108 Bows - Health and Spirituality

I admit one evening I was channel surfing and came upon a show on the Korean channel that appeared to be a documentary about "108 Bows". Fortunately, there were sub-titles. In essence, what I derived from the show was the bowing is good for your physical health by building up the abdominal wall, strengthing the body, and increasing circulation. (Thermal imaging and other diagnostic measurements were used on test subjects. ) Bowing also appeared to have emotional benefits of increased concentration, mental clarity, and creating an overall feeling of calmness and well-being. Test subjects included high school students diagnosed with ADD who had been unmovitated, uncooperative and unruly.

The bowing itself has a certain form, rhythm and focuses on breathing technique. (See:http://www.kwanumzen.com/practice/bowing.html)
From another website: The way you do bowing in temples is touching five points of your body to the floor. They are: both knees, both elbows, and the forehead. "108 bows for exercise is just the thing for us. It's exercise for the whole body, low intensity breathing exercise, and it's exercise which is suitable for treating and preventing adult diseases. It takes only 15 minutes to do 108 bows, but the effect is great. http://www.koreanbuddhism.net/life/essay_view.asp?cat_seq=25&content_seq=420&priest_seq=0&page=1


For those skeptical of this practice, because it is either foreign or seems irrelevant in today's fast-paced, highly technologically based society, almost every race and religion has their own practice of bowing. More on this subject through wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowing_(social)

The National Institute of Health, through their department of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, has a series of online courses that physicians, nurses or lay-people may access. Classes are 1 hour in length ( CME & CEU credit given after successful completion) and touch upon Mind & Body, The Role: of Accupuncture, Prayer, Meditation, Chiropractic, Herbalism and a variety of other topics. There is also a library of clinical trials regarding CAM. Go to: http://www.nih.gov/