What makes a human sick?

Most often, people wish good health, whether themselves or to other. Vibrant health, stable health, preferably constant health. However, nothing lasts forever, and so, naturally, from time to time, a trouble always appears.

Thus, how can we keep good health as long as possible and not succumb to diseases? For example, classical Chinese medicine offers such a “guide for the whole nation” in five points:

1. Correct breathing is the easiest and also the fastest method to change unpleasant feelings in your body. Often it is enough to take a deep breath both in width (into the hypochondrium) and in depth (below the navel), breathe in and out slowly – and one feels better immediately. Everyone should breathe as regularly, profusely, and evenly as possible – like a piper playing the bagpipes: on one side he blows air through the bellows, on the other side he squeezes the filling bag, a tone comes out of the pipe in front, which the piper transforms into a melody with his fingers, and a lilting song comes out of his mouth. It is the perfect synchronization of several activities together, much like drivinga car properly, resulting in a smooth ride. Everything seems easy and simple, as if it would go by itself – and that’s what correct breathing should be like: regular, balanced and dynamic, about 8 times per minute for adults. When one is stressed, they usually either breathe rapidly and shallowly, or they hold their breath, both of which lead, according to TCM, to stagnation of Qi. After all, this is the most common cause of all kinds of psychosomatic problems today. Withal all you have to do is take a deep breath! Because the muscle pump will stir up all these stagnations and blockages and naturally sweep away thevarious obstacles and with them the “boulders on the soul”. Where everything flows freely and peacefully, without barriers, there is harmony – and therefore health!

2. Proper diet is certainly a broad term. It is about eating according to the seasons and eating according to the physical constitution. Of course, the diet is then further adjusted according to acute or chronic ailments, physical or mental work, age, etc., but these two aspects play a key role in the prevention of a disease:

• Diet according to the seasons depends on cosmic principles and laws – the Earth rotates around its axis and around the Sun… And a human should adapt to them so as not to unnecessarily getting into possible difficulties. We eat differently in winter, differently in summer (see Eating
  with the Seasons).
  

• Diet according to the physical constitution is based on the innate physical constitution according to YIN and YANG. It is natural that we are all different – some are strong, muscular, others frail and thin, some are pale, others red… And one should adapt to this identity and choose “the right fuel for their unique engine” (see our TCM test).
  

3. Short-term emotions are the kind of everyday problems that we encounter in our daily lives, which may derail us for a while – but they go away as quickly as they came. Problems only occur when such situations are too frequent, e.g., when you easily lose your cool. And if it happens all the time and repeatedly (we “rev” the engine), then it has to manifest itself somewhere. Most often as a disruption of the so-called Liver/Gallbladder Horizontal Axis – Pancreas/Spleen/Stomach. This condition often manifests itself in a number of so-called psychosomatic problems, ranging from a wide range of digestive ailments, allergies to bothersome mental states and neuroses. The most effective in these cases are harmonising mixtures that correct imbalances between the organs, e.g., Uplifting the Heavy Heart – 081

4. Long-term emotions, on the other hand, are those that each of us carries from birth, without even knowing it (sometimes even from intrauterine life…). They include all long-term mental health problems caused by a range of emotional injuries – fears, anxieties, worries, unprocessed emotions even from childhood (e.g., various psychological traumas, parental alcoholism, abuse, bullying at school, feelings of lack of love…), various shocks and sudden situations (e.g., car accidents, muggings, excessive startle…), unresolved grievances from the past, inability to forgive and mend relationships (e.g., unresolved partner and family relationships), frustration, long-term feeling of being hurt, stubbornness, obstinacy, psychological terror at work or in the family, but also the abuse of drugs, alcohol, workaholism, overwork, chronic insomnia… All this leads to disruption of the so-called Heart – Kidneys Vertical Axis of life. This, literally, life axis works as a kind of paternoster or elevator, which is constantly moving up and down, regularly and in a certain rhythm – like a sinusoid. If it is disrupted, long-term psychological problems of various kinds appear. This also fulfils all the principles of classical Chinese medicine: balance, regularity and dynamics. The most frequent harmonizing mixtures in this case (daringly being able to replace chemical drugs like Neurol, Lexaurin, or Rivotril) are combinations of herbal codes Elixir of Heavenly Emperor – 121 and Calming of Rough Water – 062.

5. Innate constitution is the most important indicator of our health. From it, everything else derives, just as a tree grows from its strong or weak root – preferably from the healthy root we have been given. How to find out our “gene pool” or a kind of genetic equipment that we obtained from our ancestors, allows the so-called TCM Radar. It is based on a five-thousand-year (!) compilation of the cosmic calendar made by ancient Taoist masters based on careful observation of nature and humans. All of this was transformed into a unique and completely original personality characteristic. In fact, ancient Chinese scholars have identified certain recurring patterns and traits, both in health, behaviour, weather, etc. Based on this observation and by linking all the contexts together (as when assembling a Rubik’s cube), they elaborated a general but accurate characterization of a person – not only their physical and mental constitution, but also their health, talents, positive or negative qualities, ability or inability, suitable profession or partners, etc. TCM Radar is based on the date and time of birth of each individual and evaluates 144,000 unique personality possibilities. You can try it out at www.tcmradar.cz.

Health preservation and disease prevention are clearly expressed in the simple principles of classical Chinese medicine:

Balance, regularity, and dynamics