New Year’s Eve is the strongest emotional stress. And when it ends and the holidays come, we are overtaken by physical stress: unusual food, a lot of alcohol, a failure in the regime. How to maintain strength and health at the end of the outgoing year and meet the coming year without problems?
We can tell ourselves a hundred times that before the New Year it is better not to fuss, and during the celebration you should not overeat, get drunk and sit in front of the TV all night long. But it is unlikely that many will listen to these ideas. This means that we will somehow face the holiday stress.
What Taoist tricks will help bring you to your senses as quickly as possible and celebrate the New Year without stress for the body?
1. Meditation
This practice «pulls» us out of the hustle and bustle, clears the mind and allows us to set priorities correctly: what is really important to complete before the New Year, what can be postponed until later, and what should be forgotten, even if everyone says otherwise.
If you don’t know how to meditate, try the simple Taoist technique of immersing yourself in «inner silence». With its help, you can turn off the flow of thoughts and listen to yourself.
- Set a timer or alarm for 3 minutes.
- Sit up straight. You can sit on a chair or cross-legged. As you wish. Close your eyes.
- Relax your tongue. When we think, the tongue tenses reflexively — we are preparing to express the thoughts that are spinning in our head. When the tongue is relaxed, thoughts slow down.
- Pay attention to your breath, mentally “accompany” each inhalation and exhalation. Don’t speed up and don’t slow down. Just watch it flow through your nose and throat into your chest.
For the first time, these 3 minutes will be enough for you, but then you can increase the meditation time. Repeat the exercise the next day. The key to success is regular practice.
2.Energy storage
The more strength we have, the easier we cope with things, the more joy even routine chores bring us. But where do you get the energy from? For this, the Taoists have a special practice — neigong. These are breathing exercises that develop the capabilities of the body and make us more energetic. It is better to master these exercises under the supervision of an instructor.
3. Practicing the «Right» Intention
Taoists believe that our energy — that is, life forces — is spent on what we pay more attention to. Attention, in turn, is drawn to where we direct our intentions. That is, knowing exactly what we want to achieve, we can control the flow of energy, directing it exactly where we need it, and not wasting it on negative emotions, empty feelings and anxieties.
The correct formulation of intention is one of the most important skills of the Taoist tradition. It is believed that this should be done like this: “I want to be able to or create something, I want to be someone.”
If we formulate our aspiration correctly, it will come true exactly the way we want. But if we say the goal incorrectly: “I want to have something,” we can get something completely different from what we dreamed about. Check in practice whether the Taoist way works or not. Make wishes for the New Year in the right way.