Week 10 - YangSheng - Nourishing LIfe

Question 1

Why is Nourishing Life not like Prevention?

Answer 1

Nourishing life means to constantly live in
a way that contributes to the health and
harmony of the body-mind.

“Treating what is not ill” includes two
aspects:
- building health for those who are not ill
and
- guarding against progression of disease
in those who are already ill.

• Evil qì leads to illness, but insufficient right qì
  makes an opening for the illness to arise.
• Therefore, making the body strong is more
  important than avoiding evils, although we should
  practice both

Question 2

How to strengthen right qi?

Answer 2

These are some of the factors:

• regulating the emotions,
• exercising the body,
• refraining from excessive activity or rest,
• diet, and
• suitable prevention with herbs or moxibustion

Question 3

Why do we regulate emotions for health?

Answer 3

Excessive emotional stimulation can result in deficiency of right qì which leads to vulnerability to evils and
can result in illness.

• In addition, when already ill, fluctuations of emotions can worsen the disease.

Question 4

What else is a part of emotional regulation?

Answer 4

To be healthy, cultivate stability 
and peace, reducing desires 
and expectations. This allows 
the qì mechanism  to be 
unobstructed and thereby 
promotes  health.

Question 5

What are the 5 behaviors?

Answer 5

Sitting quietly (like allowing a glass of muddy water to settle)
Reading
Appreciating mountains and water, flowers and trees
Discussing ideas with good friends
Teaching children or juniors

Question 6

What are the 10 pleasure?

Answer 6

 Studying the meaning of the classics
 Learning the methods of the calligraphy models
 Calming the mind and sitting quietly
 Chatting with beneficial friends
 Drinking a little until half intoxicated
 Watering flowers and cultivating bamboo
 Listening to the qín [stringed instrument] and enjoying cranes
 Burning incense and brewing tea
 Climbing the city walls and viewing the mountains
 Telling fables and playing chess

Question 7

12 Regular (Main) Channels (正經)

Answer 7

The channels  that form the basic 
structure of the channel  system. 
Each channel  ‘homes’ to its own 
organ and ‘nets’ to its paired organ, 
connecting  zàng and fǔ that stand 
in interior-exterior  relationship. 

-The twelve channels have the function
of interlinking the zàng and fǔ and
providing a network of qì and blood by
which the whole body is nourished