#3 Preventing Nightfall - Gu Shen Gong from Baduanjin Qigong
I believe that many of you have had problem of wet dreams, which can be quite annoying. After nightfall, the physical and mental conditions may be worsened, and our confidence towards nofap may also be lowered, leading to relapse more easily. In Chinese forum, there is a practice that can effectively control nightfall, which is called Gu Shen Gong (固腎/肾功). Gu Shen Gong is one of the 8 sections from Baduanjin qigong (八段錦), in wiki it is called ‘Two Hands Hold the Feet to Strengthen the Kidneys and Waist’.
As talked in the previous post, kidney is the storage tank of Jing, this practice can strengthen our kidney and ensure it can effectively store our Jing and prevent it from falling at night. This practice, through stretching the waist and hamstrings, excites the Bladder Meridian (膀胱經/经). The Bladder Meridian is associated with Kidney Meridian (腎經,肾经), one Yang and one Yin, so this practice can help ‘lock’ the ‘gate’ of Jing. The following videos shows how to do the practice:
The keypoint of this practice is the stretching of hamstrings. Make sure the hamstrings are stretched during the practice, but don’t stretch too much at the beginning or you may get injured. You can gradually lower your body a little more after each cycle. People in Chinese forum suggested doing 200 cycles each night, but I think it is too much. Doing more times can improve function of kidney, but doing too much exercise at night may affect sleep. I personally practice this 10 cycles just before sleep, and now I have got no nightfall for one month! Of course you can do more cycles if you feel good, and I suggest practicing at least 10 cycles each night.
Of course there are also many factors that would cause wet dreams, such as dirty thoughts at daytime, getting too exhausted, drinking alcohol and so on. So our lifestyle should also be adjusted on top of practicing Gu Shen Gong to reduce chances of nightfall.
I’m sure there are other methods which can help prevent nightfall. If you find one, please share with us. I think practices like Maha Bandha may also be effective to prevent wet dreams, so if you practice it, please also share your experience and thoughts!