Category Archives: mindbodyworkout

Ten Tips From A Shaolin Monk On How To Stay Young Forever

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Most people realise health is the most important thing but how many people live by this belief? We usually make the excuse of having no time like a friend of mine who called to say he was unwell. I asked him to come and visit me so I could teach him Qigong, he told me he didn’t have time, I said to him, but when you are sick you will have time to go to hospital because you have no choice. The next day he came and studied with me for seven days.

We need to start today. In order to help us stay on the path to health I have translated an extract from one of the Shaolin Classics. Written by a monk who was a great martial artist and scholar, here he gives advice to lay people as to how to stay young and healthy.

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Ten Tips From A Shaolin Monk On How To Stay Young 

1) Don’t think too much. Thinking takes energy. Thinking can make you look old.

2)  Don’t talk too much. Most people either talk or do. Better to do.

3) When you work, work for 40 minutes then stop for 10 minutes. When you look at something all the time, it can damage your eyes and also your internal organs and peace.

4) When you are happy, you need to control your happiness, if you lose control then you damage your lung energy.

5) Don’t worry too much or get angry because this damages your liver and your intestines.

6) When you eat food don’t eat too much, always make sure you are not quite full as this can damage your spleen. When you feel a bit hungry then eat a little.

7) When you do things, take your time, don’t hurry too much. Remember the saying “Hasten slowly you will soon arrive”

8)If you only do physical exercise all the time and you never do Qigong this makes you lose your balance and you will become impatient. You lose the Yin of your body. Exercise balances the Yin and the Yang.

9)If you never exercise, just peace, meditation, soft training, Qigong, then this doesn’t give you Yang energy so you use up your Yang energy.

10) Shaolin Gong Fu gives you everything. The purpose of our training is to balance our Yin and Yang.  How many hours is not important. It’s down to knowing what your body needs.

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7 super-effective training tips from the Shaolin Temple of Zen

Shaolin Temple Medicine BuddhaThe world of traditional physical exercise is beginning to catch up with what Shaolin martial artists have known for thousands of years. Fitness is not just about burning calories and sweating. It’s about being healthy from the inside out.  Here our 7 super-effective training tips from the Shaolin Temple.

 1. Skip stretching before your workout, your ligaments will thank you.

Stretching before a warm up has no benefit and doesn’t bolster performance.  Start with a gentle warm up and when the muscles feel warm and loose do two types of stretching: static and dynamic. If you already train with my DVDs, downloads or books then you’ll be already doing it this way.

2. Your body is smart already

Shaolin Qigong and Kung Fu helps you go beyond your small individual self and find a connection with the fabric of the Universe. It doesn’t give you anything new; it simply connects you with your body’s internal power and automatic wisdom.

3. Not all workouts are created equal.

A person can look strong but this doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Body builders may be inflexible and internally weak. Yoga practioners may be flexible but ask him or her to perform a martial art’s kick and they have no power or speed. The Shaolin Workout is a full body workout which addresses every single body part and integrates flexibility and strength with power and speed.

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4. Balancing Yin and Yang is the key to health and longevity.

A bird can’t fly with one wing. You can’t be 100% healthy and fit without a balance between Qigong and Kung Fu. This is the two wings of a bird. Qigong is your Yin training, which melts the barrier between your mind and body while kung fu is your Yang training, which pushes your limits and raises your awareness of your unlimited capabilities

 5. Self-massage matters.

The Shaolin Temple has a long tradition of self-massage, which is one of the oldest healing practices. Massaging with the bamboo rods of the Instant Health Massage Brush combines sports, acupressure and deep tissue in one massage. Because the self-massage is convenient and cheap – it’s just the cost of a brush –  you can do it on a daily basis after you’ve finished your training or if you’re pushed for time, a few times a week.

IMG_07516. What you give, you receive.

Food is medicine and fuel for your body. What you give to your body, you receive. You give it fast food, you receive energy slumps, sluggishness and sugar drops. You give it wholesome food, you receive high energy, vitality and stable sugar levels.

7. No Mud, no Lotus

Lotuses grow from mud. It’s the same with you. All of your problems, all of the stuff you don’t like about your life make up the mud so that your lotuses can take root and bloom. Beautiful lotuses can only grow from the un-beautiful. Everything you experience can help you to become a happier person. The Buddha said, “It’s your mind which makes the world, speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow as your shadow. ”

Shifu Yan Lei teaches Shaolin Kung Fu as a download and DVD

Shifu Yan Lei teaches Shaolin Qigong as a download, DVD, and book

Qigong Takes You To The Peak Of Your Power

yellow mt2-00021When the Bodhidharma arrived at The Shaolin Temple he found the monks were weak from sitting meditation so he developed a unique system of exercises called Qigong to energize the monks and help them gain enlightenment. Hundreds of years later, a Shaolin monk took the eight most effective movements. This is the Qigong I teach in The Way Of Qigong Volume 1  and Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity.

While you may not want to become enlightened, you can use this simple but effective system to prevent illness, turn back the clock, have more energy, and – if you’re a martial artist – increase your martial power. Most people who do intensive exercise ( for example professional footballers, Olympic athletes) age rapidly and burn out when they’re in their thirties. I’m 41, and I still train as intensively as I did when I came to the Shaolin Temple at 13. Why do I not burn out? Because I practice Qigong. qi gong-00025

If you’re training for health then you only need to learn the 8 Treasures Qigong. But if you’re a martial artist then you need to learn the most famous Qigong forms that come from the Shaolin Temple; Xi Sui Jing and Ee Jin Gong. I teach these in The Way Of Qigong Volume 2 and 3. Ee Jin purifies the muscles and tendons and Xi Sui purifies the bone marrow. Shaolin monks have trained in these two forms for thousands of years and they continue to train in these forms because they know that this Qigong enables them to be the best at kung fu.Qigong takes you to the peak of your power.

Your Blueprint For Health

Qigong is not a secret. It just takes practice. Day by day, moment-by-moment you are building your blueprint for health. You know if you’re doing it correctly because you will:

1. Look noticeably younger

2. Have clearer skin

3. Feel calmer

4. Enter the flow more easily each time you practice

5. Feel energized after the practice even if you felt tired when you began

6. Feel a noticeable difference in your recovery time after your workout

7. Be faster and more powerful in your chosen martial art.

qi gong 2-00665The Way Of Qigong Volume 1,2, 3 are not only safe but powerful. Even if done incorrectly, they can’t harm the body; it just means they become little more than a stretching exercise.

Shaolin Qigong is the so called secret of Shaolin Monks. It optimizes the energy matrix of our body so we can be the best we can be not only in our martial arts but also in our life. Shifu Yan Lei teaches 8 Treasures Qigong in The Way Of Qigong Volume 1 ( DVD & download) & Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity ( book and DVD) Shifu Yan Lei teaches Sui Jing and Ee Jin Gong in The Way of Qigong Volume 2 and 3 ( DVD and download)

Find out how a stressed out mum benefited from Shaolin Qigong