Living=Balancing Act

Life is, as you know, a balancing act. When we get out of balance somewhere in our lives we find ourselves “unhealthy” in some way. It may be a physical illness, but it can as easily be emotionally, or spiritually, or socially, etc. because they are all interactive and connected. When one area of your life gets too far out of balance it then impacts the other areas and pulls them out of balance as well. That’s why one simple cookie cutter solution for health very seldom works with people.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, for example, we learn that the emotional energy produced when one feels anger is stored in the liver and gallbladder and in the energy meridians that pass through them. Fear, on the other hand, effects the kidneys and bladder. This means that when we hang on to our emotions we effect the health of our organs. A wonderful book dealing with this subject is “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol Truman. We have a case of these books here at the office if you need one.

Please take a few minutes today to review where YOU are in your life. Honestly look at your relationships wellness program, your physical wellness program, your spiritual wellness program, your work wellness program, your play wellness program, and any others you may find helpful to balance you mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually and socially. Be honest now, where is your life out of balance? What can you do today to start bringing it back into balance? When you answer these questions and correct the imbalances you will find yourself feeling better because

IMBALANCES CAUSE ILLNESS!

Here’s an example of an imbalance. Recently a lady in her early 50’s was complaining of her symptoms and said, “This always gets much worse in the winter time. Why do you think that is?” My answer to her was based on some very old and proven wisdom from Chinese Medicine. Her Water Element (which is most active during the winter) was out of balance, causing her symptoms to worsen. I looked into her eyes for markings and then measured all of her acupuncture meridians with a piece of equipment known as an AcuGraph which fed the measurements into the computer which then produced a beautiful graph of her 12 primary meridians. Interestingly enough, the Kidney and Bladder meridians (the 2 meridians on the Water Element) were drastically out of balance.

The eyes indicated the same areas were stressed. When I asked her what she was afraid of she started talking about her fear of getting sick like her mother did and not being able to take care of herself. We talked about this for awhile and then treated points to balance the Kidney and Bladder meridians with acupuncture. I also had her take an herbal formula to help her body keep them balanced and within a few days her symptoms went away. Remember, she’d been having these symptoms for years and they were always worse in the winter months than during the rest of the year.

By understanding how the body’s energy system works and how these 5 Elements interact one can better understand the imbalances as they occur and correct them. Correcting energy imbalances helps correct physiological and even emotional problems as well, leading to better health and a more productive and rewarding life. Knowing how we process our feelings and thoughts also helps us understand ourselves better when we start getting out of balance. I use Iridology and the Rayid work all the time to better help me understand how each person processes and where they will tend to be “stuck” so that I can better help them get back into balance.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that you need to become an expert on the Rayid Method or Chinese Medicine and how the Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood Elements work together. Simply knowing that as the seasons change your energy systems change and different problems occur in your life as a result of the imbalances and knowing that you can have these energy systems measured and re-balanced becomes a powerful tool for enhancing your health. By taking charge of your health you are better prepared to handle the stresses that are bound to come into your life too.

This principle of changes also works on a daily basis. Each meridian is most active for a 2 hour block of time every 24 hours and knowing this information proves helpful almost daily. When someone complains of a symptom being worse at a specific time of day I always look at the meridian that is most active at that specific time period. When Mr. Smith tells me that he wakes up with chest pains every morning at 4 AM I know that I need to monitor his Lung meridian to find out why it’s out of balance. By changing eating habits, using acupuncture or herbs or essential oils or other therapies Mr. Smith can put the Lung meridian back into balance and eliminate this troublesome disturbance of his beauty rest.

In the Orient, where people understand this concept of seasonal changes bringing on energy imbalances within them, they go to their acupuncturist and get re-balanced as the seasons change. It excites me to know that we can do the very same thing because of the wonderful technology of Electro-Meridian Imaging. Being able to accurately measure these meridians and what they are doing will change our lives as we become more educated and aware of this powerful healing option.

I like to think of this as preventative maintainence for our health, much like what we are used to in dentistry. Once your dentist has your teeth fixed up and healthy(balanced) then you go in a couple of times a year to have them cleaned and checked. With Electro-Meridian Imaging one can get their meridians balanced and working well, then simply get a “tune-up” as the seasons change to maintain their health. Supplements, diet and a healthy lifestyle simply reinforce this balance, keeping one healthy and energized.

The Influence of Prayer

I’ve started reading a very interesting book called Healing Words by Larry Dossey, MD that discusses studies on the healing effect of prayer. A prayer group in one hospital prayed for heart surgery patients and the results were astonishing. Doctors reported that even though the patient was not aware of the prayers being offered on their behalf those who were prayed for had a significantly higher success rate of recovery from the surgery. It just goes to show that our energy systems do interact and that we really do have a significant impact on those around us. Check this one out if you have time.

NEW YEAR THOUGHT

You may have heard the following story but it’s worth repeating. An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but they would go on. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he would just build one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart just wasn’t in his work.

When the carpenter finished his work and the contractor came to inspect the house, he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said: “This is YOUR house, it is my gift to you.” What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known that he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none to well.

So it is with us. Often we build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than our best. At important points we don’t give the job or situation our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house that we have built and we’re not real proud of it or ourselves. Let’s make sure we’re more careful so this doesn’t happen to us.

by Dave Carpenter, ND, C. Ac., CCI