Harmony and health Archives - Page 4 of 5

Food wisdom

by Team | 1717,Aug, 2021 | Harmony and health

Universal principles for healthy eating

If we look at how different peoples eat around the world, we find a dietary wisdom that transcends sociocultural differences.

Factors related to the land, climate, and culture of each people influence how they eat and prepare their food. First, individuals naturally tend to prefer what their mothers fed them during their early childhood.

The environment also plays a role. People living by the sea will consume more seafood. Those who make their living from animal agriculture will naturally consume more meat.

However, all peoples of the world have always consumed grains, roots, legumes, vegetables, and fruits.

Universal ancestral practices

Throughout the world, we also find consistent methods in the preparation of certain foods to preserve them: salting, drying, smoking. Similarly, milk is frequently consumed curdled or soured. This is primarily intended to reduce bacterial contamination and improve its nutritional quality.

The same is true for the lactofermentation of vegetables. This also allows them to be preserved while increasing their nutritional value. This process is now making a comeback.

Green leaves are widely consumed around the world, whether amaranth, pumpkin, sweet potato, and cassava leaves, or wild salads such as dandelion, lettuce, etc. These leaves are rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), iron, and calcium. People have always naturally consumed foods that are beneficial to their health, just as animals do.

Similarly, sprouting legume seeds is an ancestral practice. It helps increase their bioavailability and therefore the body’s absorption of nutrients such as iron, zinc, magnesium, and certain amino acids. This practice is also becoming very popular again among those looking for a healthy diet.

Tradition to the test by the agri-food industry

The traditional diets of most societies in so-called “poor” countries are good diets. They contain many protein-rich foods: insects, snakes, monkeys, dogs, cats, seafood, snails, etc. They also include wild fruits, rich in vitamin C. All of these foods are very beneficial.

With the arrival of urbanization and the development of the agri-food industry, dietary wisdom has been undermined. Basic products have become increasingly refined (sugar, flour, etc.), packaged with heavy amounts of salt, sugar, glutamate, and more or less toxic additives.

Furthermore, television and the media relentlessly promote these products, to the definite benefit of the agri-food industry, and in defiance of dietary wisdom. This has led to significant changes in eating habits, including in poor countries. As a result, we are witnessing a significant deterioration in health.

Reconnecting with natural foods

Furthermore, due to social pressure, some countries have begun consuming too much meat, seafood, eggs, and other animal-based foods. These excesses have led to an increase in cholesterol and even cancer.

It is crucial today to return to dietary wisdom. To counter the propaganda and aggressive marketing of junk food vendors, it is important for influential figures to speak out publicly to restore balance. The internet can also play a valuable role in re-educating.

Returning to dietary wisdom means understanding that commercial interests never go hand in hand with altruism and the health of people. It means reconnecting as much as possible with fresh and natural products, preferably grown without chemicals. This also means taking the time to prepare and cook them yourself. Similarly, when it comes to babies, it is essential to favor breast milk and local, natural products.

The principles of Chinese dietetics

The universal wisdoms teach us to:

Eat fresh food
Have meals at regular times and in peace
Eat little
Take time to eat and chew
Eat fresh vegetables and fruits in large quantities
Consume animal products in moderation
Abstain from refined sugar and alcohol
Ban fried foods

Ten solutions against anxiety

by Team | 55,Jan, 2021 | Harmony and health

Natural solutions to soothe it

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are suffering from anxiety attacks and even chronic anxiety. Here, we offer ten effective solutions and techniques for dealing with these emotions without resorting to chemical medications.

1. Exercise

The first remedy for combating anxiety is physical activity. Physical activity has antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects. It’s not just about walking, but engaging in intense activity that will get your heart pumping and thus stimulate your entire metabolism. This will automatically focus your attention enough to push your anxieties and mental ruminations to the background.

And the more you push yourself, the more you’ll boost your self-esteem. Moreover, intense exercise releases endorphins, which act similarly to opium, creating a sense of well-being.

2. Breathe

Breathing slowly and deeply has a calming effect. You can find many breathing exercises, particularly in Pranayama. They always consist of conscious, deep, abdominal breathing. For example, you can count 4 while inhaling, keep your lungs full for 7 seconds, then exhale for 8 to 10 seconds, and so on.

This conscious breathing will again focus your attention. Moreover, slowing your breathing rate and breathing from the belly provides inner calm and security.

3. Challenge yourself

Setting yourself a difficult routine, even unpleasant at first, will strengthen your willpower and determination. By persisting and progressing, your mental strength strengthens and your self-confidence grows. It’s up to each person to choose their own challenge. For example, you might decide to get up early every morning, when you’d prefer to stay in bed, to go for a walk, a run, or to meditate.

You might choose to experiment with ice showers or baths. This practice is very powerful for strengthening the immune system. It also increases the secretion of endorphins, a source of pleasure and well-being.

It therefore has both a stimulating and relaxing effect. What’s more, the simple act of successfully completing a challenge builds self-confidence. Anxiety will automatically be reduced.

4. Practice benevolent actions

When we’re feeling anxious, we tend to become trapped in our thoughts, which are constantly running through our heads. As a result, we forget that contact with others can bring us joy and comfort. Paying attention to others, smiling at them, doing them favors: all these small acts of kindness are contagious and, in turn, bring us a sense of well-being. Anxiety will diminish, and the love and kindness we radiate will come back to us.

5. Meditate

The practice of meditation is becoming increasingly popular. Indeed, it has highly beneficial effects on both the physical and mental aspects. It is particularly effective in teaching us to regulate our emotions and distance ourselves from our thoughts. Meditation, unlike relaxation, is not about lying in bed listening to relaxing music. Although relaxation can be beneficial, too.

Meditation is practiced in the lotus, half-lotus, or cross-legged position, with your spine upright and your knees flat on the floor. Once positioned correctly, simply breathe deeply, relax, welcome your emotions, and observe your thoughts, letting them pass by like watching a train go by.

Whatever emotion is overwhelming you (anxiety, anger, or fear), the worst thing to do is try to fight it. The most effective thing to do is to welcome it, feel it physically, and breathe. It will then diminish over time. Finally, to be lastingly beneficial, meditation requires being practiced at least once a day, for at least 20 minutes.

6. Practice an art

Practicing an art brings pleasure and joy, and through the concentration it requires, forces us to put obsessive thoughts and worries on hold.

The demands this practice places on us during the learning phase force us to surpass ourselves, and progressing in an art increases our self-esteem.

Moreover, the more we master it, the more practicing an art elevates our soul, bringing us pleasure and joy. Over time, we automatically connect to subtle energies of higher frequencies.

This increases our heart energy. And anxiety is forced to retreat!

7. Improve your lifestyle

People with anxiety should pay close attention to their diet and their lifestyle in general.

When experiencing anxiety, the temptation may be to distract ourselves with alcohol, cigarettes, or even overindulge in coffee. While alcohol can temporarily help us forget about anxiety, it doesn’t solve anything and may even increase it once the euphoric effect wears off. It’s also important to get enough sleep and eat healthily and at regular times. Finally, it’s essential to spend time in nature, which has a balancing effect on our entire body and mind.

8. Essential oils

Shell marjoram essential oil (EO), which balances the nervous system, is effective in combating anxiety. It can be applied to the plexus, the hollow located above the stomach, the point that is the seat of emotions. This is also where we feel a sensation of oppression when we are anxious. Use: pour 5 drops of EO into a teaspoon of vegetable oil (calendula, sweet almond, etc.). Massage the plexus in circles with this mixture for 2 to 3 minutes. Lavender can also be used, which has a calming effect.

9. Qigong

Directly linked to Chinese medicine, the practice of qigong is a veritable treasure trove for improving both physical and mental health. Qigong consists of simple postures or sequences of movements, practiced slowly and mindfully.

It requires deep breathing and relaxation, while listening to your body. Qigong allows vital energy (or qi) to circulate throughout the body, thus balancing and increasing this energy. We emerge both energized and relaxed.

This practice also helps regulate our emotions by reducing their impact. You should quickly feel the benefits, although again, only regular practice can truly improve our health.

It is advisable to learn qigong with a qigong master, who can observe and guide you. Because beneath its apparent simplicity, qigong requires real learning to unlock all its treasures.

10. Acupuncture

If you suffer from chronic anxiety or panic attacks, don’t hesitate to seek outside help to begin your healing process. Acupuncture is particularly effective for treating anxiety. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a holistic medicine that works by rebalancing the individual’s overall energy.

It therefore not only treats the physical aspect but also acts as a regulator of emotions. Indeed, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), of which acupuncture is a part, each organ is linked to an emotion. For example, the liver is associated with anger (or frustration), the kidneys with fear, the lungs with sadness, etc. Anxiety is primarily associated with the spleen (and stomach). After just a few sessions, you should feel much more relaxed and less anxious. This will give you enough energy to practice the techniques recommended above to maintain this state of mind over the long term.

Covid-19 crisis and anxiety

Since the beginning of the Covid epidemic, psychiatrists have witnessed a surge of children and adolescents suffering from anxiety disorders and various phobias, including the fear of suffocation. Others were in an anxiety-depressive state, where fear was mixed with guilt about transmitting the virus, or the fear of seeing their parents die.

This period has left lasting after-effects, particularly among children and adolescents.

For adults, things are no better, with the precariousness of many professional situations, the fear of losing one’s job, etc.

In short, anxiety has never been so high! What’s more, all the measures taken during this crisis, from wearing masks to self-isolation, have all run counter to solutions to anxiety, as you can see in this article.

Yǎngshēng: nurturing life

by Team | 2929,Jul, 2019 | Harmony and health

Techniques to preserve health

“Nourishing life” is the literal translation of Yǎngshēng, this little-known branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Yet Yǎngshēng holds an essential place in it. It is a set of methods and recommendations for maintaining health and increasing longevity.

For cultivating health is the primary goal of TCM, which considers health and not illness. In fact, Yǎngshēng is still taught in schools of Chinese medicine today. The Su Wen says: “Waiting until you are sick before treating yourself is like waiting until you are thirsty before digging a well, or waiting until war is declared before forging weapons. Isn’t that too late?”

Living in harmony with one’s environment

“Nourishing life.” The phrase itself is inspiring! It invites us to get closer to Nature and respect its rhythms and rules. Understanding the essence of Yǎngshēng enlightens us on how to transform our daily lives to live healthier… and happier lives.

It’s within everyone’s reach, provided they take the first step! This can start by reducing their sugar and alcohol consumption, taking up an art form, or an activity like climbing, boxing, dancing, meditation, spending time in nature… the list is endless. So let’s explore the avenues Yǎngshēng offers us.

Health results from balance and harmony. Humans can only be healthy if they live in harmony with their environment and respect the cycles of Nature. This includes moving in the natural direction of life, or in other words, “with the flow.”

Harmony means moderation. Yangshēng recommends banishing excess in all areas of life: food, sexuality, emotions, etc.

Excessive activity can be as harmful as excessive sedentary living. Harmony, and therefore health, is found in the right balance.

The search for balance

Yǎngshēng offers techniques that cover all ages of life, from birth to death. This includes :

Improve diet
Exercise regularly
Practice an art
Manage your rest
Improve qualitatively your sex life
Meditate

Indeed, when the mind is calm and clear, the disease cannot enter. “A man in peace will not get sick,” says an old Chinese saying.

Yǎngshēng places particular importance on adapting to the seasons. For example, in spring, it is recommended to get up earlier, when the days are longer, and to exercise more upon waking. Conversely, one should spend more time sleeping in winter, when the nights are longer. This adaptation to the seasons naturally includes diet. In spring, which corresponds to the liver organ in Chinese medicine, one should favor foods that support the liver, or even practice fasting.

Breathe

Breathing is the source of life. It begins with the newborn’s first cry and ends with the last breath. However, while babies breathe naturally by inflating their belly, as they grow, they limit their breathing from their nose to their diaphragm!

And deep, ample breathing is essential to life. The more consciously we breathe, the more we benefit from the benefits of breathing. The simple act of breathing fully allows us to be more relaxed, better nourish our organs, and experience our emotions more serenely. Techniques such as Prānāyāma help develop full and conscious breathing.

Eat well

As with the Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates, dietetics is the first discipline of Chinese medicine.

We cannot hope to be healthy if we eat the processed products offered by the food industry. In Cambodia, for example, the massive use of white sugar and glutamate in food has become commonplace, killing thousands of people!

We must therefore favor unrefined products, limit meat consumption, and consume more fruits and vegetables and fewer starchy foods.

It is important to choose seasonal, freshly harvested, and naturally grown products. Finally, it is important to prepare them with love… and to enjoy them peacefully!

Control the body and mind

Life is movement, according to Taoist philosophy. Physical exercise is therefore recommended. It must be adapted to age and season. The practice of Qigong is one of the royal paths to cultivating the mind and body, along with taijiquan, meditation, yoga, etc.

Qigong consists of a series of postures and slow movements that help loosen joints and restore a harmonious flow of qi—or vital energy—throughout the body. Regular practice of qigong increases this qi and controls its circulation. Qigong is based on conscious breathing, relaxation, posture, and visualization. It is an extremely powerful self-treatment practice in itself. It helps calm the mind and better regulate our emotions.

Indeed, emotional disorders and stress are major factors in illness, especially in our contemporary world, which has broken this harmony with Nature. Yangshēng advocates taking care of our thoughts and emotions. This allows us to cultivate harmonious relationships with our fellow human beings, an essential condition for health, longevity… and happiness!

Benefits of inestimable value

Do not wait to practice Yǎngshēng and enjoy its benefits:

Better immunity, so better health
Increased self-confidence
An increase in creativity
A better emotional balance
A clear mind
More vitality
More joy of life

You can already start with the following three points:

Do 3 times a week for at least one hour of exercises including cardio exercises
Eliminate sugar (alcohol), reduce salt, replace snacks with fruits
Sleep for at least six hours between 10 pm and 6 am, hours that allow optimal recovery

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