Part Four: The Principles of Jade Toad Absorbing True Power and the Practice of Lotus Seat Power

2. Qigong principle

When a person is resting quietly, most of the peripheral blood vessels in the body are in a "closed" state, with only about 1/3 to 1/2 open and flowing with blood. The body's circulating blood volume is also only about 1/3 to 1/2, with most of the blood in a stored state.

Some organs in the abdominal cavity are the main sites for storing blood, such as the liver, spleen, and capillaries of the greater omentum. The abdominal cavity is like a large blood bank. In the event of massive bleeding or other blood loss, these "blood banks" will release blood to maintain the circulating blood volume, thus protecting the body and maintaining life.

When performing the Jade Toad Absorption Technique, inhaling causes the diaphragm to descend, increasing the pressure within the abdominal cavity and forcing the blood stored in the abdominal cavity to flow to the extremities and the surface of the body.

It increases the circulating blood volume and forces normally closed capillaries to open: what is the effect of pausing for two seconds when inhaling to about 70-80% capacity?

Based on the principles of mechanics: This force is buffered in the middle. During the pause, due to inertia and the elasticity of the blood vessel walls, the blood stored in the abdominal cavity can continue to flow out. When the pause is about to end, the blood in the abdominal cavity contracts due to the inertia of blood flow and the walls of the small arteries, allowing the blood to flow out fully. At this time, inhaling again applies a second force to the abdominal cavity, which forces the blood that has not flowed out to flow out again and towards the extremities. This more fully and more "forces out" the stagnant, stored blood.

During exhalation, the pressure inside the abdominal cavity decreases, and blood quickly returns to the abdominal organs from the peripheral blood vessels in the limbs, head, and skin.

This promotes blood circulation throughout the body and peripheral circulation, increases and improves the supply of oxygen and nutrients to all parts and organs of the body, and at the same time, it allows old metabolic products from the extremities and various tissues and organs to be quickly excreted, promoting metabolism and thus enhancing the function of various tissues and organs.

At this time, although dieting cuts off the external energy supply, the body itself will play its protective role and mobilize the body's fat, which will be converted into heat energy through metabolism to meet the body's needs.

Due to the significant rise and fall of the diaphragm, the intra-abdominal pressure increases and decreases accordingly, which has a good massaging effect on the various organs in the abdominal cavity.

In addition, the improved blood circulation in these organs accelerates metabolism, thus enhancing organ function and playing a therapeutic role in certain diseases of these organs.

Because it promotes blood circulation and increases blood flow, it improves peripheral circulation, and also improves the microcirculation of facial skin and scalp. As a result, the skin in these areas will be more moisturized, the hair will be shinier, and it can delay aging.

According to our observations, some people who practice this exercise to lose weight have also seen their long-standing skin conditions healed without treatment.

The benefits of "dry face washing" and "dry hair combing" are twofold. First, they massage the local skin and promote local blood circulation. Second, according to traditional Chinese medicine theory, 14 of the 26 meridians in the human body pass through the face. "Dry face washing" and "dry hair combing" massage along the meridians and acupoints. Combined with the circulation of vital energy in the body, this enhances the massage effect and further promotes the enhancement of human energy. Therefore, some people have abundant energy after practicing these exercises.

Many obese people are prone to drowsiness, but after practicing the exercise, they feel more energetic and no longer drool.

(II) Lotus Seat Exercise

It gets its name from imitating the Buddhist practice of sitting cross-legged on a lotus seat.

1. Exercises

The sitting posture can be imitated by Buddhists sitting cross-legged, but modern people generally do not sit cross-legged and are not used to it. If you force yourself to do it, it will prevent your body from relaxing and entering a state of tranquility, and you will not be able to enter the Qigong state.

Therefore, just like the Jade Toad Absorbing True Power, one should sit on a stool, chair, or sofa, with the upper body upright, not leaning against the back of the chair, with the chest slightly concave and the back straight, that is, without sticking out the chest, with the shoulders seemingly pulled forward, and the chest and back muscles relaxed.

Place both feet parallel and flat on the ground, with the lower legs perpendicular to the ground and the angle between the lower legs and thighs equal to or slightly less than 90 degrees.

The width between the feet and knees should be the same as the width between the shoulders.

After sitting upright, tuck your chin slightly, point your crown of your head towards the sky, close your eyes slightly, lightly touch the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue, smile, and relax your facial muscles.

Slightly tuck in your abdomen, straighten your waist slightly, place your hands together with palms facing up, men with the left hand on the bottom and the right hand on top, women with the right hand on the bottom and the left hand on top, fingers naturally straight, and place them flat on the root of your thighs, below the dantian. In short, you should feel comfortable and natural.

Full body relaxation: Similar to the Jade Toad Absorbing True Power Technique, use your mind to guide the relaxation of all parts of your body. You must relax without slackening. This step must be done carefully, otherwise it will cause discomfort.

Then, focus your mind and breath. If you know how to practice Qigong, you can quickly adjust your mind and breath to enter a state of tranquility. However, beginners cannot do this, so we have designed a three-stage method to guide them into tranquility.

Focusing on the breath is a key feature of this exercise.

(1) In the first stage, focus on breathing, intentionally making your breathing long, fine, slow, even and deep, but be natural and do not deliberately hold your breath.

There was no obvious rise and fall of the chest and abdomen, and the breathing was silent.

The so-called "mindfulness of breathing" means that the mind follows the inhalation and exhalation; if any distracting thoughts enter, simply eliminate them.

Eliminating means stopping thinking about it and instead directing your attention back to breathing.

Don't get tense when you have distracting thoughts. Stay relaxed and natural, eliminate them, and stop thinking about them. Then eliminate them again. It's not a big deal.

If you persist in this way for two or three minutes and achieve the state of focusing your mind on your breath, you can then enter the second stage.

(2) In the second stage, let go of inhalation in your mind, that is, only exhale. When inhaling, do not think about anything, only feel the inhalation action, let it be natural, and ignore it.

Focus your mind on exhaling while relaxing your whole body. The exhalation should be long, fine, slow, even, and deep. Continue this for two or three minutes until you reach the required level, then you can move on to the third stage.

(3) In the third stage, in your mind, completely let go of inhalation and exhalation, and enter a state of tranquility that is "like thinking but not thinking" and "like sleeping but not sleeping", and let your breathing be natural and not pay attention to it.

It's not that you don't feel your breath, but rather that you constantly feel your breath, though it's "seemingly there and not there," "vague and indistinct," and continuous.

If distracting thoughts arise again, simply eliminate them; there's no need to worry about them.

If you persist for ten minutes, it would be even better to do it for twenty minutes or even longer if you have enough time.

(4) Closing the exercise: The closing method is exactly the same as that of the Jade Toad Absorbing True Power exercise.

If the Jade Toad Absorbing True Power and the Lotus Seat Power are practiced together, a closing exercise can be performed after both exercises are completed.

After completing the Jade Toad Absorption Exercise, gather all the "qi" back to the lower dantian, then slowly raise your head and upper body, sit up straight, slowly open your clenched fists, and place them on your thighs as required by the Lotus Exercise. Then you can begin the Lotus Seat Exercise. After completing the Lotus Seat Exercise, you can finish the exercise.

When practicing this skill, you must find a quiet place, free from external interference, and you must not be startled or suddenly shout. Remember this.