足部书法改变你的睡眠质量

Foot Calligraphy ---足部书法改变你的睡眠质量

(2010-11-18 11:28:23)  

Sleep better with a natural remedy: “Foot Calligraphy.”

换季时节天气多变，秋老虎更加让人烦躁不安。我们推荐一款简单易学的足部书法，每天用脚把“马”字写上几遍，让你的“换季病”不治而愈。

BY CHLOE CHEN (陈洁）   Photographs by YVETTE BRUCE

 

 

 

   小时候，每当我妈妈说：“今年的秋老虎真厉害啊！”，我就要特别小心了，因为往往在这样的天气里，我妈的情绪异常多变，说翻脸就翻脸，可不管周围什么人，也不管什么事，先发一通脾气再说。其实，在西方也有这样燥热的秋季天气，他们管它叫“Indian summer”——在这样的天气里，人们的情绪往往异常反常，尤其是女性。

 

     即便我的祖母也和平时不同了，非常情绪化，一点鸡毛蒜皮的小事也能让她掉眼泪……

 

     起初，我一点也不能理解她们，直到我自己也变得和她们一样了。

 

    

季节的变化，总往往影响人们的情绪。在秋季的三个月里，万物成熟，秋风四起，我们周围的世界悄悄地变了。秋季是阳气转阴的季节，因而也影响了我们的情绪；秋燥更使我们的肺部产生燥热，皮肤干燥，鼻孔发干。干燥遍布我们的身体，使我们的情绪异常脆弱。

 

     《黄帝内经》也认为秋季是一个非常重要的养生和养神的季节：“秋三月，此谓容平。天气以急，地气以明。早卧早起，与鸡俱兴。使志安宁，以缓秋刑。收敛神气，使秋气平，无外其志，使肺气清，此秋气之应，养收之道也。逆之则伤肺，冬为飧泄，奉藏者少。”

 

     为了让你的情绪更好的平缓下来，并为即将到来的冬季做准备，这里我有个小窍门：用脚来写马。最好是临睡前，平躺在床上，用脚踝轻轻地在空中写马。不出20个，你就睡意朦胧胧了。而且坚持一段时间后，你会发现脸上的斑点都会少了很多，脸色也很红润，睡眠也好了。

 

      为什么呢？因为足部的原穴是最需要按摩的学位，而用脚来写马，岂不是刚好按摩了原穴又活动了经络呢？来试试看吧，包你拥有一个非常舒适和柔和的秋冬季节！

“This year is going to be full of ‘autumn tiger’ (秋老虎 qiūlǎohǔ) days!” says my mother, referring to the unseasonably hot spells common in the early fall. In the West they’re called Indian summers.

And when my mom starts complaining about these hot, tiring, fall days, I get worried. She can get temperamental. I fear she might erupt in unpredictable anger toward anyone who’s nearby, for any reason at all. When the weather is hot, many people act irritable; they become fierce, like tigers. Especially women.

 

Even my grandmother starts acting strange. She gets moody, depressed and has been known to cry over the smallest family issues.

 

But me? I never used to feel the affect of the changing seasons. I didn’t understand why women acted like tigers—until I became one myself.

 

The shift in seasons has a huge influence on people’s emotions. In the three months of autumn, the natural world reaches its full maturity. The cold, fall wind begins to stir. The world begins to change around us.

 

 

This is a pivotal point. The yang—the active, bright time of the year—turns towards its opposite, the yin—the quiet, dark time of the year. Our emotions follow this change.

The air is cold and dries out your lungs, nose and skin. This dryness makes you emotionally and physically fragile. This is exactly what Li Qingzhao, the well known female poet of Song Dynasty, describes in her poem: “How hard is it, to keep me fit, in this lingering cold!”

 

The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine advises that during the fall it is “important to remain calm and peaceful, refraining from depression so that one can make the transition to winter smoothly. This is the time to gather one’s spirit and energy, be more focused and not allow desires to run wild.”

 

Keeping this in mind, I’d like to suggest an easy exercise that will boost energy levels and calm your spirit. In TCM, to remain calm, you have to be energetic. It might seem paradoxical to you, but that’s just how it works!

 

Have you ever tried Chinese calligraphy before? Well, now’s your chance. You’re going to draw Chinese characters… in the air… with your feet.

 

You can sit or lie down, just make sure you can move your ankles comfortably. Close your eyes and picture the Chinese character, 马 (mǎ, horse). If you look closely at this character, you’ll recognize that it is a pictograph. 马 looks like a horse, rearing on its hind legs.

 

Now imagine that both of your feet are paintbrushes and trace out this character.

 

Wasn’t that easy? But don’t stop there; draw it a few more times. Try five for the first few days, then 10, and slowly work your way up. In no time you’ll be doing 30 characters in one sitting. Stay focused; you might fall asleep while you’re doing this (it can be surprisingly exhausting).

 

What’s it good for? That’s an easy one. After one or two days, you’ll sleep like a baby. Good sleep is the key to maintaining high energy levels and a calm, peaceful mind.

 

And how does it work? The foot’s three Greater Yin and Bright Yang meridians all meet at Yuan-Primary acupoints along the ankle. Traditional Chinese medicine believes all diseases can be explained by the imbalance of qi flowing through different meridians. So when you move your ankles, you actually connect each meridian, according to TCM, which is crucial for energy conservation and disease prevention. Writing 马 allows the qi in your feet to flow through the Yuan-Primary acupoint and balance between the Yin and Yang meridians.

 

As in all things TCM, balance is always the goal.

 

Personally, I trace 马 with my feet to balance my qi every day. It’s like a kind of meditation as well; a simple bedtime exercise that can really make a difference. If you never try it out, you’ll never know if it works. Give it a shot! I guarantee that it will help you live harmoniously in these autumn days.