Mastering the three treasures in the body - Part 3

Job, my clients and personal life involvement have been taking my time quite a bit lately. I wanted to keep writing and sharing but was away travelling in the last month. Visited a lovely city during spring time, witnessed and experienced wonderfully evolved nature during this period of time. I thought taking mini regular vacations is crucial to regulate chronic stress level. Many of us burnt out without listening to the body, mind and soul 'signals'. A great REBOOT after back to back trips, and I'm back!

Now, let's resume where we left off. Ever felt you are constantly being judged by people around you? Try to remember the last time you did something which is life-changing, highly intense and perhaps spiritually stretched? When was it? How did you feel? Many people came across my life in the last 10 years or so, seeking for answers and understanding of purpose of life, solutions to the problems in relationships, health and wellness. What about you? 

I'm sure any of you reading this would have so many questions about LIFE, generally. Maybe for fitness enthusiasts and professionals, the community of people are curiously interested about different ways to enable the body to become fitter and stronger. For medical professionals, perhaps a much better success rates in treating patients. As for some minority of homo sapiens, perhaps genuine interest to find the the purpose of life, to learn how to master oneself in all layers of human body, and achieve great health and wellness through living in harmony with the law of nature and the universe. 

If anyone have read and understood the teachings of ancient taiost, or perhaps Yellow Emperor Classic of Internal Medicine, you will have better clarity and realize about living in harmony and in-sync with the universe. The human body is just a super minature form of the universe. Many ancient teachings of taiost have now been validated by 'civilized and modern science'. Remember Einstein? E= MC2, formula of quantum of physics, mass energy. The energy treasures of JING, QI and SHEN, is in fact a very similar concept of what was discovered by Einstein. Then, modern science have validated what was known thousands of years ago, where uterus muscle repetitively contracts during breastfeeding of a baby involving oral stimulation of the areolas of the mother.  Studies also have now validated that scientists discovered one of the major contributor of Alzheimer's disease is due to lack of sexual hormones production to the brain. Guess what? This was known way back then before we even know laboratories and advanced testting methods.

You must wonder, what these discoveries have to do with three energies in the body? The answer is everything! Well, if you are smart enough, you will realize that all living things require energy to maintain internal organization (homeostasis). It is the energy that made human body as physical entity. When we talk about homeostasis, in ancient taoist teachings, they refer it to YIN and YANG. Many of us might heard of this word, or seen the peaceful symbol of two fishes in black and white. Today, I would like to share some wisdom and teachings of this concept. 

As what the Yellow Emperor mentioned "The law of YIN and YANG is the natural order of the universe, the foundation of all things, mother of all things, the root of life and death". In healing, one must grasp the root of the disharmony, which is always subject to the law of YIN and YANG. YIN is passibe and quiet, while the nature of YANG is active and noisy. 

YANG is responsible for expanding, and YIN is responsible for contracting. YANG is the energy, the vital force, while YIN is the substance, the foundation. The elements of fire and water are categorized into YIN and YANG. The fire being YANG, water being YIN. The functional aspects of the body is YANG and the nutritive aspect is YIN. So far so good? YIN is the feminine force, while YANG is the masculine force. Remember, foods or herbs is refined into JING or essence, which support the QI. And QI is required for transformation and bodily functions. When reards to this aspect, if the diet is improper, the body may be injured. JING will be depleted and exhausted. As we know, in the modern hectic world, many of us are thrashing our body with processed foods and stimulants. From sugars to 

wheat and fast foods, alcohol, energy drinks and too much of caffeine could drain the vital JING essence. 

The YIN and YANG should be in balance with each other in the body. If one is dominant or expresses too much of that energy, the body will suffer out of balance. If the YANG takes over, the YIN suffers and will be deprived and vice versa. Remember, when there is injury to the physical body, there is swelling. If QI energy level is damaged, it can cause pain due to blockage or stagnation. 

As I mentioned in pevious post, the human body has five zang organs, the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen and lungs. The QI of the give zang organs forms the five spirits and give rise to the five emotions. The spirit of the heart is known as the SHEN which rules mental and creative functions. The spirit of the liver, the Hun, rules the nervous system and modulate the extra sensory perception. The spirit of the spleen, the Yi, rules reasoning power and logic. Then we have the spirit of the lungs, or also known as Po, rules the animalistic instincts, physical strength and stamina. Lastly, we have the kidneys spirit, the Zhi, rules the will, drive and survival instinct. 

It is critical to realize that overindulgence in five emotions, anger, sadness, worry (fear), pensiveness and even happiness, can create imbalances. Negative emotions can injure the QI, and prolonged negative emotions of a person will cause dysfunctions of these vital organs especially the heart. Heaven and earth, masculine and feminine principles, the QI and the blood, all reflect the interplay of YIN and YANG. How would you apply the principle of YIN and YANG to the art of healing? As once the master said, "If the YANG QI is in excess, the body will have fever, difficult rapid breathing, dry throat and mouth, irritability and abdominal distress. If the YIN QI is in excess, the body will feel cold, shivering and spasms of the hands and feet".


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Mastering the three treasures in the body - Part 2

In today' post, I will share the juicy part, the theory and explanation of what these three energies in the body represent and how they regulate with each other. Please take note that I'm NOT referring to fitness measurement of phosphagen, anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. These three internal energies are totally different entities which associated with vital organs, glands and spiritual and physical entity.

Let's jump straight into the juicy chunk of the theory understanding and background of how it all started. For approximately 8,000 years of Chinese history, ancient Taoist masters understood that retaining the seminal fluid during the act of love remained a deep secret. At first it was practiced exclusively by the Emperor and his innermost circle, who learned it from the Taoist sages that advised the court. These wise men claimed in earlier times it was a natural gift of all mankind. The Emperor needed the method to prevent impotence and illness; improperly educated monarchs were exhausted at an early age by the sexual demands of their wives and concubines. In aristocratic families it passed from father to chosen son alone, excluding wives, daughters and other family members. In this case, I'm referring to male practitioners or individual adults.

How was this powerful practice of energy and life-force cultivation and preservation become so well known? Yes, the yellow emperor during his reign compiled and documented the learning and what he practiced for the next generations of emperors and people of Taoist. The name of the emperor is Huang Di and what I will share is only a small portion of energy cultivation and preservation. Before we proceed further, let me briefly explain to you the 5 organs network which play a huge role in these three treasures in the body.

In the previous post, I mentioned about JING, CHI and SHEN. To better understand these three energies, you may think of money savings analogy. I usually would describe JING as fixed deposit in bank, CHI as savings account and SHEN as some sort of valuable investments from both JING and CHI. Another useful analogy would be a candle. Think of the quality of the wax of candle. The longer and better the quality is of a candle, it will be able to burn far longer, which translate into longevity. The fire of the candle, refers to CHI, the more stable the fire is, the longer the candle can burn and does not deplete nor overburned. For SHEN, it is the flame of the fire, or for some people might call it as aura. Imagine you hold a candle walking into a dark room, and trying to shed the light to lit up the room.

Now, for most people, by the time they read until this paragraph, doubts and disbelieve started to mount in their head and they might seem lost at this point. Well, I was too myself many years back, most of us were hardwired to believe on what can be measured, what is tangible and can be seen. But not many know how to measure how we feel. Whatever we do in life, almost all of them is about FEEL. From the delicious foods we eat, to visiting new city in a different country, to copulating with your partner or perhaps witness a disturbing road accident scene. Agree?

Just before I explain how each of these three energy does, I want to share the 5 vital organs role on functioning and regulating the 5 elemental phases which consist of wood, fire, earth, metal and water. These 5 elemental phases also correspond to the YIN and YANG of the universe. For Qi Gong and Tai Chi practitioners, you will understand much more of what I'm about to discuss here. In terms of Wood, it correlates with Spring, Fire correlates with Summer, Earth correlates with late Summer, Metal is autumn and Winter is water. The corresponding elements with the organs are wood/liver, metal/lung, earth/spleen, fire/heart and water/kidneys. As I have explained about JING, CHI and SHEN earlier, there are also two other substances which flow in the body, which is moisture and blood. To make it a clearer understanding, I present to you an illustration of these organs and elements connection below.



LIVER - WOOD - EAST - SPRING - GREEN - SOUR - ANGER
(QI and BLOOD)

HEART - FIRE - SOUTH - SUMMER - RED - BITTER - JOY
(SHEN)

SPLEEN - EARTH - CENTRAL - LATE SUMMER - YELLOW - SWEET - DISTRESS/WORRY

LUNG - METAL - WEST - AUTUMN - WHITE - PUNGENT - SADNESS/GRIEF
(QI & MOISTURE)

KIDNEY - WATER - NORTH - WINTER - BLACK - SALTY - FEAR
(JING)




As you can see from the illustration above, the 5 organs correlate with the seasons, elements, taste, emotions, directions, colors, and also animals, sound and etc. I did not include a complete diagram of this correlation as it may get very complex to understand for many readers. From what we learn here, an individual can store much of the negative energy and emotions into these vital organs which govern the powerful three treasures JING, CHI and SHEN. The ones who often express anger will injure the liver the most, and the ones who live in fear for whatever reasons, may not have strong kidneys function, essence and JING reserved energy. Please bear in mind that all negative emotions are stored in the HEART, and for specific emotion, is additionally store in other organs as well.

During the spring, the weather and environmental conditions can affect the liver, while in summer the heart can be affected, and so forth. If the spring overreact the summer, the weather is abnormal, with spring weather then occurring in late summer. The body reaction to this is excessive liver/wood energy that overacts on the spleen/earth. When the seasons do not follow their natural cycle, energetic transformation, cold, flu and other illnesses will result.



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Mastering the three treasures of the body - Part 1

In digital era, most of us have forgotten the wisdom passed on by our great grand parents, primal ancestors and surely the precious teachings by ancient Taoism and Ayurveda back in those days when lights were not even invented, nor any processed foods introduced to humans. Just walk to any individual and ask, "Do you know what are the three treasures in the body?" or "Can you explain what is the connection of the body, mind and soul?". There is high possibility every 9 out of 10 individuals look clueless and paused for 7 seconds and look blank on the face. 

What has changed? Why have we all forgotten about the way of life? Why have we all so disconnected with ourselves and the universe? Why have we know so little about nature and not even know which foods are real and knowing how the body work? Most of my clients and individuals I asked about which learnings and wisdom passed on to him or her, the answer is NONE. Perhaps the circle of individuals I came across have very limited knowledge and teachings from any known sources or masters, but today's post is about me sharing and providing awareness of what I learnt, and what I have been practicing for years. As a certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach and a personal trainer, what I learnt and practiced for the last years is way beyond fat loss, body transformation, fitness nor general health. It's about nourishing life, bringing quality of life to a whole new level. Developing a stronger version of yourself to a greater level, on all layers, mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and sexual health. 

As a note, before you continue reading this post, some of the content may 'push' some of the 'buttons' of your inner deep self, due to some of us practice and follow certain religious teachings and restrictions, or even cultural influences almost our entire life. For me, I was too as an individual who were born in a restricted religion environment and teachings of my parents and cultural factor too. But what I'm about to share here today, could be an eye opener to most of you readers, IF you have an open mind and giving yourself permission to empower yourself to feel and be better energetically.

As many of us heard and know about CHI or QI, which is energy, the word CHI is widely known and understood globally in many countries as of today. But how much do most of us know about CHI? I would reckon very few people really understood the concept of CHI. As most people focus too much on calories management from foods and diet, the understanding of how calories converts to ATP energy is vaguely understood and barely even scratch the surface of the entire understanding of how CHI energy is regulated and play a huge role in the human body. 

Now, let's have some basic understanding of life and the universe flow of energetic field which evolve around everything on this planet earth. We as human are energetic beings and regulated by electrical and energy field, we are barely physical entity alone. In teachings of Ayurveda, chakras energy points exlained how the energy flow in the body, correlate with 7 rainbow colors, nature, and how each color relates to energy blockages or preservation in the body, mind and soul. In ancient Taoism, or now known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), three treasures are one of the most vital practice for thousands of years for optimal health and wellness. It is now being passed on and practice and taught by many practitioners and masters all over the world. 

Let's talk a little bit about the well known Yellow's Emperor Classic of Internal Medicine manual. For some of us, we might have heard about it and read it. But very few people actual practice the teachings of the Yellow emperor and ancient Taoism. As most people have too much knowledge in the digital era, but unfortunately too little application in their daily lives. How about you? Did you apply what you know about health and wellness to your daily life?

Neijing, which is the Yellow Emperor classic medicine manual, consist of two sections. SuWen, explain and teach about fundamentals of organic and nature. LingShu, teaches the classic of acupuncture. As most people do not realize TCM is actually a practice largely from ancient Taoism and the Yellow Emperor manual was the core of the actual popularization of the entire teachings. For me, many of the teachings make sense to relate the universe with earth, nature and all living things on the planet. It is arguably the most interesting practical teachings one can absorb and apply in their daily life. In fact, many years ago, I was very skeptical about TCM and teachings of ancient Taoism. Until I fully understand and deep dive into what it is all about, it all become so clear of everything I read, learnt and trying to find out the answers I have been looking for all this while. 

Before we go to the juicy interesting stuff, let me explain about the three treasures in the body. First, we have JING, which is also known as the principal energy, or reserved essence. Next, we have CHI, which many people know about this energy form, is the body most powerful energy, which is regarded as sexual energy. Lastly, we have SHEN, which is the spiritual energy, or also known as soul and spirit. Body, mind and soul concept derived from the western categorization reflect similar classification of JING, CHI and SHEN. For those who is totally clueless about this, please bare with me and continue reading.

The universe is filled with different kinds of dynamic energy, or 'CHI' The Tao, for each man is to creatively transform his energy over a course of a lifetime back to its original state of harmonious balance. Sexual essence, or 'JING' is a powerful, vital energy that is generated continuously within the human body. Both work together to feed and grow the soul and spirit, which is 'SHEN'.

Understanding the basics of these three energies in the body is one thing, but to allow oneself to have an open mind and absorb the knowledge is the most difficult barrier. First, mental and emotional blockages is usually the 1st roadblock for an individual to even allow him or her to try experience anything in life. Be it specific foods, new things to try, or even intimate or sexual physical practice. Without you giving yourself permission and removing most of the mental and emotional blockages, it will NEVER happen nor sucessful. For some people, it could be spiritual restrictions which prevent them from allowing and opening up the physical entity. In a nutshell, we as wild primate who has lived freely for thousands and even millions of years, have been largely 'locked' in an environment and cultural restrictions for most of our lifespan, but it is YOU, who will decide what you want to do to allow yourself to experience and try what's best for you and not others, and improve quality of your life, health and wellness into a whole new level you could never imagined. 

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