Mastering the Creation of Disease
Once upon a time, long ago in the county of Jin, there was a well-educated gentleman whose name was Lee. His best friend was a man named Chen. They lived in the same village, played together, went to the same schools, grew up together, and even married sisters! The two men frequently met to enjoy good food and wine but one summer after a tipsy, merry dinner, Chen began pulling away and did not want to spend any more time with Lee. Lee was puzzled; he did not know what he has done to offend his good friend. He tried but was unable to reach Chen.
Lee finally heard that Chen was quite ill with depression, anxiety, and painful stomach attacks of an unknown origin. Lee then took the liberty of forcing himself into Chen’s bedroom where he found his friend pale and frightened at the sight of him. Chen said, “Please do not come close to me, you have poisoned me.” Lee was very surprised and did not understand where this ideation came from. He inquired further, and Chen replied that during their previous dinner together, Chen had seen and ingested a very small poisonous baby snake and that he had been sick ever since.
Lee was puzzled and rushed home to inspect his dinnerware, but it was all clean and devoid of insects or poisonous baby snakes. Now Lee became depressed as well; he began drinking into the wee hours of the night thinking about what he might have done to his good friend. One night as Lee raised his cup to take another sip of wine, he was shocked to see the shadow of a baby snake inside his cup. Lee dug his fingers into the cup but found no snake and then he suddenly realized that it was a shadow made by candlelight reflecting on a small hunting bow that he had hanging on the wall. The shadow appeared to be moving because of the flickering of the candlelight.
The next morning, Lee rushed back to Chen and explained that he thought the cause of Chen’s illness might be from a flickering shadow, and not from a snake. At first, Chen was very skeptical but with his wife’s persuasion, Chen decided to visit Lee’s house at night to see the shadow for himself. Chen quickly realized that what he most likely saw that night, in a near drunken state was merely a shadow … and he immediately felt mental relief. After a few months, Chen’s condition improved dramatically, and he was back to his normal self.
There are times when our state of mind causes symptoms of physical problems like stomach pain, back pain, neck pain, headache, palpitations, tachycardia, or other unexplained aches and pains. There is a medical term for mental conditions that create physical problems—it is referred to as psychosomatic illnesses. The symptoms are very real and can be debilitating; they are the perfect demonstration of the power of the mind-body connection. Our mind and body are integrated and inseparable; a condition of our mind can cause problems in our body, and vice versa.
The biggest state-of-mind offender in our modern world is continuous and disproportionally heightened anxiety. Anxiety can be a normal, healthy emotion that propels us and motivates us to make changes and adapt to new situations or environments—it is only when anxiety is constant, relentless, and heightened over long periods of time that it becomes harmful to our health.
Anxiety causes two “fight or flight hormones,” adrenaline and cortisol, to surge through our body which raises our blood pressure, suppresses digestion, and shunts energy to our muscles, heart, and nervous system in order to deal with impending danger. This response was evolved to help us flee quickly when we are confronted with danger but when we are anxious over long periods, our anxiety can cause a wide range of physical illnesses like cardiovascular disease, hypertension, lowered immune response, and digestive system disturbances like irritable bowel disease, memory loss, cognitive decline, and frequent migraines.
While all of us have different types of worries and anxieties that relate to parts of our lives, it is important and possible to manage our levels of stress and anxiety. Here are some tips that can be helpful:
What is the cause of your anxiety or stress?
Sometimes the cause is clear but sometimes it is muddled. I once had a patient who was very afraid of getting vaccinated. He reasoned that he was worried about the safety of vaccination but after a lengthy discussion, my patient admitted that his fear was actually based on his anxiety about needles and injections. If we carefully examine our fears, we can often decipher what the true cause of our anxiety might be.
Regular exercise.
Sometimes stress is long-term and there is no way to resolve it quickly. Stress and anxiety drain and block energy from circulating freely. By exercising regularly, we can reset our hormonal and nervous systems which will help us cope with the stress and anxiety we are experiencing.
Regular meals.
Eating meals on time can reduce fluctuations in blood sugar levels which in turn can stabilize our emotions and help us cope better with anxiety. It is never a good idea to skip meals; some of us may even need to snack as well as eat regular meals in order to keep our blood sugar level stable. Maintaining a healthy body weight along with consistent eating habits can help us manage stress and anxiety.
Restful sleep.
Good sleep hygiene and restorative sleep go a long way toward helping our body repair and maintain itself at the end of our day. A good night’s sleep helps us manage anxiety and reduce nervousness by calming and slowing the flow of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
Avoid caffeine.
Caffeine increases and stimulates cortisol and adrenaline levels which can increase the effect of stress. If you are very addicted to caffeine, you might want to give decaffeinated coffee or tea a try or move to half caffeinated coffee or teas that are lower in caffeine like white tea or Pu-Erh.
Talk to someone.
Sometimes having someone to talk to who will listen to our concerns but not necessarily offer any solutions can be a good release for our emotions. Of course, the person we choose to reveal ourselves to needs to be someone we are comfortable with and trust.
It is important to be aware of the condition of our mind and to notice if our mind is creating poisonous baby snakes. Our minds are very powerful, and we need to direct that power by observing balance and restraint. Awareness and having a good relationship with our mind can help us to enjoy a happy, constructive, and harmonious life.
Chinese medicine is proven to help anxiety and depression. At our offices in Santa Monica and in Pasadena, we see many patients suffering from symptoms of stress and insomnia. Acupuncture has been shown to block cortisol as well as increase serotonin and dopamine productions in the brain while Chinese herbs such as jujube seed and coral lily bulb in the CALM formula and polygala and gardenia fruit have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress and help with restorative sleep. Both are available at Tao of Wellness offices and TaoStar.com. Call our office and make your appointment today.