Preventative Thinking (A means to Observation and Association to nourishing life)

By: J Emanuel Hodge MSAOM, HHP

There are many natural ways to develop a preventative lifestyle; (exercise, yoga, dance, martial arts, a healthy diet, etc.) Though these are common ways to manage your health, my preference is to add five-element qi breathing techniques to any practice. (See lessons on five elements) Applying Qi breathing (conscious, intentional expansion, and contraction of body with Breath) to any activity or daily practice will enhance & improves that practice. Keeping in mind the expanding and contracting of your body aids the circulation and the health systems of the Body, Mind, & Being.

Improving any one system helps another system within the body (in most cases) to function better, depending on the stagnation or dysfunction. However, by improving the circulatory system through Breathwork, hydration, and movement, an individual will improve their chances of enhancing their individual body systems by remembering that Breath and hydration are necessary need for the Human Body, Mind, and Being.

Similarly, a car engine requires oil and fuel for its engine to function correctly. The human body needs constant lubrication and fuel. By paying attention to Breath, Hydration, and Movement

A statement I say to all my students in every Chinese Medicine class that I teach is: “Breath controls Qi, Qi commands blood, & Blood Nourishes and feeds.”

Keeping this statement in mind and considering that the simplicity of developing a preventative means to better health. 1st starts with deep breathing. Applying the Qi sounds to any activity and visualizes the movements of healthy systems. Frequently we have no clue what a healthy system looks like. It’s ok to find an example; search for a healthy circulatory flow video and observe the smooth continuous flow, which can help us to visualize ourselves in this perfect flow.

(In this day and age, if we find ourselves having difficulty visualizing, we can find an approximation or exact visual online).

Visualization development practice

View the image, then close your eyes, try to keep seeing the picture you viewed. This is an excellent way to jump-start visualization.

Keeping this image in mind and breathe to feel the image, then own the image (seeing as yourself) is said; you can create that health system.

One of many practical applications for developing a visualization practice

A healthy circulatory system and its expansions and contractions help to feed the cells of the body. Thereby strengthen all the cells of the body through Breath, hydration (holding alkaline water 9.5+ in your mouth 20-30 sec.), nourishment of those cells. Through this nourishment, we produce efficiency in how we function.

If the engine of a car’s oil is not changed or refilled every few thousand miles, eventually, this would create problems. But in the machine, for it to work efficiently, it needs to have proper oil. The adequate oil keeps that lubrication flowing, and everything is firing as it should. So, it performs better.

Our bodies function very similarly to machines & engines. By paying close attention to the body’s basic functional needs, daily consistency will help us create the habit of preventative care. It is establishing a practice of preventive care, utilizing Breath and hydration, as a means to enhance the systems of the body in the perfecting of their functioning through its continual nourishment. Promoting optimal health and being aware of the signs of dysfunction is very important when we talk about preventative care. What’s the first thing usually said? ‘I feel pain’. Pain is a big sign of dysfunction because it inhibits you from doing what you need or wants to do. But, what is that pain?

Often there can be an obstruction, stagnation, or a shift. Systems that have fluid flowing flow through them gain an obstruction or blockage due to cellular debris or build-up that clogs or hinders its flow. That debris then becomes acidic, which conversely creates an acidic environment at its location. And so, because of that acidity, the area may exude a certain level of inflammation or corrosion. It could also result from tracking problems (joint not moving correctly or shifted from its natural functioning movement.) Or, it could be caused by grinding and irritation at a joint site which would cause a wearing down of the surfaces within the system.

This wearing down of joints is similar to that of your car breaks. Not taking note of the signs that your car breaks need to be changed will inevitably cause those breaks to wear away and may eventually cause damage to the rotors. Because of this, the metal will start touching the metal, which will lead to extra strain on the structures that hold those brakes in place, thereby causing suspension problems. Much like the body joints. If the smooth flow was interrupted due to compaction causes shifts that cause wearing away in the area that’s presenting the pain. This is a sign of a structural imbalance that can contribute to the pain, granted some pains are soft tissue challenges, aka Muscle pains or strains or chemical challenges the way the brain is communicating with the body and or what we are consuming. There can be many different reasons for pain discomfort. But, by addressing the first onset of dysfunction, Discomfort, or Unhappy sensations by seeing a natural health professional like myself, we can aid you in preventing further damage to your body and its systems. Creating a maintenance plan with regular check-ups is a great way to develop a preventative practice. In-kind; to finding a mechanic to work on your vehicle for its different challenges.

Chinese medicine’s beauty is observing the corresponding lines of connection, following its correlations, or associative comparisons, which leads us to narrow stated challenge. The real challenge is how to aid in repairing those challenges. By observing imbalances and keeping in mind the basic associative connections, we get to remove the obstacle/ obstruction. Very often, the obstacle that contributes to our growing health problems is a lack of hydration, and a lack of oxygen, nourishing the cells of the body.

Preventing build-up in different areas of the body is another way of establishing a preventative care routine.

Let’s say, we’re feeling congestion or stagnation in an area where there’s narrowing in the artery; that’s carrying blood, picking up oxygen and dispersing it to the rest of the body. Especially to the areas that have dehydration or lack of nourishment hurt or are pained. As the veins try to return the de-oxygenated blood back to the lungs for oxygen, the vein’s narrowing or build-up of dead blood cells / cellular debris develops into varicose veins by causing a weakening or bulging build-up to the vein. According to the basic five element theory, this weakening of veins can translate to the Spleen’s decline. This decline is because the Spleen transports and transforms foods for the body. The weakening of the Spleen can disturb us in different ways;

You may not feel grounded;
You may have challenges feeling secure in yourself,
You may have a hard time holding food down (Vomiting or its sensation),
You may have a damp or heavy feeling.

So, in essence, something is not being nourished. Eventually, you create patterns of malnourishment or excessive eating. All this would translate to the spleens dysfunction. Which translates to its element, ‘Earth,’ and presents itself when we see yellow, phlegm, or mucus. It’s earth element according to this element association. Earth’s strength of expression would lie in the yang organ/ meridian, Stomach, or in the Yin organ, meridian, Spleen.

I think of it as the yang is that action and the over action. The yin is the inaction that produces action. When one is less (Yin or Yang), If yin isn’t thinking and planning or transforming and transporting, then yang is acting/reacting to the element’s imbalance. This would require learning how to balance the earth element. I guess I’m trying to say that balancing the Yin (internal) and Yang (External) expressions through early-stage or long-term stages of dis-function.

So, in the perfect preventative care plan, in my opinion, you need only to remember five elements. And what they relate to. Structurally, Physically, Emotionally, etc.

Observing patterns of association and taking action to resolve any dysfunction through weekly or monthly preventative care by getting a massage, acupuncture or chiropractic care, etc. While maintaining Breath & hydration practices builds awareness and leads the Body, Mind & Being to optimal health.