Ageing Process..contd

Another aspect of lifestyle related ageing is that the body can start to 'rust'. Just as a piece of iron oxidises (or reacts with the oxygen to break down into iron oxide) so, too, the body can start to oxidise as cells and tissues are broken down. This is the work of the notorious free radicals. 

Essentially, free radicals are simply positive ions. (Most of the body’s chemicals have a negative charge.) The free radicals can come along and bond with the negative charge of the body’s atoms, effectively interfering with the atom's function and the structure it forms. If this happens frequently enough, then the whole structure collapses.

The 'rusting' of the body is largely due to the presence of the free radicals in our environment. Unfortunately the society that we have created is highly toxic one, loaded with these destructive positive ions. Again, however, this process is not inevitable.

Have you ever noticed how some new cars become rusted out wrecks within the space of few years, while other older cars remain shinning and gleaming decades later. The difference is the car that has been taken with them - the 'health care' that they have been given. Likewise, if we want to slow down the rusting of our bodies, we can begin by doing following  :

• Reducing the toxic load in our living environment. 

• Ensuring our diets contain lots of antioxidants to combat these positive ions.

• Making sure our circulatory systems operate efficiently, so that the antioxidants are effectively delivered to all parts of the body.

In addition to the damage caused by positive ions, our bodies take longer to repair as we age. However, we can offset this problem by : 

• Reducing the amount of damage that our body has to repair in the first place.

• Reducing 'Stress', because  stress has damaging effect on many of the body’s systems.

• Making sure that the body has all the dietary resources that it needs to maintain itself (such as minerals, vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates.)

The Origin of Qigong

In ancient times most of the population of China consisted of peasants. The people would work in the fields all day until sunset, and then return to their homes to rest. Some would gather together and listen to the stories of the elders, while others would go and enjoy the cool night air after the heat of the day. Since the people enjoyed the refreshing nights more than the shifling days, they preferred the moon to the sun; that is why the Chinese calendar follows the moon - it is Lunar calendar, as opposed to the West's solar calendar. 

Healing and Wellbeing 

Out in the moonlight, the weary peasants could wind down and relax. And it was then that they became aware of something moving around inside their bodies - something that felt a little like steam. This steam could move up or down and in different places such as the legs or arms, it also seemed to be related to their breathing and mind. The people noted all these various feelings and eventually discovered that each person had a centre, just below the navel, which made the rest of the body warm and strong. They called this center 'Dantien'.

With continued observation they found that the flow of the steam could make the body warm and was related to spirit. Spirit in the sense of feeling of wellbeing rather than in the religious sense of the word. Gradually they discovered a network of channels crossing the body, linking the organs. Distributed along these channels were certain points which affected the way the steam flowed through the body. Thus energy (Qi) and system of accupuncture points and channels were discovered, and people found that touching and massaging points could heal a variety of problems.

Movements and breathing of various kinds to create heat were thus perceived as ways of healing physical ailments from very early times, long before the formulation of medicines. Throughout the centuries Chinese sages and philosophers have written of the beneficial effects of the treatment.