True Father's exercises and survival

Exercises and Survival

(Please see the video at the end text)

These exercises, when looked from the viewpoint of the Principle, are based on the Principle of Give and Take action. During his prison sentence in Heung Nam Prison, True Father disciplined himself with these exercises in order to maintain his health even amidst hardships of prison life. Father said that when doing these exercises to not draw shallow breaths into your lungs, but to take in deep breaths, thereby drawing strength from your abdomen.

Not only did Father draw on these exercises to maintain his life in Heung Nam, but to this day, Father himself continues the discipline of taking care of his physical body through these exercises, and emphasized that all Blessed Families should learn these exercises to help maintain physical well-being.

In the beginning, these exercises won’t be easy to complete perfectly. Father made these exercises based on the Principle of Give and Take Action, therefore, through practice and investment in uniting our mind and body, we surely can come closer to Heaven in our daily life and activities.

These exercises should be done in the morning, and they take around fifteen minutes.

Note on counting for exercises:

When performing each of these exercises, count in Korean up to eight two times in the following manner.

Hana, dul, set, net, ta-sot, yo-sot, il-gop, yo-dol
Dul, dul, set, net, ta-sot, yo-sot, il-gop, yo-dol

Eye massage exercises

When we rise in the morning, the very first thing we do is open our eyes. Thus, eyes represent the start of life. Doing these eye massage exercises can greatly benefit the health and strength of your eyes and also prevent premature weakening of eyesight. Also in doing these eye exercises, you are determining to spend today in a way pleasing to Heaven with a renewed mind and body.

1. Placing your middle fingers of both hands on your tear-ducts of both eyes, and your index fingers at the other side of your eyes, press lightly to the count.

2. Close your eyes and using the two same fingers on both your hands, press lightly against your eyeballs.

3. Lastly, massage your eyeballs by in a circular movement with your four fingers on each hand, first count to eight massaging outwardly, then inwardly on the next count.

Nose Exercise

Our nose provides us with the most important thing to maintain our physiological life force: breathing air.

Unfortunately, nowadays, there are many people whose breathing is affected because of nose problems. People who suffer from such conditions should do this exercise diligently.

1. Take in a deep breath and with both index fingers, starting from the top of your nose, press firmly descending with each press down to your nostrils. (Count up to eight once)

2. Tightly hold your index fingers against your nostrils and try to force your breath out through your nose. Count to eight and let out your breath.

Mouth Exercises

When rising in the morning, it is important to cultivate a heart to use one’s mouth to speak bright and beautiful words. As we are massaging our mouths each morning as Father did in prison, let us use this time to repent for misusing our mouths in the wrong way.

1. Massage your mouth by placing the blade of your right hand above your lips, and the blade of your left hand below your lips. After one count of eight switch your hands and count to eight again.

2. Using four fingers, massage your checks in a circular fashion, while keeping your

mouth closed. After one count of eight, switch direction

Ear Exercise

Our ears are the meeting point for all the blood vessels in our body. Therefore, massaging the ears provides a great support for the health of not only the blood vessels in your head, but throughout your entire body.

1. Grab both ears with your thumb placed behind your ear and pull them forward, pressing into your ear holes.

2. Holding the top of your ears with both hands, pull your ears down letting your hands trail the shape of your ear down to your ear lobes.

3. Place your thumb at the top of the inside of your ear, and with your index and middle fingers massage your ear by circling forward (the opposite direction from last exercise)

Neck Exercise

The neck provides an extremely important connection for blood passage to the brain. If the neck is stiff, headaches can occur easily. Let’s always make sure our neck is loose and flexible.

1. Lower your head, applying force on your neck muscles.

2. Do the same, this time stretching your neck back.

3. Repeat the same process for right side and then left side.

4. Finally, circle your neck slowly and carefully. Then go to the opposite direction.

Arm Exercise

Upon the principle of give and take action, pushing your arms against each other in this exercise helps your arms maintain their proper place. Because your arms are connected directly to your shoulders, if you exercise your arms diligently you can greatly benefit your shoulders as well as the flow of blood all around your body. During this time in Heung Nam prison, Father did this exercise to keep his arms in tiptop condition.

1. Breathe in deeply and, placing your right hand on the underside of your left arm right under your palm, apply pressure as you hold your breath.

2. Let your breath out and switch your left and right hands. Repeat the exercise.

Finger Exercise

Doing this exercise helps your finger joints become more flexible and improves the flow of blood through right through to your fingertips.

1. Starting with your left hand, use your right hand to pull back your four fingers.

2. Switch hands and repeat.

3. Clasp your fingers on both hands together and then extend them out the full extent of your arm in a circular fashion.

Waist Exercise

If your waist is stiff and blocked, the important passageways in your abdomen and upper chest are also blocked. Doing this exercise helps free up these passageways throughout your entire body.

1. Reach down to touch the floor with your hands, keeping your waist and legs upright.

2. Placing your two hands at the base of your back, stretch your torso back.

3. Holding your hands in the same position, rotate your hips, clockwise, and then counter clockwise

Knee Exercise

Having healthy knees is a great benefit to doing God’s Will, however, if the joints are unhealthy, you can suddenly become very restricted. Loosening up your knee joints through this exercise lets you use the rest of your body with great ease and comfort.

1. Place both hands on your knees and rotate them in opposite directions.

2. Switch directions.

Limb Strengthening Exercise

This exercise helps to release blocked blood flow throughout the body as well as improve the efficiency of the pelvis.

Assume a sitting position. After a deep breath, raise your legs up to your torso and wrap your arms around your knees, locking them in that position through clasping your hands together. Push against your arms with both legs.

Pelvis exercise 1

The pelvis is a very important part of our body. If it develops a problem, this can affect our entire body.

1. In a sitting position, draw both legs forward so that the soles of both feet are pressed against each other. Then pull both feet as close to your body as possible.

2. Holding both feet in that position, bend your torso down toward the ground.

Pelvis exercise 2

For most people this exercise can be quite difficult to complete. Nevertheless, doing this exercise consistently, as Father did in his youth, can greatly benefit your pelvis, as well as your body’s overall flexibility.

1. Assume a sitting position.

2. Take in a deep breath, then slowly lift your right foot until it rests behind your head.

3. Perform the same with the other leg.

Toes Exercise

When you get older, the blood flow to the toes, being the farthest point away from the heart, can present a health problem. Massaging your toes with this exercise can maintain good blood flow from the heart to the toes.

1. In a sitting position, place your right foot on top of your left foot. Massage your toes by pulling them down.

2. Repeat, this time pushing your toes upward.

Leg Exercise

This jogging exercise helps keep ones stature and height in later life. We have to diligently exercise our legs so that we won’t suffer when we get older.

1. Standing up, place both hands loosely by your side and jog on the spot lifting both legs slightly skewed away from the body.

2. Keep jogging, this time lifting your legs up and bending your legs towards your body.

3. Perform the first exercise again, this time jogging in a circle instead of staying on the spot.

Video Korean