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Chapter 4: Energetic Preparations for Meditation Practice
Conserve Energy and Purify your Body
with an Appropriate Diet
To clear your digestive tract, it helps to reduce the amount you eat,
to eat less meat, fish and poultry and to increase the amount of
fiber in your diet. Unless you are a vegetarian, it is recommended
that you eat about 80 percent grains and vegetables, 10 to 15 percent
fish and only 5 percent meat and chicken.
Loosen, Stretch and Warm Up
the Body before Meditating
Once you have a quiet place and are ready to meditate, spend
time loosening up the body, particularly the spine, before you sit
down to practice.
The Universal Tao recommends doing some stretching exercises,
Chi Kung and Tai Chi before you begin to meditate. These
exercises are both invigorating and relaxing; they relieve muscle
tensions, stimulate the blood circulation, get rid of stale air in the
lungs and oxygenate the blood. As an alternative, you can take a
relaxing stroll outside.
Doing some movement before entering the stillness of meditation
can help you shake off the sluggishness that comes from being
too sedentary and ease the tensions that might build up during
a hectic day. Then when you sit down, you are ready to begin. Use
the Simple Chi Kung exercises to loosen your spine and prepare
the mind and body for meditation.
Wear Loose and Comfortable Clothing
The clothing you wear for meditation should be loose and comfortable.
It is very important that your clothes restrict neither the Chi
flow, the blood circulation, the nervous system nor the breath.
It is preferable to wear clothing of natural fibers so your body
can breathe. During meditation, all the pores open wider and breathing
in energy through them requires looser clothing. When you have
learned to breathe through the skin, your body will need to contact
more fresh air.
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