Find Your Path to Greater Health
Regulating Your Breath – the Breath of Life
Breathing and alterations in our breathing pattern can affect our health. There are many art forms that have a focus on proper breathing. Proper breathing is an important part of Martial Arts, Yoga, Tai Ji Chuan and Qi Gong. Have you ever noticed how your breathing pattern changes when you’re sleeping or when you’re laughing … Continue reading "Breathing"...
Regulating Your Body
Health in Posture Remember how your mother always told you to sit up straight? Remember how you might have questioned why? As you may come to understand from this article maintaining good posture is good for your health. In oriental medicine there is an axiom that can be paraphrased as such: Where there is obstruction … Continue reading "Health in Posture"...
The body runs like a factory with many jobs to accomplish. If fundamental processes like sleep and diet are not well maintained then the performance of important operations to support health like digestion and immune function will lead to poor production or poor health. For example, a patient is in need of treatment for chronic low back pain. … Continue reading "The Body Factory"...
The body runs like a factory with many jobs to accomplish. If fundamental processes like sleep and diet are not well maintained then the performance of important operations to support health like digestion and immune function will lead to poor production or poor health. For example, a patient is in need of treatment for chronic low back pain. After trying many other conventional treatments they decide to try something different – acupuncture.
The patient has a diet which tends to cause digestive problems leading to additional inflammation that amplifies pain and blocks healing. In addition, the patient has trouble falling asleep and tends to go to bed late. Sleep is insufficient resulting in low energy throughout the day. The body, in this case is like a factory requiring a workforce of 1000 people to function but only 500 are showing up and the rest are out sick.
The analogy of getting these people back to work means we have to treat the body as a whole to maximize healing and restore health. The process of treating the low back pain is going to be slow if diet changes and sleep patterns aren’t addressed.
Prior treatments probably have not been very successful because sleep and diet problems have not been identified and improved as part of a whole-body treatment plan.
If you have a chronic health problem, you need a whole-body treatment plan that’s going to recognize you as a whole person with your individual health issues. If you’re a person who is proactive and likes to prevent health problems before they take over then you’ll want to look for wellness care that will support the body as a whole as well.
Treatment for the whole-body is called holistic medicine. Holistic practices in health considers the whole person – body, mind, emotions and spirit. Holistic medicine will support important restorative fundamentals such as sleep, diet, digestion, exercise, stress management, lifestyle health, and mental-emotional health with a strong emphasis on prevention to maximize your health potential.
Think holistically when it comes to your health.
Gut health is an important fundamental to take care of for optimal
health. Maintaining good gut health is especially important for
children. Their young bodies are not fully developed and more vulnerable
to ailments. Teaching them good dietary habits will set them up for
greater health for a life time.
As a father and a holistic health practitioner, I can attest to the
importance of gut health in children as a measure of overall health. I
have 2 young children (3 and 8). I am constantly looking for signs of
any health issues that I can manage and treat early on. Early prevention
is the key to support health and avoid chronic problems that require
drastic measures like strong medications or even surgery.
I’d like to point out that there are 4 fundamentals that are so
important to prevent problems and support health. These 4 fundamentals
include optimizing sleep, diet/digestion, exercise and stress
management. If these aren’t healthy then you’re just be symptom chasing and will struggle in any sort of treatment.
In this article I want to share with you an observation based on my
children’s health. About 2 years ago, during the spring time when all
the bugs come out, my children caught a stomach bug. The signs were
obvious – vomiting and diarrhea. This was the first time my girls got
sick like this. It was difficult to manage. When my oldest daughter
started attending school she was coming back home with all sorts of
trouble like colds, flu, stomach bugs and so on. They soon recovered and
got better but their grade of health had diminished.
What I saw unfold over the next year was interesting from a medical
point of view. After being sick with this stomach bug, they lost their
appetite and tended to get sick more frequently. Their eating wasn’t the
best. Not like before getting sick. Before getting sick they both were
great eaters. My youngest daughter was an amazing eater. She had a
gigantic appetite. She ate so good but I believe the stomach bug now
diminished digestive function and gut health. They didn’t want to eat
much and we, as parents, were very concerned. My youngest daughter had a
lower appetite for more than a year. My oldest daughter seemed to get
past it much easier, only displaying signs of a low appetite over
several weeks before improving.
I look for all signs and symptoms in this matter – their energy level
– how active they are; their eating habits – how much they ate; What
foods they craved; their bathroom habits – how often they went and so
on.
As a first line of defense, I make sure my children eat well and get
their sleep (at least 10 hours per night). I use whole food supplements
to make sure they get sufficient micro-nutrient support. I also use a
lot of natural remedies with my children. These remedies are based on
whole food supplements and pediatric herbal tinctures.
I also use these remedies in my clinical practice. These remedies work
great but I did struggle with my youngest daughter because she was more
picky and didn’t want to take some of the already established remedies I
used. I had to do some searching to find alternatives she would like.
Also the communication with young children is difficult. It’s hard for
them to tell you how they feel when everything is new to them. I
believe these are reasons why it took her longer to get her appetite
back on track.
Now when I see parents struggling to get their children to eat and
struggle with chronic sickness, colds, mucus, phlegm and such, I think
it’s very common to get a stomach bug and end up with poor gut health.
Without the right treatment and support, they develop ongoing chronic
health issues that require stronger medicine. I see some children having
their tonsils removed and tubes inserted in their ears because of
chronic infections and lots of mucus and phlegm clogging their body. I
also see children repeatedly receiving antibiotics which also can
destroy gut health. A healthy gut also means a healthy immune system.
Any irritants that continue to degrade gut health will lead to chronic
ailments. If you’re children are always getting sick, look into their
gut health first.
Gut health is so important, especially for children who are
developing. Their digestive systems are not fully developed like the
rest of their body. Understanding good dietary habits are important to
support their digestive system.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we have a pattern of diagnosis
that explains how poor gut health can lead to respiratory problems, poor
immune function and chronic ailments. TCM principles tell us that
dampness is formed in the Spleen and stored in the Lungs. Dampness is a
pathogenic condition in TCM that can translate into such symptoms as
heaviness in the body, fullness in the head, pressing sensation in the
chest, feeling fatigued, swelling (edema) and nausea. Dampness can
transform into phlegm and mucus in the body.
In conventional medicine, the spleen is not part of the digestive
function and translation is needed. Translate the TCM Spleen function
into digestion. Digestion aids in the transformation of food into clean
energy. A poor digestive system will produce a dirty, turbid energy that
can form into dampness and phlegm. This dampness can find its way into
spaces in the body and obstruct circulation.
Good health is all about good circulation. Poor circulation,
obstructed by dampness, will lead to all sorts of health issues
including chronic respiratory infections. This is because the immune
system is blocked from doing its job and can’t get into the
phlegm-thickened areas. When the immune system is blocked bad bugs will
thrive resulting in chronic infections.
Here are some tips to decrease dampness and phlegm, strengthen your gut and your optimize your immunity:
Avoid cold foods and drinks – cold will cool down
the digestive fire and weak our stomachs’ ability to be efficient in
digesting food. Here’s some common sense proof – spices are often used
in foods to aid in digestion. Try eating food without any spices and
notice how it might sit heavy in your stomach and not move along well.
Spices warm the digestive fires. Most spices in food like pepper,
ginger, cumin and other digestive aids like garlic and onions improve
digestion. The bad bugs don’t thrive in the gut well when garlic and
onions are around. Children don’t tend to like strong flavors and
therein lies the struggle. Try introducing spices in small amounts
slowly over time. They will get use to them.
Don’t overeat – only eat until you are 80% full.
Overeating will overwhelm the digestive system and weaken its ability to
function optimally. If you feel tired after eating you overdid it and
your losing energy instead making more of it.
Eat lots of sugar and carbs (let’s see if you’re
paying attention! )– if you want to destroy your digestive system, form
lots of dampness and phlegm, feel tired, feel edgy and gain weight then
eats lots of sugar and carbs. If you don’t like all these conditions,
then avoid sugar and decrease your carbs (staple foods like cereal,
grains, – bread, pasta and potato)!
Get more exercise/get moving – The body is like a
tube. Everything flows through it like a tube – blood, food, air and so
on. When you feel sluggish, heavy or even constipated, things are
probably clogged up inside. When you feel clogged you need to make sure
all the tubes are flowing. Exercise causes the body cells to want to eat
more and pull in more or pull along more for better circulation. Every
tube between the input and outputs of the body will start to literally
flow better with more exercise. In the end you should only eat what you
need to support your activity.
Eat real foods and limit processed foods – real
foods have real nutrition. Process foods contain toxins, chemicals and
preservatives. Many nutrients have been beaten out of processed foods.
They are a poor source of nutrition and you shouldn’t rely on them as
staple foods to eat daily.
Early warning signs of getting sick – check the nose
and cheeks. If they are cold it’s possible they will catch a cold if
they aren’t treated. Make sure to dress warm, protect your neck from
wind, eat warming foods like soup, ginger tea and use spices like
pepper, ginger and cinnamon. Also try taking in more onions and garlic
to warm your system. This is helpful for young children you can’t talk
or communicate how they feel. For early signs of older children getting
sick pay attention to any complaints of bellyache. It usually starts in
the gut then turns into a respiratory condition.
There are three methods of exercise that should be emphasized to aid
in rehabilitation or general maintenance of our bodies – Relaxation,
Flexibility, and Strengthening.
All to often people don’t follow these simple guidelines and pursue
exercise that only leads to injury. Integrating these three methods are
important. Knowing which method to use and when to use them are the keys
to successful training. Good health means good circulation. Good
circulation is smooth, plentiful and without obstruction. Pain is
obstructed circulation. We exercise to strengthen our body but
strengthening our body when we have pain is the wrong idea. When there
is pain we need to work with relaxation and stretching techniques until
the pain subsides then we can return to strengthening exercise. More
people are familiar with strengthening techniques such as jogging,
weight lifting, aerobic exercise and so on. Relaxation and Stretching
(Flexibility) may be less familiar to most. Although relaxation can
imply sleep and rest there are other methods that apply such as massage
and meditation. As far as stretching goes many have stretched and have
done so incorrectly, possible hurting their bodies in the process.
Stretching involves physically warming up the body through slow, proper
stretching techniques that involve techniques using the mind and breath
control.
Here are 3 simple examples of Relaxation, Flexibility and Strengthening that can shape a healthy body.
Relaxation: Dan Tian Breathing Meditation The Dan Tian is a
Chinese term meaning ‘internal elixir’. The Dan Tian can be thought of
as the source of our Qi (pronounced chee) or body energy. The Dan Tian
is located 3 inches below the naval deep into the center of the body
midway between the back and front side of the abdominal/lumbar region of
the body. Sit in a comfortable position. Relax your shoulders. Place
your hands, one over the other, on your lower abdomen just below your
naval so that the centers of your palms are aligned with the Dan Tian.
Calmly clear and focus your mind on the center or the Dan Tian of your
body. Breath deeply, slowly, evenly and gently. Your mind leads your Qi
or body energy. During a stressful and busy day our energy has expanded
and is being dispersed. By doing the Dan Tian Breathing Meditation we
consolidate our Qi and bring it back to the source. This meditation will
reenergize the body and will replenished and promote a smooth state of
circulation for our body, mind and spirit.
Stretching: Standing Tall between Heaven and Earth Stand with
feet shoulders width apart. Feet should feel rooted through the center
of the soles deep into the earth. Relax your shoulders and place your
hands by your sides. Allow a small egg-size amount of space in the
armpit region so as to not cut off circulation to your arms. Bend your
knees slightly. Elongate your spine by keeping your shoulders relax and
pressing the top of your head gently upwards with the image of pressing
the heavens with your crown. Breath deeply, slowly, evenly and gently.
Allow your breath to sink – As you breath your abdomen will rise and
fall. On inhalation allow your abdomen to expand gently. If only your
chest is expanding you aren’t breathing deep enough or perhaps your
posture is collapsed not allowing the abdomen to expand. Don’t try to
expand just relax and breath deeply and allow it to naturally happen.
Deep breathing will give a sense of fullness within the torso and
abdomen gently massaging and expanding internal organs, muscles and
skeletal structures such as the spine. This is a gentle exercise and
should not be forced. The rooting of the feet and the pressing of the
head upwards elongates the spine and the gentle and deep breathing adds
to the stretch promoting a wonderful and spacious feeling of relaxation
within the body.
Strengthening: Energy Embracing – Strengthen the Spine This
posture is used to strengthen the lumbar region of your back. Stand with
feet shoulders width apart and root yourself to the earth. Slightly
bend your knees. Relax the shoulders. Press the heavens and elongate the
spine by pressing gently upwards with the crown of your head. Hold your
arms out in front of you as if you are embracing a tree. Your arms
should curve inward so that your palms are facing you at about chest
level and your fingertips are several inches apart. Relax your elbows by
allowing them to point downward slightly. Breath deeply, slowly, evenly
and gently. Imagine embracing a white ball of energy that is expanding
slightly beyond your body. Hold this position for 3 minutes and maintain
proper posture as explained above. Your minds intention is placed
within your palms. If you are unable to maintain this posture try
staying in the posture for only 1 minute and work up to 3 minutes over
time as your back gets stronger.
These seemingly simple exercises are well balanced and place emphasis
on posture, breath and mental focus. The methods of Relaxation,
Flexibility and Strengthening together are highly rejuvenating for the
body. Each method supports the others and should be done sequentially as
such – relaxing, stretching, strengthening, stretching, and then finish
with relaxing. This order allows the body to properly warm up and cool
down.
Seek flexibility to strengthen. Seek relaxation to be flexible. When all else fails – relax and enjoy!
What do I mean by mental chatter and obsessive eating? Your mind is
always racing. You feel busy in your head with all that mental chatter.
Your head is full of lots of thoughts swirling around. There are so many
things to do but so little time. You’re so busy constantly
brainstorming and planning. You’re admired for your multitasking skills
with so many projects and tasks to consider but you’re health is falling
apart. Your eating habits become influenced by this mental chatter.
You’re gaining weight and wonder why?
If this sounds familiar I’d like to offer a simple suggestion to be
aware of and consider changing. Thinking requires energy and one source
of energy comes from the very foods we need to eat to support and
maintain body function. Change your thinking and your body will follow.
Stress is a killer nowadays. Modern stress is usually refers to
mental pressure. Years ago people were more physically active and the
traditional diet was loaded with calories to support that sort of
physical output of energy. Today people are mostly sitting behind
computers, TV’s, and sitting while driving in a car. Such inactivity
physically not only requires less carbs but it also conversely allows us
to get busy thinking more which can be problematic as well. Excess
thinking requires excess fuel – you want to eat more. Thinking requires a
lighter fuel than lots of physical activity. Eating smaller meals more
frequently would be more supportive. Instead of heavy, starchy foods and
sugars that pack a lot of calories, try eating more fruits and veggies.
It’s the same familiar recommendation but with an increased awareness
as to why. A busy mind with less physical activity requires a low carb
diet – plain and simple.
Next time, when you are mentally very busy, notice how you interact
with food. Do you find yourself starving and unable to control yourself?
Do you reach for anything, no matter how processed and bad it is, just
to satisfy the urge? Also notice how hungry you are when you are more
relaxed and comfortable with less mental chatter. I’m not talking about
the couch potato syndrome of mindlessly eating and watching TV for hours
on end. This is a talk about mindfulness – being mindful. It’s about
feeling comfortable with less mental chatter and a more comfortable
lifestyle pace in work and in our daily activities instead of
gravitating towards frantic, disorganized thoughts to drag us through
the hyperactive, daily grind.
Also consider what you can do to organize your thinking so it’s not
so unproductive and draining. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is said
that worry, obsessive thinking and ruminating weakens the digestive
process. All things have a cycle – from start to completion and around
again. Worry or ruminating thoughts are endless with no satisfying sense
of completion. This leads to unfinished and unsettling feelings like
anxiety. No cycle is completed. There’s no sense of fulfillment only
endless worry that leaves us feeling drained and empty inside.
Motivation is depleted and unsettling emotions like anxiety or sinking
depression seeps in.
Ancient practices in meditation, Tai Chi (Taijiquan) and Chi Kung (Qigong)
have shown to be beneficial to health for many reasons but I’ll point
out one – mindfulness. Be mindful of what you are thinking. Sometimes
you need to stop or slow your thinking down so you feel more comfortable
inside. Be aware of how you feel when you are relaxed and compare it to
how you feel when you are busy and amped up inside which requires more
energy. With so many raging thoughts it’s difficult to focus.
Distraction becomes the norm.
Try this simple exercise – focus your mind on your breathing. When
you’re relaxed notice how your breathing is deeper and more comfortable.
When you’re stressed with lots of mental chatter notice how your
breathing becomes perhaps tight, more constricted and uncomfortable.
Look for comfort in slow, deep breathing. Next time your mind is racing
and you feel uncomfortable refocus your mind on your breathing to slow
the thinking down. Try to breathe about 20% to 30% more deeply with ease
and comfort. Some people have difficulty trying to control their
breathing. When this happens just let go – don’t try to control it. Be
gentle and work on it slowly over time. Just sitting and focusing your
mind on 1 thing can slow down the mental chatter to realize a calmer
state of well-being for yourself and others around you. The frequency of
how you vibrate affects the vibrational frequency of others around you.
With the upcoming holiday season upon us we all sure need to feel that
good, warm, calming vibration.
It’s important to keep active to keep the body strong. We need to
keep our legs strong so they carry us far in life. We want to stay
independent and be able to get around well without limitations. This is
why it’s important to focus your time and energy on keeping your legs
strong.
Walking is a great way to exercise the legs but there are different types of walking that can make it more interesting.
So here’s a great help tip I’d like to share regarding 3 different ways to enjoy walking.
There’s the typical brisk walk that can strengthen leg and back muscles and provide a little cardio exercise for
our hearts. Walking outside, breathing in the fresh air and taking in
all the colors, sounds and energy vibrations from the natural
surroundings – so good for the body!
The next 2 styles are something different…
Tai Chi Slow-Motion Walking (aka immortal stepping)
I learned a great exercise from one of my fav Tai Chi instructors
named Brian Cooper. This exercise was called Immortal Stepping – walk
100 steps a day and you live forever! So I got that going for me….I
tried to make a funny, anyways…
Tai Chi is a wonderful exercise but to do it every day you have to
memorize the whole form unless you live with a Tai chi master who you
can follow along with.
An important characteristic in practicing the Tai Chi form is slow meditative movement.
This style of movement requires us to be more mentally focused on
what we are doing. Taking a step forward very slowly requires us to
balance on the opposite leg longer until the forward advancing foot is
firmly planted on the ground. This movement will not only develop better
leg strength but also increase mental focus.
Sometimes inclement weather prevents us from enjoying that brisk walk
outside so why not stay inside and walk up and down a hallway in your
house very, very slowly. Let your mental focus sink down through the
weight leg that you are balancing on while you advance your other foot
forward at a comfortable pace to maintain better balance. Then shift
your weight to the forward leg and maintain balance as you advance the
back leg forward. Don’t look down at your feet.
Try to keep your eyes level. Use your mind to reach out to your body
and develop a deeper level of mental awareness and mind-body
connectivity.
Last style…
Breath Walking
Anytime you have a chance to walk a bit, even if you park your car at
the far end of the store so you can have a chance to walk a ways at a
steady pace before reaching your destination, try breath walking.
Synchronize your breathing with your steps – take 2 steps as you
inhale and then take 2 steps as you exhale. You need to find a
comfortable pace to start. You don’t want to feel uncomfortable with
your breathing or walking. This too is a meditative style of exercise –
transform yourself into a breath walker!
Here we are harmonizing the mind, the body and the breathing –
together they become one. This is a key to good health. These are these
hidden secrets within Tai Chi as an exercise that are health
rejuvenating.
Stress causes the mind, the body and the breathing to become chaotic –
not working together or getting along. The mind is too busy, the body
is not reflecting what the mind is creating and becomes tense and the
breathing becomes shallow.
But with breath walking your body glides along as you consciously
synchronize your breathing with your steps and it can become very
relaxing and soothing for that unsettling state of busy mindedness.
Doing before going to bed – you may find you sleep better.
As a challenge you can try to slow your breathing and make it longer –
take 3 steps as you inhale and 3 steps as you exhale. Get into a rhythm
and see how far you can go. If it’s easy go up to 4 steps inhale and 4
steps exhale. If you are ever uncomfortable back it down to the previous
number of steps and then try again.
BONUS!!!
I have one more bonus style of walking to try…
Walking in Place
This is easy to do at home and it’s a great way to unwind before
going to bed. Swing your arms forward and back to engage your shoulder
muscles. Breathe deeply to oxygenate the body deeply. Lift your knees up
high to engage those leg muscles.
This doesn’t have to be vigorous and make you sweat. Just encourage
deeper breathing get some gentle movement going. Do it for 10 to 20
minutes each night, about an hour before bed time and see how you sleep.
Stress Management – A Fundamental Pillar of Health
