Ways to regulate qi and blood to handle poor blood circulation.

THE human body cannot function without blood. Not only is blood responsible for transporting oxygen and nutrients to each of the trillions of cells in the body, it is also responsible for carrying toxins and waste out of the body. Blood also plays a vital role in stabilising body temperature and acidity (pH).

Poor blood circulation can leado various health conditions, from muscle spasms, poor immunity, sluggish memory, lack of stamina, and circulatory disorders such as hypertension, arteriosclerosis, to serious ailments such as heart attack and stroke.

Since its early beginnings, traditional chinese medicinal practice has recognised the importance of blood circulation to overall good health. In this third installation of a four-part series, I’ll share with you the various Chinese medicinal herbs that can improve blood circulation.

Traditional Chinese medicinal prescriptions compose of herbs that treat blood “troubles” and have the effect of regulating qi and blood to treat poor blood circulation.

Although a very common condition, poor blood circulation is wide in scope and complexity. The methods of treating poor blood circulation include enriching the blood and promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis.

Herbs that improve blood circulation are categorised by four general functions:

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OUTWARD signs of ageing are typically an indication of some imbalance within the body.

For instance, wrinkles, black spots or hair loss might be due to weakness in one’s organs, such as kidney or liver deficiencies, a weak digestive system, or blood stagnation problems.

Excessive fats, on the other hand, might be due to an accumulation of phlegm in the body.

“Treating these root issues with Chinese herbs, coupled with acupuncture and acupressure, can help to slow down the process of ageing,” said Ms Duan Qian Mei, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physician and acupuncturist at Eu Yan Sang Specialist TCM Centre.

The 42-year-old, who has over 18 years of experience in the field, says that 70 per cent of those who visit her for ageing problems are female.

TCM methods, she said, are a great remedy for such problems because they are safe, and definite results can be seen with consistent treatment and an accurate initial diagnosis.

For instance, patients who see her for weight problems generally can see a drop of up to 4kg in four weeks. However, she warned that the amount of weight lost depends on the patient’s willingness to cooperate on treatment and his or her body constitution.

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Chinese herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine with the earliest known written herbal formulas dating back to the 3rd century BC. Prior to being written down, herbal remedies were passed down by word of mouth and may date back as far as 3500 BC. Chinese medicine teaches that people are either in harmony or out of harmony. Disease is caused by disharmony and cured by restoring harmony to the body.

It is believed that we are sustained by a life force called “qi” (pronounced “chee”). It is believed each person is born with a fixed amount, called Yuan Qi, which is inherited from our parents. We can nourish it, but cannot add to it. We can also deplete it through unhealthy living. Chinese medicine works to unblock the flow of qi if it is stuck or nourish it if it is lacking.

Qi is found everywhere in our body; qi protects us from disease and fights it when we get sick. Qi keeps our organs healthy, transforms our food into essential bodily substances, keeps our body warm, and is the source of healthy growth. According to traditional Chinese medicine, blocked or weak qi can prevent our organs from working properly and lead to disease.

While qi is found everywhere in our bodies, there are 12 main pathways, called meridians, where chi flows. The 12 main meridians correspond to the 12 main organs in the body such as liver, heart, lung, stomach, and kidneys. For medicinal purposes, an organ includes the meridian that is associated with it. For example, the liver meridian runs from the big toe up the inside of the leg through the genitals into the liver. Organs also have general body responsibilities. The liver is also responsible for the general flow if qi in the body, digestion, and stable emotions. Treating the liver can fix problems anywhere on the liver meridian as well as the general body functions it is responsible for.

In traditional Chinese medicine diseases are classified as being caused by wind, heat, damp, or cold. A Chinese Herbalist will seek to identify which organ is the source of disease and whether it is caused by wind, heat, damp, cold, or a combination. An herbal prescription will include multiple herbs. Some of the herbs will be used because they have been proven to work for a given condition, and some herbs will be chosen to fit you personally because Chinese medicine believes each person and condition are unique.

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When you are in the preseance of others who are negative, it can rub off onto you, changing your mood and ruin your day. But there are times when our day forces us to face the difficulty of dealing with family members, coworkers and others in our world who fill the air space around us with their misery, fear, anger and jealousy. This leaves us us drowning in pools of negative feelings.

As a clairaudient and a clairsentient psychic, I get calls daily from people who have been dragged through issues steeped with negativity and they for advice on how to neutralize or banish the counterproductive effects of negative energy. To understand what you are expeiencing or dealing with, you need to identify what it looks and feels like. Negative energy feels like nausea, confusion and fatigue. You get a heavy feeling in the chest or shoulder region. Some experience migrane-like headaches and some have an elevation in their anxiety level as it is natural to “flee” the area of negativity.

So what does positive energy feel like? Positive energy feels like happiness and gaity, a giggly feeling. It is important to understand that negativity sticks to people who expect it or cooperate with it and though it can also be so aggressive that it just attaches to you, your office or your home, there are ways to lessen its’ impact on you and your surroundings. Your first line of defense should be Epsom Salts. Soak in a very waem tub of water with a double batch of epsom salts added. Soak your complete body, even your hair. Once the water has cooled, stand up and shower and shampoo with your regular cleansing agent, towel off and dress in clean clothes. Drink a good amount of water immediately after, as the soak will leave you depleted. Rest if you can, napping is preferable. To boost the clearning qualities of your bath, try to burn some white sage in your home. You can even smudge yourself before or after your epsom salts soak. To do this, light the sage bundle, passing it over the outside of your body, starting from the soles of your feet and upward over your whole body. I also tell clients to enhance the purifying environment of a bath by setting up and lighting white candles, burning sage and using music to induce a meditative state for emotional calm.

Smudging with sage or cedar is another good way of shooing uncomfortable depressing vibes away. You can smudge yourself as well as your home, office or even your car. You can find smudge sticks at metaphysical book stores, health food stores or gift shops. Light the end, then blow out the flame, to get the required smoke for smudging. Pass it under your arm pits and through your legs and allow the smoke to waft up your clothes. Another thing to consider is when your energy is low because you’ve spent time around negative people, pass the sage over yourself slowly and breathe in deeply and calmly. You will notice the difference at once For a peaceful nights sleep after a day filled with negativity, break off a single leaf of sage and burn it carefully in a safe container.

To keep neativity away from specific areas of your home or office, keeping the space clean is vital. “Negativity will hide in clutter, dust, dirt and cobwebs. Toss out old newspapers and past dated magazines, place things back in their cupboards and closets. Vaccuum and dust, mop and wipe until everything feels fresh. Using a cleaner like Pine Sol or something with a nice lemony scent will lift your spirits, too. Spray a nice room freshener lightly throughout the house and if it is on a relatively sunny day, try to open the doors and windows, even if it is for fifteen minutes. Once the area has been cleaned up, chase off any energy that you feel is seriously negative by smudging. In Feng Shui, it is good to place a mirror directly opposite the entry point to help deflect negativity before it enters. It’s wonderful to watch what happens when a negative person tries to walk into an energetically clean space. They balk and just don’t want to go in. For another space cleansing option, peel an orange and put the peels in a bowl of water. Walk through your home and flick the water around the house, spending extra time where the energy seems heavier. Finallly, when an area has been neutralized, all that is left to do is to fill it up with positive thoughts or prayers, or items from nature – particularly flowers. You’ll know the cleansing worked because your space will feel lighter, more comfortable and safe.

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The traditional Chinese form of exercise known as tai chi can help reduce pain and physical impairment in people who have knee arthritis, researchers said this week.

In their study, one group of people in their 60s with severe knee osteoarthritis performed tai chi for an hour twice a week for 12 weeks, while a similar group did the same amount of conventional stretching exercises over the same period.

Those who did tai chi experienced greater pain reduction, less depression and improvements in physical function and overall health, researchers led by Dr. Chenchen Wang of Tufts Medical Center in Boston reported at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in San Francisco.

“Tai chi mind-body exercise appears to provide an important approach for self-care and self-management for knee (osteoarthritis),” Wang said in a statement.

The study provided the latest evidence that tai chi may offer benefits for people with arthritis. The Arthritis Foundation advocacy group recommends it for improving the quality of life of people with arthritis.

Tai chi is a form of exercise developed in China centuries ago. With tai chi, a person slowly performs a series of postures or movements that are low impact and put little stress on the muscles and joints. It can improve muscle function, balance and flexibility.

Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, develops when cartilage in the joints of the body wears down over time. It is incurable and worsens over time. Osteoarthritis in the knee can cause chronic pain when a person stands or walks.

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Advice on how to save both money and time on health care costs for you and your family.

The top priority: eat a healthy diet
Avoid any foods that list high-fructose corn syrup (or any other sugar) as one of its first three listed ingredients-unless it is a dessert.

Choose foods containing three or more grams of fiber per 100 calories. (For example, whole tomatoes have more fiber than peeled tomatoes, which have more than tomato juice.)

Never eat any foods containing trans fats (the unsaturated fats often found in fast food, snack food, and fried food)
Ways to save on Health Care Costs
Stay healthy and save money by making sure everyone in your family is being proactive:

Eat a healthy diet-in addition the guidelines above, eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, and if affordable, organic food; and reduce consumption of meat.

Exercise every day for one hour-at all ages, whenever possible.

Reduce stress levels by simplifying your life-including yoga, meditation, and prayer.

Get adequate sleep-seven to eight hours every night, and more for children.

Maintain a healthy weight-an imperative throughout life!

Discover a meaningful purpose for your life-and live it!

Practical approaches that will save you both money and time

For routine health issues and for primary care, consider seeing an integrative physician, or a naturopath, chiropractor, or Chinese medicine practitioner.

If illness strikes, engage first in safe, less invasive, more natural treatment approaches that do not depend on expensive pharmaceutical drugs or surgeries that can cause serious side effects.

Reserve seeing your MD physician for acute issues that come up when these simpler, safer, and commonsense approaches fail.

Reframe your relationship with health care

Remember, each of us has the primary responsibility for our own health. Teach responsible self-care to your children and your entire family.

Search for health-care practitioners who are willing to work as a team with CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) practitioners as well as mainstream practitioners.

Don’t give away your authority when making important treatment decisions. Always stay in the loop with your caregivers; do your own research and remain your own authority.

Get a second opinion when you have doubts about your diagnosis or treatment.
How to be a better patient
Partner with your health-care practitioner and family members in making important decisions about treatment.

Learn about the central role of your emotions and your thinking in illness and health.

Learn from your illness; find out why you became ill and what you can do to prevent a recurrence. Illness is essential feedback for learning about who you are, for deepening your wisdom about life, and for creating a healthier lifestyle in the future.

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In your excellent article “Strategies for dodging colds, flu” (Living Here, Nov. 15), you suggest eating 10 to 12 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I have read articles in the past that suggest five servings. I have never been sure if it is meant to be a combined total of five fruits and veggies or five servings of each. No information is given as to what amount of a fruit or vegetable is considered a serving. I assume a serving would be a half-cup, as 12 one-cup servings would be 3 quarts, too much for a 130-pound woman to eat. Do you recommend equal quantities of fruits and veggies, or does it matter?

– Opal Ruff

Thanks for your great question – it’s time for us to update those fruit and veggie recommendations!

As you may remember, a number of years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture came out with its slogan “Eat 5 To Stay Alive,” meaning eat five servings of fruits and veggies per day. More recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teamed up with other organizations, including the Produce for Better Health Foundation, to come up with more specific (and increased) recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake for Americans based on age, gender and activity level; the more active you are, the more you need.

And because serving sizes can be confusing and at times misleading, recommendations are now made in cups of produce per day rather than servings per day.

For example, a moderately active female age 19 to 50 needs about 5 cups of fruits and veggies each day. (Moderately active means you get 30 to 60 minutes of exercise per day.) It’s usually recommended that you eat about two-thirds of this as vegetables and one-third as fruit, so that would mean roughly 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables.

Why more vegetables than fruit? Vegetables tend to be a little more packed with phytonutrients than fruits, and they contain less sugar.

In case you’re wondering how to measure out cups of fruits and veggies, 1 cup usually refers to a measuring cup, just as you would use in cooking. But there are exceptions. In the vegetable group, 1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables, or 1 cup of 100 percent vegetable juice is considered a cup, but you actually need 2 cups of raw leafy greens for that amount.

In the fruit group, 1 cup of fruit or 100 percent fruit juice is a cup, while a half-cup of dried fruit is the equivalent of 1 cup for these purposes.

Eating more produce, and less high-fat and processed food, is strongly associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In fact, the American Institute for Cancer Research estimates that if the only change we made in our diets was to eat the recommended amount of fruits and veggies, cancer rates would drop by about 20 percent. Focusing on fruits and veggies as the mainstay of your diet should also lead to reduced caloric intake and weight loss.

Here’s a sample fruit-and-veggie menu for one day that provides more than 5 cups of produce. You’ll see that it’s not that hard to get your 5 cups in.

• Breakfast: A banana on your cereal plus a half-cup of low-sodium tomato juice.

• Midmorning snack: A half-cup of raisins or other dried fruit.

• Lunch: A large salad with 2 cups of raw spinach leaves, plus 1 cup of other veggies and fruits (tomatoes, carrots, shredded beets, cabbage, etc.).

• Dinner: 1 cup of cooked veggies, such as broccoli or cauliflower.

• Dessert: Half-cup of berries or cut-up fruit (plus a little dark chocolate, of course!).

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DAAN’s Ginseng products that can help you refuel and get ready for the new year!

Lack of energy is one of our most common complaints.

According to Oriental medicine, the cold months of winter are the time to recharge your battery and generate vital energy — or Qi — in order to look and feel your best.

The ancient Chinese believed in adjusting the lifestyle with the natural cycles of nature. The cold and darkness of winter encourages a slow down and reflection on health, energy and strength.

Ruled by the water element, winter is associated with the kidneys, bladder and adrenal glands. Water, from a psychological and emotional perspective, is linked to fear. People plagued with phobias, or lack of will, may have an imbalanced kidney energy system. An overabundance of fear can weaken this system.

In Western Medicine, the adrenal glands, sitting on top of the kidneys, respond to fear and stress by initiating the sympathetic nervous system.

Constant stress triggers the immune- suppressing responses, which can compromise the normal functioning of the body. Workaholics, or individuals with an excessive will or excessive fear of failure, may suffer from nervous burnout.

The kidneys are considered the source of our inherited energy — or original Qi. They store the reserve energy we need to handle stress and change. This is used to heal, defend against illness, and age with grace.

Staying healthy this winter
Seasonal changes affect the body’s environment. With the wind, rain and snow comes the colds, flu and aches and pains. Here are a few tips to staying healthy this winter.

Be nourished and warm the body’s core by eating warm hearty soups, whole grains and roasted nuts. Go to sleep early, rest well, stay warm and expend a minimum amount of energy. Hydrate with room-temperature water.

Practice a method to release the stress and pressure of life. According to Chinese Medicine, unresolved stress can throw your immune system off, allowing pathogens to enter your body.

Acupuncture works to build the immune system with the insertion of needles in key points along the body’s energy pathways. Known for strengthening the circulation of blood and energy, as well as the defensive layers of the skin, these treatments support the body’s natural power to resist infection.

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Whether due to lack of health insurance or greater interest in treating the mind-body connection, people are turning to new or even ancient ways of healing.

The Alive & Well Holistic Center in Fort Myers draws holistic health professionals from around the county to share their healing practices at regular health fairs.

More people are reaching out for holistic help, said Keli Ackroyd, owner of Alive & Well.

People are finding some relief, turning to yoga, massage and other alternative practices, she said.

Here are descriptions of some of the services provided by Alive & Well Holistic Center in Fort Myers.

Some of them can be sampled Saturday.

The center also offers classes in several types of yoga, pilates, plus instructional programs on several of the services, meditation sessions and more.

Be sure to inform any health care practitioner you see of any other therapies, supplements or treatments you are or have received from other practitioners.

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Many busy people ignore their feet these days and no longer take foot baths. But traditional Chinese medicine recommends daily foot baths that promote blood circulation and drive away pathogenic energy.

The feet are very important in health maintenance. Ancient Chinese often compare the human body to a tree, with the torso the trunk, the arms the branches and the feet the roots.

It is said that a dying tree withers first in its roots and an aging person first feels health recede from the feet.

So it’s important to take good care of your feet for overall health. Massage, foot exercise, soaking in hot water and sometimes taking herbal soaks are all easy and effective.

There’s also acupuncture, accupressure (reflexology) and application of herbal paste to the feet.

Simple soaking is surprisingly effective. Six meridians (liver, gall bladder, kidney, spleen and stomach) reach the feet, each of which has more than 60 acupunture points. As with the ear, the foot has points that correspond to many parts of the body.

Soaking in hot water activates blood and energy throughout the body. In herbal foot baths, the skin absorbs elements through the skin and these travel through energy channels to target points.

Soaking until there’s a sweat can relieve symptoms of colds, flu and menstrual cramps.

Herbal soaks can be beneficial to those with chronic stomach inflammation, high blood pressure and to stroke patients.

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