Modern science has come to understand that the presence of energy is the one common non-physical major element in all life. More often than not, energy is manifested in the form of electro-magnetic fields, which the Chinese refer to as chi. Actually, the shortage of magnetic fields in the soil is one of the biggest causes of poor health and nutrition we see in crops today. Selenium and other various forms of minerals in the soil play a huge part in the flow and transmission of energy into the growing crops through the magnetic field of the earth. Therefore, any depletion in the soil minerals can reduce the health of the crops planted in such soil.

Why Chi is the single biggest factor in health is because a person’s whole body is basically, a huge bio-electric magnet. It is believed that life would not have come about weren’t for these magnetic fields. All cells posses an EM or an electromagnetic field which is the energy field that maintains the life of each cell. The strength of each cell depends on the strength of its EM field, and the stronger a cell is the greater it’s resistance and resilience to death and decay.

Electrons are needed for all chemical reactions to occur. If the flow of electrons from one atom to the next is stopped, then the reactions themselves are neutralized. There are more than a hundred thousand reactions per second in the cells of humans, which is faster than half the speed of light. Each reaction requires enzymes to occur; in turn, the enzymes need huge amounts of chi in order to execute their functions.

For humans, chi is derived from various sources, our parents being the main source during conception. In Chinese medicine, this is what’s known as “original chi” or “yuan”. This original chi is mainly housed in the sexual, adrenal, and other glands of the body. A huge chunk of what’s known as “post birth chi” is derived from the air and food we take in. This is the reason eating fresh, organic, and pure food is extremely essential in getting the greatest possible amount of potent and pure chi.

But where we get the biggest amount of life force energy or chi is through the act of breathing as it’s the constant intake of fresh “ionic energy” and breath from the air that really keeps us alive each second of our lives. This is the reason we can live for days without water and without food for weeks, but can’t live a quarter of an hour or less without breath because what keeps us truly alive each second of our lives is the breath of life.

In China, the role of chi and breathing in longevity and health has been known for over two millennia as proven by archeological excavations in the province in Hunan of the Ma Wang tombs. Archeologists have discovered illustrated instructions and assorted diagrams with charts of the energy system of the human body in these tombs as well as anatomical charts and how to perform various breathing exercises and their benefits to human health and energy.

These discoveries conclusively prove that the internal knowledge of energy and breathing had superseded the erroneous external school of toxic compounds and minerals as the real reason for human longevity and health, and they obviously demonstrate that by the 2nd century AD, the energy system of humans was known to be the most important factor to longevity and health.

Dominic Sembello is a licensed acupuncturist in Linwood, NJ with advanced training in modern acupuncture techniques and traditional Asian therapies.