Have you ever woken up after eight hours of sleep and still felt like you hadn’t slept at all? Heavy body. Foggy mind. No desire to do anything.

TCM would say: your qi is low.

What is qi? You can’t see it, but you can feel it. Think of it like your phone’s battery. You can’t see electricity, but when the battery dies, your phone is a brick. Qi is your body’s battery.

When qi is high, you feel energetic. Your voice is strong. You walk with ease. When qi is low, you don’t want to do anything. Even talking feels like work.

Here’s a simple way to feel qi: take three deep breaths. As you breathe in, imagine energy flowing from the top of your head down to your feet. As you breathe out, imagine all the stale air leaving your body. After three breaths, you’ll feel a little clearer. That’s qi moving.

Taking care of your qi is simple. Three things:

First, sleep well. Staying up late is the fastest way to drain your qi. One late night costs three days of recovery.

Second, don’t eat too many cold things. Ice water. Salad. Ice cream. Your body uses qi to warm them up. Eat too much cold food, and your qi runs low.

Third, don’t get angry. Anger is like a fire inside your body. It burns through your qi.

Qi isn’t superstition. You don’t need to “believe” in it. You just need to try it. Go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll feel the difference.