Simple eye exercise

I have come across this simple eye exercise that is said to be capable of soothing strong or negative emotions. When experiencing negative emotions (eg. anger, anxiety, sorrow, frustrations ...) or situations that trigger these emotions, you can roll your eyeballs in a clockwise direction (to the right) three times. After which, roll your eyeballs many times in an anti-clockwise direction (to the left). This can help to pacify oneself and relieve emotions of bad memories and past hurt.

Rolling your eyeballs in the clockwise direction retrieve the emotions deep inside you while rolling your eyeballs in the anti-clockwise direction releases the energy of these emotions.

Doing this exercise before sleep is akin to sweeping away the day's emotional dust and is conducive to a good night sleep.

Reference link.

The Wit and Kindness of Lady Zhan

Here is my simple translated version of the story contained in the Chinese Text Book of Virtues, Book two, Chapter on Filial Piety. Please pardon my translation errors and let me know if you spot any errors.

During the Song dynasty, there was this young lady with the surname of Zhan who lived in the Wuhu area. Since young, she followed the ways of her father, reading the classics and books of learning. Every night, she recited the classic, <<烈女传>> (Biographies of Exemplary Women) several times before retiring for the night. She had also copied down the classic once.

When she was of age seventeen, robbers attacked the city of Wuhu and successfully took control of it. Both her father and elder brother were captured and the robbers were about to kill them. The young lady pleaded with the robbers, crying and begging them, "Please! Although I'm poor and ugly, I'm very willing to follow all of you, in exchange for the life of my father and brother." The robbers consented. She then waved to her father and brother, telling them, "Leave quickly, do not think of me and worry about me, I feel contented to follow the Generals." After that, she left with the robbers. After walking several miles, they came to a bridge east of the city. On the bridge, the young lady jumped into the waters below and was drowned. Many of the robbers were stupefied by the sight.

Lu Kun commended on the virtues of this lady. Her wit and submissive words during the moment of crisis had saved the life of her father and brother. If they were to put up a resistance and condemned the robbers, the whole family would have perished.

Original Chinese story available HERE 《德育课本》,二集卷一,《二十四孝》, 编号 : dykb2-01, story number 12).

Beetroot

Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetable. You can just remove its skin, cut it into slices and boil it with water to make a simple soup. I really like the mild, natural sweetness of the warm beetroot soup. It gives me a warm, peaceful and energetic feeling. Furthermore, you can also do a simple stir fry of the beetroot itself or with other vegetables you like to experiment with. The mild sweet taste of the food will still be there. Give it a try. I think the Chinese name of beetroot is 甜菜根.

A recent study suggests that Beetroot juice can lower blood pressure. You can read about it HERE.

The King and His Hawk

The King and His Hawk is a short story that I have read in the Book of Virtues. In the story, the King (Genghis Khan, the Great Mongolian warrior) learnt that one should not do anything when in anger.

You can read this short story on-line HERE.

There is this Chinese saying that says, "Do not give things/give consent/agree/promise in the midst of great joy. Do not reply letter in the midst of anger. " Anger and great joy are two emotional states that may cause one to do things impulsively, causing much regret later on. This is the actual Chinese saying :

盛喜中勿许人物。盛怒中勿答人书。This saying is contained in the classic << 格言联璧 >>. Click HERE to view the words in this classic.

List of positive books

Dear all,

I have created a list of books that I like to recommend to all :

http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg/~albert/positive/booklist_all.html

The list contains books suitable for kids, teens and adults. There are also associated book links and libray info.