A New Year is upon us. As always, we are looking forward for a better year. This year we are going to be healthier, happier and all around a better person. Fair enough, it’s good to have those ambitions, but how?

New Year Resolutions, of course.

Eat less, drink less, exercise more.

This would surely make us feel better – or would it? What would be the advice of Chinese medicine? You want to be healthier, feel better and live longer, so what shall be your New Year Resolutions then?

I’ll start with general advice (not necessarily unique to C.M.): pay more attention to your health. We tend to plod on through life not paying much attention to our health until we start to feel unwell. At that stage it is often too late. As a wise man once said: Prevention is always better (and easier) than cure. Prioritise your health. In Chinese medicine your health and how you feel are determined by two factors: your constitution (genes) and how you live! You can’t do much about your genes, you’re kind of stuck with them (thanks, Mum and Dad), but you can definitely do something about the way you live.

Three major factors affecting your health in modern times:

  • stress and emotions;
  • work/rest balance;
  • and food.

Why not give a thought for these for your present and future health?

Stress – the biggest health hazard in modern times

According to Chinese medicine, stress will have a bad effect on your liver. The liver has many important functions like regulating the emotions, regulating the hormones and maintaining the smooth flow of the Qi (the body energy). If our liver is not functioning correctly we may suffer emotional imbalance (irritability, mood swings, etc.) and hormonal imbalance (period problems, infertility). Disturbance in the flow of Qi due to our liver struggling can lead to problems in many systems of our body like digestive systems, lungs and the skin.

Generally speaking, there are two types of stress: emotional stress (worry) and running around, doing-too-much stress. Both can overlap and intertwine and both are damaging for your health. In my opinion the ‘rushing-around-with-too-much-to-do’ type of stress is more damaging. In any case, it is very hard to control your emotional stress but it is possible to significantly reduce the overdoing it type, if you just put your mind to it!

Let’s face it, we tend to take too much on. We think we must do this, and that, and the other, but if you step back and have a relaxed look at your so-called commitments, you may discover that a few of them are due to stuff that we took on ourselves: commitments that seemed like a good idea at the time. It’s all very good to do stuff – just not too much. That causes stress and stress affects your health. If the overload happens at work, repeat the mantra; I can only do what I can do! Try not to rush. Rushing only happens inside your head. The work itself won’t happen any faster; what will happen is health damage, problems with the flow of the Qi and the blood, and under-function of your internal organs.

If you feel you are trapped in a cycle of overactivity and commitments that you can’t get out of then here is another mantra for you to repeat: I am the Captain of my ship! It’s you – and you alone – who can bring balance back into your life. It takes a bit of courage and determination but it is possible if you really understand the importance of it.

Work and rest balance

Everything we said regarding stress is relevant here as well. Please remember: people in the Western cultures think that we all have an unlimited amount of energy. This is a common mistake. While some of us have been blessed with strong constitutions and can get away with almost anything, the majority will pay with their health if they overwork. I am sorry to remind everyone but it is a fact. So, add to your New Year Health Resolution: try not to overdo it and don’t forget to take some breaks.

Food

The issue is not simple. I wrote in the past about disagreements between Chinese and Western ideas regarding which food is healthy for you. I also talked about the fact that different nutrition will be needed for different conditions and for different constitutions. It is, therefore, hard to give specific advice in this short post. I can however give some general guidelines that you’ll do well to follow!

In the case of diet, as it is with other aspects of Chinese medicine, the main principle is balance or – in other words – avoiding extremes. Food therefore should not be too sweet, not too spicy, and not too rich or oily. It also should be well-cooked and preferably freshly-made. Eating should be done preferably with no rushing during or after. Portions should be moderate as we tend to eat more than we actually need.

Acupuncture for New Years Resolution

Find a good Acupuncturist and pay him/her a visit. Acupuncture is quite amazing. I have been practicing it for 25 years now and it never ceases to amaze me.

In the context of what we have discussed earlier, Acupuncture is very good in undoing the damaging effects of stress on our bodies. As I mentioned earlier, damaging our livers and disturbing the free flow of Qi is the consequence of on-going stress. These will cause an accumulating damage to our organs and body functions. The resulting symptoms can vary from more so-called trivial conditions like insomnia, IBS, and hormonal imbalance, to more serious and chronic conditions like asthma, skin conditions and even cancer. To prevent this accumulative change caused by stress, have regular Acupuncture treatments. It doesn’t have to be very often. The frequency should be recommended to you by the Acupuncturist after learning about your general condition.

So that is how to have a better and healthier Year of 2021 according to Chinese wisdom: reduce stress, have a better work and rest balance, eat a balanced diet and have Acupuncture!

Good luck with it, everyone.
I wish you all a great year.

Dr Ilan Shahor