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By Lotus Chan (Hong Kong) 文:陈洛敏(香港) Taking Good Care of Your Lungs 养肺秘籍 Five details from our daily life that can help strengthen the lungs and provide the first line of defence! 五个生活细节强健肺脏，守护健康的第一道防线。 In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lungs are the most delicate organ as they are responsible for breathing and the most sensitive to heat and cold. Taking care of them is crucial and strengthening them will help prevent illness or aid recovery. Let’s take a quick test! If all the above are true, the health of your lungs is robust! If there are points of worry, however, improve it with small adjustments to your daily life. The Thenar Eminence Relax the shoulders while placing one hand on the abdomen and the other on the chest area. Take in slow breaths through the nose, raising the belly without inflating the chest area. Exhale through the mouth after a full breath, aiming to exhale fully while feeling the abdomen contract. Abdominal breathing expands and contracts the diaphragm, circulating more air than through regular breathing. The lungs take in more oxygen and the heart rate slows down, helping people feel relaxed while strengthening the lungs. Saying No to Cold Drinks According to The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, cold drinks and foods hurt the stomach, damage the lungs, and cause coldness of the stomach and lungs. Cold drinks have the most direct impact on the lungs, bringing persistent coughing and cold symptoms. Hence, avoid cold drinks and foods to protect the lungs. Warming Up at Critical Times In the system of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, different meridians and viscera correspond to different times of day. The yin shi (3am to 5am) is associated with the lung meridian. During this time, the human body is typically at its lowest temperature, and the pulse and respiration rate are low and stable. Take care to keep warm and avoid the cold. 1 .Your skin is not prone to acne or blemishes 2 Your skin is not easily dehydrated 3 Your face is not pale and the skin does not look dull 4 Your voice is loud and clear 5 You do not suffer from spontaneous sweating (i.e. without exercise or hot weather) 6 You are not prone to colds 7 You are not prone to coughs, breathlessness, or rapid breathing 8 Your pulse is strong (referring not to the rate, but the strength of the pulse) 40 - popularnews 140