Energy pattern prediction for 2011 according to "Huangdi Neijing" and how to act accordingly

    Many words in the following article are my awful direct translation from the ancient text. And please be advised the original text was written more than 2000 years ago, and some details may not be necessarily accurate. Ancient Chinese had their ways of understanding the universe and themselves. We are here to share their wisdom with our own feeling and conscious. Or let's put it this way: if we are seeing what the text is describing when the time arrives, we know what's going on and know what to do. If it doesn't happen, then enjoy the following as an article about ancient Chinese medical literature.


    According to the ancient Chinese medical text <<Huangdi Neijing>> also known as <<The Inner Canon of Huangdi>> or <<Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon>>, From January 20th, 2011 to later January 2012, the main energies that affect the earth will be "dry metal" (first half) and "young fire"(second half). This is also a year with low water energy. The first half of the year is colder and the second half is hotter, with lots of irregular and abnormal weather patterns and may cause various sicknesses.

    The whole year is divided into 6 small sections:
    

    1st section  (late January to late March): Main energy is "wind tree", guest energy is "wet earth". Main energy pattern is windy and wet. There will be lots of "cold wave strikes" (strong winter cold returns in Spring), severe cold, water will re-freeze, and some cold rains. Harmful "wet" on body surface and harmful heat inside. Main symptoms includes swollen, drowsiness, sleepiness, nose and teeth bleed, dark yellow and thick urine, and urinating difficulty. Food remedies includes millet, pearl barley, small red beans and food that are dry in nature.

    

    2nd section (late March to late May): Main energy is "young fire",guest energy is "old fire".The weather is hot suddenly, full of spring feeling, trees and plants grow well and fast.But since the temperature rises too fast, there can be too much heat energy being "trapped" and cannot rise up in time. This may be a perfect condition for severe virus or other epidemic to grow. The ancient text indicates that this can be a serious situation and can lead to acute symptoms or even death. Also it mentions this condition may be more likely to appear in the northern area. Food remedies includes green beans, water chestnut, lotus root and food that can cool down heat in nature.

    3rd section (late May to late July): Main energy is "old fire",guest energy is "dry metal". It can be a cold summer, feels like fall or with mixtures of cold and heat (one day hot but next day can be cold),temperature is very unstable and abnormal. People need to make sure to change clothes according to the weather and prevent catching any cold. Main food should be mild hot in nature.

    4th section (late July to late September): Main energy is "wet earth",guest energy is "cold water".There will be more cold rains and damp cold. And every time it rains the temperature will drop with it. Spleen and kidney will be the "fragile" organs. People may feel extra tired, woozy, dry throat and skin, chest pain, malaria-like symptoms (feel hot and cold at the same time) , weak in spine or legs. Food remedies includes millet, pearl barley, Chinese yam, Chinese date, black bean, small red bean and food that arm and dry in nature.

    5th section (late September to late November): Main energy is "dry metal",guest energy is "wind tree".Getting into the fall but temperature may bounce back up. It feels like spring.The trees and grass won't fade but stay green instead. Heavy wind and less rain. Although people will feel comfortable and won't get sick easy, still, we need to stay away from catching cold and the dryness in order to prepare for the winter. Eat more fresh fruits, especially pears and drink more water.

    6th section (late November to late January 2012): Main energy is "cold water",guest energy is "young fire". Insects will not hibernate, water won't freeze, weather appears to be warmer and it can be another warm winter. People will also feel comfortable and will not get sick easy. But some may get too "excited" and not dress or behave accordingly.These people need to be very careful about getting the flu caused by the warmth (as the virus is hanging out around us in the nice weather as well). Eat more food that can put down the "heat", the best one is balsam pear （bitter cucumber）.

    In general, every single small section contains a abnormal weather energy pattern, especially in the 2nd one where it mentioned "it may lead to death" and the 6th one where it mentioned "flu caused by warmth". We need to stay alert.

    

    As human being being on the earth today, there has been great changes since ancient time.Therefore how to utilize these ancient text is getting much more complicated. These days people keep emphasizing how human being is changing the universe, but the universe has been affecting human being as well. However, we must admit that mother nature is way more powerful than we are, so the bottom line? 

    

    Follow the rules of the universe!

February 19th, 2011. "rain water, the 2nd small Spring season arrives

    "Rain Water" seems to be an awkward translation. It means 2 things, the Rain and the melting snow water. Apparently in general it indicates the starts of rain, instead of snow.Meanwhile as the snow stars to melt, the earth is getting watered pretty well. As the spring energy getting more and more, the Yang energy that was hidden under the earth starts to rise up as well. Now it's the moment we will start to find the trees and other plants growing.
    
    On the other hand, this is also the 3rd wind season. As the temperature is getting higher, our pores will start to open more. But with the wind blowing at the same time (plus some leftover coldness from the winter), it is very easy for us to catch wind related cold. So besides our seasonal organs ---liver and gall bladder, we also need to do exercises for the lungs as the lungs are "in charge" of the skins and the "protective energy" of the body. As long as our lungs energy is good, we will be "shielded" from and harmful element and won't get hurt. If you don't know how to or just simply too lazy to practice, the simple way is to make sure to wear the right clothes and keep your body under a very balance condition, not sweating and not cold either. Sounds too simple but not many of us are able to really follow this rule. As long as you are being reasonable with your activities and clothes, you should be fine because the air of this season is also very moisturizing, so your lungs will not struggle to much to stay in good shape anyway. 
   
    The weather in this season is very unstable, and it has the most "cold wave strike back" among all seasons.This kind of unstable weather pattern can easily make people's mood wavy as well. And it's not very friendly for those who have hypertension, heart condition and asthma. In order to avoid these effects, one first needs to make sure to stay conservative on taking off the warm clothes too soon. Remember, it is always better to feel hot in the spring than feeling cold. Also, as we already talked about liver being the seasonal organ and its nature (detail please see my post on "Spring commences"), make sure to follow the nature of the liver and do the Qi Gong exercise for liver.


    Food wise, as the windy weather may cause dry skin and dry lips, take more fresh vegetables and juicy fruits. Also try to take more warm congee (rice soup and mixed grain and bean soup) to nourishing the stomach and spleen. Avoid oily and greasy stuff to prevent Yang energy leakage. And follow the simple rule of "more sweet, less sour".  

Basic tips for Spring food

    Although it is still cold, but the wind has been proving to us that Spring is already here.So here comes to one of my favor aspect of health preservation, the food. There is no doubt that the best way to nourish and help the body to stay healthy is to take the right food, not just "good" food, I mean the "right food", the food that fit in the current seasonal energy. 


   2 main rules in Spring: 1.Nourishing the liver and the eyes.  2.reducing acid intake and increase sweetness intake for the spleen and stomach 

•     Nourishing the liver and eyes:

    1. Use food or herb that are mild in nature and semi-sweet in taste. Such as rice, wheat, flour, yellow bean, sesame, taro, radish and milk. Actually as the nature of these food are balanced, they are not only the first choices for Spring, also the good choices all year long.
    2. Focus on nourishing the blood. TCM believes the functions of liver are nourishing the tendon, store blood and produce chi (energy). Therefore the first step to nourish the liver is to make sure there is good amount of blood in it, and through nourishing the blood to nourish the liver itself.. There are many foods and herb can nourish the blood. Such as barley. sesame, wolfberry, mulberry and fleece-flower root （radix-polygoni multiflori). If the blood level in the liver is low, it may cause anemia, dizziness, insomnia, and low in energy level. You can fix it by eat some animal livers, such as pig liver, sheep liver and chicken or duck liver. It is scientifically proven that animal liver contains lots of vitamin A that has strong effect on healing the eyes and maintaining good functions of them. Especially sheep or goat liver and there is even one Chinese patent medicine made of sheep liver for healing the eyes.  This may sounds crazy to some people but it just another old way how people try to help the body. You don't have to agree with it.
    3.Cleanse the liver. Spring is the liver season, as I mentioned before this is a very emotional season. Here I just bring it up again with the food tips as a reminder. Stay peaceful and calm, eat right, you are in good shape.

• Reducing acid intake and increase sweetness intake for the spleen and stomach 

    Spring is the liver season and if the liver energy is not balance it will directly affect the spleen and stomach ("tree" conquers the "earth" according to the 5-element system). Reducing the acid or sour food to balance the liver energy and meanwhile take more sweet to support the stomach and spleen. Also, a little bit of hot and spicy may help but make sure it's only "a little bit", too much spiciness may cause high blood pressure. Also this is the best season for any green color food, as green is the color of Spring. 
    
    After all please remember that the mind is a "conductor" of the whole body, we should eat right but make sure to think and feel right as well. Our mind force is so powerful and we should use it to help yourself, not to damage the body.  

February 4th, 2011. "spring commences", the 1st small Spring season arrives

   Happy Chinese New Year! This is the year of the Rabbit. I'm not a astrologist so can't help you much with it. But as the New Year day is February 3rd, our next season  “Spring Commences" is February 4th. This is the first small spring season, also the first small season of the year. It indicates a brand new start for the universe and we human beings. Everything starts to "wake up" from now on and ready to "born".


    Starting from now, the main direction of the weather is getting warmer. But this is not a warm season itself. Carrying the "leftover" from the last season "severe cold", and mix with the next element "wind", the weather of this season is actually very similar to the last season. Except when there is a clear day, we can feel the sunlight is stronger and at some moment we may be able to sense the scent from the earth. 


   For human beings, our body also is moving from "store" to "born". Our blood and energy starts to move outward therefore makes our breath, heart beat and metabolism faster, so we have enough energy for our organs to "born". However, as the temperature is still low, mixed with the spring energy, our blood and energy circulation is in between of "in-out" and "fast-slow" a lot. Our organs will have to adjust themselves to this pattern and this requires a lot body energy to complete. Therefore, if you didn't "store" too well and don't have enough backup energy, or you are weaker to start with, this is usually the moment when you at risk of getting sick. So one very important thing in this season is that you still make sure you keep yourself warm just like what you did for the past season, no matter what the weather is like, even if there happen to be a warmer day. "Tree energy" is the spring energy, for organ will be the Liver and Gall Bladder. The direction of the energy is upward. Here are some suggestions for you to fit into it:

1. Keep your lower body warmer than upper body: Physically, heat goes up and cold goes down. To keep your lower body warmer help the body energy to go upward, which is the direction of the spring.
2. Eat less sour food and little bit more hot (spicy) food (not too much): Sour taste has strong withdrawing force and it's not helping with the energy going upward or outward. Whereas hot food has strong emanating force that helps with the "born" in the spring.
3. Avoid wind: Spring is wind season, and the wind in the first spring season carries strong cold energy and that make it extremely harmful. Strong wind will affect our inner "wind organ"-the Liver, and this may create strong emotional wave in us. Therefore not only we need to be careful of the external wind, meanwhile make sure our inner "wind" also stay calm. Cultivating yourself or do meditations to calm the body and mind.

    Now here are some tips to nourish and protect your liver (the spring organ):

1. Drink more water: To reduce the toxin level of the body
2. Balance your eating: Never make yourself too hungry or too full. This will cause digestive juices secretion malfunctioning and may lead to liver dysfunction. 
3. Drink less alcohol: Drink less but still drink some. Some alcohol helps blood circulation and energy emanation. But it's common sense that too much alcohol will damage the liver.
4. Stay in a good mood and be optimistic: That's the nature of the liver. Anger and depression are the 2 extreme ends of liver energy and both of them will hurt the liver.

    As our blood starts to move more, those who have blood related health issues should be more careful. This may be a high season for hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular issues. These people need to pay more attention to the change of the weather but meanwhile when there is a nice day out, please go out and do some mild walking or exercise to adjust your body to the season.
    
    This is also a high season for common cold and stomach issues. As the earth wakes up, so are the virus and bacteria. So make sure you eat well and more important, sleep well, so you will have strong immune system to protect you for now and for the next several spring seasons. Lot people find themselves being sleepy in spring. This is a very normal symptom in spring and it is not sickness. As our whole body system starts to "born" it demands more energy, and comparatively the brain will get less blood and energy and this is the reason for the sleepiness. Plus after a long "hibernation", our body needs some time to adjust from it. Also since the cold air travels to the stomach easy, eat more ginger or make some ginger tea for yourself so you stomach stays warm.
    
    After all, the main character of this season is "random". It can be warm one day and very cold the next. To stay warm is always safer.