In the most sweltering summer, human metabolism is active and vigorous. People tend to be affected by the hot weather and may experience change in physiological function, appetite and others. Then, what should we do to adjust our physical conditions at this time of a year? The following tips on health keeping are specially given for your happy and healthy summertime.

1. Finger-comb your hair. Press one palm against another tightly and then rub for 36 times till some heat is generated. Use all your finger tips to comb your hair upward from forehead to Baihui Point, then downward to back neck; breathe in for upward combing and breathe out for downward combing, totally 36 cycles of continuous combing. This is intended for reviving dull senses, refreshing mind, preventing nervous breakdown and inhibiting cerebral arteriosclerosis.

2. Palm-rub against forehead. Use center and heal of your palms to rub forehead upward for 36 times.

3. Finger-tap Baihui Point. Use all your finger tips to moderately tap the area from the very middle of your forehead to the top of the head and to the back neck for 36 times.

4. Head shaking/rolling. Lower your neck, and shake your head laterally (both right and left) to the great extent so that neck tendon may be maximally stretched. Repeat for 36 times.

5. Face rubbing. Use your hands to cling to cheeks, with forefingers leaning on the wings of your nose. Then rub your face in arc from downward to upward, from inside to outside for 36 times in total; breathe in for upward rubbing and breathe out for downward rubbing.

6. Eyeballs rolling. Slightly close your eyes and move your eyeballs circularly from left to right for 36 times, then in reverse direction for 36 times. This is pretty good for eye exercises and can enhance eyes agility.

7. Eye compress for beneficial Qi. Place the center of your palms at Laogong Point in opposite, one foot away from your chest, as if you are embracing a “ball”. Image you are receiving essences from earth and heaven and gather them in your palms. Then use your palms to slowly fold, unfold, stretch and twist the ball, and when a “rigid” ball (cannot either be folded or unfolded) made of Tai Chi vitality is felt, move your palms slowly toward eyes to compress or rotate for beneficiary Qi.

8. Finger-rub the temples. Stretch out your two fingers—mid fingers and forefingers of your hands, with thumbs pressing down nails of ring fingers and little fingers. Then press your head on the temples with such two fingers, and rub them clockwise and anti-clockwise for 36 times, respectively.

9. Nose rubbing by the thenar. After thumb-rubbing your thenar muscles till heat is generated, use your “heated” thumbs to rub upward from Yingxiang Point on the nose sides to the center of eyebrows, then downward back to Yingxiang Point. Repeat this for 36 times. This is good to preventing/curing flu and rhinitis.

10. Occipital knocking. Cup your ear canals with your palms, and put your thumbs on back neck, with other four fingers of a hand lying on the hindbrain. Then slip your forefinger from mid finger upward to knock the hindbrain, and at the moment, you will hear the drum-knocking. Repeat this for 36 times, retreat your palms outward quickly and fiercely, and open your eyes wide in a flash. At the moment, you will feel quick-eared and sharp-eyed. After this, block the ear canals with mid fingers, and move circularly forward and back 6 times, respectively. Then release your fingers for relaxation. This procedure, if frequently practiced, will be good to curing tinnitus and deafness.

11. Nurse cervical muscles. Let all fingers of your left and right hands crossed at the back neck. Use your heel of palms to grip the cervical muscles, and lift upward for 36 times. Then use all your fingers to grip two big tendons (trapezius muscles) at the neck, and pinch for 36 times orderly from top to bottom.

12. Tongue and mouth movement. Your tongue is to stir in the mouth from left to right for 36 times, and then in reverse direction for 36 times, so that your mouth will produce saliva called “JIN LV YU liquid”, which should be slowly swallowed from throat to stomach in three lots (representing energy, Qi, and sense respectively). This process is called “essence liquid returning Dan”. Frequent practice of this procedure is particularly good for curing pharyngitis, mouth ulcer and foul breath.

13. Churn water and swallow saliva. Close your mouth, and bulge your cheek as if containing much clear water in the mouth. Then, bulge your cheeks for 36 times, like brushing tooth. Thus, the resulting saliva in the mouth should be swallowed into lower abdomen in three lots.

14. Click teeth for tonifying kidney. Lightly close your mouth, and click your frontal and back teeth, upward and downward, respectively. When pissing, grit the frontal teeth; when shitting, grit the back teeth; no speaking is allowed. According to the traditional Chinese medicine, the teeth are an extended part of kidney. It is kidney-tonifying if one clicks teeth on a daily basis.