Jangsaeng (Longevity) Walking Method
What would be the best health exercise for modern people who always say they are busy? Most diseases of modern people result from stress and lack of exercise. Modern people with busy schedule will get benefits for stress and health, just from walking. Jangsaeng Walking can be considered a walking exercise, appropriate for modern people's life culture.
Three Kinds of Age
In Korean, "Jangsaeng" means living a healthy life, long and happily, realizing one's dreams. It is not your destiny to get sick simply because you are old. You can change this possibility with your will and effort.
Your 40's and 50's are when you should tune in to your body. To live a better life, you need to pull the loosened strings in his body and brain tight, tuning your most precious instrument. For living a Jangsaeng style live, one needs to have three conditions:
First, your spiritual age should be young. You can tell one's spiritual age by asking, "Do you have a dream?" Regardless of their physical age, a person without a dream is old spiritually, and they get old quicker physically too.
Second, your energy age should be young. This means being happy and feeling well most of the time. To live long, you should be positive. A person who thinks and talks positively, tends to have good interpersonal relationship and harmonious personality. A person who is too emotional or has a lot of negative information, gets tired easily and has frequent conflict in their interpersonal relationships.
Third, your physical age should be young. To get younger physically, relaxed breath, proper walking habits, muscular strength, and flexible joints are important. Abdominal breathing helps to bring your energy down, to have better circulation, to accumulate energy inside, and to have a relaxed mind. When you get older, your breath gets shallower which causes weak circulation in your hands and feet. It is advised that you deliberately and slowly breathe out, and exercise to strengthen your fingers and toes. When you walk properly, your breath gets comfortable, muscles gets stronger and joints get more flexible.
Walk Like a Kid.
Watch how you walk. Which part of your sole touches the ground first? If it's the heel and you walk with your heels, your gait is that of the elderly. If the center of gravity is on the heel, your waist gets tense and shoulders and head tend to lean backward. You will walk with your whole body leaning backward slightly. This posture disturbs circulation of blood and spinal fluid, sometimes your heads feels heavy, and you have backaches.
Let's take a look at how a kid walks. Kids walk almost like falling forward, having their center of weight at the front of their feet. Like kids, walking with your center of weight at the ball of your foot ("Yong Chun”) is a healthy way of walking. Relax your shoulders, stand comfortably. Lean forward about one degree. Then naturally the center of weight is on the Yong Chun point. Put strength into your toes as if you are grasping the earth with your toes. Naturally you will feel power in your knees and lower abdomen.
Your center of balance will be connected with your chest, brain stem and to the top of your head. Your brain will feel stimulated a little bit. Pull your head to your body humbly and have both of the feet parallel to each other. Walk cheerfully and you will feel better, since your brain is being positively stimulated.
If somebody whose body is not balanced uses this Jangsaeng Walking method, at first she will feel uncomfortable and tense, but before long she will feel her body getting balanced. Use Jangsaeng Walking for 30 minutes or more, for 21 days in a row, and your body will get balanced and your mind relaxed. Your legs will feel stronger and you will feel more passionate about your life. With a simple walking habit, you will build correct posture, and prevent stress-related illnesses.
Think of walking as a method of health in addition to a method of movement. Change your walking style, and your body and personality will be changed. If you find playing with your body through Jangsaeng Walking to be fun, then you have nothing to worry about when you get older. The secret of longevity is in healthy and happy walking.
How To Walk
- Keep your feet parallel and angle your body 1 degree forward.
- Let the ball of your foot tap the ground gently as you step forward.
- Concentrate on your lower abdomen and toes.
How It Improves Your Health
- Strengthens lower body
- Promotes digestion and blood circulation
- Energizes body
- Improves health of body and mind