18 Aug The Ultimate Earthing: Tai Qi at Night
Earthing
You must have heard about earthing–
getting intimate with nature. Earthing can be hiking in the wilderness, laying on the ground, getting your hands into the dirt planting in the garden, hugging a tree, and especially walking barefoot on the earth or swimming in the oceans and rivers. Earthing is one of the greatest antidotes to electromagnetic smog, one of the fastest growing and most insidious dangers to our health. Being in contact with the earth re-polarizes our bodies and brains to a healthy vibration.
Cell Phone Tower in a residential neighborhood
Electromagnetic smog, along with heavy metals, root canals, chemicals, and GMO foods, fall into the category of what I call hidden dangers. Electromagnetic smog interrupts the optimal biological flow of energy in every cell, and makes every every health problem worse. It hurts everyone’s health whether they feel the effects or not.
Why Tai Qi
Tai Qi moves energy. It is unique that it strengthens the body, keeps your joints healthy, and circulates the blood, lymph, and vital energy. When you perform Tai Qi barefoot outside on the earth, you can absorb the earths energy at the same time you are getting all the other benefits. You can imagine earth energy coming through the Ki 1, the famous acupuncture point called the bubbling spring point on the bottom/center of your feet, just under the pad or ball of the foot.
Ki Bubbling Spring Point
Why Nighttime
Doing Tai Qi anytime is beneficial, but night is the ultimate time to nourish yin. Performing Tai Qi at night before I go to bed is one of my favorite things to do, especially in the warm months. It is ethereal to move through the fresh night air, feel the living energy of the garden, and hear the crickets. Words can’t describe beauty of the humid nights with a little breeze rippling through the leaves. When you first get out it seems very dark but, soon, your eyes get used to the darkness. In the moonlight you get an additional dose of yin.
Why Nourish Yin
For optimal health a person’s yin and yang must be balanced. Science doesn’t use the words Yin and Yang. Science speaks of the branches of our Autonomic nervous system: the Parasympathetic and Sympathetic. The quick definition of these branches are the Sympathetic is responsible for fight or flight. Parasympathetic facilitates rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, and digestion of food.
Its very important to understand that our health and well being is intricately linked to the yin/yang, or which branch of the autonomic nervous system we habitually occupy.
Life with an overactive sympathetic nervous system, means to be anxious and stressed, and is a major factor in poor health.
On the other hand, when we live in the parasympathetic nervous system we heal and rejuvenate.
The ancients strove for balance. Modern research is backing up the ancient wisdom: it is vitally important to spend at least equal time in the yin state,
but few of us do. Most of us live in what has been termed sympathetic dominance, or an overactive, stressed nervous system.
Superior Health
If one can tip the balance to live mostly in the yin or parasympathetic state, it is possible to develop a reserve of vital energy that provides superior, physical, mental and emotional health, longevity, and function in all areas of life.
Circulate Qi in Meditation
When you finish the Tai Qi, swallow the saliva that has built up. Saliva is a yin fluid that flows more freely in the yin state. So when you’re finished with the movement you should have a mouth full of saliva. The free flow of saliva is also facilitated by placing your tongue to the roof of your mouth as you do the movement. (This is a practice of Qigong and Tai Qi that links the governing and conception vessels, two of the most important energy channels of acupuncture.)
Imagine the saliva going straight down to your Dantian or Hara, located three fingers under your navel and in towards the spine. This area is the center of your body, at the sacral chakra.
Relax Completely
Directly after you finish the Tai Qi, sit outside and use some method to circulate the Qi be it Tantra, such as Tibetan Tumo, the microcosmic orbit, Kria Yoga, or some other technique. The idea is to move energy and clean your energy body. Cleaning the energy body dissipates the negative energy we may have accumulated or picked up from others during the day.
When you get in the house, take your bath, sit for more meditation or go right to bed. Don’t eat any food before bed.
***Options:
Winter
In the cooler months, if it’s just too frigid, I wear shoes. This of course takes away a substantial amount of the earthing benefit. So even during the winter I try to go barefoot, even if just for a short while.
In The Basement
You lose a lot of nature’s benefit doing Tai Qi inside the house, however, Earth energy can still be accessed even through concrete. So another possibility is to perform Tai Qi in the basement if it is poured concrete with no wiring, or metal re-bar underneath.
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