08 Taoist Influence on Health Revitalization

A cold lower abdomen, where the human dantian is located four fingers below the navel, is more serious than a cold back. Taoists believe this area is where one nurtures the inner elixir.

Taoist alchemy involves collecting beneficial herbs and boiling them repeatedly, similar to making soup. However, unlike soup, the decoction is filtered, and the remaining liquid is boiled until it becomes a viscous substance. This substance is then cooled and made into pills, an ancient high-tech extraction process.

Elixirs are highly concentrated, making them easier for the body to absorb and allowing them to reach high blood concentrations quickly. The higher the blood concentration, the stronger and faster the treatment. Many pharmaceutical factories still use traditional herbal medicine forms like pills, powders, pastes, and elixirs, with elixir pills being the most effective.

The effectiveness of elixirs led to the belief that they could bring the dead back to life, which is not true. The term “inner elixir” is an analogy for the vital yuanqi gathered in the kidneys, which is crucial for health. Just as alchemy requires fire to make elixirs, the kidneys need to maintain a high temperature for health. The kidneys are metaphorically described as the elixir field, emphasizing their importance and the need to keep them warm for health revitalization.

09 Related Diseases

The kidney is considered the mother of the liver, so a healthy kidney benefits cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.

• Kidney deficiency is directly related to diabetes and its complications, such as nephropathy and gangrene. Sufficient kidney-qi reduces diabetic complications.
• Rheumatic bone disease is also linked to kidney deficiency, as the kidney is responsible for bone and marrow production.
• Long-term deficiency of kidney-qi leads to various health issues, making it crucial to protect and nourish the kidneys.

Future discussions will cover specific maintenance methods for different symptoms originating from kidney deficiency.

10 Methods for Revitalizing the Kidney

01 Indication of improvement

Traditional herbal medicine treats kidney-related diseases, but the effects are not immediate. For example, antihypertensive drugs lower blood pressure quickly, but herbal medicine addresses the root cause, and initial results may not be visible.

Several criteria indicate effective herbal treatment: warming of hands, feet, lower abdomen, and back, signifying increased kidney-qi.

Urination strength also reflects kidney-qi levels. Children with sufficient kidney-qi urinate forcefully, while adults’ urination strength weakens with age, indicating kidney deficiency. From a nutritional perspective, urination force represents bladder contraction and urethral smoothness. Herbal medicine attributes this to kidney-qi, which also affects defecation. Smooth urination and defecation require revitalized kidneys.

02 Improving Kidney Performance thru Urination

Throughout history, many methods have been used to revitalize the kidneys. Here are some techniques related to urination:

01 Clench Your Teeth

Clenching your teeth while urinating can prevent vital yuanqi from escaping. Taoists believe this helps liver fire return to the kidneys, reducing yuanqi loss.

02 Lift Your Anus

Contracting the anus can be done anytime and helps prevent yuanqi leakage. This exercise requires long-term persistence for effectiveness. Over time, physical fitness improves, and sufficient kidney-qi is maintained.

03 Beneficial Food

Goji, or wolfberry, is a cost-effective, mild herbal remedy for replenishing the kidneys without causing internal heat. Master Huang Yuanyu frequently used goji in his prescriptions. We will discuss this food in greater length.

11 Brief Summary

We have discussed the importance of the kidney subsystem and various ways it can malfunction. We also covered maintenance methods to reduce the chances of malfunction. Due to the kidney subsystem’s significance, we will explore this topic further in later chapters. Stay tuned.

12 What is Next

Next, we will discuss methods to revitalize the spleen-stomach and kidney subsystems according to their symptoms.

For more on Huang Yuanyu’s herbal medical theories and contributions to traditional herbal medicine, and how they help rejuvenate health, stay tuned for the next episode.

To receive notifications about new articles, kindly provide your email address below.