Traditional Chinese Medicine and Longevity: How Yin Qi Steals Decades from Our Lives

1. How Long Should One Live to Fulfill Their Natural Lifespan?

Why is the average lifespan of modern people only seventy to eighty years, with most dying from diseases? Why has the expected lifespan of people today decreased by nearly one-third compared to ancient times? Who has stolen these precious forty to fifty years of life from us?

In my long medical career, I have encountered various patients, and I often ask them a question: “How old do you want to live?” To my surprise, many people say they have never thought about this question.

The length and quality of life are the most significant matters in our lives. If you do not care enough about it, how much joy can life bring?

We should indeed prepare early for our health and longevity. This preparation does not require much time or money, but it can lead to a high-quality life.

A high-quality life means living to one’s “natural lifespan.”

So, how old must one be to be considered to have reached their “natural lifespan”? The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) states: “In ancient times, people lived to be a hundred years old in spring and autumn before departing, thus fulfilling their natural lifespan.” Thousands of years ago, wise Chinese people could deduce the course of a person’s life according to the laws of nature.

American scholar Hayflick estimated human lifespan based on the number of cell divisions, concluding that a person’s lifespan should be 120 years. These research findings astonishingly align with our ancestors’ records of natural lifespan.

However, why is the average lifespan of modern people only seventy to eighty years, with most dying from diseases? Why has the expected lifespan of people today decreased by nearly one-third compared to ancient times?

This is a question worth deep reflection by everyone.

What causes us to fall ill? Who has stolen our forty to fifty years of life?

The answer is Yin Qi.

Yin Qi is something we create ourselves. We often harm our Yang Qi and promote our Yin Qi, leading to decline by middle age and an inability to fulfill our natural lifespan. Our ancestors pointed this out thousands of years ago. The Huangdi Neijing states: Those who do not practice good health habits drink alcohol as if it were a beverage without restraint. Excessive drinking harms both the spirit and the organs and blood vessels. Furthermore, many people consider harmful lifestyles as normal, falling into various health misconceptions without realizing it. For example, indulging in sexual activities after getting drunk, harming oneself with alcohol and overindulgence, seeking momentary pleasure while recklessly releasing one’s essence, unaware of the need to preserve one’s vital energy. Additionally, unhealthy lifestyles such as staying up late, binge eating, and irregular daily routines can lead to premature aging and chronic diseases, preventing one from fulfilling their natural lifespan!

Some say: The average lifespan of people today is longer than in the past, with many elderly living to eighty or ninety. But I believe: These long-lived elders lived in a different era than today. Nowadays, those who work hard mentally and physically often have health issues. Conditions like hypertension, diabetes, shoulder periarthritis, and vascular sclerosis have appeared prematurely in people in their thirties and forties.

I am a perfectionist; I hope everyone achieves perfect success and happiness, and I do not want to see anyone’s health collapse at the moment of success. Yet, I witness these situations happening around us every day.

In fact, our ancestors have already pointed out a bright path to living to one’s natural lifespan in the Huangdi Neijing: “Follow the principles of Yin and Yang, harmonize with the techniques of numbers, maintain regularity in daily life, eat and drink in moderation, and do not overexert oneself, thus one can maintain both body and spirit and fulfill their natural lifespan, departing at a hundred years old.” What does this mean? It means we should never harm our Yang Qi artificially, but I believe this is not enough. In my view, we should actively cultivate our Yang Qi at all times to enhance the body’s self-healing ability. Remember, no matter how old you are, as long as your Yang Qi is sufficient, living to your natural lifespan is not a dream.

2. Health Preservation is Cultivating Yang Qi

When the body is unwell, it is like being in a cold and damp environment, but as long as the sun comes out, this environment becomes unfavorable for the growth and development of diseases. Therefore, we must use our own hands to lift the sun within our bodies, allowing it to shine upon our internal organs and bring us lasting health.

Nowadays, many diseases are difficult to treat, and conventional methods often yield poor results. How can we quickly alleviate these difficult and complicated conditions? This has been a problem that has troubled me for many years. It is precisely these challenges that have prompted me to constantly think and seek solutions in my life, combining ancient wisdom and experience until one day, when I reread the Huangdi Neijing, I discovered an important secret hidden within.

This secret is to protect Yang Qi. The Huangdi Neijing states in the “Shengqi Tongtian Lun”: “Yang Qi is like the sun and the moon; if it loses its place, it will shorten life and not shine.” The “Yin Yang Yingxiang Da Lun” states: “Yin and Yang are the source of life and death.” Zhang Jingyue commented: “The way of life and death is only Yin and Yang. When Yang comes, things live; when Yang departs, things die.” These two passages made me realize the true essence of treating diseases and preserving life, and the long-standing problems I faced suddenly became clear.

It turns out that human life revolves around the concept of “Yang Qi.” Only by protecting Yang Qi can one avoid all diseases, and only with abundant Yang Qi can the body’s self-recovery ability function normally, making medicine effective. It is precisely the deficiency of Yang Qi that leads to various health issues in our bodies. Many people’s diseases remain unresolved not because medicine is ineffective, but because their Yang Qi has not been activated.

Once this thought opened up, I immediately realized that throughout history, renowned Chinese physicians have treated diseases and preserved health by mobilizing the body’s Yang Qi.

The Song Dynasty physician Dou Cai was a prominent advocate of Yang Qi health preservation. He emphasized that “if Yang essence is strong, one can live for a thousand years; if Yin Qi is strong, it will inevitably cause harm.” He particularly focused on moxibustion at the Guanyuan (CV4) point, believing that during the transition from summer to autumn each year, one should moxibustion the Guanyuan point a thousand times, which is about a month’s worth of moxibustion, to maintain strong and vigorous energy and vitality. Year after year, this practice will keep the lower abdomen warm like a sun, bringing joy and comfort.

This secret in the Huangdi Neijing has been discovered by many great physicians in ancient times, and they successfully applied it in clinical practice. Since then, when I treat diseases and provide health guidance, I have made protecting Yang Qi the core content, and many difficult and complicated conditions have been easily resolved.

I encourage people to use standing meditation to invigorate their Yang Qi, teach them to stimulate their Yang Qi through acupoints, and use dietary therapy to conquer the greatest enemy of Yang Qi—dampness. Practice has proven that this approach is very effective.

Health preservation is cultivating Yang Qi.

3. Why Do Modern People Have Excess Yin and Deficient Yang?

We should adjust our breathing and diet to nourish the body’s Yang Qi. In terms of breathing, we should breathe in fresh air that carries the spirit of heaven and the vitality of all living things. In terms of diet, we should utilize the properties of food to help Yang Qi flourish.

In real life, people with weak bodies often exhibit the following symptoms: cold hands and feet, pale complexion without luster, or dark complexion, being particularly sensitive to cold weather, or feeling as if cold water has been poured on the lower back, preferring hot tea and soup, feeling fatigued and weak, easily experiencing chronic diarrhea, indigestion, malnutrition, anemia, or edema; additionally, slight exercise may cause palpitations, shortness of breath, easy sweating, or loose stools that are unformed, easily leading to diarrhea after catching a cold, swelling after fatigue, or frequent urination at night, reduced libido, with men experiencing impotence or premature ejaculation, and women having reduced menstruation, infertility, or sterility…

All of these are manifestations of excess Yin and deficient Yang. The body is shrouded in the ominous clouds of disease, and Yang Qi is deficient, leading to these symptoms. To this day, those symptoms seem not to be exclusive to chronically ill individuals; even normal people exhibit some of these symptoms to varying degrees.

Why do modern people have excess Yin and deficient Yang?

The Huangdi Neijing tells us: Humans are born of heaven and earth; heaven nourishes Yang with Qi, and earth nourishes Yin with food. We can observe our surroundings; pollution is too severe. Breathing in such poor-quality air will surely damage our Yang Qi. Moreover, the food on our tables is exquisite and abundant, mostly consisting of meat and poultry, which are the most nourishing for Yin. In this lifestyle, many people’s bodies have become plump, but their spirits have not improved.

Spirit belongs to Yang, while the body belongs to Yin. When the two are unbalanced, with excess Yin and deficient Yang, it leads to the phenomenon described in TCM as “form surpassing Qi.” The Huangdi Neijing states: “When Qi surpasses form, one lives long; when form surpasses Qi, one dies young.” This means that when a person’s mental state cannot fully control their physical form, they will become ill and find it difficult to heal.

This reminds us: We should adjust our breathing and diet to nourish the body’s Yang Qi. In terms of breathing, we should breathe in fresh air that carries the spirit of heaven and the vitality of all living things; in terms of diet, we should utilize the properties of food to help Yang Qi flourish. For example, dampness is a common problem among modern people; dampness is a Yin evil that can inhibit Yang Qi. Job’s tears and red bean soup can eliminate dampness from the body, and once the dampness is removed, Yang Qi will naturally flourish. Additionally, we should pay attention to food combinations; for instance, drinking alcohol with kudzu flower can prevent drunkenness; cold crabs should be paired with warming ginger and perilla leaves to prevent gout. By paying attention to these small issues in daily life, we can make significant strides toward health!

The Huangdi Neijing also tells us: Movement belongs to Yang, while stillness belongs to Yin. Modern people’s bodies lack proper exercise, leading to a state of excess Yin and deficient Yang. The combination of these factors harms the body’s Yang Qi, resulting in a pathological state of Yang deficiency that is even more pronounced than that of ancient people.

The life of all things depends on Yang, and the death of all things also depends on Yang. The growth, maturation, aging, and death of humans are all governed by Yang Qi; the generation of essence, blood, and fluids is all transformed by Yang Qi. However, the era, environment, and lifestyle we live in provide us with too little Yang Qi, which is why we are plagued by various diseases today.

4. Abundant Yang Qi, No Diseases Invade

The human body has the ability to resist external evils. This ability is Yang Qi, also known in TCM as “Wei Yang” or “Wei Qi.” Wei means guard or protect. Yang Qi is like the body’s guards, distributed at the surface of the skin (sinews), responsible for resisting all external evils and safeguarding the body’s safety. Anyone with abundant Yang Qi can be free from diseases.

When modern people have minor illnesses, such as a cold, they generally do not easily seek TCM. Many people, who have been ill for a long time, often ask me, “What is the root cause of my various ailments?” I tell them: “The root cause of the diseases you have experienced in the past and present is only one: weak Yang Qi.”

Humans exist between heaven and earth, and the wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire in nature constantly threaten our health. This is what TCM refers to as the “Six Excess Evils.” Throughout the four seasons, there are wind evils in spring, heat evils in summer, damp evils in autumn, and cold evils in winter. Some of these invade the body quickly, while others may remain latent for a long time, transforming into various forms of other diseases. However, within the encirclement of the Six Excess Evils, why do some people become ill while others do not?

It turns out that the human body has the ability to resist external evils. This ability is Yang Qi, also known in TCM as “Wei Yang” or “Wei Qi.” Wei means guard or protect. Yang Qi is like the body’s guards, distributed at the surface of the skin (sinews), responsible for resisting all external evils and safeguarding the body’s safety.

Anyone with abundant Yang Qi can be free from diseases. Humans exist between heaven and earth, and the wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire in nature constantly threaten our health. This is what TCM refers to as the “Six Excess Evils.” Throughout the four seasons, there are wind evils in spring, heat evils in summer, damp evils in autumn, and cold evils in winter. Some of these invade the body quickly, while others may remain latent for a long time, transforming into various forms of other diseases. However, within the encirclement of the Six Excess Evils, why do some people become ill while others do not?

Those with abundant Yang Qi can easily keep the evils at bay, so regardless of how harsh the environment is or what kind of pathogens are prevalent outside, they will not fall ill. The reason some people can escape epidemics is that their Yang Qi is very strong, while those with weak Yang Qi are different; the evils encounter little resistance at the body’s surface and can easily penetrate, directly harming the body.

Therefore, those suffering from various difficult diseases, chronic illnesses, or severe conditions are generally those whose Wei Yang is not solid and whose sinews are not tight, all due to insufficient Yang Qi, allowing various external evils to gradually invade the body and accumulate over time.

The causes of diseases lie in the external Six Excess Evils and the internal Seven Emotions: joy, anger, worry, thought, sadness, fear, and shock. Many changes in the five organs are caused by emotional fluctuations.

When do human emotions fluctuate the most? It is when Yang Qi is insufficient. Those with abundant Yang Qi are optimistic and open-minded, while those with insufficient Yang Qi are pessimistic and despairing. Therefore, when we elevate Yang Qi, our mental state will undergo a significant transformation, and the so-called diseases caused by the “Seven Emotions” will all stay far away from us. Even if we occasionally fall ill, the body’s self-healing function will restore our health in the shortest time possible.

Furthermore, aging is merely the decline of Yang and the rise of Yin. Aging is a natural law, but through effort, we can delay aging until we reach the natural limit of our lifespan. When one reaches their natural lifespan, death is no longer a frightening matter but a great liberation and joy.

In summary, as long as Yang Qi is sufficient, we will naturally not fear illness, aging, or death. What doctors can do is only to use needles and medicine to mobilize the body’s Yang Qi and revive the body’s self-repair function. If we understand how to protect and cultivate Yang Qi, we can proudly say: the best great physician is ourselves.

5. Self-Diagnosis: Simple Methods to Determine if There is Dampness in the Body

Why are modern diseases so complex and difficult to treat?

Because there is dampness in their bodies, and the external evils always conspire with the internal dampness, creating a tangled mess.

Why has Sichuan cuisine, which was once only popular in southwestern China, become popular nationwide? Because Sichuan flavor is spicy, and only those living in the damp regions of the southwest needed it to resolve internal dampness. Now, many people across the country have dampness in their bodies and need spiciness to resolve it, so everyone instinctively loves Sichuan cuisine.

Among the Six Excess Evils that cause diseases—wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire—dampness is the most feared. Cold and heat can be managed; cold can be warmed, and heat can be cooled. If there is wind, we can drive it away; if there is dryness, we can moisten it; if there is heat, we can clear it. However, what about dampness? That becomes a bit tricky. Using drying methods will often harm the body’s fluids, and dampness cannot be easily removed. Therefore, in TCM, in addition to drying dampness, there are also methods to promote urination, transform dampness, and drain dampness. The more methods there are, the more cunning this enemy is, making it harder to deal with.

Dampness is pervasive. When dampness harms the body, it never fights alone; it always colludes with other evils.

Dampness combined with cold becomes cold dampness. This is like in winter; if the weather is dry, people can still tolerate the cold, but if the dampness is heavy, it becomes unbearable. This is why winter in the south is more uncomfortable than in the north; the dampness is heavier, and the cold evil is more harmful.

Dampness combined with heat becomes damp heat. This is like summer sauna days, where both heat and humidity make it hard to breathe, which is clearly less pleasant than dry, sunny weather.

Dampness combined with wind becomes wind dampness. Driving away wind is easy, but once it becomes wind dampness, it often leads to chronic diseases that are not easily treated. When dampness is under the skin, it leads to obesity, which is also a challenging health issue…

In individuals with illness, there is certainly stubborn dampness at play; even seemingly healthy individuals have dampness lurking within, waiting for the right moment to act. So, how can we determine if there is dampness in our bodies?

The simplest way is to observe the stool: if the stool is unformed and consistently loose, there is certainly dampness in the body. If the stool is formed but leaves residue in the toilet that is hard to flush away, this is also a sign of dampness, as dampness has a sticky characteristic. If it is inconvenient to observe the toilet, one can also check the toilet paper. If the stool is normal, one sheet of toilet paper should suffice. However, for those with dampness, several sheets will be needed.

If there is constipation and the stool is unformed, it indicates that the dampness in the body is very heavy. The stickiness of dampness causes the stool to linger in the intestines, leading to toxic feces entering the blood, resulting in numerous diseases.

Furthermore, one can also judge by the color of the stool. What does normal stool look like? It should be “golden yellow, cylindrical; banana-shaped, and smooth.” To be honest, there are not many healthy individuals with such stool; most have dark green or blue stool, and few are well-formed.

What causes the stool to be dark green? It is primarily due to excessive meat consumption, combined with modern people’s lack of exercise, leading to excess Yin and deficient Yang, causing dampness to accumulate internally, thus affecting stool quality.

Why is well-formed stool so rare? In TCM, it is said that a weak spleen leads to loose stools. Chinese people should primarily consume grains, but now many eat meat as their main diet. Many feel uncomfortable if they do not eat meat for a day, and the combination of meat and vegetables is highly unreasonable. Over time, this harms the spleen and stomach, which are responsible for transforming dampness. When the spleen is damaged, dampness cannot be fully transformed, leading to accumulation in the body. Therefore, unformed stool indicates a weak spleen and dampness in the body, which is the biggest health issue for modern people.

Diseases are insidious and distressing; they hide within the human body, invisible to the naked eye. Western medicine can reveal parts of it by opening the body, while TCM infers the internal state of evils through external observations.

If you feel very tired when you should be getting up at 7 AM, as if something is wrapping around your head, making you feel lethargic, or if you feel as if something is enveloping your body, making you reluctant to move, then you can determine that there is heavy dampness in your body without needing to look at your tongue or stool. In TCM, it is said that “heavy dampness feels like being wrapped up”; this feeling of being enveloped is the body’s response to dampness, akin to wearing a shirt that has been washed but not dried.

Dampness is the greatest enemy of modern health, the source or accomplice of most difficult and chronic diseases. As long as dampness is reduced, all so-called modern diseases will stay away from us, and all malignant and chronic diseases will lose their breeding ground. How to deal with dampness and eliminate it is our primary task in health preservation and disease prevention. By expelling dampness from the body, both body and mind will shine brightly.

6. Observing the Tongue and Fingernails to Differentiate Conditions for Health Preservation

Every morning after getting up and washing up, take a precious second to look at your tongue. Another simple method is to observe the moons at the base of your fingernails.

Health preservation should be tailored to the individual, but it does not mean that there are a thousand different ways for a thousand people. How can we determine our own health preservation plan based on our specific conditions? One basic point is to differentiate between cold and heat. People have cold and heat constitutions, and based on the coldness or heat of their constitution, we should treat health preservation differently. We can simply follow our feelings: those with cold constitutions are more sensitive to cold and prefer warm foods, while those with heat constitutions are sensitive to heat and prefer cool foods. We just need to follow our preferences and adjust accordingly. Additionally, regardless of whether one has a cold or heat constitution, the internal environment can change over time; sometimes it may lean towards cold, and other times towards heat. This requires us to constantly observe our internal cold and heat conditions and arrange our diet and daily routines accordingly. This is the most important aspect, though it can be challenging to master and requires our constant attention.

How can we know if there is cold or heat in our bodies? Here are two simple methods.

Every morning after getting up and washing up, take a precious second to look at your tongue. In TCM, the tongue is a reflection of the heart and the exterior of the spleen, and it can sensitively reflect the body’s cold and heat. If the internal cold and heat are balanced, our tongue should be pale red and moist, with a thin white coating that is clean and moderate in dryness and wetness; if the coating is too white, slippery, and moist, it indicates internal cold; if the coating is rough, thick, yellow, and greasy, it indicates internal damp heat; if the tongue is bright red without coating, it indicates that the internal heat has reached a certain level.

Another simpler method is to observe the moons at the base of the fingernails. A normal moon should occupy about 1/5 of the entire nail. If it is far less than 1/5, it indicates internal cold; if it is far more than 1/5, it indicates internal heat. A normal moon should be milky white, and the whiter it is, the healthier it is. Each fingernail can have a moon, but their meanings differ. Generally, healthy individuals should have moons on their thumbs and middle fingers. The thumb corresponds to the lungs, and the middle finger corresponds to the heart. If the moons on these two fingers are normal, it indicates that the body’s cold and heat are relatively balanced, and there should not be significant health issues. The little finger generally does not have a moon; if it does, it indicates heat in the kidneys. Of course, some may say: “I have no moons on any of my ten fingers.” This should be viewed differently; if one has never had moons, it indicates a cold constitution; if one used to have moons but no longer does, it indicates that internal coldness is heavy, and one should focus on dampness removal.

7. Standing Meditation is the Simplest and Most Effective Path to Longevity

After nearly 20 years of practicing TCM diagnosis and treatment, I have found that this health preservation method, which integrates health preservation, TCM, and martial arts, is currently the simplest, most convenient, and most effective method among all body and mind adjustment techniques!

Nowadays, most people’s bodies lack adequate exercise, so it is even more important to use effective exercise methods to adjust the body. However, the reasons of “not having time to exercise” and the lack of noticeable effects after exercising have diminished many people’s confidence in physical exercise. Here, I would like to introduce a simple, easy-to-learn method that does not take up time and has particularly fast and good effects, which I personally use every day.

I have practiced traditional Chinese martial arts since childhood, specifically Dachengquan. This style has no specific moves or routines; it simply involves “standing quietly with both hands embracing in front of the chest.” This action in martial arts is called “standing meditation,” and I have applied this martial arts method to health preservation and named it the “Embrace Health” method.

To date, I have discovered that this health preservation method, which integrates health preservation, TCM, and martial arts, is indeed the simplest and most effective among all methods for adjusting body and mind.

The “Embrace Health” method is very simple: stand freely, with both hands embracing in front of the chest, and relax the whole body.

That’s it! Using this “Embrace Health” method saves time and space; we can do it while watching TV or chatting. I often suggest to my friends and family (or patient friends) to stand like this for half an hour after getting home from work while watching TV, which wastes no time.

Some may express doubt: Can such an effective health preservation method be so simple? Is there really such a good thing in the world?

The founder of Dachengquan, Wang Xiangzhai, was extremely weak and suffered from stubborn asthma at the age of seven or eight. At that time, there was no effective treatment for this disease. In desperation, the famous Xingyi master, known in the martial arts world as “Half-Step Bump Fist Conquers the World,” Guo Yunshen, imparted the secret of standing meditation from Xingyi to him. Wang Xiangzhai used this health preservation skill to adjust his body, not only recovering from his illness but also unknowingly developing profound martial arts skills.

The “Embrace Health” method I am introducing now is a fusion of Wang Xiangzhai’s skills and my own experience. Its action of standing freely, embracing with both hands, and relaxing the whole body naturally leads to the optimal health preservation state, directly stimulating many acupoint functions in the body. Therefore, the principle of the “Embrace Health” method is to stimulate the body’s meridians, integrating numerous health functions of the body’s meridians and acupoints.

First, it mobilizes the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint; additionally, with more practice of the “Embrace Health” method, one will feel a line hanging from the top of the head, which stimulates the Baihui (GV20) acupoint; the embracing position of the palms perfectly stimulates the Laogong (PC8) acupoint; and the standing position of the feet stimulates the Yongquan (KD1) acupoint, activating the two major acupoints for nourishing the heart and kidneys. Thus, when practicing the “Embrace Health” method, one often feels warmth in the palms and soles; furthermore, the chest, abdomen, and back will be fully relaxed, harmonizing the Ren and Du meridians… All useful acupoints and meridians in the body can be fully stimulated through the “Embrace Health” method, making it truly a method that “one stance connects the meridians, one embrace brings health!”

The simple “Embrace Health” method perfectly combines health preservation and mental well-being. Years of practice have made me realize that “Embrace Health” is a great movement within stillness; it appears to be standing quietly with only slight swaying, yet in reality, all the vital acupoints are in motion. This is true movement, the most efficient and effective movement. “Embrace Health” is also a state of true stillness within movement; although one cannot be entirely free of distractions, one can still feel joy and mental pleasure.

Usually, our minds are like wild horses galloping, unable to stop abruptly. However, when we practice “Embrace Health,” our minds slow down, as if wandering in the clear breeze under the bright moon.

When practicing the “Embrace Health” method, there is no need to focus on the dantian, nor is it necessary to eliminate all distractions; instead, think of pleasant things, because joy is the master of the heart, and a slight joy is better than any heart-nourishing medicine. At this time, we relax our whole body, free from worries. You will soon experience what true joy in the body feels like.

8. “Relaxation” is the Best Medicine for the Body

The “Embrace Health” method can use the simplest approach to relax the body and mind, addressing all health issues related to tension, including physical tension leading to cervical spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis, shoulder periarthritis, and psychological tension leading to insomnia, forgetfulness, timidity, vivid dreams, acrophobia, hydrophobia, hemophobia, depression, etc., most of which can be resolved through the “Embrace Health” method.

If you are feeling unwell recently and face a doctor’s serious expression during a check-up, preparing to make a “diagnosis” about your health condition, will you feel extremely anxious or even panic?

If you are an employee of a large company who has suddenly been promoted to a managerial position, responsible for a large project, while feeling a sense of accomplishment, do you also feel pressure?

…

In response to these situations, I believe everyone would answer affirmatively. In fact, none of these are significant or difficult matters, but if you do not know how to alleviate them, your health will suffer.

What should you do? Learn to relax.

Stand properly, raise your hands, and form a ball shape in front of your chest, relaxing your whole body. The “Embrace Health” method is the best way to relieve stress—however, beginners often experience shoulder tension.

Many people suffer from cervical spondylosis and shoulder periarthritis due to long-term tension in both body and mind. When initially practicing the “Embrace Health” method, there may be subconscious tension, causing the shoulders to rise and the arms to tense. At this point, we can first relax the shoulders, then retract the palms, ensuring that the fingers are positioned as if holding a cigarette. It is essential to try to relax, achieving a state of being loose yet not slack, tense yet not stiff. This way, our upper limbs and shoulders will completely relax. Additionally, if we find ourselves tensing up while standing, we can move our hands slightly, raising or lowering them a bit, still aiming for relaxation.

Practicing the “Embrace Health” method is about practicing relaxation. At all times and in all parts of the body, we must relax and not be too tense. If we are too tense, Qi and blood cannot flow smoothly.

Everyone experiences this: where there is tension, there is illness; when the mind is tense, the whole body is affected. After practicing the “Embrace Health” method for a period, we will feel that as soon as we raise our hands and form the ball shape, our shoulders immediately relax, and our minds also feel light, quickly entering a state of joy.

When I demonstrate the “Embrace Health” method to many people, they often say: “Doctor Wu, you seem most approachable when you are standing in meditation; your smile is truly delightful! What makes you so happy?” In fact, this is a natural habit; often, as soon as I raise my hands, my mind immediately enters a state of relaxation and joy. At that moment, regardless of what I do, I feel an endless supply of energy and an indescribable happiness.

Once we learn to relax, joy will naturally follow, arriving uninvited. Some have reported that after practicing the “Embrace Health” method for a while, their courage has increased. One acrophobia patient, after practicing “Embrace Health” for two months, sent me a message while on Huangshan, saying he was now standing at the highest point of Huangshan, feeling the wind blowing through his clothes, and his acrophobia had disappeared. There are many similar examples. In fact, timidity stems from psychological pressure, and the standing meditation method alleviates both physical and mental tension, leading to a release of pressure and an increase in courage. Without anxiety, fear, or tension, what remains is pure joy.

In daily life, we must not simply think that timidity is innate, nor should we believe that pressure and anxiety are unavoidable in life. The “Embrace Health” method can use the simplest approach to relax the body and mind, addressing all health issues related to tension, including physical tension leading to cervical spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis, shoulder periarthritis, and psychological tension leading to insomnia, forgetfulness, timidity, vivid dreams, acrophobia, hydrophobia, hemophobia, depression, etc., most of which can be thoroughly resolved through the “Embrace Health” method.

This “Embrace Health” method will unconsciously shift the entire body weight to the front two-thirds of the feet. In fact, placing it in the front two-thirds is meant to create a slight inward squeeze, thus instantly filling the Qi and blood of the foot Yangming stomach meridian, as this meridian is rich in Qi and blood, making it very quick to activate the body’s Qi and blood. Therefore, the effects of practicing the “Embrace Health” method are often much faster than those of yoga.

After standing for a few minutes, the two shoulder blades will feel warm and heavy, the palms and soles will also feel warm, and then the Qi and blood throughout the body will surge, indicating that the amount of movement is significant. This is a great movement within stillness, minimizing limb movement while maximizing the movement of Qi and blood. This way, unnecessary factors beyond the smooth flow of Qi and blood are eliminated, akin to a luxury car that operates silently and does not overheat, achieving nearly 100% mechanical efficiency. Such a car does not exist in the world today, but through the “Embrace Health” method, our body’s health vehicle can achieve such excellent performance.

Note: The various prescriptions and remedies mentioned in this article are for reference and learning purposes only and should not be used as prescriptions. It is recommended to use them under the guidance of a physician; please do not use them blindly. This platform does not bear any responsibility for any consequences arising from this!

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