Happiness vs Non-Attachment

Recently, I spent 3 days at a Buddhist monastery.

No, I didn’t disguise myself as a Buddhist monk and sneak in. I was actually welcome there by the residential monks to an Introductory Retreat – the first retreat if you’ve never visited before, at the beautiful Shasta Abbey near Mt. Shasta, California.

The mostly silent retreat – mostly because we were encouraged to ask questions during “Dharma Discussions” and communicate as necessary during instruction and invited to sign up for a counseling session with a residential monk – all required the use of our voices.

I have been home for three days. There are two major things coming forward for me to share with you all:

First:

I love spending time in silence. It’s a relief for me in my overly articulated, super-verbal life. (Some might even call me bossy at times!) But I really like silence! Here’s what I wrote about it during the retreat:

“I really like the silent times where I don't talk. The thoughts that will never reach my lips somehow have a clearer, crisper -  pure bell-like quality to them. I didn't realize how the prospect of speaking thoughts (or potentially writing them) adjust them - taint them somehow. As if the intensity with which I think things that might get spoken or written created an unknown tension in my brain. It's a relief."

The fabulous monk, Reverend Mugo, to whom I talked wrote about my thoughts on silence in a kind and eloquent way on her blog with my OK and preserving my privacy. Here’s a link to her blog (url below). I highly recommend you subscribe as I find her blog to be of great spiritual insight and value, not to mention pragmatic, especially for those of us not living full time at a monastery!

http://www.jademountains.net/thoughts-unspoken/

Second:

Non-attachment is the bomb!

            (Am I attached to non-attachment?!?)

But happiness is confusing. Our constitution contains the word, stating every citizen of the United States (save slaves, indentured servants, and indigenous people at the time!) has the right to pursue “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” but what exactly is happiness? Surely someone high on morphine, while at the best part of the high, feels happy, right? Some might argue that’s not really happiness, but pursuing and feeling happy can be as goal-oriented, evasive and have a chasing-the-dragon quality, I think. For example, most people would probably categorize me as a happy person; I think I’m someone who cultivates happiness on a regular basis – for me my cultivation activities include meditation, exercise, eating healthy, being myself and spending time with people who embrace me for who I am; in other words, not feeling (or believing) that I need to be other than who I am.

I’ve been having internal dialogues and researching happiness for a while now, but from my experience at the Abbey, I’m realizing that a more non-attached way of being actually leads to what most people call happiness. It may not be as manic (though true happiness really isn’t manic) or exciting, and is likely less obvious. But life’s little annoyances don’t carry much weight when practicing non-attachment. Two examples: Yesterday while in the kitchen, I accidentally spilled some water. In the past I would’ve gotten annoyed that I did this and I know the physiological symptoms of this annoyed state were heighted blood pressure and acid throughout my body (typical physiological stress responses). Yesterday, I basically shrugged, mopped up the water, and moved on. Today, I didn’t have enough toilet paper in the bathroom and realized it too late. Our extra supply is in our overflow storage (bathroom is small), which is outside and about 20 feet away from the bathroom and no one was around to fetch some for me. Being really into personal and excrement-related hygiene would be part of my excuse why I would’ve gotten annoyed in the past. Today, upon realizing I had about one-wipe worth of TP left, said “crap” aloud to no one, and once again shrugged, decided to deal with it calmly (and not beat myself up for forgetting to replenish earlier) and just did what was necessary to remedy the situation.

Non-attachment! What a revelation. And it can be so hard to do this when absorbed in the annoying moment. It’s worth noting that I’ve called myself a “recovering perfectionist,” and I think that was a factor in my annoyance about things that I judge could have been better or perfected.

Now I’m still quite attached to certain things: family, loved ones, friends, healthy food, shelter, fun, relaxation, even meditation! But, this way of being also helps me to acknowledge that losing any of the aforementioned human needs and attachments, like family, shelter and food wouldn’t be as emotionally devastating as they would be were I not practicing non-attachment.

Meditation helps. A lot. Helps me to be in a non-attached way of being. Some call it “seeing things as they are” or “seeing the truth.”

But I’m also not trying to be attached to meditation and am mindfully aware of that as well. For now, I feel it is one of the best tools for overall health and wellness… and for seeing things as they are. Truly.

And that’s the trouble with language. Often the same word means vastly different things depending on person and context.

So, how is it for you? How do you define happiness? Non-attachment? Are you cultivating anything in your life? Does it add to your daily calm contentedness? Who are you? Are you able to be you regularly?

One final thought: Shasta Abbey is one of a handful of monasteries where male and female monks live and train together at their monastery but still practice celibacy. All the monks have shaved heads and wear similar brown robes. As you can imagine, that makes it difficult to reference a monk if one doesn’t know their name. I would smile and laugh often during my 3 days at Shasta Abbey… But during meditation I was trying to stay still and silent, so I'd let the laugh just circulate instead of letting it be audible or sharing it with someone. A common reoccurring thought was that I wanted to call the female monks monkettes or monkess, or the male monks monkers. All those words struck me as funny. I haven’t asked permission yet whether any of these terms are appropriate, so to describe a monk whose name I couldn’t recall, I simply said, the gentle-lady monk or gentleman monk.

The Kindness Fast

(Originally written March 1, 2013)

I'm embarking on a new kind of fast.

A Kindness Fast...

But let me back up a bit first.

I've been on juice fasts, which I highly recommend. I suppose it's more accurately called a liquid fast. 20 days is my max so far, and mine was a blend of the following: 85% fresh, home-made vegetable juices, 15% raw milk with whey protein to prevent muscle wasting, with as much herbal tea (mostly I drank Dr. Schulze's detox tea to help with the cleanse) and water as I wanted. All organic, of course.

I've done the master cleanse, which is ten days of maple-syrup sweetened, fresh squeezed lemonade, topped off with cayenne pepper! I liked the lemonade recipe and taste, but don't recommend it now that I'm with Marcus and he's explained it can be harmful because it lacks key nutrients our bodies need.

I've given up all carbs for an extended amount of time, which I also highly recommend, especially for women and people with mild to severe hypoglycemia. 

I think I blogged about my carb-free diet. It lasted 60-90 days and I was hornier than a hell cat in heat. I went on it to re-balance my hormones because there were signs that things were off. Inconsistent menstrual cycles, bloating and emotional volatility told me (and Marcus who coached me through this whole thing) that my body could be more well balanced hormonally.

And when I say gave up all carbs, I mean ALL carbs. No bread, pasta, rice, sugar, honey, potatoes. It was difficult, but between the carb fast and juicing a few months later for 20 days, my cycles re-regulated and are now healthy and consistent lengths.

I've gone vegetarian, vegan and raw for periods of time ranging from weeks to years.

I've done yoga for over 200 days straight - rain or shine, in sickness and health, whether ten minutes or an hour. I guess it was a yoga fast.

But I have never, ever done an emotional fast.

It's an idea I came up with recently.

My first idea was to do a stress fast, but unlike a juice or liquid fast (where juice and liquid are all that are consumed), I was thinking of how I could do a stress-free period of time. Like giving up meat for lent, but I'd be giving up stress.

But as my self-imposed start date of March 1st approached, I wasn't convinced that focusing on stress was the best way to go about doing this.

I awoke in the middle of the night feeling some anxiety about a recent big purchase Marcus and I made, and I realized stress or stress-free is not the ideal focus for me to have on this particular cleanse.

Kindness is the focus. 

After all, one of the most insidious ways I am un-kind to myself is in the past when I have filled myself with self-doubt, regret, anxiety, and the mental self-abuse of questioning and berating myself and my choices! And guess what all of that mishegoss creates in the body? STRESS!

So, starting today, March 1st, I'm going on a kindness fast.

Inspired by yesterday's quotes from Joseph Campbell and Baba Amte (KSW blog: The Inspiration Hunter) and by the paraphrase of a Gandhi quote: Be the change you want to see in the world, I'm going on a kindness fast.

Pop culture has paraphrased it to be more succinct, but Gandhi's actual quote is: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do." 

If a Juice Fast is defined as: (noun) a type of fasting and detox diet in which a person consumes only fruit and vegetable juices. These liquid foods are digested rapidly as the juice digestion process expends only a small amount of energy for the purpose of detoxifying and rebalancing the body's digestion, hormones, and vascular system to encourage optimum function. 

A Kindness Fast, for me, is defined as: (noun, verb) A fast where kindness is the primarily consumed emotional and mental action for the purpose of detoxifying the body and mind from the effects of self-criticism, doubt, stress, regret, and unreasonable expectations... to rebalance mental and emotional well being.

In practical terms, this will involve and evolve (with updates on this blog):

60 days of being kind to myself every day, in every moment possible. Yoga, meditation, healthy, tasty foods that help me to feel good (in emotion and digestion), exercise, enjoying nature, loving myself and my loved ones around me. When I notice a lapse or hiccup in consuming only kindness, I will bring my focus to my breath and recommit to my kindness fast.

I will be checking in here to let you know how things are going. Stay tuned!

We need not wait to see what others do...

The first rule of martial arts & how to let go of suffering...

Read to the end if you want to know the answer to the titular pondering.


I wish I could take credit for living and writing this. 


Not because I would wish for this experience myself, but because, like our friend Laura Munson, I've been working on ending my own suffering. Believe me, it's been met with resistance from my reactive mind. I've been doing The Tibetan Five and meditating most mornings, and that helps, but still, the stress/suffering still manages to creep in.... despite my best meditation & tibetan-laced efforts to let it go. The result being - I see how absurd my "suffering" is, but still feel distressed.


Does everyone understand what I mean by absurd? I wish I could describe it adequately, but the best I can do right now is: The absurdity of my suffering is that it's usually over something that is NOT actually life-threatening. Student or credit card loans are common ones, as well as: my car has to go into the shop again?!? The basics are actually handled right now. Food. Shelter. Clothing (too much, in fact). Love. 


So why suffer? Well, the best I can tell is it's some malfunction in the computer program. Historically, we've called this ego or reactive mind. While it might be useful for surviving in the wild when a saber-toothed tiger is after you, it doesn't prove especially useful in modern society, where there's a bevy of things to "stress" about, but hardly any that actually threaten our survival.


Funny thing is, the more research I do about health and the state of the world, the more I'm cleaning up my act about how I eat and live. But I don't stress about those things. They're almost too big for my processor, so I stress about the things that appear to be under my jurisdiction. 


Silly, huh?


Anyway, all of this rambling is just mental fourplay for the thing I actually meant for you all to read. My friend Lisa sent this to me two years ago and I was going through old email in an effort to clean up my computer and I came across this article and remembered how much I liked it when I read it. Thanks for sharing this with me, Lis. I have a feeling this will strike a particularly loud chord with some of you married folks out there.


I like it for many reasons, especially that it reminded me how we can actually choose whether we experience suffering or not.


Huh. Yeah, right. Tell that to my reactive mind.


August 2, 2009
Modern Love
Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear
By LAURA A. MUNSON

LET’S say you have what you believe to be a healthy marriage. You’re still friends and lovers after spending more than half of your lives together. The dreams you set out to achieve in your 20s — gazing into each other’s eyes in candlelit city bistros when you were single and skinny — have for the most part come true.

Two decades later you have the 20 acres of land, the farmhouse, the children, the dogs and horses. You’re the parents you said you would be, full of love and guidance. You’ve done it all: Disneyland, camping, Hawaii, Mexico, city living, stargazing.

Sure, you have your marital issues, but on the whole you feel so self-satisfied about how things have worked out that you would never, in your wildest nightmares, think you would hear these words from your husband one fine summer day: “I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did. I’m moving out. The kids will understand. They’ll want me to be happy.”

But wait. This isn’t the divorce story you think it is. Neither is it a begging-him-to-stay story. It’s a story about hearing your husband say “I don’t love you anymore” and deciding not to believe him. And what can happen as a result.

Here’s a visual: Child throws a temper tantrum. Tries to hit his mother. But the mother doesn’t hit back, lecture or punish. Instead, she ducks. Then she tries to go about her business as if the tantrum isn’t happening. She doesn’t “reward” the tantrum. She simply doesn’t take the tantrum personally because, after all, it’s not about her.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying my husband was throwing a child’s tantrum. No. He was in the grip of something else — a profound and far more troubling meltdown that comes not in childhood but in midlife, when we perceive that our personal trajectory is no longer arcing reliably upward as it once did. But I decided to respond the same way I’d responded to my children’s tantrums. And I kept responding to it that way. For four months.

“I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did.”

His words came at me like a speeding fist, like a sucker punch, yet somehow in that moment I was able to duck. And once I recovered and composed myself, I managed to say, “I don’t buy it.” Because I didn’t.

He drew back in surprise. Apparently he’d expected me to burst into tears, to rage at him, to threaten him with a custody battle. Or beg him to change his mind.

So he turned mean. “I don’t like what you’ve become.”

Gut-wrenching pause. How could he say such a thing? That’s when I really wanted to fight. To rage. To cry. But I didn’t.

Instead, a shroud of calm enveloped me, and I repeated those words: “I don’t buy it.”

You see, I’d recently committed to a non-negotiable understanding with myself. I’d committed to “The End of Suffering.” I’d finally managed to exile the voices in my head that told me my personal happiness was only as good as my outward success, rooted in things that were often outside my control. I’d seen the insanity of that equation and decided to take responsibility for my own happiness. And I mean all of it.

My husband hadn’t yet come to this understanding with himself. He had enjoyed many years of hard work, and its rewards had supported our family of four all along. But his new endeavor hadn’t been going so well, and his ability to be the breadwinner was in rapid decline. He’d been miserable about this, felt useless, was losing himself emotionally and letting himself go physically. And now he wanted out of our marriage; to be done with our family.

But I wasn’t buying it.

I said: “It’s not age-appropriate to expect children to be concerned with their parents’ happiness. Not unless you want to create co-dependents who’ll spend their lives in bad relationships and therapy. There are times in every relationship when the parties involved need a break. What can we do to give you the distance you need, without hurting the family?”

“Huh?” he said.

“Go trekking in Nepal. Build a yurt in the back meadow. Turn the garage studio into a man-cave. Get that drum set you’ve always wanted. Anything but hurting the children and me with a reckless move like the one you’re talking about.”

Then I repeated my line, “What can we do to give you the distance you need, without hurting the family?”

“Huh?”

“How can we have a responsible distance?”

“I don’t want distance,” he said. “I want to move out.”

My mind raced. Was it another woman? Drugs? Unconscionable secrets? But I stopped myself. I would not suffer.

Instead, I went to my desk, Googled “responsible separation” and came up with a list. It included things like: Who’s allowed to use what credit cards? Who are the children allowed to see you with in town? Who’s allowed keys to what?

I looked through the list and passed it on to him.

His response: “Keys? We don’t even have keys to our house.”

I remained stoic. I could see pain in his eyes. Pain I recognized.

“Oh, I see what you’re doing,” he said. “You’re going to make me go into therapy. You’re not going to let me move out. You’re going to use the kids against me.”

“I never said that. I just asked: What can we do to give you the distance you need ... ”

“Stop saying that!”

Well, he didn’t move out.

Instead, he spent the summer being unreliable. He stopped coming home at his usual six o’clock. He would stay out late and not call. He blew off our entire Fourth of July — the parade, the barbecue, the fireworks — to go to someone else’s party. When he was at home, he was distant. He wouldn’t look me in the eye. He didn’t even wish me “Happy Birthday.”

But I didn’t play into it. I walked my line. I told the kids: “Daddy’s having a hard time as adults often do. But we’re a family, no matter what.” I was not going to suffer. And neither were they.

MY trusted friends were irate on my behalf. “How can you just stand by and accept this behavior? Kick him out! Get a lawyer!”

I walked my line with them, too. This man was hurting, yet his problem wasn’t mine to solve. In fact, I needed to get out of his way so he could solve it.

I know what you’re thinking: I’m a pushover. I’m weak and scared and would put up with anything to keep the family together. I’m probably one of those women who would endure physical abuse. But I can assure you, I’m not. I load 1,500-pound horses into trailers and gallop through the high country of Montana all summer. I went through Pitocin-induced natural childbirth. And a Caesarean section without follow-up drugs. I am handy with a chain saw.

I simply had come to understand that I was not at the root of my husband’s problem. He was. If he could turn his problem into a marital fight, he could make it about us. I needed to get out of the way so that wouldn’t happen.

Privately, I decided to give him time. Six months.

I had good days, and I had bad days. On the good days, I took the high road. I ignored his lashing out, his merciless jabs. On bad days, I would fester in the August sun while the kids ran through sprinklers, raging at him in my mind. But I never wavered. Although it may sound ridiculous to say “Don’t take it personally” when your husband tells you he no longer loves you, sometimes that’s exactly what you have to do.

Instead of issuing ultimatums, yelling, crying or begging, I presented him with options. I created a summer of fun for our family and welcomed him to share in it, or not — it was up to him. If he chose not to come along, we would miss him, but we would be just fine, thank you very much. And we were.

And, yeah, you can bet I wanted to sit him down and persuade him to stay. To love me. To fight for what we’ve created. You can bet I wanted to.

But I didn’t.

I barbecued. Made lemonade. Set the table for four. Loved him from afar.

And one day, there he was, home from work early, mowing the lawn. A man doesn’t mow his lawn if he’s going to leave it. Not this man. Then he fixed a door that had been broken for eight years. He made a comment about our front porch needing paint. Our front porch. He mentioned needing wood for next winter. The future. Little by little, he started talking about the future.

It was Thanksgiving dinner that sealed it. My husband bowed his head humbly and said, “I’m thankful for my family.”

He was back.

And I saw what had been missing: pride. He’d lost pride in himself. Maybe that’s what happens when our egos take a hit in midlife and we realize we’re not as young and golden anymore.

When life’s knocked us around. And our childhood myths reveal themselves to be just that. The truth feels like the biggest sucker-punch of them all: it’s not a spouse or land or a job or money that brings us happiness. Those achievements, those relationships, can enhance our happiness, yes, but happiness has to start from within. Relying on any other equation can be lethal.

My husband had become lost in the myth. But he found his way out. We’ve since had the hard conversations. In fact, he encouraged me to write about our ordeal. To help other couples who arrive at this juncture in life. People who feel scared and stuck. Who believe their temporary feelings are permanent. Who see an easy out, and think they can escape.

My husband tried to strike a deal. Blame me for his pain. Unload his feelings of personal disgrace onto me.

But I ducked. And I waited. And it worked.
Laura A. Munson is a writer who lives in Whitefish, Mont. 


This thing makes me cry every time I read it.


Funny enough, the first rule of martial arts is: DUCK!


When someone's trying to punch you in the face, DUCK! 


I think this concept is rooted in zen philosophy. Because it's not just about leaving or running away from the fight, but about not participating in the violence. A block or hit to "defend" is still participating in the violence. But when you duck, you're actually staying present, but not contributing to the violence of the situation. 


Violence doesn't really work if there's nothing to push against.


I'm going to try this. A metaphoric duck when life's throwing me seemingly justifiable reasons to fret, worry, stress and suffer. Duck.


Duck!


So, everybody....


DUCK!

A Friendly, Cosmic Centrifuge

Alright people. Most of you have at least heard about meditation. Some of you have even done it.

If you're like most of us, you've tried it and it doesn't really seem to do much or you find your mind wandering and pondering and it seems sort of futile.

Well, I'm here to tell you that it is magical and wonderful and you must do this.

Just show up and do it. Find your style, whether it's just observing your breath, using a mantra or some other ancient or modern style, do it.

For those of you new to this, here are the four different categories of meditation, according to meditationtypes.com:

1. Focused on Concentration - this means basically focusing your attention on one object only. Totally concentrating on it. For example, concentrating on the flame of a candle, or simply focusing on your breath. See my Concentration example
2. Focused on Generation (generative meditation). This type of meditation helps you meditate to achieve a state of loving kindness by using your memory, your imagination and the sensations of your body.
3. Focused on Receptivity (receptive meditation). This means basically becoming receptive to any experience arising. An example of this is the zen meditation, zazen.
4. Focused on Reflection (reflective meditation). This meditation type involves constantly focusing on an object, but also being aware to whatever emotions, feelings and sensations come forth from the experience. Meditation on the qualities of the Buddha is a good example of this.

Also worth noting, and also from meditationtypes.com, the three principles that form meditation:

1. To be able to concentrate, we need to focus on one thing or object at a time.
2. As soon as our thoughts start to wander, we gently bring them back to our focus object.
3. During meditation, we need to ignore any distracting, irrelevant thoughts and sensations.

Today, I woke up, ate a few raw eggs and then did my workout which consisted of 4 sets of plyometric exercises which consist of a series of interval jump squats, lunges, deep, side-stepping wide crab squats, side-stepping knee lifts, front kick with a torso-twist, and dynamic push-ups in between sets. Each exercise is done for 30 seconds followed by a 30 second rest (hence the interval training). Afterward I did 20 minutes of hill training on a stationary bike and I ended with the Tibetan Five. Afterward I ate a little raw yogurt with honey and raspberries and did my hypnosis. More on that later, but basically I recorded my own voice doing a hypnosis that just came to me one night. It lasts about ten minutes and is centered around replacing irritation with gratitude and realizing how balanced everything truly is in my life (and in the universe)....

Finally, we get to the meditation!

After my self-hypnosis, I meditated. I set my alarm for 25 minutes and just focused on my breath. Whether it was one or ten minutes into the meditation, I cannot say, I only know that for the majority of the meditation, I experienced what I can only describe as a some sort of energetic spinning sensation.

Have you ever been drunk where you feel like the world is spinning? Or experienced vertigo or light-headedness when you stood up too quickly?

Well, that's what this felt like, only there were no negative connotations like with the aforementioned afflictions.

At first it just felt like I was spinning (but without nausea and without fear). Clockwise, I think. Then it felt like the outer part of me (or the field around me since it extended beyond my bod) was spinning clockwise, and the inner part was spinning counter-clockwise. This is all parallel to the ground at this point. As I sat with that and just sort of enjoyed the sensation, it shifted. Suddenly I was still spinning with my inside and outside going in counter-directions, but the direction was limitless. Like some sort of friendly cosmic centrifuge, I felt limitless and expansive. It was very cool.

The whole experience was quite pleasant.

I'd love to hear from you to learn if you've ever heard of or experienced anything like this or if you can tell me what this sort of apparatus is called because I couldn't find it online but I swear it exists...outside of my meditative cosmic centrifuge, that is.

Be well and meditate!

 

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• To Make You Feel My Love
• Please Don't Leave Me
• Going To California
• Come Back
• Home

The Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth, aka, The Tibetan Five or Five Tibetan Rites are some of my favorite and most frequently recommend exercises and stretches. I love these exercises and they're simple, short, and have been used by Tibetan Monks for years to promote flexibility, health, fitness and youth! They're reminiscent of yoga, but more... concise and easy to do on your own at home.

Doing these while on the road for work, especially my month working on the documentary Nanking in the very-foreign China, saved my life and my body, I swear! The website I used, lifeevents.org, mentions doing this before a yoga or workout routine, and I agree that they're good for a warm-up stretch and actually do get your heart rate going (especially once you get up to 21 reps), but I also really like doing these at the end of a hard workout because I'm all warm and need a nice stretch and cool-down. After The Tibetan Five, I like to meditate. I think these exercises put me in a more centered, meditation-ready state. That's just me. Let me know how it goes for you. Also, feel free to leave comments if you have any questions or feedback.

5 Tibetan Energy Rejuvenation Rites

We've been practicing, teaching and recommending the 5 Tibetan Energy Rejuvenation Exercises since 1998. You can do the whole routine in 15 minutes and only need enough floor space for your body while laying down and enough air space for your arms to be outstretched.

The 5 Tibetans represent a great way to keep your body in shape when you have limited time for a physical workout or limited space for a complete yoga routine. You can easily do the exercises in the space at the foot of the bed in most hotel rooms. We use the 5 Tibetans as a warm up for our morning yoga or body workout.
How do I begin to benefit from the 5 Tibetans?
If you are not used to exercise or have not been formally introduced to yoga techniques of breathing and relaxation, then your first tip is to start out slowly. Start by performing one to three repetitions of each of the movements one time each day. Pay attention to what your body is telling you and do not strain or force any position that causes pain that indicates possible injury. A little soreness is perfectly okay but really you should start out slow enough not to have any physical hindrances the following day.
Where should I perform the Tibetans?
Anywhere you have room is perfectly okay. Make sure to use a carpet, towel, yoga mat or padding to prevent discomfort caused from too hard a surface.
What is the best time of day to perform the 5 Tibetan?
The entire series of movements may be performed 2 to 3 times per day. As with all forms of holistic body work, sunrise and sunset are great times to be honoring your body with physical work. These are the best times to start your practice, but you may work them into your schedule as you see fit.
How many time should I repeat each exercise?
You want to work toward performing each of the movements 21 times. When you first begin, try to do 1 or 3 repetitions of each exercise. After a week, try to do 3 repetitions, then pause and try 3 more. You will certainly feel stronger in some of the movements than others. If you have trouble performing a complete set of 21, try to break it down into 3 sets of 7 repetitions with a pause between each set. Once you've achieved 21 repetitions of each exercise, you don't need to go on to more repetitions. These exercises are for restoring energy, not necessarily building strength. If you feel great after doing 21 repetitions of each movement, feel free to add another session later in the day to perform another set of 21 repetitions each.
What is the recommend breathing pattern?
We recommend a specific breathing pattern to follow with each exercise. If you feel tired or light headed while performing these movements, make sure you are not holding your breath.

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Tibetan Rejuvenation Exercise Movement #1

Sufi Whirling, Whirling Dervish, Memories of the Grateful Dead in Concert, Having fun like a 3 year old Rite 1: Stand upright, extend your arms at shoulder level away from your body and spin clockwise (if looking at a clock face on the floor). Keep your eyes looking directly in front of you, do not focus on any one point, let your vision blur as you spin. Turn up to 21 times or until you feel unstable or dizzy.

Breathing: breath in and out of your stomach. An opera singer, stage actor/actress or yogi experiences the benefit of breathing from this point of the body. When you stop spinning, breath even more deeply from your stomach until your head stops spinning and your balance returns to normal.
Tips and Recommendations: Work your way up to 21 spins. Speed is not so important, just try to spin 21 times and stop.

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Tibetan Rejuvenation Exercise Movement #2

Leg Raises, Bending at the Waist, Tummy Tucks Rite 2: Lay down on your back with your arms to your side, palms up, keep your legs straight, begin your inhalation, raise your legs off the ground until as high as possible and pick your head off the ground, bending your neck with your chin falling toward your chest. Begin your exhalation and return to laying flat on the ground. Repeat up to 21 times.

Breath In: Raising your legs and head
Breath Out: Lowering your legs and head
Tips and Recommendations: When starting out, bend your legs until your stomach strengthens. If your feel discomfort, place your hands (palms facing down) under your buttocks to support your lower spine. As you progress, straighten your legs and try to raise and lower them at the same speed. Once you have worked up to 21 repetitions, try to move at a nice steady rhythm without stopping.

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Tibetan Rejuvenation Exercise Movement #3

Morning Neck Warm-up, Hotel Pillow Recovery Posture, Camel Asana in Yoga Rite 3: Kneel with your legs together, arms extended, palms of your hands on the side of your thighs, drop your chin to your chest, begin your inhalation, raise your head and lean back, move your hands to the back of your thighs and let them drop lower and support your weight, crane your head and neck backward, relax your lower spine. Begin your exhalation, start to come forward back to kneeling position with your head back up in the straight position. Repeat up to 21 times.

Breath In: Going backward
Breath Out: Coming forward
Tips and Recommendations: When you start this exercise, use the weight of your head to come forward instead of forcing your chin to your chest with your muscles. When you lean back, avoid craning your neck, simply let it drop with its own weight. Eventually, you can bring your shoulder blades towards each other when you're in the back position. Keep a steady movement while going backward and forward. Keep your eyes open to maintain balance. Later, try the movement with your eyes closed to feel the difference and see if you can relax even more in the backward position.

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Tibetan Rejuvenation Exercise Movement #4

Table Posture, Wrist warm-up and Neck agility Rite 4: Sit on the floor, legs a little less than shoulder width apart, arms to your sides with hands extended flat on the ground and fingers pointed forward, drop your head toward your chest, begin your inhalation, raise your buttocks off the ground while bending your knees, shift your weight to your arms/hands and legs/feet, continue to raise your buttocks until your trunck and thighs are parallel to the ground, let your head fall back. Begin your exhalation and return to sitting position with your head dropped forward. Repeat up to 21 times.

Breath In: Raising off the ground
Breath Out: Returning back to sitting position
Tips and Recommendations: When you begin this exercise, just try to get from the starting to ending posture. It's easier to do it than read about it. In the beginning, you might not be used to your body weight on your wrists. Doing some wrist warm-ups before you begin can prevent discomfort. Once you have worked your way up to 21 repetitions, try to perform the movements without stopping.

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Tibetan Rejuvenation Exercise Movement #5

Inverted-V, Yoga Cobra to Downward Dog Rite 5: Get down on the floor on your hands and knees (in push-up position) with hands and legs a little less than shoulder width apart. Begin your inhalation, come up on your toes with weight in your arms, straighten your legs, arch your back, lean your head back, do not let any of your body touch the ground except for your toes and hands (Cobra in Yoga). Begin your exhalation, bend at the waist, bend your knees, push your buttocks up into the air, make an inverted V shape with your legs and arms straight, tuck your chin toward your chest (Downward Dog in Yoga), try to put your feet flat on the ground. Begin your next inhalation and repeat up to 21 times.

Breath In: Raising hips up into an ^ shape - downward dog.
Breath Out: Hips down & head coming up into cobra.
Tips and Recommendations: In the beginning, you will need to find where to place your hands and feet to make a complete inverted-V shape. You may do this exercise for years and never get your feet flat on the ground (a symptom of western living and always sitting in a chair). Once you've worked your way up to 21 repetitions, work on keeping a steady rhythm while going in and out of each position.

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Finishing Posture Recommendation
After Exercise 5, lay flat on your stomach with your arms stretched out from side to side like Christ position. Keep your chin on the ground and close your eyes. Feel you heart pumping and blood circulating through your body. Wait until your hearth beat and breath returns to normal. Turn your head to once side and take a few deep breaths. Relax for 1 minute.
Begin your day or continue with your morning yoga routine or physical work out. You should have more than enough energy to get you jump started. If you perform the 5 Tibetans before bed , make sure you have 30 or 45 minutes to relax after Rejuvenation your energy. I've spent time laying in bed afterward and felt like I had drank a pot of coffee.

If you're really interested and want to learn more or find alternative interpretations, I recommend searching one of the following: The Fountain of Youth, The Tibetan Five or Five Tibetan Rites. You will find something that works for you. Also, I started in 1999 with this book which I highly recommend as it gives a bit more background and insight.

 

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