DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Fascinating article about the effects of “excess fire energy” on the body:

“An article released by a group of top scientists from around the world presents “convincing” evidence that excess body fat along with alcohol and red and processed meat consumption lead to an increased risk for many types of cancer, including those affecting the breast, bowel and pancreas.

The article also stated that a “diet’s relationship to cancer risk is complex and not well understood.” While that may be true from the western mechanistic view, the Chinese view, which is simpler but at the same time far more exact and clear, makes it plain that it’s an excess of “fire” energy in the body which leads to cancer, premature aging, fatigue, weakness, lack of concentration and many other symptoms and Illnesses as well.

While such terminology and language is very foreign to the average westerner, once these concepts are understood, many people are easily able to diagnose themselves with these simple yet powerful tools of understanding and can help themselves to rebalance their own internal energies. When this happens, symptoms simply disappear. This is often confusing and “not acceptable” to the western allopathic mindset which doesn’t accept anything as “valid” until it can be explained in very minute detail right down to the ‘how and why’ of every process in the healing stage. This is a mentality that stops learning and growth since, as the Chinese proverb states, “some things cannot be explained, only sensed”.

Red meat is known to keep you warmer than white meats, again that would be an increase in “fire” energy. Same for alcohol which is one reason that people in colder climates often drink more: such as people residing Russia, certain homeless people, and other groups. Excess body weight also causes the body to hold in more heat than people who are thinner. This is not only because of the fact that the excess body fat is holding in existing heat, but also because the person is physically working harder to simply have that weight on their bodies. Even if a person with excess body fat is at rest, the heart and other organs are working much harder than a person of normal body fat, so more heat is being generated. This, again, follows the same “Fire/Water” or “Kan/Li” principle of Chinese medicine.

I’ve taught acolytes and friends alike to use this basic understanding to help rid themselves of many ailments. Let’s take a simple headache for example. A headache is caused by “Fire chi (energy) ascending”, up to the head in particular. I teach this to all my acolytes when instructing them on health and basic Chi theory. Dizziness, nausea and vomiting are also all caused by the same “Fire chi ascending”. I taught one of my students who had a headache a simple visualization technique to use his mind to bring the “Fire” energy down to the abdomen area where Chi begins and resides in the human body. Within thirty seconds, his headache was gone and he was amazed that he could use his own mind to rid himself of a headache.

For years this person had simply put up with the headache or occasionally took an aspirin when the pain was too much. This is a simple example of how powerful the Chinese chi theories and yin/yang principles are. This is not some esoteric, metaphysical theory as many think, but a solid scientific principle dealing with the balance of universal energies that are at work in the human body, the earth and the universe itself.

This is why in Chinese medicine the Kidneys are considered a “water” organ, as they regulate water metabolism throughout the body. Most Chi-gung research has focused on dozens of ways to strengthen the kidney energies as it has subjective control over the heart (fire) and helps balance the liver and spleen as well. Any Chronic disease of sufficient acuity is going to involve the kidneys to some degree. In Chinese medicine, practitioners will almost always give herbs or prescribe exercise both physical and mental to strengthen these organs and help effect healing.

One reason why drinking sufficient amounts of water is so important is that the easier we make things on our kidneys, the easier they’ll make things on us. Avoiding polluted, toxic foods and foods that make our digestion work much harder: anything packaged and processed, red meat and “unclean” meats such as pork, most shellfish and such (bottom feeders) are keys to keeping the fire energies in the body down and in balance and preventing our cells from either mutating or not dying as they should. This helps us to avoid many types of cancer and scores of other illness and “dis-eases”.

This is why more fruits and veggies, drinking more water, eating less red meats, getting extra sleep and keeping the mind calm and relaxed are all things that cancer patients must do to avoid relapse. It’s not coincidence many of these same basic guidelines also apply to heart patients as well, since heart troubles are often caused by the same excess of “fire” energy in the body. Autopsies of people who have died from heart disease often demonstrate that the heart appears as if it was “burned up from the inside/out”. This is very telling and gives strong validation to the Fire/Water understanding of Chinese Medicine.”