After having a chance to settle into all the change all around us, my teachers have put out their knowledge and philosophies on COVID 19. Our Chinese lineage of providers in China has had a chance to effectively treat, document and publish their work (wow, they are on it!!!) and I have had a chance to wrap my mind around some of the ideas and views of how this is all working. As a result, I find myself freshly inspired about the work that I do, how well it works for the support of health through all conditions, and its long history of tried and true approaches to many of life’s challenges and cycles.
Chinese medicine is based in Taoism. Both share a foundation which views the body as a microsystem of the macro system that is our planet— its weather cycles, nature cycles, life cycles, all within our universe, with our laws of nature. The theory of the Chinese zodiac, which describes an animal that correlates to the year of our birth and shares some attributes with our personality. In addition, there are also aspects of that same system that correlate times of day, months in the year, and years in the 60-year cycle (2020 marks year one of the 60-year cycle) to the different organs in our body. Together, we can see patterns over the greater 60-year cycle. This is ALOT and very different from our western model of viewing the world. In fact, it even uses the lunar calendar, a different version of the calendar than our standard calendar here in the US. The lunar calendar is of course set to the moon cycle and also, get this, to a woman's period cycle, if she is off birth control or other hormones that is. So, it turns out our planet is full of these cycles, replicated amongst all living things.
If we take all of the above and we marry it together we can see predictions for this year, 2020, the year of the metal rat, year one of the 60-year cycle. It is a BIG deal to be in year one. Why? Let’s use the life of a seed to illustrate it. Many of us recently planted our seedbeds with our cooler weather crops. Imagine those little seeds, in the cool ground, just starting to feel the touch of dampness for their first few days of life. If the 60-year cycle was a seedling we would be in the damp seed stage. Nothing yet sprouting, no definition to the potential energy found inside the seed, the energy of creation.
To go a step further, every year, in the winter and early spring months we are a seed. Because its early spring of 2020 we could view this as a DOUBLE SEED time that we are currently in. Imagine the hot damp energy inside the seed buzzing with restless potential— this is a seed slightly out of balance, a bit too damp, too warm and with a stagnate cold outer shell. This is the energy of April 2020. In addition to the epidemic and lack of a hard freeze this winter, it is also predicted in the Chinese texts that we will see many more flourishing bug colonies.
Unfortunately, this combination of energy for this year along with the conditions of last year which included toxic impacts of our human behavior (for example, our lack of a freeze and more extreme temperatures generally due to climate change) and its impacts on the planet, we are seeing some of these cycles disrupt. This causes disruptions in our bodies as well. Those folks most impacted by the imbalance, and also more vulnerable to phlegm illnesses (not just chest infections) are run down, overworked, stressed and often suffer from poor digestion as well as weakness in the lungs. Smoking of any kind, or inhaling environmental toxins, and advanced age both increases vulnerability. In Chinese medicine the spleen and lungs are most impacted by this damp energy and the liver most impacted by stagnation. Both elements are at work this year. Your daily life style, diet, exercise, and self care can have a huge impact and it’s not too late to make the needed changes and expect positive impact.
What can you do? Here are a few things to start you off.
Eat vegetables, cooked at least to al dente stage.
Whole grains like rice, barley and farrow are ok.
Avoid refined sugar and processed carbohydrates and go light on the fruit.
Avoiding dairy is key— If you could take one year in your life off from dairy it should be this one. One of my favorite equations: dairy + refined sugar/processed carbohydrates = phlegm.
Exercise daily. 30-60 minutes of walking might be plenty, just enough to create a light sweat, whatever that means for you. This is a good time to avoid intense workouts.
Sleep is also very important— try to get 8-9 hours every night.
Our interdependence is blatantly clear now than ever before— our need for nature, each other, a handle on our emotions, our struggles with fear and identity, our adaptability and willingness to change in the face of challenge. If you aren’t feeling ill with flu symptoms, it’s pretty likely that you are suffering from anxiety, stress, depression, sleeplessness, digestive upset, to say the least. These are all aspects of your health that support your immune health and your ability to stay well moving through 2020.
If you need support in carrying out the changes above, please reach out to us at Vitalize via email, phone, book an appointment (which will result in a call to you from us) and we will send you support in the mail or otherwise make a plan to help. Take care and be well.