TCM Basics 101: Root for illnesses: Imbalance between Rest and Work
After going through rounds of the 6 external and 7 internal factors for root of illnesses, lets go into the last main cause for illnesses which is the highly imbalance state between work and rest for most people in the modern society.
Basically I think this topic is a self understood topic, as most of us can feel the effect of working non stop and always yearning for that next holiday when we can shut off from bosses and commitments and have some time to ourselves. Even so, some still did not get to rest because of their commitment to family.
So but why does working too much is damaging to the body from a holistic and natural medicine point of view?
Working, thinking, planning, decision making are all active forms of activities, or Yang activities. Yes we as human beings ought to be moving and active most of the time. But a lot of us are taking work even into sleep. Some of my patients told me of situations when they will wake up still thinking of strategies and doing their work literally in their sleep.
Work is Yang and rest is Yin. When Yang is too overpowering, Yin will be hurt and diminished while Yang will take over the person’s body and mind. On the outside, the person will present as very jittery and always wanting to move and cannot sit still. In the mind the person can experience anxiety and nervousness. With too much Yang energy in the person, the body becomes heaty with more Fire energy inside. That is the basis for inflammation and with inflammation, it is the basis for further illnesses as it becomes the growing bed for bacteria, virus infection, growths and microinjuries.
So how do we slow down ourselves? Or to be exact how do we allow ourselves to press the brake and the body be in sync to take the slower pace?
