Published in Open Exchange, January - February, 2002

For A Healthy Lifestyle: Avoid Toxins

Qigong Master Qinyin

Diseases are the enemies of health. Toxins, as causes of diseases, therefore run against a healthy lifestyle. Toxins can come to our bodies in various ways. Polluted air, cigarette, alcohol and drugs are obvious toxins. Toxins are also present in many foods that we take in everyday. Ancient Qigong Taoists called these "toxins of three dead bodies", i.e. animal dead body, plant dead body and microbe dead body. When animals are killed, toxins are released into their bodies instantaneously. Hence to be healthy, we need to do "detoxification" on a regular basis, even through Qigong bigu (energized fasting).

Stress, over tiredness, and excessive emotional disturbance all cause metabolic waste to build up our bodies and become toxins. A healthy lifestyle also means to align yourself with seasonal, temperature and environmental changes. A common mistake made by Americans is to walk barefoot on cold wet ground. Thus damp Qi accumulates in their bodies and blockages form.

Another important category of toxins is spiritual toxin. Too much attachment to certain goal or thing is a toxin. Bad spirits attached to humans certainly cause many troubles. Bad karma from past lives is another spiritual toxin. The removal of spiritual toxins is important because it is still not yet understood by Western medicine.

Finally, since there are always toxins in the environment that we live, we have to improve our ability to detoxify. Therefore, practicing certain Qigong technique (e.g. Qinway Qigong) focusing on detoxification and cleansing regularly, may be an essential ingredient of a healthy lifestyle.

Last update 08/19/0