Looking for Health (1)

Looking for health

In our practice we are often asked what exactly Traditional Chinese Medicine entails and what it can mean for our health. In our blogs we go into this in more detail and explore the possibilities to improve our health from a Chinese perspective. 

In studies of happiness, health is often at the top of the list. We want to be healthy and do everything we can to achieve this state. Our kitchens are full of vitamin preparations and ‘healthy foods’. We stick to diets and cures, we run ourselves happy, go to the gym and fly all over the world to ‘recover’ from our stressful lives. In the meantime, apps tell us exactly how we are doing. Did I sleep well? No idea, just check my sleep app.

Many of our efforts for good health resemble what the Chinese saying “Bei Dao Er Chi” indicates: ‘Run in the opposite direction.’.You can also translate it that we run away from ourselves, while the basis of our health may be found more in the intimate relationship with ourself. Knowing yourself very simply means that you are in contact with your organs, with the energy flows in your body, feel your emotions and above all that you take the time to pay attention to your soul. We are more than our physical body, even though medical science leads us to believe the opposite. In the Western view it makes sense to compare the human body with a car. If any part is broken, replace it. And when you are in pain, you take a painkiller.

Heaven – Man – Earth
The Chinese view is less materialistic and more integral. Man is a unity that lives between Heaven and Earth, which means that influences around us affect us profoundly, think of the weather and the climate. And Man himself has, besides a physical basis – his body – two more centers: an emotional and a spiritual core. In Chinese these three are called: Jing-Qi-Shen. Loosely translated they are “three treasures”, where you can see Jing as the physical (Earth), we equate Qi with emotions (Human) and Shen with the spirit (Heaven). So you see that in Chinese thinking the unity of Heaven – Earth – Human is reflected in both the large – in the universe – as in the small.

A harmonious cooperation of the three treasures is the most important condition for health. Because those who are in harmony with themselves and their environment often also feel happy emotionally. And that happiness automatically manifests itself in physical well-being. And even if someone is suffering from a physical condition, a healthy mind can make that person happy. That is why Chinese medicine always focuses on the mind and emotions of the patient as well as on pain relief.

You can use the analogy with the Great Wall of China for how you can look at health. In that respect, Traditional Chinese Medicine is not very different from Western medicine. Both assume that a good resistance offers the best protection against viruses and other pathogens. It is not without reason that Covid leaves enormous traces worldwide, especially with those who have weak resistance.

The real Great Wall of China was once built to keep barbarians out. It is the same with your own Great Wall of China. The moment you become emotionally or spiritually unbalanced and this imbalance persists for a long time, you run the risk of a weakened defense that allows pathogens to invade.