Joy belongs to the heart and anxiety to lungs

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Industrialized countries are facing a serious mental health challenge. It strikes all demographics regardless of age, race, gender or socioeconomic status. This threat is known as clinical depression. Almost everyone experiences it at some point in their life, triggered perhaps by the loss of a loved one, a financial collapse or simply too many rainy days. The symptoms may vary from persistent melancholy to attacks of fear, loneliness and insomnia. Many sufferers also experience somatic symptoms, including migraines, digestive irregularities, back pain, sexual disorders and even the loss of smell or taste. Depressed individuals tend to report a lack of Ki (energy), a heavy body with cold hands and feet, and a loss of interest in everything. Western medicine often treats these symptoms with antidepressants, which artificially neutralize the emotional state.

A defining aspect of human beings is our capacity for emotional development. An individual’s emotional health determines one’s enjoyment of life. Interestingly, emotional health mirrors somatic health. Oriental Medicine distinguishes seven different emotions, each of which corresponds to different organs. Joy belongs to the heart; anger to the liver; musing to the spleen; anxiety and sorrow to the lungs; fear and surprise to the kidneys. Consequently, an unbalanced organic condition can influence emotional health, and vice versa. For instance, people with exaggerated liver function are easily angered, and those doing too much musing often complain of digestive problems.

Most individuals with depression are Yin-dominant, lacking in Yang energy, which enables humans to feel joy and insulates against excessive sorrow and fear. Weak heart, lung and kidney functions are responsible for yang deficiency. From this perspective, the prevention and treatment of depression require a course which encourages the creation of Yang. Treatment is comprehensive, and includes proper diet, exercise, breathing techniques, acupuncture and herbal drugs.

The diet should favor fish and sesame oil, both of which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, essential for the proper functioning of important brain neurotransmitters, including serotonin and dopamine. Spices should also be used as these generate Yang-energy. Fresh vegetables and fruits are also advised, to meet the individual’s vitamin and mineral requirements. Fatty dishes, which are high in calories but low in food value, should be avoided.

Another important factor is exercise. Cardiovascular exercises, such as jogging or fast walking, stimulate the release of endorphins, the “self-made painkiller.” When exercise is accompanied by proper dahnchon (abdominal) respiration ― an important technique of Oriental meditation ― the lungs receive optimal ventilation, thus increasing the oxygen available for the generation of cell energy.

The best course of action combines diet, exercise, and Qi-gong exercises with acupuncture treatment (to balance the energy flow in the meridian system) and herbal drugs (to raise the energy level of low functioning organs).
The aim is to bring the entire body back into balance, resulting in a renewed state of emotional and physical well-being.

by Dr.Raimund Royer
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A beautiful woman is good at sleeping

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Sleeplessness is torture. It causes moodiness, irritability, stiff muscles, headaches, and the inability to think or function properly. Furthermore, lack of adequate sleep can cause or exacerbate serious health conditions.

Western medicine and traditional Oriental medicine have different approaches to insomnia. Western doctors view insomnia as the inability to sleep soundly. If there are no apparent physiological abnormalities, it will usually be viewed as an emotional problem involving stress or depression. A patient with a mild case of insomnia is told to relax more, cut back on caffeine, and try a hot bath before bedtime. For chronic insomnia, the usual response is sleeping pills.

In Oriental medicine, the approach can be called “root and branch.” Symptoms like insomnia are considered to be the branches of a disease. The root of the disease is an imbalance of the fundamental substances - chi, blood, yin, yang, jing (essences), and shin (spirit); or of the major organ systems - lungs, heart, spleen, liver and kidneys.

When a person suffers from insomnia, the two organs most commonly out of balance are the heart and the liver. Each of these organs houses a specific aspect of the spirit. If they are out of balance, the spirit will become restless. This is viewed as a shin disturbance, and although it can manifest in a number of ways, including mood disorders and heart palpitations, insomnia is one of the most common symptoms.

There are several types of insomnia, each with differing characteristics that point to different root imbalances. The most common types of insomnia are as follows:
Dream-disturbed sleep Nightmares normally indicate a disorder of the gallbladder meridian. Recurring dreams are due to a spleen/heart imbalance.
Can’t drop-off

This is usually related to a condition of the liver or gallbladder. People will toss and turn for hours.
Light sleeping patterns Many people can fall asleep easily, but wake up and find can’t get back to sleep. They may stay awake for an hour or more, or may not go back to sleep at all. These people often have a heart/spleen deficiency pattern.
One relief for sleeping disorders is vacuum cupping therapy, which can be done at home. When you want to fall asleep, a partner should apply the cups about 5 centimeters to the left and right along the vertebral spine and keep them there for about 15 minutes. Many people fall asleep within a few minutes.

Acupuncture also has many positive benefits. It has been scientifically demonstrated to have an effect on the body’s central nervous system, and can increase levels of several neurotransmitters, including serotonin. Acupuncture promotes natural sleeping patterns, and doesn’t create the hangover effect that most sleeping pills do.
Shin (spirit) restlessness can be eased by increasing yin energy through meditation and breathing exercises, ingesting certain herbs, or by listening to relaxing music. At the same time, yang energy can be decreased through avoidance of excess mental stimulation, particularly before bedtime.

Good sleeping patterns are the foundation of a harmonious and healthy life. As the Korean proverb states, “Beautiful women are sleepyheads.”

*Raimund Royer is Medical Director of the International Clinic at the Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine.

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When the sun shines, know thy body type

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In the summertime, we often choose to combat scorching temperatures with iced drinks and creamy ice cream. However, an excess of these can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, particularly for individuals with a Yin-constitution. Conversely, the ancient Oriental philosophy, “Treat heat with heat” may be too much to bear for Yang-constitution individuals. Your individual prescription for cooling down should be based on your constitution.

The colder Yin-type individuals prefer the warmth of summer. Keeping the digestive tract warm for “heat loving” Yin-types is essential, not only for proper digestion (blood circulation is more active in warm areas, so nutrients are better absorbed), but also for Ki-flow through the abdominal area. An “overdose” of cold food can clog the energy flow, indicated by symptomatic abdominal pain. Consequently, Yin people should obey the ancient treatment rule: “Treat heat with heat.” In our context that means to respond to summer heat by ingesting food and drinks with a warm character, like Samkyetang (a chicken soup with rice and ginseng), ginger tea and ginseng tea.

The warmer Yang-types, producing a lot of body heat, tend to prefer the cold of winter. They find hot temperatures difficult and so internal heat accumulation is regulated by profuse sweating. Sweating itself results in a loss of Ki (energy) and vital minerals. If lost fluids are not supplemented by adequate isotonic fluid intake, heat strokes can result. These Yang-types should favor fresh salads with vinegar, or lots of seasonal fruits.

For those who have to work in the summer heat without air conditioning and feel drained of energy, try an old traditional Oriental medicine recipe. Make a 1 liter decoction (tea) of the following: 20g maengmundong (Liriope platyphylla), 10g of ginseng, white or red and 10g of omija (Schizandra fructus). and drink in place of soft drinks. Add honey to taste and drink in place of soft drinks. Continue this “therapy” for the rest of summer and you will feel a difference.

To deal with summer you need to have a basic understanding of your own body. Do you feel better in hot weather than cold? Do your hands and feet easily become cold? If you answered positively, then you may be prone to a weak digestive system and should think twice before drinking a cup of cold water in the morning. On the other hand, for those with warmer constitutions, a morning cup of cold water stimulates the stomach flora, and can be helpful in reducing weight.

Our air conditioned summer environment confronts us with new health threats. Digestive problems, strange allergies and the summer “air-con flu” are signs that the more we control our environment the weaker our body defense system becomes, as the internal harmony of Yin and Yang is upset.
However, through sweating we can get rid of a lot of metabolic wastes accumulated in the superficial body layers beneath the skin.
As the skin is our largest organ with essential functions like regulating body temperature, it should be our concern to keep our skin clean and in an optimal functional state.
Less air conditioning and a little more sweating in summer is a good first step toward this goal.
by Dr.Raimund Royer

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