Maintenance guidance for a Type C yang-deficiency body constitution

As practitioners of life cultivation, we only focus on our own body constitution, and learn how to adjust our body constitution so that it will become a balanced body constitution resulting in a healthy and happy state. We do not pretend to be a professional practitioner who can take care of many people with different types of body constitution.

First of all, we try to determine what type of body constitution we have, then we will follow a maintenance guidance plan to do the necessary adjustment so that we will have a balanced body constitution. The guidance plan is proposed by a Board of Professional Herbal Medicine Practitioners.

If we have a type C yang-deficiency body constitution, this is the guidance plan for it.

If we have a type C body constitution, it means that we are deficient in yang-energy. What is it?

01 Overview

01 Definition

By definition, a type C body constitution is a physical state characterized by deficiency and coldness due to insufficient yang-energy.

02 Causes

There are several reasons why we may have a type C body constitution.

It may be (1) a congenital deficiency, or (2) a yang-deficiency after a long illness which depletes our yang-energy.

Examples of congenital deficiency include (1) deficiency and coldness in the family, (2) the parents may be weak at the time of pregnancy conception, (3) they may be pregnant at an older age, or (4) they may have premature birth.

Examples of induced yang-deficiency include (1) they may have a preference for coldness and damage the yang-energy in the process, (2) they may have suffered from long-term illness, or (3) they may be old and weak.

03 Visible physical characteristics

Overall characteristics: Insufficient yang-energy, with symptoms of coldness such as fear of cold and lukewarm hands and feet.

Physical characteristics: Soft and loose muscles.

Common manifestations: Aversion to cold, lukewarm hands and feet, preference for hot and spicy foods, lack of energy, pale tongue, fat and tender tongue, slow pulse.
Psychological characteristics: Quiet and introverted.

Incidence tendency: Prone to phlegm, swelling, diarrhea and other illnesses; pathogenic factors are prone to develop from coldness.

Adaptability to the external environment: Resistant to summer but not to winter; susceptible to wind, coldness, and dampness.

02 Guidance plan

The general guidance plan is offered by a Board of Professional Herbal Medicine Practitioners for the general public. Each individual is advised to seek professional help at the beginning to make sure he is following the right plan.

01 Body maintenance principles

If we have a type C body constitution, we are in a state of yang- deficiency, that is, we lack yang-energy. We will constantly have a feeling of tiredness and coldness.

In order to properly maintain our body, we would want to avoid fatigue. We should do everything within the limit of our ability, so as not to feel tired, so as to avoid further loss of energy.

Yang-energy has the functions of promoting, warming and transforming our body. When we have insufficient yang-energy, we lose some of these functions, or we are performing under par.

In our daily life, in work and study, we should try our best to do physical or mental work within our limits. We should try our best to “not walk too fast, not listen too hard, not see too much, not sit too long, and not lie down too tired.”

“Act within your ability. Do not pant while you breathe. Only by talking and laughing within your ability can you have fun. Do not go over your limit. Do not overdo it.”

We should conduct our daily activities in such a way that we do not waste our yang-energy. We should regard our meager yang-energy as our bank account. We have little money in the account, so we do not squander it.

Our yang-energy empowers us to be active and we carry out our daily activities without feeling tired. The source of our yang-energy is nutrients in our foods. To avoid fatigue, the foods we take should be warm and sweet, and the medicinal foods should be tonifying but at a warm level.

With yang-deficiency, we should eat foods that are warm in nature and sweet in taste.

Bear in mind that every food has the function of regulating energy and blood. Thus what we eat will affect the flow of energy and blood in our body, and we want to eat foods that will boost our yang-energy.

As recorded in Huangdi Neijing, Chapter Suwen: Different Treatise on the Five Internal Organs, that

The five flavors are taken into the mouth and stored in the intestines and stomach to nourish the energy of the five internal organs.”

Food in nature is classified into the four natural properties which are cold, hot, warm and cool, and the five flavors which are sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty. Food with different natural properties and tastes have different effects on our body constitution.

Remember, we are what we eat, so we eat properly, not randomly.

As recorded in Huangdi Neijing, Suwen·Zang Qi Dharma Shi Lun, that

“These five flavors are pungent, sour, sweet, bitter, and salty, and each has its own beneficial effects on our body. It may help to scatter, collect, slow down, quicken, harden, or soften. The four seasons and five internal organs are affected by different flavors, and the disease depends on the five flavors too.”

Many foods with warm natural properties and sweet taste have the effect of warming and replenishing yang-energy. Thus, if we have a yang-deficiency body constitution, we should consume foods that are warm in natural properties and sweet in taste (flavor).

If we take herbal medicine for body maintenance, the medicine should be tonifying but warming.

Bear in mind that warming and tonic medicines are classified into those with (1) deficiency of stomach yang-energy, (2) deficiency of spleen yang-energy, (3) deficiency of kidney yang-energy, and so on.

The medication should be differentiated accordingly. We should consult a professional practitioner if we do not understand it.

02 Living environment

Go to bed early and get up early in spring. Go to bed late and get up early and take a nap appropriately in summer. Go to bed early and get up early in autumn. Go to bed early and get up late in winter.

Beware and avoid the intense heat in summer. In the use of air conditioners to cool down, we should avoid direct or prolonged blowing of cold air.

Keep warm in autumn and winter. Avoid sweating, drunkenness, and avoid staying up late continuously to damage our vitality. Sexual intercourse should be moderate. Avoid staying under the shade of trees, in water pavilions or in the wind. Pay attention to keeping our feet, back and pubic area warm at ordinary times.

Sleeping and lying in accordance with the four seasons: health care should be adjusted according to the changes of yin and yang in the four seasons, and follow the laws of nature to obtain nourishment from heaven and earth. The biological clock in the human body is consistent with the day and night laws of nature.

Arranging work and rest in accordance with the laws of nature is beneficial to the health of the body. The four seasons are characterized by warm spring, hot summer, cool autumn, and cold winter. Organisms also have corresponding changes in spring sprout, summer growth, autumn harvest, and winter storage.

The work and rest time of the four seasons should be different according to the relationship between yin and yang in the season.

“Nourish yang-energy in spring and summer” means that we should go to bed early and get up early in spring, and go to bed late and get up early in summer. Because the days are long and the nights are short in summer, we should take a nap appropriately.

“Nourish yin-energy in autumn and winter” means that we should go to bed early and get up early in autumn, and go to bed early and get up late in winter.

If we have a yang-deficiency body constitution, we can tolerate summer but not winter. We are susceptible to wind, cold, and dampness.

When the climate turns slightly cooler, it becomes unbearable for us. Therefore, we should pay attention to keep warm in autumn and winter, and pay attention to avoid heat in summer.

In summer, our yang-energy tends to rise to the surface of the body, and the pores and body tissues are sparse. Therefore, in the use of air conditioners, we should avoid direct or prolonged blowing of cold air.

Sweating profusely, being drunk, and staying up late can easily aggravate yang-deficiency, especially kidney yang-energy. It is the foundation of yang-energy in our body. Thus we should exercise restraint in sexual intercourse.

Under the shade of trees, in water pavilions and in corridors with strong winds, the yin-energy is heavy and the yang-energy is insufficient. Therefore, we should not stay in these places for a long time. Otherwise, we will easily develop colds, diarrhea and other illnesses, and even cause “wind paralysis” such as numbness or facial paralysis.

Our feet are the farthest from the heart and are most susceptible to cold evil. There is a saying that “cold starts from the feet.”

Therefore, it is important that we should keep our feet warm. Our back is where the yang-meridians gather and circulate. When we have yang-deficiency, we are prone to cold pathogens on our backs, so we should keep warm.

Our dantian area is the “root of life” and the place where essence, energy and spirit are stored. Therefore, those of us with yang-deficiency body constitution should pay attention to keeping the dantian area warm.

03 Body movement

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we have low energy levels, so our body movement should be gentle and slow.

As practitioners of life cultivation, we may choose Mustang Shenzhan Techniques with stretching exercises known as taiji, wuqinxi, and 8-brocade discussed elsewhere on our website. We may also choose walking, jogging, flying kites, or playing croquet based on our personal physical strength.

It is not advisable to do strenuous exercise and we should avoid fierce competitions in sports and winter swimming.

“Movement generates yang-energy.”

Moderate exercise can boost our body’s yang-energy. Therefore, with a yang-deficiency body constitution, we may engage in appropriate exercise, but the movement should be gentle and slow to prevent overwork from damaging the yang-energy. Specific events should be determined by physical strength.

Taiji, wuqinxi, 8-brocade, walking, jogging, flying kites, and playing croquet are all sports that tend to be restful.

Among them, taiji combines traditional guidance and breathing methods, focusing on the close coordination between body training, energy training, and mind training. During the practice, on the one hand, it can exercise the muscles, relax the muscles and activate the circulation; on the other hand, through the mutual cooperation between breathing and movements, it can massage and exercise the internal organs to achieve the effect of strengthening the body.

According to legend, wuqinxi is a set of medical qigong created by Hua Tuo, a famous herbal practitioner of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is used to prevent, cure and prolong life by imitating the movements of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape and crane.

It is a kind of bionic exercise that

“moves outside and is still inside”

“seeks stillness in movement”

“has both movement and stillness”

It has both hardness and softness, a combination of hardness and softness, and practices both inside and outside of the body.

Traditional herbal medicine believes that the 8-brocade technique will soften tendons and strengthen bones, nourish energy and increase strength. It has the functions of promoting energy and blood circulation and coordinating the internal organs. This type of exercise will replenish yang-energy and increase physical fitness.

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we may easily further decrease our yang-energy if we participate in winter swimming or intense competition of sports, so we should not engage in strenuous exercise and we should avoid intense competitions and winter swimming.

04 Mental Adjustment

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we should be more content and less competitive or trying to catch up with the Joneses. We should avoid restlessness. We should try to avoid and reduce sadness, and prevent the influence of bad emotions such as panic, overjoyment and sorrow in our daily life.

In such a case, we should learn to appreciate calligraphy, painting, and opera. We may tend to plants and flowers. We may feed birds, fish and insects. Such activities will keep our mind calm and peaceful.

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we tend to have an unstable yang-energy level. Once the deficient yang-energy is disturbed, our mind will start to wander, easily frightened, sleep lightly, and the mind is said to be unstable.

We will often show bad moods and are prone to sadness, which in turn affects the movement of vital energy and blood. Therefore, in terms of mental recuperation, we must be good at regulating our emotions to eliminate the influence of bad emotions. We should be good at sorting ourselves out or talking to others, and be magnanimous to relieve sorrow.

The acts of appreciating calligraphy, painting, opera, or feeding birds, fish, and insects can cultivate our mood and relieve bad emotions caused by weak yang-energy.

We should develop the habit of being more content, less comparing, and not restless.

We should try to avoid and reduce sadness, and prevent the influence of bad emotions such as panic, overjoy and sorrow.

05 Dietary technique

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we should eat more foods that will raise and replenish our yang-energy, such as ginger, leeks, lychees, pineapples, peaches, mutton, and so on. On the other hand, foods such as ice cream, watermelon, pears and other raw and cold foods have the disadvantage of damaging our yang-energy, so we should eat less.

Ginger is hot in natural properties and pungent in taste. It affects the spleen, stomach, heart, and lung meridians. It warms the middle section of our body. It restores yang-energy. It warms the lungs and transforms drinks into fluids. It is often used to treat coughs and asthma caused by cold fluids in the lungs. It is used to treat cold body, cold back, and excess and thin phlegm. When a person comes in from the cold while trembling, the folk remedy is to let him drink ginger tea or soup right away.

Leek is warm in natural properties and sweet and pungent in taste, and it is non-toxic. It nourishes the kidneys and brings up the yang-energy. It nourishes the liver and stomach. It regulates vital energy and blood. It moistens the intestines and relieves constipation.

It is mainly used to treat night sweats, enuresis, frequent urination, impotence, spermatorrhea, choking, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, menstrual discomforts in women, menstrual leakage, vaginal bleeding, injuries from bruises, vomiting blood, and epistaxis.

Lychee is warm in natural properties and sweet in taste. It warms the spleen and liver, produces fluid and quenches thirst. It nourishes the heart and blood. It regulates vital energy and relieves pain. It reduces vital energy flow and relieves hiccups.

It is mainly used to treat chronic diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, polydipsia, hiccups, cold stomach pain, cancer, swelling, toothache, metrorrhagia and anemia, trauma and other illnesses.

Pineapple is warm in natural properties and sweet and sour in taste. It warms and nourishes the spleen and stomach. It produces fluid and quenches thirst. It moistens the intestines and relieves constipation, diuresis and reduces swelling.

It is mainly used to treat dysentery, abdominal pain and other illnesses.

Peaches are warm in natural properties and sweet in taste. It warms vital energy and blood. It promotes body fluids, quenching thirst and moisturizing the intestines.

It has a therapeutic effect on lung illnesses. It helps with energy and blood deficiency after serious illness.

Mutton is warm in natural properties (but not dry) and sweet in taste (but not greasy). It nourishes the kidneys and increases yang-energy level. It warms the middle section of the body and dispels coldness. It warms and replenishes vital energy and blood. It is appetizing and strengthens the spleen.

As practitioners of life cultivation, each of us have our preferences of foods. It is impossible to list all the food properties here. Most of us will make a note on our life journal as to each food that is beneficial to us, so we will eat more of it.

The usual medicinal foods for yang-deficiency body constitution are:

01 Angelica sinensis, ginger and mutton soup

Make the soup with 15 grams of angelica root, five slices of ginger, and 100 grams of mutton.

02 Stir-fry walnut kernels with leeks

Stir-fry 20 grams of walnut kernels and 30 grams of leeks together.

06 Medication technique

If medication is needed to treat a yang-deficiency body constitution, the following herbal medicines are in general use. They are yang-tonifying herbs. We will usually consult a professional practitioner before using them.

Morinda officinalis
Cistanche deserticola
Psoralen
Eucommia ulmoides
Cuscuta
Dog’s spine and so on.

Morinda officinalis nourishes kidney yang-energy, strengthens muscles and bones, dispels rheumatism, and treats impotence, cold and pain in the lower abdomen, incontinence of urination, cold uterus, wind-cold-damp paralysis, and soreness in the waist and knees.

Cistanche deserticola nourishes kidney yang-energy, replenishes essence and blood, moisturizes intestines and relieves constipation. It is used for impotence, infertility, soreness and weakness of waist and knees, weakness of muscles and bones, dry intestines and constipation.

Psoralen tonifies the kidneys and yang-energy, relieves vital energy, relieves asthma, warms the spleen and stops diarrhea.

Eucommia ulmoides nourishes the liver and kidneys, strengthen muscles and bones, prevent miscarriage, treat pain in the waist and spine, weak feet and knees, persistent urination, wet and itchy genitals, fetal leakage and uneasy fetal movements.

Seed of cuscuta nourishes the liver and kidneys, replenishes the essence, and improves eyesight. It is used to treat pain in the waist and knees, spermatorrhea, quenching thirst, residual urine, and dark eyes.

Dog’s spine nourishes the liver and kidneys, strengthens the waist and spine, and dispel rheumatism. It is used for soreness and weakness of the waist and spine, weakness of the lower limbs, rheumatic paralysis, and difficulty in flexion and extension.

For over-the-counter herbal medicine, the usual choice is jingui shenqi pills.

Lizhong pills or fuzi lizhong pills are the usual choices for people with spleen yang-deficiency.

The prescription for jingui shenqi pills was recorded on Jingui Synopsis written by Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty. It consists of:

Fuzi (processed fuzi)
Rehmannia glutinosa (shu dihuang)
Dogwood (shanzhuyi)
Alisma (zexie)
Cinnamon (rougui)
Paeonol （danpi)
Yam (shanyao) and
Poria (fuling)

It is mainly used to treat kidney yang-deficiency. It is also used to treat cough, asthma, impotence, chronic nephritis and other illnesses.

The prescription for lizhong pills originated from Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases written by Zhang Zhongjing. It consists of

Ginseng (renseng)
Dried ginger (ganjiang)
Atractylodes, (baizhu) and
Licorice (gancao)

It has the effect of warming the middle section of the body and dispelling cold, replenishing vital energy and strengthening the spleen.

The prescription for fuzi lizhong pills was based on that of lizhong pills with the addition of aconite which is pungent and hot. It has stronger power to warm the middle of the body and dispel cold, and can warm the kidneys. It is usually used for spleen and stomach deficiency, cold and pain in the epigastrium and abdomen, vomiting and diarrhea, and cold hands and feet.

07 Music adjustment

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, we should listen to more cheerful and festive music.

People with a yang-deficiency constitution tend to be quiet, calm, and introverted, but excessive quietness, calmness, and introversion can easily lead to depression, melancholy, and sadness. It will then affect the movement of vital energy and blood.

Therefore, we should listen to more cheerful and festive music to cheer us up.

08 Other adjustments

01 Foot soaking or foot bath or foot massage

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, if we soak our feet in hot water (40-45 degrees) for 30 minutes every night, it will do us good. It will help vital energy and blood flow to our feet and helps to put us to sleep.

02 Mustang Tuina Technique (massage)

With a yang-deficiency body constitution, massaging the zusanli, hegu and yongquan acupoints will help us. Applying moxibustion on the guanyuan, dazhui and mingmen acupoints are useful. Applying cupping to the feishu and fengmen acupoints are also useful.

The feet are farthest away from the heart and they are closest to the cold ground or floor, so they are more easily attacked by the cold evil. As the saying goes, “cold starts from the feet.”

The feet are farthest from the heart, have slow and less blood supply, and have poor ability to withstand cold. Therefore, those with a yang-deficiency body constitution should insist on soaking their feet in hot water (40-45 degrees) for 30 minutes every night to warm up their yang-energy and dispel the coldness.

Zusanli: Massaging zusanli acupoint regulates the body’s immunity and enhances disease resistance. It regulates the spleen and stomach. It tonifies the middle section and replenishes vital energy. It dredges the meridians and activates the collaterals. It disperses wind and dampness, strengthening the body and dispelling evil.

Hegu: It is the origination point of the large intestine meridian. The origination point is the place where the original vital energy of the internal organs passes through and stops. This point is also where the yingweiqi accumulates and has the function of replenishing yang-energy.

Yongquan: It is an important acupoint for longevity in the human body. If we massage this point regularly, we will have sufficient kidney essence, sharp ears and eyes, normal development, full of energy, strong waist and knees, and strong walking ability.

Guanyuan: It is the intersection point of the human body’s spleen meridian, kidney meridian, and liver meridian in the ren meridian. This point has other names such as jinggong and dantian. Moxibustion at guanyuan acupoint will treat yang-deficiency syndrome and qi-deficiency syndrome.

Dazhui: Moxibustion at dazhui has the effects of increasing yang-energy and relieving the surface, warming meridians and unblocking meridians, restoring yang-energy and fixing prolapse.

Mingmen: Moxibustion on the mingmen acupoint can strengthen the kidneys and strengthen their roots, warm the kidneys and strengthen yang-energy, and strengthen the waist and knees to strengthen kidney-energy.

Feishu: It corresponds to the lungs, so it is also the back feishu acupoint of the lungs. It can improve lung function and enhance lung defense-energy.

Fengmen: Fengmen has the function of dispersing wind, relieving the surface, clearing lung-energy, and can prevent and treat colds and respiratory diseases. Therefore, cupping at feishu acupoint and fengmen acupoint can warm and replenish the vital energy of the lungs and defend the lungs, remove cold air from the lung meridian, and prevent complications. It is usually used to treat typhoid fever in people with yang-deficiency.

03 A brief summary

Check what type of body constitution you are. If you have a yang-deficiency body constitution, the first thing you want to do is to watch out what you eat. You have to eat in any event, so you might as well eat what will balance your body constitution back to normal.

Then you should pay attention to your environment and dwelling. You should change your sleeping time according to seasonal changes. You should guide against environmental factors such as coldness and heat.

Then you should put your mind at peace in order to calm down and cultivate a smooth flow of vital energy.

You should also engage in some physical activities to raise your yang-energy, although you should not engage in strenuous exercises because you have low yang-energy to start with to support you. Some forms of stretching exercises are highly recommended.
You should try certain tuina (message) techniques to help the flow of yang-energy along.

If you feel that herbal medication may help, you should consult a professional practitioner. As practitioners of body wellness, we always regard medication as the last resort. We do not take it unless we need it.

All in all, once you follow the guidance plan here, you will adjust your body constitution from yang-deficiency type back to the balanced type.

In our next article, we will focus on Type D yin-deficiency body constitution, on its classification and maintenance. Stay tuned.

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