1 - 5 Individual Posture Adjustment

Summary:
From birth, people unknowingly harm their posture, leading to issues that contribute to aging, illness, and death. Adjusting, maintaining, and strengthening posture is vital. In nature, animals with poor posture face life-threatening challenges—they either become prey or lose their ability to hunt. A flexible and well-balanced posture is essential for survival. However, in modern society, technology shields humans from such immediate dangers, making posture flexibility less critical for survival. Without strong incentives or guidance, most people neglect posture correction, resulting in poor posture and decreased flexibility.

Even those who value posture adjustment often lack the knowledge to identify individual needs. Since everyone’s posture and its underlying causes are unique, understanding personal requirements for posture correction forms the foundation for body maintenance and training.

Overview:
Humans have a unique posture compared to most animals. While animals’ spines remain parallel to the ground in standing, sitting, or lying positions, human spines are upright except when lying down. This upright posture increases gravitational pressure on the spine. Coupled with habits from modern technology—such as prolonged screen use, working on computers, studying, or household chores—this often leads to poor posture, causing neck and shoulder stiffness, back pain, sciatica, and joint discomfort in areas like elbows, knees, and ankles. These issues are common but stem from different causes for each individual. Effective posture correction requires personalized analysis and exercise programs tailored to individual needs.

Posture adjustments are divided into two categories:

1. Maintenance Adjustments focus on muscle relaxation, fascia release, and lactic acid reduction.
2. Training Adjustments target functional muscle training, including building resistance against gravity, balancing muscle development, and enhancing muscle endurance.

Key Concepts:

1. Building Resistance Against Gravity:
This involves training muscles to lift upward rather than sagging downward under gravity. Improper training can cause muscles to sag like heavy bags of sand, increasing strain on the skeleton and tendons, potentially leading to fasciitis and joint pain. Strong, properly trained muscles not only improve appearance but also reduce strain and enhance functionality.

2. Balancing Muscle Development:
Balanced muscle training is essential but often overlooked. The focus should not be on isolated muscles but on the overall foundation, like building a house where the base must be more robust than the upper levels. Similarly, the lower body and core should be stronger than the upper body. A better analogy is a tree: its roots must be deep and strong, the trunk sturdy, and the branches lighter and flexible to withstand strong winds.

3. Enhancing Muscle Endurance:
Muscle endurance training should progress gradually. Rapid or stagnant training can damage or weaken endurance. Typically, any weight training that becomes difficult on the last 2 of 8–12 repetitions is within the proper range. When the exercise becomes too easy, it's time to increase the weight. Endurance can also be improved by alternating between two methods:

• Quality: Increasing weight with fewer repetitions.
• Quantity: Lowering or maintaining weight but increasing repetitions.
  Alternating these methods can develop both strength and endurance, allowing for both heavier and longer performance.

Benefits of Individual Posture Adjustment Exercises:

• Develop coordinated and elegant movements while increasing physical power.
• Relieve pain and boost positive energy for a more enjoyable life.
• Enhance overall fitness and body flexibility.
• Build self-confidence in appearance and prioritize health.
• Understand your posture’s strengths and weaknesses, establishing proper maintenance and training goals.
• Maintain good posture to support normal bodily functions, strengthen immunity, and achieve better overall health.

1-6: Nutrition, Healthy Cuisine, and

Body Shaping

Introduction:
The mind is directly influenced and controlled by the body, which in turn is affected by the universe's four elements: wind, water, fire, and earth.

• Wind influences our breathing.
• Water makes up 65%-90% of the body.
• Fire regulates body temperature.
• Earth provides nutrients that build the body's physical structure.

Broadly speaking, these elements are the sources of energy and essentials for life. Narrowly speaking, nutrition refers specifically to water and food.

People often spend money on luxury items like houses, cars, clothes, and jewelry but neglect the importance of truly nutritious food. Instead, they prioritize taste and texture over nutritional value. Balanced nutrition is key to achieving both flavor and health.

Properly absorbing the four elements and sufficient nutrition lays the foundation for body shaping, health, and mental well-being. This is especially important in modern society, where air pollution, water contamination, global warming, and unhealthy food have led to toxin accumulation in our bodies.

Educating people to reconnect with nature, enjoy exercise in beautiful environments, and understand what true nutrition is can enhance physical and mental health.

Good posture correction, flexibility training, and physical fitness—combined with nutritious cuisine—are the keys to happiness and well-being.

Nutrition Basics:
All living beings require nutrients to survive. Modern people strive for optimal nutrition to maintain bodily functions. However, delicious or expensive food is not necessarily nutritious. Knowing how to eat healthily is essential for happiness and well-being.

Metabolism relies on the autonomic nervous system, which also governs the mind-body connection. Our nervous system mirrors the structure of the universe, composed of atoms and particles. The human body is like a "mini-universe."

Our digestive system functions independently, with its neurons second only to the brain. In fact, the digestive system begins working even during the fetal stage, earning it the title of the "first brain." Understanding its role helps us grasp the link between nutrition and happiness.

Nervous System Overview:
The nervous system has two main parts:

1. Central Nervous System (CNS): Brain and spinal cord, controlling behavior, thoughts, and memory.
2. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS):

• Somatic Nervous System: Controls movement and senses (e.g., pain, temperature).
• Autonomic Nervous System (ANS): Regulates basic functions like heartbeat, breathing, digestion, and metabolism.

The ANS operates autonomously, similar to a pre-programmed system. It has three divisions:

1. Sympathetic Nervous System: Increases heart rate and energy.
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System: Promotes calmness and relaxation.
3. Enteric Nervous System: Independent system linked to digestion and happiness.

When the enteric system is healthy, it boosts immunity and mood, making us feel energetic and joyful.

Nutrition for Health and Happiness:
Eating more vegetables, fruits, seafood (low-fat, high-protein), and probiotics supports digestion, sleep, and overall health. Avoid high-fat, sugary, and processed foods, which can impair brain function and increase cognitive decline.

A combination of the Mediterranean Diet (rich in olive oil, seafood, and whole grains) and the DASH Diet (focused on fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy) supports brain health and slows cognitive aging.

Cooking and sharing healthy meals with loved ones enhances physical and emotional well-being.

Spiritual Nutrition:
Spiritual nutrition focuses on purifying the mind and elevating consciousness. Buddhist philosophy describes three realms:

1. Desire Realm (Material World): Where we currently live.
2. Form Realm (Pure Energy): Higher spiritual dimensions.
3. Formless Realm (Ethereal State): Transcendence of physical existence.

To elevate consciousness, practices like martial arts, meditation, and spiritual purification are essential.

Spiritual nutrition involves:

1. Pure Elements: Clean air, pure water, and a harmonious natural environment.
2. High-Energy Plant-Based Foods: Simple, nutrient-rich meals that enhance purity.
3. Special Elixirs: Rare minerals or plants refined to activate spiritual energy.

These foods require careful use and guidance to avoid overwhelming the mind. Advanced courses teach their application, while beginner courses focus on body-shaping nutrition.

Healthy eating is the first step toward physical and mental harmony. Sharing meals with love enhances not just the body but also the spirit.