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Keep your head cool and the legs warm

Headache seems to be a common complaint that people present with these days.
The head is the most upper part of the body. There is an old saying “천원지방(天圓地方)” which means the head is round as it resembles the sky, and the rest of the body is angled as it is resembles the earth. Also, according to Oriental Medicine channel theory, it is at the head where all the Yang channels meet. In the classic ‘Huang Di Nei Jing’(黃帝內經) the head is described as “정명지부(精明之府)” which is the converging area of Jing and Energy from the main organs.As the head in the human body is located in the most upper part of the body, it pertains more to the Yang energy. And relatively, the rest of its body part pertains more to the Yin energy. For this reason it is easier for the head to become hot, and the legs to become cold. Despite freezing cold weather, people wrap up their body with many layers of clothes, yet the head is usually uncovered. This is one example that shows that the head is more Yang than in comparison to the rest of the body. In the ‘Huang Di Nei Jing’ it is stated: ‘Whereas the Yin channels flow only up to the neck region and return, all the Yang channels converge at the head. This is why the face is able to withstand the cold weather.”

The Yang Qi can also be represented as the concept of power or strength.
The action of bowing down your head before a god or a person superior to oneself reflects the attitude of submission. This is an accepted norm regardless of eastern or western culture, past or present. One of the ingredients in a herbal formula is the young antlers of the deer (鹿茸). This particular substance is known to be rich in Yang energy due to the fact that it is extracted from the most upper part of the antler, where the most Yang energy dwells. Therefore 鹿茸 was intended for people who lacked the Yang energy in their body by means to nourish the Yang.

In general principle, fire tends to rise upwardly. We call this phenomena ‘the rising of heat(염상:炎上). What enable an object to fly in the air is also due to this reason. Compared to this, water tends to flow in a downward direction. There is no exception where the water flows in the opposite direction.
In Chinese, the character of ‘law’ (法) is made up of putting two words together, which are the characters for ‘water’(氵) and ‘flow’ (去). As we know, the law represents principles that do not change regardless of external conditions. In a similar way, the makeup of the Chinese character ‘law’ (法) suggests to us that water always flows in only one particular direction without exception due to the unchanging principle of the nature, Thus, it can be said that the principle of fire rising upwards, and water flowing downward is indeed an unchanging fact and universal law.

However, in the human body, if the fire and water energy only tends to rise and descend respectively, it will mean there is no life in that body. In such a case, one calls this condition the separation of Yang and Yin energy, equivalent to death. The fire or water energy in itself, separated from one another has no life. For the existence of life to be in the body, there needs to be a dynamic interchanging flow of energy of water and fire. The fire energy that tends to rise should be directed to descend; and the water energy that tends to flow down would have to be directed upwards. In the context of human body, the fire energy can be understood as the Yang energy, and the water energy as the Yin energy. If the Yang energy is predominantly rising, then heat will accumulate in the head and cause it to become hot. There is a term called 熱極生風, meaning, if fire is manifesting in a very severe form, it can create wind. Therefore, in a severe condition of heat rising, there is a risk of a wind stroke attack. In turn, if the Yin energy predominantly flows downward, the cold energy of the water will become stagnant in the lower part of the body, able to cause cold extremities or edema of the legs.
In the light of this knowledge, in order to maintain a healthy life, the colder Yin energy should be directed upward to cool down the heat in the head; and the warmer Yang energy should be directed downward to warm the area and allow proper circulation of energy. In Oriental medicine we call this principle 水昇火降, meaning ‘ascending the water and descending the fire.’

If there is an accumulation of Yang energy, in other words heat in the head, a headache is easy to occur. Not only headache, but also symptoms such as dizziness, red eyes, facial acne, tinnitus, hair loss, high blood pressure, nose bleeding, dandruff or paralysis can be manifested due to heat rising. For this reason, special care needs to be taken to prevent the head becoming too hot. This becomes more important as one person enters into a more advanced age. As a person ages, the lower source of energy (하원:下元) Becomes weaker and consequently is not able to hold the rising heat from the lower part of the body, causing the heat to rise up.

When the Yin energy, in other words the cold energy accumulates along the lower part of the body, it may give rise to symptoms such as cold extremities, edema, heavy legs, polyuria, frequent urination, lower back pain, beriberi or arthritis. Such manifestations are also commonly seen amongst older people due to the fact that during that stage of life, more often heat rises and the cold accumulates in the lower parts of the body. It can be said, that these are common phenomena when the original energy weakens and body gets weaker in old age. For this reason, a healthy person is able to sustain a cool head and warm legs. In other words, a person who has a cool head and warm legs is a healthy person.

Coming to think of it, the ways the traditional Korean houses are built are quiet beneficial to our health. The floor had underground heating allowing the feet and buttocks to keep warm when they sit, whereas the upper part of the room stayed cool (due to the poor ventilation of heat). Ultimately, the floor was hot and the air cool so that the lower part of the body could be kept warm and the head cool which naturally created a healthy condition for them.
It’s debatable whether they build the house having these health benefits in mind, but the wisdom of the ancient is surely evident in this. In Sydney, it is hard to find a house with underground heating system, therefore causing many to have cold feet easily. It is suggested to take a bath than a shower. When taking a bath, the lower part of the body is heated up first whereas when taking a shower, the hot water reaches the head before the rest of the body parts. Especially, taking a half-body bath where the water reaches around to the belly may also be recommended.

In Australia, it is common to see people wearing a hat during the hot summer season. However, there are also some who wear hats as a means of fashion even it is not a hot day.
When the hat is worn for a long period time, the head tend to heat up easily. Therefore it is advisable to wear a hat only during strong sunshine while the rest of the time, take them off to cool the head down.

There has been an ancient proverb in Oriental medicine “두무냉통(頭無冷痛) 복무열통(腹無熱痛)” meaning “there is no occurrence of pain due to a cool head, and no pain due to a warm stomach” This phrase can be understood as, if the head is maintained cool and the stomach maintained warm, there will be no occurrence of pain or sickness.
Quite recently, I got to treat a patient having rhinitis with associating signs and symptoms of a red facial appearance and profuse sweating of the feet. Due to the sweating, he was barefooted at home. I recommended him to keep his feet warm. As the heat is accumulated in the facial area and the feet cold, the rhinitis could become more severe. Or even other signs and symptoms may occur. By remembering the simple rule ‘keeping your head cool and the legs and stomach warm’, may be one way to keep your body healthy.

“There are no diseases which cannot be cured, but there are habits which cannot be changed.”
- Byung W. Yoo -

Translated by Eun Bee Oh

Be a late wake up person in winter

It is everyone’s heart desire to live a life of abundant health. By being aware of this, there is an increasing burden in my heart to inform the readers with the right knowledge about health. I have to acknowledge that certain amount of effort and preparation is needed in order to effectively deliver the ancient wisdom contained in oriental medicine. Even though it is in my limit to meet everyone’s taste and needs, it is my hope that many readers will gain valuable knowledge applicable in their own life.

In the early days, people derived a principle of maintaining a healthy life from the term called ‘Yang-seng’(양생:養生). The dictionary defines the meaning as the following:

The act of prevention of an illness in order to live a life of longevity

The act of taking good care of an illness after an illness has risen.

Thus, if the principle of ‘Yang-seng’ is followed, the person will not be easily affected by an illness, or a quicker recovery from an illness can be achieved.

In the light of this, then, can it be assumed that all people will be able to live a life of longevity if they follow the principle of ‘Yang-seng’? Unfortunately, this may not necessarily promise that.

It has to be taken into consideration that each individual’s lifespan is set constitutionally from birth. To exemplify, for instance, some are born with a tendency to grow tall, some small; some strong and others weak.

In the Korean oriental medicine classic ’Mirror of Oriental Medicine(동의보감:東醫寶鑑) ’ it quotes a saying from ‘U-dan’(우단:虞摶) that states that a person’s span of life is dependent upon the will of heaven. The heaven’s will is referred as to the original Qi from the heaven, the earth and their parent. I will attempt to elaborate on this concept in another time. But the point I wanted to make in this is, that after all, men’s span of life is already set from birth.

This encompasses the meaning for those who are meant to be born with tall height will eventually become a tall person. This is because the child has received the DNA from its parent that has the code to become tall. However, despite of this genetic makeup there are factors that can limit the capacity of the child to grow to its full potential. For instance when the child suffers from an illness during the developmental stages of its life, did not manage to exercise properly, or suffers malnutrition, it will not reach the height that was destined for at the time of birth. These factors just mentioned can be identified as an hindrance for appropriate ‘Yang-seng’ to occur. In return, it can be speculated, if the same child wouldn’t have suffered from an illness, had proper exercise and taken sufficient amount of nutrition, it would have grown to its full potential. Perhaps even taller than it’s intended height.

In other words, if appropriate ‘Yang-seng’ is followed, one can fully enjoy the destiny to its maximum potential.

Then let’s explore what it means to follow the principle of ‘Yang-seng’ to live a healthy life to its potential. When one is suffering from an illness, how can proper ‘Yang-seng’ be obtained for a quick recovery? In the following columns, it is my aim to explain and illustrate the methods.

In ‘Mirror of Oriental Medicine’, the chapter of ‘Maintaining health according to the four season’ (사기조신:四氣調神) it uses a citation from the classic of ‘Huang Di Nei Jing’s Simple Question’ (황제내경 소문:黃帝內經素問) to illustrate how we can live a healthy life by adapting our lifestyle according to the seasonal changes. According to the classic, in winter it is best to go to bed early and wake up once the sun has risen in the morning. This is in order to preserve the Yang energy that is easy to decrease in winter time. Therefore, it is advised to be active during the day time where the Yang energy is abundant due to the sun, and to rest earlier and longer than other seasons, once the sun has set to preserve the Yang energy and store the Yin energy. The same principle can be observed in animals that go into hibernation such as the bear, frog or snake who adjust their lifestyle according to the season in order to survive.

Just a while ago, there was a Japanese book on bestseller in Korea with the title ‘Morning person’ that pointed out that successful people wake up early in the morning and achieve greater task than the average person. There is a verse in the bible that says ‘Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth‘ (proverbs 10:4) Surely, it cannot be denied that ‘the early bird catches the worm.’

However, in the knowledge of the principles of ‘Yang-seng’, these actions during the winter season may in fact prevent people from living a healthy life. As already mentioned, it is wise to follow a lifestyle of preserving the Yang energy in a season such as winter, where the Yang energy is decreasing. In fact, as mentioned in ‘Maintaining health according to the four season’ if people do not follow the proper way of ‘Yang-seng’ in winter, it damages the kidney energy and may manifest as getting weak legs during the coming spring season. Knowing this, then, how can one possibly neglect to follow the principles of ‘Yang-seng’ according to the season?

Maybe during this winter, you may want to consider adapting your lifestyle to the one that reflects the principles of maintaining health?

Translated by Eun Bee Oh

“There are no diseases which cannot be cured, but there are habits which cannot be changed.”
- Byung W. Yoo -

Irritably Sleepless night

It seems many people have become upset with what I said in my previous article that in winter we should be lazy and wake up a bit late. These people are those who need to wake up early for dawn prayers and those who have an early start for work. Even worse there are people who need to work all throughout the night and so instead of being of help by sharing one of the ways to stay fit during winter, I am worried that I have unnecessarily upset some readers. For those who really need to wake up at dawn if you protect your yang energy by keeping yourself as warm as you can, you will be able to keep adversities at a minimum risk.

We must note that it is not only sleep that brings the revival of yang energy and so there is no need to worry. As our bodies have been perfectly made, if a problem arises we have an alternative way to fix that problem and there are not only one or two alternatives but many. It is only because a good sleeping habit is a very important part of yang revival that we will be looking further into the topic of sleep.

If you sleep well at night the day is much more energized. God divided the world into night and day and made it so that we work during the day and rest at night. In other words, in the morning eagerly labour and sweat and at night be rejuvenated from the day’s hard work and exhaustion. In Huang Di Neijing Lingshu chapter on ‘Perverse Guest’, while confronting the issues of the human body and heavens, it explains, ‘as there are divisions between night and day (주야: 晝夜) in the heavens, there is also a division in humans between standing and lying down (기와: 起臥) as well as waking and sleeping (오매: 寤寐)’

In order not to carry the exhaustion from the day before to the day after there must be a peaceful and sufficient amount of sleep. It is almost like recharging a battery. Being awake and working during the day is using up battery life and sleeping at night is recharging the flat battery so that it can be used again the next day.

It seems, however, that in modern society there are many who do not achieve peaceful and sufficient sleep. Not being able to sleep is called insomnia (불면: 不免). Insomnia is ‘inadequate sleep- either due to internal or environmental issues- that is causing a disability in normal daily life’. The symptoms of insomnia can be waking frequently, waking early and not being able to sleep again, light sleep or not being energized after sleeping. The amount of sleep differs for each person and so insomnia is defined by not getting a sufficient amount of sleep according to how much you usually need. Tossing and turning during sleep, not being able to sleep due to excessive dreaming, having to go back and forth to the toilet or sleeplessness due to outside noises, are also classified as insomnia. A healthy sleep is foremost being able to sleep when you have made up your mind to sleep. Lying down to sleep but not being able to is very distressing. Not waking up once and sleeping till morning is also what you can say is a healthy sleep.

In that case what is it that stops us from sleeping? Although there may be a variety of reasons it is primarily because there is heat (열: 熱). Simply put, if we compare summer and winter as well as when it is hot and when it is cold, we sleep less in summer when it is hot and sleep more in winter when it is cold. However, if you cannot sleep regardless of the season and temperature we have to look at it that there is heat in your body. This heat can be explained in oriental medicine as heart and kidney disharmony (심 신불교: 心腎不交), rising liver fire (간화상염: 肝火上炎), heart fire(심화: 心火), damp heat (담화: 淡火), yin deficient (음허: 陰虛) empty heat (허열: 虛熱) and chest congestion due to deficiency (허번: 虛煩). These jargons are difficult to understand and so we will not delve upon them but nevertheless they are all linked to heat.

If we stress too much we form heat. If we worry a lot we form heat. If something that makes us angry happens we form heat. When we say the so-called expression ‘getting irritated’ (‘열받는다’), physically heat is produced in our bodies. Also even if our body is weak heat is formed. However, we should not misunderstand this heat as being high body temperature. Even if our body temperature is not high there can be heat in our bodies and in reality even if the body temperature isn’t high symptoms related to heat, such as constipation or thirst can still occur.

To modern people who live in such a stressful society as these days, it is almost inevitable that many suffer from insomnia. On top of it all we are currently living in a Fire Era (화기: 火期). We have passed to Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age and now we are in the Fire Age. Therefore, it means we are an era with a lot of heat. Electricity and power are fire; TV and computers are fire; mobile phones and war weapons are all fire. Even as we fight in our relationships with people, our relationships are also fire. The rising world temperature, inland desertification and news on melting glaciers of the north and south-poles are all but some of the indications that we are living in a fire age. In our daily lives we cannot live in this age without using fire. As we are arduously (heatedly) living out this irritable (heat filled) fire age, isn’t it that there can but be many insomnia cases?

Here one thing left to look at is the relationship between heat and blood (혈: 血). In order to fall asleep your eyes must be heavy, stiff and wanting to close, and your body also has to feel sluggish and therefore wanting to lie down. The liver, however, governs all these symptoms as it stores the blood. If the blood goes to the eyes you can see better, and if it goes to your arms and legs you are able to move much better. At night, however, the blood that went to the arms and legs comes back to the liver. In the Huang Di Neijing Suwen it says ‘人臥卽血歸於肝’ meaning ‘when a person lies down blood goes back to the liver’. As the blood goes back to the liver and the eyes become deficient of blood, this is how the eyes become heavy and stiff making you want to close them. There must also be a deficient amount of blood in the arms and legs in order for you to feel sluggish, heavy and worn out, making you want to fall asleep.

However, this is where heat becomes a problem. In the ‘Mirror of Oriental medicine’ (동의보감) chapter on blood (혈문: 血文) there is a phrase that says ‘heat damages blood’ (열능상혈: 熱能傷血). If you look here it is written, ‘heat comes from the heart but if the heat is severe the blood is damaged’. Hence, due to heat blood can be damaged. In the Mirror of oriental Medicine chapter on dreams (몽문: 夢文), it explains that ‘if the blood is unable to go back to the liver because it is not smooth flowing, there is an inability to sleep due to palpitations’. It seems the explanation has become a bit hard to understand but to focus on the point, heat damages the blood, and the damaged blood is unable to go back to the liver. The blood that was unable to go back to the liver remains in the arms and legs. Hence, although it is time to sleep the eyes are alive, and so we come to the conclusion that that is why you cannot sleep.

In conclusion then, how can we get rid of this heat? If we discuss the oriental medical treatment it will be useless to the common reader and so we will not delve into that. What treatment is there then that is not professional but can be done by any average person? In my opinion the best way is to not get stressed (heat filled). To not get heat filled you simply need to get rid of your greed and avoid being convulsive. This however is of course easier said than done. Letting go of your greed and not being convulsive is the best treatment for insomnia and revival of yang. For our heat susceptible society (fire age) who ardently (convulsively) live out their lives, if we are suffering from insomnia I want to suggest, what would it be like if we get rid of our greed and convulsiveness and generously give and share.

Translated by Zena Kang

“There are no diseases which cannot be cured, but there are habits which cannot be changed.”
- Byung W. Yoo -

About the emotion of sadness

About the emotion of sadness

Last week, we explored the Heart in relation health. I described that the Heart is closely related to the emotion of joy. Laughter has a dispersing action on what has been accumulated. Therefore I mentioned, in cancer patients where the cause of the illness is due to the accumulation of Energy, they may show some therapeutic effects from laughter. An ancient proverbs says ‘樂而不淫哀而不傷’ which translates as ’in your joy, don’t take it to the extent of lust, and in your sadness, don’t take to the extent of damaging your body.’ The statement shows that being overly joyful may cause one become too relaxed and fall into lust, and being overly sad may injure your body. Therefore it is encouraged not to allow one’s emotion to be taken to one extreme side, but find a fine balance between the two. In this article, I want to address the emotion of sadness in detail.

When there is a time of encounter, there must also be a time to say goodbye. One of the saddest events in life might be the time of separation. According to the proverbs stating 愛別離苦, having to separate despite you love the person is one of the greatest pain one can experience. Thinking about it, many young people loose themselves after they break up with their loved ones. For them, to lose their partner may feel like the end of the world. Needless to say, losing your loved one through death surely one of the most difficult moments. Not being able to see the person once again on this earth, amounts to an enormous feeling of sadness.

In Korea’s tradition, if one passes away, it is regarded as a general principle that burial takes place on the third day after the person’s death. Within the three days, the affected members of the family put on hold the daily duties, take time to look back upon the memory of the deceased one with respect and conduct the funeral. In this tradition, wisdom and consideration of the family member seems to be embedded. If someone passes away, the remaining member of the immediate family and relative are greatly affected by grief, and therefore unable to manage with the daily task. In such a case, there is a greater risk of unforeseen accidents when one would force itself to proceed with their ordinary life duties. In this light, I consider it a wise tradition of the ancient to observe the three full days of period of mourning. In this way it allows the prevention of accidents of the family members as they can wholeheartedly focus on the procedure of separating oneself form the loved one. However, as previously mentioned in the above quoting ‘哀而不傷’, as too much of sadness harms the body, the funeral procedure ended in three days and wasn’t conducted for longer period of time. Even though the dead has parted, the living ought to continue to proceed with their everyday life. In ‘TheYellowEmperor’s Classicof Internal Medicine’ the term悲則氣消 is used, meaning ‘Too much sadness exhaust the Energy. If there is excess feeling of sadness or over a prolonged period of time, the Energy gets depleted and the body gets weak. Thus, the wisdom of ending the funeral procedure within three days may suggest us to mourn properly, yet to proceed on with life to prevent us from falling sick.

The organ related to the sad emotion is the Lung in the human body. In Oriental medicine, the Lung belongs to the metal element according to the theory of five phases. In relation to season, it is autumn; in relation to color, it is white; in relation to taste, it is spicy; in relation to direction, it is west, and in relation to weather, it is dryness. It is not by chance to observe people with a respiratory illness tend to appear dry and pale in their skin color. In ‘TheYellowEmperor’s Classicof Internal Medicine’ it is mentioned ‘if there is heat in the Lung, the facial color turns white and the hair dry’. Clearly, there is an inter-relationship between the Lung, emotion of sadness and the color white. If one’s clothes in the closet mainly consist of white colored clothes, it may be possible that the person tend to contain much sadness, or having a weak Lung. Usually the wallpapers in the hospital rooms were painted in white, and the doctors and nurses wore white gowns. I assume that this didn’t add to the recovery of the patient suffering from an Lung illness very much.

There is an observation that people who play instruments making a metal like sound tend to be more prone to sadness. The reason lies to the fact that the Lung belongs to the metal element. The sound of a guitar also belongs to that category as it is made out of strings. Would it need to be considered as a coincidence that amongst the guitarist, there is a high incidence of suicidal rate? It has been commented that the saddest sound in the world is the sound can be heard in a musical saw performance. Out of the four seasons, the autumn represents the time of decline of energy in the nature. How is it that during that season, people become more sentimental and saddened when watching the leaves fall of the trees? In the human point of view, autumn is the season of harvest. However in the botanical point of view, the plant life comes to an end during that season. If that is the case, does sadness always carry a negative connotation? There is nothing we can call absolute good or bad in this world. Why it is necessary for us to contain sad feelings as part of our emotion? Why did God place the emotion of sadness in human being and allows suffering in life? How can we possibly know the depth of the creator’s will, but getting to ponder about this questions, there are parts that comes to an understanding. The answer can be derived from the five element theory, more precisely the principle of 상생(相生) 상극(相剋) theory. Sadness makes the metal element stronger. And dryness pertains to the role of the metal element. In the light of this, a person suffering from obesity, it may be that the body requires more of the metal energy. This is because the drying action of the metal may be beneficial for a person with large content of body fluid. Also, if there is a person whose wood energy is quiet strong, the body may require more of the metal energy.

Meanwhile emotions such as anger or frustration pertain to the wood element and according to the five element theory the metal element overcomes the wood element. Therefore, for someone who is having difficulty managing anger problems or easily get emotionally frustrated, the emotion of sadness is beneficial to that person as a counteracting effect. For this reason, for people whose liver is weak, easily get stressed, going through frustrating times or tend to easily get angry or irritated, it may be recommend to watch sad movies, read sad books or to listen to sad music to balance their emotion. Thus it can be seen that the emotion of sadness is quiet useful to maintain a healthy balance of emotion,

In Oriental medicine’s perspective, shoulder problems are generally related to the Lung. In the classic ‘The Mirror of Oriental Medicine’, in the Lung Organ chapter, it is stated ‘A person with wide shoulders, protruding chest and a sunken throat does have a high positioned Lung. A person with a narrow space between the armpit or a wide flank have a low positioned Lung. A person with developed shoulders and a build back has a strong Lung, and a person with underdeveloped shoulders and skinny back would have a weak lung. The Lung is located in the upper region of the human body, proximal to the shoulders. The weakness of Lung can be the causative factor for various kinds of shoulder problems and therefore taken into account when treating the shoulder symptoms.

Also it is said when one has a lung sickness, some of the following signs and symptoms may be present. Shortness of breath, coughing, rising of energy in an upward direction, sore shoulders and back, sweating, and/ or pain in the buttocks, the thigh, knee, calf, shin, feet. In todays or the western society, respiratory problems including asthma are commonly observed. The basis in treating this problem is found in addressing the Lung. ‘TheYellowEmperor’s Classicof Internal Medicine’ mentions that the Lung is in control of the skin. Also ‘The Mirror of Oriental Medicine’ mentions Dryness is associated with the Lung-metal factor. If there is Heat in the Lung, it turns dry and irritating. It becomes dry because the factor of Wind dries Dampness, and the Heat consumes the Fluid. If the dryness occurs externally, the manifestation is in the skin becoming dry, peeling or itchy. If the dryness occurs internally, it dries out the Blood and Fluid inside the body. If the dryness occurs in the upper part of the body, there is sensation of dryness of the throat and nose. If the dryness occurs in the lower part of the body, there is a blockage in urination and defecation.” This is the reason why the Lung-metal is treated when treating symptoms such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis.

Even though the emotion of sadness is part of our normal feeling, if it is in excess or remains over a prolonged time, now it is time to laugh again. During winter time, as you shatter off the snowflakes when getting home after a walk, similarly, maybe it is time to shatter off the sadness to the past and move forward with a new purpose and hope. As the leaves of the tree fall behind, passing the season of autumn and getting ready to sprout new seeds during the time of winter……

Translated by Eun Bee Oh

“There are no diseases which cannot be cured, but there are habits which cannot be changed.”
- Byung W. Yoo -