12 Chinese medicine based tips for feeling 20 years younger

I hesitate to make list articles because I think people get a little numb in the brain when they see a list like this one. To try to counter any potential braindrain, I’ll make this one short and sweet. By necessity, short length makes it a little light on theory, but its still heavy on usefulness.

Drink water, plenty of it. I’m not going to get into the “ounce debate.” It’s probably true that you should be getting plenty of water from your diet, but also need to supplement with some clean water in its pure form. Just experiment to find what works for you or follow your chosen recommendation. But don’t drink iced (or very cold) water. Very cold things cool the digestive fire and even in the best-case scenario can cause indigestion. Try cool or room temperature water.
Sleep on a regular schedule, and try to make that schedule conform as closely to the sun’s rising and setting as you can. It sounds quaint and many productivity gurus will shout me down about it but try it for a couple of weeks and see how you feel. It’s been an eye-opener for me.
Eat on a regular schedule. Look - our entire universe, including our own bodies, operates on rhythm. Chinese medicine understands this and tries to help people conform to the natural rhythms as much as possible. Eat your meals at a regular time each day, and do your very best to avoid big meals in the evening.
Bring yourself into conformity with the seasonal energy. Chinese medicine lifestyle counseling in all its complexity comes down basically to this: “Act like nature.” One of the ways you can do this is by following the seasonal energy. When it’s winter - don’t act like summer. I’m currently developing a huge free report to help you how to understand how to do this - it’s actually a little more complicated than I’ve made it seem here. ;) If you want to make sure you don’t miss the report - be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Avoid taxing activities. What are “taxing activities?” In the world of Chinese medicine overwork, too much sexual activity (with others or yourself), studying too hard and other situations that leave you breathing hard and sweating harder deplete Qi, Blood and even Jing (the primordial essence - unreplenishable and deeply involved in our longevity). Avoid them.
Replenish what you waste. Failing number five above, replenish the Qi and Blood you use. How? Seeing a Chinese medicine physician is a good start. But consuming a nourishing and balanced diet, supplemented with food-grade Chinese herbs and superfoods will also help. As will attending to your personal cultivation through Qigong, Taiji, Yoga, meditation and other spiritually nourishing activities.
Move your body. Number five above may make you think that you shouldn’t do cardio, and in fact many Chinese medical physicians recommend against excessive cardiovascular training. When you race your heart and expel a lot of sweat, it damages your body through loss of Qi, Blood and body fluids. But this doesn’t meant that Chinese medicine thinks you should live a sedentary life. Take walks, even brisk ones - go swimming - ride your bike - do QiGong or Taiji - go on a hike. Get your breath and heart rate going, even break a mild sweat - just don’t work yourself to the point of needing to sit down for half an hour just to feel ok.
Commune with nature. This is vital. In natural areas we can more easily replenish Qi from the clean air and unbroken ground. Our eyes are nourished by the beautiful sights and if we pay attention we can learn valuable life lessons from plants, animals and the landscape itself. If you live in a city and can’t easily get out - just go to your local park or arboretum. Even a small garden patch of flowers and vegetables in your backyard can help to replenish and revitalize you. I sometimes use my back porch container garden! I do think that wilder areas are more rejuvenating due to their stronger Qi - but do what you can.
Simple self acupressure. I discussed this in my 7 Life Changing Habits I learned from Chinese medicine study, but it’s worth repeating. Take ST-36 as the prime candidate for this kind of activity. Simply locate the point using online or printed guides - but make sure that you find a spot that is tender. Acupuncture points aren’t in the exact same places on everyone - each body is unique! Using your finger or a blunt instrument, stimulate the point either using steady pressure, or moving around in small circles, or pressing up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Do this for thirty seconds, rest for ten, and repeat. Be sure to treat both sides. Do this each night before going to bed for two or three weeks and consider whether it has helped your feeling of well-being.
Keep your emotions in check. Chinese medical theory contains a lot of insights about the emotional life of human beings. Each Zang organ is said to be associated with a particular emotion and excesses of emotion can impair the functioning of the related organ. However, any very severe emotional reaction can impact the Liver in particular - and impaired functioning of the Liver can lead to many problems, including symptoms that look like clinical depression. There are many techniques available for having a healthy emotional life - investigate what’s available and get to work on something that appeals to you.
Don’t tempt fate. One thought that almost every medical theory shares is that if an activity has a decent chance of causing you serious mental or bodily harm, just avoid it. Cigarette smoking is, of course, a prime example. But the use of hard drugs, excess alcohol intake, thrill-seeking sports, speeding and all the rest of those activities should simply be avoided. Easier said than done, I know. But if you are involved in any of these things ask yourself a simple question - have you looked at the cost-benefit ratio involved and made a choice or are you just being manipulated (from inside or out)?
See a CM doctor regularly. Already mentioned above, but even if your general health is good and you follow most of these suggestions a regular “tune-up” visit to your Chinese medicine physician is a good idea. I see an acupuncturist every three weeks and see another person for a regular “constitutional” herbal formula that I take regularly. This helps detect small problems before they become big ones and generally keeps me feeling great. It’s a small price to pay for no significant seasonal illnesses, excellent energy and an ever increasing feeling of well-being.

Eric Grey

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