On the Tenets of a Long Life
On the tenets of long life -
In 400 BCE, in The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine - the foundational text of Chinese Medicine - the mythical Yellow Emperor asked Chi P'o, his most trusted health advisor, how one can achieve a long and healthy life. Chi P'o answered:
"Do not fail to observe the Four Seasons
And to adapt to heat and cold,
To harmonize elation and anger
And to be calm in activity as in rest...
In this way having deflected the perverse energies
There will be long life and everlasting vision."
In his book Power of the Five Elements, MD-turned-acupuncturist Charles A. Moss, reflects on this passage, informed by more than 30 years in clinical practice:
"[Chi P'o's] response was clear - to achieve "long life and everlasting vision," stay adapted, learn about yourself, pay attention to your environment, and reduce your response to stress. Would we say anything different now?"
Like Moss, these are the tenets that guide me in the clinic every day. This is how we support you on your quest for healthy aging and recovery from illness:
stay adapted
learn about yourself
pay attention to your environment
reduce your response to stress
How do we do that? Let's look at these one by one over the next several weeks.
On staying adapted
Adaptation is about our capacity for self-regulation. How well are we able to adjust to ever-fluctuating internal and external environments? Once activated or triggered - physiologically or emotionally - how quickly are we able to regain our equilibrium?
We feel better in our bodies and lives when we're better regulated - are you at your best when you're constipated? under-slept? easily pissed off by someone on the highway? Our body and mind's capacity for self-regulation frees us into the present moment, while also setting us up for better health over the long term. Why? Because the less time and energy our body has to spend putting out "fires," the more time and energy it has to spend on repair.
When you see me for regular acupuncture because it makes you feel "more like yourself" when you do, that's a testament to acupuncture's profound regulatory effects.
Same for any of you who've sought out acupuncture to resolve an acute condition - acupuncture often works like "magic" for acute symptoms, helping the body regain its balance after the weather, travel, emotional upheaval physical injury, or acute illness have thrown us "off" in body, mind, or spirit. (This is just as true for chronic conditions, btw, but the effects tend to be more cumulative and less instantaneous.)
Anything that leaves you feeling more centered, grounded, and resilient or that supports you in maintaining or returning to a healthy physiological baseline is helping you stay adapted. In doing so, it's supporting you not just in present time, but in the maintenance of your health and vitality, over the long term.
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