by Claire | Nov 25, 2009 | chronic illnesses, emotions
Most Chinese words consist of two characters, therefore there are always two meanings contained in one word. For example the word illness is “ji bing.” The character “ji” implies an arrow shooting at us from the outside, such as coldness, dampness or viruses and bacteria. The character “bing” implies heart fire, which explains why an arrow from the outside could stay within us, and turn into chronic illnesses. Our heart fire could be caused by an imbalance in our emotions such as excessive worries, unexpressed anger, hidden fears, prolonged grief, over fatigue, unprocessed and repeated shocks, long term stress, or even on going adrenoline rushes. These emotions create weakness in our body that invites external enemies to stay. This is why in the ancient medical books, they say all illnesses arise from the heart and can be healed from the heart.
In the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic, it states obsessive thinking knots our vital energy, anger raises our energy up (into the chest and head), fear brings our energy down, shock makes the energy irratic, happiness slows down energy, grief decipates energy.” Normally energy would naturally flow throughout the body, making our blood flow and the organs function. If we chronically suppress qi flow or habitually make it move a certain way, soon we invite unwellness. For example when people chronically suppress their anger, they tend to have hot heads, maybe pain and dizziness, also heart burns and chestache. People who are chronically fearful may experience heaviness in their legs, even water retention in the leg and feet. When qi always go into one area, it would at first create excessive pressure and pain in that area, which turns into internal “fire” (i.e. energy fighting with the blockage trying to get through). If fighting goes on for long enough, qi and blood slow down and stagnate in that area, becoming cool and congealed. Blood in that area would come out dark and unhealthy. The area would easily be painful and bruised. In this case we would need to wake this area up physically and energetically, and help release the initial pent up emotions to complete the healing.
One of my client once said, “I thought I was being kind to my legs and feet by not touching them because they hurt so much. My mind was trying to avoid paying attention to the painful areas. But the evidence shows differently, doesn’t it?” Long term avoidance turns pain into numbness, and thus chronic stagnation that slowly clogs up the organs energetically, physically and emotionally. Another student told me after attending two consecutive weekend workshops that she was amazed, by simply pressing into a chronically painful spot, breathing into it and paying deep attention, the pain decipates. Two weeks after the workshops she was still off of her pain medication and doing well.
In our daily lives, if we can let our qi flow smoothly, expressing our emotions in healthy ways in a timely manner, illnesses may only pass through us and never stay. When our energy has become strong through qigong practice and natural eating habits, the arrows would not even be able to go through anymore. (To be continued…)
by Claire | Oct 25, 2009 | adrenoline, emotions, Fear Joy, heart water fire TCM, kidney
It was amazing fears were coming up. Before going to bed I was wondering to myself, why am I attracted to a Mongolian? I myself am already split between China and the US. Whenever I am in China, I miss the greenery, the clean air, the spaceousness in nature, and the curteous attitude, the deep, individually inquisitive spirituality of the Americans; whenever I am in the US, I miss the wonderful array of foods, the abundance of different kinds of fresh, in season greens, the richness of tastes from different provinces, the warm connection of the ordinary people in China and the long history of wellness, spirituality and wisdom. My fear was, am I getting more unstable by marrying a Mongolian?
Then it donged on me, I am of both places. I couldn’t just be in one place for the rest of my life. My life is fabulously rich because I am of both places, and I enjoy going back and forth! So it’s perfect that I am marrying someone who would also enjoy going back and forth with me. I am of China and the US. He is of Mongolia and China. Together we are of all three places. We are not less. We are more. Our children will be more. And since our hearts are happy together, our home is with our hearts. So I might as well feel right at home migrating through our three homes! Voila! Spontaneous explosion of joy blows out the fear yet again. Always, always remember joy and gratitude in each of my steps.
(In the five element theory of TCM, fire of the heart system controls and regulates water of the kidney system. When the heart fire is constantly vibrant, it can turn excess water into steam. But if we seek out adrenoline joy rides, ridinng on the ups and downs of the heart, we can burn up rest of the water, and deplete our kidneys and our energy. Again it’s about finding our personal balance in specific times.)
by Claire | Feb 28, 2009 | breakout, emotions, Pimples
This little bit of information could be useful for so many teens in the west! Indeed some modern ways of living have taken us far from our roots, our natural way of being. This is just another reminder of the draw backs of not using modern technology with ancient wisdom.
Pimples, or breakouts on the forehead and cheeks are usually caused by too much cold in the stomach meridian. Two common reasons causing stomach cold are too much cold drinks or refregerated food and unexpressed or suppressed emotions. Our human body keeps a steady temperature. If we often takes in cold drinks and food, our stomach must produce extra heat to normalize its temperature. This stomach heat would cause more thirst, thus the vicious cycle continues. After a while when there is more and more stomach heat built up, it travels upward in the stomach channels which pass through our face. The pimples are merely external manifestation of an internal imbalance. To stop it from the surface is like telling the messenger bearing the bad news to shut up. Pimples can be cured from treating the stomach channels, by simply massaging or pounding on the channels and points, especially ones that’s sensitive. Even in the summer, drinking warm water can from the root cure our thirst, whereas cold water would only increase our thirst.
by Claire | Feb 28, 2009 | emotions, health, meditation, TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic
I have started translating some contemporary views on traditional Chinese medicine today in China. I find many of them refreshing, and fit our current needs perfectly. I will start to post some of these translations and my own thoughts from now on. I hope many will benefit from these practical tools for everyday life. Below is a good introduction on traditional Chinese Medicine.
The Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic suggests that a wise person is one who has control over oneself, one’s own life, one’s own nature, one’s own desire and body. In this world, the human body is the most precise self regulating eco-system, which means it depends on its nature to exists, to be in balance, to harmonize, not depending on any man-made thoughts or objective ideas.
An ancient Chinese saying goes, “Cultivate one self, unify one’s family, oversee one’s nation and then one may bring peace to the world.” Cultivating the self comes before all. In this case, the saying is not talking about our brain but our body. Our body is “smarter” than our brain because the brain thinks therefore there is action; whereas the body does not think yet knows therefore it is of non-action, in Daoist term, “wu wei”.
Our body is a microcosm of the world. To know our body is to know how the world works. To know how to balance our own ecosystem is to know how to keep the macrocosm in balance, in harmony. This is why the Chinese says, “The lowest level doctor heals disease; the middle level doctor heals human being; the highest level doctor heals the nation, the world.”
Everything in the world has changed over hundreds of thousands of years, except human being and its nature. All thoughts and knowledge come from the human being. This is why the Chinese says the highest understanding is to understand the human being. And this understanding comes from the body.
Chinese medicine understands that one’s body not only determines one’s physical state, but one’s emotional, mental and spiritual states also evolve out of one’s body. For example the book “Da Xue” from about twenty three hundred years ago says that the ultimate compassion comes from a heart spirit that is calm and centered. Another popular Chinese idiom says, “The state of ‘Ding’ produces wisdom.” The word “Ding” can be translated as pause, cease, which in meditation practice means when the heart-mind stops, when it ceases churning random thoughts. Chinese medicine says, when one’s liver qi is stagnate, one easily irritates and therefore cannot calm down to finish projects. When one’s kidney qi is weak, one doesn’t have enough brain power to think things through, therefore can fail easily. Even Napoleon was quoted that one’s fate is determined by one’s body structure. Chinese medicine adds that our body structure and function determines our destiny. From this view we can say the highest science is the science of the human body.
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