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Winter Exercises for Nourishing the Kidneys

YUAN LIREN

IN THE cold winter the ability of the metabolism of all living things becomes low. Aged and weak people feel the cold easily. Traditional Chinese medicine considers that this is caused by a shortage of the yang (heavenly) energy. Yellow Emperor's Manual of Internal Medicine, China's first medical literature, explains that the yang energy is like the sun which gives the earth light and heat. Without the sun all things on earth cannot live. Without yang energy, life will stop.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, yang energy is produced by the kidneys. The kidneys are the inborn source, the source of life and are in charge of the reproductive function. They are also the organs for the storage of nutrition cream. Whether one is in good or bad health fundamentally depends on whether the kidneys are strong or weak. When cold winter comes, the body needs enough energy and calories to ward off the cold. If one's kidneys are weak, the yang energy will also be weak, and one will suffer from dizziness, palpita¬tions, shortness of breath, backache, even incontinence of the urine. Therefore, doing exercises for nourishing the kidneys not only prevents some diseases but improves health.

There are many traditional methods of nourishing the kid¬neys. In the winter, the days are short ad the nights long. Therefore go to bed a bit earlier and get up a bit later. Get much sun so that the body keeps warm. Eat high-calorie food. Don't wear tight clothing. Weak and aged people ought to eat those foods that warm the kidneys, such as stewed mutton, thin-sliced instant-boiled mutton, chicken soup and duck. The following are exercises easy to do and helpful in nourishing the kidneys.

1. Sit up straight with legs apart as wide as the shoulders. Raise the hands slowly to the level of the ears with fingers pointing upward. Keep moving the hands up until they reach
above the head. Then move them down to the original position. Repeat four times, and do this four times a day. Points of attention: Relax before doing this. Breathe in when moving the hands up and out when moving them down. Do the movement gently. The exercise can limber the joints, stimulate the main and collateral channels and blood circulation, and make the vital energy gather at the dantian acupoint. It also helps relieve shortness of breath.

2. Sit up straight. Put left hand on left thigh. Bend right elbow with the palm upward and move it four times as if tossing something up in the air. Then do the same movement with left arm. Do the exercise four times a day. Points of attention: Do the tossing movement quickly and breathe in. Breathe out when putting the hands on the thigh. The effects of this movement are the same as the first above.

3. Sit up straight with the legs hanging down naturally. Slowly turn torso left and right four times. Then swing the legs ten times depending on one's health. Points of attention: Do this movement slowly and natural¬ly with the body relaxed. Keep the torso straight while turning left and right. The movement helps nourish the kidneys and strengthen the back.

4. Sit up straight and untie the belt. Rub the hands to¬gether to warm them. Then put the palm on the back and rub up and down until you feel warm in the back. This movement warms the kidneys, strengthens the back, stimulates the circu¬lation of blood and causes the muscles and joints to relax.

5. Keep the thighs tight together with the ankle bones touching each other. Cross the wrists on the breast, then raise them above the head. Then bend over to touch the ground with the fingers. Squat down with arms embracing the knees, breathe out. Repeat ten times.
The above exercises are for nourishing the kidneys and the essence of life, strengthening vital energy, the back and the knees, and stimulating the main and collateral channels. They are considered beneficial to kidney and bladder-related diseases such as backache, weak knees, impotence, emission, vaginal discharge, deficiency of vital energy and dizziness.