Archive for September, 2008

Brain Refreshing is a holistic blend of breathing techniques, meditation, and energy balancing that is designed to give your brain an intense cleansing of negative memories and to encourage stronger emotional self-awareness. Deep breathing is renowned for its power to induce profound relaxation and help bring the mind into deeper and deeper states of meditation. Most of us breathe shallowly all day long, but deep, intentional breathing oxygenates the brain and enhances feeling of well-being.

Meditation, as we have already discussed, has been shown to offer many benefits to the brain. Research using modern imaging technology has shown that even novices who spent weeks in meditation training experienced a strong shift in their brain activity to the part of the brain associated with positive emotions, as well as a more robust immune-system response. While practiced as part of many Asian spiritual traditions, meditation is not strictly religious, but rather an ancient, proven method of relaxing the body, opening the mind, and deepening feelings of connectedness and peace. Learning the skills of meditation will enhance your life in many ways.

From In full bloom by Ilchi lee

This book would not be complete without a few words about the foods that are beneficial for your brain. The foods you eat, of course, have a direct effect on your health and wellness, and many Americans consume far too much sodium, saturated fat, and processed ingredients, which contribute to circulatory blockages that deny the brain its blood supply and cause high blood pressure and other conditions detrimental to brain health.

In general, a diet rich in fresh foods, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is as good for your brain as it is for the rest of your body. However, there are certain foods that pack more punch for the brain than others:

• Foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, and walnuts
• Foods rich in the B vitamin choline, such as eggs
• Sources of good fats, such as avocados, almonds, or extra virgin olive oil
• Green leafy vegetables, dried legumes, and lean meats, which provide vital amino acids
• Whole-grain breads, cereals, and crackers

From In Full Bloom by Ilchi lee

There are four major kinds of exercise that older people should engage in to keep their brains stimulated and their bodies vigorous and active. You should include the following in your routine for maximum brain health:

1. AEROBIC Exercise
Also called cardio, aerobic exercise gets the heart pumping, which helps oxygen and nutrients to flow throughout the body.

2. RESISTANCE TRAINING
Also known as strength training, this type of exercise requires the body’s muscles to move against an opposing force or resistance, whether you are lifting your own weight with push-ups or sit-ups, or using free weights, resistance bands, or weight machines. Over time, resistance training can not only reverse most age-related muscle loss, but can also lower the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and osteoporosis, and it improves posture, balance, and the overall function of the organs.

3.FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Although some age-related change in flexibility in inevitable, much of the decline can be countered through daily flexibility exercise. Exercises that stretch the muscles help to reduce muscle pain and injury, and to improve muscle function, mobility(for example, bending to pick up something, reaching overhead, or washing your back), and posture. In addition to the more traditional flexibility exercises, other ways to improve your joints’ range of motion include participating in challenging activities, such as tai chi, Pilates, yoga, and martial arts.

4.BALANCE AND MOBILITY TRAINING
Balance and mobility training is a critical component of exercise program that is often ignored. Falls are the leading cause of injury for people sixty-five and over. Our brain education program helps to address some of the sensory, cognitive, and motor components associated with dynamic balance and mobility.

From In Full Bloom by Ilchi Lee

As you get older, it is as important that you have a dream for your life as it was when you were young. You may have a better chance of achieving it, now that the basics needs of life-Financial security, starting a career, raising a family, etc.-are no longer of primary importance to you. So, before you close this book up and put it back on the shelf, make sure that you have developed a vision for yourself. Make a plan for who you want to be one, five, or ten years from now. This does not have to mean starting a new career or ten years from now. This does not have to mean starting a new career or taking on some huge project (but that is okay, too). More importantly, it means becoming the kind of person you really want to be in terms of character and your interaction with the world around you. If you have ever thought to yourself, ” I want to leave the world a better place than I found it,” now is the time to act on that desire.

To find your vision, find what really fills you with a sense of joy and contentment. For most, this will probably involve contributing something of value to your community or the world. Don’t be afraid to set your goal high and to dream big.

Breath

For most people, it is common for their minds to jump from one idea to the next. They believe that they have no control over what they think or how they feel. They have given up the power to control their mind. To create positive energy, they have to have positive ideas and positive emotions. That means they have to be able to control their minds and make them think positively. Taking back the control of the mind and its thoughts is very simple. The key is the breath. Learning to take control of the breath enables practitioners to control their mind and themselves. When this happens, they are able to become masters of themselves.

Every breath carries the same inhalation of life and exhalation of death. But the breath carries something more that life or death. It contains something in-between and exhalation of death. But the breath carries something more than life or death. It contains something in-between and beyond these concepts. Breath is natural, simple, easy, universal and priceless. To begin to understand the breath, a person must experience the breath as both autonomous and controllable. Since the breath is connected to both the autonomous system and the conscious mind, it is the bridge between the body and mind. With practice, the breath becomes the gateway to deeper layers of consciousness. Concentrating on inhalation and exhalation permits the Jin-Ki to enter the body and with that comes the realization that there is an invisible connection between the body and universe.

from dahnyoga book by ilchi lee

In addition, it helps to circulate oxygen and nutrients to the brain and stimulates the production of hormones that combat stress and depression.

Just as you guide your children to create healthy habits for nutrition and cleanliness while they are young, guide them also to make physical movement part of their healthy lifestyle. As you may know from your own personal experience, it can be difficult to establish a habit of regular exercise in adulthood.

If your child gains this habit now, it will be very firmly established in the actual circuitry of the brain, and he or she will naturally crave physical movement of all types, rather than avoid it as an unappealing chore.

The first section consists of a collection of basic stretching exercises for kids.

These yoga-like movements are designed to open up the body’s joints, to stretch and strengthen the muscular system, and to promote relaxation. Exercises of this type are wellsuited to brain development because they require the child to use a wide variety of muscles in unique combinations.

Any kind of exercise is good, but these are especially effective for creating a balanced and strong bodily structure while at the same time strengthening unity of the mind and body. And kids will become more aware of their own body as they gain flexibility and coordination. If you would like to adapt them to make them fun and appealing to your child, feel free to do so. The important thing is to move!

from the book ‘Power brain for kids’ by ilchi lee

Brain Education is especially appropriate for today’s children because it offers tools to cope with issues that are unique to the young generation.

Children today are sometimes referred to as “Generation M” because media dominate their lives in so many ways. Media technology, such as cable television and the Internet, provides a constant and unlimited flow of information.

Youngsters must choose which ideas to accept and which to reject. Their choices in this regard will affect their patterns of thinking about themselves and the world around them. The job of the educator and the parent is to help guide children in making these important decisions, which is a difficult task in a media culture more interested in selling jeans and cola than in creating well-rounded, confident individuals.

Brain Education, in its essence, offers simple tools that provide children with the power to choose and use information more effectively.

from ‘Power brain for kids’ book by ilchi lee

Knowledge of Ki-energy is extremely beneficial prior to beginning the Dahn-Jon Breathing exercises. Ki-energy flows through the human body in three different ways:

Won-Ki, Jong-Ki and Jin-Ki. “Won” means “innate,” “Jong” means “stamina or strength,” and “Jin” means “true or genuine.”

1) Won-Ki : The first type of Ki-energy is inherited energy Human beings receive this energy at birth from their parents.
2) Jong-Ki : The second type of Ki-energy is acquired energy from nourishment. This energy source is replenished through diet and respiration.
3) Jin-Ki : The third type of Ki-energy is received through relaxed concentration.

From Dahnhak book by Ilchi Lee

Ki-energy is another name for cosmic energy. It is the energy that circulates throughout the universe. As the poets have written, all human beings are made up of stardust and cosmic energy. This is the connecting thread that helps human beings understand that all beings in the cosmos exist as one. As many religious and spiritual traditions have tried to impart, all living beings residing on earth are individual components of the oneness of the universal Ki-energy. The concept of Oneness changes for practitioners from an intellectual concept to one of knowing, through actual experience, that Ki-energy moves throughout the body.

It is overwhelming for human beings to imagine the immense power of the energy circulating through the vast universe. When people are connected with that universal energy, the Ki-energy in their bodies actively circulates like the movement of the solar system.

To connect and interact with this energy is very easy: breathe. Everyone inhales and exhales whether or not they are conscious of this activity. Through the Dahnhak breathing exercises, practitioners become aware of inhaling as the taking in of universal Ki-energy and exhaling as the releasing of used, dissipated energy back into the universe. This energy-focused respiration is called “Dahn-Jon Breathing.”

from dahn hak book by ilchi lee

“Ki” is the Korean word for cosmic vitality that is the true essence of every creation in the cosmos. Most people begin their understanding of Ki by experiencing it as bio-energy or the vital life force in the body. Ki is the connection between the physical body and conscious mind. When practitioners learn to control the Ki in their bodies, they begin to understand that they have control over their bodies. In the orient, people have known about Ki for thousands of years. Oriental medicine, such as acupuncture or acupressure, utilizes the knowledge of Ki-energy by healing people through correcting the distorted energy flow in their body.

from dahnhak book by ilchi lee