The first question to ask in developing an exercise program is “is this exercise part of my life or is it separate?” If it is separate, then we should do something to bridge the gap to integrate it into our lives, to make it actually a part of our lives. Basically, activity is a type of exchange. When we are active, what do we exchange? We exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. We are exchanging energy. We are exchanging feelings. Whether activity is by ourselves or with friends, or within natural surroundings, this is the case. Activity is really a way to bring further balance and harmony into our lives. It is a way of exchanging, similar to our various social activities, which are, in fact, part of exercise.

Exercise is actually a way of creating balance in our life. That means it has to be consistent with yin and yang. Yang people always choose yang exercises and they like the stimulation but they end up more and more yang and then find more need to exercise. Yin people choose more and more yin activities, with the end result that they end up doing nothing. The basic principle of exercise or activity is returning us to balance in a safe way. We can’t separate activity from our life. In the same way we can’t separate food from our lives. They go together and are not separate in any way. They have to be looked at together.