I had a meeting with one of the Personal Trainers at my gym about what each of us was doing in the area of workshops. She recently started a new series of workshops that I was interested in and I was wondering if there was an opportunity to do some sort of joint venture program. She is at the gym with clients whenever I do my daily workout and commented about my doing the Five Tibetans every day.
I replied, “ Huh?”
She said, “I watch you do the Five Tibetans every day. Did you read about them in the book, The Ancient Secret of The Fountain of Youth, by Peter Kelder?”
I answered, “I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about and I don’t know even know any Tibetans.”
She told me to go look up The Five Tibetans online and to read the book. So I did.
There is a series of exercises I do every morning. I made the routine up myself and I call them my Floor and Core routine. I do them to start off every exercise session. It turns out that they include what’s known as The Five Tibetan Rites. I strongly recommend them to you as something you should try as a daily warm up to your regular exercise routine. If you don’t exercise, you should at least do these simple moves, as a minimum, every day. They are not necessarily easy but they are reputed to have life extending qualities and “make you young again”. I think I might even go along with that legend, because I am quite flexible for my age and have far more energy and vitality than most people my age. The book even says that doing the exercises will remove lines from my face and restore hair to my head, and . . . hmmm. I looked at the back of my head in the mirror the other day and . . . new hair? Naaah, couldn’t be.
There are five exercises. They are:
1. Spinning around in circles – clockwise only
2. Basic/conventional leg raises
3. Kneeling back bends
4. “Table top” back bridges
5. “Down dog” to “Cobra” poses.
That’s it. Do them in multiples of seven up to a maximum of twenty-one repetitions.
I’m not going to describe them further, or put pictures in this blog post. But I have included them in my upcoming Exercise Manual for Seniors. Just look up “The Five Tibetans” or “The Five Tibetan Rites” in any search engine online and you will find plenty of descriptions and videos. Again, I strongly recommend these exercises as part of a daily routine. They take just a few minutes to do and if I am any example . . . they work!
Here are a couple of caveats:
• Don’t do the spinning around in circles if you get dizzy or have a balance problem. I skip this one.
• Start slowly. They are not necessarily easy. Do just a couple of repetitions each to start with and work up to seven repetitions of each, then fourteen, and then after a long time, maybe reach twenty-one of each. Most online videos will explain the reason for multiples of seven – they have to do with “Chakras”.
• If you can find the book, Ancient Secret of The Fountain of Yourth, by Peter Kelder, at your local library, check it out and read it. It is an easy read, provides an interesting “backstory”, and describes the exercises with pictures.
• . . . and, of course, check with a medical professional before starting any new exercise program. Sure you will.
I have been doing these exercises nearly every day for years without having any idea they were making me younger and making my hair grow back, or even that they had anything to do with Tibet. I do know that the exercises have helped keep me fit and flexible. But seriously, give them a try, and make The Five Tibetan Rites part of your everyday routine. Again, it only takes a few minutes. You will get a stronger mid-section, you will become more supple and flexible and you will strengthen your arms and shoulders as well as your entire body.
And as an endnote, and a little trivia thrown in, my wife recently took a class from the trainer who started the idea for this blog post, and low and behold, the Five Tibetan Rites were part of the routine they did in the class . . . and the class had a lot of senior men and women in it. She said the routine was difficult but everyone did it. The trainer told the class to do just a couple of repetitions to start with but build until you can do more.
Once you do them for a while and get up to your first seven repetitions of each, you will find yourself feeling better and discover a more flexible, stronger and energetic you.