This is Li Ching Yuen. According to a 1930 article from The New York Times, he reportedly lived to be 256 years old…

In 1928, professor Wu-Chung Chieh of Chengdu university discovered documentation congratulating Li on his 150th birthday in 1827, and even more documents congratulating him on his 200th birthday in 1877. According to the Times article, the old men in the neighborhood claimed that Li was already a grown man when they were just children.

Li began his career as an herbalist at just ten years old, and for almost forty years, had a diet of mostly herbs, goji berries, lingzi, wild ginseng, he shoo wu, gotu kola, and rice wine. He continued this for the next 100 years of his life.

At the age of 71, in 1749, he joined the Chinese army as a martial arts instructor.

He was a beloved member of his community, and reportedly married 23 times, fathering some 200 children in the process. But supposedly, he wasn’t even the oldest man that he knew! One of his disciples claimed that Li once met a 500-year-old man that taught him Qigong exercises and a special herb-rich diet that can help people live extraordinarily long lives.

When asked about the secret to his long life, Li had this to say: “Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog.”

As far as a world record for living the longest, it turns out that there is indeed some controversy. But not as you would think. Turns out that one of Li’s students has stated that he wasn’t the only one to get past the age of 200. He claims that there was even a 500- year-old man who taught him Qigong exercises while giving him longevity advise as far as nutrition went.

Li stated just before dying that indeed he had done everything he wanted in his lifetime. So what’s the secret to a long lasting life? Li said it’s all about having a quiet heart, sitting like a tortoise, walking like a pigeon, and sleeping as a dog. That’s the secret!

A warlord named Wu Pei-fu took Li into his home so he could learn the keys to longevity. The above is what Li had told him. He also said that a calm and peaceful mind, combined with proper breathing techniques, is indeed the answer to a long lifespan. Nutrition must have also played a major role. But clearly the proper state of mind was key to his long life span.

Naturally this is tough to believe for many. We are not used to hearing about people living so long. But most of us also find it normal to be under some sort of constant stress, surrounded by pollution, eating fast foods which include sugars, GMO’s, processing, hormones, pesticides and more questionable ingredients. Of course there are all of our vices as well – drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. All of these are recipes for a shortened lifespan.

Those who eat healthy while spending time in a calming manner, practicing meditation and breathing techniques, along with regular exercise, can indeed lead longer than average lives. Now imagine if you could live peacefully year round with absolutely no stress. No modern day worrying about every little thing. Hard to believe that could jack 100 years on our bodies, but apparently so!

The key seems to be doing the best we can to maximize not just our physical needs when it comes to exercising, breathing, and eating right, but also focusing on the mental peacekeeping requirements that will lessen stress as much as possible. If one could eat properly while eliminating the stresses altogether, then making it past 100 could be a cake-walk!

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