You are beginning to become aware of your habits. You want to experience true freedom, but this feels impossible when even innocent addictions, like caffeine, become an unconscious crutch. You want to find a healthy alternative to caffeine for combating exhaustion.

In this practice, John will guide you through a short Qi Gong exercise called "Banging on the Door of Life." It is a great alternative to caffeine for awakening and enlivening your body when you are feeling tired or sluggish. You will rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 at the beginning and end of the practice to measure your energy level.

If you want a healthy alternative to caffeine for awakening and energizing your body, you can do this 6-minute practice as often as needed.

Begin standing in a place in which you have at least your arms length of open space around you. Drop down into your legs with your knees slightly bent, so you can feel the earth beneath you. Turn your feet forward, like you're standing on train tracks. Tuck your tailbone under. Pull your navel in slightly.

Give yourself a number on a scale of 1-10 (10 = You feel completely enlivened, tapped into the moment, awake, and turned on; 1 = You're ready to fall asleep).

Then begin to twist your torso from your legs. Allow your arms to swing freely, so that your hands slap your abdomen. You are hitting a place between your kidneys called "The Door of Life," which is an important acupressure point.

Then let your hands swing up to your ribs, exhaling any tension, and then  to the back of your neck.

Begin to move back down below your collar bone, to your side ribs, to your abdomen, and finish just above your sacrum and below your navel.

Then slap with open palms from your kidneys, down along the outsides of your legs, and up the insides of your legs. Repeat this again.

Then pound with closed fists on your "leg gates," the hip creases just above your legs. After a few times, combine this with a slap to the insides of your thighs.

Then stand in stillness for a moment and give yourself another number.

For the final piece of the practice, form closed fists on either side of the center column of your body, just below your navel, and pound as you work your way up and down your center column. Make sounds on your exhales when you reach your heart. Pay special attention to your liver, just below your lower ribs.

Then pound up and down your arms, to the sides of your torso, and slap your face a little bit.

Then bring your arms down by your sides with space underneath your armpits, like you are holding luggage. Turn the palms of your hands toward the earth and curl your fingers slightly, like you are digging them into the dirt of the ground beneath you.

Take a few breaths, pulling the earth up through the palms of your hands. Press your big toes into the ground and breathe up through the insides of your thighs. Lift your heart toward the sky.

Then after several breaths, lower your arms to your sides and stand in stillness. Activate your heart, widen your body, plug into the earth, and use the force of your consciousness to activate more of you.

Give yourself a final number before closing the practice.

Disclaimer: Although anyone may find this practice to be useful, it is made available with the understanding that we are not engaged in presenting specific medical, psychological, emotional, sexual or spiritual advice. Nor is anything in this practice intended to be a diagnosis, prescription, recommendation or cure for any specific kind of medical, psychological, emotional, sexual or spiritual problem. Each individual has unique needs and this practice cannot take these individual differences into account. Each person should engage in a program of treatment, prevention, cure, or general health only in consultation with a licensed, qualified physician, therapist or other competent professional. Any person suffering from a sexually transmitted disease or any local illness of his or her sexual organs should consult a medical doctor and a qualified instructor of sexual yoga before practicing the sexual methods described in this practice.