WHY TALK ABOUT LIFESTYLE?

Oriental Medicine focuses on what promotes longevity and health. Basically speaking, being in harmony with our environment is the healthiest way of living. Unfortunately, the demands on our lives generally do not promote such harmony. We no longer rise and go to bed with the sun. Our bodies can be confused about seasonal changes, because of air-conditioning and heating. Our busy schedules can keep us from eating regularly. Our jobs may require that we sit still for hours, or stand for hours, or focus on a bright screen for hours. These all take a physical toll. Body, mind and spirit are not divided in Oriental Medicine. Therefore when our work or social environment is stressful, or we suffer an emotional blow, it also affects our health.

Though we cannot ‘go back to nature,’ each person can work to bring more balance into their life. For each person the solution will be different, both because the needs are different and the situation each lives in is unique. Sometimes whatever is offending in the environment can be removed, for example not stimulating the mind with TV just before bed if you have trouble falling asleep. Sometimes a simple meditation or a small step towards movement such as getting up to go to the water cooler once per hour can work wonders. Sometimes the situation cannot be changed and so it is best to find an outlet for stress that works for you.

At Healing Ocean Oriental Medicine, we listen carefully to assess your needs and help you to find a plan that works for you.

DIET IS NOT WEIGHT CONTROL

The food we eat is a major source of our post-natal qi. Therefore, the concern with diet in Oriental Medicine is not with weight control, but how the food you eat affects the qi in your body. Food is categorized in much the same way as herbal medicine. This allows a practitioner to recommend which foods to eat and which to avoid when you are confronted with a particular illness. Everyone has an Achilles heel, meaning that a particular person will usually get sick in the same way. In Oriental Medicine, this tendency is ascribed to a constitutional predilection. Understanding this, food can be your best medicine, keeping you healthy.

Weight control can be addressed through Oriental Medicine, however, it is not the major concern in speaking of diet. In fact, the reason Oriental Medicine often works when other weight control programs do not is that OM seeks to address the underlying imbalance that causes the craving for food, rather than just limiting the amount of food intake.

QI GONG EXERCISES

Qi gong is a series of exercises that increases, moves, and stores qi. Certain exercises affect the qi in a particular channel or in a particular way. Usually the exercises are quite simple and with just a few minutes everyday you will see dramatic changes in your level of energy.