WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK AND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM IT
Alex, a friend of ours, went to a Chinese doctor for some herbs — she had a number of ailments — digestive problems, headaches and insomnia. The doctor asked her questions about her health then took some minutes to carefully feel the 12 pulses on her wrist — an important part of Chinese Traditional diagnosis.
Finally the doctor sat back, his diagnosis completed. He looked her straight in the eye and told her, ‘Your problem is that you worry too much. You must stop worrying.’ Alex was — unusually — stunned to silence by the doctor’s directness. She merely nodded and said, ‘Yes I’ll stop worrying’. Later that day as we talked on the phone we all laughed as she started to worry about how to stop worrying!
This book is all about your emotions and your health. It will provide you with many important tools. One of these is to help you to identify the main emotions which repeatedly stop you from becoming healthy. For Alex this was worry. She later recognized that the wise Chinese doctor was very accurate in diagnosing this as the cause of her problems. She then set about discovering how to stop worrying. Do you think Alex could immediately stop worrying? The answer is no, of course she couldn’t.
Alex realized very quickly that it is one thing to know that our emotions are adversely affecting our health but quite another to know what to do about it. So the other tool this book will provide is many practical exercises to deal with those emotions so that we can become healthier. We hope the result will be that you feel better in every way — physically, mentally and spiritually.
About This Book
This book brings together two areas of knowledge — one Eastern and one Western. The Eastern one comes from the ancient theory of the Five Elements. The theory of the Five Elements is discussed in greater detail in the first chapter. A system of ‘constitutional types’ is derived from this theory.
This system of constitutional types describes five types of people. For each type there is a shared set of core beliefs, values and concerns, and ways of expressing ourselves emotionally. By understanding these types we can gain a head start in the process of knowing where to work on ourselves.
The Western area of knowledge comes mainly from Neuro-linguistic Programming. We are both trained as practitioners in this therapy. We also draw from other therapies such as Gestalt and a system called ‘Focusing’.
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) has created methods which enable people to work on their deepest mental or emotional processes. These include their beliefs, attitudes, values and patterns of emotional expression. By changing these processes, people can start to experience themselves more positively and constructively. If we believe, for instance, that people like to help each other and that, generally, we can learn and grow, we will be more likely to be helped, learn and grow. If, on the other hand, we believe people are generally selfish and don’t want to help each other and that we are no good at learning and growing, then we are less likely to get help and learn and grow.1
As well as the therapies mentioned above we have added Qigong exercises which help the Organs. The Chinese have carefully researched and proved the effectiveness of these exercises for many specific diseases. In fact, Qi Gong exercises are taught in Chinese medical colleges as a method of treatment. As well as including a relevant exercise for each type we will also refer you to sources to find further ones.2
This book puts the Five Element constitutional types and therapeutic exercises together. Once we have determined our Five Element constitutional type, we have a pathway to our significant values, attitudes and patterns of emotional expression. Then, using the exercises designed for each constitutional type, we can work on the very structure which creates our world. This will in turn allow us to become more balanced. Ultimately this means smoother, more positive and more enjoyable emotions and, in the end, greater health.
How This Book Came About
As authors, we both have over 20 years of experience as practitioners of Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine teaches that healthy emotions are a natural part of living but also that certain types of emotion can cause disease. It also states that some emotions are symptoms of an illness.
We have found that Chinese medicine frequently helps people with emotional problems — even when the emotional issues are not the presenting complaint. Often a change results from treating the Organ associated with the person’s underlying constitutional type. As the person’s energy becomes stronger this in turn gives her or him a better emotional balance. This is an advantageous spiral — the more healthy we are, the easier it is to have ‘normal’ emotions which in turn helps us to be healthy.
Of course, the opposite also happens. The less healthy we are, the harder it is to balance our emotions which, in turn, can make us less well. This is a negative and downward spiral as opposed to a beneficial and upward one. For example, one patient said it was clear that the more stressed she was and the angrier she got, the worse her irritable bowel syndrome became. Of course, the cause and effect went both ways — the worse her irritable bowel syndrome, the more stressed, depressed and angry she became. When she came for treatment, she had rectal bleeding and was already on cortico-steroid drugs. The doctor said the next step would be surgery and the removal of some of her colon.
Fortunately for this woman, Chinese medicine treatments cleared her problems. She also felt more balanced emotionally. Having had Chinese medicine treatment she found that she was able effortlessly to deal with previously difficult situations. This is an example of the positive effect Chinese medicine often has on the emotions.
With other cases, we have found that treatment has helped patients to feel better in many ways but they then get stuck in recurring negative mental or emotional states. These can neutralize the previous positive effects of the treatment. If this is the case, we have found that it is helpful, as well as using Chinese medicine, to work with exercises appropriate to the person’s type. A change of beliefs, values, attitudes and mental habits can release us from these recurring negative states and thus create better health. So when, as practitioners, we wanted to say ‘Stop worrying and your energy will be more balanced’, we found there are ways to put such a recommendation into practice.
This book is not just for you to read. You will also need to engage with it. After reading it, please ponder and make some guesses as to your constitutional type. Then, you can embark on the set of exercises for your type. These exercises are not onerous or difficult and many are easy. For other exercises you may need to use your mind in new ways which may seem different or even awkward at first.
By reading about the different types and working through the relevant exercises we hope you will gain some useful insights into your internal world and thus create change in your life. Please note, however, that this book is not aimed at replacing treatment by a qualified practitioner of Chinese medicine or a trained therapist or counsellor — in fact we hope that by reading it you will feel like exploring Chinese medicine, or therapies such as NLP.
If you use these exercises, please do so with commitment, and do them gradually and repetitively. Results accumulate. We believe that you will definitely find the exercises much easier than simply stopping whatever emotions are helping to make you less well. We wish you the best of luck and would be happy to hear from you via our publisher.
THE FIVE ELEMENTS, CONSTITUTIONAL TYPES AND THE EMOTIONS
A long-term study at York University1 has confirmed what many of us already intuitively know — that our negative emotions can cause disease. Psychologists tracked the progress of thousands of young