means your energy levels–physical, emotional, and intellectual–are in a low cycle. Be very careful on that day, because you are in the low cycle of your biorhythm and astrologic charts. When you are too low with energy, you are likely to get yourself into trouble and have accidents. By practicing the Inner Smile and Micro cosmic Orbit well, you can eventually overcome the biorhythm and astrologic charts. Spend a little bit more time in practice until you feel your smiling energy increase and flow through the organs faster. That indicates you are raising up your energy level, and the emotions can thus be controlled. Misfortune and accidents can be overcome or avoided.

Clean Out the Blocked Energy every Day.

If you smile through the organs and you feel obstructions and block­ages in particular organs, take a little more time. Concentrate your awareness by smiling to that place where there is a blockage, until it starts to cleanup. Disease always begins with the blockage of energy flow to an organ or gland major pathway. When the energy has to flow through a major organ or gland but there is blockage, the organ starts to get less energy, less blood flow and less nutri­tion Over a long period of time the organ and gland will work less effectively or not at all. No equipment can check you out as accu­rately as your own flow of Chi energy. When doctors find an ill­ness, at that time an organ may be functioning at only ten percent efficiency. With a daily check-up using the Microcosmic Orbit, you can correct, maintain and strengthen yourself each day without spending, much time.

Clean Out Yesterday’s Toxins.

The most important key to keeping healthy is to eliminate tension, worry and toxins every day so that they do not accumulate in the body. (Fig. 8.4) Many people experience getting up in the morning as the hardest thing to do. They feel down, sluggish and in a bad mood with pain and aches all over.

This is the result of the accumulation of too many toxins in the body. Abdominal massage is the best way to clear the toxins out. The abdominal massage can help to release the blockages and break out the sediment every day. In the beginning some people might feel like vomiting when they hit a painful spot. This is be­cause the toxins are starting to clear out and the organ is moving back to the proper place.

People who have had operations on the stomach or intestines have to be very careful in doing the abdominal massage. If you feel pain in the area of the operation, you might have to rub with your palm.

When you massage around the navel area and feel knots or lumps move around (Fig. 8.5), that can be a bowel movement that has hardened and remained in the colon wall. If you massage and move the toxins, they will move out of their position to the rectum. People with weak energy who do not exercise the abdomen do not have enough energy to push the bowel movement up the ascend­ing colon or push down to the rectum.

Constipation is the first thing to block energy flow, leading to back pain, headache, stomach ache and colon cancer.

Some people might not find enough time to do this in the morn­ing, but do as much as you can manage and then massage the rest when you are at the toilet. Also, do some abdominal massage before you go to sleep.

Increase Lower Limb Circulation

When we are asleep, the circulation slows down, especially in the legs which are the farthest away from the heart, and the toxins start to settle in the legs and feet areas. Massaging these areas can help to clean out the tension, worry, and toxins that accumu­lated from yesterday.

As we know, the feet are the remote controls of the organs and glands. By massaging the feet, we can stimulate the organs and glands. The toes are the end and beginning of the two meridians. The outer corner of the toes is the liver meridian, which is the ma­jor detoxifying organ. When activated it will help to clear out the toxins that accumulate in the limbs and the backs of the knees.

The inside corner is the spleen meridian, which can help the immune system and help in digestion.

Practice: Lying on a bed, rub the big toe and the second toe back and forth against each other, twenty to thirty times, and feel the Chi and circulation increase. (Fig. 8.6) Do it on both feet. This exercise can help to prevent hardening of the veins and arteries.

Activate Vein Circulation (Fig. 8.7)

Veins are the return routes of the blood to the heart. The most common places for blood to clot are the veins of the feet. This can be caused by wearing high heels, wearing tight shoes, or wearing the wrong shoes. These will tend to harden the veins and slow down the entire foot circulation.

Practice:

1. Males: Start with the right foot, then the left foot, with the leg bending the feet inward toward the stomach, and exert force on the heels. Hold for a while and relax.
2. Females: Start with the left foot; then do the right foot.

If you do this exercise and feel cramping, use your fingers to pull the toes and bend them upward, or pull the toes downward until the foot recovers from the cramp.

Stretch the Tendons

When we are asleep, the tendons are at a resting stage, not stretched out. When we get up, our body feels stiff and hard to move or bend. There are thousands of stretches possible; we can spend a lot of time stretching. If you do just a few right, you can stretch all the tendons, save time and prevent yourself from being afraid to do them because you do not have enough time.

The feet, toes, hands and fingers are the ends of the extremi­ties Where all the tendons and ligaments join together. When we feel stiff, hardening starts from the extremities. Another area is the spinal cord which may tighten with its connections of many ten­dons and ligaments.

The extremity, and thus the main connection, of all the tendons is the tongue.

Practice.

1.Lying on your back, bend your back like a bow and stretch your hands and fingers to bend the feet and toes. Spread and stretch out the fingers and toes as far as you can, and begin to do bellows- breathing: exhale and move the stomach until it is flat and touches the spine; inhale until the stomach is inflated. (Fig. 8.8) Gradually increase the speed for about ten to fifteen times. At the final ex­hale, exhale deeply and stretch out your tongue as long as you can toward the chin. (Fig. 8.9) Direct your eyes to look at the tip of your nose. You can repeat this two to three times. The resting period is very important. Relax your body muscles totally and enjoy the flow of Chi energy throughout the whole body.

2.Bend down; use your thumbs and index fingers to hold the big toes of both feet. This will energize the liver and spleen merid­ians. Hold the toes and feel the energy from the thumbs go to the lungs meridian and from the index fingers to the large intestine, which is connected to the liver and spleen meridians. (Fig. 8.10 and 8.11) Start to use bellows-breathing; start slowly and gradually increase it until you feel the tendons and the spinal cord get tense, and then release. After you finish you can shake the feet and slap them a few times to loosen them. If you can’t touch the feet, you can hold the back of the knees, calves and ankles. This will in­crease and activate the bladder, lungs and large intestine merid­ians.

To stretch out the neck and the spine, do the same, bending down to touch the feet: but instead of your head touching the knees, you look up to the ceiling and feel the stretching of the whole spine. (Fig. 8.13)

Get up slowly. When you are ready to rise, roll your body slowly to the left side and sit up; then gradually stand up and walk.

Clean the Nine Openings

We have many openings in our bodies. Taoists say we have two doors and seven windows, which are the openings that permit us contact with the outside world. These openings are able to let vari­ous kinds of pollution enter or block them out.

1.Front Door—Sexual Opening

The sexual organ is regarded as the front door, which is the door of the creative life-force energy. By knowing how to control and seal it tight, the life-force energy will last longer.

2.Back Door – Nutrients Opening

The anus is regarded as the back door, which controls nutrition. Many people are not aware of what to eat and the body cannot absorb their food. They end up losing most of the nutrients to their toilets. The most expensive piece of equipment in your house can end up to be the “golden toilet”.

3.Seven Windows

The two eyes, two ears, two holes of the nose, and one mouth are the seven windows. The windows are important to receive and transmit information. If a window is dirty and not strong, it will not receive information well and will not seal the life-force within.

We regard these windows as the openings of the organs.

The eyes are the opening of the liver.

The ears are the opening of the kidneys.

The nose is the opening of the lungs.

The mouth is the opening of the spleen.

The tongue is the opening of the heart.

The exercises of Tao Rejuvenation in the morning are very im­portant. If you have the time, do more. Use the bathroom if you can, or find room outside of the bathroom to do them.

4.Routine Large Intestine cleaning.

Daily bowel movements are very important in reducing the accumulation of “stew” in the body.

When you finish the bowel movement, use water to clean your­self. If this is inconvenient, use toilet paper that has been wet with water and clean out the anus. Massage the coccyx and around the anus. The anus region has many arteries and veins, which are easily clotted and can become hemorrhoids. Massage the whole region 50-100 times. This is of great help in preventing or healing hemorrhoids, while helping to detoxify any accumulation in the lower region.

Knowing how to move the bowels is equally as important as eating.

Clean Out the Parts of the Face.

1.Eyes

If you have the time, do the Tao Rejuvenation. Of all the senses’ exercises, the eye exercises are my favorite.

Daily maintenance is the best prevention. Many times we do not pay much attention to the things that are close to us, like the water and air or our faces and eyes.

Many people wash their faces, but seldom wash their eyes. When working outside all day, very small particles of dust and all kinds of fiber get into the eyes and clot the tear ducts. Be sure to massage the tear ducts.

Wash the eyes with cool, clean or boiled water. Use a bowl in which you can immerse your face.

Open your eyes and move the eyes around. Get all the dirt and particles out. (Fig. 8.14) This will also help you remain more awake.

2.Nose

The nose is the place where the life-force of air enters. A strong and healthy nose is the key to vitality.

Right after you clean the eyes, use another bowl of water, Make sure it is clean; preferably use cooled, boiled water.

Immerse your nose and face into the water, inhale the water into the nostrils just enough, and force it out. In the beginning you might sniff or inhale too deeply which will cause you to cough. When you are well-practiced, the water will enter your nose and come out your mouth.

If you have difficulty handling both nostrils at one time, you can use your finger to close the right nostril while cleaning the left nos­tril, and then close the left nostril while cleaning the right nostril.

In the beginning you might feel pain or unpleasantness, because the nose is like a chimney—if you never clean out the smoke, it will collect there.

3.Teeth

Massaging the teeth and the gums with coarse salt is very useful. (Fig. 8.15) Using your finger, touch the salt and rub the teeth and gums. Make sure that your finger is clean and the nail not too long. Massage and rub the inside and outside of the gums. Weak gums are the cause of much tooth decay. If you have time, do the teeth and gum exercises.

Massaging the tongue is very important, too. (Fig. 8.16) Please see the section on tongue exercise (Chapter 4).

4.Ears

Cleaning and exercising the ears will make you more alert and prevent hearing loss.

Use a clean, damp towel; rub and massage the ears, both the shells and the inner ears. See the ear exercises’ section (Chapter 4).

5.Neck

Use a clean, damp towel and rub the neck until you feel the heat and Chi flow in the neck. The neck may reveal your age; a wrinkled neck might make you look old.

6.Massage the head and comb the hair.

Take time to massage the head and comb the scalp carefully. This can be an enjoyable moment.

7.Massage the Feet

Using a towel, rub and massage your feet. Rub until you feel the feet are warm and that the Chi flows.

8.Clean Water is a Cleanser.

Drinking water in the morning one to two hours before breakfast is the best for clearing out the system and providing prevention. Wa­ter can help you clean out the dirt and toxins that remain in your digestive tract. Morning is the best time to clean out.

Drink clean water. In some places you might need to boil it. Drink two to four glasses. In the beginning it might be hard to drink a lot of water. After you drink, you need to move, either walking, jogging or jumping. After that you have to do the abdominal mas­sage to move the water around to rinse and clean out the toxins and mucous, which can move out as a bowel movement and urine.

Do not drink after a meal or before you sleep. If you drink at night, it will make you get up.

Sleep Position

1. If you feel constipated, do some abdominal massage for a while before sleeping.
2. If you like to lie on your back, lie with your hands and legs straight, and lightly hold your thumb in your fingers.
3. If you sleep on your side, try to sleep on your right side with your spine straight, your left leg bent, your right leg straight, your right hand’s palm on your head but not covering your ear, and your left hand on your navel.
4. You can also lie on your side with your spine straight, curving your two legs in, and put both hands in between the legs.
5. Do not wear tight clothes. Choose a good pillow. There are many good pillows now that support the neck, not just the head, which leaves the neck hanging high in the middle.

Flowers in the sleeping room can make you sleep well, but do not use overly fragrant ones because they can cause you to have a lot of dreams.