Medicine can only cure curable disease, and then not always~Chinese proverb
How to increase longevity and health has undoubtably been sought after my many masters throughout time. While much speculation and uncertainty can be conjured around death, what we can be sure of today is that we are living. Once we truly embrace this wonderful realization, cherishing the quality of our life and our health will give us a new lens to look through. Cultivating our Qi, as the Ancient Masters say, is one of the key factors to living a longer and healthier life. We will learn six practices to increase longevity and health.
What determines health?
This can be a difficult question to answer with so many fad diets, recommendations, and advice from many people with different backgrounds. Some might say it’s your weight, your complexion, what you eat, how often you exercise, and overall happiness in life. These are all right answers! Our health, well-being, longevity, and, ultimately, our death are the result of many factors.
Increase Longevity and Health: What Can Chinese Medicine Teach Us?
Chinese Medicine has guided the way for centuries in researching and methodically cataloging the functions and uses of hundreds of plants. Many of these have been classified as prolonging life, improving health issues, and increasing overall emotional/mental well-being. Interestingly enough, the Chinese placed more attention on increasing longevity than on treating disease. Foundational teachings of Chinese Medicine show us that three factors determine how healthy or sick we will be in our lifetime. To put it in simple terms, they are as follows: our inherited constitution, our good or bad fortune, and our own behavior. While some of this might seem far-fetched, this became the premise of their studies. Let’s break these down to understand them better.
Inherited (pre-heaven) essence
Inherited essence is the foundation of our constitution that we directly inherit from our parents at birth. The Chinese call this the Jing (essence); it is similar to what we now call our genes. Even modern medicine has recognized how much this can influence our lives.
Have you ever asked yourself why some individuals are inherently made for running, have stronger bones, stronger stamina, more disease resistance, or seem psychologically more resilient? While others might seem weaker physically and emotionally, need more rest, catch colds more often? I’m also sure that all of us can relate to that person who could party hard and wake up the next day relatively okay, while others were out of commission for a couple of days. Some are also known to drink heavily and smoke their whole lives and live well into their eighties with only minor health issues. This can all be attributed to the pre-heaven essence.
What are some things that can influence our Jing? This is such a fascinating question that we have no control over. At the same time, the answer is obvious. The health of our parents, the condition of our parents at the moment of conception, and how well your mother took care of her health during pregnancy. Essence also declines as we age, which means the younger the mother, the healthier the child.
Since we have no control or say in this matter, we can only hope our parents took the possibility of our conception and their health as seriously as possible. We could also hope they inherited robust Jing from their parents. As we age, our Jing declines as we observe in those around us and ourselves. Some obvious signs are greying of hair, change in muscle flaccidity, decreased stamina, wrinkles, and other common signs of aging.
If you don’t have much luck with your inherited essence to increase health, let’s move on to the next factor that influences your health to see if there are more possibilities for you to cultivate qi there.
Acquired Essence (post-heaven)
As soon as a baby enters this new world, the first thing it does is take a huge breath of fresh air, and then it begins suckling. From this moment on, we all start the lifelong process of absorbing the energy around us and transforming it into the energy we need to live. Lung, stomach, and spleen play an essential role in ensuring that our body is capable of breathing in the air and digesting nutrients from our food and water. If all of this is functioning properly, our body can generate all of the energy it needs for this life.
Another essential element of life is having a lifestyle that will allow our body to rest and heal. This helps produce more Qi than we need for our daily activities and survival needs. Any surplus Qi is then stored in the Kidneys in Acquired Essence. Sleep further aids the proper transformation of qi and essence into post-heaven qi. This is one of the reasons we should all get a good night’s sleep in.
This is wonderful news for all who feel you might have been born with a weak constitution. We can supplement our post-heaven qi throughout the entire course of our life. This could very well change the course of our longevity and quality of life. On the other hand, if we lead a reckless lifestyle of indulgences, our energy will dissipate and even eat into our Inherited Essence since our reserves will not be added to. This will more than likely lead to disease, health concerns, and a risk of earlier death.
You can see how good or bad luck might influence both of these factors to a huge degree depending on who you are born to, how you were born, how you were raised, lifestyle choices as an adult, environment, and access to healthy dietary choices.
6 Healthy Practices to Cultivate Qi and Live Longer
Chinese Medicine is about promoting the healthiest lifestyle possible to increase longevity and health. This includes everything from diet to a healthy, well-balanced emotional state. Here is a list of 6 things we can do to promote a healthy life full of longevity:
Healthy Diet
Chinese Medicine has always understood that a healthy diet is fundamental to health and longevity. However, eating healthy has never been as complex and complicated as it is today. There are a ton of diets to follow, and each one is claiming to be the answer to a healthy lifestyle. With the modern age of the internet upon us, you can easily find 1000 opinions on Google about what it means to eat healthy but still not know what to do in the end. If it has been difficult for you to determine what kind of diet is best for you, seek out the advice of a licensed professional. Your body may feel drawn to or have an aversion for certain foods. Listen to what your body needs.
Another issue that rises to the occasion is our modern farming practices, which have resulted in a decline in the mineral and vitamin content of our vegetables. With this and even more things we haven’t touched upon, the question of what to eat comes to mind. A good place to start is by eating an organic-based diet. While not perfect, eating organic will give our body more nutrients and lower pesticide content than conventional food.
As a basic rule of thumb, more vegetables and nutrient-dense foods will be healthier for our body than processed foods and carbohydrates, which have a high sugar content.
Cultivating a Healthy Mind and Emotions
Chinese Medicine puts more emphasis on regulating emotions than on diet and exercise. Why is this? The simple answer is that a healthy mental state can lead to a healthy body. By cultivating positive emotions, kindness compassion, humor, and patience we can help our body heal from any number of diseases and have a healthier life. Even modern science has recognized that a positive outlook on life and happiness in your heart contributes to a fuller life. By the same token, if your emotions are not positive and more extreme and chaotic this can lead to illness and the wasting away of your pre and post-heaven Qi.
The vitality of all people inevitably comes from their peace of mind. When anxious, you lose this guiding thread; when angry, you lose this basic point. Original Tao, 4th Centurty BCE
I’m sure we have all experienced firsthand how emotions can affect our mood, energy levels, sleep, and overall well-being. Chinese teachings place a lot of value on emotional restraint and the cultivation of peaceful and harmonious mental states such as mindfulness, quiet joy, and contentment. These positive emotions can help nourish our life force.
Exercise
Life used to demand us to be engaged in physical activity and exercise to meet our daily needs. Hunting and gathering, bringing water, kneading bread, digging in the earth, washing clothes by hand, carrying supplies on your back, and so much more were woven into daily life. But today, with the advancement of the automobile and so many other modern conveniences, most of us hardly even engage in any physical activity anymore.
If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health. ~ Hipprocrates
That’s why it’s more important than ever to find creative ways to keep our bodies moving. We already know how important this is for our mental, emotional, and physical health. Movement can help us stay fit, improve health, reduce stress and frustration, improve sleep and digestion, and increase longevity. These are such good reasons to incorporate a regular exercise routine into your schedule.
Sleep
Occupying a third of our lives, restorative sleep is vital to our health and well-being. After a restful night of sleep, it is the most scrumptious treat to wake up feeling nourished, starting a new day, feeling energized and positive, and having a fresh mind to tackle the new challenges of the day.
The secret of health preservation is the first of all sleep. It can regenerate the essence, improve health, invigorate the Spleen and Stomach and strengthen the bones and muscles…it is an ever-successful panacea that cures all diseases. ~ Collected Works of an Old Man with a Bamboo Hat, Li Yu, 17thcentury
Yet when sleep is not enough or not good enough, this can quickly lead to health issues as we are forced to face the day feeling exhausted and worn out. Over time, our immune system is taxed, we function poorly, have cognitive issues, and can develop chronic health issues. So it is clear that sleep is vital in keeping us healthy.
Chinese medicine tells us how important it is for our internal clocks to be synchronized with the sun’s (yang) and moon’s (yin) energies, respectively. During the day Yang phase, we can extend our energy into the world. Nighttime is an opportunity to relish in the Yin energy of lying down, turning inwards, and slowing our body down. This is how our body can heal the most and help store post-heaven Qi for later years. Many cultures believe the best time to go to bed is between 9:30-10:30 pm, and rising at sunrise. This allows your body to arise with all the creatures of nature and to take in the fresh breath of morning.
Music and Dance
Music and dance are powerful ways to move energy, awaken our inner core, release fear, and help us let go of thoughts, worry, and stress. Ceremonial dancing and singing have been practiced in every culture worldwide for as long as we know. Chanting can help balance and align the internal atmosphere of our bodies, helping us to release tension and pent-up emotions. Ancient peoples believed the whole universe was created with pure sound.
Ecstatic dancing can bring on an altered state of being that can connect us to ancestral energy and nature spirits. As far as we know, we have always danced for healing, for pleasure, out of happiness, and for celebration. Because so much movement is involved in dancing, it can benefit our balance, mood, core strength, flexibility, social contact, and happiness in our hearts.
A 2014 meta-analysis of twenty-three dance and dance movement therapy studies reported increased quality of life, well-being, mood, and body image, and a reduction in depression and anxiety. These are all great reasons to let loose on the dance floor or at home by yourself.
Nature
Our old ancestors knew what we had forgotten: that our connection to nature nourishes our body, mind, and soul. Lest we forget, we are also products of nature, not separate from it. Hiking in nature, climbing, gazing at nature, enjoying a waterfall, indulging in the seasons, digging our hands into the dirt, and watching the sunset are all ways we can connect with nature.
In turn, this can help us find our purpose, bringing us deep inner peace and fulfillment. People who regularly enjoy nature report fewer symptoms of disease, and better general and mental health. Engaging in these activities helps open our hearts, frees our minds, and reminds us that we are part of a bigger picture.
In Summary
The more we strive to learn more about what our bodies need, the more we can take care of ourselves and increase our longevity. For more information, stop by Hummingbird Community Acupuncture in Boulder, CO. We can help you start a healthy life plan that will support you where you are right now.
