Text and photo by Prime Sarmiento
The truth was I booked a consultation with Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor because I wanted to consult the I-Ching. Learning more about Oriental Medicine was just part of the package.
I was on a career crossroads at the time and I felt that this particular issue will be better served by tapping into my intuition – with the aid of I Ching. I see no other way of resolving this particular dilemma but to consult the I Ching hexagrams – the ancient Chinese oracle which fascinated and even promoted by the renown Swiss psychologist (and fellow INFJ) Carl Jung. And then, I wanted to spice up my itinerary by putting in something different in the usual schedule of someone traveling to Beijing, China for the first time (trekking the Great Wall, having my photo taken at the Forbidden City, eating delicious steamed baozhi, you know the drill). I also thought that since I was spending this money to travel, I might as well use my Beijing sojourn as an investment on my career and health.
Oriental Medicine: More than needles and Qi Gong
Traditional Chnese Medicine was not a new concept to me. I had several acupuncture sessions in Manila before and anyone who lived Philippine capital would be familiar with senior citizens doing tai-chi in Rizal Park. What I learned in my Traditional Chinese Medicine consultation in Beijing , however, was that there’s more to this age-old health and wellness regimen than sticking needles to your body.
The three hour session begun with the initial consultation akin to visiting your family physician – there were questions about weight, height, daily habits, diet, menstrual cycle and my usual ailments. He checked the color of my tongue and also my pulse. Afterwhich he gave his initial findings in my case, he said that I have of ‘dampness’ – common among those with stressful jobs. With my dampness, I have heavy and slow energy, and tend to suffer from digestive problems – gallstones, constipation.
This was followed by a lecture on Oriental medicine to make me understand better my condition and then an acupuncture treatment, with the needles meant to correct the imbalances within my body.
A few days later, he sent a more comprehensive report on my health status (I apparently have 'spleen qi deficiency' with some 'qi stagnation' and 'liver Blood deficiency') plus recommendations on how to correct my imbalances
This was followed by a lecture on Oriental medicine to make me understand better my condition and then an acupuncture treatment, with the needles meant to correct the imbalances within my body.
A few days later, he sent a more comprehensive report on my health status (I apparently have 'spleen qi deficiency' with some 'qi stagnation' and 'liver Blood deficiency') plus recommendations on how to correct my imbalances
Here are some things that I learned during that session:
1. It’s all about Qi :
Qi is the life force, literally means “ breath” and the central principle of traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. We need to maintain this life energy flowing. Hence, people like me who has “dampness” – slow and stagnant energy – need to correct that by changing our diet and lifestyle to keep the Qi moving.
2. There’s a time for everything:
We all have our natural rhythm – that connects us both to earth and the heaven ( the link between mundane and the ethereal or what the Taoists call Tian Ren He Yi). The problem is we lost touch of that as become more busy with our daily lives – waking up whenever we want, wasting our time watching tv or changing our Facebook status, doing too much work, cramming all activities within a time frame that’s not sustainable in the long run. But I think the biggest lesson here is the need for me to be more of a morning lark – sleep early to replenish my energy and then wake up before seven am so I can incorporate my fitness regimen, meditation and social time with my hectic work schedule.
3. Most of our health problems can be solved by the right diet:
I don’t know if this is enough to reverse a serious condition, but in terms of keeping fit it’s best to go into what my Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor calls “Chinese dietary therapy’. This has nothing to do with carbo-loading on noodles, chao fan and dumplings. But this is more on eating these items – which is actually part of the daily diet in rural China: less cold, sweet and heavy foods; less fruit and salads more cooked vegetables (the raw food diet won’t catch on in China]; more cooked grains and only small amounts of meat and spices.
4. Sustainability and regularity is the key:
I can’t say that I have followed 1 hundred percent everything that my Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor recommended. I’m incorporating it in my day to day life, but I have lapses. I can’t get up earlier than eight thirty a.m. and I just can’t discipline myself to stop writing articles and/or blog posts by nine in the evening. But instead of giving up, I just continue doing it, trying it, slowly changing my lifestyle one habit, one day at a time.
The session ended with me divining on I Ching and interpreting the message from the Book of Changes or Zhouyi. So did I Ching solved my dilemma? Well, yes. But I won’t go into details. Suffice it to say the I Ching confirmed my belief that traveling is the key towards my career and personal success!!!
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Are you going to Beijing? Then keep your eyes peeled for Prime’s Beijing – a new series to welcome the Year of the Water Snake.
Prime’s Beijing is a series of several posts about my recent trip to the Chinese capital. In the next dew weeks, I’ll be publishing inspiring travelogues, Vlogs and practical tips for women traveling alone in Beijing.
And if you are one of my subscribers, then you have one bonus gift: By the end of February, I’ll give you Beijing Confidential – a list of resources, tips and contacts that will help you in traveling Beijing – which I’ll deliver straight to your inbox. Want to be a subscriber? Then sign up here and get this FREE and USEFUL travel resource to BEIJING on Feb. 28,2013.
Xin Nian Kuai Le. Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Xin Nian Kuai Le. Gong Xi Fa Cai!
