The Chinese have always been well-known for their long standing history of health practice. From acupuncture, Gua Sha (skin scraping) and the intrinsic and expansive use of Chinese herbal medicine. But I think few would argue the depth and richness of the historical element on traditional healing methods derived from Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperorā€™s Canon of Internal Medicine),the ā€œBibleā€ of Chinese medicine for millennia.

Being a strong believer in holistic remedies, natural foods and having a strong interest in my Chinese heritage, I had thought that I was familiar with the topic of traditional Chinese therapies. Until one day several years ago, a friend of mine emailed me a video interview conducted with Master Xiao Hong Chi in Scotland (Beyond 2012).

This was when I was introduced into the world of Paida and Lajin. Ā It was also then that I realised how much the world still has to unravel the ancient Chinese self healing practices that have existed for over few thousand years.

A traditional form of self-healing, Paida and Lajin (which literally translates to ā€˜tapping and stretching) works on a bodyā€™s meridian points to help combat and heal our bodyā€™s diseases and illnesses.

The beauty of this method is that it is non-invasive and doesnā€™t require the use of medication or another person to help heal and repair our own body. This method also encourages independence on drawing out the negative toxins, or Sha, from our bodies.

My wife (Corine) and I decided to participate in the 7-day Paida and Lajin workshop in Beijing recently. This has to be truly one of the most inspiring and memorable experience for the both of us.

Corine was diagnosed with hypertension 10 years ago and was put on medication with the possible side effect of slight coughing. However, in the last few years, this ā€˜slightā€™ coughing had graduated into very persistent coughing and has led to many nights of disrupted sleep. We had been referred to various specialists to check for possible asthmatic symptoms, lung conditions and so on. In the end these checks were confirmed to be normal and that this coughing is something that we just have to ā€˜put up withā€™.

With myself, I had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a few years ago and was also advised to go on medication. However, I decided to take the alternative route and not expose my body through medication for life and resulting in possible side effects on other organs in the body.

Thus we embarked on the journey of self healing in this workshop.

Three days before the workshop my wife stopped taking her medication and before commencement of the workshop we had our blood pressure, sugar level and weight recorded. Her blood pressure reading was 138/84 and weighed 52.6 kg. My blood pressure reading was 138/80, sugar level reading was 12.3 taken 2 hours after meal and weighed 69.3 kg.Ā 

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Pre-workshop recording of levels.

In these 7 days, all 25 participants were introduced to daily zen jogging for 1 hour, half an hour of meditation, and then the rest of the day was focused on Paida and Lajin practices. We were taught how to self-tap and self-stretch, focusing attention on the areas where our health conditions needed to be addressed.Ā 

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Lajin exercises on benches.

The trainers were truly amazing with their tireless healing hands working non-stop, doing Paida on participants to draw out the toxins or sha from the bodies. The results were often seen within minutes!

Because I suffered from diabetes, the sha appeared most on the inner thighs (parts that are linked to the kidney, liver and other related organs) and inner arms (parts that are linked to the lymph nodes).

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Our meals were very light and simple. The objective is really to give our bodies a chance to go through the detoxification process by having a healthy diet. On the first day, our breakfast consisted of cooked vegetables, millet congee followed by millet congee for lunch and vegetable broth for dinner. Days 2 to 4 were fasting days, and were supplied with just ginger and red date drinks daily. During days 5 to 6, our bodies were slowly introduced back to eating by having millet congee for our meals. On the last day, we had congee for breakfast and lunch was sweet plain buns (man tou) accompanied with vegetable dishes.

I have never tried fasting before in my life and my perceived ordeal of having to fast for 3 days without food compounded with having to do an hourā€™s jogging daily was indeed very daunting. To my surprise, I not only survived the daily rituals but also discovered our own bodyā€™s energy levels was sustaining without feeling tired or lethargic.

Five days into the workshop we had our readings again and the results were really amazing and inspiring. My wifeā€™s blood pressure has dropped to 110/80 and weighed 49.2 kg. This is without any medication! Ā As for me, my blood pressure has dropped to 130/80, sugar level was 6.5 before meal and 7.5 taken 2 hours after meal and weighed 64 kg.

Although I did not experience any healing crisis, I had the opportunity to witness these manifestations in other participants including withdrawal symptoms of hidden emotional traumas inside oneā€™s body.

Still very much refreshed from the intensive 7-day workshop, both Corine and I agree that it was the best decision we have ever made. Not only did we get a chance to detoxify and make new friends, but we are now inspired with the knowledge that we are TRULY masters of our own health!

Chai Chua

Aug.30, 2013