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What Does It Take To Be A Master Practitioner Of Tuina Therapy?
Tuina is a form of external therapy and as such, requires extensive training. It definitely should not and cannot be learned within just a weekend or two of teaching. It is a method that has evolved and been refined for over 20 centuries of observation and empirical studies, and to diminish this learning is to forsake it.
To make sure you learn Tuina the proper way, you need to train and seek knowledge as a novice of a Doctor of Tuina or a Tuina Master who has their own training system. Like a defense art, Tuina therapy may entail several years to a decade to master.
You may also opt to go to China and train as a student of TCM or traditional Chinese medicine specializing in Tuina therapy. Because mastering the art of Tuina can take many years, this definitely is not a discipline for everyone. One of the best ways to learn it is to go through several weeks of intensive training. Tuina has been shown to develop really very good practitioners due to the fact that training involves strong dedication and real hard work from the students; the fruits of this labor, is well worth the money, blood, sweat, and tears of the student and its skills will last a lifetime. Training with a Tuina master in person builds confidence and maintains a high standard for the practitioner than distance training. A practitioner who has confidence in developing his/her own style of Tuina who combines actual experience with theoretical training is the ultimate aim of this discipline.
It is important that one acknowledges Tuina therapy in Winter Park as a vital component of traditional Chinese medicine with its own unique advantages and benefits in their own clinics and practice. Because of the growing awareness of this therapy in Western countries, Tui na is fast becoming a very popular form of treatment among people in those countries.
Syndromes Related To Dampness And Heat
Dampness and heat are two of the six harmful elements in traditional Chinese medicine that have opposite effects on the body. Stagnation is caused by dampness while heat leads to a rise in activity in a body system. These two factors have their own set of syndromes related to their effects.
Dampness
Dampness naturally moistens things that it comes into contact with, (particularly the ground) creating stagnation or a sluggish movement in objects. Once dampness affects an object, a considerable amount of time may be needed to once again dry that object and this is particularly the case in wet climates. Dampness creates pathogenic effects related to yin that can be very hard to treat since they can be persistent and heavy. Since dampness naturally dwells in the ground, when you sleep on the ground or get wet by the rain, you’ll be affected by external dampness.
In addition, when you consume large quantities of greasy foods, ice cream, sweets, or cold drinks and foods you may be at risk of suffering imbalances caused by internal dampness. Your body can be affected the visible and invisible effects of dampness. On one hand, Invisible dampness may manifest in subjective sensations of dizziness and heaviness in a person. Visible dampness, on the other hand, may appear as fluid discharges and retention as well as phlegm. A tongue with greasy coating and a slippery pulse usually appear in both kinds of dampness. Signs and symptoms of dampness in the body can include rashes in the skin that are crusty and ooze (as in eczema), coughing phlegm or vomiting, swelling, a heavy sensation, and water retention.
By nature dampness is heavy it tends to go in a downward direction and affect the lower parts of the body. Therefore, when you suffer from dampness, there is a tendency to experience swelling in the legs and a heavy or sinking sensation. What’s more, when combined with heat, dampness can result in a condition known as damp heat that can manifest symptomatically as malodorous sticky stools, dark burning urine, jaundice, and yellowish discharges in the vagina.
In Chinese medicine, when it comes to wind, the opposite effects occur. Wind often affects the upper regions of the body.
Dampness Syndromes
1. Internal Dampness: This disharmonic pattern tends to be caused by an imbalance affecting the spleen. Signs and symptoms of internal dampness: undigested food in the stools, possible water retention in the stomach area, fatigue, poor appetite, diarrhea, and bloating. A spleen with cold produces dampness as seen when a person right after eating ice cream, coughs up phlegm. Since the lungs store any excess dampness in the spleen, a damp spleen often causes persistent allergies and colds in a person. Treatment of internal dampness is aimed in stimulating the spleen with tonifying herbs and removing the dampness through diuretic herbs.
2. Toxins and Damp Affecting the Skin: This pattern of disharmony involves inflammations having a damp and weepy nature in the skin. Symptoms include skin ulcers, eczema, and allergic reactions that produce a discharge (skin eruptions that are crusty or oozing). Toxins and damp affecting the skin syndrome is treated internally using herbal remedies served in topical poultices.
3. Joint Pain due to Wind Damp: Joint pain related due to Wind Damp syndrome is marked by numbness and heavy and dull stubborn pain in the joints. An example of this syndrome would be rheumatic pain which tends to exacerbate in damp weather. Joint pain related to Wind damp tends to be long term and show resiliency to treatment. Moxibustion and acupuncture treatments in Jacksonville may be able to offset the pain and stiffness. Based on the Chinese saying of using, “tree limbs to treat body limbs,” herbs such as qui shi (cinnamon twigs) and sang shi (mulberry branches) are used to eradicate wind damp in order to increase blood flow and relieve swelling.
4. Wind Damp: This syndrome is the underlying cause of the common cold and manifests in symptoms such as afternoon fever, charby diarrhea, chills, nausea, and headache. A person with this condition can be described as someone with a wet towel wrapped around his head. Treatments include pleasant smelling herbs and moxibustion to drain dampness and dispel wind.
Heat
Essentially a yang energy syndrome, heat (fire) can have a damaging effect on the body. Heat naturally results in increased activity and expansion. When Heat is out of balance, it can lead to inflammatory problems such as fever, and irritability. Heat naturally rises and may lead to symptoms such as dizziness, sore throat, and red eyes and face. When heat influences the liver or heart, the affected person may experience anger. This yang pathogenic element tends to affect body fluids and can cause symptoms such as dark urine, constipation, and thirst. Since heat can generate wind, it can cause spasms as well.
Heat & Wind-Heat Syndromes
Heat and Wind-Heat are syndromes that commonly occur and may manifest as the flu and the common cold. When heat and wind are combined, they lead to signs and symptoms like profuse perspiration, a red tip on the tongue, thirst, racing pulse, headache, sore throat, and fever. The aim of treatment is to use herbal remedies and acupuncture to eliminate heat and drive away wind.
1. Deficient Heat: This disharmony is usually caused by yin deficiency. Yin is the cooling aspect of an organ and yin deficiency may not be adequate enough to control heat thus allowing heat to ascend. Heat deficient symptoms basically include irritability a racing and thin pulse, chronic inflammation, red tongue with no coating, night sweats, and red cheeks. Based on the organ affects, additional symptoms may appear. When heat deficiency occurs in the kidneys, chronic UTIs (urinary tract infections) may develop; heat deficiency affecting the lungs due to cigarette smoking can result in chronic dry cough; and insomnia may result from heat deficient heart yin.
2. Excess Heat in the Organs: This pattern of disharmony often causes symptoms such as constipation, dry throat, a racing and full pulse, red tongue with yellow fur, concentrated (burning or dark) urine, thirst, and irritability. Based on the organ affected, additional symptoms may occur. Lung fire, for instance, can result in the accumulation of yellow mucus in the lungs, liver fire may instigate extreme anger fire, stomach fire can lead to mouth ulcers and heart fire that, in turn, result in extreme emotional disturbances. Treatment for all these problems is to manipulate the acupuncture points related to the problematic organ and to take herbs to dispel excess heat.
Go To A Chinese Medicine Practitioner And Get A Physical And Mental Tune Up
Doctors in ancient China would go from village to village, where they would see every villager, and as required, would provide them with advice or treatment. The physician, in return would receive a tiny recompense from each person he saw. Villagers would stop paying the doctor when they got sick.
The job of the doctor during that time was to not to cure disease but to prevent it and keep the patient healthy. This system is very much different to the modern way, where medical advice is only sought after we’re already sick.
The methods use in Chinese medicine can be used to maintain well-being and health as well as to treat disease, and this is how they were traditionally used in China. Getting tui na massage and acupuncture on a regular basis helps to keep levels of energy of a person up, bolster immunity, and normalize the flow of Chi in the body.
Eating foods proper for the season and considering your current state of health, constitution, sex, and age, can also really make a big difference. The ageless wisdom of Chinese Nutritional therapy enables practitioners to dispense advice on exactly how and what a person should be eating at the current time to preserve his vitality and health.
For the maintenance of health and well-being, there are three ways Chinese Medicine can help:
1. Special Treatments – Certain therapies can be applied to strongly improve the vital energy or Chi of the body. This is an aspect of the art of ‘nourishing life’, that’s used to improve functioning and overall health and to slow down the aging process. Special treatments can be appropriate for anyone past the age of 30. A few treatments are typically repeated once a year and administered close together. The healing effects of heat therapy or moxibustion are usually availed of for this purpose.
2. Regular treatments – One ideal way to maintain vitality and health is to undergo treatment each month or every six weeks. Regular tui na massage and/or acupuncture treatments can keep you healthy and relaxed, and helps resist sickness, enhances sleep, and alleviates stress. As things change in your life, nutritional therapy can also be customized based on your particular circumstances.
3. Seasonal treatments – A lot of people find that they fall ill or struggle at the coming and goings of the seasons. These can be proper times for enhancing treatment to keep one’s levels of energy up, prevent illness, and strengthen the immune system.
Therefore, if you could do with a boost or seem to feel out-of-sorts, go to a local Chinese medicine practitioner in Vancouver and get yourself a physical and mental tune up!
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine is a rapidly evolving industry and science. We define alternative medicine as therapies that are used alone or as alternative to allopathic medicine. In the same way, we define complementary medicine as therapies that are used in combination with allopathic medicine.
In the modern world of both allopathic medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), both are needed to bring about the best results possible.
More and more research is needed to identify, prove and discover the side effects, effects, and benefits of CAM therapies.
Examples of CAM are as follows:
• Acupuncture in Encino
• Yoga
• Ancient Chinese medicine
• Aromatherapy
• Spiritual Healing
• Auriculotherapy
• Shiatsu
• Chiropractic
• Reiki
• Color Therapy
• massage therapy
• Crystal Healing
• Magnetic Therapy
• Cupping therapy
• Hypnotherapy
• Energy medicine
• Herbal medicine
• Homeopathy
• And much more
Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the World Health Organization
The (WHO) supports CAM and CAM research and has published reports and books related to it. They include “Traditional Chinese Medicine Can Make ‘Health For One’ Real,” “World Health Organization 2002-2005 Strategy for Traditional Medicine,” “Acupuncture: Analysis and Review On Controlled Clinical Trials Reports,” and ” Guidelines on Creating Consumer Information on Correct Use of Complementary, Traditional, and Alternative Medicine.” These books and reports highlight the strategies in order to integrate Traditional Medicine and CAM in its members’ national health care systems.
The Benefits of Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
• Great acceptance
• Low cost
• Easy access and affordability
• Non Invasive techniques in many of its therapies
• Effectiveness in a lot of illnesses under the skilled hands of certified and expert therapists
The Disadvantages of Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
• No control of the correct use of CAM
• No reports explaining its efficacy
• CAM studies are not scientifically well organized
• No scientific proof in a lot of the therapies
Future of Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
In my opinion, the use of CAM will steadily rise over the years and the scientific proof on most of its therapies will manifest one by one very soon.
CAM should be supported by the medical and scientific community more and more and more research should be done on its therapies to prove its usefulness and efficacy.
The I Ching, Unlocking The Universal Code Of Life
Today, in the world of holistic and complementary medicine, there are a number of exciting and new topics offered that can give new insights and inspiration to our imagination. However, there is one age old and ageless fount of wisdom that is as important today as at any time in history – this is the 64 hexagrams and the I Ching. The I Ching is a book of philosophy that hasn’t been altered or edited in any way since its creation and has sketches depicting the nature and origin of life on earth. The I Ching is estimated to be 5,000 years old and is the oldest books in the world.
The Chinese believed that the five elements and the forces of Yin and Yang govern everything that exists in the world. The idea came about due to the constant states of changes that is happening in the world and that those changes were not random. It was actually changing based on a regular pattern.
The theory of the Five elements dates back thousands of years ago and is grounded on the notion that precise observations of nature, in which ancient sages attempted to understand and clarify the natural cycles of life.
Interacting with each other, the five elements can create certain trends and influences in the life of the planet and in the lives of people.
Fruitful Cycle: Wood feeds Fire, Fire feeds Earth, Earth feeds Metal. Metal feeds Water;
Catastrophic Cycle: Wood clashes with Earth, Earth clashes with Water, Water clashes with Fire, Fire clashes to Metal.
When a certain element is in excess or active in any given situation, it can have an effect on the other elements, resulting in a deficiency (ex, too much Wood results in Earth deficiency). If an element is weak or passive, it can have an effect on the water element that precedes it in the catastrophic cycle, making it excess (e.g. passive Wood results in an overabundance of Metal).
The following are examples of the significance of a good relationship between the five elements.
Balance
We can attain our goal of harmony and balance when we assist the five elements to communicate with each other in an ‘ amicable’ way. In understanding the concept of the five elements and to achieve proper balance, an experienced practitioner should figure out how best to bring a certain situation to a more positive and healthy result.
Hence, the inclusion of a certain element into an equation can significantly generate the desired outcome:
Each element can be adapted to the Chinese calendar and to time
Each element associates with a part of a body
Each element has a number
Each element has a trigram
Each element has a color
The Trigrams
Trigrams is a symbol depicted by three lines (either negative and broken, or positive and solid) associated with either Yang or Yin. There are eight trigrams that have their own directions, names, body parts, family links, elements, body areas, elemental features (shapes) and seasons. The I Ching’s 64 Hexagrams come from the eight trigrams. There are eight trigrams which have their own respective shapes (elemental features), seasons, elements, body parts, family links, directions, and names. A trigram’s relationship with itself makes a hexagram, while the seven other trigrams provide eight kinds of energetic influence. In adding these eight trigram influences together, we come up with 8 x 8 = 64. The trigram is an important aspect each of each of the Hexagram’s meaning.
More widely known for its use as an oracle, the I Ching is also a way of obtaining answers and suggestions and to vital questions of relevance that has got to do with the life of a person. The I Ching has 64 symbols. A Hexagram is made up of six lines that pertain to Yin and Yang. Each Hexagram possesses a name and provide a general interpretation pertaining to a particular state of energy or dynamic state of being.
According to Daoists, nothing is permanent or fixed, and that all things change. This basic vital truth truth is essential in learning the I Ching. Time is a part of what we call change. , when translated, the I Ching means Book of Changes. It is a code of life of the universe and is immortal.
The Eight Trigrams
Good Health and the I Ching,
At some point in our lives, most of us, we have experienced both advice and assistance concerning our health both physically and psychologically. The I Ching not only provides us with spiritual insight and wisdom but also is an expert guidance regarding our health and wellbeing. The I Ching concerns evolution, regeneration, change. In this very old book, we find discussion of plus and minus polarities, trends and tendencies, natural forces, and cardinal points which Modern physics has just begun to expand its horizons to in terms of understanding life on the universe and earth over the last previous centuries. Modern physics has also difficulty in presenting its experiments and formulae in manner that can be easily comprehended and that tend to conform to natural laws. The progress that has been made in quantum physics and science has however led to something very interesting occurring: that quantum physics and science has parallels to some of the teachings of Eastern philosophies.
That thousands of years old knowledge of the universe and states of being as well as its energies (via the I Ching) is far more important than modern science it completely believable. While it is not just a book about science and natural laws, the I Ching, from a personal perspective, can also depict psychological and emotional states.
The hidden truth of the universe is the Dao, the path to all things. Soft energy can be found everywhere and in everything and is interlinked and connected. This is best symbolized by the widely known symbol of Tai Chi. The Dao is itself unseen and mysterious and is the surrounding circle. The interplay of Yin and Yang is its manifestation.
The great psychologist, Carl Jung, whose work of therapy and counseling is based on the I Ching spent a whole summer trying to disprove the I Ching. He eventually began to be impressed by it that he began using it in his work! Jung coined the world ‘synchronicity’ to describe things that are related in coincidences or unexpected ways, (when one thinks of a person and the person phones, or a person might be searching for something and find the answer in a magazine or newspaper).
The genetic code of DNA, the Chinese horoscope, Ba Zi, Feng Shui, Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese nutrition, Sun Tzu’s Art of War, reflexology, TCM, qi gong, tao chi, and acupuncture are all sciences and disciplines that are derived from and connected to the 64 Hexagrams and the I Ching.
There are 64 code words or parts that make up the genetic code of DNA. There are 64 Hexagrams in I Ching. These disciplines are actually medical sciences, which mean that the I Ching has a very deep influence and a significant role to play in the good of health of society as a whole and in a person.
Along with the universal code, the DNA spiral is written on the rungs of its spiral ladder. Within a 360 degree turn, there are eight rungs. Within the I Ching and Feng Shui are eight trigrams that symbolize the eight directions within a 360 degree turn.
Becoming conscious of the existence of Chi is a step towards spiritual cultivation and physical health. The nervous systems and consciousness of people aren’t adequately equipped to feel the Chi outside and inside their bodies. We cannot see Chi physically but we can observe its goings and comings via the phenomena of death and life.
Practicing and studying the Chinese healing arts consistently plus an intimate understanding of the I Ching can quite effectively lead to the refinement of our internal energies so much so that indirectly, it will lead to the treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, arthritis and various types of illnesses. The most important contribution to one’s health is disease prevention and its efficacy in preventing disease is due to its keeping the internal energies in a state of balance.
By understanding both the five element theory and Chinese medicine, the crystal knowledge code of the I Ching and the vitality that has been trapped within a tight and imbalanced body is liberated and enabled to bring back and maintain natural health. This is applicable applies to all of the Chinese healing modalities.
It is not only not so difficult to easily violate the universe’s natural laws, it can always also lead to loss of harmony and balance both externally and internally. If you do not have these imbalances addressed, it will ruin your health and physical body. When every aspect of our life and energy is a representation of natural law, we are in harmony with the universe instinctively, and therefore, we’re able to receive a harmonious natural response from the universe.
The Role Of Intention In Energy Medicine
Intention applies to your desire of receiving or giving a treatment of energy medicine and in no way indicates force, or using your will to affect the result of a treatment.
One must understand that a practitioner of energy medicine is not responsible for the way a patient responds to treatment. A lot of variables can come into play that can affect a person’s ability to respond to the treatment. A couple of important ones are the capacity for healing or vital life force and attitude.
Focus applies to your simply showing-up and being wholeheartedly absorbed in the present moment, as you become accessible to serving the needs of a person being given an energetic therapy. In a manner of speaking, emptying your cup provides one with the potential of healing.
For the practitioner of energy medicine, when practicing energy medicine, the single greatest skill he can cultivate is the ability to observe without any agenda, or attachment to result.
We know that in quantum physics nothing occurs when it isn’t observed first. Therefore, your aim is observe your client without prejudice. This act of observation generates the space for healing to come about.
Holistic Body-Mind Treatments include pure essential oils that are noninvasive and gentle alternative types of health care to synchronize and balance your spirit, mind, and body in an effective, safe, and natural way to bolster one’s well-being and health. Holistic therapy usually generates satisfying outcomes where other modalities have failed. Do not try to diagnose yourself and talk to a doctor for your health concerns.
“Harmony Wellness Center
110 N Orlando Ave
Maitland, FL 32751
(407) 234-6454
http://www.harmonywellnesscenter.com/”
The Advantages Of Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
As an alternative to conventional Western medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is designed to correct imbalances in the body and works in ways that include:
• Enhancing the lifestyle of the patients – This includes advancing healthy exercise and diet
• Assisting the patient to relate to internal emotions in a healthier way
• Addressing the environment and the external aspects of the patient
Traditional Chinese medicine impacts the various regions of the body although it often tends to focus on only a few of body parts. Those regions include: heart, kidneys, spleen, liver, lung, small intestine, gallbladder, and large intestine.
Traditional Chinese medicine – Its Benefits
In traditional Chinese medicine, a practitioner’s choice of treatment can provide several advantages that include:
Betterment of the liver’s health: A healthy TCM diet helps in bolstering the health of the liver since traditional Chinese medicine practitioners recommend following a healthy diet. To improve the health of your liver, the healthiest foods to eat include: herbs, spices such as garlic and ginger, healthy fats, and sweet potatoes. People need to stay away from processed carbohydrates, alcohol, refined oils, sugary snacks and drinks, and fried foods.
Hormonal balance: Clinical trials reveal that herbs that are high in antioxidants and used to treat anti-inflammatory conditions can help improve the function of the central nervous and endocrine system. This helps enhance the healing powers of the body and balances hormones such as testosterone, insulin, cortisol, and estrogen.
Alleviation of chronic headache and pain: The use of acupressure and acupuncture in Boca Raton can substantially contribute to the management and relief of pain associated with arthritis and other medical problems. Medical researchers have also observed that treatment modalities such as tai chi and eating a healthy diet can lead to a major decrease in chronic tension headaches.
Less inflammation: The mushrooms and herbs used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine possess anti-inflammatory, autophagic, antiapoptotic, and/or antioxidant qualities. When these herbs are taken, it can lead to lower levels of inflammation and oxidative stress that helps protect the organs, tissues and cells from illnesses and disease.
A Few Recommendations to Consider When Using Traditional Chinese Medicine
If you desire to get optimal benefits from the use of traditional Chinese medicine, you need to follow a few healthy tips. Before settling on a specific practitioner, always gives yourself time to research the practitioner’s background to see if he/she is qualified and reputable. We advice that you visit a number of clinics and take a look at the certifications displayed on the wall of the clinic. You may need to avoid practitioners who have no certifications.
Natural herbs should always be taken under the supervision of a qualified practitioner. They should not be used if you are pregnant or if you’re suffering from a medical condition. Stay away from drugs manufactured by an unknown company as they might contain lethal additives such as mercury, cadmium, lead and other heavy metals.
To optimize your treatment experience, it is important to integrate preventative habits and lifestyles such as natural supplements, getting adequate sleep, eating a healthy diet, and exercising, into your treatment regimen.
Conclusion
These are the things you need to know about traditional Chinese medicine. It’s important to note that the herbs are indicated for complementary modes of treatment, so you should take them alongside complementary medications. Always follow the advice of your doctor to avoid any complications.
Spring TCM Nutrition
We all feel the change coming into our bodies that the season of spring brings what with the warmth of the sun on our pale winter skin and the bright green sprouts pushing through the melting snow. We need to react to the changes in the environment with habitual and nutritional changes of our own in order to feel our best for the rest of the year. The season of spring is considered the start of things. This is a time of vitality, growth, revitalization, and the rise of yang energy. Wood is the element of spring, which, when made simple, relates to the emotions such as frustration, stagnation, and anger, as well as to the eyes, muscles, tendons, gallbladder, and liver.
Spring TCM Nutrition
According to traditional Chinese medicine in Bellingham or TCM, meals should be prepared light, and people should start to fast or eat less to cleanse themselves of the heavier foods and fats of winter. Springtime means eating raw fresh sprouted foods. These green and young plants encourage expansion and ascension and are rich in yang energy. They include sprouts and fresh greens such as broccoli, bok choy, nettles, kale, spinach, and fiddleheads. In the spring, additional veggies that should be promoted are kohlrabi, cabbages, spring onions, mushrooms, morels, green onions, garlic, fava beans, artichokes, peas, and asparagus.
Raw sprouts and foods can eliminate heat and bring about renewal. From the perspective of TCM, an all raw diet is not ideal even in spring because it weakens digestion. Instead, emphasis should be placed on a balanced diet that considers the energy, preparation, and nutritional properties of food and exploits them as instruments to support the organs that need it and to acclimate to the prevailing climate. Spring foods need to be cooked for short amounts of time, in light steams, mild simmers, and fast sautes. Since it is also best not to eat late, it is also best to rest early.
To produce a rising, expansion, and internal spring, pungent and sweet foods should be used. Pungent herbs such as mint as well as honey are ideal conventional spring tonics. Other advantageous pungent herbs include bay leaf, dill, rosemary, marjoram, fennel, and basil. Young, starchy, and sweet veggies like carrots and beets are likewise beneficial and refreshing.
Strawberries are perfect for spring cleansing as they are one of the first fruits to mature and ripen in the spring. Other ideal fruits to consume include melons, cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines, pineapples, mangoes, kiwis, figs, bananas, and watermelons. Fruit is not yet ripe in the spring, and therefore its taste may still be sour. Prioritizing the sour flavor in your meals can help the liver. Other liver enhancing foods include mint tea, mung beans, green veggies, tomatoes, mustard greens, apples, carrots, beets, rye, radishes, and lemons.
Brown crab, lemon sole, haddock, sea trout, wild salmon, mussels, lobsters, oysters, and clams are traditionally supported seafood and fish foods for spring. While the intake of meat intake should be minimal, lamb, duck, grouse, rabbit, and small fowl are recommended. To build blood, high-quality liver should also be taken into account. Stay away for fatty and heavy foods and limit your intake of salty foods, like soy sauce and miso.
Emotion and Energy
High (as well as low) emotions such as sadness, depression, frustration, and anger can harm the liver. In spring, concentrate on equanimity and try to be open and unsuppressed. Cleanse your mind of anger, impatience, and dissatisfaction that can arise over winter. Spring time is also known to be a season for philosophical queries, intuition, intelligence and a curiosity about the vastness of the universe. The voice is empowered and has been given the ability to shout.
Activity and exercise should increase. Early rest is highly advised, so one can wake up early, walk in the morning dew and absorb its invigorating and fresh vitality. Tui na massages, qigong, and stretching are especially vital in the spring, to nourish your muscles and tendons.
We have a strong dedication for the promotion of balance restoration, patient empowerment, and health education – both on the personal and community level. We believe we can all learn how to live in harmony with nature in a happy way to support the body’s inherent ability to heal itself.
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The Importance Of Cold And Hot Foods In Chinese Nutritional Therapy
There is nothing more basic to human health than eating healthily. Sadly, there is a lot of confusing information out there that it is really very difficult to select the right one. The aim is to give a few fundamental standards of Chinese Nutrition that anyone can follow without altering what they consume.
Some aspects of the Chinese diet can be very puzzling and may even necessitate diagnosis prior to the recommendation of a certain diet. This article is designed to set some simple rules that anyone can integrate into their everyday habits.
According to Chinese medicine in Bellmore, of which Chinese nutritional therapy is a branch of, there are three parts to any good diet:
• Current state of health
• Environment
• Basic body constitution
At all times should these three aspects be taken into account; this is the reason there is no such thing as good food or bad food in Chinese medicine, only food.
Chinese medicine mainly pertains to Chi which is required to flow freely at all times. When it fails to flow in a smooth manner, it will result in all types of diseases. This is the one single purpose of acupuncture, Qi Gong, and even Chinese herbs.
In regard to food, Chinese medicine states that the human body reduces Chi from food via a number of steps, until there is not a single Chi left. The Chi can be excreted as stool and urine. This is why Chinese medicine is primarily designed to reinforce the body in order to tap the energy or Chi that is in the food in contrast to Western nutritional therapy which mainly focuses on nutrient supplementation.
1. Current state of health:
In Chinese nutritional therapy, a person’s current state of health needs to be considered seriously. So, for instance, if a person suffers from Chi deficiency, he’s likely to always feel cold, and if he consumes salads excessively, or in the morning eats cold cereal with cold milk, it will exacerbate his Chi deficiency even more.
Chinese medicine classifies foods into: hot, warm, neutral, cool, and cold. In addition, the nature of food can be changed by cooking.
2. Environment
Environmental factors are as equally important as a person’s basic constitution. This is what’s totally missing from the Western diet as Chinese nutritional therapy classifies foods as warm, cold, or neutral. It matters a lot in Chinese medicine whether some kinds of food are consumed at a specific season. For instance, most people would say that in the winter, they find it difficult to eat a raw food diet. This is because, by nature, raw food is cold food, and the environment is cold in winter, making eating raw foods just too much for the body to handle. Of course, this is not an issue during summer since the warm environment balances the cold food.
3. Basic constitution
Each person has his or her own basic constitution. Individuals usually prefer cold or hot climate. Some like coke and other cold drinks while others prefer hot drinks such as coffee or tea. Obviously, seasons are major factors in Chinese medicine and so another question to ask is if someone prefers winter to summer or vice versa.
Generally speaking, foods are sorted in the following categories:
Cool: Sour cream, sprouts, cucumber, yogurt
Cold: Most vegetables, dairy products except butter, which is warm), seafood
Neutral: Wheat, potato, rice, most staple products
Warm: Onion, pork, goose, duck, red wine, coffee
Hot: Alcohol, beef, lamb, got, meat products
How the nature of food is changed by the way it is cooked
For instance, when food is cooked at a higher temperature, more Yang energy is carried to the food. Steaming or boiling is an extremely gentle form of cooking while barbecuing or deep frying introduces a significant amount of Yang energy into the food.
So how can we combine all these principles?
If you have a cold constitution, you should eat more cooked food more so during the winter, or when you have cold feet and hands, and/or when you feel tired.
If you have a warm constitution, you need to eat foods that have been gently cooked especially in the summer. You also need to avoid spicy food.
The Four Elements Of Qigong
Qi gong is comprised of four basic elements. Generally, this is deemed to be a self taught method or process that entails tapping into a person’s Qi through proper mental focus, breathing, and body posture. Both your mind and body need this focus to attain results. Qigong is a blanket term that’s used to cover several forms of traditional Chinese therapies and energy exercises. A lot of meditation practices are used in Canada and they are called Chi Kung. In China, Yoga, for instance, was known as “Indian Qi gong” and the word Zen is perhaps one of the important traditions of Qigong among Buddhists.
The first element of Qigong is the development of intention and mind which is also referred to as the Yi and Chi. While this can be accomplished with physical movement or exercise, it is only secondary to the development of mind or consciousness. This can be as basic as gently swaying to and fro or counting one’s breaths. Occasionally it could also include holding your position for long periods of time, such as crossing your legs.
The second element of qi gong is to attain peace of mind and body in order to gain maximal health. In most healing methods and martial arts, the main aim is on the wellbeing of the body. This is the reason Qigong is a better rounded way of life – it completes the harmony of your mind and body.
The third element is healing that results from mental focus on the health of the body, breathing, and body posture. Qi gong promotes and teaches inner strength, strengthens the immune system, reinforces ligaments, enhances flexibility, and alleviates stress. Better coordination and balance are usually experienced by long time practitioners.
The final element is training over self care or self-training. This is not a quick process or fix. A lot of people do rely on a Qigong expert or master to guide them on the path of pain relief or improvement. Qigong has benefits that are directly connected to the dedication and commitment of the person and to his/her practice of Qigong.
Qigong can be applied into virtually every aspect of a person’s life which makes it more enjoyable and easier for everyone. Today, in China, statistics show that there are over 100,000 form of Qigong. This number may seem a bit fantastic but the truth is this number could reach as high as 6 billion various ways to practice Chi as everyone on this planet was meant to do so. This means that each individual could cultivate his/her own style that is unique to him or her.
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