As practitioners of life cultivation, or health preservation, or holistic wellness, we engage in certain activities to make sure that our body is in good health, that our mood is in a happy state, and that our life will remain active.
Is it hard to do? No.
There are easy ways to achieve our goal. You just have to make sure that you will follow the ways.
They include living with Nature, with stable emotional states. They include a well regulated and comfortable daily life which includes nice rest, proper diet, smooth pooping, proper exercise, and regular physical checkups.
Easy, right?
01 Live with Nature
Avoid the evil spirits of the six evils and follow the law of the four seasons.
Six evils refer to wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness and fire, which is a summary of external factors that cause people to get sick. As a part of Nature, the five internal organs (liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney) of human beings are consistent with the five elements in Nature (wood, fire, earth, gold, and water). The restraint of the five internal organs is similar to the relationship between the five elements. The health preservation of the five internal organs of a person must conform to the characteristics of the five elements.
Human health preservation, including work and rest, diet, emotions, organs health preservation, and disease prevention must also be done in accordance with the qi of the four seasons.
Professor Zhang Yuzhen has repeatedly emphasized that among the six evils, cold, heat, and dampness are more likely to compete with blood and cause gynecological diseases.
02 Stable emotional state
Emotional adjustment, focusing on cultivating the mind.
The seven emotions refer to joy, anger, worry, thought, sorrow, fear and shock. They are important causes of injury to our internal organs.
Traditional herbal medicine believes that: excessive emotion can cause illnesses. Joy hurts the heart. Anger hurts the liver. Worry hurts the spleen. Thought hurts the spleen. Sadness hurts the lungs. Fear hurts the kidneys. Shock hurts the kidneys. Therefore, the smoothness and stability of emotion and will is an important part of health preservation.
Compared to ancient times, people now live in a complicated and troubled world. They are easily hurt emotionally, and in severe cases, they may cause illness or violent behavior. Women have delicate minds and are more likely to be hurt emotionally.
Huangdi Neijing said:
The illness of digestion originates from the heart and spleen. For men, there are no obvious symptoms, but for women, there will be symptoms of no menstruation.
It means that women have long-term liver depression and menstrual disorders due to unspeakable secrets in their hearts.
Professor Zhang Yuzhen believes that adolescent women are more prone to menstrual disorders due to long-term emotional distress and academic pressure. She emphasizes the importance of regulating emotions, soothing the liver and clearing the liver in the treatment of adolescent menstrual disorders.
03 Comfortable daily life
In daily life, timeliness and comfort are the standard.
Daily life includes daily basic activities such as work and rest, diet, and pooping. They are very much part of health preservation.
01 Work and rest
The correspondence between man and nature and the biological clock of the human body all require that if a person wants to maintain a healthy body, he should work and rest according to the law of day and night and seasons.
Busy work and the development of the Internet make people go to sleep later and later. Work and rest are in disorder which has become an important factor affecting people’s health.
Therefore, even if you can’t “work at sunrise and rest at sunset”, you should at least ask yourself to fall asleep before eleven in the evening. It would be even better if it can be further adjusted along the four seasons.
Professor Zhang Yuzhen often asks patients about their work and rest patterns during diagnosis, and tells patients to go to bed on time and not to stay up late.
02 Diet
People regard food as a Heaven sent pleasure. Food and eating is our daily life. The human body’s continuous metabolism and energy consumption are mainly supplemented by food.
Different foods contain different nutrients. Avoidance of certain foods is not good for your health, but eating more varieties is beneficial.
Furthermore, different foods are biased towards heat and cold. People should have a bias on foods according to their own body constitution. That is, you may maintain health and even cure illnesses using a proper diet and eating the right foods.
While treating with traditional herbal medicine, Zhang Yuzhen often guides patients’ diet at the same time, and even formulates dietary prescriptions for patients to increase the curative effect.
However, Huangdi Neijing said:
If you eat twice as much, you will hurt your stomach.
Nowadays, many hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, as well as arteriosclerosis, heart disease, etc. are closely related to unreasonable diets such as overnutrition and dietary structure. So, beware.
03 Urinating and pooping
We take in foods and drinks everyday so as to provide nutrients and water to the human body. After food and water are metabolized, they need to be excreted in the form of stool and urine in time. The unobstructed bowel movement is not only the need of metabolism, but also a sign of the health of the body. Urinating and defecating is also a window to reflect the physical condition.
Ensuring sufficient water supply to the body every day and defecating on time are important links that cannot be ignored for maintaining the health of the body. Before prescribing a prescription, the condition of the patient’s pooing is a must-ask item for Professor Zhang.
04 Physical exercise
Exercise and qi guidance can make the blood flow smoothly and achieve the purpose of curing illnesses and prolonging life.
Huangdi Neijing said:
Prolonged lying down hurts the qi. Prolonged sitting hurts the flesh.
If you want to maintain a healthy body and your work life full of energy, you need to do some exercise regularly and persistently. The intensity and specific form should also be selected according to your age, physical endurance, or physical needs.
05 Regular physical checkup
Regular physical checkup, early treatment of illness, recovery and prevention of recurrence are important for health preservation.
In the early stages of an illness, people may not experience physical discomfort. Regular comprehensive physical checkup should be performed in time, so that early appropriate treatment can be obtained.
For patients with premature ovarian failure who have improved after treatment or who have conceived and given birth, Professor Zhang Yuzhen repeatedly emphasized the need to consolidate treatment to prevent recurrence.
End of post on As we age series of posts.
MUSTANG HOLISTIC WELLNESS 