5 Tibetan Exercises to Reduce Stress and Rejuvenate Your Body
As diseases and hard-to-diagnose health conditions persist, people look to alternatives to western medicine. Tibetan medicine is a healing discipline that is an aggregation of healing disciplines of various countries and cultures from eastern Asia to the Mediterranean. Some but not all Tibetan physicians incorporate the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture in their regimen.
The Five Tibetan Rites are an ancient system of exercises used to this day. Each Rite is a form of Tibetan yoga that emphasizes continuous motion. The Rites take only 15 minutes to complete and can be performed outside or inside. The Rites help the body sustain energy and well-being throughout all the hours of the day. Most of all, they’re considered fun to do. The exercises are also called the Rejuvenation Rites.
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First Tibetan Energy-Rejuvenation Rite
Extend your arms at shoulder level. Spin clockwise and breath from the diaphragm. The eyes shouldn’t focus on any one object. Do this at a normal, comfortable speed up to 21 times or you feel dizzy. Then stop.
Second Tibetan Energy-Rejuvenation Rite
Lay flat on your back. Keep your arms to your side and your palms up. As you inhale, raise your legs as high as you possibly can. Raise your head and bring your chin as close to your chest as possible. Do these actions simultaneously 21 times.
Third Tibetan Energy-Rejuvenation Rite
Kneel on a comfortable surface like a yoga mat or soft rug, with your palms to your thighs. Lean forward at the waist as you inhale. Then lean backward as you move your hands to the back of your thighs for support. Do this 21 times. If possible, do this with eyes closed.
Fourth Tibetan Energy-Rejuvenation Rite
Sit on the floor with legs straight out and palms down. Your upper body should be perpendicular with the horizon. Tilt your head forward, inhale and raise your buttocks and bend your knees so that your trunk becomes parallel with the floor when fully suspended. Return to the starting position at the same speed. This Rite varies in difficulty from person to person. Practice it until you’re able to perform 21 repetitions consecutively without stopping.
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Fifth Tibetan Energy-Rejuvenation Rite
This Rite is similar to the Hindu push-up. Assume a beginning push-up position. Inhale and arch your back and move forward as if to curve your chest. This position becomes the Cobra in yoga — touch the floor only your hands and toes. Exhale and move back and upward to evoke an inverted V. Your buttocks should be pitched above your fully extended legs. Smoothly return to the starting position and repeat 20 more times without pause.
Tibetan medicine offers new paths to health that western medicine is too encumbered to illuminate for us. Many studies reveal stress is a silent killer that lies in the bedrock of many health problems. Tibetan medicine and the Five Rites promote stress relief via exercise and motion, adequate sleep, proper diet, and relaxation.
