🌿 Folk Prescriptions

The Traditional Chinese Medicine theory of sexual health cultivation holds that one of the essential principles for those who excel in health preservation is to conserve essence and minimize emission. If one can achieve movement without emission or with minimal emission in a reasonable manner, over time this will lead to abundant vital energy and clear-mindedness. Thus, conserving yin essence is particularly crucial.
《Yixin Fang》 once quoted an ancient Chinese medical text stating: "The way of yin and yang lies in the preciousness of seminal fluid; if one can cherish it, life and vitality may be preserved. After ejaculation, one should draw in female qi to replenish and restore." This means that preserving essence strengthens qi, strengthening qi preserves spirit, so the most important aspect of marital intimacy is cherishing seminal fluid. If one can preserve seminal fluid, life can be prolonged. Hence, even after ejaculation, one should strive to replenish oneself with essence to regenerate seminal fluid.
But how can seminal fluid be regenerated? Ancient people proposed the method of "nine inhalations followed by one retention" to solidify essence. "Nine inhalations" refer to nine internal breaths; "one retention" means when a man feels he is about to reach orgasm, he presses the area behind the scrotum with his left finger, forcing the impending emission back into the body fluids. What ancient people referred to as "drawing in female qi to replenish oneself" actually describes the "nine shallow insertions and one deep insertion" technique: couples kiss and synchronize their breathing, gradually swallowing the yin-yang energies, allowing them to descend at will toward the lower abdomen, thus aiding the recovery of yin strength and essence. Repeating this three times completes the process. By performing the "nine shallow insertions and one deep insertion" method until the 81 odd-numbered yang cycles are fully completed, one should withdraw from the vagina while the penis remains firm. When the penis is still erect but weak, it may be reinserted—this is what ancient people called "weak entry, strong exit."
Some might ask: Generally, people believe that achieving orgasm and ejaculating marks the peak pleasure of intercourse. How then can one fully enjoy sexual pleasure if one avoids or minimizes ejaculation? Ancient people believed that after ejaculation, the body often feels fatigued and listless, ears suffer from ringing, eyes feel heavy and drowsy, throat becomes dry and parched, and all joints feel weary and weak. Although there is temporary pleasure during ejaculation, ultimately due to depletion of vital energy, one feels unfulfilled. However, if one moves rhythmically and controls ejaculation appropriately, one’s physical strength remains abundant, the body stays agile, and hearing and vision become sharper.
Based on these theoretical insights, ancient practices such as "returning essence to nourish the brain" emerged in qigong and guided exercises. The ancient concept of "returning essence to nourish the brain" seems difficult to accept from a modern medical perspective. Modern sexology holds that once semen is released, it cannot return, and even if it could, it would not necessarily nourish the brain. Therefore, it is advisable to conserve essence, but returning it is considered difficult, and nourishing the brain appears incomprehensible. Recently, some argue that "great stimulation" already signifies the peak of male orgasm; at this point, semen has already left the testes and epididymis, reaching the vas deferens or even the ejaculatory duct, making it seemingly impossible to reverse its flow. However, if one acts promptly, one may suppress ejaculation. While this view has merit, based on ancient experience, it is still possible to regulate and control ejaculation. When a man feels the urge to ejaculate, he can lift the penis slightly and place it in the front third of the vagina, close his eyes, calm his mind, pull down his lower jaw, bend his spine, extend his neck, widen his nostrils, contract his shoulders, and inhale through closed lips—this action can cause the semen to be reabsorbed. One can also consciously regulate the amount emitted, typically limiting release to only two or three out of ten parts. In fact, if mastered properly, this guided exercise for controlling ejaculation can indeed have a certain inhibitory effect.