What are the Five Tibetan Rites?
The Five Tibetan Rites were introduced to the West in 1939 by Peter Kelder in his little book Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth — the full text is free to download above. It tells the story of “Colonel Bradford”, a retired British Army officer who travelled to a remote Himalayan monastery and returned looking decades younger, bringing with him five exercises — the lamas called them rites — said to restore health, energy and vitality.
Whatever you make of the legend, the rites themselves are a compact, low-equipment daily routine of spinning, leg raises, back bends, table pose and a flowing up-and-down dog movement — a blend of mobility, core strength and breathing that thousands of people around the world still practise every morning. All you need is a bit of floor space and a mat or carpet.
- Five exercises, done in order, the same number of repetitions each.
- Start with 3 repetitions of each rite. Add 2 per week until you reach 21 — never more needed.
- Spin clockwise in Rite 1 (left to right, like the hands of a clock face-up on the floor).
- Breathe deeply and rhythmically — in on the effort, out on the release.
- Practise daily, morning or evening. Skip at most one day a week.
- Never strain. Do what you can, build up gradually — that is the whole method.
How to do the Five Rites
Stand and spin clockwise
- Stand erect with your arms outstretched, horizontal to the floor, palms down.
- Spin around from left to right (clockwise) until you become slightly dizzy.
- To ease dizziness, do what dancers do: fix your eyes on a point ahead and re-find it each turn.
Tip: most adults manage about half a dozen spins at first — that's plenty. If you need to sit or lie down afterwards, do exactly that. The lamas do around a dozen, not hundreds.
Lie flat, lift head and legs together
- Lie flat on your back on a mat, arms along your sides, palms on the floor, fingers together.
- Raise your head off the floor, tucking your chin to your chest.
- At the same time lift your legs, knees straight, to vertical — over the body towards the head if you can.
- Slowly lower head and legs together, knees straight. Relax all muscles, then repeat.
Breathing: breathe in deeply as you lift the legs and head, breathe out fully as you lower them. If your knees won't stay straight, let them bend as much as needed and straighten over time.
Kneel and arch the spine
- Kneel on the floor, body erect, hands against the thigh muscles, toes tucked under.
- Incline the head and neck forward, tucking the chin to the chest.
- Then throw the head and neck back as far as they will go, arching the spine backward, bracing arms and hands against the thighs.
- Return to the upright position and repeat.
Breathing: breathe in deeply as you arch the spine, out as you return upright. The lamas close their eyes during this rite to turn the attention inward.
From sitting, raise into a table
- Sit with legs straight out in front, feet about 30 cm apart, palms on the floor beside your hips, chin tucked to chest.
- Drop the head back as far as it will go while raising your body: knees bend, arms stay straight, until the trunk is horizontal — a flat table from knees to shoulders.
- Tense every muscle in the body for a moment.
- Relax as you lower back to sitting. Rest, then repeat.
Breathing: in deeply as you raise up, hold while you tense, out completely as you come down. It feels hard the first week and quickly becomes one of the easiest.
Flow between the sag and the inverted V
- Start face-down, supported on palms and flexed toes, hands and feet each about 60 cm apart, arms and legs straight.
- Begin with arms perpendicular to the floor, spine arched, body sagging — head thrown back (like upward dog).
- Bending at the hips, raise the body into an inverted “V”, tucking the chin to the chest (like downward dog).
- Return to the sagging position and repeat. Once proficient, let the body drop to just short of the floor and tense the muscles briefly at both the top and bottom.
Breathing: breathe in deeply as you raise into the V, breathe out fully as you lower.
The build-up schedule
Start gently and add two repetitions per week. In ten weeks you'll be doing the full 21 of each rite — around 20 minutes a day, ten or less once you're fit.
| Week | Repetitions of each rite, daily |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 9 |
| 5–9 | 11 → 19 (add 2 each week) |
| 10 onwards | 21 — the full practice |
Good to know:
- Morning or evening — whichever suits. Do it every day; skip at most one day a week.
- If the spinning is hard, do fewer spins than the other rites and build up — or leave it out for a few months. Four rites done well still work.
- Can't do a rite at all? Omit it, do the other four, and try it again after a few months.
- Between rites: stand tall, hands on hips, and take a few slow deep breaths.
- Never strain — it's counterproductive. Steady daily practice beats heroics.
- The rites complement any other exercise you do — they don't replace it.
Common sense applies: if you have neck, back, heart or blood-pressure issues, or you're pregnant, check with your doctor first. Spinning can make you dizzy — build up slowly.
One-page summary — from the Papamoa Hills
Here's my one-page cheat sheet, photo taken on top of the Papamoa Hills. Print it, stick it on the wall.
Lifestyle Architecture: How to Drive Hard Without Burning Out
The rites are one pillar of a wider system I've built for sustained intensity across several business domains — high-volume cognitive work without burnout, and long-term health optimisation. None of it is theoretical: the meditation practice is 25 years old, the carnivore protocol has been running for over four years, and together with everything below it has given me heaps of energy and real mental clarity — honestly, I'd say I feel ten years younger. On a page about the Fountain of Youth, that seems like the right result to report. This is what works for me, shared for interest, not as advice.
The single most useful strategy I've found is deliberate, recoverable stress. The body gets stronger when it's given honest work to do: the sauna's heat and the sea's cold, the fasted climb, the long gap between meals. After the morning cold shower I dress well and stay warm — but the point is that the body itself has to do the work of bringing you back to comfortable, and that work is where the adaptation happens. Comfort is the reward, not the method.
Twenty-five years of daily morning practice
Daily morning meditation has been the philosophical anchor for sustained high performance for 25 years — ritualised through the practice you'll find on this site.
The words the day starts with
Every morning's meditation closes with the same set of affirmations, spoken with intent. Positive reinforcement, repeated daily, is part of the practice — the mind gets trained the same way the body does.
- I am truly grateful for the abundance, the love and the joy that surrounds me every day.
- My thoughts, my words and my actions are powerful forces of attraction.
- I am brilliant, I am bright, I am a radiant being of light, I am an outstanding peak performer, I am a dynamic life transformer.
- I am a genius and I apply my wisdom.
- I am financially independent and earn at least NZ$20,000 per month (this number is flexible — put in whatever you want).
- I am healthy, vibrant and lean — I love and take care of my being.
Eight to nine hours, every night
Target 8–9 hours nightly — consistency matters more than perfection. A sleep score of 88 with a 9 h 13 m weekday average supports full cognitive recovery under sustained demand.
One meal a day, around midday — four-plus years and counting
A single daily lunch: roughly 200 g protein, 110 g fat, 1,800–1,850 calories total. Lean mince selection, seven eggs, salt generously.
Eating once a day is itself a form of the deliberate-stress principle: the long daily fast gives the body honest metabolic work to do. The surprising part is that it keeps you satisfied — you arrive at the next meal ready, not ravenous.
And full disclosure: lots of coffee is helping. I don't hold back on the coffee. ☕😄
Rationale: low inflammation, metabolic efficiency, sustained mental clarity, and muscle preservation during a gentle calorie deficit.
Fasted hills, cold water, daily walking
- Sunday morning: fasted climb of the Papamoa Hills (seven minutes from home) — the weekly anabolic stimulus.
- Daily: cold showers — then dress well and stay warm, and let the body do the work of warming itself back to comfortable. That re-warming effort is part of the training.
- Throughout the week: consistent walking to fill the calorie gap for gradual fat loss.
The real opponent: an idea I picked up from Joe Rogan — every one of these practices has a moment where an inner voice starts negotiating for the warm, easy option. Overcoming that voice, daily, is the actual exercise. The cold water is just where you practise.
Target body composition: 85% muscle, 11% body fat.
Tuesday evenings, 5 pm
Three 15-minute sauna rounds alternating with 5-minute dips into 15 °C sea water. Drives cardiovascular adaptation and stress resilience — and delivers exceptional sleep that night.
My spot: The Sauna Project Pāpāmoa — a wood-fired beachfront sauna run by Sarah and Caroline, steps from the sea for the cold dips. If you're local, come along on a Tuesday evening and you'll probably find me in there.
Small, deliberate, consistent
- Creatine monohydrate (Creapure), 5 g daily with lunch — muscle preservation and cognitive ATP support.
- NMN + TMG, morning dosing — NAD⁺ metabolism and methylation support under cognitive load.
- Simply Nootropics Essentials Plus — a NZ-made nootropic stack I'm currently trialling for cognitive focus and brain performance.
- Unflavoured electrolytes, twice on sauna days — replaces sodium, potassium and magnesium without disrupting the fast.
None of these pieces stands alone — it's one coherent system designed for sustained intensity without burnout, and it all runs on the same engine: regular, deliberate, recoverable stress. The meditation anchors the mind, sleep and nutrition fund the recovery, the hills, the heat and the cold provide the stimulus, and the rites tie the daily ritual together.
Everything in this section is my personal protocol, not medical or nutritional advice — what works for a 60-something chemical engineer on a beach in New Zealand may not be right for you.
Downloads & video
⬇ Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth (PDF, 37 pages) ⬇ One-page poster (PDF)
🎥 There's also an older video of me doing the rites on top of the Papamoa Hills — watch it on YouTube if you'd like to see them in motion. The PDFs above are the best guide to follow.
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This page keeps evolving — new sections, refinements to the protocol, the occasional video. Leave your email and I'll drop you a short note when something worthwhile is added. No spam, no selling, unsubscribe by replying "stop".