Nourish Yang in spring & summer,
Nourish Yin in autumn & winter
Abstract
This articles attempts to examine the role of human body functions in the corporate change in light of traditional Chinese medicine and provide a unique view, in which, the five elements theory has been successfully applied to the principles of TCM. The management of body functionscould be learned from the organic reactions to change in the environment,four seasons , individual emotionfrom the perspective of TCM.
TCM is ‘’ a coherent and independent system of thought and practice’’, rooted in the philosophy(Kim,Y. 2000),logic, sensibility, and habits of Chinese people, which established within a unique, comprehensive, and systematic theoretical framework including the five elements theory, the human body Meridian system, Yin-Yang and other systems.These theories further promoted this adaptation with nature by the constant monitoring of their overall health.
TCM investigates on a macro-level into the internal system of the human body and their mutualrelationships with the internal and external environments. It seeks to gain an understanding of the fundamental to the treatment and prevention of disease as well as health maintenance.
The modern clinical practice should be responsible for screening out useful the practice or knowledge from this principles ‘’ nourish yang in spring and summer, nourish yin in autumn and winter’’, on the other hand, the operations function could contribute to the evaluation of the cost and benefit of the preventing disease in the future.
Keywords: Traditional Chinese medicine; five elements theory; organic function management
Introduction
Natural Impact on human the body
Many peoples are asking the same questions today - how can I prevent stress-induced disease and how can I get older without aging prematurely? The answers are contained in knowing how to be, the ancient prescription for adaptation that is as relevant today as it was in China as follows:
Thus Knowing how is the maintenance of life.
Do not fail to observe the Four Seasons
And to adapt to heat and cold,
To harmonize elation and anger
And to calm in activity as in rest . . .
In this way having deflected the perverse energies
There will be long life and everlasting vision
---from the Nei Jing Su Wen
Tradition Chinese medicinehas always emphasized that “Heaven-Human-Earth as a whole’’, the unity of man and nature is also called ‘’correspondence man and nature’’ in TCM. This is stated in Plain Questions, Chapter 68, ‘’man comes from qi jiao,’’ where descending celestial qi and ascending terrestrial qi converge. It is qi jiao that causes the wane and wax of yin and yang, and produces five basic elements(wood, fire, earth, metal, water), based on which four distinct seasons are formed and human beings live.
Seasonal climatic qi changes are important for living things, spring-sprouting, summer-growing, autumn-transforming, and winter-reaping; they may also become adverse factors to human beings, if failing to adapt themselves to the drastic climatic changes, which can cause some seasonal or epidemic disease.
A regular and balanced lifestyle is essential for both physical and mental well-being. Nourishing the heart in daily life is important for obvious reasons. It ensures vitality and a long life.The following are the quotations from Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Canon of Medicine) about how to cultivate life in the four seasons.
· In the three months of spring, all things on the earth begin to grow. The natural world is resuscitating and all things are flourishing. People may sleep late in the night and get up early in the morning, taking a walk in the courtyard with hair running free to relax the body and enliven the mind. Such a natural resuscitating process should be activated instead of being depressed, promoted instead of being deprived and encouraged instead of being destroyed. This is what adaptation to spring-qi means and this is the principle for cultivation of health. Any violation of this rule may impair the liver and result in cold diseases in summer due to insufficient supply for growth in summer.
· The three months of summer is the period of prosperity. The heaven- qi and the earth-qi have converged and all things are in blossom. People should sleep late in the night and get up early in the morning, avoiding any detestation with longer hot daytime and anxiety in life, trying to delight themselves and enabling qi to flow smoothly. Such an attitude toward life in summer is just like the outward manifestation of a cheerful state of mind. This is what adaptation to summer-qi means and this is the principle for cultivation of health. Violation of this rule may impair the heart and result in malaria in autumn and severe disease in winter due to insufficient supply for astringency in autumn.
· The three months of autumn is the season of ripening. In autumn it is cool, the wind blows fast and the atmosphere appears clear. People should sleep early in the night and get up early in the morning just like hens and roosters. They should keep their mind in peace to alleviate the soughing effect of autumn, moderating mental activity to balance autumn-qi and preventing outward manifestation of sentiments to harmonize lung-qi. This is what adaptation to autumn-qi means and this is the principle for cultivation of health and regulation of daily life. Any violation of this rule will impair the lung and lead to diarrhoea with undigested food in it in winter due to insufficient supply for storage in winter.
· The three months of winter is the season for storage. The water freezes and the earth cracks. Cares must be taken not to disturb yang. People should sleep early in the night and get up late in the morning when the sun is shining, physically maintaining quiet just like keeping private affairs or as if having obtained what one has desired. They should guard themselves against cold and try to keep warm, avoiding sweating so as to.
Organs and Emotional Correspondents of Seasonal Changes
The five elements are part of a ring of energy that encompasses body, mind and spirit. The elements correspond to specific organs and emotions, attitudes, and behaviours. Each season has its own energetic quality and the movement of qi, and through all the seasons of the year.In a person, they are interdependent, creating and controlling the flow of energy through every aspect of body, mind, and spirit, and organizing faculties and attributes that allow an individual to meet the changing circumstances of life.
Each season in the yearly cycle demonstrates a different aspect of energy for one of the Elements. Spring corresponds with the Wood element with its birth of yang energy, actively growing and expanding.
According to the Five-Element tradition(Moss, 2010), Anger is associated with Wood; Joy is associated with Fire, Pensiveness with Earth, and Grief with Metal and Fear with Water. The Liver is associated with Wood and therefore with Anger, the Heart with Fire and Joy, the Spleen with Earth and Pensiveness, the Lung with Metal and Grief and the Kidney with Water and Fear. A patient can experience imbalance in more than one organ and therefore have more complicated emotional disturbances. If a patient is experiencing extreme mood swings between Joy (Mania) and Fear (depression), one would expect an imbalance between the Heart and Kidney (Fire and Water imbalance)
TCM practitioners believe that emotions are associated with the Five Elements. We believe that balancing the Organ associated with the emotion will balance the emotion. Sometimes the Organ is out of balance and produces the emotional imbalance. But sometimes the emotion imbalance can produce an Organ imbalance.
The suggested methods listed below are just some examples for considerations (Gao, L. 2010).
Enhance the body’s needs in each season
A core principle of TCM-based nutrition is that one should eat to optimize the body's adaptability to these seasonal changes. For example, in Spring and Summer, when physical activity tends to increase, Yang Qi flows outwards to the body's surface, and a person's internal Yang Qi may become depleted, thus requiring replenishment in the warm weather. At the same time, it is good to increase consumption of cooling Yin foods.
· During the spring you can stay healthy by splashing the face with cool water, taking B vitamins, eating plenty of green leafy vegetables, eating fruit that is high in vitamin C, getting facial massages and caring for dry skin. Avoid eating barley during the spring.
· During the summer the Yang energy is strong. Yang Qi is lost easily due to open pores. Foods that are bland, definitely not rich and foods that are easily digested are recommended. It is also important to drink plenty of fluids to prevent body fluid deficiency. During the summer eat cold foods and avoid hot foods and hot drinks. Also it is not good to eat green beans during the summer.
In the colder and dryer climates of Fall and Winter, it is important to keep warmer and prevent dryness, and we want to eat foods for nourishing Yang and warmth, building Yin, dispelling mucus and phlegm, and enhancing building the circulation of Qi energy, blood and bodily fluids for the present and coming seasons.
· In the fall, food is plentiful and Ying Qi starts to grow so protect body fluids during the dryness that summer left and eat light, cool foods that promote body fluid production like pears. Fall is the perfect time to consume flaxseeds, and sesame seeds and to eat lubricating foods.
· Winter foods are those that tonify and enrich your kidney. Ying Qi is at its strongest. It is important not to overeat during the winter, so eat light.
Health imbalances can result from the over-consumption of heavy animal-based foods in warm climates, since this quality of food is more suited to the colder regions. On the other hand, not having enough of these kinds of foods in cold climates can also be detrimental.
A brief table may help:(Gao, L. 2010).
Conclusion
As to medical therapies, TCM offers some advice, sometimes of general nature and other times in relation to specific symptoms or medical conditions. A table will help sum up by Fruehauf, H. Dharmananda, S. (2010).
In TCM physicians emphasize prevention rather than treatment. This comes from the belief that treating diseases or illnesses that have already caused damage in the body is much more difficult than preventing them from occurring in the first place. Not surprisingly, TCM physicians who keep their patients healthy and disease free are considered to be the greatest doctors, rather than those who achieve a high cure rate.
The TCM foundation of health maintenance is based on human beings being an integral part of the universe and thus cannot be separated from its changing nature. This changing nature influences the body either directly and indirectly and makes corresponding physiological and pathological changes. As a result, how the body correlates with the external environment and adjusts to it is crucial. The central principle is for all-around balance, harmony, appropriateness, interrelationship, integration, interaction, regulation and coordination.
These Chinese practices encompass not just medical healing, but a way of multi-layered yet integrated personal living that fulfils our real needs. They ensure a strong physical body with vigorous vitality. Abundance in these three aspects ensures good health while depletion will bring out various diseases. Therefore, replenishing the qi (vital energy), preserving the jing (essence) and cultivating the shen (spirit) are considered the major aims in health maintenance.
· The concept of holism is a main characteristic of TCM immunology.
· Healthy energy (zheng qi) is the integral manifestation of the human body's
immune functions.
· TCM therapeutic strategy focused on holistic regulation and possession of dual modulation effects, which as stated above, are to remove excesses and replenish deficiencies
· Nourish yin or Yang in order to address the root in their corresponding seasons. This is because yin and yang are mutually rooted and yang transforms and engenders yin (Flaws, B. 2007).
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References
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2. Moss, CA (2010). The Five Elements of Adaption. Power of the Five Elements: The Chinese Medicine Path to Healthy Aging and Stress. 2, 17-38
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4. Unschuld, Paul U. (2003). Huang Di nei jing su wen: nature, knowledge, imagery in an ancient Chinese Medical Text. University of California Press, Ltd. London, England.
5. Fruehauf, H. Dharmananda, S. (2010). ROMOTING HEALTH DURING THE FOUR SEASONS. Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, OR.
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