Post- Heaven Essence is more of a generalized type of essence that existing within the body. This form of essence can be greatly affected by the quality and quantity of food we ingest. If we eat to much food we can problems by overloading the spleen and stomach with work. This overloading cause the transportation and transformation of food to be compromised and work inefficiently. Likewise, undereating causing problems because we don’t have enough nourishment to produce enough energy for the body. Our bodies can easily show that both the overeating and undereating cause problems for our body size.

Once these systems are unbalanced, we need to bring them back into balance. Nutritional considerations need to be implemented, as well as acupuuncture and herbal therapies, to create more harmony. The spleen and stomach need to be balanced along with the elimination of the harmful effects that have accumulated within the body because of the previous imbalance.

Pre-heaven essence is the melting of sexual energies from both parents during conception. These energies from the mother and father come together to form the child. This form of essence nourishes the embryo and fetus during pregnancy. This essence is what determines a person’s basic constitutional make-up, vitality, and individualstrengths. Some correlation can be made between DNA and pre-heaven essence, but pre-heaven essence encapsulates much more that physical characteristics. Pre-heaven essence is a fixed quantity and quality, and can be only depleted during the course of life. The only way to affect the this form of essence is to balance one’s life. Find a balance between work and rest, balance your diet, and restrain sexual activity. the only known way to affect  one’s essence positively is through breathing exercises like Tai Chi Chuan and Qi Gong.

Essence is composed of three distinct forms of qi or energy. These topics will be discussed in future discussion about essence.