Our bodies are designed to move. We feel alive and well when we do. Every aspect of our physiology benefits from proper exercise, thus making a key contribution to a happy, healthy life.

Chinese Medicine believes that true exercise should always be nourishing to the body. This means that whatever type of movement activity we engage in must genuinely strengthen and balance us. If it doesn’t do this, or if it seeks to develop one aspect of our bodies at the expense of others, it is not true exercise and it will not support us over time.

In the West, our concepts of exercise mostly revolve around cardiovascular (aerobic) activity such as running, biking, jumping rope, etc. and strength-training (lifting weights, etc.). Furthermore, we tend to equate exercise with “looking good” and that becomes a big motivating factor in why most people do it. There is nothing wrong with this approach, per se, but it’s important to stay focused on the big picture. While certain types of exercise can certainly help get our bodies to “look” better, the real essence of exercise is to get them to function better.

Since Chinese Medicine is a holistic healing philosophy, all exercises were created with the intention of balancing, strengthening and relaxing the body. These involve different movements and different concepts from what most of us are used to. They tend not to focus so much on how they make a body look, but rather how they make a body feel. Unfortunately, many in our culture will dismiss them just on that account alone (and these are usually the people who start complaining of various aches and pains much earlier in life). However, Chinese Medicine exercises are designed to keep you healthy, limber and functioning well all the way into old age. The exercises we focus on in the West cannot make this claim, as evidenced by the amount of elderly people seen at the local gym.

A regular practice of Chinese Medicine exercises will add exponential benefits to your health and life. In addition to relaxing your body, you will also begin to notice a similar effect on your mind and emotions. This, in turn, will support your body in relaxing even more. The end result is an across-the-board improvement in your mental, energetic, psychological and physical functioning. You’ll be happier, you’ll feel better, you’ll breathe more deeply and you’ll enjoy life more. This is true exercise.

If you would like to know more about what Chinese Medicine exercises are and what they can do for you, or if you would like to begin your own practice, please contact me.