In Chinese medicine, the wind is considered the “cause of a hundred diseases.” And many of us are familiar with them very well: a small draft – and hello, a runny nose. Or angina. Or something else inflammatory. How to “make friends” with the wind in order to feel confident in any, even the most penetrating weather?
Chinese medicine regards man as part of nature. The elements and the change of seasons are connected to our internal cycles, health and emotional state. In particular, the wind – an ambiguous element – is most often seen as a source of disease. I myself for a long time, until relatively recently, saw it as an exclusively negative phenomenon.
It is not just a source of disease (everyone is familiar with the phrase “it blew me”), it easily activates other internal pathogenic factors. And there is no oriental mysticism in this. For example, if a person has congestion or, speaking in Chinese terminology, cold accumulates somewhere, the wind easily activates this cold, and an exacerbation of chronic inflammatory diseases occurs.
Especially easily the wind penetrates the upper body, causing a runny nose, cough, headache. In the same way, it activates the heat in the body, causing fever with headache, cough, and intense thirst. Therefore, I understand very well people who do not like air conditioners, dress in several layers even in warm weather and do not tolerate drafts. But we live in a dual world, and the wind is also an element that helps restore balance in the body. How to negotiate with him and stop being afraid of drafts?
Get rid of congestion
If there are stagnations in the body, they easily turn into inflammation when a person is blown away. For example, some women are faced with the fact that congestion in the pelvic area can easily transform into vaginitis, cystitis, or other “-itis” under adverse conditions.
So that the body does not get sick from the first breath of the wind, the body must have the strength to resist
How to avoid it? In order not to be afraid of the wind, this stagnation must be eliminated – to establish a normal circulation of energy in this area or, speaking in terms of Western medicine, to normalize blood microcirculation in the “problem” zone.
How to do it? The formation of congestion occurs against the background of muscle tension. For example, a person had this or that acute illness, and after recovery it left a mark – a complex of stresses that block the normal blood supply in this area. The same thing happens after surgery.
It also happens the other way around: habitual stresses themselves become the cause of a chronic disease – as, say, in the case of the pelvic area. A sedentary lifestyle and habitual tensions in the intimate area reduce the quality of microcirculation, tense muscles compress blood vessels, and this creates conditions for the development of chronic diseases.
What to do?
It is necessary to relax habitual tensions – and not only passive relaxation is needed, but also the skill of active relaxation. What does it mean? Passive muscle relaxation is the effect that we get in the process of massage or osteopathic procedure.
This is an important part of complex treatment: the specialist shows the body which muscle blocks need to be relaxed in order to restore health. After that, it is necessary to introduce such relaxation into the habitual movement – this will be active relaxation. For this, various types of physical exercises have been developed, for example, the ancient gymnastics Sing Shen Juang is one of the forms of qigong.
Increase resource
So that the body does not get sick from the very first breath of the wind, the body must have the strength to resist, a resource for maintaining health. How to raise it? In qigong, there are such directions that increase the level of vitality and even help to accumulate them, store them “for a rainy day”:
- Gymnastics for the spine Sing Shen Juang teaches the body to actively relax and increases energy resource. To maintain the usual tension, we spend very real energy: adenosine triphosphoric acid. When the tensions assisted by gymnastics are released, this energy is released and the body can use it as it pleases. For example, to strengthen the immune system, which will resist the pathogenic effects of the wind.
- Neigong energy storage breathing techniques. If gymnastics for the spine can be done from scratch, then breathing practices that increase the resource and allow you to accumulate vitality are advanced exercises for those who have already built a correct, free and flexible body structure.
Check the liver
The element of wind is directly related to the health of the liver. If a person has disorders in the liver, he tolerates the effects of wind worse and gets sick more easily. Therefore, while dealing with posture and normalizing microcirculation, it is important to simultaneously conduct studies that will show how this most important organ functions.
I found for myself a simple and effective way to love the wind: I look at people who are friends with this element
Both “Western” tests, which are carried out as prescribed by a therapist, and a consultation with a doctor of Chinese medicine can be useful. The main advantage of Eastern specialists is that they are able to diagnose and correct dysfunctions that will become noticeable at the level of symptoms only after a few years.
Learn to love the wind
Even if you are absolutely healthy, there are no guarantees that you will agree with the wind and fall in love with this element. I have been practicing qigong and teaching it for many years, confidently maintain my health and rarely get sick. But I perceived the wind as a pathological element, and my body resisted it with all its might, generating new tensions within the framework of this resistance. And these tensions themselves became a pathogenic factor.
I found for myself a simple and effective way to love the wind: I look at people who are friends with this element. Don’t be afraid of him. They love the salty wind that beats in the face. With pleasure and open chest they meet the piercing mountain wind. I learn from them how to interact with this element, and it seems to give good results. Contact is almost made. At least the November winds of Moscow no longer force me to pull my head into my shoulders and quicken my pace.