The natural world is a rich source of wisdom. We are part of Nature, and we need to learn to bring balance of chi (qi, energy) in our bodies.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) is an ancient medical system that has been practiced for thousands of years. It’s evolved and was influenced by other cultures, but the basics are still rooted in Taoist philosophy.
TMC is an integrative, complementary medicine, as it sees the human body as an interconnected system. The TMC focuses on understanding the human body holistically and focuses on ways of preventing disease from occurring.
The Five pillars of health
There are five pillars of health according to traditional Chinese medicine: balance in your body (emotions, mind); movement (exercise, rest, meditation); metabolism (fresh seasonal foods that are used as medicine, recognising the importance of herbs and nutritional balance, vitamins, minerals that plants/foods provide); forms of physical body therapy (cupping, acupuncture, tui-na) and recognising the physical environment (Feng shui, and how our environment impacts on our body). When these pillars are balanced you will live a healthy life free from illness and disease. The theory of TMC health is intricately linked to the natural world and the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and how these elements are interplay within our bodies.
It’s important to maintain all five pillars of health at once, because they also influence each other. For example, when you are exercising regularly but neglecting your diet or ignoring emotional stressors, this will affect how well you sleep and think clearly which can lead to habits such as overeating, shopping spree, biting nails, and constantly worrying and feeling fatigued – even if it’s not intentional!
These Chinese teachings can help you to improve your health by adjusting the balance in your qi. Qi is an intrinsic energy that flows through our body, which is believed that it affects everything from mental well-being to physical pain or weight gain. It’s believed if there is a blockage of qi in one section of the body then this could have adverse effects on other parts as it travels around.
How to incorporate TCM into your daily life?
Do you exercise regularly? Practice movement, yoga, meditation? Are you eating wholesome foods that will give your body strength, and hydrate by drinking at least 2 litres of water daily? Do you schedule in your diary time for exercise, rest, relaxation? If not make it a daily habit. We are more likely to do things if we write them down. Rest and relaxation are as important as exercise. 7 hrs a night sleep time seems to be the sweet spot for many, and according to TMC your beauty sleep starts at 10pm, as this is the time our body regeneration and detox processes kick in due to circadian rhythm (our 24 hours body clock).
A traditional Chinese Medicine approach examines our everyday habits.
What changes can you make?
