A "million dollar worth health secret" - foot bath

    Once upon a time, a filial son wanted to find a remedy to keep his parents healthy and long lived. Eventually he found another guy whose mother had lived over 100 years. The son paid a lot money bought this "longevity secret" from this guy. When he got home and open the "secret", it simply says "Keep the head cool and keep the feet warm."


    Not to speak if the story is true or not, the "longevity secret" in the story is true. Keep your head cooler than your feet is the key to increase and maintain a good energy circulation for the body, especially as the weather is getting colder.

    Buy a basin/pail/bucket that is big enough for you to put your feet in, fill it with hot water, it should be hotter than your usual standard but not burring. Bath your feet for about 10 minuted or till the water is getting cool. Some friends put salt in, you can too if you have any but it's not necessary. I know there are power feet washing equipments for sale, but going "old school" on this one definitely do better for you.

  It takes 10 minutes of your life everyday, do it before you go to bed. Keep it up and I'm sure you will make your 10 minutes worth a million.

P.S

A friend asked about the saying of "keep the head cool". It is correct only under normal circumstances, meaning when you are under normal condition, not sick, not just got out the shower with wet hair, not just worked out and sweaty. In these conditions, especially when your hair is wet or head is sweaty, you must cover them to prevent the wind harm.

November 22nd, 2010, "Light Snow", the 2nd small winter season arrives

    If the last season "Winter commences"  did not make you think that winter is here, the "light snow" will prove it by giving you some snow, but just light, like its name.
   
    When the light snow drops, it will save us from the past dry seasons, our mouth, nose may feel somehow relieved from the dryness. Snow is the product of cold, it is the signal of the nature telling us to put on more layers and be prepare for what's coming. 
    
    Around this season, we are more likely to get more cloudy and dark days, again, this will affect people's mood, especially those who are or easy to get depressed need to find some good ways to adjust their mood in a sunny day. This is the main topic we are dealing with in this season and here I'd like to talk more about it with everyone.  


    TCM has a saying, "There are no more than three causes for thousands kinds of sickness". The "three causes" are "internal" (7 extreme emotions), "external" (wind,cold,heat,wet,dry,burns), and "non-internal nor-external" (cut, hit, poison...). Depression is often cause by "internal" factor. The 7 emotions include happy, angry, worry, concern, sad, scary and shock. We have these emotions in daily life as they are our normal reaction to the world around us. They will only cause problem if we live under one or more certain kinds of emotion for long time and cannot get out of it. Human emotion conditions show the psychological emotional activities, and the psychological activities are keys to any psychological and emotional sicknesses. Therefore, TCM thinks that extreme emotions is the cause of depression. Ancient Chinese "health preservation specialists" believed  in order to be healthy, one must unify with the changes of the universe, and keep a "empty" and peaceful mind. A clear mind keeps the energy inside and make a perfect "spirit-physical-unified" body.


    We all know that these days modern researches have shown that depression is also caused by certain neuron or chemical elements in the body, but modern medicine never deny that depression is also a result of abnormal emotional activities. There are some researches show that there is a weird thing in our brain called "5-hydroxy tryptamine" (I guess scientists love to name things in a super hard way so they can keep them to themselves and when they mention these words to everyone else nobody will understand what they are anyway thus won't bother ask about ...). The "5-HT" thing reacts to season changes strongly. It functions stronger in spring and summer, but very weak in fall and winter. 


   In conclusion, in this season, the "internal" factors can be more powerful than the "external" factors. We must be happy, enjoy the holidays, listen to happy music, do more outdoor activities especially in good days. Also eat the right thing - banana. Scientists say banana can produce that "5-HT" thing, so let's benefit from their research, without side effects. 


P.S.  I mentioned earlier that this winter season is under influence of 2 "wood wind" factors. "snow" may ends up with "rain" and "wind". Cold rain is very harmful, especially for those who have joints related problems. Be very very careful, cover up your joints and try to keep them warm all the time!

the "Spring-like Warmth" bounces back?

    If you were in our September 21st class, or if you had read this article I posted, now you may want to read the following article.
    This is the a news article from Weather.com on November 8th, that's 1 day into the first winter small season.

    http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/midwest-chill-to-warmth_2010-11-08

 

November 7th, 2010, "winter commences", the 1st small Winter season arrives

     "Winter Commences" indicates the start of winter. It is one of the very original 8 seasons in Chinese lunar season system.These 8 seasons are also the most important seasons among all 24. 


    Although the real winter may not always start with "winter Commences" day (the continuation of days that has temperature lower than 10 Celsius, or 50 F, usually is treated as the real start of winter),  in traditional Chinese, the character for "winter" （冬）, meanings the same as "end" （終）. Winter is the ending season of the year, so is the farming activities. After the autumn harvest, all crops are stored, and many animals are ready for hibernation. Yang energy goes towards its lowest level and Yin goes very strong. Everything is in a state of "storing", gathering and store its energy for next spring to grow. Therefore in order to make sure we have great Yang energy for next spring and stay healthy in winter, the keys for health preservation are, "slow down", "being more static", "store", "hide", and remain a stable emotional state. Make sure to get more sleep than usual, do not force yourself for any unnecessary physical and mental activities.


    It is also the transition season of "dry" and "cold". Things are often at it's extreme towards the end, therefore this can be the driest small season so far before real winter cold arrives. That makes 2 things very important to us. No.1, prepare for the cold and keep your body warm; No.2, balance body organs moisture level, avoid being harmed by dryness. 


    In Chinese traditional folk culture, the day of "winter commences"  is the best time to “intake” or eat great stuff for a day in plain saying. People believe that to eat the best you can in this day can benefit you for the entire winter. But in reality we need to be smart about the "intake". We often see people eat a lot of things that considered "nourishing", but get ill from them instead. Besides eating enough fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits, the main directions for winter food in northern areas (cold areas) are high energy food, such as potato, beef and lamb (lamb is my personal favor all year round, although for sure it works the best in cold season); On the other hand, in southern areas (warmer areas)it is better to take foods that are fresh, clear, mild and warm, such as chicken, duck and fish.

   

    Joints, especially knees, related symptoms are rampant during winter. If you already have knees problem it is the season for you to be extra careful. Make sure to keep your knees warm by wrapping them with necessary layers, but meanwhile make sure to use them to keep the structure active and alive. For those whose knees are still in good shape, don't take it for granted, take care of them by keeping them warm, avoid any possible direct wind blow and dampness, meanwhile maintain reasonable exercises like jogging, walking and Tai Chi. 

    

    In colder areas, after you start to heating your house, the air in the closed room are usually very dry, thus may cause skin and respiratory system related problems. Therefore maintaining good air moisture level is also very important. A small humidifier may help. Also, do open the windows for a bit in a nicer winter day to exchange the air. Preferable open the windows that face south, and strictly avoid draught. 

   Finally just another simple and great tip you should do every winter night before you go to bed. Bath your feet  (soak them in hot-warm water) for several minutes (or until the water seems to be cooling down) even if you already took a shower earlier, dry them well and rub the bottom of your feet. Trust me this doesn't take long to do but benefit you longer than you can imagine, if you persevere.