by Angela Tian Zhu | Mar 8, 2011 | Seasons
I had a patient a few years ago, he suffered from severe headaches and migraines, felt nauseous and vomited. He had no strength and looked grey. He would only get better after one or two days of quiet lying and relaxing in bed accompanied by taking a strong pain killer. Every time the sickness attacked him, he felt down and unwell also from frequent pain killer consumption. When he came to me, I asked, “Do you live on the ground floor or on a higher level?” He answered: “I’m living on the seventh floor. There are ocean views on three sides from the apartment.” I continued asking: “Do you open windows a lot?” He answered: “Yes, always. I enjoy the draft.” I responded, “Ah! Now the reason has been found. The draft is much stronger at high places, you would have headache if you exposed yourself to draft too much.” He replied, “Does that mean I should feel a headache every day if I opened my windows every day, how come I don’t? “ I told him, “when you feel energized your body has the ability to exclude wind, heat and cold from your body. However, when you feel tired, stressed or deficient, your body would not have this ability. And when all those things accumulate to a certain level, you would have headaches or migraines. The reason is that the wind has been staying in your head, so that spasm happens with your vascular and nerves, thus it ends up as a headache or even a migraine. If you only open the window on one side of your apartment, the movement of air is so much softer, with the air coming from one direction only”. The patient felt much better and had less headaches after he followed my advice and taking acupuncture treatments.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that too much draft or wind is a major factor leading to many diseases, it is the leading evil Qi (energy) of the six evils of sickness (wind, cold, heat, damp, dry and heat). The other five evils Qi attach to the wind to attack the human body. Such as wind cold, wind heat, wind damp etc. Thus, wind plays a leading role of all the evil Qi that account for sickness and diseases.
1. What is draft?
Draft is usually an artificial wind channel. It is the wind between two windows, two doors, two buildings, two walls, two objects etc. The higher the building, the stronger the wind; the thinner the wind, the sharper it could be. Australia is surrounded by ocean, there is strong ocean wind around us. Of course, this provides an advantageous condition for the draft to take place.
2. Why is it dangerous? Which part of body does the draft attack us?
Draft is sharper than natural wind. It could penetrate our skin, organs and body, especially when we feel deficient or sick. Children and the elderly are specially affected by it. The draft always prefers to ‘bully’ the weaker part of our body, stay there and make trouble.
IFs:
- If the wind attacks the joints, people feel sore in the joints, it ends up as arthritis.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the head (or people go out with wet hair), it could probably lead to headache, earache, sore throat or toothache.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the stomach, it could probably lead to abdominal distension, abdominal pain or diarrhoea.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the chest and lung, it will lead to cough, sore throat or cold.
- If the wind cold or wind heat attacks the neck or waist, it will lead to neck pain or sore back. (Note: It is easy to be attacked by draft when driving, improper sleeping positions make it easy for the wind to attack our body too)
- If the wind attacks the muscles, people would feel weak and have muscle pain.
- If the wind attacks the body after sex, it goes into the body deeper because the sexual arousal consumes lots of energy and blood. It is more possible to happen to males who can easily fall into deep sleep after ejaculation to be attacked by cold wind. A most common chronic disease of the central nervous system called Multiple Sclerosis is related to the wind attack after sex according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
- If the wind attacks the skin, it will lead to itching and skin disease.
3. The hazards to children
- If the wind attacks children, they will easily get ear ache, ear infection.
- It will accelerate getting a cold, (making it last longer),cough,asthma or bronchitis.
- It leads to headache.
- Babies and young children are suggested not going out when the wind is strong.
- It makes children unsettled and tired.
4. How to avoid draft
- Avoid staying in the draft. For example, draft in a café, restaurant, or inside the house etc.
- Only open the door or window on one side of the house.
- Open only other doors or windows during the night that let a soft wind blow into the bedrooms.
- Put more clothes on when you are surrounded by High-rise.
- Pay attention to avoiding draft when you are wet after exercise, and have wet hair and the time when you feel tired or after sex.
- It is important to keep your navel and waist warm. Especially for women, it will affect menstrual and it might be harder to get pregnant because the uterus has a cold environment.
- Keep your neck warm. Neck is the window of the body and it easily catches the wind.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu (Chinese Medicine Practitioner)
Translated by Alan Huang.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2011
by Angela Tian Zhu | Mar 2, 2011 | Traditional Chinese Medicine
According to the statistics of Australian government, there are at least 80 Australians dying from bowel cancer every week. This is a staggering figure. Bowel cancer is the biggest killer among all cancers in Australia.
I have a friend, she has a very healthy diet of vegetables and fruits, and she had normal bowel movement everyday. But she got depressed because of her personal relationship in her life. The depression lasted for a long time. Then she started to suffer from constipation, she sometimes had bloody stool and sometimes diarrhoea. She was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Then she had surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She used to be so beautiful, now she is so skinny and looking at her makes my heart ache. Why it is that cancer was rare in primitive society and so much in modern society? Why nobody is born with it?
The modern medical science has become more and more advanced, like a fire brigade that has perfect and advanced equipment to fight the “fire” wherever it shows. They have it extinguished by using surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Sometimes even though the “fire” is extinguished and people’s life is saved, the vital Qi in people’s body is badly damaged at the same time. Sometimes it’s even too late to conduct the “fire fighting,” so the best way to stay away from “fire” is prevention.
According to TCM, “Vital Qi is in charge of blood while blood nourishes the vital Qi.” Every organ, every part and every cell of our body contains the blood that can nourish the vital Qi. When we have Qi deficiency or Qi stagnation, we also have blood deficiency and stagnation, and under this situation, some waste substances and toxins in our body cannot be eliminated and this cause diseases. Bowel cancer is one of them.
If Qi and blood get clogged in the intestines for a long time, or the waste and toxins get clogged in the intestines for a long time, this might cause bowel cancer.
Why?
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Mental stress and emotional trauma.
Strong mental stress can be the cause of gastrointestinal disorder. According to TCM: “anxiety damages the spleen (stomach), anger damages the liver.” These emotions directly affect the normal digesting process of the spleen and stomach. “Sadness damages lungs, fear damages kidneys, excitement damages heart.” These emotions can affect our organs, Qi and blood directly or indirectly. If this continues for a long time, it will lead to Qi and blood deficiency or lead to stagnation and in the end, it might end up causing cancer. It needs a special environment in the body for normal cells to turn into cancer cells, and this process can not happen in a short period of time. It might be reflected in the long term as Qi and blood deficiency, or can trigger some big incidents.
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Too much fried food
Our stomach and intestines need mucus, various enzymes and moisture to digest food, and move and lubricate the bowel in order to smoothly eliminate the waste and toxins through bowel movement. Fried food absorbs large amount of moisture, and it causes damage to many kinds of enzymes and the mucus, which will make the bowel very dry. If this continued for a long time, it would greatly damage the bowel. Cooking oil that has been used many times can be very harmful. So, eating less or not eating fried food at all is a good approach to prevent bowel cancer and protecting our stomach and bowel.
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Irritable bowel syndrome.
This condition can not be overlooked and needs to be treated as early as possible, otherwise it would damage the Qi of spleen and stomach.
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Irregular bowel movement.
Vegetable is the “cleanser” of our stomach and bowel. Bowel movement is the critical link of metabolism. Make sure conditions such as diarrhoea are treated as soon as possible. Diarrhoea can consume large amount of Qi. The vigorous Qi and blood can contribute to the health of the bowel. In the old times, Chinese used to say, “Clean bowel can bring longevity, clean bowel makes illness go away.
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Not passing wind.
Passing wind is a normal and healthy habit; it indicates the circulation of air and Qi. If Qi circulates, waste and toxins can be discharged. So, allow yourself to pass wind every day. Do not hold back the flatulencet; it may clog the Qi and blood.
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Lack of anus exercise.
Anus is at the end of the bowel and our body. Standing and sedentariness can generate pressure to the bowel. And with age increases, the bowel becomes relatively flabby, especially when people have Qi deficiency (such as the old age, and child birth, etc), these will affect the Qi circulation in the bowel. Doing anus-raising and loosening exercise, walking and other form of exercise helps with the circulation of Qi and blood in the bowel. Try not to stand or sit too long, it would cause too much pressure to the bowel.
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Too much alcohol and spicy food.
These are “hot” food, which can dry the intestinal wall and cause blood congestion of the intestinal wall, and it may lead to incomplete defecation, which can be another reason for bowel cancer. So, cutting back on alcohol and spicy food can prevent bowel cancer.
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Irregular eating.
Irregular eating can lead to the imbalance of Qi and blood, and would cause Qi and blood deficiency of the digestive canal, therefore, disease can be caused. It is a good habit to have an appropriate and balanced diet, no engorgement, or irregular eating to prevent bowel cancer.
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Artificial food additives.
Artificial substances such as food colourings, food additives, preservatives, and pesticide residue can cause cancer.
In order to prevent bowel cancer, we have to take early measures to form a healthy life style. According to “The Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Internal Medicine”, “adequate vital Qi can resist illness”. Only by protecting our vital Qi, we can keep our cells healthy to fight cancer cells and maintain the well-being of ourselves.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu (Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner)
Translated by Janet Zheng
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2011
by Angela Tian Zhu | Feb 7, 2011 | Wellbeing
WHY DRINK WARM WATER to PRESERVE ENERGY
· Nourish our energy. When you drink cold water, you need to spend
extra energy to warm it before your body can absorb it.
· Strengthen the energy of your organ’s blood circulation. When cold water passes your chest, it may cool your heart, lungs, and bronchi and affect your breathing.
· Protect your Stomach energy. Cold water can make your stomach contract, weaken the energy of the stomach consequently affect your digestion.
· Help women’s health. Cold water can give you period pain, and irregular periods.
· Help to reduce allergies. So, the energy can flow better in your body.
· Help mental well-being and enable us to relax.
It makes us sleep better.
I suggest that people with depression, anxiety, tiredness, and digestion problems, drink warm water.
WRITTEN BY ANGELA ZHU 11. JULY 2024
by Angela Tian Zhu | Jan 14, 2011 | Qi Gong
One of my patients told me she started to have menopausal hot flushes in the summer two years ago. It especially felt very hot in the soles of her feet. She took every chance to stand on the tiled floor barefoot, or soak her feet in cold water, drink ice water or eat ice-cream. She enjoyed the momentary delights. At the end of that summer, she got a cold and started to cough. Her hot flushes did not get any better because of what she did. On the contrary, it became worse, especially when she was tired. Moreover, she suffered from the worsened menopause hot flushes, the cold and the cough.
This lesson taught us that too much cold will damage the Qi (vital energy) of our stomach and lungs, and cause deficiency of Qi, which would produce phlegm. The internal cold (from having cold food and beverages) and the external cold gave her a bad cold and cough in the autumn, which lasted over three months, and the cough with phlegm lasted over one year!
In summer, people are supposed to dissipate the heat in the body by sweating, having too much ice water or cold food does not help the body get rid of heat, and it may even cause damage to the stomach Qi, produce phlegm and lead to cough. When you catch a cold or when you are run down, the cold, phlegm and the cough would affect Qi of lungs. So, using different methods to maintain and nourish Qi (vital energy) in different seasons during menopause period could relieve the symptoms and help you get through menopause smoothly and quickly.
Generally speaking, women have 35 years’ worth of menstruation. For all these years, we have been dealing with puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, labor term, lactation period. When we come to our 50’s, menopause will signal us the battle we had with blood is going to end.
Menopause is the term when our Qi (Vital Energy) stops generating estrogen and eggs, so that women no longer have to go through menstruation, pregnancy, labor or lactation. During the change, women have to take good care of Qi (Vital Energy), otherwise, Qi will accelerate the speed of decrepitude and even may cause some pathological changes. However, if Qi (Vital Energy) has been taken good care of, it will bring a “second spring” to your life, which will make you more beautiful and attractive. Because of the maturing experience during the years, we gain inner beauty. The inner beauty is based on our wisdom and experience, it is the best make-up for women.
Menopause refers to the “change of age period” in Chinese language. Why do women have to go through such a change and how do the changes occur? According to traditional Chinese medicine, vital Qi is the origin and root of life. The initial vital Qi we have is from our parents’ pre-natal energy, it is rooted in the kidney and stored in the Dan Tian (under the navel, inside of the stomach), it reaches all parts of the body through the main and collateral channels, and it accelerate the functions of all organs. Therefore, Qi is the foundation and origin of people’s life and activity. The prenatal Qi comes from the energy of the kidney, and postnatal energy comes from spleen and stomach, which is generated by our food intake, and they maintain the Qi of our life together. Like birth, aging, sickness and death, menopause is another order of nature. During the ageing process, Qi becomes weakened, so when women are not able to generate estrogen and eggs, menopause has come.
Now we know that our life needs to be maintained, nourished and accelerated by vital Qi, therefore, it is very important to protect, nourish and strengthen Qi during menopause.
How to take care of our menopause:
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Strengthen Qi by following the seasons
The nature and universe, the weather and the natural phenomenon like wind, cold, heat of summer, dampness, dryness, fire (heat), they are all influencing our small universe–our body. We need to follow the change of four seasons to strengthen our Qi (vital energy). For instance, getting tanned under the sun gives you a trendy bronze skin color and Vitamin D, but it might give you dehydration, which would damage Qi in the body, even may cause skin cancer.
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Listen to your body
Do take rest before you feel exhausted.
Do eat before you feel starving.
Do drink water before you feel thirsty.
Do go to bed before you feel sleepy.
These “extremes” can damage our Qi and may cause deficiency of vital energy, which will lead to some kinds of discomfort and conditions, especially during the menopause period.
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Look after the “seven emotions” and protect Qi(Vital Energy)
According to traditional Chinese medicine, “seven emotions” refers to excitement, anger, anxiety, sadness, worry, fear and shock. They are the common emotions of each human being, however, having excessive of any of the emotions can damage energy and consume Qi, so that our organs might be damaged. According to traditional Chinese medicine, too much excitement is harmful to heart, too much anger and anxiety is harmful to liver, too much worry and thinking is harmful to spleen and stomach, too much sadness is harmful to lungs, too much fear and shock is harmful to kidney. On the other hand, if the “five organs” are not healthy, it would influence our “seven emotions”. During menopause, any negative emotion would aggravate the symptoms of menopause, which would prolong the time of menopause.
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Benefit Qi by good diet
Having a balanced and healthy diet is essential for menopause period, eat less but more regularly to keep the level of blood sugar. Do not eat and drink too much at one time. Eat healthier and lighter food. Cut back smoking, drinking and spicy food. Be careful about loosing weight by keeping yourself on a diet, you might lose your vital energy as well.
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Promote the circulation of Qi by exercise
Exercises can greatly help with the relief of menopause symptoms. Doing appropriate amount of exercise can promote the circulation of Qi and prevent stagnation, which would lead to development of certain conditions. Such exercises as, walking, practicing Qi Gong and Tai Chi, Yoga, dancing and etc would be beneficial. The proper exercise for women who are undergoing menopause should be the appropriate amount, relaxing and not intense.
Qi Gong Tip:
Raise the muscle of anus
Method:
Raise the muscle of anus by contracting the surrounding muscles, visualize the raising of the anus into the abdomen (Dan Tian), then relax the muscles. Raise and relax, raise and relax, this repetitive activity can be done at any time and at any pace as you please.
Effect:
- It could benefit the health of prostate and vagina by promoting blood circulation and store the Qi.
- It can prevent and help relieve constipation.
- It can prevent some pathological changes of the colon by accelerating the movement of the colon.
- Doing this exercise also helps to maintain the quality of sexual life.
- It could prevent and help with incontinence.
- A Chinese article stated that it can make you live longer.
Note: Please check out more traditional health tips on our Facebook (Health and Wellbeing at Traditional Qi).
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
Translated by Janet Zheng
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2011
by Angela Tian Zhu | Jan 6, 2011 | Mental Health, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Those with wisdom are not easily depressed, and they can walk out of depression more easily as well. Being depressed is like circling a black hole round and round, some would need a while to crawl out of it, some would go through a long journey, and some would never find their way back.
More than ten years ago, I treated two patients who were a couple. The husband told me a few times that his wife is the wisest person, but he didn’t tell me the reason why he said this. One day, out of curiosity, I asked his wife, “your husband told me you are the wisest person, can you tell me how to be a wise person? I want to learn from you”. Then she told me a story, “once, I found out my husband was having an affair with a much younger woman, then I immersed myself into anger, anxiety and worry, I became depressed. We have a son and a daughter, what should I do? Quarrel with him? Fight with him? Get a divorce? Then what? What could I possibly get from this? Will my home and marriage be kept? I can predict the horrible outcome of doing this. So, I thought if I quarreled, fought and had a divorce because of the pain I had during that period, I couldn’t get what I want—-protecting my family and being with the man I deeply loved. After careful consideration, I invited this young woman to have dinner with us in my house. At the dinner, she saw our two lovely kids and our beautiful house, and I didn’t mention a thing about her relationship with my husband, I just entertained her politely and calmly. Our kids were being polite to her as well (they knew nothing about this at all). After that, the woman quit voluntarily.”
After hearing the story, I admired her for her wisdom. The wise action not only saved her time and energy to complain, to hate and to depress, but also saved a good marriage and a perfect family. This dinner achieved many things in one stroke. Therefore, when we encounter difficult situations and when we walk towards the black hole of depression what should we do? Please use your wisdom, not only your emotions.
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Figure out what you want.
To get what you want may require you not to do things that you prefer to do, such as quarrelling, fighting, drinking and doing drugs. And also it may require you to do things you are not willing to do, such as confronting, tolerating, considering and eventually figuring out what you really want.
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Ask yourself what you are depressed about and why.
Some depressed people do not know what they are depressed about. What you need to do is to ask yourself and give yourself an honest answer. “Is it worth it?”, “What am I worrying or being terrified about?”, “What is the worst situation?”, “What should I do?” We all know that problems always have two sides. It is wise to look at the bright side with an optimistic perception.
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Admit and accept reality.
Facing the reality that can’t be changed, we have to admit, accept, and face it. Otherwise you would bear double of the suffering and punishment to yourself. Only by admitting and accepting the reality can you let it go and walk towards freedom.
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Try not to give in to blind emotions, since blind emotions always wear you out and lead you into a deeper black hole.
When you think you are at the edge of the black hole, try to grab a piece of paper and write down these negative emotions, then read them out loud. Train yourself to form this habit, and you will find you walk further and further away from depression. Because wisdom will bring you a calm and joyful attitude, it will guide you to what you really want, and strengthen your self-confidence as well. This is truly a stroke of genius.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
Translated by Janet Zheng
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2011
I had a patient a few years ago, he suffered from severe headaches and migraines, felt nauseous and vomited. He had no strength and looked grey. He would only get better after one or two days of quiet lying and relaxing in bed accompanied by taking a strong pain killer. Every time the sickness attacked him, he felt down and unwell also from frequent pain killer consumption. When he came to me, I asked, “Do you live on the ground floor or on a higher level?” He answered: “I’m living on the seventh floor. There are ocean views on three sides from the apartment.” I continued asking: “Do you open windows a lot?” He answered: “Yes, always. I enjoy the draft.” I responded, “Ah! Now the reason has been found. The draft is much stronger at high places, you would have headache if you exposed yourself to draft too much.” He replied, “Does that mean I should feel a headache every day if I opened my windows every day, how come I don’t? “ I told him, “when you feel energized your body has the ability to exclude wind, heat and cold from your body. However, when you feel tired, stressed or deficient, your body would not have this ability. And when all those things accumulate to a certain level, you would have headaches or migraines. The reason is that the wind has been staying in your head, so that spasm happens with your vascular and nerves, thus it ends up as a headache or even a migraine. If you only open the window on one side of your apartment, the movement of air is so much softer, with the air coming from one direction only”. The patient felt much better and had less headaches after he followed my advice and taking acupuncture treatments.
