-Practice in Daily Life-

Here in Wudang we practice everyday. Our lifestyle is simple and is centered around training. It is important to consider the way one rests and relaxes as an integral part of practice or as an equal contributor. Practice is something that can be integrated into daily life for people of all walks of life.

In the West, many people have begun to take a strong interest in Daoist practice and as a result look to find ways to incorporate Daoist concepts, philosophies, and practices into their daily lives. An important concept in Daoism is that of 和 (hé – harmony). Daoists often emphasize the importance in maintaining a harmoniously balanced relationship in all that we do. Maintaining peace, balance, and harmony are important in promoting a peaceful and tranquil existence for oneself.

In learning about the importance of harmony and its effects on our lives, one can truly notice just how profound an impact slowing life down to maintain balance can have. For example, many people often complain about having a lack of energy during the day. If we take the time to search out the route causes of this, we find that they most often derive from imbalances in a person's life. Whether it is in diet, exercise, work conditions and demands, recreational activity, sleep, etc. The ways that we spend our time during the day will certainly have an enormous impact on our energy which relates directly to the vigor and health of the body.

If we seek balance, health, and a tranquil path to follow in life it is important to remember that we must learn to be in control of at least some of the factors that contribute to our health; mentally, physically, and emotionally. A person will work to the best of their mental and physical potential with a strong and healthy body. Some of the most important and basic factors to consider in how to practice in our daily lives are actually quite simple, yet often glossed over.

It is important to get enough sleep and find out how much sleep is a sufficient amount. Most people can operate well on between 6 and 8 hours of quality sleep. It is also important to sleep at the right time. Going to sleep late and waking late in the day goes against the natural demands of our bodies. Establishing and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule can help to bring balance and order to our days as well as health to our bodies.

Understanding what foods are good for our bodies, when it is okay to eat them, and in what quantities we can eat them in is also vital to our health and balance. Although understanding the nutrition demands and cautions of our bodies may be a bit more complicated than establishing a sleep schedule, there are some things in our eating habits that can be easily established as beneficial or detrimental to our health. If we can learn to listen to our bodies and bodily processes and know how to be discerning in our eating habits, it can become easier and easier to establish what foods to avoid and when.

Recreational activities are supposed to be the things in life that we do to de-stress, however when unregulated they often end up becoming activities that only further contribute to and perpetuate the stress on our bodies and minds. It is important to know when enough is enough. And for some it is also important to know when to take a break and what things will help to recharge our batteries.

These are just a few ways of looking at how to balance out our lives. Although the few suggestions mentioned in this article may seem simple, when they are actually put into practice they can have exponentially positive results on our personal health and state of mind.