Health & Wellness
A SunDo practice begins with a series of stretching exercises that loosen and relax the body. Next, a practitioner maintains various SunDo postures during a 40 minute period of lower abdomenal breathing. Practice concludes with a series of cool-down stretching exercises that circulate energy, promoting healthy functioning of the internal organs. The practice ends with light calisthenics.

 
Lower abdomenal breathing, performed in a slower and deeper rhythm than normal, causes brainwave cycles to slow down enducing a more relaxed state of mind. Breathing meditation over time may change how a person thinks, feels, reasons and reacts. Physical health may improve along with a greater sense of creativity, self-awareness and joy.

 
A SunDo member in Montpelier writes about the transformative effect of Taoist practice on emotional health:

 
"We are bringing ritual into our lives. That ritual is fairly static: warm-up, meditation-breathing, warm-downs. Repeated movements: inhale, twist left, exhale - the same motion on the day you felt lousy as on the day you felt great. And that's the beauty of ritual. The ritual changes little, but you changed - perhaps a lot. Your emotional state is put aside while you go ahead and do the posture anyway. The practice transcends you, and you transcend your emotional state, if only temporarily.

Conflicts arise - allow them. And they go - let them."

 

"Coming Around," SunDo News, Fall 2008

"If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly."
~ Andrew Weil, M.D.


"Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh