Chinese Medicine 101 – Building a Sturdy Table: A 3,000 year old Approach to Health & Healing

There’s no secret about how to live a long, healthy, contented life. Humans have known how to do this for millennia and recent studies of “blue zones” (places with high concentrations of people who thrive at 100 years or older) have confirmed that the way to live well into old age is pretty straightforward. In the following piece I outline how achieving good health is like building a sturdy table. When we have a sturdy table we can spend our time & attention on what matters most to us. A well made tabletop is the surface upon which we sculpt a meaningful life. Poor health makes it difficult – if not impossible – to do what we’re called to do. And we can’t have a sturdy table if the legs aren’t built and maintained well. 

In this article we explore how to promote good health (sturdy table legs) by considering each leg of the table and how best to maintain it. Each table leg represents one major category of health & well-being. They are: sleep, digestion, movement, and social-emotional health. 

This way of thinking provides a clear way of seeing which areas of our health are in most need of our care and attention. Most of us have at least one leg that is most obviously in need of our attention. For some of us it seems we’re starting from nothing and need to learn how to build our table from scratch. In any case, I’m here to help you should you need personalized care and coaching. Let’s take a look at each one. 

Leg 1: Sleep - Get your eight hours, go to bed early, and get up early.

Good sleep is the foundation of feeling our best. But what does good sleep really look like? The western medical model focuses simply on how many hours we get each night, but there’s much more to a good night’s sleep than that. 

According to Chinese medicine, a good night’s sleep looks like this:

  • falling asleep easily (within 5-10 minutes of turning out the light)

  • keeping consistent sleep & wake times

  • getting to sleep by 10:30pm and waking by 7am

  • sleeping for 7½ – 9 hours each night

  • staying asleep through the night

  • waking refreshed and without feeling disturbed or emotional from our dreams

  • sleeping without sweating or big temperature fluctuations

Many of us do not get sleep like that. We often stay up too late, struggle to fall or stay asleep, sleep restlessly or experience disturbing dreams, wake to urinate or because we’re hot or sweaty, or don’t ever wake feeling refreshed. Often our quality of sleep has eroded over a long time, so slowly we haven’t really noticed and don’t think to attribute our moodiness or poor eating choices or lack of energy to the quality of our sleep. In cases of true insomnia it may be more obvious but for many it’s a slow and subtle degradation of our sleep that has eaten away at our health. The resultant hormonal imbalance from chronically poor sleep makes us tired, irritable, leads to weight gain due to elevated stress hormones, and can significantly undermine our quality of life and our relationships. 

Chinese medicine and acupuncture can help restore your sleep. If you struggle with your sleep and want to know more about what I can do to help you restore this leg of your table, BOOK A FREE PHONE CALL WITH ME.

Leg 2: Digestive Health - Eat real food and don’t eat too much

Chinese medicine’s take on diet and nutrition takes into consideration three general categories: 

  • How we eat

  • When we eat

  • What we eat 

HOW TO EAT:

When thinking about how to eat for optimal health, let’s remember one word: Calm. Our digestive & nervous systems are intimately intertwined. Chinese medicine views our digestive system as the part of our body responsible for breaking down what we take in and transforming the usable components into nourishment. This includes food and drink, of course — but it also includes information of any kind: any external sensory input as well as physical and emotional stimuli. When we eat while watching TV or working (or even reading) or if we eat while upset or agitated, we’re overwhelming our body by asking it to not only digest the food we’re eating, but also the content we’re engaged in mentally. When we learn to prioritize eating in a calm and relaxed setting without distractions, whether alone or with loved ones, we are giving ourselves a tremendous gift. When we are feeling upset about something, we do better to “digest” or process our emotions and postpone eating until later when we’re more at ease.

In summary: Eat when calm. Eat without distraction. Eat with loved ones and/or outdoors when possible. Practice not relying on food for emotional comfort (this can be a big challenge and many people need support here, either through connecting with friends, going through counseling or seeking spiritual guidance). 

WHEN TO EAT:

The importance of Rhythm in our health has been understood by Chinese medicine for many centuries. We feel our best when we have good health routines, from going to sleep and waking at the same time each day to when we exercise. When it comes to digestive health, we get the most nourishment from our food when we have a solid rhythm of when we eat and when we don’t — in other words: when we feast and when we fast. Our digestive system loves to receive a meal and have a few hours without eating to digest it. It also loves to have at least a 12 hour break from eating each day — and for most of us ideally longer. 

What this looks like practically is eating two to three meals per day without snacking in between and then not eating anything after our last meal of the day before bedtime. This gives us ample time to take in and digest our food and separate out the useful nutrients from the waste. Ideally, we also give our system a few hours between our last meal and bedtime. This helps us sleep more deeply because we’re not asking our body to digest food and sleep at the same time. Sleep is a restorative process which the body can’t do efficiently when still in the midst of digesting food. 

In summary: Eat rhythmically (stick to set meal times) as a way of respecting the natural rhythm of your body. Avoid snacking. Don’t eat after your last meal of the day, ideally 3-4 hours before you go to bed. Practice intermittent fasting for 12-16 hours per day. 

WHAT TO EAT:

What we need to eat more than anything is a wide variety of Real Food. Real food is anything that grows in the ground or comes from an animal. This is a simple guideline, but not always easy to do in our food environment. We are surrounded by food-like products — things made in factories that contain calories and are often marketed to us as “healthy”. A good rule of thumb for how to eat real food is to shop around the outer edge of the grocery store — most of the items in the aisles are packaged food products that have been processed in some way. Even better: if you can afford to, shop at our local farmer’s markets and you’ll not only be eating real food but also supporting our local farmers (as opposed to global food corporations which are powered by fossil fuels). 

In summary: Eat real food. Eat a wide variety of different plants. Try to eat more plants than animal products. Try to avoid or minimize the following: 

    • Chemically derived oils (Choose cold-pressed oils like olive oil, avocado oil & coconut oil)

    • Toxic chemicals, food additives & colorings (eat organic if/when you can afford to)

    • Processed carbohydrates (choose fruits, veggies & whole grains, beans & legumes)

Chinese medicine and acupuncture can help to restore healthy digestion. If you struggle with your weight, eating patterns, high cholesterol or digestive problems and want to know more about what I can do to help you heal and build a strong & resilient digestive system, BOOK A FREE PHONE CALL WITH ME.

Leg 3: Movement - Do it often (but not excessively)

When discussing how best to move our bodies, the most important phrase to keep in mind is Variability of Movement. This means rotating through all sorts of different activities: an assortment of cardio workouts, strength/resistance training, and mobility sessions like yoga, qigong or taiji. We are not meant to move in just one way all the time. It is in our nature to gravitate to a particular activity like walking or running or yoga and there’s nothing wrong with having a favorite activity. But many of us don’t get enough variation in how we move our bodies. 

The second most important idea for us to keep in mind when deciding how we are going to exercise is Joy! Remember joy? Look at children: they haven’t forgotten. What activities bring you joy? If you love to go for a jog, great. But if running is miserable for you, find something that sparks joy. When was the last time you rollerskated, danced, bicycled, played a favorite sport with your friends, or took a hike? 

In summary:

    • If you don’t move enough, start moving more. Walking and simple mobility exercises are great places to start. 

    • Make sure to get a variety of different activities. Think of it like a movement diet. 

    • If you exercise too much, consider how you could balance your workout routine with sufficient rest periods. (Over-exercise can be a coping mechanism for emotional stress. It can lead to chronic inflammation, make us more likely to get sick, and can interfere with the quality of our sleep, digestion, and relationships. See below.)

If acute or chronic pain or difficulties moving your body with ease are preventing you from living a life of meaning and purpose, BOOK A FREE PHONE CALL WITH ME to find out how Chinese medicine and acupuncture can help you feel better and move more comfortably.

Leg 4: Social-Emotional Health - Prioritize your mental & emotional health

Coming soon…