So what can we do to keep our bodies in an energetic balance and to keep happy and healthy?
The answer is simple, but not simplistic!
A healthy body (good, nutritious food, enough sleep, a healthy weight, looking after your appearance)
A peaceful, calm environment to live in (garden, home, neigbhourhood)
A happy relationship, friendships, and harmony within your wider family
A career that fulfills you and financial stability
A spiritually fulfilled life. A belief (which could be religion, but does not have to be) that is about leaving a legacy and bringing extra harmony/joy/charity/conservation to the world. In short, you want to leave the world in a better place than you found it.
These are the fundamental pillars of a holistic lifestyle. As my lovely husband always says – Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to! Make sure that you always have these three in your life!
I recently had so many inquiries about healing-related subjects. So I decided to make HEALING – TOPIC OF THIS MONTH. As we can all do with an ‘extra dose of healing’ right now.
Although Living With The Moon is all about practical advice, I have many books and recipes left from my grandmother which deal with healing, mostly for preventative medical care. Of course, physical health is very important. This year showed us more than ever how we take our health for granted and that just a few changes can cause mayhem with our lives.
But I also want to include emotional and mental healing. This is sadly still seen as a bit of a taboo subject. When somebody openly admits that they find their current situation difficult to cope with – it could be because of love problems, a bereavement, work stress (including lack of work), children, menopause, etc. – whatever the reason, it is not taken as seriously as if you fall down and break your leg or have a bruised arm. Because physically harm is visible, emotional harm is not! But the hurt is the same.
The Ancient Chinese tradition saw doctors as ‘keepers of health’ rather than ‘fixers of health’. A respected doctor had happy, healthy clients, not sick ones. The main aspect of the doctor’s work was preventative. When the body started to display minor signs, like feeling unwell, insomnia, tensions, headaches, spots and so on, the doctor cured these early signs with herbal remedies, acupuncture, massages, cupping, meditation and exercise.
Traditional Chinese doctors believed that the body is full of life energy, also called Qi (pronounced chi). If it is in perfect flow, we are happy and healthy. However, if it gets stagnant and is blocked then problems appear. At first, these are subtle. But when not resolved and neglected over time, these can turn into full-blown diseases. This works for the body and mind alike.
Like early Western medicine, the Ancient Chinese medicine connected our bodies to the surrounding energy of the universe – a mantra I keep repeating as it comes up again and again in every civilization that I have studied.
So what can we do to keep our bodies in an energetic balance and to keep happy and healthy?
The answer is simple, but not simplistic!
A healthy body (good, nutritious food, enough sleep, a healthy weight, looking after your appearance)
A peaceful, calm environment to live in (garden, home, neigbhourhood)
A happy relationship, friendships, and harmony within your wider family
A career that fulfills you and financial stability
A spiritually fulfilled life. A belief (which could be religion, but does not have to be) that is about leaving a legacy and bringing extra harmony/joy/charity/conservation to the world. In short, you want to leave the world in a better place than you found it.
These are the fundamental pillars of a holistic lifestyle and I will soon introduce you to new LWTM lifestyle planning guide I am currently working on.
As my lovely husband always says – Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to! Make sure that you always have these three in your life!
Of course, these treatments can be applied on any day. But let us focus today on our routines and spend a tiny bit of time updating/improving them.
Apply calming, healing, and nourishing skincare products, especially during the Waxing Moon.
If you suffer from very dry skin, eczema, broken lips, hard skin on your feet, dry elbows, or even psoriasis then do something about it. Other problem areas are acne, overactive oily skin, and teenage (hormonal) skin problems.
If you suffer from pigmentation problems you may also consider treatment today.
For ongoing problems you need of course see a doctor or skin care specialist.
Your skin is your largest organ and will show up any imbalances before organs get ill. Do listen to these signs.
Read your face
Skin irritations, hyper-sensitive skin, prone to allergies, excessively oily skin, and spots are signs that your body craves extra care and attention. Here are a few signs to look out for:
Spots near your temples: this is a sign that your gallbladder and liver are overactive. Breaking easily into a sweat, especially between nose and mouth: This is your heart. It often happens after a large meal or when stressed (ignore if it is purely down to heat exposure like a sauna).
Spots in the chin area: This is hormonal and often happens just before or during menstruation.
Losing hair, especially around your face: Again a hormonal reaction, most common during pregnancy. Don’t worry your hair will come back even stronger during breastfeeding.
Spots/dry patches/imperfections on the apple of your cheeks: This shows a weakened stomach/spleen or pancreas area. Go easy on sugar for a while and try to eat a more alkaline diet by adding lemon water in the morning instead of tea or coffee. Very dry, pale skin, especially in the outer cheek area towards the neck and ears. This is the lung area. Add more exercise in the fresh air, extra deep moisturizing procedures, and drink lots of water. Rings under the eyes: This is the kidney area. Be kinder to yourself, drink and sleep more.
Blocked sinuses, puffy face/eyes: usually indicates some kind of food intolerance, especially lactose and gluten. Get a food intolerance test done or cut out food for a week at a time and keep a food journal to see if it makes a difference.
