As I go through my day today, I will remind myself to relax. Stay loose.
Be flexible in my body and mind.

It’s most important to stay loose and relaxed in mind and body. To enjoy your life, you must be relaxed. When we were children, our bodies were loose, relaxed, and flexible. We could do splits, flips, jumps, and twists without thinking about it. We were pure mind in babies’ bodies.

But you’re never too old — we just get too tense, too stiff. We think too much. One of the most important lessons you can learn doing the Shaolin Workout is how to get back that childlike relaxation and flexibility — to be at home in your body again. It makes no difference if you are in your twenties, fifties, or eighties. Relax. Never feel old. Tell yourself you’re not getting older every year — you’re getting younger!

Sifu explains that there are two kinds of meditation: action meditation and no-action meditation. In the West, we’re most familiar with the no-action kind. We can all form images of Buddhist monks sitting with their legs crossed and their eyes closed, still and silent, for hours and hours, as they strive to achieve enlightenment.

The only problem is that too much no-action meditation can be as bad for your joints, your back, your neck, as sitting at a computer all day. This is what Da Mo saw happening to the monks at Shaolin. They spent so much time sitting in meditation that their bodies were as stiff as wooden dolls. He saw that Ba Tuo had not given them the proper tools to adapt Buddhism to Chinese life. Why do we meditate? To cleanse our minds and open our hearts. But if we burden our bodies with tension and pain, our minds and hearts can’t be cleansed. Your mind and your heart and your body are inseparable.

Kung fu is action meditation. The goal of kung fu is to relax your body and your mind, to extend your body and your mind, to cleanse your body and your mind. To be relaxed in your body, and relaxed in your life, is how you live fully in the present, experiencing this moment, here and now.

In our modern world, there’s another benefit to action meditation. We all have lives, jobs, families. We have wonderful things coming into our lives every day. Who among us has the time to sit and meditate for hours a day, like monks in a monastery? As you’ll find out, a half-hour of action meditation can be as liberating, for your body and your mind and your heart, as several hours of no-action meditation.

Kung fu and martial arts represent a refined form of action meditation. But any exercise program can be a form of action meditation — running, swimming, playing tennis, riding a bike. In the West, we speak of that point in an exercise routine where we “get in the zone,” where we “release endorphins,” where we achieve “the runner’s high.” Those are all Western ways of approaching the same concept: action meditation. A relaxed mind in a relaxed body.

As you go through your day today, relax. Stay loose. Be flexible in your body and in your mind. Enjoy your beautiful life every minute of the day.

Reprinted from: The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior’s Way by Sifu Shi Yan Ming © 2006 Rodale Inc. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc., Emmaus, PA 18098. Available wherever books are sold or directly from the publisher by calling or visit their website at

Author
Sifu Shi Yan Ming, a 34th-generation Shaolin warrior monk, is respected not only in the martial arts world but also in the entertainment world by stars like Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Wesley Snipes, and the Wu-Tang Clan. His kung fu classes have been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, New York Daily News, and Entertainment Weekly. Brian Gray of Inside Kung Fu magazine has called him a “living treasure of China.” He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel, MTV, and CNBC, among other major networks. Sifu Shi Yan Ming lives in New York City.

Meditation is commonly seen in many Yoga classes, but it has been practiced by a variety of cultures, including Roman Catholic priests, as well as
Japanese Samurai, who practiced a form of Zen meditation. I mention this so you can see the full spectrum of meditation and its many facets.

There are many varieties and types of meditation, but the easiest form to learn is, “breath awareness meditation.” Compared to many other meditation techniques, this will enable anyone to experience the benefits of meditation in much less time.

At this point, let’s consider that meditation and Yoga teachers often compare the mind to a monkey. Many thoughts are running through your brain, at the same time, and it is hard to control all of your impulses – let alone, sit still and meditate. So why go through all this trouble?

Meditation has many rewards, and we will now consider one of extreme value. Through daily practice of meditation, you will release the unlimited potential of your mind. The ability to change, or alter the universe, starts as a single thought within your mind.

One human decided to harness the power of fire, and did he/she foresee the global warming effect? How could he/she imagine where we are now? This is just one of many thousands of examples of Karma – the law of cause and effect. Therefore, one seemingly small change, of any kind, will have a ripple effect on the universe.

Some of the seeds to change the universe, rests locked up in your mind, but you have the ability to shape the future by any small changes that you make.
Let’s say you have a friend, family member, or associate, who cares for you deeply, but, up to now, you have always taken it for granted. Can you imagine what would happen if you take the time to groom that relationship?
The answer is you would have a loyal ally and all you had to show was kindness or appreciation.

You have the ability to alter your own personality and affect the world around you. Hopefully, your personality will always continue to change for the better; if so, this will alter everyone around you for the best.

As I have mentioned earlier, this will change the lives of people who you come into frequent contact with. Therefore, you must always be kind, trustworthy, and considerate to others. You should make a change in that direction at this very moment.

Why the sudden need for character improvement? It goes hand-in-hand with using power and influence wisely. Remember Lord Acton’s saying: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The power of your mind has the ability to alter reality. Therefore, this is a power that must be controlled.

How is this possible? Here is an example: If you had two identical twin boys, who haven’t eaten for two days, and you put an apple in front of them; what would they do?

Most likely, they would fight over it, and the winner would eat, most or, all of it. You and I know they should divide it equally, but each of them has really felt starvation, and that is a reality you and I do not feel at the moment. So we are not talking about imagination, but three legitimate points of view, that each becomes our own reality.

Meditation will allow your mind to see multiple points of view, without judgment. If you can see only one point of view, you haven’t meditated long enough. The best leaders, negotiators, and diplomats, know that you have to understand the opposing viewpoint, to move forward, on any issue. There is always justification, on both sides, in any conflict, but true compromise is meeting the opposition in a different reality, than you both started from.

If you had the ability to travel in the space shuttle, your view of earth, from within your space vehicle, would be much different from the person living in poverty, within a refugee camp. You could not see, or feel, that person’s pain, and each of you would have a vivid picture of life on earth.

You can meditate from a mountain top, but once you have seen the full picture, you have an obligation to help mankind, with acts of kindness. Once you have discovered how easy it is to help others, you are no longer struggling with; “who is right and who is wrong.”

Your new reality becomes, “how can I help?”

No ceremony with this article, let’s go straight into five quick ways that will help you find relief from stress, depression and anxiety.

1. Take regular breaks from the firing line. Working hard without regular breaks is a great way to build up stress and tension. Make sure you have at least one 15-minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon as well as at least 20 minutes for lunch. If possible, eat lunch away from your workstation. Equally, if you have a lot to deal with in your life right now, taking a day, or a weekend elsewhere – longer if you can – to get some breathing space will really help. Even just a day away from the firing line will enable you to get some distance from the problems and help you to gather your thoughts.

2. Regular exercise can help relieve stress, depression and anxiety. Exercise releases endorphins into your system and will give you a natural boost. It will also provide you with a break from brooding and dwelling upon problems and troubles – but only if you perform the right kind of exercises. Avoid: Exercises that allow you to brood (weight lifting, jogging, treadmills) and perform exercises that require your full concentration. Competitive sports such as squash, tennis, badminton and circuit training are all excellent examples. It is important that you do not brood when you exercise because although you will be benefiting physically, you are still stressing yourself mentally and the stress, depression and anxiety will worsen.

3. Stop beating yourself up. Self-deprecation is a huge part of stress, depression and anxiety. Each time you beat up on yourself, you will erode confidence and self-esteem. Never tell yourself you’re useless, worthless, stupid, hopeless, boring, ugly, and a loser. Never convince yourself that other people hate you, that others find you difficult to be around and that you’re better off being alone. You would never deem it acceptable to say such things to other people and you must deem it equally unacceptable to say them to yourself. These words and phrases are powerful and they will hurt you. Accept you’re not perfect and that you make mistakes – just like everybody else does – and cut yourself some slack. From this day, make a pact with me to never indulge self-deprecation ever again. IT IS UNACCEPTABLE.

4. Isolation is another problem experienced by stress, depression and anxiety sufferers. OK, there will be times when you just want your own company. During such times, you can brood over and over again on problems and events and beat yourself up for hours on end. Not good. Instead, use isolation more positively. Occupy your mind by tackling a jigsaw puzzle, a logic problem, a crossword, read a book or perform a hobby such as painting, playing a musical instrument or whatever it is you have an interest in. In this way, isolation will help you to grow instead of causing you further pain.

5. Television, radio and newspapers can all supply you with a daily hit of negativity and help lower your mood. In the main, they concentrate on the negative side of life: crime, corruption, war, scandal and natural disasters and can give you a distorted view of reality. Not to mention the amount of image manipulation they subject you to. Give yourself a break from this negative drip feed and avoid them completely for one week. You may find, like I have, that they have no place in your life after that. Trust me, you won’t miss them.

That’s five, quick tips for you to help fight stress, depression and anxiety. Please give them a try, they’ll all help to boost your mood levels very quickly indeed.