Posted by Hombre on July 15, 2010, at 19:45:39
http://sacredpeaks.net/meMedicineIntro.htm
Chinese doctors explain that out of balance people crave foods and lifestyles that, in turn, produce more imbalance. "Don't trust your thoughts when you are out of balance" is an old Chinese saying. You have to get beyond "likes" and "dislikes" and understand your life more in terms of energy, which can only be experienced in the present moment. Amy called this understanding your "now situation." This is a difficult step for many to take. Master Ni gives us this insightful translation of Chapter 71 of the Tao Te Ching:
"To know what one knows is to be highly enlightened. To know what one should know is sick. Only one sick of suffering can be saved from suffering."
Chinese doctors will tell you that patients who are really sick listen to their advice much better than people who are just a little sick. Many fad diets and purification practices can actually bring about deficient chi syndromes because the vital, positive energy is eliminated with the toxicity.[5] Without sufficient understanding of energetics, more harm than good may be accomplished. Many sincere people have experienced these results from supposedly balancing regimens that were in truth very extreme and therefore harmful.
First the Chinese doctor will advise the patient to eliminate foods, habits and living conditions that aggravate the condition. Later they will advise the addition of foods, exercises, etc. that will benefit the condition.[6]It is really helpful to obtain an accurate energy diagnosis from a TCM practitioner. This is not always possible. What can you do if Traditional Chinese Medicine is not available to you at the present time? You can avail yourself of the "Three Free Therapies" as the Chinese call them. They are exercise, relaxation, and diet.[7]
The exercise should last at least twenty minutes and cause just barely noticeable sweat. Profuse sweating dissipates energy and can increase the body's fire too rapidly.[8] Walking at a brisk pace combined with T'ai-chi Chuan or Pa Kua practice is recommended.
The relaxation portion of the regime needs to also last at least twenty minutes. A daily practice of deep relaxation is the key to reducing stress. The discipline must be carried out daily to have a cumulative benefit. Seated and standing meditation programs can be combined with floating in an isolation tank several times a month.
Diet is the most important aspect of any holistic health program. What and how much we choose to eat is within our control, while a lot of sources of stress are not. The Chinese have a unique understanding of the energetics of food. When the wrong foods for a particular individual are eaten repeatedly they prevent the body from receiving the nutrition that it needs and stagnates the flow of chi and blood throughout the body. This leads to pain in areas where blood stagnates and places where channels have been damaged through injury. Chinese medicine is a process whereby the stuck energy is removed with acupuncture and the diet is corrected for the individual's body so that they don't continue to dump the bad energy back into the channels. The patient's nutrition is supplemented with herbs. If a person is given acupuncture and the channels are opened and they continue to eat the incorrect diet it has the potential to make the problems much worse because the negative energy from the food can go in deeper and become stuck.
In any disciplined approach to fitness and personal purification each person comes to a "sticking point" in the process that must be overcome. In Chinese medicine this is called the "healing crisis," at which point the attempts to move the blocked energy have made the patient weak. If treatment is suspended, the patient may get much worse.
If treatment is continued at the critical point then the positive chi can be nourished and balance restored. In the practice of T'ai-chi Chuan beginners always come to a point where they really get into their practice or they quit altogether. The same thing happens with practitioners of seated meditation and Chi Kung. You have to have some faith in the process and push on through. The much sought after health benefits of all holistic therapies are only realized by those who stick with the regime.
poster:Hombre
thread:954615
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100703/msgs/954615.html