What kinds of health exercises do you know to strengthen the kidneys and boost yang?

Ancient Chinese doctors attached great importance to the preservation of kidney essence and did a lot of practice and research. This is also an indispensable part of the rich sexual health science in my country. There are many commonly used traditional methods to preserve kidney essence, including diet, medicine, massage, acupuncture, qigong, etc. The following is a brief introduction.

1. Waist twisting exercise

Waist twisting is an effective method for strengthening the kidneys. It is easy to learn, has quick results, and is not limited by location or time. It can be practiced at home, in the office, or on the go. Strengthening kidney function means strengthening energy, sexual function, memory, and bones, and reducing hair loss, dark spots, and wrinkles. In addition, it is effective for all diseases within the waist and hips, such as diseases of the reproductive and urinary systems, such as prostatitis, cystitis, intestinal diseases, constipation, and gynecological diseases, and can also help lose weight. The areas for losing weight are the waist, hips, buttocks, and abdomen, which are the areas that gain the most fat, so this method is very popular with men, women, young and old.

Action points:

(1) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your body slightly leaning forward. Grasp the ground with your feet firmly planted on the ground.

(2) Stretch your hands out with your palms facing inwards to protect your dantian (below your belly button). The space formed by your thumbs and index fingers will create an empty square at your dantian. Bend your elbows naturally to about 90 degrees, forming a fixed position with your hands when exerting force.

(3) With the spine as the axis, the two hips drive the entire buttocks to make a circular twist to the left, passing through the left side and back of the body, and finally returning from the right side, so that the entire belly and hips turn a complete 180° circle. Do this movement 20 times in a row, that is, turn 20 circles; when turning in circles, the elbows and hands are fixed in the original position, just like the movement of Xinjiang dance where the head moves but the hands do not move;

(4) After completing 20 twists to the left, rotate your hips 20 times in the opposite direction in the same position. After that, rotate to the left 20 times again, and repeat this process of changing directions.

(5) During the entire practice process, the mouth must be slightly open and breathe through the nostrils. The mouth should not be closed.

Note: The most common mistake you make when you first start practicing is not to tighten your hands and arms, so they are not fixed, causing your arms and buttocks to twist involuntarily. So be careful to keep your arms and hands tight and still when twisting, and only let your hips twist. This will quickly increase your kidney energy. In addition, be careful to keep your toes on the ground, which will not only fix your body, but also connect you to the ground energy and open up the meridians in your feet. In addition to practicing the waist twisting exercise, you can also use the anus lifting exercise to cooperate, and the therapeutic effect will be more significant. For example, you can persist in lifting your anus when you are in a meeting, in a car, or walking. The longer the better. After practicing a few times, the movements will gradually become standard.

2. Wall-sticking

This is another method of exercising the kidneys. It is best to practice it together with the previous waist-twisting exercise for better results.

Action essentials:

(1) A person stands facing a wall, a door or a mirror, with the tip of the nose touching the wall and the tips of the feet also touching the wall;

(2) Squat down slowly with the tip of your nose touching the wall until your legs are completely bent. Squat down completely and hold your legs with your arms;

(3) With the tip of the nose still touching the wall, slowly stand up until you are fully upright;

(4) Repeat the first squat movement.

Note: This method seems simple, but it is difficult at the beginning. The main reason is that people with insufficient kidney qi cannot squat steadily and stand up easily, and their center of gravity easily tilts backward and falls to the ground. Therefore, when you first start practicing, you must move your toes slightly backward. The specific scale is up to you to control, and you can keep your center of gravity stable, then squat and stand up slowly. When doing the exercise, you must focus on the uprightness of the spine and the balance of the body, otherwise you will fall backward if you are not careful. The number of squats and stands is up to you, and there is no limit. But each time should be at least nine times, and then gradually increase to eighteen times, eighty-one times, and so on.

If you combine the waist twisting exercise, the wall sticking exercise and the stretching exercise, the amplitude and intensity can be determined by the patient according to his or her specific situation, and you will definitely get better results. The first two are mainly to train the kidney qi. If the kidney qi is sufficient, the essence qi is sufficient, and if the essence qi is sufficient, the spirit is vigorous, which is good for the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and other internal organs; while the stretching exercise connects all the twelve meridians of the body by stretching the twelve tendon meridians, especially the governor vessel on the back, the four bladder meridians and the three liver, spleen and kidney meridians on the legs are stretched first, which almost affects the meridians and organs of the whole body, which is equivalent to doing a whole body conditioning for oneself.

3. Waist massage

Because this is the place where the life gate, waist and kidney are located. After rubbing your hands together until they are warm, press the waist point tightly, pause for a moment, and then rub it down to the coccyx (Changqiang point). Then go back and rub again, 100 to 200 times each time, once in the morning and evening every day, until you feel warm. You can also buy a massage stick with a corner and press the acupoints on the waist point yourself.

4. Rub the soles of your feet

After rubbing your palms together to warm them up, rub the right sole with your left hand and the left sole with your right hand, once in the morning and evening, rubbing 300 times each time. Because the Yongquan point on the sole of the foot is the starting point of the kidney meridian, and the entire sole is also the place where turbid air descends, regular massage of the Yongquan point and sole can replenish essence and kidney, prevent premature aging, and promote sleep and appetite.

5. Moxibustion

People with gynecological diseases, kidney deficiency, and insomnia can often moxibustion Yongquan, Sanyinjiao, Shenque (navel) and their upper, lower, left, and right points. They can also moxibustion Mingmen and Shenyu on the back. In short, it is the upper, lower, left, and right points of Mingmen. There are several acupoints that can be moxibustioned throughout life, such as Shenque, Zusanli, Sanyinjiao, etc.

6. Anal contraction exercise

Relax your whole body and breathe naturally; when you exhale, contract your anus, and when you inhale, relax. Repeat as many times as you want. You can do this exercise when you are riding in a car, on a plane, or in a queue.

7. Food and prescriptions

A large amount of food, such as shrimp, oysters, sea cucumber, mutton, dog meat, pigeon, black-bone chicken, sparrow meat; sheep kidney, pork kidney, dog penis; sesame, walnut, pine nut, cashew, chestnut, black bean; mulberry, grape, celery, longan meat, etc. are all helpful to sexual health. These foods mainly include seafood and meat, animal genitals (meaning "using internal organs to nourish internal organs"), vertical fruits and beans, and some vegetables.

In addition, there are a large number of traditional Chinese medicines that are also very beneficial to sexual health, such as deer antler, epimedium, placenta, Cistanche deserticola, Cuscuta australis, wolfberry, Polygonum multiflorum, and Viscum album. Most of these medicines are kidney-tonifying medicines, either mild tonic, warm tonic, or nourishing.

In short, through long-term practical experience, people have found that these foods or medicines, as well as the medicated diets and prescriptions composed of these foods and medicines, can prevent and treat some sexual dysfunctions and sexual diseases, and help prevent sexual aging and prolong life.

8. Other methods

In addition, there are a large number of methods that nourish the kidney and improve essence through guiding, such as Wuqinxi, Ba Duan Jin, Yi Jin Jing, etc., which are not listed here one by one. Please refer to the relevant chapters and books.