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.

Healthy life is the balance between dynamic and static

    It's been cold the past couple days as the season "severe cold" arrived yesterday. I truly felt the meaning of being "frozen", even my breath. As I suggested early that winter is a season for "storing", so we can then have good amount of energy to "born" well in the spring. Human beings are creatures with wisdom but just like many animals and plants, they are still part of the universe. The universe has a great energy pattern and that is to born in the spring, to grow in the summer, to withdrawal in the fall and to store in the winter. And this is the basic principle for health preservation. It's simple, you follow it, you live a healthy life because the universal energy is helping you. In contrast if you go against it you are going to have some hard time.

    

    Recently with these ideas in mind I had been paying more attention to people who are active. Either I will hear how do they plan to work out and exercise or, as I drove by couple fitness centers, I actually saw people working out hard and walking out of the gym to their cars in shorts or Capris. It's clear to me that after I have been learning about health preservation I want to try my best to follow the universal rule and share the knowledge with people. Therefore here I want to say again, that a good rest in winter time is way better that a good work out.

    

    The media and information have been acting as great driving force that makes many believe that a healthy life comes from exercise.  The statement is true under the condition that a person is exercising at the right time, right place and in the right way. And the universe knows that so it gives you seasons. You have at least 182.5 days out of the 365 to exercise. And the other 182.5 days are what makes your body capable to exercise. So for those who are trying to work out hard and sweat hard in this season right now, my opinion is that you are doing more damage to your body than helping it, because I'm sure if you are trying hard to work out even in this season then you won't stay at home for sure when the weather gets even better. True, that being active in good weather is you following the rule of the universe, but when do you thinking you are "recharging" yourself? 

    I understand that everyone is different, many people were born with lots energy and very active. In that case if they have already developed the habit of exercise all year round then stay that way is just fine for them. But most of us were born and grow with a normal health condition, some of us even got sick and weak for whatever reason. If you happen to be the "normal" people then you should follow the rules of universe.

   We all know how terrible we feel if we did not sleep the night before. So think about it, can you go work out at 2 am and work out again at 2 pm? If you say "no" then think again, can you work out in the winter and still work out in the summer?

    The ancient wisdom had taught us that an ideal state is always a balanced state. When things go extreme they will backfire at themselves. Same thing with health, a healthy people cannot stay either dynamic or static perpetually. Like the famous saying: when storm comes, hard trees will break but the soft grass survives. So sometime it's a better idea to be the "soft grass" than being the "hard tree".

January 20th, 2011, "Severe Cold", the 6th small Winter season,last small season of the year, arrives

    “Severe Cold" is the last season of the year, although the temperature may not be as "severe" as the past seasons, still it's "cold".As the coldness reaches its extreme it will start to die down, therefore it will be the last strike for the cold energy. The heat that the earth saved from the past year has reaches its end as well, plus the sunlight is limited. Cold air travels south often thus create very windy weather. Till this the moment, the earth is frozen.


    Although the season changes the rule of health preservation stays the same. To merge into the season and flow with it is not simply being passive; instead this is indeed a very active activity. As long as we understand and follow the rule of the universe, there is no way for illness to attack us.
    
    "Severe cold" is a very windy and cold season. Wind is the main element of Spring, and cold of course is of winter. So this is another transitional season, between winter and spring. It can also be a season mixed with some really brutal wind chilled days and some warm and sunny days. Wind-cold combination is the most harmful one for human body. Therefore besides taking care of the winter organs (kidney and bladder), we also need to work on the spring organs (liver and gall bladder) to help the Yang energy rise up to protect us from the cold and wind. Also this will help smoothing our emotion as liver is a very "emotional" organ. If the liver energy is too low it can make people depressed, but if the liver energy is too much then the person tends to get angry easy. Again, during this transitional season,the lack of sunshine and Yang energy will make many depressed, meanwhile the strong wind energy may make many angry and frustrated.  
    
     This is also a very dry season. If there are some precious sunny days, the best time for outdoor activities is early afternoon. Make sure you still cover yourself well while enjoying the sun. A humidifier can be a good choice for your house as well. There is also a thing called "cold emission" that usually comes from your cold wall.Researches have shown that when the wall temperature is 6 ℃ lower than room temperature, a person can feel the cold 50 centimeter away from the wall. This subtle cold is as harmful as the cold you can clearly feel anywhere else. It may cause slow blood circulation or even stagnation therefore lead to muscle pain, high blood pressure, arthritis and other cold-related issues. So make sure move your sofa or bed a bit further from the cold wall. 


    For seniors, try to get to bed earlier and get up later. Do not sweat even if you are doing physical exercises. Again, make sure to keep your feet warm and try to do foot bath every night before you go to bed.


    This is still a high season for cold and respiratory illness. If you happen to be the victim, here is a simply remedy for you to kick out the cold you caught without taking antibiotic. The "ginger-brown sugar tea": boil ginger and brown sugar together and drink it hot. (This is very effective for early stage sickness that cause by cold only. You still need to seek professional medical help in time if there are other symptoms.)
    
    Other than these, you have had a great winter so far and here is the last stage. Have a great mood and prepare for the incoming spring energy. Yes, the temperature may still be low, but the earth is waking up, so is our Yang energy.

Regarding "sub-healthy" or "subhealth condition"

   The following article is quoted directly from "http://www.easternherb.com", please read it before we move on:
  

ARE YOU SUB-HEALTHY?Ching-Yao Shi, Lic.Acu.;Dipl. OM                 01/102006

For years we have believed we were either healthy or sick. However, during the  mid-90s, scientists developed a new concept called “Sub-healthy”, a status between health and illness. Sub-healthy has become popular because it has helped to explain many health problems. According to one study, only 5.6% of people in the overall population are actually sick, whereas the sub-healthy group consists of about 60%, and the remaining population is considered healthy. Awareness of one’s sub-healthy will help one to alert the underlying disease and will help one to remain healthier. Sub-Healthy is a state in which the body is either transitioning from health to illness or from illness to health. Our bodies are actively balancing the conditions of health, sub-health and disease. Factors like aging, internal or external toxicity,  body or mind exhaustion may cause  sub-health, but taking good care of the body can change a sub-healthy status to a healthy one. The most common symptoms of sub-health include: intolerance of hot or cold, fatigue or exhaustion ; insomnia; low resistance or frequent flu.; body aches; bloating or other GI problems; fast weight gain; sluggish memory; hair loss; sexual libido…..   The recommended standard of sub-healthy status is the persistence of one or more of the above symptoms for more than 3 months, along with no conclusive positive medical finding or diagnoses. Or can be a long term disease patient but the symptoms can not be explained by that disease. Patients who have chronic diseases may not be considered as sub-healthy ones if they keep them selves in a good condition. In Chinese medicine, sub-health is an Imbalance of Yin and Yang; Chi and Blood and organs. Our bodies have 12 meridians that are energy pathways and where are the acupuncture effectives on. Free flow of energy (Chi) in the meridians ensures the organ’s health, as well as the body’s. The blockage of Chi causes different symptoms; for example, a Lung-meridian blockage may cause cough, and Heart-meridian insomnia. Normally, Chi blockage happens before the clinical symptom develops. It is important to note that it is this meridian energy sluggishness or blockage that causes the sub-health status. To solve this problem, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine work on two ways: they clear the meridian blockage or to strengthen the meridians from the attacks of the illness agents. To regenerate sub-healthy back to a healthy state is to rebalance the organ meridians through acupuncture, herbal medicine, Qi-gong, massage, diet and exercise. It is very common that our patients are the healthiest ones in their families because a balanced body is a healthier body. To identify and treat sub-healthy is to prevent one from becoming seriously ill. Please be aware of and change your Sub-Healthy!

    Well, I think this is an idea that not too many of us are familiar with, but from my own background and knowledge, "sub-healthy" is a very "popular" concept in China and a very "popular" symptom in the USA. I agree with the main concept and most parts of this article but in my opinion, the "sub-healthy" condition is NOT "a status between health and illness". It's actually a illness status, meaning, you ARE sick when you are in the "sub-healthy" condition. This term is abused when there is something unexplainable by science or medical knowledge. A therapist is responsible for coming up with the treatment for it just like there are treatments for other illness. I'm against the idea of "disregarding" a person's feeling when they do feel sick only because the therapist is not able to explain it with his/her knowledge or the test results from machines. 

   One TCM doctor had an article about "sub-healthy" and he has a good theory about it. It says that the "sub-healthy" symptom has 3 stages:

1. Yang energy Weakened: We have heard someone complains about some common syndromes like headache, drowsiness,  sleeping disorders or so, but all number and chart from the exam seems to be normal. Usually to a TCM doctor this kind of individual is diagnosed  as low in Yang energy.
2. Low in "Qi": The term "Qi" here is more than just the translation "energy", it refers to a person's basic "life force". When a harmful force starts to affect the body,  it's in a “cruising" condition. It will travel to a place in the body where has the lowest "Qi" or "life force", then stays there and starts to cause "tangible" problems. Therefore, when we detect this condition we can simply adjust the "Qi" condition by adjust our usual life style and behaviors like doing reasonable diet, sleeping well and exercising right. That is what we usually called "health preservation". Again, the best therapy is preventive therapy.
3. Blood stagnation: In the morning, check your tongue in the mirror, do you see any zigzag-looking bite marks from the teeth on the sides of your tongue? Well,this usually indicates that your liver or/and gall bladder system energy(blood related) may be imbalanced already. Now move the tip of your tongue up, look at the veins under the tongue. Do they look very dark? When a person reach this stage, yet the body exam results may not show anything out of standard. This is not an ideal stage for the person or the therapist. Because even though there is no onset yet, the condition has been established and the illness may start to outbreak anytime. This is usually when a person is really diagnosed with some testable illness.

   For example, take storm. If using scientific knowledge, lighting, thunder and rain happen at the same time. However, usually when we see the lighting, we will spontaneously cover our ears. This is like the first stage when we sense the symptom in ourselves, we should do something like covering our ears (preventive treatment) from the thunder(further symptom). If you didn't cover your ear then you are at stage 2, after you heard the thunder you know the rain (illness) is coming, so you run away and get covered (further treatment). If you are still in a open area, you are at stage 3, the rain arrives fast and you are soaked (testable illness).

    

    Therefore, there is no "sub-healthy" condition. Don't use this term on yourself or allow others to use this term on you to fool your body. And always remember, the best medicine is in your body and the best doctor is yourself. Listening to your own heart, words from others are aids not orders. I'm not saying that you shouldn't listen to your therapists, but you should not let their words interfere with your true self. A healthy body is a balanced body and a healthy mind is a balanced mind. A healthy person is a person who has a balanced body and balanced mind. 

    "Everyone can do it". I trust myself when I say this. 

    

    Now is your turn.