Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Preservation: Three Things to Do After Meals
After eating, it is advisable to enjoy music. As recorded in "Shou Shi Bao Yuan": "The spleen enjoys music; hearing sound activates digestion." Daoist texts also state, "Spleen responds to music by grinding food." This suggests that gentle, cheerful music or pleasant surroundings can serve as positive stimuli, regulating digestive and absorptive functions through the central nervous system.
After eating, it is advisable to massage the abdomen.
Gently rub the abdomen with warm hands after meals, moving from top to bottom, left to right, or in clockwise direction using palm circular motion. This promotes abdominal circulation and enhances gastrointestinal digestive function.
After eating, it is advisable to walk slowly—exercise should be spontaneous
Sun Simiao emphasized in "Qian Jin Yi Fang": "After eating, walking slowly (as if hesitating) leads to longevity." Thus, walking slowly after meals is beneficial for digestion and health preservation. Rapid walking after meals harms health and may cause illness.