Weight Loss through Community Health

Andrew Miles L. Ac and Qiu Xuelan Ph.D 

In China there are two main times for exercise. The first is in the morning when hundreds of people can be seen in the park. They typically do taichi or some kind of dao yin posture training. You don’t need to sign up for classes, you simply find the healthiest and oldest person you can and copy what they are doing. There are more formal ways to learn health exercises, but this is the most common. After a few thousand years of doing the exercises that the healthiest old person does, they have it down. It’s not about burning, its about regulating the body and building up strength in a relaxed and easy manner. Exercising in the morning is particularly important because the trees have just finished breathing out fresh oxygen which is relatively clean in the early morning before traffic kicks up too much dust and air pollution.

Morning exercise should focus on relaxation and internal development to  energize the body and set an even pace of life.

The second time for exercise is after dinner. People have dinner at about 6:00 and around 7:30 families go out for a stroll around the neighborhood. This light exercise after meals helps to improve digestion. After the walk some people will return home, while others will stay for group dancing, ping pong or badminton. Group dancing seemed strange to me at first, but a few generation back in America that was how people relaxed and socialized as well. When I’m in China I enjoy group dancing. Ages range from toddlers to the elderly and its surprising how the simple and relaxed dancing can be such a balanced way to exercise after meals. Many of the dances are based on Tibetan or other folk dances and so they serve to also preserve culture and keep it relevant. 

Evening exercise should be more dynamic as the body has had all day to warm up.

Someone like you will buy some speakers and play the music and anyone who dances there regularly will chip in around 50 cents per month to help pay for batteries. In this kind of environment it is impossible to feel isolated. It is the kind of social event normally seen at country fairs, only it happens every day. Let that sink in for a moment. What if we shut off the T.V. and lived our lives as a society within a healthy community. How much healthier and happier could we be? Do we really need to sign up for special classes in buildings when we have so much beautiful public space? If it's cold, we can put on a jacket and then get out and move. Long before the days where sport meant staring at a television screen in a bar, people actually went outside and participated. Not genetically and hormonally enhanced super athletes, but regular people. Now we watch life rather than live it. There is a lot we could learn from our great grandparents generation.

At one time American sports were about community and involved physical movement by regular people.

Consider going outside after supper and inviting your neighbors on both sides to join you. It won't be long before social health extends to mental and physical health within your community. This simple step will lead to long term fitness, happiness, and a more loving neighborhood. 

Its the tiny steps that make the biggest impact on our lives.