Energy is the motor of all human activities and all human activities are energy. When our energy is disrupted, it can cause various types of organ dysfunctions within the body. The disorders of energy are generally divided into two categories: deficiency and excess. With an energy deficiency, there is a functional decline of the internal organs and a low resistance of the organism against the attack of disease. This can be seen in chronic diseases, aging, or during the recuperating stage of acute disease. The general symptoms of energy deficiency include white or pale complexion, fatigue, weakness, poor spirits, shortness of breath, too tired to talk, low and feeble voice, excessive perspiration, a tongue that is light in color and weak pulse. In order to treat it, it is necessary to tone up the energy. An excessive amount of energy can also cause dysfunctions. An excess amount of energy manifests itself in sluggishness or stagnation. Energy should travel throughout the body without difficulty. However, various factors, including emotional stress, irregular eating, attack of external energies and external injuries can have an impact on the function of our body energy. Symptoms of excessive energy includes; swelling of the stomach and abdomen with pain, intestinal rumbling, pain getting better on belching and pain and swelling of breast in women. In order to treat excessive energy it is necessary to promote the flow of energy and break up energy congestion.
Energy is a very fundamental concept in Chinese Medicine, often compared with the blood. The energy in the body circulates the same way that blood circulates in the body. Energy like blood can circulate too fast or slow and even irregularly. When the energy only flows upwards, it can cause hiccups and vomiting; when it keeps flowing downwards, it can cause prolapse of the anus, the uterus, or the stomach. When energy is flowing to slowly it can cause chest pain and depression. There are herbs that can be used to regulate energy and to help it circulate more smoothly throughout the body. One such herb is yellow jasmine. This type of herb should not be used for long periods of time because it travels very fast throughout the body, which can also use up a great deal of energy. Just like when you drive a car, the faster you go, the more gas it requires.
The Chinese classify energy as yang and blood as yin. They are sister and brother and therefore, travel within the body hand in hand. When these energy fields are out of balance, symptoms develop and health deteriorates. Many factors affect the body's state of balance. Our energy is affected by everything we do including stress. We have multiple stressors on the body such as: physical, nutritional and emotional. Any one of these can have a dramatic impact on the energy within our body.
Physical stresses that can disrupt our bodies include car accidents, falls, birthing trauma, misalignment of the vertebrae, lifting things that are heavy, repetitive movements, sports injuries, neuro-musculoskeletal disorders, arthritis, prolonged sitting, poor posture. Scars can have a negative impact on our energy because it creates diversion and causes the energy traveling throughout our bodies to split. The list of physical stresses on our body is endless. Therefore, it is important to keep our bodies in good physical condition.
Nutritional stress also has a great impact on our body because if we are not getting the proper nutrients our bodies cannot heal properly. Food also has energy and can directly impact our body energy. We should concentrate on eating foods of various flavors, energies and organic actions. It is important for our bodies to get a balance diet but we are more inclined to eat what we like. Food represents energy and has various amounts of energy within them. Seaweed, bananas and tomatoes have cold energy. Spinach and lettuce have cool energy. Sweet rice, chicken liver and butter all have warm energy. Neutral energy foods are things like beef, corn, celery, potatoes and honey.
Emotions can also disrupt the energy flow within the body. We have seven major emotions, which are joy, anger, worry, contemplation, sorrow fear and shock. These seven emotions can cause disease and disorders of the internal organs. Anger can force the energy to move upward; joy will cause energy to relax; grief will cause energy to disperse; fear will cause energy to move downward; cold will cause energy to constrict; heat will cause a reduction of energy; shock will cause a disorder of energy; labor will consume energy; contemplation will cause energy to coagulate. When one is joyful the energy will remain in harmony and it is more relaxed.
There are many types of treatments available to balance our bodies' energy. Acupuncture, acupressure, pranic healing, reiki, bio-energetic synchronization technique, body synergy, chiropractic adjustments, massage, sacral occipital technique, all of these can have a direct impact on the balancing of our energies. Other indirect methods include such things as, meditation and yoga. Our body knows what it needs and it is important for us to educate ourselves and learn to read what our body is telling us.
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