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You may or may not have a movement program that you love … like yoga, pilates, running, strength building, dancing or hiking.
You might hop on and off the wagon in terms of how much you exercise.
I know I do!
One of the things I loved most about Taiwan is watching how many people at the public parks have a practice of either:
1. Development of internal chi (with tai chi, qi gong or working with tree energies)
or
2. Movements and gentle exercises that balance the body - sort of like a DIY version of Traditional Chinese Medicine on yourself (think reflexology + body guasha).
When I arrived to Taipei, my adrenals were overworked and I was terribly jet-lagged. I found that certain foods made me bloat up like a balloon.
I wanted to stay fit by running in the park each day. Taylor and I decided we’d go to the park most every morning that we were in the city.
The first day we found ourselves there at 5am, drinking coffee watching an older gentleman run through his series of exercises next to a giant Kwan Yin statue.
I was captivated by this man. He was in his 80’s but his body had the vibrancy and shape of a 20-year-old. As I continued to watch him, I became convinced that he was a kung fu master.
I started to follow his simple exercises and afterward I felt like I could see and hear 10x sharper!
We befriended him at the reflexology stone walking path and would see him most every time we went to the park.
Over the course of a month, Taylor and I listened to our bodies and each day experimented with different stretches, movements, whole body guasha, hanging from a pole and even heartbeat meditations.
I want to share this video with you in hopes it will inspire you to care for your body just a little more. We only get one body - at least in this life!
{{{YOUNG PEOPLE:Take this stuff seriously. If you start practicing it now, you’ll be fine. If you don’t, your body will start to ache by age 45, and you'll have joint + muscle pain in your 80's. Around age 45 things can get achy in the body; by doing some of these exercises, you remove stagnancy in the body and feel better.}}}
Exercise doesn’t have to be some grueling thing, where we torture ourselves by constantly pushing our own limits.
Caring for your body can include gentle movements + stretches to revitalize your chi and unlock stagnancies.
In fact, I think our kung fu master friend chuckled at us, because we jogged and sprinted every morning.
“I don’t do that,” he said with a laugh, as if he knew that his subtle, gentle exercises were keeping his body vibrant through internal chi vs. expenditure of energy.
In any case, moving your body can be fun, quick, easy + supremely nurturing!
Simple daily rituals can greatly enhance how you feel each day - and add to your life span!
It was so fun to put this video together on our iPhones - please enjoy + let us know if you like it!
Love + flower petals,
Katie
P.S.Want access to the heartbeat meditation I share at the end? Click here.
P.P.S.Loving the magic of Taiwan? Join me in an Audio Tour with 7 days of awareness-through-sound audio recordings throughout the country! Learn more here.
