Wake up your body to get moving! Try this easy ancient exercise to boost energy.

Most folks rely on coffee, sugar or other stimulants to help them get their day started. I would highly suggest you STRETCH your body instead.

Animals do this. They wake and stretch their entire body. Watch your cat or dog (or gerbil) tomorrow and you’ll see what I mean. When they wake up they stretch their arms, legs, neck, torso… I think I even saw my dog stretching her ears!

Stretching both relaxes the physical body and opens the channels of energy to help get everything flowing.

For humans, we’ve got an energy system called meridians. If you’ve ever seen the human body on an acupuncture chart, it’s filled with long lines and dots: those lines are called meridians and those dots are specific acupuncture points.

Meridians are the energy pathways in your body that support a healthy flow of vital Qi (pronounced chi or chee) throughout your entire system. Qi is universal energy.

For years, modern medicine denounced the existence of meridians because they could not see them on an x-ray. But for thousands of years Traditional Chinese medicine has known that these energy pathways certainly do exist, and they have a very important function.

Modern science has finally caught up with this ancient knowledge and machines can now detect specific points that have a denser structure on the human body. “Using a new combination of imaging techniques and CT scans (computerized tomography), researchers have observed concentrated points of microvascular structures that clearly correspond to the map of acupuncture points created by Chinese energy doctors nearly 2000 years ago.”[1]

When meridians channels are flowing and clear, Qi (energy) is unblocked and can move freely throughout the body. The effect is improved health and immunity, higher energy levels and enhanced mental clarity and functioning.

If you wake up and do 10 little tiny minutes of daily stretching, it can enhance the flow of  energy and support all of your internal organs and bodily systems for your entire day!

Yep, energy for the entire day in as little as 10 minutes.

Here are 5 simple meridian stretches from Shiatsu Practitioner, Diego Sanchez, that you can use to start to your day in a more energized and healthful way:

               

There are many easy and simple ways to access energy and improve your flow to help you live a more energized life.

Remember to start your day with some good old-fashioned stretching. Your energy will improve and your body will love you for it!

[1] http://themindunleashed.org/2014/03/science-finally-confirmed-existence-acupuncture-points-validating-chinese-medicine.html