Babies need to be held and touched, when we become adults, we still hold and touch each other, whether that's hugging goodbye to a friend or shaking hands with a business partner.
When our body is tired, we want to be massaged. When we go to the spa, we step into the Jacuzzi to help our muscles relax. The need for touch and massage is instinctive. Massage is one of the oldest healing practices.
The Shaolin Temple has a long tradition of self-massage, using the bamboo Instant Health Massage Brush and progressing to the heavier metal brush. Shaolin disciples train as much as Olympic athletes but we don't have an army of massage therapists or physiotherapists, self-massage along with Qigong is the only thing we use to reduce the risk of injury and keep us fighting fit.
The Qigong massage doesn't fit any types of massage that are given person to person, for example: sports, acupressure or deep tissue. It combines all of the above and even more, the end aim is to use the vibrations of the brush to penetrate and detoxify the bone. By doing this massage we feel empowered because we are taking charge of our health.
Because the self-massage is convenient and cheap - it's only the cost of a brush - you can do it on a daily basis or at least a few times a week. The more you do, the more effective your massage will be.
When you do this massage, don't be afraid to use power. You will feel a little pain but not too much. Each day you use it, your massage will get stronger and stronger. The aim of the massage is to keep the Qi and blood flowing properly, open the meridian channels, reduce any muscle tension, detoxify the body, increase the immune system, and open the joints.
In the UK, we don't have much sunshine and especially in winter, the cold can be a problem for people's joints especially when they get older. Doing the Instant Health massage can help to reduce this problem.
The signs that you are doing the self-massage correctly is that your body skin will be incredibly soft. You will feel energized when you have done this massage. You will sleep better at night and have more energy throughout the day. You will get colds less often and you will feel stronger.
I teach how to do this massage in all of my Qigong DVDs apart from Volume 1 and also in my book Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity.
The massage equipment is available from my website.
