That said, there are some ways of sitting that enhance energy flow and some that lead to energy stagnation. The point isn’t whether or not you should ever sit – it’s HOW you sit.
For example, a good friend of mine, John, speaks highly of his “old man’s” daily routine.
John’s Dad is 79 years of age and still reads the daily newspaper, does the dishes and works in a factory, which he owns. He prides himself on lifting heavy boxes and hoisting them onto the truck each day. He insists on doing everything “by hand.”
The key element in this story though, is HOW grandpa reads the daily newspaper. He sits toward the front of the chair and places both feet on the ground. He doesn’t sit back or slouch. He doesn’t use a lazygramps.
Sitting on the edge of a chair is ideal and having the soles of your feet on the ground is also advisable. This position, my friends, is where you can do plenty of exercise for your feet – and you can do so as you read a newspaper, a book or while listening to someone prattle on about his/her life.
Keep in mind that your feet are the gateway to your brain and nervous system.
Your feet are the foundation for strong ankles, knees, hips and more. As important as your hands are, your feet are even more important. I believe that pumping your feet up each day increases brain waves, memory, creativity and overall body strength.
Your feet are akin to pumps that suck vital energy or qi into your body.
Sadly, your feet do NOT benefit if you sit for hours each day in the lotus position to meditate. In fact, the lotus position can cause some major problems in your lower body.
Getting into the lotus position as a stretching exercise is fine by me. But sitting in it for hours, in my opinion, is not good.
Yet, hold on.
If you exercise your feet the way I teach, you can still sit in the lotus position to meditate – and you’ll probably be alright.
The same goes for those who are cry-babying about their shoes. I don’t care if you’re compelled to wear high heels or combat boots. I don’t care if you wear shoes with thick pads or rice sandals (aka Sakai Yusai, the marathon monk I met in Japan in 2007 and brought to the U.S. back in 2008). Sakai Yusai ran 1,000 marathons through the mountains of Mt. Hiei in Kyoto. And yes, he ran them in “rice sandals” that often fell apart during the daily trek.
If you want to be declared a Living Buddha, as Sakai Yusai was, you don’t bitch about your archaic footwear. You learn to make your feet strong. Superhuman strong.
Truth: If you exercise your feet each day – you’ll probably find yourself far better off than the person who insists on going barefoot.
And… if you’re exercising your feet all day long, even as you sit, stand and walk around – ah, so much the better.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear the best shoes you can find and afford for your feet. What it does mean is this: live without excuses, stop being a crybaby. The biggest problem isn’t the shoe companies and their demonic designs that aren’t good for your feet. The big, Big, BIG problem is that people aren’t exercising their feet.
Period.
By the way, I just put up five new videos in the Matt Furey Inner Circle, and two of them go into detail on how you can do 5,000 or more reps per day of the most important foot exercise there is – and do so without investing one second of extra time.
If you want the deeper answers to the deeper questions, enroll NOW and start kicking ass and taking names at a whole new level.
Matt Furey
