Part Five: The Principles of Lotus Seat Exercise and the Techniques of Jade Toad Turning Waves Exercise

2. Qigong principle

The Lotus Seat Exercise primarily mimics the state of a person's "true sleep," allowing the body to fully rest.

What is "true sleep"?

When a person sleeps, the brain cells in the cerebral cortex are not all "sleeping" throughout the night; that is, they are not completely inhibited (medically termed "excitation state"). The brain cells that are in a resting state (medically termed "inhibition state") will also "wake up" at any time. Excitation and inhibition often alternate, and the subjective feeling of a person is "dreaming".

Most of a normal person's "dreams" are "unknown," with only the dreams occurring in the period just before waking up being remembered after waking.

Some patients with neurasthenia often say, "I dreamed all night." Some people remember the people and things in their dreams quite clearly. After waking up, they feel very tired, as if they have been running around all night and are listless. From a medical point of view, it means that the brain nerve cells in the cerebral cortex are too "excited" and therefore cannot get rest.

During a normal night's sleep, there are always intermittent and brief periods when the cells of the cerebral cortex are at rest and completely enter an "inhibited state," a state known as "true sleep."

"True sleep" is the state in which a person is most fully relaxed and rested. If a person experiences true sleep frequently and for a long time during a night's sleep, they will feel that they "slept well" and will feel refreshed when they wake up.

Even when a person is in a "true sleep state," they still need to breathe and their heart still needs to beat.

In other words, no matter when a person is asleep, even if they are "truly asleep," they still need to maintain their survival. The respiratory center and the center that controls the heart are always active and can never rest.

The Lotus Seat Exercise utilizes this characteristic.

The respiratory and circulatory centers are located in the medulla oblongata, below the cerebral cortex, and belong to the lower centers.

The third stage of the Lotus Seat Exercise requires focusing the mind on the breath and achieving a state of stillness that is "seemingly focused but not focused" and "vague and indistinct." From a physiological perspective, this means that the cerebral cortex is completely inhibited, with only a very weak excitatory focus maintaining a slight connection with the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata, which is barely perceptible.

Some people cannot understand or master this state. When focusing on their breath, they think too rigidly and specifically, imagining what their lungs look like, what color they are, how the air goes in and out, and so on.

Qigong calls this "rigid adherence," which prevents one from entering a state of tranquility and qigong practice. From a physiological perspective, this means that the cells in this part of the cerebral cortex are too excited, thus failing to achieve the goal of rest-"true sleep." That is doing it wrong.

If beginners do not follow the three-stage method mentioned above and try to enter a "true sleep state" immediately, they may end up being too hasty and failing to achieve their goal.

Practicing the lotus seat exercise has a significant effect on restoring physical strength, eliminating fatigue, and enhancing mental well-being, and is of great benefit to human health.

When used in conjunction with the Jade Toad Absorption Technique, it has a very good regulatory effect on the human body. If combined with dieting, it has a significant effect on weight loss.

This exercise requires the chest and abdomen to rise and fall alternately with breathing, resembling the movement of waves, hence the name.

1. Exercises

Posture: This exercise can be practiced lying down, but sitting or standing is also acceptable.

Lying down: Lie flat on the bed with your legs bent at approximately a 90-degree angle between your thighs and calves, and your feet flat on the bed. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your lower abdomen. Inhale as you lift your chest and contract your abdomen, and exhale as you contract your chest and protrude your abdomen.

Sitting position: There are no strict requirements on the height of the chair or stool; the posture is the same as lying down.

Standing position: Stand with your feet parallel and shoulder-width apart, as in the lying position.

There are no strict requirements for the position of the hands; they can also be placed at the sides of the body.

When performing this exercise, you should consciously expand your chest and contract your abdomen when inhaling, and contract your chest and expand your abdomen when exhaling. Moreover, the rhythm should be fast, generally more than twice as fast as natural breathing.

When performing chest and abdominal movements, try to guide them with your mind and avoid excessive force to prevent muscle injury.

Rapid breathing and insufficient gas exchange may sometimes cause slight dizziness, which is a temporary lack of oxygen in the body and head. This is normal. Just stop for a second or two and you will recover before continuing.

They breathe entirely through their nose.

The purpose of this exercise is to eliminate hunger. You can practice whenever you feel hungry, and there is no limit to the time or number of times you can practice. You don't need to practice if you are not hungry.

Generally, practice 3 to 5 times a day, mostly at noon or in the evening, with 40 repetitions each time, lasting about half a minute.

If you still feel hungry, increase the number of repetitions (number of chest and abdominal rises and falls).

If you feel slightly hungry at the beginning, you can persist for two or three days. After three to five days, you may not feel hungry at all. It is best to practice two or three times a day.

If someone experiences persistent or intense hunger after practicing this exercise, they should stop practicing immediately. A qigong master should examine the cause and provide guidance. Do not force yourself to continue.

2. Qigong principle

The mechanism by which the Jade Toad's Wave-Turning Function Eliminates Hunger Still requires in-depth research. Currently, we can only analyze it based on common medical knowledge, and it remains in the hypothesis stage.

When a person is hungry, blood sugar levels drop. Through the body's fluid regulation function, this stimulates the appetite center, causing the person to feel hungry. At the same time, it also stimulates the stomach, causing it to contract due to hunger and secrete a large amount of gastric juice. The gastric juice has a high acidity, which stimulates the gastric mucosa, making the person feel hungry.

This exercise utilizes special breathing movements. Inhaling increases the pressure in the chest cavity, causing the diaphragm to descend. Combined with contracting the lower abdomen, this creates strong pressure on the stomach, which can force gastric juices into the intestines.

Exhalation reduces chest pressure, and the protruding abdomen causes the diaphragm to rise, creating negative pressure on the stomach. This alternating pressure and release creates a strong mechanical massage, gradually squeezing gastric juices into the intestines, reducing the stimulation of the gastric mucosa, and thus eliminating the signals that cause hunger.

On the other hand, the pressure on the stomach is very fast and very high, exceeding the stomach's own hunger contractions, thus controlling the stomach's hunger contractions and eliminating or reducing the feeling of hunger.

Simply dieting to lose weight will not have these effects. Not only will it not eliminate the feeling of hunger, but exercising on an empty stomach will also cause the gastric mucosa to be irritated by gastric acid for a long time, which can easily lead to stomach problems.

Practicing Qigong for dieting and weight loss involves not eating or eating less, and inhibiting the contraction of an empty stomach, thus preventing the erosion of a large amount of stomach acid and allowing the stomach to rest fully, which can actually treat some stomach ailments.

Practicing Qigong and dieting can mobilize excess body fat, and during the decomposition and metabolism process, a metabolic product called ketone body is produced.

Ketones can be carried to the brain through the bloodstream, stimulating the appetite center and suppressing appetite, thus reducing or eliminating the feeling of hunger.

Observations revealed that ketone bodies were indeed produced during the practice and dieting process. After 4 to 5 days of practice and dieting, urine tests often showed ketone bodies.

Appetite and hunger are a rather complex neuro-humoral regulatory system, influenced by many factors, which may not be explained or summarized by the points mentioned above, and require further in-depth exploration.

The above-mentioned theories are the author's attempt to analyze some phenomena and states in Qigong using modern medical common sense and mechanisms. In particular, the discussion of "Qigong functional states" is undoubtedly very bold, but also superficial.

"Qigong functional state" is a special functional state of the human body. In this state, the human body can often do things that cannot be done in the normal state. This falls within the scope of human science. It is a complex and profound issue. The mysteries of it have not yet been revealed and need further research.