Summer

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In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) summer is believed to have particular affects on our health. The heart for instance is said to have an affinity with summer, many people with weak hearts  find summer heat a burden and even distressing. Many good exercise routines go by the way-side during the summer heat and vacationing often means more booze, rich food and disruptions to healthy routines. By the time we return to our normal lives again going back to the gym can feel like we are starting all over from scratch.

Headache sufferers often find summer a bit of a trial, particularly with migraines, in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) migraines are seen as a problem of internal rising heat that can be triggered by an increase in external heat. ‘Warming’ food and drinks like alcohol, coffee, chocolate and chilli are associated with more frequent headaches in TCM.

In TCM summer has an affinity with accidents like drowning. People tend to travel more for pleasure (sometimes under the influence), doing physical things like camping and playing sport  are more likely to lead to wild life encounters- all of these things help increase the chances of you visiting the emergency department of the local hospital.

Hot weather can interfere with your normal sleep, sap you of energy and make you less productive as a result. Some psoriasis sufferers find their skin is worse. Summer heat also causes “rushes of blood to the head”, 

There was a health study conducted many years ago that showed people were at their most belligerent in a room temperature of 92 degrees Fahrenheit (about 35 degrees Celsius). Is it any wonder that some go a little crazy at this time of year.

Fortunately there are simple things we can do that will mitigate summer health hazards like drinking more water and avoiding full sun exposure. Many of us drive longer distances on roads we are unfamiliar with at this time of year so some realistic planning of how long our trips are can help you avoid accidents due to driver fatigue.

The body metabolises drugs and alcohol differently day and night particularly in summer. Uppers like speed, methyl ice and ecstacy have a stronger affect on you during hot days partly because a more rapid pulse further heats your body. This includes alcohol, so drinking some water between alcohol drinks can help you avoid dehydration. Alcohol suppresses anti diuretic hormone which stops you from peeing too much so you need extra water.

It’s not all negative though, stretching exercise is usually much easier and more enjoyable to perform in warmer weather, so is hiking and swimming. Wearing your bathing suit can help motivate you to cut down to a healthier body weight. Camping out in a tent can help leg strength and flexibility because you are getting up and down off the ground more than you otherwise might at other times of the year. Osteoarthritis symptoms tend to be less severe in the summer too.

Please avoid running at the hottest part of the day, muscle melt down can kill you.

Sitting

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Many of us have sit down jobs, we sit on the bus or train to get that job and  then we spend more time relaxing and eating in the seated position so it is worth sitting right. One of the main problems with sitting is that our chairs are rarely designed well and when they are they are not always used properly.

Whatever you sit upon your weight should be evenly distributed on both buttocks, try it now (back pockets empty when you do this)… do you feel a bit lop sided when you adjust yourself so there is an even sensation of pressure beneath your buttocks? Usually there will be which serves to alert us just how used to being slightly (or moderately) lop sided we are.

The first step to correcting this is to remove objects such as wallets from back pockets and to avoid crossing your legs. Next take a deep breath and notice how you have straightened your back to do this, shoulders back and down, chin in and head directly above body rather than forward of it.

If you are not fortunate enough to be on a saddle or a knee chair use the chair tilt to slope down at the front. The rationale for this is it is easier to maintain a straight back when the angle between your body and thighs is closer to 135 degrees rather than the 90-100 degree angle that chairs tend to be. Think about how straight, dignified and well balanced equestrian riders look, duplicating that kind of posture is good for your back and you will last longer comfortably seated when you get used to sitting like that

Sitting cross legged on the floor is a good sitting exercise too, it quickly alerts us about leg and hip stiffness. It is easy to avoid sitting on the floor because we have so many chairs, unfortunately sitting on chairs can make us lazy about the way we use our hip, back and leg muscles. Even if you have no practical reason why you should sit on the floor the inability to do so should be taken as an early warning that you really need to do more stretching exercise.

When driving your bottom should be as far back into the car seat as it can go, if  the accelerator and break pedals appear too far away move your seat forward, do not slide your backside forward to reach them because it is bad posture and will cause you lower back problems. Men tend to be worse offenders at doing this than women.

When you sit on a lounge place that scatter cushion in the small of your back don’t let yourself sag in the middle.The way we treat our spines when we are young determines their shape later on, it looks lazy and graceless to slump like a sack of spuds, it is also bad for you spinal discs.

In 1955 Dr Keegan of the US and in 1962 Dr Schoberth of Germany (both orthopaedic surgeons) conducted independent research into the causes of lower spinal degeneration. Based on their patients case histories and Xrays it was the opinion of both men that sitting for long periods is bad for your back. Both men also advocated sitting on chairs that allow a 135 degree angle between thigh and torso. No one else can take as good care of your back as you can.    

Exercise and Work

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It is usually much easier to convince an office worker than a manual labourer that they need to get regular exercise, after all if you have been climbing up ladders, digging threnches, laying pavers and loading/ unloading vehicles all day you shouldn’t need regular physical exercise should you?, Wrong!.

The way you use your body when you do most jobs is very different to how you use your body when you exercise. When you work you are focused on the task at hand, if you are right handed you will use it to operate power tools for instance because it is more productive and safer than using your left hand, so a right handed worker will usually have much more muscular development in their right hand, arm, shoulder and upper back than on their left side, this right/left muscular strength imbalance can give you a crooked spine and cause premature wear and tear on that side of your body. When you exercise, the body is used in a much more ambidextrous way which keeps your spine straighter by fostering even right/left sided muscular strength.

Work can help make you physically stronger in a task specific way but it is unlikely to do so in a way that will give you good stature and proportion. As far as stretching exercise is concerned how many occupations require you to actually stretch your muscles in the course of executing your duties?, unless you are a Yoga teacher (for instance) leading the class by demonstrating exercises, who ever stretches at work?

Watch a person who is exercising with good technique, the way they lift weights is much different to how a worker might unload bricks from his ute, exercise is as much about technique as it is about effort, in order to exercise properly you must be posture conscious and aware that you give all your major muscle groups a good even workout, the focus of physical effort at work is about achieving tasks so you get paid, the whole mission is different in focus and execution.

If you have a manual occupation and feel too physically tired after work to exercise you may need to do it before work and make a point of exercising on the weekend too, a strategy to accomodate exercise no matter what your circumstances is important and will have a direct consequence on your health in the medium and long term future. If you are a resourceful person you can make opportunities to exercise, you don’t need a state of the art gym to exercise, you can use 5 minutes in your morning tea break to stretch your legs or do some neck stretches sitting in your car waiting for the lights to change, you will probably find many inventive ways to exercise if you go looking for them.

Work and exercise are different activities with different purposes and objectives and should be viewed as such, labour is no substitute for exercise.

Spring

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Winter has gone and with it the layers of clothing hiding our imperfections. New Gym memberships peak at this time of year, bicycles and surfboards get dusted off,  walking tracks fill up, garden clean-ups and make overs are heralded by the buzz of mowers and chain saws and camp grounds fill up too- all of these things have one thing in common, the use of dormant muscles that let you know they have not been used for months.

Whether improved fitness is your goal or simply the by-product of having fun it is sensible to have a realistic approach and plan to avoid injury and other misadventure.

*It only takes a few days after exercise to start losing physical condition, don’t restart exercise or sport at the level you last did it, start modestly and gradually work up to where you want to be.

* If you like exercising outdoors doing it at the hottest part of the day not only increases the risk of dehydration and sunburn it saps your energy faster and therefore limits the time you can spend doing it and achieving the results you seek.

*Running is free and a fast way to achieve weight loss and cardio fitness, doing it on grass and sand is way friendlier on your joints than running on roads and pavement, an injury to your knee or calf muscle can set you back weeks or even months.

*All continents except for Antarctica have a tic population, Lyme disease can seriously effect your energy levels for years after you get it, whether you are gardening or in the bush insect repellant, protective clothing and sticking to the beaten track will help you enjoy Spring and Summer alot more.

Whatever extra  physical activity you undertake listen to what your body tells you, sometimes we can stubbornly work through the pain barrier and find we are ok afterwards, sometimes after the body’s own pain-killers wear off a few hours later we can be full of pain and regret….alcohol can mask the damage too!

Getting a massage is  good preparation for Spring, I get regular massage and I invariably discover muscles that I did not realise were stiff or sore, the massage not only helps prime the muscles for exercise, it acts as an early warning system- stiff muscles tear more easily.

It is often wise if you are unsure where to start to get some professional instruction if you want to get fit, it is not wise to assume that the exercises you did playing junior sport are still going to work for you now (men are particularly bad offenders at doing this).

*Google the exercise and fitness sites, do some research.

*An instructor close to your own age may have better insight and understanding about what will work for you than a younger instructor who has never had to cope with age related injury before.

*The best exercise regimes should include cardio, resistance and stretching exercises.

*Be consistent and be patient for results.

Stress and happiness

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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is effective in assisting people with stress related problems because it has recognised the effect of emotions on physical health for a long time. Part of the TCM paradigm is the idea that it is  normal and healthy to feel all of the emotions in more or less even measures and to be calm in between.

In TCM even joy should have it’s limits, it is great to feel happy but it doesn’t teach humility and acceptance like grief does, nor teach us courage like fear does and it doesn’t make us question ourselves like anger does.

The not-so-pleasant emotions can be energising when they are consciously channeled, fear, anger and anxiety are a part of life, it is up to us what we do with these feelings.

Anger and aggression can be positively channelled into sport and exercise, making us physically fitter in the process. Anger can be defined as the fear of not having control and it can be a fuel for us to take back control of our own lives, it can also impel us to fight for the rights of others who cannot fight for themselves. A person who is habitually angry certainly does not need more of it but a person who is timid or lacking in confidence could benefit greatly by channeling aggression into assertiveness.

The healthy expression of anger need not be confined to physical exercise, it can be positively expressed in dance, music, writing or visual arts through colour, words and sounds, it does not need to be “good” art, just an honest expression of yourself. Sometimes having a good shout with your windows up driving around the block can help too.

Fear can be energising, getting a sense of your own mortality can be a real wake up call, it is hard for anybody to appreciate what they have without the fear at some stage that he may lose it all. A close call to disaster whether it is real or imagined can give us the necessary impetus to get a healthier life style and pay closer attention to the relationships that matter most to us. Surviving a scary situation can certainly break the monotony of a dull existance and make us more interesting people with compelling stories to tell.

Perhaps more than any emotion, grief can make us recognise how deep we can love another person, knowing grief makes us more compassionate and appreciate just how precious life is. Like the other emotions grief should be expressed and given some purpose, some truly moving writing, music and art have been inspired by it- experiencing such inspired art can help you to  do your own overdue grieving. There is something cleansing about grief, sharing grief with another can help us forget our petty differences with them and help us focus on what we have in common with them.

Having a rich mixture of emotional experiences makes us adaptable and keeps life interesting, all the things that make us better people are never easy when they are happening.

TCM has some very interesting perspectives on not only how emotions can effect us but also on how we can use and change them.