chinesemedicine

Daoism

TCM gut health and microbiome specialist.

There are 36 characters in total, 3 per side. In full, the text reads:

To circulate the Vital Breath [行氣]:
Breathe deeply, then it will collect [深則蓄].
When it is collected, it will expand [蓄則伸].
When it expands, it will descend [伸則下].
When it descends, it will become stable [則定].
When it is stable, it will be regular [定則固].
When it is regular, it will sprout [固則萌].
When it sprouts, it will grow [萌則長].
When it grows, it will recede [長則退].
When it recedes, it will become heavenly [退則天].
The dynamism of Heaven is revealed in the ascending [天幾舂在上];
The dynamism of Earth is revealed in the descending [地幾舂在下].
Follow this and you will live; oppose it and you will die [順則生 逆則死]

- Translated by Harold Roth, in his 1997 paper "Evidence for Stages of Meditation in Early Taoism"

There is a lot in the Xingqi Yuming 行氣玉銘 that pertains to medicine, beyond the use of breathwork and meditation as therapeutic modalities.

At a most basic level, Chinese Medicine says there are rythmns to life processes. An expansion (yang) and contraction (yin), an exhale, and an inhale.

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This basic dynamic of expansion/contraction is most obvious in the breath, but also in the expansion and contraction of the heart, in the dilation and constriction of blood vessels, intestinal peristalsis, circadian rythmns, and hormonal cycles.

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This human body which is the result of all of these rythmic processes is embedded in a world that is also composed of rythmic processes in the form of the alternating light and dark, warmth and cold of the seasons, and this has direct effects on the body's functioning through circadian rythmns.

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Health comes down to alignment with the rhythms of the body, which are the rythmns of nature. Thus, it can be said that there is only one pathology in all of Chinese Medicine - misalignment, or flowing against, the rhythm of nature. 
Or as the Xingqi puts it: "Follow this [rythmn] and you will live; oppose it, and you will die." [順則生，逆則死]

And to get back to the practical, one of the most direct ways we can align with that pattern is through our breathing.

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